Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

A whole marriage gets killed at the end of this story.  Now that we hear about it, we are going to be responsible for the reason WHY.  Yikes.  Let's pay heed and not do what they do.

A whole marriage agrees to lie to men and God about how much land was sold for. It is the world's smallest conspiracy.  They agree to sell.  They agree to lie about the amount.  Then they stick to their story when asked.  It results in the death of a marriage.

In a lot of ways it is a happy story of financial liberty, marital unity, & public witness.  We find the Lord very close: listening, seeing and acting.  Who wouldn't want that? Well, anyone who finds themselves lying to men; lying to God; and testing the grace and forbearance of God.

This story changed the hearts and hopefully the behavior of the people of Acts.  May it change ours as well.  

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So there's a guy named JOE.  But they don't or won't call him Joe because of his behavior.  His courage has so affected others that they call him, "Son of Encouragement", that is, Barnabas. Here we see one of his 'categories' of encouragement: it is with being a generous GIVER.

His money is where his mouth is.  Better, his money is where his heart and soul are.  His activity demonstrates belief.  He is living proof that the Holy Spirit is on the planet, indwelling people, and causing them to do some crazy things.  Possessing the Holy Spirit within apparently causes one to do some wonderful things with one's POSSESSIONS. "Me" money has transformed into money as a MEANS.  It is a brave thing.  For many, this is the scariest thing in the world.  People see it and are encouraged.  "He can do it, so can I". 

Stay tuned.  This is not the last we are going to hear from this character.  He'll be heading out with and ex-murderer and Christian-hunter on the first missionary journey in history.  It is consistent with his courageous behavior.  This is a teaser for the future. When this is all over, you DEFINITELY want to have lunch in heaven with this guy.  Barnabas.  

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Oh for spiritual friends to lift our voices together to the One true God. May the Holy Spirit help us bring scripture to mind to help us make sense of the moment.

Lord, You are at work, and I want to be a part of it! I voice my trust in Your activity here.  Let me participate in the building of Your kingdom.  Do what Your hand and Your plan desire. Grant me a voice to speak with boldness in alignment with You.  Stretch out Your hand to heal and do Your wonders in people.  May Jesus' name go forth.  

Listen 7 minutes today and with the Lord's help, 7 minutes tomorrow.  Subscribe at bewithme.us. Write at [email protected].  Apple Podcasts. Deezer.  Spotify. Audible.Google.  Be With Me is available on your phone every day.  Attach this listen and this prayer to a habit of your day.  Event-stack it.  

Peter and John wake up in prison after healing a lame guy with faith yesterday.  They do not know if this day will be their day of crucifixion.  It happened to the last guy that got arrested in Jerusalem.  Here's the good part:  standing with them is the previously lame, then leaping, now STANDING guy. He's there.  There have been three venue changes.  It didn't happen by accident.  Apparently the offense is the healing and preaching of Jesus' name, so my guess is that the lame guy was NOT arrested, he's there boldly, courageously.  He too, doesn't know if he is going to be crucified for this faith that is less than 24 hours old. Listen as we hear how HIS faith, HIS courage, HIS standing works to protect Peter.

Also of note is the CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE we see from Peter and John to the authorities.  They yield to the Author of all authority when the given authorities prevent what is due the AUTHOR.  Spiritual obedience = Civil disobedience, at least in this case.  

For all intents and purposes, Peter should have been crucified on this day.  He was not.  Listen and find out WHY.  It has to do with the lame guy who would just NOT GO AWAY.  

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Buckle in for one of the 'best' verses in the whole book of Acts.
 
And there is salvation: Yeah! rescue. Hope.
In no one else: Exclusive. Not me, not politicians, not athletes, not the powerful or beautiful.
For there is no other name under heaven: Inclusive invitation to all the world who call.
Given among men: this is a universal, world wide GIFT.
By which we MUST be saved: There is a demand.  It is insistent. 

As to the insistence, Jesus said the same thing to Nicodemus.  You MUST be born again.  My response feels similar to Nicodemus' words: "How can these things be?"  Perhaps you are wondering the same. How did I receive so much blessing?  Or maybe for you, "How am I offered so much blessing?"  May you have the grace today to respond.  Subscribe to get more grace tomorrow:  bewithme.us or Deezer, PodcastAddict, etc.

