Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

Growing up, at my house, if I provided a bag of Skittles,there was a bit of a tax.  After opening them, all the PURPLE SKITTLES had to be given back to Dad. 

Similarly, Jesus is given back to God by his presentation at the temple.  It was sooooooo important to Mary and Joseph that they went all the way back to Jerusalem, 80 miles! by foot! with a one month old! to do this rite.  They waited until Mary was ritually clean to be able to participate.  That is, 40 days after Jesus' birth.

It is a principle that God uses to ask the Israelites TO REMEMBER.  Remember what? That with a STRONG HAND, I have redeemed you, saved you, brought you out of the land of Egypt. There is a price for redemption.  

What would you give to get your set apart children back?
What would God give to get US BACK?
He paid a high redemption price for us.  We are supposed to remember!  Then comment on this podcast or share it. 

Mary and Joseph have to take yet another trip to Jerusalem to be there at day 40 of Jesus' life.  He needs to attend a ritual in the temple.  Problem:  Mary is a sinner and is impure and cannot participate before a holy God.

Solution:  God has made a way.  God loves Mary and all of us enough, VALUES us enough to make a way.  Cue the pigeons.  If you are too poor to afford a LAMB (Mary and Joseph were so poor that this wasn't even MENTIONED in the gospel of Luke as a possibility) then get two birds.  This is unfortunate if you are the bird, as it is your life, your blood that is sacrificed to atone for the MOTHER'S sin. 

The Old Testament is so peachy because it shows the principles that the NT is based upon.  In these few verses:
I'm a sinner. (so is Mary)
God doesn't like it.
He's made a way.
It involves crappy temporary sacrifice for a while, but ends with Jesus one time for all

I am wondering and in awe today.  Your job today is to comment on the podcast or write a review at Apple Podcasts.  See you tomorrow.

Jesus submits Himself to circumcision on the eighth day.  Why?  Why on day 8 of the rescue mission does Jesus submit to a minor surgery?

As your podcaster, by the time I get to dictating the 7 minutes, it may sound like I have a few ANSWERS.  That may be true, but an hour or so before that, I start with a QUESTION.  A WONDER.  Today's was: Why is Jesus circumcised.

He's of the Line of Abraham.  That's big.  We talked about that in the Genealogy of Mt 1:2.
You definitely want to be part of this Jewish family.  They are God's chosen to get us to a savior.  

Circumcision is Jesus' TICKET TO PASSOVER.  No uncircumcised person shall eat of it says Ex 12:48.  
no circumcision = no passover
no passover = no sacrifice
no sacrifice by crucifixion = no rescue.
We should be very very very grateful for this act of obedience of Mary and Joseph.

Here's something that I haven't thought of:  Women have "heart foreskins".  So do men.  From way back we are charged with 'circumcising the foreskins of our hearts'. this means not being stubborn, hard-hearted, disagreeable, not submissive, not yielding.

Crazy question today.  Crazy wondering today. Wonderful answer today.  Please share it.

I'm still traveling.  These podcasts may not drop at our regularly scheduled time.

What should I do when God shows me something?  Let's look today at the wondering shepherds.  What do you do after 'the angel has left?' and you are sitting there with a unit of revelation?

Wonder= Pondering with your HEART
Pondering=Wondering with your HEAD

Wondering + Pondering = TREASURING.

This podcast even in its' title highlights part of this process.  

When we notice something of God, or learn something of God what should we do?  Move toward it with HASTE.  Wonder. Ponder. Treasure.  Look to the example of the Shepherds.  And like them, SHARE this podcast.

I'm traveling so episode drops might be delayed.  Keep listening.

Angel arrive today with cat hair on their socks.  That is, they bring something with them that tells us where they have been.  They bring...wait for it...glory.  Glory is: the character or characteristics of GOD emanating.  So these ANGELS come with glory.  Not with angel glory, but with God Glory.  It tells us something.  it tells us where they have just been.  That is, in the presence of God.  They have had something rub off from God that can now be found on them: the glory of God.  As if just plain old angel glory isn't enough...

