Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

Stephen gets CANCELLED in 33AD. They STOP THEIR EARS.  They stick their fingers in their ears and loudly say, "Nanny nanny poo poo, I'm not listening, I'M NOT LISTENING!" The marketplace of ideas is closed for the season.  They actively, actionably, overtly STOP listening. 

Must have been weird.  Isn't Stephen supposed to be a bearer of the GOOD NEWS?  Yup.  But first, he is the bearer of the bad news.  This is the offense of the Gospel.  The offense of Jesus.  The offense of the Holy Spirit.  The offense of those that represent Them before mankind. They want to CANCEL the OFFENSE that made the cross necessary: their own culpability.

No surprise here.  This is an old message of rebellion.  What particularly got 'em was, "You are just like your fathers."  They did the same thing.  Yesterday's big reveal was YOU ARE JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER DARTH VADER.

Others in Acts have responded to this offense in a better way: cut to the heart; receive and be baptized; awe came upon them; hear and believe; repent, etc.  THEY cancelled the CANCEL CULTURE of 33 ad.  We can too.  

This podcast is a daily dose.  Join me tomorrow as "I gather my podcast listeners around me and teach them how to DIE" (DL Moody)

"Luke, I AM your father." It is one of the great revelation moments in the Star Wars epic.  The problem is, it is DARTH VADER who is speaking.  Luke finds out that his heritage is one of ongoing, unspeakable evil.  He finds out the stock that he is from.  In today's podcast, so do the leaders of Jerusalem.  

It is not God's fault:  He has consistently sent opportunities, and His presence, and His favor, and His witnesses in the prophets, and even His nearness in the Temple to show Himself to the Jews and proselytes. 

Stephen nails them.  You are STIFF NECKED.  (This is a buzz-word from back in the time of exodus.  It is NOT a complement.)You don't listen.  Your heart is HARD.  You always resist the Holy Spirit.  Then here's the kicker:  As your father's did (Darth Vader) so do you. OUCH.  

How does one respond when you get your arms around the fact that your spiritual family is not exactly a family-tree to be proud of?  Will you do-the-right-thing and change history?  Will you cave and continue to do the wrong thing? Stick around and find out what exactly their response is to these accusations.  Meantime, subscribe at bewithme.us , like, share, and consider.

Stephen is summarizing 2000 years of mankind's response to the call of God.  It is not a pretty picture.  Repeatedly, they cry out: "You are NOT THE BOSS OF ME."  

All along, we see a history of God that is quite flattering.  "I have seen.  I have heard. I have come down.  I deliver. I have sent.  I will be with you." He does so with Patriarchs, promises, covenants and His presence.

Yet, our early brothers and sisters just would not have it.  They "refused to obey. Thrust him (Moses) aside. Rejected the helper.  Moses? Who is he? In their hearts returned to Egypt." Moses? "Who made you ruler and judge over us?" Well, it was God.  All along He was preparing a people to be rescued by Jesus. Moses was a part of that plan.

Our theme today is "You're not the boss of me."  Or, we can maybe move an inch towards, "wait You ARE the BOSS OF ME!"  It will be the greatest distance in the world.  

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Stephen goes from being a FREE man, to a SEIZED man, to a STONED man in a very short window of time.  Watch as God is with him in a way so real that even the bad guys around him note that he has a face like that "of an angel".  To those watching, it would have been awe-filled, other-worldly, and terrifying.  

In Stephen's hour of need, the Lord is with him in an intimate way.  His wisdom is dialed up so much that they couldn't withstand the wisdom with which he speaks.  He'll make a speech of a lifetime before he gets the honor of being the first Christian martyr.  In the meantime we find today that he is blessed with the presence of God.  The Holy Spirit is inside of him and all the Pentecost-ed believers.  The Holy Spirit is being manifested in his life by "grace, power, wonders, signs and wisdom."  Now, God shows up so much that his face demonstrates the character of another world.  His face is like that of an angel.  May you be blessed by seeing Stephen's face today.  Please subscribe. Please share. Please discuss. Please manifest His indwelling by your out-facing.

There is a newly formed, giant BALLOON of believers forming in Jerusalem.  In it are all the devout Jewish people from all over the world who have chosen to return to Jerusalem to follow the One true God.  There are also non-Jews, Gentiles who have decided God is the real deal.  They are proselytes, those who have converted to Judaism.  Because God has been incredibly geographic, national, and local up til now, they too move to Jerusalem.

They are primed to become believers because of this devout pursuit up the right path.  Add in Jesus, and then add in the Holy Spirit, and they have the full package.  

