Daily Bible Reading Podcast

In this episode I read Nathan Ensz' article When anxiety takes root. This article is an example of the extreme-believing of God's Word that I promote in my YouVersion reading plan entitled Buckling the Belt of Truth. I believe (in a metaphorical sense) that we buckle the belt of truth by believing what God's word says about us.

Pastor Nathan Ensz is the lead pastor of Kingwood Bible Church in Salem, Oregon. His article appeared in the Mennonite Brethren periodical, The Christian Leader, in the March/April 2023 edition.

Greetings everyone!

As I explained previously, I started on a quest because of frustration with 2Peter 1:3-4:

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.

Let's find those promises Peter was talking about!

In the second Buckling the Belt of Truth podcast— which is found in our calendar at day 141— I recommended claiming your present resurrection life. I dealt with the biblical teaching that, as a sincere believer in Christ, you have been united with Christ in his death (being crucified with Him), you died and were buried, and now have been raised with Him to new life. Our living a resurrected life is a spiritual reality, meaning it is true of you spiritually but can't be seen by human eyes. However the Holy Spirit has given us multiple metaphors that help us grasp this reality. As you settle into living according to spiritual realities, the transformation that human eyes cannot see will be felt by you and perhaps even be noticed by others.

The foundational steps of Buckling the Belt of Truth that I gave in the last lesson were:

1. Realize: Be alert when reading the Bible for truths that are presented as true for believers in Christ, but which seem too good to be true. Note them down, and check out translations like the NLT, GNT, and NET to make sure you are understanding what the Scripture says.
2. Ask God to help you overcome your difficulty in believing the truth you have discovered. It may be appropriate to ask God to help you discover if strong opposing ideas are coming from demonic influence or previous sins that you should confess.
3. Meditate on the scriptural truth you are working to internalize. Imagine how your life would be different if you started to live according to that truth.
4. Take any steps the Holy Spirit gives you to put your new identity into practice.

With that introduction, let's read Romans 6:1-11 in the GNT:

Romans 6:1-11

What shall we say, then? Should we continue to live in sin so that God's grace will increase? 2 Certainly not! We have died to sin—how then can we go on living in it? 3 For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptized into union with his death. 4 By our baptism, then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.

5 For since we have become one with him in dying as he did, in the same way we shall be one with him by being raised to life as he was.

I hope you noticed the words 'union' and 'become one with him'. When we are baptized, we physically act out this oneness with Christ, both the death and burial and the resurrection. This idea of union is so important that our eating and drinking the elements of communion portray the same thing.

6 And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on his cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin. 7 For when we die, we are set free from the power of sin. 8 Since we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that Christ has been raised from death and will never die again—death will no longer rule over him. 10 And so, because he died, sin has no power over him; and now he lives his life in fellowship with God. 11 In the same way you are to think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus.

Two points about that paragraph:

1. This paragraph is giving us the keys to unlock the treasure I mentioned before, namely how we do what Peter claimed was possible in 2Peter 1, 'living a godly life' and 'escaping the world's corruption caused by human desires'. Our sinful self is destroyed and sin has lost its power when we are one with Christ in his death.
2. Note in verse 11, Paul tells us how we are to think, and also what 'we know' and 'believe'. Take the step of asking God to help you believe what Paul says we ought to know. Then intentionally take the meditation step. The spiritual victory that God gives doesn't happen by passive osmosis. For me, a major step in the spiritual battle is to take hold of myself and say: "This is what I will do. I will take control of my mind and actually think deeply about what these verses are saying."

Not read, but so important:

12 Sin must no longer rule in your mortal bodies, so that you obey the desires of your natural self. 13 Nor must you surrender any part of yourselves to sin to be used for wicked purposes. Instead, give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes. 14 Sin must not be your master; for you do not live under law but under God's grace.

Let's blend this Romans-6 way of thinking of ourselves as united to Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection with the oneness that Jesus promises to us in John 15.

