Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

My QUALIFICATIONS as your PODCASTER Jeremiah 6:16 You may be wondering what my qualifications are to be sharing this little podcast.  There aren't many. Jeremiah encourages us to "follow the ancient paths".  There is no big secret.  Open heart.  Bible.  Pen.  Occasionally a book.  That is about it. Listen and see if it is good enough for you.

I Had a GREAT (favorable) day 2 Cor 6:2 We only have today.  I only have today to give this message of reconciliation with God.  You only have today to receive this message of reconciliation.  On this day, we are emphasizing the WHEN of the response to God.  There is never a multiple choice in His Word, it is always, it is ONLY: today. The needle of time only pricks today.   Listen, understand, an...

In a Day of Savation I have helped you. 2 Cor 6:2 Today you have awakened in a kingdom. If you find yourself in the Kingdom of God, you have only one response:  worship, thanks, gratitude, the sobriety of the rescued.  You didn't do it yourself and you needed help to do it. If you find yourself in the kingdom of the world you are in a world of hurt.  Here's the thing.  To get out of here...

Receive the Grace. 2 Cor 6:1 Paul begs the readers of 2 Cor 6:1 to RECEIVE the GRACE.  You certainly don't want to receive Judgment or true Justice.  You can even do better than mercy, though that is pretty kind of God to offer that too. You can receive GRACE.  Getting MORE THAN YOU DESERVE.  How do I sign up for that?  Receive it.  Believe it.  Agree with God about the nasty business of sin...

NOW is the favorable time. 2 Cor 6:2 I am 100% seen 100% judged 100% guilty 100% broken relationship with God How am I going to get out of this mess?  Like Abraham.  By faith.   How am I going to get out of this mess? Thru Jesus. The disciples in Matt 10 had the exact experience of our passage today from 2 Cor 5:18-6:2.  They are the messengers of reconciliation for those WHO WILL RECEIVE the GRAC...

Receive and Listen to your words Matt 10: 14 The biblical tennis match volleys back to the New Testament. What is the one thing the Lord credits?  The Bible uses some different language to describe it.  Faith, Belief, and receiving His Kingdom, His Savior, His Righteousness, in short:  HIM. Abraham did it and we are to walk in his footsteps. That is the call to the people who hear the Apostles&apo...

God Remembers. Genesis 19:29 We are in the Tennis Match of the Bible.  The New Testament in Luke 10 has volleyed the ball back to the Old Testament by referring to Sodom.  The ball will be sent back to the New Testament soon, but in the meantime, the Old Testament has an answer.   We are dismayed that 100% of Sodom is under judgment.  The "I have throw-up in my mouth" part of this all is...

100% JUDGED. Who can Stand? (nobody) Gen 19:4 Abraham stands and watches the judgment of God to Sodom in Genesis 19:4.  100% of them are judged.  If the Lord should mark iniquities, who could stand?  Psalm 130:3  Nobody. Guess what. We do not fare so hot under the hard eye of judgment either.  Maybe that is why he allowed abraham, and us , to watch this moment of history.  For, all of us are in th...

Abraham Argues with God Abraham "still stood" before the Lord but he doesn't exactly "stand still-ly".  He demonstrates today a real quest for understanding the judgment of God, in real time, in a real place, to real people, to a real outcry of sin. He serves as a great example for every believer and soon-to-be-believer.  The Lord loves genuine inquiry.  He can take a fait...

Stand before the Judgment of God Matt 10:15 Abraham gets to watch the Judgment of God.  Abraham gets to watch the Judgment of God on someone else.  It changed him forever. He stands before the Lord in Genesis 18 and 19 as the Lord choses to reveal a part of His character that Abraham is unfamiliar with:  His Judgment .    Today, we also get to watch as God Judges those who will not receive the mes...

Inconvenient Truth about Judgment Matt 10:25 What do you do about the "hard passages" of scripture?  What do you do about the INCONVENIENT truths that are in scripture? Skip them and continue on your path of rainbows and puppies? or... Face them, STAND BEFORE them, wrestle with them and find the treasures within them?   Let's start today with JUDGMENT.  That makes me squirm a bit. ...

Enduring to the End Matt 10:22 Who do you know that is running a race today?  Everybody. Who do you know whose race is a marathon?  Everybody. Who do you know who is in need of endurance?  Everybody. Join me in Matthew and Listen with prayer for those that need endurance for their race.