Peter takes an Old Testament verse about the Messiah and quotes it before the Jewish authorities.  But to sharpen his statement about Jesus, Peter starts it with, "This Jesus is...(Then here he quotes Ps 118: 22, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.)" Peter claims directly that JESUS is the one talked about in Psalm 118.  He claims that Jesus is God.  Either He is, or He isn't.  How did Peter get so bold about this psalm?

Well, you don't have to go back very far.  On TUESDAY of the GREAT WEEK, Jesus Himself quotes the same psalm, same verse, and applies it to Himself.  Peter is following the lead of Jesus Himself.  For good measure, Jesus tells us exactly what we are supposed to be doing with the stone:  FALL ON IT.  What does that mean? It is to depend totally upon, to be upended by, to be struck to the core by, to be undone by.  In a sense, it is to be 'destroyed' by Jesus the stone.  These are synonyms of belief and of faith.  This is HOW one becomes a Christian.  

EVERY Christian has a FALL ON THE STONE story.  Do you?  If not, come back tomorrow, Peter is going to bring his charge to a grand conclusion.  I promise it will be good if I make it another day here. ;-). If this is your last day here, then please fall on the stone TODAY. [email protected].   bewithme.us.   Apple, Spotify,google podcasts. 

The same nasty administration that killed Jesus a few weeks prior, arrests John and Peter.  It must have been terrifying.  I wonder if they said these words, "I wonder if we get crucified tomorrow?" It might have been the scariest arrest of all time.

Similarly, we do not know what is going to happen to us today.  We do not know the challenges and temptations ahead.  We do not know how our faith and our FILLING will be tested.  

Peter is the unrivaled chief KNUCKLEHEAD in the gospels.  (In the Old Testament, he has many rivals.  David, Naaman, Jacob, and Sampson come to mind.) But here he is brave and specifically eloquent.  How?  He is filled.  The Holy Spirit is giving him a voice.  We have THE SAME FILLING.  The charge is, though we don't know what is going to happen in our near future, we DO KNOW WHO we are going into that near-future with:  The Holy Spirit.  Let us, like Peter, ACT LIKE IT.  

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On Page 14 of my Bible, the Lord tells Abraham that "in him all families of the earth are going to be blessed." Today, in we find out exactly HOW the Lord plans to pull this off.

Peter in a speech that will be interrupted by his arrest, pleads with his Jewish audience.  He tells them not to FORGET WHO THEY ARE.  You are SONS OF THE PROPHETS.  Well, what do they have to say about this era and this Jesus?  They point to Jesus.  Moses? Yes. Samuel? Yes. Abraham? Yes.  How many of them? ALL of them.

This is how you physical sons of Abraham are going to be parents to the SPIRITUAL SONS of Abraham...through faith in Jesus.

These are the LAST DAYS, but I have been telling you about it from the FIRST DAYS, at least since page 14.  Listen 7 minutes today and approve the concept yourself. bewithme.us

Who doesn't want some TIMES OF REFRESHING? Nobody.  Who doesn't need it? Nobody.

Ironically, this extra-breathing-space comes from being CLOSE.
the RELIEF comes by His PRESENCE
the recovery is by recognizing
the freedom comes by dependence
and the refreshing comes by relationship.

We live in a tough world. Fallenness and sin and confusion and ignorance and trouble are all around us.  

Spend 7 minutes today and let's together seek His PRESENCE.  For in it, are TIMES OF REFRESHING.  Thank you for being here.  Please Subscribe and like and share and do your listener duties.

Peter gets to the dramatic action-point of his sermon and charges his audience, "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be BLOTTED OUT.  You may ask along with me today, where exactly do these sins go?  Where might I find them?

First, know that we are not the first to sin or to be blotted.  David, one of the best sinners of all time, had his sins blotted.  Peter reminds his audience of this by using David's words from Psalm 51: "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy BLOT OUT MY TRANSGRESSIONS." We are in good company with David.  We are in good company with a HESED-steadfast love God.

Second, the word is a pretty strong one.  Blotted is wiped away, erased, permanently eliminated.  You know the reference here to "God wiping away every tear" when we get to heaven?  Will there be tears in heaven? YES.  but only once.  Then they will be ELIMINATED.

Finally, so where do these CANCELLED (same Greek word BLOTTED) sin records go?  Where does your list of sins as long as your arm end up? Col 2:14, Forgiven, cancelled debts that stood against us. Set aside. NAILING IT TO THE CROSS.  This would be a good painting.  The Cross on Calvary with about a billion pieces of long paper nailed to it.  Every sin, of every REPENTED person, from every year and from every land.  Be one of them today. Write and tell me about it [email protected]