"I am the true grapevine, and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing."

The statement, "I am the vine; you are the branches," is actually a promise. It is a right-now promise. It is true of both Jesus and you now. But like many promises, there are conditions to fulfill. Some of the conditions are also promises:

• Remain in me (condition), and I will remain in you (promise).
• Those who remain in me, and I in them (condition), will produce much fruit (promise).

Note that John 15 enriches our understanding of our unity with Christ by promise-filled gems. Take them to the bank!

These are precious promises that we should keep in mind. We have become (spiritually speaking) organically one with our Vine, Jesus.

There is a constellation of 'treasures' found in staying joined to Jesus which He explains in John 15:

• verse 9 "I have loved you as the Father has loved me." Then later he commands us to love one another.
• verses 13-15 This is the passage where Jesus calls us his 'friends'.
• 16 Then Jesus tells us, "I chose you." All of the above are on my list of the things that most Christians find hard to believe.
• 11 "I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my Joy." What a wonderful promise!
• For verses 7-8, let me paraphrase what Jesus is telling us,

"If you continue clinging to Me in oneness, and if you internalize my teachings, then I invite you to pray asking for anything you want, and it will be given to you.

8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father."

This is another amazing promise: Answered prayers! Wow, how come we aren't spending more time in prayer!

Let's keep on clinging to Christ. Meditate on being Jesus' branch. The metaphor of our being raised to new life in unity with Christ helps us to see how we became Jesus' branch. The metaphor of our being branches of Jesus unlocks joy-producing treasures and motivation to persevere.

There is one more crowning jem of oneness with Christ in Ephesians that I didn't mention in the second lesson. Since we are joined as one with Christ Jesus, we 'are seated with Him in the heavenly realms' (Eph. 2:6). That verse doesn't say that we 'have a future position with Christ', although promises to that effect are found elsewhere in the Bible. Instead Eph. 2:6 says we 'are seated' with Him right now. Where is Christ seated? At God's right hand. (If you were standing directly in front of God, Jesus would be to your left.) The verse is a bit unclear as to how we could be seated with Christ. We might be seated circling God's throne. Just think of that incredible privilege. I like to say, "There are no folding chairs in heaven." None of heaven's chairs are made of plastic. Your name is engraved at your place. There is a place reserved for you alone, and it is certain and permanent.

But capitalizing on the picture of vine-and-branch oneness with Christ, let's imagine sitting on Jesus' lap, while He is sitting on his throne next to God. You are right there with the King of the Universe. Lean back and whisper in his ear! He says,

"Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask.

Keep on seeking, and you will find.

Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." Mat. 7:7

John 15:7 "If you remain joined to me and my words remain in you,

you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted."

Think of it: Jesus actually is inviting you to take advantage of your close position!

From this place of acceptance and privilege, you are invited to tell the King what You need Him to do for you. But when you sit there, filled with reverence and awe, you will suddenly realize that some things you thought about asking Him are not really what is needed or important. However when the Holy Spirit helps you find your voice to ask, the things you wind up asking will be 'for His glory' (that is to say, 'in his name'). Such prayers are powerful!

Then John 15:11 promised, "you will be filled with my joy." Why will we receive such joy? Because we will ask big things of God, and He will grant our requests, and God will be glorified. First of all, He will be glorified because we will sing his praises more thankfully.

This is what I am trying to get my mind to grasp right now. I am working to understand and internalize sitting right now in heavenly realms with Christ', because I am asking God to do some amazingly big things.

Here is an amazing statement. It is one of Jesus' last words before his suffering:

John 12:24 I am telling you the truth: a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains.

Gale and I send you our love and together say

May the Lord bless you 'real good'.

Phil & Gale

Hi Everyone!

