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Daily Transcripts
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12/04/2015
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Daniel 11:36-12:13 ~ 1 John 4:1-21 ~ Psalm 123:1-4 ~ Proverbs 29:2-4
Today is December 4th. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and what a pleasure it is to be here with you today moving forward another step and now there’s more steps behind us than there are before us in this year, we can see the end of this particular journey for this particular year out in front of us. So we take the next step through the scriptures.
We’re reading from the New American Version Revised Edition this week.
Commentary
Okay. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Ever heard that verse before? I mean, we read that verse today and it’s one of the most quoted, well-known scriptures in the Bible. Probably, chances are good that you’ve said it. You’ve said it to somebody, you’ve said it to yourself: Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. And that’s absolutely true, but it’s a half of a verse. And what I find so interesting, while reading through the scriptures systematically like we do day after day, is that we come to all of these very, very famous, often quoted scriptures and then we see them where they sit in their context.
So this scripture, greater is he who lives in you than he who lives in the world, is spoken in the context of discernment, of knowing and discerning what a person is saying, whether they are from the spirit of God or whether they are (as the Bible says) from the spirit of anti-Christ. John is simply saying, listen, there’s a lot of people out there saying a lot of things, a lot of people claiming to be prophetic, a lot of people speaking all kinds of spirituality. The way that you can judge this, the way that you can know is whether or not the person is willing to acknowledge that Jesus came as a person, as a human being, that he had a real body. If someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge that truth about Jesus, then, accordingly to John, that person is not from God and that person has a spirit of the anti-Christ, which you heard is coming into the world and it’s already here. That’s the context for this very famous scripture.
John goes on to say you belong to God. You’ve already won the victory over those kinds of people because the spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. So often we’ll quote that scripture in sort of an empowering way, like what we are is different than the world and the world will not overcome us, greater is he who lives in us than he who lives in the world, and that’s all completely true, but in its full context, John is saying you’ve won the victory of the people who have the spirit of anti-Christ, who are speaking a gospel other than the Gospel, who are saying that Jesus was some kind of disembodied spirit or something other than God made flesh, and you don’t have to fall for that. You already belong to God. You already know Jesus and who he was. You’ve already won that victory because greater is he who lives in you than he who lives in the world.
It just goes on to explain that people who belong to the world, they speak from the world’s viewpoint and the world listens to them, but we belong to God and those who know God listen to what we’re saying – the Gospel. If they don’t belong to God, they don’t listen and that’s how we know if someone has the spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.
And then John takes a breath and launches into the fact that we have to love each other. Love is from God. If you don’t love, then you don’t know God because God is love. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. And God proved how much he loves us by sending his Son into the world that we might have eternal life through him. This is what real love looks like. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
So the whole thing that John is talking about is here is the measuring rod, here is how you discern a spirit, whether what somebody is saying is from God or not, and yourself, whether you are from God or not. If a person won’t confess that Jesus came as a person, well then that’s not the spirit of God, whatever they’re saying. If you don’t love or if you are witnessing the absence of love, then that’s not from God because God is love and there is no fear in this kind of love. It expels fear. We fear because we’re afraid of punishment. This shows that we haven’t fully experienced his perfect love. When we love each other, we do it because he loved us first. If somebody says I love God but then hates a fellow believer, that person is not telling the truth. The Bible actually is more blatant. That person is a liar. For if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God whom we can’t see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.
It’s elementary stuff, basic stuff, stuff that we get sideways on all the time. We’re so inundated by culture, so inundated by individualism, so inundated by judgment and assumption that we often don’t love our brothers and sisters well. We often don’t extend grace and mercy, the same grace and mercy that have been offered to us, the same grace and mercy that we need desperately every single day, the same grace and mercy that has offered us a path to eternal life. We’ll take it but we won’t give it. And unfortunately, the Bible says that’s not going to work. You have to love. Love is from God. God is love. God is within us. Love is within us. We must not bottle it up inside of us. We must extend it to our brothers and sisters. So may we do that. This we are commanded to do.
