BIBLE BYTES -- The Bible is the GOAT! Verses and values from the Old and New Testaments!
Learning from an ancient Eastern text isn’t something a person can do alone. God made it so followers need other followers. This commonly - but not exclusively - occurs in church settings. People and churches aren’t perfect, but it seems God works in and through them anyway.
This parable is a description of a disrespectful and ungrateful attitude to God and his son. Jesus was saying that his Father will take his offer of the Kingdom away from those who do not appreciate it and give it to those who do want to have a relationship with him.
Luke 20:9-16 (TLB) 9 Now he turned to the people again and told them this story: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to some farmers, and went away to a distant land to live for several years. 10 When harvest time came, he sent one of his men to the farm to collect his share of the crops. But the tenants beat him up and sent him back empty-handed. 11 Then he sent another, but the same thing happened; he was beaten up and insulted and sent away without collecting. 12 A third man was sent and the same thing happened. He, too, was wounded and chased away. 13 “‘What shall I do?’ the owner asked himself. ‘I know! I’ll send my cherished son. Surely they will show respect for him.’ 14 “But when the tenants saw his son, they said, ‘This is our chance! This fellow will inherit all the land when his father dies. Come on. Let’s kill him, and then it will be ours.’ 15 So they dragged him out of the vineyard and killed him. “What do you think the owner will do? 16 I’ll tell you—he will come and kill them and rent the vineyard to others.” “But they would never then and now. do a thing like that,” his listeners protested.
8/25/2024
Your success in walking in God’s ways is not something to compare or brag about, nor is it a weapon against those who have what you consider “unacceptable” sins. Every person has more than enough failings and issues to always be humble before God and others.
Luke 18:9-14 (TLB) 9 Then he told this story to some who boasted of their virtue and scorned everyone else: 10 “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a proud, self-righteous Pharisee, and the other a cheating tax collector. 11 The proud Pharisee ‘prayed’ this prayer: ‘Thank God, I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don’t commit adultery, 12 I go without food twice a week, and I give to God a tenth of everything I earn.’13 “But the corrupt tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed, but beat upon his chest in sorrow, exclaiming, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home forgiven! For the proud shall be humbled, but the humble shall be honored.”
8/18/2024
The first verses of Genesis speak of God and his Spirit. By verse 26, the “I” voice begins: “Let us…,” “someone like ourselves…” It is accepted among Christians that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are there from the beginning. The 3-in-One created earth, then humans in its image.
Genesis 1:26 (TLB) God said, “Let us make a man - someone like ourselves, to be the master of all life upon the earth and in the skies and in the seas.”
8/4/2024
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Jesus had no patience with the ignorance of many, and speaking through Jeremiah, God would today be called triggering or politically incorrect. What is for certain is that in Jeremiah (and Romans 1), God leaves no doubt of where your intelligence goes when you leave him behind.
Jeremiah 4:22 (TLB) 22 “Until my people leave their foolishness, for they refuse to listen to me; they are dull, retarded children who have no understanding. They are smart enough at doing wrong, but for doing right they have no talent, none at all.”
7/28/2024
One of the sweetest lessons in the birth of Jesus is Joseph. Even appearing he is a cuckold, he wants to save Mary from public disgrace. When he is told in a dream to marry her, he promptly does so. His deep respect for Mary and her reputation mirrors his deep respect for God.
Matthew 1:18-25 (TLB) 18 These are the facts concerning the birth of Jesus Christ: His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph, her fiancé, being a man of stern principle, decided to break the engagement but to do it quietly, as he didn’t want to publicly disgrace her. 20 As he lay awake considering this, he fell into a dream, and saw an angel standing beside him. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “don’t hesitate to take Mary as your wife! For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a Son, and you shall name him Jesus (meaning ‘Savior’), for he will save his people from their sins. 22 This will fulfill God’s message through his prophets—23 ‘Listen! The virgin shall conceive a child! She shall give birth to a Son, and he shall be called “Emmanuel” (meaning “God is with us”).’”24 When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel commanded and brought Mary home to be his wife, 25 but she remained a virgin until her Son was born; and Joseph named him “Jesus.”