I'm so glad that you are listening to this extra podcast episode, because something that may cause confusion is going to happen soon. If you are listening to the NLT podcast series, and if you are now ready to listen to episode 345, you are used to seeing your next episode appearing daily at the top of your app's list. Starting this Sunday, my volunteer secretary, Vicky, will be releasing seven episodes in a row, just minutes a part. So when you open your podcast player on next Monday, your Monday episode will be the 7th one down the list. Then no new episodes will be released until the next Sunday. In other words, every Sunday afternoon, episodes for Monday through next Sunday will be released.

With most podcast players, the episodes you have aready listened to are shown in a different color than your not-yet-listened-to episodes. So hopefully it will always be visually clear where in the list for your next episode is. For instance, in the Antenapod app, episodes I have listened to are listed with a gray overlay, and unlistened to episodes show up normally.

For these remaining days of 2024, the above change will only happen in the NLT podcast, while the GNT will start with this new release method on the week of January 1st, 2025.

Because 2024 has been a leap year, our current podcasts will end on December 30th instead of the 31st. So this is a perfect opportunity for YOU to record something that I can put into a special episode for the last day of the year. This is open to anyone listening to the Daily Bible Reading Podcast series, even if you are on day 12 or 300-something. What was the most valuable insight you gained so far from listening to the podcasts? To avoid an echo in your recording, try recording in your car, parked in some quiet place.

Let me tell you about the new ministry that I am trying to launch here in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. There is a printed publication of the New Living Translation that is called Immerse. The Immerse Bible splits the Bible into six paper-back books, in which the NLT text is given without verse numbers or section headings. Readers can interact with the uncluttered content without visual distractions, just like reading a novel.

This happens to be a very strategic time in the USA when many people want to find out what the Bible really says, and those interested are often not church goers. Have you heard the news? Sales of printed Bibles are up 22% this year.

So in Siloam Springs, I am starting what we're calling TheGoodBook Reading Clubs. Groups of 12 people will agree on how much they will read per week, and find a time to meet in a coffee shop or restaurant. The meetings will not resemble a church service. In fact, we will ban any talk about churches. Instead we will simply ask,"What stood out to you in the pages we read this week?"

The six books of the Immerse Bible are titled Beginnings, Kingdoms, Chronicles, Poets, Prophets, and Messiah. The Messiah book contains the whole New Testament, but the books are reordered in an engaging way, starting with Luke, Acts, I and 2 Thessalonians. We will start the year reading the Messiah book. The Immerse Messiah book costs $11 at many Internet bookstores.

Normally, around this time every year, I suggest to listeners to find a different Bible podcast to listen to. But this year I want to suggest to everyone to start a Bible Reading Club, to experience the encouragement and discipleship that can happen in a group.

Back to my previous announcements:

Please remember that the DBRP NLT series will now be released in a different way, which will be visible in your podcast app on Monday.

To send your recording, go to https://ddeeper.today and use the contact button.

And to all listeners, what was your most important insight from God's Word this year? Please share a recording of you answering that question.

May the Lord bless you 'real good'!

Phil & Gale

JUDGES 16-17:Yesterday we heard of Samson's disastrous marriage, and his first major victory over the Philistines. Ways in which Samson disobeyed God's Laws are that he touched and even ate from a carcass, he murdered people when not at war, and he associated with pagans and even married one of them. In spite of this, God used him as a tool.

PSALM 86:In this psalm David models effective prayer. Let's follow his example!

1TIMOTHY 2:Yesterday we started Paul's first letter to Timothy. As I said yesterday, this is a personal letter to Timothy, and it is one of the group of letters called the Pastoral Epistles, or sometimes called the 5 T's. Central to the Pastoral Epistles is Paul's concern for true teaching in the church, and he especially stressed avoiding the controversies that at that time came from Jewish background believers. These letters often include a listing of various things, and one example is the list of the types of lawlessness in chapter one. Paul frequently mentions how important it is for believers to keep a clear conscience. And chapter one also contained one of several Pastoral 'trustworthy sayings'. A more unique point for chapter one is that Paul called himself the 'chief of sinners'.

