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Daily Transcripts
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11/08/2015
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Ezekiel 18:1-19:14 ~ Hebrews 9:1-10 ~ Psalm 106:32-48 ~ Proverbs 27:10
Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I'm Brian. It's great to be here with you, coming to you today from Chattanooga, TN, which isn’t all that far from Nashville, TN, but in lots of ways way different, over in the Appalachian Mountains. Glad to be here today to greet this new week and begin to unpack it together as we continue moving forward. I'm looking forward to Reframe today in Chattanooga and seeing some of you.
So we have this new week, all shiny and sparkly, all clean. We haven’t done anything right or wrong and we get to choose to walk with God this week and we will be fed by his Word, reading from the New Living Translation.
Commentary
We’re seeing Ezekiel begin to unfold. We’re beginning to see the beauty that is contained in this wonderful book of prophesy. So, true to form, a prophet's job is to present a warning, a fork in the road, a set of two outcomes: If you continue to go this way, this is what that is going to look like. However, you can turn and go this other way and not have to go through all that. And it's done with the voice of the prophet, in their style, but it presents a lot of judgment. So for us, we can read it and it is like this is where we get this vengeful God idea because we read into that like he is just aloof, some sort of master that demands worship, and that isn’t really fair. The people who received this message, they also felt that way.
But then other things begin to unfold in this book, like we were talking about the other day when God uses this imagery of a betrayed lover that goes right to the heart because we can understand that. So we begin to wrap our minds around: Oh, he's not vengeful. He's jilted. He's not really angry for the sake of it. He's not vengeful. He's sad. He's brokenhearted. Then that starts to make so much sense.
But then we continue to unfold this book and we hear the Lord saying: So you think I like watching bad things happen to people? You think I'm just into that? That is what I do for a good time? I pop some popcorn and sit around watching bad things happen to people and enjoy it as entertainment? Is that what is going on here? You keep saying I'm not doing what is right. Listen (and this is me reading from the scripture), listen to me, oh people of Israel. Am I the one that is not doing what is right or is it you? It is you who are not doing what is right, not I. Put all your rebellion behind you and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, oh people of Israel? I don’t want you to die, says the sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!
This is that reframe moment that is certainly in the book, but this is what we’ve been doing all year. So many of these false assumptions we have about the heart of God that estrange us from him, like he can’t really be trusted and we don’t know the recipe and we don’t know the lane that is going to keep him happy or he is going to get wrathful, that is not what is going on here. This is a God who continues to persist and insist and press in and pursue us with clarion calls from every direction saying this isn’t going to work out for you. This isn’t the path you need to be on and you know it. You're not just blind in this. You know it. So don’t blame me for what happens if you continue down this road because I'm telling you what is going to happen and you already know this. I don’t dig watching bad things happen to you, but I am not going to make you a robot and usurp your will. If this is what you really want, then you can really have all of it, but there is a better way. Come back. Turn back and live.
We really do have to finally, once and for all get that absolutely, 100%, completely into our heads and hearts. We really have to revisit this constantly because this concept of God in his aloofness somehow enjoying or getting some guilty pleasure out of suffering and arbitrarily choosing to inflict it on people, that is not what the Bible says. And we know that is not who God is. This has estranged millions of people from a living, breathing relationship with God because they’ve believed the hype, the gossip, the hearsay and they feel like I can’t love a God like that. So it is easier to say there just isn’t a God or whoever he is, whatever energy that is, whatever that is that is beyond us, that it’s something different than what I’ve been told, and that would be true. It is something different than what we’ve been told.
God loves people. He loves us. He loves you enough to write these things down thousands of years ago that still speak to us today that say you don’t have to live like this. You don’t have to follow that path. It's not going to do you any good. It's only going to end in your destruction. You could choose another way, though. You could choose the way you were created. You could choose to enter into a loyal life-giving, faithful, always on, never off, completely integrated relationship with me and I can show you. I can show you life. I gave you life. I deal in life. I know what life looks like and my purpose and intention is that you would have life and have it more abundantly. But you're not going to navigate that on your own. That's not how this works. You can come to me for life and it will be a life like you were designed to have it. We can enjoy this adventure of life together forever. It is what will fulfill you. This is how you were made. You just have to choose. You have to choose that life because I love you and I want you to love me back. That is your part of this. That is your choice. Come to me.
