Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

G.O.A.T Disciple. Terrific Children! Mk 9:36 The disciples are BUSTED again by a question of Jesus.  They are silent because they know they have erred in their criteria of greatness.  They probably used the usual criteria of power, or muscles, or beauty, or possessions, or who had a nice boat, or something worldly. Jesus has a little sit-down lesson with a little person as the key element.  He bri...

OOPS! Made the SECONDARY the PRIMARY Mark9:23 A concerned father is appropriately undone by the illness of his son. But then he makes a classic mistake.  He makes the secondary thing the primary thing.  He makes the ABILITIES of Jesus more important than the IDENTITY of Jesus.  He says I want ACCESS before I give ACKNOWLEDGMENT.  I want miracles before I believe.  I want to have my son healed but...

I Believe. Help my Unbelief. Mark 9:24 A sick child reveals what a man believes about God. (So will a death of a loved one; a major surgery; a sexual temptation; a job loss; a big viral pandemic; a money situation or a marriage conflict.) At first, he sells Jesus short:  IF you can... Jesus calls him on it immediately: IF I CAN????????( seriously? I can I can I can I can I can! ) And then: All thi...

We have Lunch! Spiritual Mentorship 2Kings2:9 The word "mentorship" is not in 2 Kings 2, but the reality of if is everywhere. Older and younger more spiritually experienced with less experienced Watching me all the way to the end continue after I am gone "Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you" Pick up my cloak and continue Center the relationship on the Lord In...

Where is the Lord the God of Elijah? 2Kg2:14 Elijah gets a fasttrack to heaven on a chariot of fire and leaves Elisha his mentee to ask, "Where is the Lord the God of Elijah?"  Does the Spirit's activity stop with his death or does it live on?  Do we have a portion of that same spirit or dare I say Spirit? Jesus tells the disciples in Luke 17 that they missed "Elijah" comi...

Crossing the River Jordan W/ SOMEBODY 2 Kings 2:11 What is the big deal with Elijah? Why are the disciples questioning Jesus on the way down the Transfiguration Mountain about this guy? Why are the Jews so confused about him? Why is John the Baptist more in the "Spirit and Power of Elijah" than the actual transfigured Elijah that they just saw? We'll go to 2 Kings 2 today to jump to...

The Spirit and Power of Elijah Mt 17:12 Stop being afraid. Elijah has come.  No, it was not when he was here 5 minutes ago.  He was here in the same spirit and power of John the Baptist.  When Elijah actually came was not the time when the prophesy was fulfilled From Malachi 4:4-6.  It was in John the Baptist as predicted in John 1:21. And again, uncomfortably, another prediction of Jesus's s...

Invited to a TRINITY PARTY  Matthew 17:5 Today, we get invited to a TRINITY party of love, approval, history, awesomeness, family, priority and more stuff than I understand. God here GIVES VOICE to some primary elements of the Godhead.  This doesn't happen very often.  We probably should pay special attention.   God thinks He is terrific.  He'd better.  It is accurate. There is a charge:...

Catching the Tiger's Tail of God's Presence Mt17:6 The people of God have been LONGING for God's presence for thousands of years.  They pray about it, sing about it and yearn about it all the time.  They grieve that they are separated; that the kingdom is far or out of reach. But then, in Matt 17, the Lord shows up "on accident" as far as Peter James, and John were concern...

The Lord Shows up & My Face Does What? Mt17:6 Peter's problem is not so much what he says but WHEN he says it.  There on the mountain with Jesus the Father SHOWS UP, and he is yapping rather than bracing himself for a historical moment.  This doesn't happen often in the history of Mankind.  Generally, we don't walk with the Lord in the cool of the day anymore because of the fall...

If We could Just Stay Here FOREVER Luke 9:33 Peter says whatever comes to his mind.  I like what he says today. I don't want the illuminated Jesus to go; I don't want these flawed heroes Moses and Elijah to go, so let's build tents and stay awhile.  Maybe forever.  I don't care if we ever go back down the mountain. I want to freeze this moment.  I have Questions! Questions for...

Picking Prayer Teams before Accomplishing Luke 9:2 I got a big kick out of this passage.  Jesus picks a prayer team of underwhelming knuckleheads.  My guess is that Peter always got picked last. Somehow, I found that hilarious, but I digress. We will define glory for all of us who didn't go to seminary. We will see what heaven may be like: some humanity, maybe even gender, standing, identity,...

Hidden in Plain Sight Luke 9:22 Jesus predicts His death 3 ½ times in Luke's Gospel: #1 Luke 9:22 #2 Luke 9:44 #2 ½ Luke 13:33 #3 Luke18:31 Then He reinforces all these predictions afterwards #4 Luke 24:7 Before His death, He tells the disciples The Who What When Where and Why and How's of His death and resurrection. It is brutal, it is specific, it is geographically anchored, it is hist...