Additional commentary:In twenty15, a woman wrote after hearing this chapter complaining about Paul's attitude toward women. I hope I can help some listeners by saying this: If you do not like what Paul wrote here, consider that Paul knew the audience was writing to. Compare what Paul said in Ephesians 5 with what Peter said in 1 Peter 3, and note how Paul lovingly wrote in this same letter about taking care of widows. It can be shown that Scripture played an important role in history to raise the position of both women and slaves. If you are interested in this general topic, you might also be interested in the translation note for verse 15 in the episode notes for today.

Let me tell the story of a missionary who served with me in Indonesia. Before Ron Kriens was a Christian and was working as a bus driver in a big city, he was impressed by Jesus' resurrection and reputation as a teacher, so he was willing to accept Jesus' words, and at first would only read Jesus' teachings. But then he found that Jesus said that after his death, the Holy Spirit would lead his disciples into all truth. So he read books penned by Jesus' disciples, John and Peter. Then he discovered that Peter respected Paul's writings as Scripture. (2Ptr. 3) And finally, at some point, I know that he realized how important understanding the Old Testament is to understanding the New Testament. I tell Ron's story to say this: God's Word is a unity. The very coherence of the message is wonderful proof of God's sovereignly in controlling the writings which have come down to us. We will find the most joy and peace in submitting to our sovereign Creator fully and not rejecting any part of His Word.

NLT Translation notes:1Tim2:1 [PET: I advise you to teach these things to the church you serve. First of all, every member of the church should give all kinds of prayer requests to God for everyone else— and also give thanks.//I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.]7 And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about [fully believing//faith] and truth. I'm not exaggerating—just telling the truth.15 [PET: As a result of that sin, the female descendants of Eve fall under the punishment of God in having pain when giving birth. But even so, God is ready to help and save each woman— if she keeps fully believing in Him, does loving acts, and lives a holy and wise life.//NLT:/But women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty.]Cross reference and footnote in the PET: See Gen. 3:1-13. This verse can also be translated, "Even so, God will make each woman safe when giving birth to children— as long as she keeps fully believing in Him, does loving acts, and lives a holy and wise life."

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

JUDGES 16-17:Yesterday we heard of Samson's disastrous marriage, and his first major victory over the Philistines. Ways in which Samson disobeyed God's Laws are that he touched and even ate from a carcass, he murdered people when not at war, and he associated with pagans and even married one of them. In spite of this, God used him as a tool.

PSALM 86:In this psalm David models effective prayer. Let’s follow his example!

1TIMOTHY 2:Yesterday we started Paul’s first letter to Timothy. As I said yesterday, this is a personal letter to Timothy, and it is one of the group of letters called the Pastoral Epistles, or sometimes called the 5 T’s. Central to the Pastoral Epistles is Paul’s concern for true teaching in the church, and he especially stressed avoiding the controversies that at that time came from Jewish background believers. These letters often include a listing of various things, and one example is the list of the types of lawlessness in chapter one. Paul frequently mentions how important it is for believers to keep a clear conscience. And chapter one also contained one of several Pastoral ‘trustworthy sayings’. A more unique point for chapter one is that Paul called himself the ‘chief of sinners’.

Additional commentary:In twenty15, a woman wrote after hearing this chapter complaining about Paul’s attitude toward women. I hope I can help some listeners by saying this: If you do not like what Paul wrote here, consider that Paul knew the audience was writing to. Compare what Paul said in Ephesians 5 with what Peter said in 1 Peter 3, and note how Paul lovingly wrote in this same letter about taking care of widows. It can be shown that Scripture played an important role in history to raise the position of both women and slaves. If you are interested in this general topic, you might also be interested in the translation note for verse 15 in the episode notes for today.

