Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

72 come back after being pretty JAZZED about having authority over demons.  Authority that had been allowed and authorized by the ultimate authority Himself, Jesus.  He is the inventor of authority and invites us to share it in the home, in the politic, and in the workplace.  perhaps it is fitting that He shares authority over demons too. How can they possibly be rebuked for that?  Perhaps not exa...

Today we think about NEARNESS to the kingdom .  The Kingdom of God that is. Generally, being NEAR TO THE KINGDOM is a good thing.  It is our only hope for dealing with our sin problem and our death problem.  It is our help for living in the now.  But, if your heart is hard, then be prepared for judgment if you reject the Kingdom when it comes NEAR.  Greater proximity means greater opportunity and...

The KINGDOM has come NEAR.   Ahhh.  The sweet gift of spiritual PROXIMITY.   Ahhh.  The sweet gift of a peace offered but not forcefully bestowed. Ahhh.  The sweet gift of miraculous HEALING and other confirming signs Ahhh.  The sweet gift of choice, faith, belief, "free-will", and agency Ahhh.  The sweet gift of JUSTICE Ahhh. The sweet gift of OPPORTUNITY. Good news:  The Kingdom will b...

Jesus sends out an advance team of Kingdom expanders to the towns he is to visit.  He warns them that they are lambs sent out in the midst of WOLVES. Therefore, I am going to send you out UNSUPPLIED ( No moneybag, sandals or knapsack).   So today is about what the Lord DID supply them with.  He gives them partners, He gives them a new VISION, He gives them a charge to PRAY and communicate; He give...

There is a whole lotta revelation of God in John Chapter 10.  So what?  For just head knowledge?  For just conquering the chapter and getting it under our belt so we can move on?  I'm pretty sure it's there not so we can "move on", but that we can be "moved upon" by it.  The purpose of reading the Bible is not to get through the Bible, but that the Bible can get throu...

Psalm 82:6 says, "I said, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince ."" The term "gods" in reference to humans is a little sticky.  Look with me today at Psalm 82, all 8 verses, of it as we ask what might the Lord have for us in this gem?  First, He is the big Judge, the big authority, and the big...

Jesus is certainly not afraid of referring to the "hard" scriptures of the Old Testament.  Here, He references one of the two times that people are referred to as "gods" (small g ).  That will certainly get your attention. He notes that two things are special about people.  Here, He reminds us that it is we to whom the Word of God is given .  That is a quite special platform. ...

Today I leave a Gift to my children, Grandchildren, and Great Grandchildren.  Those of this heritage can be both physical descendants or spiritual descendants.  What can I possibly leave now, that will be shiny, bright and effective and delightful 500 years from now?   We can hardly even conceive of such a notion because we live in a world of decay and moths, and rust and entropy.   But Jesus give...

Are you discouraged? Weary? Worried?  Then this wonder is for you.   God gives us a rich treasure in just 10 verses.  We find out truth statements about ourselves if we are believers.  (Perhaps if you are not, then today is the day for you to believe!). He tells us these truths: I have a shepherd My shepherd is GOOD I am part of a FLOCK I am KNOWN I am SPOKEN to I hear HIS VOICE I am in the hand o...

It is always a good thing when the Lord helps you to "get stuck" on a passage.  Likely, He's got something there for you.  How about this one from John 10:10: I came that THEY may HAVE LIFE... AND have it ABUNDANTLY. Step one. Step two.  Stage one.  Stage Two. Step One I think is to BELIEVE.  Be saved.  Have faith.  Trust Him. Turn towards. (Step One part B is that you get the PEOPL...

This podcast  just blew me away. Jesus wants us to know something SO IMPORTANT that He repeats it and repeats it and repeats it and repeats it.  Not exaggerating there.  Actually 5 times. Here it is:  I lay down my life.  5 x! Here is the sobering part:  He does it FOR something, FOR SOMEONE.  Who?  The sheep.  Me.  You.  Who wouldn't want to be a part of that Goodness?   "But wait, ther...

Looking backwards in time, God did not ALWAYS describe Himself as a Shepherd.  It had to start somewhere.  Today we will go to that spot in the Bible. Before this Psalm, not much is mentioned in Scripture about God as SHEPHERD .  After this introduction, it is mentioned EVERYWHERE. Ezekiel, Zechariah, Isaiah, all the gospels, 1 Peter, and into Revelation.  This is something He really wants us to k...

