Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

The "cancel culture" of Ephesus is eventually silenced, corrected, and AT RISK themselves. Meantime, there is capture, confusion, mis-worship and even misinterpretation of a meteorite.  

They are warned to "do nothing rash" after hours and hours of doing a bunch of rash things.  The point is, they probably should have been a bit more careful with their thoughts from the outset.  

What might I have wrong? Lord, if there is any unpleasant thought, unpleasing word, offensive action, harrowing habit, or anything that does not please you, show me.  Then help me.  Correct me sooner than later.  Please share and subscribe.  bewithme.us.  bewithme.us@gmail.  facebook, twitter, instagram repost, like, comment. 

Acts is appropriately named, as it has a lot of ACTION.  Today, we see theology, friendship and a riot.  My favorite today is that the senior officials of the Roman Emperor worship cult WERE FRIENDS OF PAUL. They protect him during the riot
The so-called-goddess Artemis is being deposed from her position of worship.  
Her attributes are NOT TRUE
Her temple is NOT REAL
Her reputation is NOT DESERVED
Her greatness is NOT ANYTHING
Her magnificence is NOT MAINTAINED
Her influence is NOT UNIVERSAL

In all this mobishness, Paul has disciple friends, which is expected.  He also has friends from the Roman Cult.  We might take notice and do likewise.  bewithme.us.  [email protected] 

The Temple to Artemis in Ephesus WAS one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.  That is, for most people, seeing that temple was THE MOST SPECTACULAR thing they saw in their entire lifetime.  Today you can hardly even find its' ruins, and a single, reconstructed, mismatched column stands as the remains.  What happened?

We have two choices:  either Artemis is true, and every single person on the planet should be worshipping her...OR...she is false. That means: no yielding, no worship, no praying, no sacrifice, no holidays, no calendar, no festivals, and no objects of worship.  Today, everybody would laugh at her worship.  When Paul shows up to persuade for 2 years straight in Ephesus, EVERYBODY worshipped Artemis. When Alexander the Great offered to build ($$$$) a temple for the Ephesians to the "goddess" Artemis, they REFUSED.  They WANTED to sacrifice their money, time and efforts for her.  They were true worshippers.

Be careful what you worship.  Ultimately, we find that this Artemis wears no clothes.  She is not real. She is not a goddess after all. Paul points to the REAL God, arrayed in splendor, still wearing clothes for eternity.  Please like, share and come back tomorrow for more.

The exact moment, decisions, and even the type of decision making is discussed in two books of the bible by two authors.  Luke writes about Paul's plans in the book of Acts.  Paul writes about the same plans in the book of 1 Corinthians.  Paul is in Ephesus, where he writes to the Corinthian church hoping to come after he visits The Roman provence of Macedonia first.

They write of the same unique DIRECTION of travel. They write of the DURATION of the desired stay.  They write about the DECISION making and they write of the openness of the DOOR of ministry opportunity.

This again is giving us liberty in decision making.  Perhaps I will=I want to=I hope to=planning=resolving in the Spirit=seemed good to me and the Holy Spirit.  You too don't need a vision from God in deciding what to have for breakfast.  He's given you the indwelling Spirit now, so act like it in your decisions.  Please DECIDE to share, like, subscribe on Spotify, Apple, Google or bewithme.us.

Jose Ortega Y Gasset said, "Life is a series of collisions with the future." Therefore, "Living is a constant process of deciding what we are going to do."

We see that exact process in Paul as he DECIDES what to do next until he is COMPELLED at the end of his life.  He resolves in the Spirit to go to Macedonia, then to Corinth, then back to Jerusalem and then (under compulsion) to Rome.  It is an Epic journey of more than 4000 miles, mostly by foot.  It is the distance from LA to NYC and then to Miami and then to Key West.

At Paul's conversion, the Lord showed him how much and presumably how he MUST suffer for the sake of Jesus' name Acts 9:16.  Paul says he gets to decide in the Spirit for much of his planned journey but he MUST (same Greek word meaning "To be under the necessity of it happening") go to Rome.  I think the Lord showed paul his ending in Rome. That is why in this planning process he has liberty in the Spirit, except at the end.  Similarly, we have great liberty in our decision making...except at the end when we meet our Maker.  Let's resolve to do what seems good now, so on that day, we are not ashamed.  bewithme.us or bewithme.us@gmail.