Let me tell the story of a missionary who served with me in Indonesia. Before Ron Kriens was a Christian and was working as a bus driver in a big city, he was impressed by Jesus’ resurrection and reputation as a teacher, so he was willing to accept Jesus’ words, and at first would only read Jesus’ teachings. But then he found that Jesus said that after his death, the Holy Spirit would lead his disciples into all truth. So he read books penned by Jesus’ disciples, John and Peter. Then he discovered that Peter respected Paul’s writings as Scripture. (2Ptr. 3) And finally, at some point, I know that he realized how important understanding the Old Testament is to understanding the New Testament. I tell Ron’s story to say this: God’s Word is a unity. The very coherence of the message is wonderful proof of God’s sovereignly in controlling the writings which have come down to us. We will find the most joy and peace in submitting to our sovereign Creator fully and not rejecting any part of His Word.

NLT Translation notes:1Tim2:1 [PET: I advise you to teach these things to the church you serve. First of all, every member of the church should give all kinds of prayer requests to God for everyone else— and also give thanks.//I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.]7 And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about [fully believing//faith] and truth. I’m not exaggerating—just telling the truth.15 [PET: As a result of that sin, the female descendants of Eve fall under the punishment of God in having pain when giving birth. But even so, God is ready to help and save each woman— if she keeps fully believing in Him, does loving acts, and lives a holy and wise life.//NLT:/But women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty.]Cross reference and footnote in the PET: See Gen. 3:1-13. This verse can also be translated, “Even so, God will make each woman safe when giving birth to children— as long as she keeps fully believing in Him, does loving acts, and lives a holy and wise life.”

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

1SAMUEL 20:Yesterday we heard the slow escalation of David's problems stemming from Saul's jealousy. Saul made David his son-in-law, but only because of the hope that David would be killed by the Philistines. For only the first time in yesterday's reading, we heard how Saul was humbled because of the results of acting on his jealousy. But he doesn't learn from it.

PSALM 103:How it must please the Lord when we pray this psalm, which is another favorite! Note that the psalm starts and ends with the same line.

ROMANS 7:8—8:4:The second key to being released from the power of sin is God's Spirit! (v.6) Paul then launched into an exposition of what he meant in verse 5: "When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death." The explanation that extends from verse 7 to the end of the chapter should NOT be construed to negate what he said in verse 6, in the preceding chapters, and in chapter 8!

Notice that in the second half of chapter 7, Paul stops mentioning Christ. That's a hint that he is not talking about our life in union with Christ. Also, I found it interesting to do a search of Romans searching for the word 'Spirit'. Look at the pattern of where the word 'Spirit' is used!

NLT Translation notes:Rom. 7:10 and [might as well as killed me. I died— spiritually speaking.//I died]. So I discovered that the law's commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. 11 Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me [— (because I couldn't keep them)]. 15 I don't really understand [my own self//myself], for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 20 But if I do what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing [the] wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.23 But there is another powere within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that [lives on//is] [0/still] within me. [PET 24-25] [So you see how it [was//is]: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.///[NLT] 24Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord[./!] //So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.][It seems to me (and I am not alone in this) that reordering Paul's words here helps to remove the impression that Paul is contradicting everything he has said so far about the believer's victory over the power of sin. From verse 7 on, Paul is expounding on verse 5: "When we were controlled by our old nature,b sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death." If I am right, then, NLT is wrong to use the present tense in "you see how it is". I don't have a problem with this connecting phrase showing the logical connection. I just want to change the verb tense. The Greek only says, "So then," which is really enough.This is a very unfortunate chapter break (not made by Paul but by Robert Estienne around 1552). This chapter division has contributed to the wrong understanding of the end of this chapter. I recommend that everyone always keep reading past it!]

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

See more at joysightings.info.

GENESIS 32-33: Yesterday we heard how Jacob and his big family got away from Laban and started the journey home. When Laban caught up with him, he and Jacob got into a quarrel and ended up making a covenant.

