Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

If this was the only thing you knew about God, at least it would be a GOOD START: God DESIRES ALL people to be SAVED.  I guess there is some bad news: you start as a person who IS NOT saved and needs to be SAVED. But God's character is such that HIS DESIRE is ALL PEOPLE be SAVED. We have a very strong advocate in our corner.  He is ABLE. He is sufficient to the task.  There is a ransom availa...

In a Mediterranean Sea culture, nothing is more catastrophic than being SHIPWRECKED. Paul uses that picture of people putting THEMSELVES at peril by their actions, agency and antagonism. The spiritual walk is the SECOND most difficult thing. It involves the work of thought, habit and behavior. Yup, it is hard.  What could be worse? Well, try being SHIPWRECKED, and knowing it is you who did it to Y...

How do we "give glory" to our God who ALREADY has all gloriousness and will ALWAYS have all glory?  I bend my UNDERSTANDING and get by brain-tool fired up about it I bend my ATTENTION to things that are a bit difficult to understand; For eyes to see the invisible. I bend my HEART towards, and lean into these actions I bend my WORDS to "re-give" you characteristics that you alre...

I am the #1 sinner in the world.  So says Paul. But, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. So, I guess that makes me (Paul and all the other #1s out there) #1 on His list. A big powerful God is necessary for this. We cannot do it ourselves. It was good of Him to come. He loves this world enough to come and then do what only He could do: RESCUE all those #1 sinners out there. I HOPE you...

The folks in Ephesus SWERVED from the real RESCUE they had in Jesus: they swerved to SPECULATION rather than the STEWARDSHIP of truth they swerved to GENEALOGIES rather than Jesus they swerved to LAW rather than the LORD'S LOVE they swerved to PEOPLE rather than PROMISES made true in JESUS they swerved to SELF righteousness rather than a SAVIOR'S righteousness He's given us a way ou...

Philemon is a book where Paul asks the real man Philemon to put his faith into realit y; and make his rainbows real . It is a book that challenges beliefs to become BOOTS ; FEELINGS to become FORGIVENESS and the THEORY of Christianity to be TANGIBLE . This part of the Bible seeks EFFECTIVE rainbows ; sentiments that have RESULTS. It is a challenging book.  It changed Philemon's world.  It cha...

Paul reminds Philemon that because he enjoys Christian fellowship, there is supposed to be some evident fruit from it; there is supposed to be a demonstrable BENEFIT in his actions. The call for Philemon is high, as Paul is asking him to FORGIVE a guy named Onesimus and now call him a brother. That is, he should be in a forever-relationship with you in God's church there in Colossae.  It is t...

Paul makes the tall-ask of having Philemon receive back the RUNAWAY BUNNY in his life, Onesimus. So what might motivate this change of heart? Paul reminds Philemon that he, Philemon himself, was the RUNAWAY BUNNY at one time . Paul received him into family fellowship. Jesus received him into family fellowship.  When? Well, when he was undeserving, unwashed, and unforgiven. Because we all were the...

One day, Philemon wakes up and literally gets a LETTER FROM GOD.  It had all the trappings of being a letter from PAUL, but it was later recognized by the Church to truly be a message for Philemon and the rest of us from the Almighty Himself. If you got a literal letter from God today, what would it say? Would it be a letter of COMFORT? God knows humanity, suffering, sickness, and yes, even death....

The only reason to read the Bible is to change the world.  The only reason to read the Bible is to change my world. The only reason to read the Bible is to change the world by changing my world. Welcome to the book of Philemon.  He is an individual who is invited to have his world ROCKED because of the fellowship he shares with other humans and the Lord Himself. Is faith actionable? Does Christian...

Here are 7 more reasons to make this book a part of your life.  God wrote it and preserved it and delivers it to us for a reason.  They are sweet words from our Creator.   Colossians is a love letter to us. It is a good idea to pick it up and let the heart of God spill over us. You can listen 7 minutes for a summary, but I'll give you my favorite reality from the whole book: OUR LIVES ARE HID...

You are gonna love Colossians. Or perhaps you already do.  For those who might need a little nudge, today I'll give you 10 ½ reasons why I have been loving this book.   You'll hear about some heroes. You'll hear about Jesus as CREATOR, reconciler and "setter-aside-guy" in regards to our sin.   You'll hear how G od chooses to be found by us so we can choose Him to be f...

