Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

Is there anything so rare as an open mind?  I didn't think so. 

Yet, this is the critical business that Jesus is in: to open the crusty minds to His Word and to Himself.  This is the turning a heart of STONE into a heart of flesh. I suppose there is cracking open the willingness to listen and perceive of God...but there is more: the is the cracking open the ability to perceive God.

Lord, please give me both.  Please give my listeners both.  Increase both my skills and my willingness to engage with You.  So the miracle of this is that He is involved in this amazing process in the hearts of many (all?) people.

And there is more today.  We answer the question, as only Christ can, of "What will you do about your SIN?"  It is nasty business when left undone.  It is glorious when we let Christ do what He came to do in that regard.

1. Open minds 2. forgiven sins. 3. A bible that is rock solid. 4. an explosion to ALL nations.  5. Special powers...  Come back tomorrow for that one.  Thanks for listening.  SHARE podcast please.

The process of belief is messy.  The Bible is really quite bold in admitting it.  It just reeks of authenticity though.  It is true.  There is a lot of two steps forward, one step backward.

So a knowledgeable, experienced, intimate group of Jesus' disciples hear some news and announce, and I quote, "He is risen indeed."  All good, at least externally and verbally.

Then the risen Jesus shows up and they are described as:

• startled
• frightened
• thinking they saw a spirit (misidentifying)
• troubled 
• with doubts arising in their hearts

Then finally they touch and see and hear and they get to calm down a bit.  They then "DISbelieved for JOY and were marveling."  What a crazy, mixed up, messy moment of almost faith.  Probably sounds a bit like yours.

And, there's more today:  I will clarify what tools you will use in heaven.  Thanks for listening.  SHARE this podcast.

The long road of the slow-of-heart to Emmaus starts with eyes that were kept from recognizing.  But as the 7 mile walk goes on, they get HEART BURN. That is, the heart burn of the opening of Scripture.  Jesus walks them through the Old Testament, explaining how it is about Himself.

And so, their hearts burn.  This is heaven touching the earth, one heart at a time.  It is the voice of Scripture, which is ultimately the voice of God.  It is the voice of the current words of Jesus as He talks on the road.  It is the voice of the Lord's supper, as this pushes them over the top to recognize Jesus.  I suppose that is the voice of the ordinances of the new church.

He is risen sayeth the angel.  He is risen indeed! Now sayeth the walkers.  I always wondered where we got that.

I pray a bit for you today.  That our eyes would be recognizing, that they'd be open, that they'd be opened, that they'd be understanding, that they'd be convicted and maybe a little burning.  Maybe that's exactly what the doctor ordered:  some heart burn.  Thank you for listening.

There's an old joke that ends, "If the King James Bible was good enough for Jesus, then it is good enough for me."

On the road to Emmaus, on the road of the SLOW OF HEART, Jesus goes all Old Testament on the two walking with Him. He rebukes them for being slow of heart to believe the PROPHETS, that is, the Old Testament.

The Old Testament is about Jesus.  No wonder He loves it.  It points to Him.  It points to His character.  It points to the NECESSITY of His coming for this rescue mission.  

It was great enough for Jesus.  Likely, its' place in our lives could be bigger.  Likely, its' place in our lives SHOULD be bigger.  Let's push open the borders a bit and begin to make a bigger space for the Scripture that Jesus loved. Let's say it together:  "I LOVE the Old Testament. I LOVE the Old Testament. I LOVE the Scripture that Jesus loved." Share this podcast with whom you want to go all Old Testament on.  Just like Jesus did.  www.bewithme.us

Jesus calls people of His own company SLOW OF HEART in a long account of the Road to Emmaus.  It is a long story, of a long road, of the Slow of heart.  He also calls them foolish.  I just couldn't go there today.

Most disturbingly, their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. And how about all the truths?  Kept from that too?  

You know we are slow and foolish of heart.  You see it.  You don't leave us to wallow in slow foolishness.  You come alongside and as our passage reminds us, draw near.  

Who do we know who is slow of heart?
Who do we know who is slowing of heart?
Who do we know who now deals with someone whose heart just stopped?

Lord, we surely need help.  Open our eyes. Draw near to us and our families. May we be ruled by you in eyesight, hope, emotion and character.