Prayer
So Father, we have to confess that we haven’t loved you with our whole hearts and that we haven’t loved our neighbors as ourselves. And we would have to say, along with the ancient prayer, we are truly sorry and we humbly repent and ask once again for your mercy and grace and kindness and ask for your Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives so that the love that is in us – because you are in us – can be released into this world. Help us Jesus, we pray, for you are in us and greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. We pray all this in your precious name, amen.
Announcements
Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here. Of course, the things that are going on around here are related to the Christmas season. The Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box is available and going fast, so definitely jump in before we sell out. This year’s box is absolutely chockfull of resources that we’ve created the best of what we’ve created and I love this box. This is a great one. It’s got Promised Land: The Essential Pilgrim’s Edition, which is a 2-DVD set, 4 hours of content that just drops you in, into all these places that we’ve been visiting this year. You have your choice of some of our Windfarm coffee that is roasted exclusively, specifically for the Daily Audio Bible or our Windfarm tea. There’s the annual 2015 Christmas bulb that’s in there and you can only get that in the box. Then there’s Reframe and you can pick that either as a book or as an audio edition. There’s the Reframe films DVD, that’s in there. A pack of the Christmas cards is in there. And while supplies last, we’re throwing in last year’s Christmas bulb and we’re throwing in a Promised Land blu-ray. So it’s killer. It’s a killer deal, better than 50% off. It’s a killer deal. It’s our way of just trying to get these resources into as many hands as we can. And you’ll find that when you get the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box, there’s stuff in there that you’ll want to keep and there’s stuff in there that you’ll want to give away. I love that. So the Christmas box is available.
The Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards are available, $5 for 25 cards with the envelopes. Those cards we make every year exclusively for our community and a wonderful way to invite those that you love to take the journey with you next year.
And then I’ve been talking for a couple of days about the Daily Audio Bible Family Christmas. This is a program that we release every year and it’s beautiful to just hear the Christmas wishes from all over the world, all of us who have been in community this year and all the Christmas story being read. It’s beautiful. So you can participate by calling the prayer line, (877) 942-4253 and just saying your Christmas wishes. Of course, here’s the catch. It’s the prayer line. So, if you’re going to call, if you have a prayer request, call that separate. Don’t combine a Christmas greeting and a prayer request in the same call. Just make two calls if you have a prayer request. But definitely, definitely jump in. Like I was saying, so many people wait until the last minute and then it’s too late and then your Christmas greeting doesn’t get in. So don’t wait. Call in. Tons are coming in already, so thank you for listening to that. We want to get everybody in that we can. (877) 942-4253 -- that’s the number.
The More Gathering is coming up this April. This is a women’s conference that we do every year. It’s taking a new look and a new mission this year. Jill’s been working all year just really pressing into the heart of femininity and what God is speaking into her life and so really looking forward to this. It makes an amazing, sort of like life-changing, never-forget-it experience as a gift for the woman in your life or the women in your life that you love. Check it out at www.MoreGathering.com.
If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com. There’s a link on the home page in the upper right hand corner. If you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174. Thank you for your partnership in this season.
As always, if you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to call.
And 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
Hi DAB family, it’s me, Julie from Texas and it’s been a while since I called. I did call and leave a message but I think I got cut off. I just wanted to say this real quick just to make sure that this gets aired. My little sister, her name is Tammy. She has a daughter named Makayla who is four years old. She just turned four, the most beautiful little girl. My sister was in a relationship that was really abusive and it took her a long time to be able to see that. And as she started to see that and got out of that relationship, she started turning to Christ and she’s now a listener on the DAB and a part of our family. And she also has recently gotten my mom to be a listener. And she is about to be facing custody with this man and I just pray, Lord, that you will just cover her with protection. I pray that you will surround her with guardian angels and protect her from all harm. And Makayla, I pray that you would surround her with all guardian angels and protect them from all harm. Keep them safe in your loving arms of love. Lord, I pray that you will give her the peace that surpasses all understanding. I pray that she’ll have the faith to believe that if she asks…you said that if she asks in your name, Jesus, that she shall receive. And Lord, I pray that you will have favor upon her and upon Makayla’s little life. Lord, I know that you have a plan for Tammy and a plan for Makayla in their life. Lord, you have a plan for all of us and I pray that through this situation that the father will come to Christ. And Lord I just pray that you will just be in the situation, that your hand will be upon her and that you will walk beside her through everything. Lord, I just pray that you will just bless…
Hey guys, it’s me, Saved by Grace also known as Alleah from Waxahachie. I just need some prayer, prayer just provided for my family, basically. I love you all very much. I’m praying for you all as well. Have a great day. God bless.