If Paul wrote a missionary letter from your church, what would he say about YOU?  We get the privilege of seeing real people doing real stuff in a real place and time. Epaphrus is struggling on your behalf; toiling until tired and laboring until it hurts a little Luke is using his war-correspondence and bravery and teaching/writing gifts to write half of the New Testament Nympha is hosting a churc...

Three guys are forever lauded in the Bible because  they were a COMFORT to Paul. Comfort serves as a marker we are doing it right Comfort is needed , obviously Comfort is normative , or at least it should be Comfort is transferable from one human to another. It's real. Comfort is practical . You know everything about it you need to right now.  You have food, shelter, furniture, notes, connect...

Christianity is a marathon, not a sprint.  He's asked us to walk faithfully over a long period of time and serve with the imperfect people that make up the church.  That is going to require some forgiving, some recovery and some restoring broken relationships.   John Mark is such a success story.  He goes from bad to good; from broken to recovered. Demas is not such a story.  He goes from goo...

Wouldn't it be great to have a spiritual friend? This would be a person who shares belief in our Lord; who gathers in a fellowship community and all that means; who shares in the walk over time ; who then shares MINISTRY: i t's treasures, it's truth, and it's traumas .  This is spiritual friendship.  From this platform we are encouraged of heart. If your heart needs to be encou...

If you understood what I am up against today,  of course you would pray desperately for me . If I understood what you are facing today,  of course I would pray desperately for you. Believers will meet OUTsiders today.  That is, outside the family of God and outside of a friendly relationship with God.  The goal is to carefully carry a message that clarifies what is not yet understandable to them....

Please listen for 7 minutes as we ask: Is my prayer STEADFAST? That is, am I staying close to it; am I associating myself intimately with it. Being close to prayer is being close to God. Is my prayer WATCHFUL? Though God is sufficient in every way and does not  "need" my prayer, yet He asks me to participate in it.  He's somehow got something for me in prayer as He invites me into i...

God invented you and invented work.  He asks us to put more into it than just our backs and our hands.  Today, He'll ask us to put our whole SOUL into the work before us. Whether our "job" is being a boss, worker bee, being a child, a husband, a waitress, or a  car salesperson, the charge is the same:  do your work heartily, with your whole soul do it "as for the Lord" kno...

I love that the Bible is written for CHILDREN. Well, at least some of it is.  God doesn't forget the children, and I suppose we might learn something from Him. Of great interest, the same things that 5 year olds struggle with are similar to the things adults deal with. The big kicker today is that children CAN PLEASE THE LORD.  Today, you may see a waist high human who is interacting with the...

Submitters are the most beautiful people in the world. They adorn themselves with the voluntary relational attachment under a designated person and  under God. Every human is called to it in some of their relationships. The summons is to show in relational practice what is true in Spiritual reality. It demonstrates a posture before God that is demonstrated with words, attitudes and behavior to a r...

If I hope that today is a day for you to  put on LOVE let PEACE rule and let the Word of CHRIST dwell in you richly What I am really hoping is that TODAY IS A DAY OF TROUBLE. That is, it is the difficult situations that require these upper level actions.  It is a call to "love  when it is  needed" , to "Let peace rule when  peace isn't ruling." So, t oday,  I hope you have...

Our IDENTITY begets our ACTIVITIES and BEHAVIOR.  If we are having a spot of bother regarding our actions, then the likely source is that we have FORGOTTEN WHO WE ARE.  Don't forget! We are chosen, holy, beloved, Hidden in Him, & forgiven. So act like it: be compassionate, humble, kind, meek, patient and loving. If you are unmoored in your activities , the likely source is your  identity:...

Because we are FOUND HIDDEN IN HIM,  a few things have to change.  Listen 7 minutes to learn about the words and works that are gonna have to be KILLED.  We're gonna have to put a few things down, probably TODAY. Listen as we briefly bury the things that are "made of earth." Being hidden in Him leaves us with some things to do.   7 minutes. Bewithme.us @ gmail or the website bewithm...

If there is a sweeter passage of Scripture than today's text, you'll have to show it to me.  This is a dear picture that beautifully describes the relationship of a believer to God. "Your life is  hidden in Christ. ' It means that we are  kept safe, protected, covered and secreted in Him.  It means to be made invisible within His visibility. There are other synonyms for this re...