Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
Be With Me is a daily 7 minute chronological walk through the New Testament hosted by Michael Smith. It is for everyone who is curious about what Jesus actually said and did in the gospels. Most episodes will leave you with at least one good thought to chew on for the rest of the day. We start with the Bible and hopefully end with Awe. We are walking through the chronological events of Jesus' life and then thoughtfully considering them. It is meant to spur the devotional life of the Christian and the not-yet-Christian. We occasionally venture into the Old Testament when it helps our understanding of the New Testament events. Everybody has 7 minutes. Everybody needs to wonder. Be With Me is hosted by Michael Smith who has absolutely no special qualifications to do a podcast. He is not a pastor. He has not been to seminary. He does not lead a mega-church. He is not a professional and he has no more credentials than you do. He does, however, follow a great God with an observant eye and a curious heart. Each day, he starts with a study bible and aims for astonishment. ‘be with him’ for 7 minutes as he sets out daily to discover the God who invites us to ‘Be With Me.’
Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder
You have the taste buds of a LION S29e56 Dt23
Did you know that LIONS have taste buds specifically tuned to the diet they are designed for? They cannot taste Skittles, and they MUST taste meat.
Similarly, we are designed for God. Our hearts are set on Him, even if we don't quite have it all figured out. Like the lion's taste receptors, ours are specifically tuned towards God and flavor and satisfaction is found only in Him.
Listen and subscribe 7 minutes as we discover that you have the taste buds of a LION.
https://youtu.be/1JOPj-Ga3e4
You have the taste buds of a LION S29e56 Dt23
Yesterday, being prevented from attending or forgetting to attend church should be a painful thing. Just like when I couldn’t ride my bike, I never wanted to go on a bike ride more. The prevention of the activity should make it even sweeter. Make us long for the specific taste of it.
May the Lord tune our taste to His church.
May the Lord tune our taste to His people.
You’ll find this fascinating. At least I did.
I have a vet friend. Fascinating animal facts:
Works with lions on occasion. Lions have no sweet taste receptors. If you offer them a skittle they have no desire for it.
But, because they have 10,000 x the receptors for UMAMI, they go bonkers for MEAT
Their taste is tuned to the diet designed for them
Their taste is tuned for what the Lord’s best has for them
Our hearts are tuned for a desire for HIM Ecclesiastes 3:11
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
Your taste buds are like that of a lion: umami for the Lord
Nothing on earth will satisfy you fully Psalm 73:25
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
You may make a million dollars. You may rise to the top of your work life. You might be stunningly beautiful. You may have a big podcast. Following. You may have your hands upon the levers of power in our world
You have the taste buds of a lion: specifically tuned toward God.
Desiring the flavor and the satisfaction that is found only in Him.
In Dt 23 and elsewhere we find the Lord walks in the midst of your camp Mr. and Mrs. Israelite and this should change everything.
The Lord is giving you the very diet that you ultimately desire: Himself
He is placing Himself, front and center, and specifically in the midst, of this unworthy people group.
He is making this rag-tag, mostly rebellious, historically brother-murdering group of. Unworthies, WORTHY.
How? He is doing it. He is developing. He is revealing Himself.
Why? Because they deserve it? Dt7:
6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God
Know therefore that the Lord is God
Have a taste for Him . Tune your diet, that is the activities you do, the thoughts you have , the battles you engage in, to exactly those the the Lord would have you.
Fight the enemies He wants you to fight. Be a pure people like He wants you to be. Be a just people in the way He wishes. The List is long, but there are three more things He wishes in Dt23. They are all refining their diet, their activities to look like that which God desires for them:
1. Justice. 15 “You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. 16 He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not wrong him.
2. Sexual purity. 17 “None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. (18 You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.)
3. Finanical integrity 19 “You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest.( 20 You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.)
There have been many others in this misc. laws section: But they all are on the theme of tuning the diet of thoughts and actions toward the way God has designed this people: Don’t rat out escaped slaves. Don’t wrong Him. Let him live amongst you—emphasizing social justice
Don’t be a cult prostitute—emphasizing sexual and religious purity
Don’t bring the money she earns as an offering—abomination
Don’t charge interest to nationals
So Lord may bless you in all you undertake—emphasizing economic interconnectedness
The Lord has designed you as a people for Himself. He has given you a set of tastebuds that is desined like the umami tastebuds of a lion. He wants you to have a diet that is rich with HIMSELF>
You have the taste buds of a lion: specifically tuned toward God.
Desiring the flavor and the satisfaction that is found only in Him.
Their taste is tuned to the diet designed for them
Their taste is tuned for what the Lord’s best has for them