JOB 19: In chapter 18, Bildad once again gave a speech about what happens to wicked people, and by implication, he said, “You're just getting what you deserve.” Job’s response in today’s chapter includes amazing revelations. Verses 23-27 can be compared with the second half of 1Corinthians 15.

MARK 12a: In Mark 11, Jesus was welcomed in triumph in Jerusalem, he cursed a fig tree and taught about prayer, and cleansed the temple of merchant activity. Then he answered and confuted the chief priests who challenged his authority to “do these things,”— in particular, taking their businesses out of the temple.

NLT Translation notes: Job 19:15 My servants and maids [even/0] consider me a stranger. I am like a foreigner to them. 16 When I call my servant, he doesn’t [even/0] come; I have to plead with him! ==== Mrk. 12:1 Then Jesus began teaching them with stories [like this one]: “A man planted a vineyard. … 13 Later the leaders sent some Pharisees and supporters of [king/0] Herod to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested. 16 When they handed [one/it] to him, he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped [here//on it]?” 26b Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses, ‘I am the God [Abraham worships//of Abraham], the God [Isaac worships], and the God [Jacob worships].’ 27 PET God spoke of our three forefathers as men who still live and worship Him. … [In Lumina.Bible.org Constable quotes Lane: “If the death of the patriarchs is the last word of their history, there has been a breach of the promises of God guaranteed by the [Abrahamic] covenant, and of which the formula ‘the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob’ is the symbol. It is in fidelity to his covenant that God will resurrect the dead.” Using a present tense verb makes it obvious to the English-speaking listener that the three patriarchs are still living. However, the problem becomes that if the Hebrew had been that specific, everyone would have understood that the patriarchs were still living. So my fix here, I now admit, goes too far.]

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Hi there!

I'm so glad you have clicked to listen to this trailer to the Digging Deeper Daily Bible reading plan for 2024. If you want to read the Bible in a great reading plan that will hold your attention and enable you to stay with the program, you are in the right place.

My name is Phil Fields. I'm almost 74 years old and happily married to Gale. We have three children, and five grandkids. In 1983, when our kids were still small, our family went as Bible translators to Papua, Indonesia. We finished a New Testament translation for the Orya people in 2005. Since that time I have been leading an organization which is translating the Bible into the national language of Indonesia. We're hoping that the entire Bible in the Plain Indonesian Translation will be finished at the end of 2025. Our sponsoring organization is Pioneer Bible Translators.

When I started the Daily Bible Reading Podcast in 2014 the audience I had in mind was my grandkids. I wanted to make a set of Bible recordings for them, to leave behind what I would tell each one of them if and when they fall into difficult times.

Here's a list of what I will cover:

• Remember this new Web address: DDeeper.today.
• Please Sign up for email
• Why it's a good idea to use a good Bible reading plan.
• Choose a Bible translation that makes sense for you for daily reading.
• Different ways to follow the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan
• Pointers about podcast listening
• How to contact me.

Remember this new Web address: DDeeper.today. I realized recently how hard it is to find my websites when they are named DailyBibleReading.info. When I started podcasting in 2014, there were not many podcasts or blogs with that name. So I am hoping that the oddity of the new web address will help everyone looking for information on the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan and podcasts. The site is DDeeper.today with two D's. I figure most other podcasters won't misspell Deeper like I have. Even though it starts with two D's, I'm pronouncing it like it started with just one.

Please Sign up for email: There are times when I want to announce a special episode or a new feature in the YV Bible app. And listeners often like to hear about our Bible translation ministry. That is why I suggest that you sign up for my email updates. You will join a special list that is only for 2024. You will receive no more than 5 emails. I won't ask for donations or try to sell you something. Please sign up by going to DDeeper.today, click the How-to's link, and choose the menu item entitled 2024 Email Sign-up.

Why it's a good idea to use a good Bible reading plan: If you start at the beginning of the Bible and attempt to read straight through, you will likely get bogged down somewhere in the Old Testament. The Bible is not organized like a novel. The Digging Deeper Daily reading plan will help you be successful. If you are looking for a reading plan that covers the whole Bible, I highly recommend you choose a reading plan that contains something from the New Testament every day.