This is our Lord. This is what we’re dealing with here and Ezekiel unpacks it beautifully today. So may we continue to reframe what we think we know about God and may we continue to enter into that first person collaboration in life in relationship with him. We’re never going to find it any other way. It is never going to be anything but frustration any other way because we’re not made for anything else.
Prayer
Father, we thank you at the beginning of this week, right here, right now, before this week is lived out, that we have this opportunity. We completely invite your Holy Spirit to plant these things deep within us, to continue to shift and shape our identity, to continue to shift and shape the process of sanctification in our lives, setting us apart as holy to you. This is what we want because this is how we are made. So come, Holy Spirit, into all of the recesses of our lives, all the things that we’ve gotten ourselves into, but all of the things that have estranged us from you and given us a false perspective of you. Come and root those things out that we might be in an intimate relationship with you. We pray in the name of Jesus, amen.
Announcements
Www.DailyAudioBible.com is home base. It's the website. It's where you find out what is going on around here. Of course, I said at the beginning what is going on around here right now is Reframe Chattanooga. I'm looking forward to that. They have a couple of services this morning and then one tonight, so if you're in the area, I would love to meet you. I’d love nothing more, actually. This is why we go out on the road. I would love the see you. Come say hello. Www.MissionChattanooga.org is the church's website. You can get all the information there. I'm looking forward to it.
Next week we will end the Reframe Tour for 2015 and then pick back up on it next year and travel throughout the year of 2016 bringing the Reframe message. So next week we’ll be in the San Diego area at La Jolla Christian Fellowship, www.ChurchatLaJolla.org is their website so you can get directions, address, service times, stuff like that. I'm looking forward to seeing you on the West Coast next week.
I’ve been mentioning the Reframe audio edition, the CD audio package has been released. It is available. You can get it wherever you get books. That is certainly my favorite way for Reframe. I read it like I wrote it. I read it like I was talking, so I encourage you to check that out. You can go to www.ReframeBook.com and there are all the links to the different retailers there, so check that out. Of course, the small group resource is still available and you can watch a trailer for that. All the stuff, all Reframe stuff is at www.ReframeBook.com so check it out.
The Reframe discussion group that we’ve had at Facebook has been quite amazing. If you haven’t jumped into that conversation and you're going through Reframe, you should check it out. Www.Facebook.com/Groups/ReframeBook - you can dive in. There is just a ton of conversation and wisdom from other people who have been immersing themselves in the message. It's great so check it out.
One more Reframe thing and this is for you guys, you friends, you family in the UK. Eden Books has Reframe at a discount right now – 25% off, and they have them in stock. I’ve seen lots of people going: I'm trying to get mine internationally. I ordered my book. I'm still waiting for it to come. Eden has them in stock in their stores, on their website, and they are on sale so be sure to check that out if you're in the UK.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com. There is a link. It's red. It's in the upper right-corner. I can’t possibly find the right words every single day to say this is how this community exists at all and I am humbled profoundly that we get to be together like this, that we live in such a time where there is the technology like this to tie us together and give us a clear picture that we are brothers and sisters and we are all over the world. So if it is a life-giving thing to you, then thank you for being life-giving to Daily Audio Bible. If you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.
And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to call.
That's it for today. I'm Brian. I love you. I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports
Hello DAB family. This is Rob S., worship dude in Nashville, TN, with an urgent prayer request. As I'm calling, it is Tuesday afternoon of November 3rd. Yesterday I fell and broke my left arm at the humerus. That is the bone between the shoulder and the elbow. It shattered and in quite a bit of pain and I will have surgery on Wednesday, November 4th at 1 p.m. Central Time. If you guys could just be praying for the recovery from that surgery, that it is all done with excellence, no infection, no blood clot, and that it brings healing to that injury, I would be most appreciative. Thank you so much, saints. The Lord be with you.
