BIBLE BYTES -- The Bible is the GOAT! Verses and values from the Old and New Testaments!
When someone is an enemy or really gets under your skin, it can be sweet when they fall into trouble. But the Bible says not to take pleasure in it. Exercise self control. If you don’t, the Lord may be displeased with you and stop punishing them!
Proverbs 24:17-18 (TLB) 17 Do not rejoice when your enemy meets trouble. Let there be no gladness when he falls— 18 for the Lord may be displeased with you and stop punishing him!
9/26/2021
Receiving criticism is not easy. It is much easier to be defensive and criticize the one giving it. To one who listens, valid criticism is golden. Let God help you discern what is valid and gracefully accept it. God will let you know what is not valid so you can move on.
Proverbs 25:12 (NLT) 12 To one who listens, valid criticism is like a gold earring or other gold jewelry.
9/19/2021
David killed bears and lions while a young shepherd. Since God worked through him then, he knew he would work in him to save Israel from the threats of Goliath. With God you have more than you know. Depending solely on man-made solutions can hinder you.
1 Samuel 17:38-39 (TLB) 38-39 Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before. “I can hardly move!” he exclaimed, and took them off again.
9/16/2021
If you go about doing things outside of God’s will, you can expect those things will not happily work out for you. Faith and love for God is compromised outside God’s plans for you. What will be working out is your accountability and that will not be pleasant.
Romans 8:28 (TLB) 28 And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.
9/12/2021
God doesn’t “give” problems or trouble. Being human creates more than enough of them. However, he may allow them for reasons only he knows and in the scheme of things, the Bible says all trouble is small and temporary. You are repaid much greater than the trouble as you trust him.
2 Corinthians 4:17 (GNT) 17 And this small and temporary trouble we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble.
9/5/2021
Walking with God resets your mind and will to be who he made you to be. If you are even curious to know how it all works, God is calling you. Once you know him, you know there is no other path but to live the way we’re made. You come up short every other way.
Isaiah 2:1-5 (MSG) 1 There’s a day coming when the mountain of God’s House Will be The Mountain— solid, towering over all mountains. All nations will river toward it, people from all over set out for it. They’ll say, “Come, let’s climb God’s Mountain, go to the House of the God of Jacob. He’ll show us the way he works so we can live the way we’re made.”
8/29/2021
Some people say “I was born a sinner.” Others say, “People are born good.” Experience of the 20th century alone shows that even the nicest people, given the right circumstances, will cede their authority to evil. This is the definition of being born a sinner. And this is only one example.
James 1:13-15 (MSG) 13-15 Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.
You cannot fake gratitude - you have it or you don’t. How you think and act proves it one way or another. The Kingdom of God is populated by those who ask Christ to change their hearts and minds. Gratitude and love overflow there. Believers know how deep their debt of love is.
Luke 7:41-43 (TLB) 41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—$5,000 to one and $500 to the other. 42 But neither of them could pay him back, so he kindly forgave them both, letting them keep the money! Which do you suppose loved him most after that?” 43 “I suppose the one who had owed him the most,” Simon answered. “Correct,” Jesus agreed.
8/15/2021
World-wide and in all religions the Golden Rule is a shared ethos, but the emphasis on sacrificial, redemptive and forgiving love is distinctive to Jesus. This completeness of love and relationship to God, through Jesus, is unlike any other religion or philosophy.
Matthew 7:12 (NIV) 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
8/8/2021
Jesus stepped on feelings. He violently ran the moneychangers from the temple, spoke harshly to the Pharisees and was usually frustrated with his disciples. Avoiding conflict and hurt feelings is not always God’s perfect expression. It is God’s truth spoken through you that is.
Matthew 23:25-26 (MSG) 25-26 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You buff the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something.
8/1/2021
A bartender watering drinks down as it gets later isn’t a new trick. At the wedding at Cana, Jesus did the opposite. After changing the water into wine, the crowd knew this wine was as good later in the evening as it was earlier. Jesus’ wine (blood) is everlasting; it never dilutes and is the vitality that forms the connecting link between body and soul.
John 2:9-10 (TLB) 9 When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants did), he called the bridegroom over. 10 “This is wonderful stuff!” he said. “You’re different from most. Usually a host uses the best wine first, and afterwards, when everyone is full and doesn’t care, then he brings out the less expensive brands. But you have kept the best for the last!”
7/25/2021
Salvation, God’s word, common sense and prayer are all free. Yet, if you prefer to be under the spell of ungodly things, you are free to do so. “If that’s what you want, that’s what you get.” But know that you are like a ship that has sunk and it is of your own volition.
Romans 1:18-25 (AMPC) 18 For God’s [holy] wrath and indignation are revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness repress and hinder the truth and make it inoperative. 19 For that which is known about God is evident to them and made plain in their inner consciousness, because God [Himself] has shown it to them. 20 For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification], 21 Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools [professing to be smart, they made simpletons of themselves]. 23 And by them the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God were exchanged for and represented by images, resembling mortal man and birds and beasts and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their [own] hearts to sexual impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin], 25 Because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever! Amen (so be it).