Hey DAB family, this is Jocelyn in Atlanta. I just wanted to call in and wish Jamie from Wisconsin. I’m so glad that you called in, that you’re praying for others and for yourself, dealing with, you know, taking pain medications and things like that. So I just want you to know I’m really proud of you for calling in because I know you’ve been listening for a while and putting yourself out there. And your prayer just really touched my heart. So, I’m going to continue to lift you and everyone else up in prayer. Sinner Redeemed, just lifting you up in prayer as well. Police Officer Joe, lifting you and Nickie, your wife, up in prayer. You know, if God is putting it on your heart to call in and pray, please do so. We love hearing your voice and just helps us to feel connected to all of our brothers and sisters in Christ. So I love you guys. Have a wonderful day. Bye.
Hi, this is Andrea D. from Kentucky and today is November 30th and just listened to Daily Audio Bible this morning and I wanted to reach out and just send up a word of encouragement and prayer up for Carla who called in from North Carolina. And you know I was just listening to you, Carla, my heart, I cried for you because I feel such a longing in your heart to be connected to God. Yet so many things are coming at you and you are overwhelmed with that right now. And I just want to pray over you right now. Father, I just thank you for Carla. Thank you for her being your daughter. I thank you that you are revealing yourself to her more and more. I thank you that she has a desire to know you, love you. Father, I ask that you would just deliver from those internal hurts and pains, the struggles in her marriage would be healed, that Lord, you would teach her new skills, new ways to just love her husband and love herself and for them to be one together in unity and harmony. And Father that you would just annihilate any lies, any darkness, anything that would come against the marriage, that they would be a marriage that would be an example to many around them in the world and, Father, that they would just be healed in that. And then, Father, I ask that you would just help Carla with her struggle with rejection, bitterness and frustration. And Lord, I just ask that you to would give her clarity and vision in knowing who she is as your daughter, that she would understand and sense and feel the love of God, that she would totally immerse herself in the love of God and that you would heal her because your radical love heals all things, Father. and it casts out all fear. So, Lord, I just ask that you would bring peace on Carla and her life and you would heal her heart, heal the deep grief in her heart, and heal those things in her heart so that she would know…
Hello DAB family, this is Rob S., Worship Dude in Nashville, TN. So appreciative of the Daily Audio Bible. Brian, this is such a great ministry that you’ve got going on and a pure stream. Thank you. And thank you to everybody who stays on the podcast and listens to the prayer requests and intercedes for people. God bless you all. Okay, I have two kind of areas of prayer request for me. First is back in the beginning of October I called in about a friend of mine who sings in my choir. His name is John. He was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and very sadly he died Thursday night, Thanksgiving night. And I just want to ask you guys to be praying for his family, of course, our church community. His funeral is going to be Saturday and our choir will be singing at his service. So anyway, just wanted to pass that on to you guys. The second thing is about me. So, the beginning of November, I had a really bad fall. I broke my arm, shattered the humerus. I had to go get surgery. They put a rod in it. Then I had complications and had to be hospitalized with a blood clot, a pulmonary embolism. Anyway, basically a prayer request as of right now is that the bones will grow back together. One danger is that it could be what they call a non-union and the bones don’t grow together. So specifically I’m just asking for everybody to pray that these bones heal properly. Second is that I’m pretty much in pain all the time and I’m tired all the time, this week in particular. I just need the energy of God. I’ve got a lot of responsibilities with church music. We have a special program coming up and just appreciate your prayers. Thank you so much, DAB Family. The Lord bless you.
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Tamarie 12/06/2015 18:51 |
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