Please share this podcast with someone who has eyes.  www.bewithme.us

I fell asleep (punishable by death)
we all fell asleep (punishable by death)
while we were asleep we saw scardy-cat disciples come and move a large rock that did not wake us up. Then they stole a dead body.
Then we lied about it for money...for the rest of our lives.

Just maybe, these guys were the contemporary witnesses to the actual resurrection of Jesus. Certainly, they saw an angel and became afraid, trembling, and 'became like dead men'.  I think that means they fell down.  Of note, Roman guards could not even lean against something while on guard duty.

So in the old soldiers home, these guys, having at least seen an angel had to live with themselves for the big lie.  "I fell asleep".  vs I saw an angel, and maybe I saw a resurrection.  And for what was their big lie for, their lives, and for a sufficient amount of money.  I wonder how much that was?  Thank you for listening.  Please share this podcast.

There was a GRAVE ROBBER at Jesus' tomb.  Mary of Magdala tries to figure out who it was.  It is a classic case of mis-identity.

She mis-identifies

• the dead Jesus
• the buried Jesus
• the stolen Jesus
• the lost Jesus
• the gardener Jesus (my personal favorite)

She finally gets it right at the end:  Jesus Jesus.  Rabboni Teacher Jesus. The GRAVE ROBBER Himself!

She gets her moment, she gets her name called.  Then she gets her job. Go tell the brothers.

Along the way, Jesus asks a classic, all-time profound question:  Whom do you seek?
Because, if you are looking for a dead guy, he ain't here.  If you are looking for a non-resurrection guy, he ain't here.  If you are looking for a non-disrupter, he ain't here.  If you are looking for a non-stumbling stone, he ain't here.  If you are looking for a guy who stays put after death, he ain't here. If so, you have mis-identified the real GRAVE ROBBER.

Please Listen.  Please share. Please identify correctly.   ;-)

So how about if we recorded you in your last few moments of being an unbeliever?  Might that episode be fraught with misunderstanding, impaired communication, frenzied activity, and even chaos?  Might there be both physical and spiritual chaos?

You don't have much warning that it will be your last few seconds.  You don't know that in just an instant EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE.  You don't know that everything will change FOREVER.  You don't know that everything will never be the same. 

So this is the scenario that we find at the resurrection.  I called it previously "KNUCKLEHEADS at the resurrection."  That was perhaps too uncharitable.  They don't know how this turns out.  We do because we read ahead. The chaos only enforces the reality of the situation.  It just makes it reek of authenticity.

Listen with new ears with me at the resurrection story.  It is the last moment of unbelief for a lot of the people we encounter.  As you listen with compassion, wonder with me too:  Who folded the face cloth?  Thank you for listening.  Please share this podcast.

Women, not men get the first appearances of Jesus after resurrection.  You just gotta love Jesus' sense of irony in entrusting these females with the greatest news of all time.  Jesus is very pro-women! Anyone who says otherwise hasn't read or understood the Bible.  

It was a surprise.  Absolutely no one anticipates that He would rise from the dead.  They are surprised when they encounter a stone-moving lightening-appearing angel who demonstrates the empty tomb. But wait, it gets better.

Jesus meets these women as they move quickly to tell the male disciples.  As if seeing an angel isn't enough for one day's experience.  Their response is just perfect.

1. Fall down or bow down
2. Grab hold of His feet
3. Worship Him above all others and above all else.
4. Do what He says

They are a perfect picture of Biblical Wonder: encounter; fall down; grab hold; worship; and obey.  Thank you for joining me in this great message, great experience and great womanly response.  May we all do the same.

Share this podcast.

When we meet Jesus in heaven, there will be holes in His hands, feet and side.  He took His body with Him.  He got a resurrected body, but it was sort of similar.  Remember, Thomas got to stick his fingers into the holes in Jesus' hands.  Here is my question, will any of us NOT want to stick our resurrected body's fingers into the holes in His hands? I didn't think so. I think Jesus will be involved with this demonstration CONSTANTLY in heaven until everybody there has a turn.

Question to self: Where were the 11 big strong men who they travelled with, meeting their needs, even ministering to them when they needed them to move a big rock? When they needed a favor?

Note to self:  Seeing an angel or two is a big deal.
Note to self: When said angel or pair of angels says 'don't be afraid', be prepared to be VERY afraid; trembling; fleeing; astonished; alarmed; and seized with emotion.

I am glad you are here.  I look forward to you probing those wounds of Jesus.  Subscribe and please share. www.bewithme.us