Hello, this is Terry D., the painter, Terry the painter. I haven’t called since last December. My work situation I thought was getting a little better in the painting and about 60 miles from Birmingham and the guy that I'm working with and working for, he just suddenly loses control of the vehicle at 75 miles an hour. Praise God, by his mercy there was no traffic on the interstate on my side or his or the opposite side during a busy, busy time in the morning. He lost control, went into the ditch, and we ended up on the other side of the interstate in oncoming traffic. This guy has a drug problem. The roads weren’t wet, so I don’t know what caused the wreck, but anyway, I was so glad to get some good-paying work coming in. I’ve not been to work since last week with him. My heart is giving me trouble and my breathing and my blood pressure is up and I'm trying to get into the doctor, so God bless you, DAB family. I'm back in asking for help. Help, Lord, pray for me and pray for me, my DAB family, please. I need to work. I'm behind on my bills. I pray for this guy to get straight, but I don’t think I'm supposed to be in this situation riding with him and him possibly being messed up. He has a pill problem and drugs, so just pray for him. Thank you, people. Thank you so much. God bless you. In Jesus’ name, I thank you. Amen.
Hi Daily Audio Bible family. This is Stan from California. I’ve been a listener for over 7 years. Thank you, Brian and Jill, for your dedication and faithfulness. Our daughter recently surprised us with a trip to Costa Rica. She is going to a psychospiritual center. It's an 8-day program that uses a hallucinating drug that is illegal in the U.S. We are very concerned for her safety and are pleading with the DAB community to pray that she will be prevented from following through with this plan. Please join us in lifting up Alicia so that her eyes will be opened to the truth and she will be saved by our mighty God. Thank you.
Hey Daily Audio Bible family. This is Dan, formerly of Phoenix, now of New Hampshire. Just a long time since I’ve called, there has been a lot going on. I know I’ve been asking you to pray for my father who had brain cancer. I would like to update and say that (I'm going to try to keep tears back) on September 11th he went home to be with our Lord and Savior. It’s kind of been a tough time not having one of your best friends around. But we’ve moved out here to be closer to family, be with my mother and my brother and just share in our grief but also rejoice that he has gone home. Keep us in your prayers, a big adjustment going all the way across the country although the Lord has opened those doors. We found a home, found a job and other opportunities are popping up, but pray as we adjust to things. We’re going from the dry heat of Arizona to the cold, cool weather of New England. Just keep us in your prayers. We have 3 beautiful girls who are all adjusting to this change. I just thank you that you guys have been praying. I felt those prayers. Thank you. God bless.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. This is Hugh. I called about a year ago, Hugh in Maine. Maybe it was a year or maybe 2 years ago. I called when my wife was sick and then I think I called back when she was feeling better with a praise report, if I remember right, but I may not have, because I have memory loss and a traumatic brain injury from an injury I had about 2 decades ago. In any case, I'm calling today because after almost those 2 decades, I've not seen a doctor for my TBI. I finally went to go see a neurologist or a neuropsychologist to get tested to see how much improvement, if any, there was to my brain from when I was first tested about 20 years ago. My wife and I are going to get my results tomorrow, which is Thursday, and I would like to ask for prayers for positive, very positive test results and to learn more ways to improve our way of life pertaining to the short term memory loss and the periodic bouts of anxiousness and restlessness that I deal with. I have learned that I thrive using routines and steps, so it has taken a long time developing routines so that I can remember to listen to the DAB consistently and I think I’ve developed a good plan, a good routine now and I am now in my 10th week of listening consistently. If I can have you please pray for the good test results for tomorrow and also that I can continue listening consistently, that would be awesome. Thank you, thank you, and may God richly bless each and every one of you. I love you, guys, and I hope you have a great day. Bye.
Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. This is Dawn calling from Canada. First of all, I would like to thank those of you who prayed for me and my son at my request when I called in several months ago regarding his addiction issues. Unfortunately, we are still waiting on the Lord for his will in that situation, but this morning when I was listening, Wednesday, November 4th, Christine from Washington called in and I was really touched by what she had to say. Christine, sister, I want you to know that I am praying for you. I want you to not give up and I want you to keep praying and hold onto your hope and to your faith. I know exactly, exactly what you're going through. Some of the examples that you gave were like looking into a window of my own life. Unfortunately, I don’t have any great advice or miraculous things that I can say that would turn things around, but I want you to know that I am praying for you and will leave the miracles up to our Father. I also wanted to thank Blind Tony. Several months ago he called in and he talked about his own experience with addiction and I want you to know that really was something that really touched my heart and often your words still resonate in my mind each day as I struggle with my own son, so thank you so much for that insight. I really, really appreciated it. Praying for you all. Love you all. Have a great day.
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Tamarie 11/08/2015 08:26 |
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