Father at Work REVEALING the Son Matt 16:17 Peter, if you are able to say Jesus is the Christ, then we know something has happened.  It did not involve you fleshly family, but is way above that in glory.  It is your Father who had put you into a blessed relationship with Himself.  How?  By being AT WORK in you REVEALING stuff to you that is way above your pay grade.  Here, specifically, if you are...

I want you to SAY IT. Luke 9 :18 Who do others say I am?  They get it wrong.  We certainly must have grace with how they are doing and where they are on their walk.  We were all unbelievers at some point too... But who do YOU SAY I am?  DTR this relationship.  Call it what it is.  Put it in writing.  Put it in verbal ink.  I want you to SAY IT.   Of interest, Jesus already knows what they are thin...

Knuckleheads get Transferred Power Luke 9:1 When last we met, Naamen was taking bags of Israel dirt back to Syria with him.  Today, the same dirt is potentially being shook off in judgment. The disciples were quite immature at this moment in Jesus' chronological walk with them. (even Judas gets to go!) Yet, He sends them out anyway with basically nothing but the shirt on their backs.  And wit...

Don't Mess With the People of God 2 Kings 5:20 Naaman is on his way back to Syria with the non-leprous skin of a young child. Happy story.  Right?  Maybe not.  Stay tuned... Gehazi, Elisha's servant, who should have known better, is a sneaky profiteer.  He knows that Naaman has $4million in his pocket and WANTS to give it to Elisha.  Elisha, WHO STANDS BEFORE GOD, says NO.  Gehazi, seein...

Geographic Selfie & Work Concern of Naamen 2 Kings 5:18 Naamen ends up with the skin of a little child.  His skin, and the rest of him is BORN AGAIN.  I don't know, but hopefully he's got one arm with skin the right age and the other with the skin of a 3 year old.  This would make a great conversation piece at a dinner party. What happens to the $4 million that I brought?  Take it ho...

Heroic Act of Humility 2 Kings 5:14 The Widow of Zarephath performs a heroic act of faith. Naaman the Syrian performs a humble act of faith, but for him , it is also a heroic act of faith.  For Him, it likely is the hardest thing. Remember that we are officially in Luke 4 wondering what is so very offensive about all this that they try to throw Jesus off a cliff.  It is that Your Ways are not my w...

Anger Rage Stomping by Naamen 2 Kings 5:13 1/2 The Lord is rocking Naaman's world.  Just not in the way he we expecting.  Just not in the way he thought he wanted. So.... anger. rage. harsh words. insulting a whole country. and stomping away.   Then again, it is the "little people" who come to the rescue.  Maybe it is the same servant girl.  They challenge Naamen to actually do the...

Naaman's But...(pride) 2 Kings 5:1 Luke 4 tells us that this is an important story.  An offensive story.  A story so good/bad that after people from Jesus' hometown even hear a REFERENCE to it, they want to kill Jesus. We have a mighty general who has leprosy We have a slave girl, captured, away from home but faithful Then we have the upper level negotiation of king to king And then, the...

Stretching ourselves Upon our Needs 1 Kg 17:20 Elijah brings his need before the Lord in a most practical, visual way today.  He STRETCHES HIMSELF OUT UPON the Widow of Zarephath's son.  He cries out.  He does the verbal and physical humility before the Lord and asks. And the so very sobering part: The Lord Listens to the voice of Elijah.   Perhaps, just perhaps, He will listen to our voices...

My Sin Is Brought to Remembrance 1 Kings 17:18 My son just died but the first thing that I mention that is bothering me is that MY SIN IS BROUGHT TO REMEMBRANCE. When God is active, this happens:  my sin is brought to remembrance. If someone says, "I'm OK, You're OK", or "Man is basically good", is almost a universal marker for hard heartedness.  That is not what is h...

BELIEF when IN or OUT of Kingdom 1 Kings 17:15 There is something so offensive about today's story that they tried to throw Jesus off a literal cliff because of it.  There is also something so intimate and sweet that God chose to put it in His precious book for all time.  Let's find both! Whether you "think you are in" or whether you "think you are out" of God's...

Verse 14 ½ of 1 Kings 17 Jesus volleys  the tennis ball of the Bible back to the Old Testament.  You recall the story of the Widow of Zarephath don't you?  Wait, you don't?!?  He basically tells us that we SHOULD; that there is something there for us; that it is important for the New Testament story.  We'd best give it a look. What we find there is bleak.  Famine. Drought. Nothing i...