Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

Without understanding this single concept,  the rest of the Bible will make no sense. It must be understood that, unfortunately, man is not good.  Scripture lays it out plainly about the heart of man. His every intent is only ever evil . Yikes. It is why there is death, strife, conflict, violence and misunderstanding.  It is the reason God begins a rescue operation that starts with NOAH , and a BO...

What can a group of beings from  another world teach us about being successful  in this world ?   Join me for 7 minutes to explore a strange chapter in human history, when spiritual beings, probably fallen angels , intermixed with the daughters of mankind . Surprisingly, though they are now gone, their lessons remain on our front burners.  I give you, The NEPHILIM. Subscribe  to hear the exciting...

The point is NOT that Methuselah lived 969 years, as impressive as this is.  He sets the world record for longevity. The main point is what follows the comma, "...and he died." So just like the rest of us, Methuselah dies.  Then what? Well, similar to us, judgement. Life is short, so let's do it right. Life is short, receive the Savior.   Bewithme.us Apple Podcasts and Google podcas...

The God of the Bible has gone to repeated lengths for us to know about a man named ENOCH. He lived 365 years and walked with God for 300 of them. Then, he was taken. He was no more as far as those on earth could see.  He did NOT pass through death, like the rest of humanity. Join me for 7 minutes as we admire a well-walked life. bewithme.us@gmail.com Castbox Spotify

In the Bible, a genealogy should not be a DISTRACTION, they should be the POINT. It is here we see that we have a personal, attentive, interactive, and faithful God. Today we will recount a very unique period of time. Everybody lived around 900 years so there were lots of overlapping generations.  There certainly was a growing evil upon the earth, yet, there was a faithful remnant culminating in N...

Scholars say that Enosh INVENTS or at least POINEERS WORSHIP in Genesis. It is a verbal, public, directed and desperate response to the presence of a holy, good God. He decides to treat God in a certain way. Stay with me here, but Enoch's "invention" of worship does you and me NO earthly good unless we too decide to treat God in the same way.  Everybody gets to decide if that "...

Eve saves the world in today's passage. To save the world you gotta build a boat . To build a boat you're gonna need a boat - builder . (Noah) To get to the boat-builder, you gotta go through SETH.  To get to Seth, you're gonna need a faithful EVE. Here's the tricky part: This process takes 1525 YEARS ! 8 generations stand between EVE's faithful response and NOAH'S he...

God designed the marriage bed to have just two people in it: a husband and a wife . Polygamy is very similar to modern day porn in that OTHER people are allowed into the marriage bed. That is, the borders of marriage become porous . In a sense, both polygamy and pornography STEAL someone else's wife or future wife . They both take the "presence" and "sexual availability" o...

Seven generations into marriage, a guy named Lamech TOOK TWO WIVES. He opens a theological bees nest as to whether this is God's original INTENT. It affects all the rest of us in subsequent generations as we ask, "is polygamy ok?"  The short answer is no, but. join me for a seven minute primer on God's heart for marriage. It is one man for one woman. bewithme.us Apple Podcasts...

In the 7th generation on earth, there is yet ANOTHER murder.  Lamech kills a young man for wounding him.  It is a disproportional response.  He then BRAGS about it to his family.  He is PROUD of it. We can build our cities, build our family and build our relationships with our without God.  If we do it wrong, at least let's have the decency to not be PROUD of it. Let's listen to the &quo...

Our bad example of Cain has many chances to do things right.  He can either move AWAY from the presence of the Lord or move TOWARD the presence of the Lord. It is helpful to think of this GEOGRAPHICALLY. At every turn he makes bad decisions and separates himself from the closeness God offers. Similarly, even today we will have chances to move AWAY or TOWARD the presence of God. Let's commit t...

Cain ends up in the worst place in the world: AWAY from the PRESENCE of the LORD. Sadly, he had the choice to move TOWARD the presence of God, but decided against it. He still complained about the result, but he was not willing to make the changes necessary to move toward the presence of God.  He stands as a shining example of what not to do.  Let's resolve to live in the "land of God&qu...

