Bible Bytes is about the Bible and what it says about human nature, right and wrong and what is most important. It is not a critique about the practices of religious people, religions or churches. It is simply, although it isn't always simple to understand, what is in the Word of God.
According to scripture, God makes the rules - we don't - and his ways are what work. These Bible Bytes are short and only one point is made for each entry, even though there can be many, many aspects to each verse or set of verses. And in 280 characters or less so it fits on Twitter!
At the heart of Old and New Testament values are, among many other things:
1) Common sense
2) Respect: For God, for the sacredness of life and for how we treat one another
3) Instructions on how to live eternally right now.
These are not values you make up as you go, but the deep sacred love God has for us and the love Jesus talked about and demonstrated. There is a structure to this love that takes time to learn and apply. We humans, including innocent babies, are all self-interested and innately selfish. As sweet as some of us are (most of the time), we all have rebellion and selfishness within us that we act upon out of a perceived threat of survival or status. This is sin and we all engage in it. We hurt ourselves and each other when we do. God's Word defines what these destructive tendencies are and how to move into holy relationship with God and each other.
The influence of God's law is so strong that even in Bible times it was recognized:
When outsiders who have never heard of God’s law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong. Romans 2:14-15 (MSG)
The bytes on this site are one person’s modern and personal application of the Word. I have no theological credentials. I simply desire to understand God and what is in his Word.
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