Unction. Endurance. Ending. Matt 10:22 Jesus gives a strong ANTI-advertisement for being a Christian.  Persecution. Wolves. Dragging. Betrayal by secret. Betrayal by family.  Lots of bad news. This passage is horrible but for the BUT. He gives His PRESENCE with the Spirit.  The Spirit trumps all the above. His charge is to go all the way to the end.  With God all the Way. Listen for the first day...

Let's talk about MONEY Luke 10: 8-10 Let's talk about MONEY Luke 10: 8-10 On one hand the gospel is completely tied to money.  There are budgets to meet, buildings to re-roof, parking lots to pave, health insurance to shop for, and paychecks to support ministers.  there are a lot of fiduciary details necessary to run a church.  Why? Because the pastors and ministries COMPLETELY deserve i...

Whatever you do DON'T go to the Gentiles Matt 10:5 God has a strong heart for the Jews.  That is clear from page 1 of the Bible.   Also present from page 1, but maybe not so clear, is God's heart for the Gentiles.  They are mentioned 100 of times mostly as the NATIONS.  It is a great exercise to WATCH for this terminology as His Kingdom expands geographically throughout time. But in toda...

Find a people that are NOT QUITE RIGHT Mt 10:11 Jesus sends the apostles out.  He tells them to be LOOKING for a certain type of person.  Someone who is WORTHY.  Who are these people?  How are they described in scripture?  By what criteria does the Word recommend such people?  Of course then, we should all be rigorously searching for such people to join with as well.  Forgiven people under the mer...

Most OVERQUALIFIED betrayer Matt 10:1 Jesus is the great AUTHOR.  That means He does what pleases Himself.  Here in Matthew 10:1 we see the sending out of the 12 with a set of resources that Jesus has given them AUTHORITY to use.  It is an incredible list.  verse 8 casually adds raise from the dead.   Soooooo, when Judas betrays Jesus, what had he seen? What had he done? What snippet of Jesus&apos...

And they LAUGHED at Jesus Luke 8:48 We know death.  But we don't know YOU (Jesus).  We don't know what you are capable of.  We don't know to trust you. You make these outrageous claims.  We LAUGH at you.  We still do today. There is a kid in today's account that needs a SNACK. There is a choice in today's account: Laugh or be amazed.  Listen and chose.

When i see that I AM NOT HIDDEN luke 8:47 What happens to the bleeding woman is not just physical.  Scripture is complicated in the sense that the warts of humanity are on full display.  So yes she is a person we are compassionate toward because of her 12 years of suffering.  We admire her for her faith and her single focus toward Jesus.  But she potentially makes everybody near her "unclean&...

"These are my People" Martyn Lloyd-Jones Luke 8:21 "These are my People" Martyn Lloyd-Jones Luke 8:21 A choice for the Lord is also a choice for The Lord's people.  We don't walk without the Holy Spirit within us, and we don't walk without the people of  God around us. Jesus redefines bonded, long-term, faithful, "blood" relations as people who are doin...

"Woman troubles" Luke 8: 43 Jesus breaks into some very personal health issues here.  He breaks the "guy code".  He breaks the "purity law" code.  He breaks the illness code.  Once again Jesus rattles the known world. Listen.  You'll see.

Whole Bible in 3 Words. Luke 8:38 Join me as we admire the man who gets healed from a legion of demons. At the end of the account, we find him "sitting at the feet of Jesus" and Begging to BE WITH HIM.  Somehow, he gets the message of the whole bible in 3 words. What are you begging for this day?  Join me as I beg for Your Presence for a few people.

Beg to Be with Jesus Today we see some responses to the day Jesus comes to visit. We see the herdsmen Fleeing We see the townspeople coming, seeing, then being afraid and asking Jesus to leave We see the demons being TOLD to leave and then my favorite:  the healed man BEGGING that he might BE WITH JESUS. If you read this, and if you LISTEN, you are doing the same thing...

Whatever You Do, Not the ABYSS luke 8:31 Jesus has a conversation with a demon.  That is interesting in and of itself.  I certainly squirm knowing there is evil and sickness and death and judgment and opposition to God.  The demon requests, and Jesus grants. There is an ABYSS that the demon knows about.  He seems to hint that it is his final destination.  He asks that it not be now.  Yes, Jesus fo...

I torment. But Don't Torment me (yet) Luke 8:31 Today's passage has Jesus confronting evil.  We meet a legion of demons in a man living across the sea of Galilee.  The demons though powerful and nasty, have met their match in Jesus.  It is not a fair fight.  Jesus wins with a word. Before He does, there is a bit of a conversation from this evil world.  We find the demons perfectly willin...