We will take our little lesson from a murderer today. Cain is the worst example , but he asks a great question: Am I my brother's keeper? First, should I even NOTICE my sisters? Second, should I be accountable to KEEP them, protect them,  guard and preserve them? The answer here is YES . Of note, you cannot KEEP what you do not WATCH . Let's NOTICE first. It shouldn't be hard, Adam&...

It is a sobering thing for a human to realize that in certain circumstances, they are NOT at the top of the food chain. They may indeed be HUNTED.  There are creatures out there that desire to kill and consume us. This happened to me in the Serengeti. Listen 7 minutes to the story. It's one of my best. Bewithme.us@gmail.com and Google Podcasts.

Cain murders his brother. He does so with evil intent, thoughtful consideration, and violent means. We were hoping that the evil of "The Fall" in  Genesis Chapter 3 would be enough for the rest of eternity. Apparently this is something we all get to deal with until we get to heaven. Unlike most of our encounters with such evil, Cain gets a "heads up" warning from God. Sin is CR...

Bad news: Sin still crouches at our door.  Its' desire is still to have us. A battle line is drawn here. Good news: With the Lord, I can be lord over sin*********** Every temptation has a way out******** Every sin has a way back******* The Lord says: I WILL HELP you HERE. Bewithme.us and Castbox and Spotify podcasts.

For some, conception, child bearing and childrearing is the closest they will come to the Divine in their entire lives.  Why is that? Because God is in it.  He invented sexual intimacy and the miracle of conception. He is a big fan. He gives this great gift to husbands and wives.  Today, Eve becomes the "mother of LIFE". She is not alone. She cannot do it alone.  It requires her husband...

What did God KNOW when He walked in the garden of the cool of the day?  He knew He had been betrayed; that His character had been questioned. He already knew that The Son would be on the menu of sacrifice. He knew that a rescue operation of thousands of years had already begun. He knew that the serpents head would be crushed. He knew Armageddon would be won in a single sentence. He knew in that Ga...

Lots in Genesis Chapter 3, just after the FALL, points to HEAVEN and the way Jesus gets us there. First, we get more family. From this living family comes Seth first and then Jesus eventually. Second, we get second skins. The contributor of those skins gave its' life for the temporary, incomplete protection of Adam and Eve. It shed its' blood for them. Similarly, and permanently and PREC...

Part of the curse is the introduction of death and decay into the world. In fact, it is happening in every cell of your body as you read this. It is called cellular senescence. Eventually, that catches up with you and results in your death.  You will return to the dust. It is part of the consequence of rebellion towards God.  The aging process is the hardest thing that most people ever do. Returni...

Why was Adam cursed? Can he blame it on Eve?  Well, she is "blame-adjacent", but she is not the essential culprit. Adam is cursed because of Adam's sin. And what was that sin? he LISTENED wrongly; non-discerningly to the voice of Eve. He failed to remember and compare her words with DIRECT words from God Himself. This calls into question the goodness of the commands and therefore, t...

Imagine riding a bicycle with no control over the steering, gears, or brakes.  This is what riding on the BACK of a tandem bicycle is like. I've done it,  and it's terrifying . It was the the best lesson for somebody who usually rides in the FRONT. It gave me a new compassion for my wife, who usually rides in the BACK. Listen 7 minutes as we explore "the CURSE ". It  is a layer...

Marriage takes a hit as a consequence of mankind's rebellion.  There is still marriage, but is going to be a bit more  difficult. As we look to Eve first, her desire will be for the job of Adam.  She'll have a tendency to buck against the created order in the primary human relationship: marriage.  Listen as we challenge all the daughters of Eve to fight ! Not fight with their husbands ,...

God asks fantastic questions of Adam and Eve to get to the heart of their rebellion. Rather than being pierced to conviction and struck to the heart they point everywhere except to themselves. Their   spouse gets blamed, the serpent gets blamed, God's character gets blamed, and God Himself gets blamed. Listen 7 minutes to see if Adam and Eve had enough to make good decisions. Then, consider w...

Whenever God asks a question in Scripture, HE KNOWS the answer to that question. But, SOMEBODY does not know the answer to the question. It’s always the people. He asks Adam and Eve 4 withering questions in the follow up to their disobedience: 1. Where were you? Why weren’t you in the place that benefitted you?  2. Who told you that? What voice did you listen to?  3. Have you broken my command? I...