The people of Ephesus are playing fast and loose with evil.  La-te-da, how bad could it be? Well, when they are confronted with the manifestation of evil with some of its' powers displayed, the Ephesians sober up quickly.  They realize it is nothing to fool around with! They realize that indeed, they are going to need the BIGGER BOAT of Jesus to fight it.

Some of our "Come to Jesus moments" are positive:  Jesus is gentle, loving, good, and saves nicely.  However, today the Ephesians have a come to Jesus moment as they are SCARED STRAIGHT.  He is our only hope to stomp on evil.  7 well know guys try, and they flee, wounded and naked and MASTERED by the strength of the evil they confront.

Their "come to Jesus" moment is inspired by SEEING EVIL.  They then assess their lives and what they've invested themselves in for any semblance of evil.  They find plenty, $6 million worth. They, and we get to ask, "Whose team am I on?"  Please send share and subscribe. bewithme.us

7 brothers choose to mis-appropriate the name of Jesus.  As in all things, there are consequences for such decisions.  We are instructed in the 10 commandments to not use the name of the Lord in vain.  Rarely do we see such immediate, dramatic results.

Generally, the name of Jesus is misused by people who are OUTSIDE the family of God.  That is, they illegitimately use THE NAME to give weight, power or authority as if they are INSIDE the family of God.  (If you are inside the family of God and speak like this, your command today is to cease) 

If you are outside the family of God and do this you have two choices: 1. Stop speaking or invoking as if you are inside the family of God. 2.Better yet, get INSIDE the family of God.  He actually INVITES that you might invoke His NAME here.  Use HIS NAME, with power, by attaching HIS NAME to your words of perhaps: HELP! or Sorry! or ultimately I BELIEVE.

Let's all watch our word choices and the power behind them until we meet again tomorrow.  Please consider going to the website and subscribing BeWithMe.us. Spotify, Google, Deezer, Audible, Apple Podcasts will all allow you to follow or subscribe too.

Listen 7 minutes and see your podcaster, Apollos, and the Ephesians GET MORE MATURE DAILY.  We start with believers who haven't even HEARD of the Holy Spirit.  It's like they only read the first couple of pages in the New Testament.  Imagine no Trinity, no Last Supper teaching, no explanation about the coming Holy Spirit, no book of Acts and the unleashing of the Spirit!

What they need is MORE ACCURACY.  Yesterday, we saw it happen to Apollos and in your Podcaster, who got the genders of Aquilla (male) and Pricilla (female) wrong. Today we see it in the Ephesians who Paul teaches DAILY for at least 27 months!

Every believer is supposed to be maturing, growing in service and faith, being a better giver, letting the Word change them, praying more genuinely, fellowshipping, and understanding more.  Christianity is a long-obedience in a single direction.  It is done daily with our heads, hands, hearts, tongues and wallets. Take a step today in one of those categories, and then COME BACK TOMORROW for another step.  Thanks for your diligence.  Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, Google podcasts.  bewithme.us

Apollos is such a good speaker and leader that it eventually causes a bit of hero worship in Corinth, "I follow Apollos..." Today, we see, besides his natural gifts of eloquence, boldness, and competency a very admirable quality. He is Competent in the Scriptures. He starts ACCURATELY. But when a more mature man and woman in Ephesus fill in his theology he gets MORE ACCURATE.

This is what it means to be competent in the scriptures.  Start with Accuracy.  Move every day to MORE accurate.  

Please follow on Facebook, subscribe at bewithme.us and/or [email protected] . Be like Apollos and be more competent tomorrow. 7 minutes attached to something you do every day that also takes 7 minutes.  Maybe set the table.  Maybe let the dog out. Maybe take your shower.  Maybe get dressed.  Event stack this podcast in your life to seek to be MORE ACCURATE tomorrow.

General Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines in the dark days of 1942 because of the advancing Japanese army vowing, "I shall return".  In 1944, he returned to Leyte Island after the tide of the war turned.

Similarly, near the end of second missionary journey, Paul vows to the Ephesus church, "I will return to you if God wills." There is barely a church there, so he leaves Aquilla and Pricilla to establish them.  True to his word, Paul makes a 800 mile bee-line to Ephesus on the third missionary journey. Apparently, God indeed does will, as He is  making a people for his name.

Join me as we admire the big picture of the missionary journeys.  Paul is on the road for about 9.5 of 12 years from 46ad to 57ad. He leaves Ephesus in the spring of 51AD, but returns quickly.  bewithme.us or [email protected] or apple podcasts.