They come with a message.  The one that got me today is one of the potential to please God.  He can be pleased with us.  I wonder what God's "love-language" is.  How does He best know relational connection? How does He best receive relationship with us that He is pleased with?

Thank you for listening.  Please share on email or Facebook or text.

We are dropped today into the original CRISIS PREGNANCY.  Joseph responds BRAVELY.  

• political crisis and compelling
• geographic stress/travel with pregnant woman
• distance from Mary's family 
• geographic proximity/relational distance from Joseph's family
• immanent delivery of full term baby with out help
• sexual intimacy naiveté, childbirth inexperience

In all of this God chooses to come down to us IN THIS WAY, with these people in attendance.  Joseph responds bravely, through the original crisis pregnancy and delivery.  Please listen 7 minutes and then share. 

So Mary shows up 4 months pregnant after a trip to visit her aunt Elizabeth.  Joseph has a major decision node of his life:
a.  Have Mary publicly stoned to death
b. quietly divorce her
c. marry her but don't have sex with her for another 5 months, knowing you will be bearing 50+% of her shame; knowing you might not be invited to Thanksgiving dinner ever again; and for sure knowing the neighbor across the driveway isn't going to understand much less believe any non-sense about a 'virgin conception.'

Joseph changes his mind in the above quiz after being visited by an angel.  Not everybody does change their mind, even after something big like an angel visitation.  So, when someone CHANGES THEIR MIND, we too should probably pay attention.  It might be the rarest, and is certainly the most difficult of human activities.  Listen 7 minutes for the heart and decisions of Joseph.  When you get to heaven, plan on buying him lunch.

Some folks don't believe the Bible because of the Virgin Birth.  They make fun of it.  They specifically don't believe because of it.

Hilarious, says I! In just 8 verses today, the Virgin Birth is the FOURTH most miraculous thing in the passage!  That's right, there are much bigger things NOT to believe in if you are so inclined.  It serves notice that there is a lot of miracle going on at this moment in history.

If you want bigger miracles, to believe or not to believe, here you go:
1. That God came down.  Mary, Elizabeth, and Zechariah all are agog at the very thought of this.  Absent this incarnation, this visitation, this rescue mission, we all are toast.
2.  He will save people from their SINS. There you go again about the nasty sin word.  It is our biggest problem. "What will you do about your sin?"  Or, at least it is TIED with the big death question.  In my mind, it is either the top 1 or is second in the most important questions in the world.
3. Even the Angel is a bigger miracle.  You mean this other-worldly creature, takes flight or transport from the throne of God in another world and then enters Joseph's dream? Then tells him news than none other has ever heard?  and then upon awakening, he immediately does it?

I don't want to compare quality of miracles, but I'm just sayin'...There are a lot bigger things not to believe, or TO BELIEVE.  Listen to see what you will do.  Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and then listen in the shower, or something you do everyday.  It's called EVENT STACKING.  It is a good way to listen.

1. Sex is important
2. God invented it
3. God is pretty jazzed about it
4.  You should be too
5. When is the  WHEN to sex?
6.  WHO should I have sex with?

We have sexual agency to do not ANYthing, but to do the RIGHT thing.  Today's passage emphasizes the WHEN question big time.  When is the right time for sex?   If you have got 7 minutes...

Maybe you haven't done this area of life perfectly.  In fact, I am sure of it.  What then? You will have to listen now.  Who doesn't want to know something about sex?  www.bewithme.us is our website.

Someday, God will call His last pastor on earth.  Why?  Because we won't need them anymore. Their jobs will be done.  He Himself will be our full-time shepherd after the second coming. 

Today, God calls His last prophet.  It is John the Baptist.  There are no more after him.  The job of all who held that office is accomplished.  The way had been prepared.  

The image that the Lord gives today is one of a SUN rise.  The world sits in darkness and then everything changes with the sunrise.  There is the before and then history is changed.  Who of us doesn't sit a bit in darkness?  Perhaps has a corner of our lives that no light has seen for some time?

Listen to the real Sun/Son Rise and hear a story of the day when someone mistook ME for the SUN!  Share this podcast.  Event-stack this podcast to another part of your life that you regularly do.  Thank you for starting with me!