I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD so says Jesus.  There is a lot to this claim. There is a lot of good shepherding warm and fuzzies which of course we should not overlook.  He speaks, He knows us, He provides for us, He plans pasture, He gives us protection, etc. etc. etc.  There is nothing wrong with any of that.  In fact, we should spend a great deal of time here recalling these attributes and His being wi...

There is so much in this passage about the qualities of God I had to make up a new word:  ABUNDANCY.  You heard it here first.   In no particular order, Lord You ARE: a Voice speaker giver of an ability to HEAR a go-er before-er, a way maker, a gate, a pasture maker a Knower and allowed of being KNOWN not a stranger, not a robber, not a thief, not a stealer, not a killer, not a destroyer You are O...

Today's passage brings great comfort.  It is about the Lord's protection, and His PRESENCE, and His provision and His PLAN.  All good stuff.   Well, ALMOST all good.  We need some protection.  There are strangers to be fled from.   There are THIEVES that see our value and want it for nothing.  There are ROBBERS that even cross the line of violence.  So, all that should be kept in mind as...

So a Blind guy gets healed of his physical blindness.  Big deal.   Jesus then talks about the importance of this event to the Pharisees.  Don't let this moment get away from you!  Do not ignore the import of this lesson.  Be changed by it, rather than hard-hearted and worse off than before it started.  So yes we all are gifted with the revelation of God.  Perhaps some more or less, but creati...

We find conversion in our story today to be messy; to be lonely; to be desperate; to be confusing; to be deconstructing and to be difficult.  Perhaps yours was too.  Perhaps yours is like that right now.  If so, welcome to the kingdom of God.  Where else are you to go? Worship is always directed at someone or something.  If you would worship, let's say, a CHAIR, we'd declare an INTERVENT...

In medicine there is a term NEVER-EVENTS.  It means events that are NEVER supposed to happen while under medical care.  For example, no patients is supposed to FALL DOWN while in the hospital.  Never events are always bad things to be prevented. So lots of time, energy, design and protocols are utilized to try and make that a reality.  Today's passage notes a spiritual/physical NEVER-EVENT. ...

Jesus is and has been in the business of making eyes from mud.  That is how you got them and can read this.  That is how I got them and can write this.  Since we are from the dust, what else is new?  What makes it so interesting here in John 9 is that this man had eyes that didn't work, and then Jesus made them work.  Because this was done after birth, it is a miracle.  This causes quite a st...

I am becoming quite charmed by this blind guy in John chapter 9.  Apparently so was God.  He wrote ALL of Chapter 9 about him.  He "sees" the Lord without his eyes today.  At the end of the story, he'll actually see Jesus WITH his new eyes.  That's all fun, but this is where the real faith comes in. When I first looked at the story I thought he just got blitzkrieged by Jesus. ...

When we read Scripture, we must "read it on our knees", at least figuratively.  Literally, with thanks to George Whitefield, would be even better.  So let's approach this story of a blind man and all the other "blind" characters, with humility and anticipation.  It really is the story of the work of God inside a human being.  May that same process happen to you and to me....

Jesus and the Jews at the Temple are arguing where Jesus and Abraham rank in relation to one another.  At the end, they'll try to stone Jesus because of Who He asserts to be. In the meantime, Jesus drops a pearl about Abraham from 2000 years before Christ.  (BC before it was mis-appropriated by politically correct historians).  As far as I know, nowhere else in the Bible do we have this littl...

The contents of this passage are serious.  "Serious as a heart-attack" we might say today.    In just a few verses, they go from a debate about Abraham's merits and limitations to 'we are going to kill you right now'.  Not just with words and anger, but the real deal:  with rocks. Stoning is used as a discipline and punishment and warning.  It allows a collective disapprov...

So I have a massive heart attack in WalMart.  And "drop dead" right there in Asile 9. Am I dead? It depends who you ask. If you ask the bystanders , they will tell you a dramatic story with CPR, defibrillators, and paramedics.  My family will put an ad in the paper proclaiming my death.  There will be a funeral and stories and gatherings. But if you ask me , I won't be "dead&qu...

I think I am a pretty good person. But what if in reality, the characteristics of my life do not align with my hopeful perception of myself?  What if I don't look like and act like who I say I am following?  What if I look more like someone who is not the father I think I align with?  What if that character is the very bad actor THE DEVIL?  That should blow me out of the water... that is, if...