7/22/2021
God sent Jesus to lift you up to live in your holy purpose in his New Covenant. His burden is light and his yoke is easy. If you are under an oppressive burden of religious obligations, your teachers and influencers are pointing you there, not God and not Jesus.
Matthew 23:2-4 (TPT) 2 “The religious scholars and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ throne as the authorized interpreters of the Law. 3 So listen and follow what they teach, but don’t do what they do, for they tell you one thing and do another. 4 They tie on your backs an oppressive burden of religious obligations and insist that you carry it, but will never lift a finger to help ease your load.
7/18/2021
Luke 10:25-28 (TPT) 25 Just then a religious scholar stood before Jesus in order to test his doctrines. He posed this question: “Teacher, what requirement must I fulfill if I want to live forever in heaven?” 26 Jesus replied, “What does Moses teach us? What do you read in the Law?” 27 The religious scholar answered, “It states, ‘You must love the Lord God with all your heart, all your passion, all your energy, and your every thought. And you must love your neighbor as well as you love yourself.’” 28 Jesus said, “That is correct. Now go and do exactly that and you will live.”
7/11/2021
Several times Jesus says of himself, “I am the bread of life.” Bread and water is physically needed each day but Jesus is about what we need each day that supersedes the physical - love, purpose, joy, responsibility and right standing with God.
John 6:35 (NLT) 35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
If you are here, you have a purpose. Before Jeremiah was even formed in his mother’s womb, God sanctified and appointed him. Like Jeremiah, you are called by God to your place and work. God lifts you up to your purpose as you know him and let him.
Jeremiah 1:4-10 (TLB) 4 The Lord said to me, 5 “I knew you before you were formed within your mother’s womb; before you were born I sanctified you and appointed you as my spokesman to the world.” 6 “O Lord God,” I said, “I can’t do that! I’m far too young! I’m only a youth!” 7 “Don’t say that,” he replied, “for you will go wherever I send you and speak whatever I tell you to. 8 And don’t be afraid of the people, for I, the Lord, will be with you and see you through.”9 Then he touched my mouth and said, “See, I have put my words in your mouth! 10 Today your work begins, to warn the nations and the kingdoms of the world. In accord with my words spoken through your mouth I will tear down some and destroy them, and plant others, nurture them, and make them strong and great.”
6/27/2021
Paul said Christians need to control what they say, especially fault finding. You are watched and held to a higher standard by God and others. You are only as free as you are able to control what you say to others. Be humble as you see others fall short and control your tongue.
James 3:1-4 (TLB) 1-2 Dear brothers, don’t be too eager to tell others their faults, for we all make many mistakes; and when we teachers of religion, who should know better, do wrong, our punishment will be greater than it would be for others. If anyone can control his tongue, it proves that he has perfect control over himself in every other way. 3 We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in his mouth. 4 And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the winds are strong.
6/24/2021
God never causes sin or temptation. For example, more succumb to sexual sin than don’t, laws are needed to keep even nice people in line, or sins of omission are not even considered sin. Innate selfishness, flawed logic, evil thoughts and wishes are the cause of sin.
James 1:13-14 (TLB) 13 And remember, when someone wants to do wrong it is never God who is tempting him, for God never wants to do wrong and never tempts anyone else to do it. 14 Temptation is the pull of man’s own evil thoughts and wishes.
6/17/2021
There is an inexplicable peace believers have that is hard for most to explain but in Ephesians 3:17-19 Paul comes close. Conversion experiences can be dramatic but this is a long and deep love that comes from spending time developing and experiencing it.
Ephesians 3:17-19 (TLB) 17 And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love; 18-19 and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself.
6/13/2021
These verses of 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 describe holy love. Humility, kindness, gentleness, honesty, and patience are easy to agree with, but day-to-day hard to consistently apply. God invites you to seek this level of honor with others. It is only with his help that you can.
6/6/2021
Habakkuk 3:17-19 (TLB) 17 Even though the fig trees are all destroyed, and there is neither blossom left nor fruit; though the olive crops all fail, and the fields lie barren; even if the flocks die in the fields and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will be happy in the God of my salvation. 19 The Lord God is my strength; he will give me the speed of a deer and bring me safely over the mountains.
5/30/2021
In 2 Chronicles 20:15, the people are told to release fear and discouragement and to trust God in battle. His guidance in what appear to be your problems and challenges are made known to you as you trust him because not everything is your battle. Sometimes it is God's.
2 Chronicles 20:15 (NLT) 15 ...“Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
5/23/2021
When you are able dwell on the true and good and right and the fine, good things in others, all that is unholy disappears in that moment. Gratitude lifts you up when you think about what is pure and lovely and all you can praise God for. Practice this all you can, even if it is difficult at first.
Philippians 4:8 (TLB) 8...Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about.
5/16/2021
You are made to depend upon God. This may seem like the opposite of maturity and freedom but actually it is at the heart of life. Jesus says your life is as connected to him and the Father as a branch is to the vine. Your reason for being is a product of that relationship.
John 15:5-8 (TLB) 5 “Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can’t do a thing. 6 If anyone separates from me, he is thrown away like a useless branch, withers, and is gathered into a pile with all the others and burned. 7 But if you stay in me and obey my commands, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! 8 My true disciples produce bountiful harvests. This brings great glory to my Father.
5/9/2021
