Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

The bad news is that I may be a person who is out of comfort; out of peace; out of food; out of clothes; out of safety and even out of life.  To make it worse, I may find myself condemned, charged and opposed.

The bigger good news is that I am a person who GOD IS FOR.  What else could compare? I am of a people who God is interceding for. I am of a family that is justified before Him. I am of a church enjoying inseparability from Him. I follow a God who is FOR US.

Please listen 7 minutes to some very good news.  Then, subscribe by leaving an email at bewithme.us to get a message first thing tomorrow.  

Join me today as we tackle ELECTION.  Here's my (knuckleheaded podcaster) understanding of it: Election is God saying to us, "Hey, I've been thinking about you."  and "I am FOR YOU."  And "BTW,  I've been thinking about you BEFORE (calling, foreknowledge) DURING (justification) and AFTER(conforming to image of Christ all the way to glory) your moment of salvation."

On the day of my salvation, I was surprised. I did not expect to yield or even to need God.  You know who WASN'T SURPRISED on the day of my salvation? God.  He had been at work for a long long time before that.

I LOVE that God had been thinking about me; that He was at work; that He was FOR ME; that He groans for me now.

The language of God's LOVE is ELECTION.  The heart of election is God's love.  We should love Him for it.  Bewithme.us Spotify Audible Podcaster Apple

I love that God is AT WORK.  I love that God is ON PURPOSE.

Today, we are to KNOW a few things. All things are working together. This is heading towards our good and even ultimate goodness. God is concerned with conforming us to His image.  He's been at it a long time foreknowing and predestining.  He has been ON-PURPOSE. He is ON-PURPOSE. He will be ON-PURPOSE.

So how do I best respond? I love that He's working.  I love that He's conforming. I love that He is on-purpose in this world and in my life.  Join me in responding in love to a God who is at work and on-purpose.

You too can be on-purpose as you subscribe at bewithme.us or [email protected] or iheartradio.

The Lord loves us enough to groan for us.  In this moment of not-quite-being-home, He joins our groaning with groaning of His own.  

We ought to pray.  We ought to be understood.  He understands our moment and meets us there. We are known. We are indwell.  So let's groan.  There is lots to groan about .  Let's bring it to the Lord.  That is prayer.  And let us be GROANED FOR.

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Creation groans with us as we stand between the revealed glory to come and the received world of temptation, evil, and fallenness. Every person you meet groans with the challenges of sin; every blade of grass, every asteroid and every microbe groans with fallenness.

If you are frustrated while we are in this waiting world, you are in good company.  Every star waits with you for God's saving work to be completed here.  There will someday be a new heaven and a new earth.  It will be occupied by a redeemed, unworthy, and grateful people.  In the meantime, we wait groaning.  Conveniently, we don't wait alone.  Creation waits with us. Creation groans with us.

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We have much to learn from our AA brothers and sisters in our "battle with sober living."  We too were once slaves to the addiction and power of sin.  We too were rescued by a process above our pay grade and re-familied into a body of rescued people.  We too should be living as grateful, indebted people.

• Be aware. It is a battle to the death
• Be full of appreciation. We are adopted in
• Be of action. Be led by the Spirit
• Be of anticipation. Don't be surprised by the suffering, by the difficulty
• Be aiming. Shoot for glory, that is adopting His character a little.

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If you came down for breakfast and found the Holy Spirit in the kitchen making eggs, the Spirit of God in the living room reading the paper, and the Spirit of Jesus out in the yard enjoying the sunrise, it would change a few things.  What if I don't have to seek a home in this world, but the world of the Trinity has already sought ME as a home.

Likely, I'd have a conversation (prayer), declare a party (worship), vacuum and straighten things up a bit (sanctification), and invite a few neighbors over (evangelism). I'd have access, availability and a foreshadow of what final heaven is going to look like.

Please listen 7 minutes with me as we consider this.  With the Lord's will, there will be another podcast tomorrow that you can avail by leaving an email at bewithme.us or Apple Podcasts. 

The Christian walk is in many ways not very glamorous.  Much of it is lived between the ears of one's head, deciding for God, and deciding what to do next.  Scripture calls that SETTING the MIND.

Every Christian you know is doing this very regularly.  It should be an invisible, regular, repeated, faculty of thoughtful planning, outlook and way of thinking.  Because of its regularity, it is not very glamorous, in my opinion.  What it is though, is absolutely critical.  We so very need to set and reset, and then reset and then reset our wandering minds.  Pray for all the Christians you know, as they will be faced with this challenging task about 10 times today. I guess unglamorous + unglamorous + unglamorous resetting eventually = glory.

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"Being found IN Christ" on day 1 is called SALVATION. "Being found in Christ" on the next days is called SANCTIFICATION.  I know it is trite, but positionally, I think of Jesus with this large dome of protection surrounding Him.  People run into this force field to be "found in Christ".  

It is a good place to be, as there are these great positional benefits found nowhere else. Outside there is frustration, inability, conviction and condemnation.  Inside there is NO CONDEMNATION, protection, help, and presence.  

Join me for slightly more than 7 minutes. 😬 It will be worth it as we agree and appreciate and admire the force field that we best be found under.  bewithme.us

Man, do we need a Savior! Join me for a 7 minute thought about how we best arrive at Christmas. Walk with me with Paul as he approaches the need for a Baby.

When the angels show up to the shepherds they find a world in frustration, conviction, and desperation.  They find us without self-remedy, disheartened and exasperated.  They find us at war with God, just like always. 

It is out of this path of desperation that we best come to Christmas.  A rescue is born that will offer to women and men the chance to be born again. From this disheartened state we get Glory to God in the highest; from our state of war we get peace on earth; and from our wretchedness we best get Christmas.  Merry Christmas everyone.  There is another little gift for you if you subscribe on Spotify or google Apple Podcasts or here at bewithme.us