For more information about the 3D reading plan, please click the How-To link at DDeeper.today and scroll down. I suggest that you view the short video on that page entitled How to Study the Bible.

READ in a real-book Bible: You'll want to download the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan. The link for that is found right on the front of DDeeper.today. It is labeled Plan.PDF.

READ the 3D reading plan using Bible apps on your smartphone or tablet: Subscribe to the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan in the YouVersion Bible app. This app is available for Android and Apple devices.

LISTEN to the DDeeper.today podcasts. The podcasts have an introduction to each of the three daily readings. The introductions remind you of what you heard yesterday, and the podcast ends with a prayer that I normally don't close with an Amen, hoping that you will continue to pray.

How about READing and LISTENing?! Open your podcast player and start the introduction to your next episode. While listening to my greeting, you'll have time to open the YV app to your next day in the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan. You'll get way more out of each day's readings if you have time to do it this way, reading and listening.

When you sign up for a YV reading plan, you are given an option to do the plan privately or share it with your friends. If you share the plan with friends, at the end of each day's readings, you will be given the opportunity to share something you gleaned from the readings. This is fabulous and a great way to connect with your friends through the Bible app. But since the Digging Deeper Daily plan is for the whole Bible in 365 days, I suggest you share with a select group of close friends, or maybe 1-2 other people, or just do the plan privately.

Choose a Bible translation that makes sense for you and for a year-long reading program. Many of you will be using a translation like the ESV for taking to church. My own church uses that translation. But it is not very well suited to a year-long reading program, especially if this is your first time reading the whole Bible. I strongly recommend the NLT or the GNT for following the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan. Please take my advice as a Bible translator: Using a translation like the NLT or GNT is even more important if you will be Listening to the Bible readings while doing something like driving to work. See more information about Bible translations under the READ heading in the How-To's.

How to listen to podcasts: Please see the Listening How-To's by clicking the How-To's link at DDeeper.today. I recommend you use a podcast aggregator app that

• makes it easy to see the episode notes,
• that remembers your place and will automatically queue up your next episode,
• and that lets you speed up my reading to 1.20% speed.

If you use smart speakers to play the DDeeper.today podcasts, please help me improve the instructions found in the How-To's.

My favorite way for you to contact me is via the contact button at the top of all my websites. If you are using an Alexa device, I recommend controlling the playback with the Amazon Music app.

The three older domain names for my two Bible-reading websites will still take you to the same pages. The main old website is dailybiblereading.info. Also: dailyNLTbiblereading.info dailyGNTbiblereading.info

For any long-time listeners, I believe that the change of the name of the podcast to DDeeper Daily and the new domain name will not change the way your podcast player is interacting with the podcasts. If you find otherwise, please let me know.

When I chose the odd extension for the DDeeper site, not dot Com, or dot info, but 'today', I thought of two places where the word 'today' is highlighted in the New Testament. One is

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭6:2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

[2] For God says, "At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you." Indeed, the "right time" is now. Today is the day of salvation.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4:6‭-‬7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

[6] So God's rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. [7] So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: "Today when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts."

That last quote is one you will need to read in context to really understand. My point in sharing those two verses is to encourage you. Each day that you read the Bible with the goal of reading all of it, the Holy Spirit will be helping you experience the amazing spiritual transformation that God wants for you. Find salvation, and enter the place of rest and safety God has for you.

Please Sign up for email by going to the How-to's at DDeeper.today.

Here is the link to the Digging Deeper Daily Youversion reading plan: https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/1314-digging-deeper-daily-by-daily-bible

Here is a link to a fuller explanation about how to duplicate the experience of the Read To Me Daily reading plan:
https://sites.google.com/clarinetpages.net/read-the-bible-in-a-year/listen/using-the-youversion-app?authuser=0