Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

What if BEING generous results in GETTING the most valuable commodity in the world? What if giving what you cannot keep gains what you can not EARN?  (Thank you  Jim Elliott.)


A valuable thing IN THIS WORLD is PRAYER.  Perhaps it is the most valuable thing. It connects the needs and ache and despair of this world to another world. It asks of God to come and help us.  It is certainly priceless to know we are not alone here and that God is with us and for us.

Here's the insight for today's podcast.  The result of the Corinthians generosity has resulted in the receiving group returning something even MORE VALUABLE: their prayers for the Corinthians.  It is something you cannot buy anywhere.

Please pray for me.  Pray for this podcast. It is a treasure I could never purchase. After you pray, please share, like, comment, subscribe on YouTube, FB, Instagram, LinkedIn, or apple podcasts. bewithme.us 

We are stewards of the generosity of God.  He started the whole process by being generous with us in a myriad of ways.  He asks for a response to HIS generosity which is to be OUR generosity.  

He tells us, if we do this right, He's gonna LOVE IT.

And, in the meantime, in real time, HE'S IN IT.  He's doing His part in "making bread" and giving us the abilities to get resources and then to GIVE resources generously.

We are enriched to be generous, because we were recipients of generosity first.

bewithme.us please visit and subscribe. Join our FB group:  Be With Me group

We find out in today's podcast something that God LOVES.  We discover the HEART OF GOD.  We learn what PLEASES Him.

Here it is: What I do with MY HEART in relation to giving.  Do I do the right thing  "deciding in my heart" regarding giving? How are the decisions of MY HEART related to pleasing GOD'S HEART.

Join me for 7 minutes in listening carefully about something we can do "For the love of God". There is something that can be done in the decision of my heart that will pursue the heart of God. Please subscribe for more thoughts from God's Word tomorrow at bewithme.us and Spotify.

"My heart goes out to you."  Really? How so? Can I measure it? Can I quantify it? 

Remember when the Grinch's heart grew 3 sizes?  Did it grow big enough to change his behavior and giving? Did it grow large enough to include other people in its' scope? Was the growth PROVABLE?

Paul asks the same question of the Corinthians.  "Is your readiness, willingness and theoretical planning on giving now PROVABLE GIVING?" Let's see with real dollars to real people in real places.  

Join me for 7 minutes as we look at the PROVABLE Grinch's heart and ours too.  Another way to prove your commitment to daily consideration is to subscribe at bewithme.us or apple podcasts or on the YouTube channel.

I hope that you are surrounded by people in whom God has done something remarkable in their HEARTS.  Then, I hope you get to SEE them weilding their gifts in the church.  Sometimes these places are SECRET, or at least UNSEEN.  This is the genius of God as it is worked out in His real people, in real churches.

Today is a call towards the winsome, desirable, and admirable people of God.  I hope that you are a part of them in a real way, and by that I mean service.

Please consider coming back to this blog and podcast every day for seven minutes.  You have seven minutes and it probably would help you.  bewithme.us or google podcasts.  Instagram FB LinkedIn, etc. 

Good giving is

• modeled (by Christ)
• ongoing (you'll struggle with it this year and every year til you die)
• is primarily a matter of the heart(volitional)
• is primarily a matter of the hands(practical)
• is not compelled (it is voluntary, that's how it tests us)
• pleasing (God calls it acceptable)
• is real (we are talking about exactly what you have; not what you don't have)
• humble (we may some day be on the receiving end of someone's generosity)

Join me for a 7 minute primer on GOOD GIVING.  It is an important aspect of life to do well and serves to test the statement, "I'm a good person." Really? Then SHOW ME HOW MUCH YOU GIVE.  Listen and then go to bewithme.us and subscribe; Then, I'd love to see you back tomorrow morning for another 7 minutes.

Don't miss this truth. It is critically important.  It will benefit you and others. But wait! It is about MONEY and giving and generosity.  

The Corinthians get compared with another church's example of GIVING.  They get some crazy math of: severe affliction + abundant joy + extreme poverty = overflowing generosity on their part.  

Importantly, they didn't start their giving with their checkbooks.  First, they gave themselves to the LORD, then to LEADERS, then to the WORK.

It was a challenge then and it is a challenge now.  Why take the challenge and even consider this? Because it is the best way to live.  That is why I don't want you to miss this 7 minutes today and another day if you subscribe at bewithme.us or google podcasts.

All our little and big thoughts are done IN THE SIGHT OF GOD.  How we relate to our leaders is all bare for God to see.  We ask IF we will be "tended", and WHO will tend us before God's view.

Sometimes our rebellion is known to everyone but ourselves.  We can be the last to know.

Join me for 7 minutes as we think about our relationship to our spiritual leaders.  How can we best refresh the spirit of our spiritual leaders?  Thank you for even considering the question.  Please subscribe and listen tomorrow by clicking bewithme.us or Apple podcasts.

Worldly grief is the saddest thing in our world.  Godly grief is the best thing in the world.  The Corinthians are recognized and praised for 'doing grief right'.  There is a lot to learn about godly grief:

• it is primarily SELF grief; directed at my self-sickness
• it is a rebuke with RESULTS; it PRODUCES something; it is FRUITFUL grief
• it starts with agreeing with the FACTS
• it leads to FEELINGS of sorrow
• and then is a FORCE of change that leads to those good results.

Don't waste your grief. It is a particular time at the pointy end of conviction that the Lord basically says, "I will meet you in your godly grief." Wrestle 7 minutes with me about grief today and subscribe at bewithme.us for whatever is to come in another little section of 2 Corinthians.  Listen to the podcast on Google, Apple, Pocket Casts, etc. Write at [email protected]

After recalling a hit-parade of God's promises, Paul tells us how to live. Because people are prickly, repentance and grief are going to be required both with God and man.  

What caught my eye in today's passage was that the call to 'widen your hearts toward us' had a time stamp on it. That is, UNTIL DEATH.  Paul's commitment to this people group was until his end.  I suppose the call for some is to begin with the people of God. For others, the call is to STAY with the people of God. For some, to DIE WITH the people of God.

Through what people group do you wish to have your casket dragged up the middle aisle? Find that group and live graciously with them in the meantime.  

To help with a daily reminder, write bewithme.us@gmail or bewithme.us to subscribe in a written way. Apple, google, etc. podcasts for the 7 minute encouragment.