Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

Sorry, episode #15 will never work because of some technical difficulties.  Sorry if you tried to download it.  Hopefully, this will be EVEN BETTER for you! Today we will expose ourselves to a part of the Bible.  Then we will ask the question of the day:  IF I LIVE LIKE THIS PART OF the Bible IS TRUE, WHAT WILL I DO?  You could also substitute what will I BELIEVE, what will I KNOW, what will I SAY, what will I RESOLVE, etc.

Jesus talks about His kingdom and says it has come already. 

Then He talks about His 1st coming and that it is shortly coming to an end.

Then He talks about His 2nd coming.  His coming back and uses Noah and the Ark and Lot and Mrs. Lot as illustrations to make the points about the 2nd coming.  To me, this was the strange part.  Some similarities from these strange Old Testament stories:  It is planned.  It is predicted.  It is announced beforehand pretty clearly.  It is out there so you can decide about it now.  There is a time to prepare and that time is now. Afterward, there will be no time to change your mind.  Everybody calls it "sudden and unexpected" even though it is neither sudden or unexpected. 

So to bring it home, what if this strange teaching is actually true?  What if Noah and Mrs. Lot are instructive?  What should I do?  What will I do?  We will offer some suggestions for both the believer and the not-yet-believer.  Thanks for listening and subscribing at www.bewithme.us 

10 Lepers do exactly what Jesus tells them to do.  Head toward the Priests. 
1 Guy stops doing what Jesus tells him to do to REALLY do what Jesus wants him to do.  

• receive His mercy
• recognize His mercy
• fall at His feet in appreciation
• fall on his face before God
• give a thanks that is reserved for God alone
• be the one who is FOUND TO RETURN
• have faith that heals, saves and rescues

There is much here to admire and appreciate and emulate.  

Of note, all of this ACTUALLY HAPPENED.  This is not a parable or some made up teaching illustration.  It is a real guy who has a real encounter in real time.

In the same way, we all are having a similar thing happen to us right now:  We have a real God, who is encountering us in real time, in a real place.  We get a chance to turn to Him; to recognize and receive Him; to physically fall on our faces or do so in our hearts; to pull out our special, unique "God-Thanks" as we see His blessings.  Listen and may we be the one who is FOUND TO RETURN.

One of the reasons to believe in the Bible and the God of the Bible is that it is SO UNBELIEVABLE.  That is, humans would never 'invent' a God like this.  We would make a god in OUR image of sour disposition.

I believe our passage today compares and contrasts the type of god we would make vs. the God as the Bible reveals Him.  We would NEVER make a God like this.

A typical master/servant relationship is described in our passage:  Work in the fields.  Come in and make me dinner.  Serve me dinner.  Then attend to your own dinner.  The human master basically is thinking:  Duh!  I'm the master.  serve me.
The servant is thinking:  Just doing my job.

I believe that the Lord is teaching that He's going to flip things upside down again.  He is going to continue to rock our thinking.  I think He's saying in the passage (and in Luke 12:37)

• I have served you already in Creation
• I have served you already in being mindful of you
• I have served you already in the covenants and in heritage
• I have served you already in the incarnation
• I will literally serve you soon at the last supper
• I will serve you soon in the Passion, suffering, crucifixion and resurrection

AND, When is it all over, I AM GOING TO SERVE YOU AGAIN; have YOU (the servant!!!) recline at table and I will serve you.

You would NEVER invent a God like this.  You'd never think up a God this good.  We have a God that is BEYOND our imaginations.  That's how I know it's true.

Have you ever seen a person's FAITH move a tree or a mountain?  Neither have I.

Scripture has something to say on the matter, and  it is a little confusing.  It says that we should be participating in IMPOSSIBLE things in an INVISIBLE Kingdom with INCREASING faith in the UNSEEN Hand of God by INVOLVEMENT via prayer to make and IMPACT.  Or something like it.  It is a big ask.  The ask is bigger than the metaphor about moving mountains or moving trees.

I am struck about keeping the object of our faith correct.  We need a growing faith, but that is ultimately of less importance than the OBJECT of our faith.  Let's get that right as we wonder and expose ourselves to His Word.  Too, may He give us "eyes of faith" or perhaps "eyes to see faith" and to note when the kingdom is moving.  Listen and let's get started "moving this mountain" by an increasing faith in an incredible God.

Please Subscribe at www.BeWithMe.Us

This episode talks about something I guarantee that you will be dealing with TODAY.  Real time podcast help is on the way.  You won't like it, but here it is:  You will be tempted to sin today.  The greek literally is stumbling blocks.  

So that is where the LEGO visual comes in.  Basically, Jesus says that there are going to be LEGO BLOCKS on your barefooted path today.  He says they are SURE.  Welcome to humanity.  So now what?  What principles do I have to HELP ME with this lego-infested journey?

First, don't be scattering MORE Lego blocks for your fellow travelers.  Woe to that guy.
Second, be in fellowship; in Christian Community.  Why?  You are gonna need some help.
How do I know if I am in Christian Community?  Is calling a sin a sin, and repentance and forgiveness a regular part of that group?  If not, you are probably in a social club like the Kiwanis or something.