Amidst them all are some HELLENISTS.  People from Greece.  This was the world dominating culture for a long long time until they were roused by the Romans.  Remember Alexander the Great? There were LOTS of Greeks in Jerusalem.  Many of them were Jewish, and some were converts to Judaism.  Your new favorite Greek/Jerusalem Jew will be STEPHEN.  Listen and get acquainted.  And subscribe on Apple/Spotify/Google Podcasts, because the story continues tomorrow.

Has your church failed you?  Do you have complaints against your church? If so, you are not the first.  It is on the first page of book of the church (Acts). It is also here in Chapter 6.  But here is the challenge: YOU will likely be a part of the solution.  It will be an all-hands-on-deck situation.  YOUR HANDS will be the hands of the church.

A legitimate complaint is brought regarding a distinction between two groups in the church.  This would be a discrimination based on nationality, language, or perhaps race.  A church governance issue lapse has allowed a problem.  It is fixed by decisions, by people, by gifts, by the way that the HOLY SPIRIT (our main Character of the book of ACTS) has landed in His people.

The answer is to look to the giftedness within the church to find the hands that are gifted for this task.  There are many many many tasks in the church.  Which one are you fulfilling?  What are your hands doing? What did your hands do for the church in the last 7 days? If nothing, then look for someone who is hungry; who poops in their pants; who just had surgery; who is from another culture; who has a financial need; who knows less about the Bible than you; who is younger than you or has a language barrier.  Or, just find a widow.  

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Matthais has been an Apostle for just a few days.  He immediately gets arrested, imprisoned, interrogated, detained strongly, and then here today BEATEN.  What a ride.  Rather than be discouraged, he REJOICED with the other 11 Apostles, for being recognized as being with Jesus.  "I'm with Him".   He is privileged to suffer for the name of Jesus.  He goes to bed that night probably saying to himself, "I had a GREAT day."  Maybe even after the scattering of the disciples this was even a fond memory.

People in this account do something that is rare:  they change their minds because of the persuasion of a wise, honored associate.  Watch for it.

For us, let's recognize and follow the wise and make some distance with the foolish.  Let's be careful what we do with the claims of Christ and His witnesses.  Let's re-look at our attitude if we might suffer just a little bit for being known as having "been with Jesus."  Maybe we can even get beaten a bit.  After you recover, subscribe share and write this podcast. [email protected]

Peter and the other arrestees are  un-arrested.  Those who arrested the apostles are now arrested themselves by favor of the people.  They cannot do what they want.  The people have turned enough to actually protect the Apostles.  

Today we learn of the activity of the Father, Son and Spirit in helping the believer.  Our passage says that Jesus is exalted "to give repentance."  Wait, I don't repent all by myself?  Isn't that MY job in this process.  Well, it is such a big deal, that apparently, you will even need help with your side of the board.  

It is like a grandfather teaching his granddaughter to play tic tac toe.  He will need to be playing "both sides of the board" to orchestrate a winning strategy.  Fortunately, God's winning strategy is that WE WIN, just like the grandfather.

Lord, may You give repentance today.  Share with just that person.  Subscribe yourself to bewithme.us

The work of an angel charmed me today.  He worked UNBEKNOWNST to person, place or thing.  A guard was there and did not notice.  He was standing in the (likely) exact place of the angelic activity.  There was an intact, secure lock on the door that provided no impediment to the purposes of the angel.  I wonder about the unbeknownst-ness of angels today.  We know they are out there and doing stuff, it just remains unbeknownst to us. 

This is yet another of the outpouring of miraculous moments in the book of Acts.  It isn't all rainbows, as the Apostle are now ALL arrested.  This includes our new best friend Matthias.  He knew the way would be a little rough so here we go.  Welcome to being an apostle.

Let's enjoy this wonder-filled outpouring of the Holy Spirit and His activities here on earth.  This one involves a very sneaky Angel.  Enjoy! 

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Everything is going swimmingly.  The Holy Spirit is going ballistic.  Even Peter's shadow has power to heal bodies and minds.  The other apostles hands are doing wonders.  No surprise, multitudes are being added to the LORD and are enjoying the togetherness of the church.  This is what is expected out the the book of ACTS.  And then this happens:

"None of the rest DARED join them."  Now they esteemed the believers.  But who doesn't esteem a person of conviction, courage, daring, submission, hard work, faithful, kind, generous, and tax-paying?  Tell me something I don't know.

Apparently, belief, this taking a step of faith is SCARY.  Some didn't do it because they did not DARE to.  They were stopped at the courage barrier, perhaps because of not knowing what is ahead. To their credit, they are right.  Everything changes. Lordship of your life changes, money changes, sexual morals change, your tongue changes, who you hang out with changes, etc.  But, also what happens to your sin changes.  What happens to your life and after your life changes.  You get a new people.  You get a new PERSON.

DARE today.  Believe.  It is worth everything. 

Then do the scary thing of subscribing to this podcast so you might listen tomorrow.