So yes, Legos on your path are SURE.  Let's make our awareness SURE.  Let's make our involvement in real community SURE.  Let's make our carefulness SURE.  Let's make our REPENTANCE SURE.  Let's make our forgiveness SURE.  Listen because you are going to step on a LEGO later today and this might help. Please subscribe at www.bewithme.us

A man asks for MERCY in today's passage.  Now God is in the mercy business.  Without mercy, He'd be out of customers.  So this is not unfamiliar territory for God.  Everybody in God's Kingdom got there by a healthy dose of mercy.

The guy in the story does NOT get mercy.  Why?  We had best understand the reason why.

It is because he asks too late.  There appears to be a timing of repentance that is critical to the teaching of the parable.  It ties in with the teachings of repentance from the Lost Sheep, Lost coin and lost son.  Absent the correct timing of mercy then Jesus allows some disturbing words in His teaching:  Anguish. Torment. Flames. A CHASM fixed. Not able to pass.  Hades.

May I suggest that we approach this parable humbly?  May I suggest that we live now with the reality of eternity on our hearts?   Let us listen for what here is essential.

Go to www.bewithme.us to subscribe.  Thanks for being here and considering with me.

So 300 is a nice round number of Podcasts.  I pray that these have been worthwhile for you.  I pray that THIS ONE may be worthwhile for you.  Perhaps this one will be, in your soul, the best of them all.  With your attention, and with the igniting of the Holy Spirit, perhaps.  If not, come back tomorrow.  With the Lord's will, I hope to be back to be with you.

Join me as I ponder JESUS telling a parable about a dead guy who gets carried to the bosom of ABRAHAM.  Does anyone think this a little strange?  Or is it just me?

Wouldn't the accurate theology, especially knowing His passion for the Trinity, carried into the bosom of the FATHER?  Worst case scenario, even though the SPIRIT hasn't much been introduced yet, how about the Holy Spirit?  Or, he meets ME, JESUS, up in heaven.  No, in the parable, it is Abraham.  A very faithful man on earth, no doubt.  But Abraham isn't Creator.  He isn't Savior.  He isn't Indweller.  So, with no disrespect to a man much greater than I, I don't think he is exactly IN CHARGE OF HEAVEN.  So what's the deal?

I think it is like JESUS telling a little story.  "A Priest, a Pastor and a Rabbi Walk Into A Bar..." or "A man Lazarus dies and goes to the pearly gates and is met by St. Peter..."  The funny thing is, that Jesus lets SOME of the theology slide a little bit so that His parable can tell a big truth.  This is what parables do.  They often reveal one big truth. He wants us to know something, but "who is the boss of heaven?" isn't it.   Listen and we will figure it out together. 

Thank you for listening. I hope this is your favorite podcast episode. If not, there are 299 others to try.  If you can't find a favorite there, with the Lord's will, I hope to see you tomorrow. Subscribe at BeWithMe.us

Divorce is bad, wrong, immoral, destructive and expensive. 
I didn't get that from the Bible. I got that from my divorced friends.  THEY are the ones who told me that.  Everybody knows it.  The Bible agrees.

There is a very high view of marriage in the Bible.  It was foundationally invented by God because of a problem:  aloneness.  The aloneness wasn't good.  Marriage is the solution.  It also addresses the answer to sexual temptation, sanctification, reproduction, security, success, and family making.  It is a gift above our paygrade. 

Is it any surprise that our sexual engines are broken?  no. Misused?  No.  Abused? No.
Is it any surprise that our marriage-engines are broken?  No.  Misused? No.  Abused?  No.

Such is being human and fallen and in need of a savior and His various provisions.  Though the passage today is kind of a DON'T passage, it does point us strongly to the DO.  Let's honor, appreciate, enjoy, revel in, protect and gracefully participate in marriage and all it means. 

To my dear brothers and sisters that have been divorced and perhaps had some rule breaking along the path of marriage:  don't break any more rules!  Listen and let's all salute marriage.

Four verses today of a "spiritual smorgasbord."  That is, in my mind they are not much related to one another.

That being said, I am humbled and respectful of the teaching of the last verse of today:  Luke 16:17. His Word is not going to pass away.  Not a dot of it.  Not even of the sometimes humanly unpalatable Old Testament.  So especially this icing on the cake New Testament and doubly so the Gospels.  So let's give them all their due.

We will walk thru a couple of topics:

• 16:14 the response of spiritual RIDICULE.  Get ready for it.  Look for it
• 16:15 what do we exalt before men?  The sports page section!  How about gentleness?  Why not self-control? Where is the goodness section in our local paper?
• 16:16. We will look at the "holy violence" toward oneself in the form of repentance and self-denial.  Or the urging, the pressing, the call of God into the kingdom.  I had to go to the commentary for this one. There is so much I don't know.
• 16:17 not a dot will go away of the Word because it is from Him and it points to Him.

Thank you for being with me today.  Thank you for being admirers of the Word and of the Person of God.  I was aiming at Awe-stonishment but I think we only hit FAITHFULNESS today.  See if you agree.