7/21/2024
God called Isaiah to speak for him but there was a catch: NO ONE would listen or care! Isaiah made the commitment anyway and spoke for him. If you are called by God, only he knows the timing in which your work will have its effect and its day. Answer and speak for him anyway.
Isaiah 6:11-13 (TLB) 11 Then I said, “Lord, how long will it be before they are ready to listen?” And he replied, “Not until their cities are destroyed—without a person left—and the whole country is an utter wasteland, 12 and they are all taken away as slaves to other countries far away, and all the land of Israel lies deserted! 13 Yet a tenth—a remnant—will survive; and though Israel is invaded again and again and destroyed, yet Israel will be like a tree cut down, whose stump still lives to grow again.”
7/14/2024
Until God put it in order, the world was a chaotic soup of nothingness and a bottomless emptiness. So it is with the human mind. Talk to God as much as you can. Ask him to show you how to a create simple order in your daily life so he can work in you without further delay.
Genesis 1:1-31 (MSG) 1 1-2 First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. 3-5 God spoke: “Light!” And light appeared. God saw that light was good and separated light from dark. God named the light Day, he named the dark Night It was evening, it was morning— Day One. 6-8 God spoke: “Sky! In the middle of the waters; separate water from water!” God made sky. He separated the water under sky from the water above sky. And there it was: he named sky the Heavens; It was evening, it was morning— Day Two. 9-10 God spoke: “Separate! Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place; Land, appear!” And there it was. God named the land Earth. He named the pooled water Ocean. God saw that it was good. 11-13 God spoke: “Earth, green up! Grow all varieties of seed-bearing plants, Every sort of fruit-bearing tree.” And there it was. Earth produced green seed-bearing plants, all varieties, And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning— Day Three. 14-15 God spoke: “Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven’s sky! Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years, Lights in Heaven’s sky to give light to Earth.” And there it was 16-19 God made two big lights, the larger to take charge of Day, The smaller to be in charge of Night; and he made the stars. God placed them in the heavenly sky to light up Earth And oversee Day and Night, to separate light and dark. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning— Day Four 20-23 God spoke: “Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life! Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!” God created the huge whales, all the swarm of life in the waters, And every kind and species of flying birds. God saw that it was good. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean Birds, reproduce on Earth!” It was evening, it was morning— Day Five. 24-25 God spoke: “Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind: cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds.” And there it was: wild animals of every kind, Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug. God saw that it was good. 26-28 God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.” God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature. He created them male and female. God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.” 29-30 Then God said, “I’ve given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth And every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food. To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes, I give whatever grows out of the ground for food.” And there it was. 31 God looked over everything—Day Six.
7/7/2024
Salvation, God’s word, common sense and prayer are all free for the taking. If you prefer being under the spell of ungodly things, that is free also. “If that’s what you want, that’s what you get,” but know you chose it. God didn’t choose it for you or to punish you.
Romans 1:18-25 (MSG) 18-23 But God’s angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand. 24-25 So God said, in effect, “If that’s what you want, that’s what you get.” It wasn’t long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them—the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh, yes!
God destroyed his people’s homes and had evil nations take them as slaves. But not without warning after warning. He is a God of many warnings. He also will say, “Enough is enough!” Yet if you go to God and acknowledge your sin, he is faithful to forgive and bless you.
Jeremiah 18:7-11 (TLB) 7 Whenever I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be taken up and destroyed, 8 then if that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. 9 And if I announce that I will make a certain nation strong and great, 10 but then that nation changes its mind, turns to evil, and refuses to obey me, then I, too, will change my mind and not bless that nation as I had said I would. 11 Therefore, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem, saying: Hear the word of the Lord. I am planning evil against you now instead of good; turn back from your evil paths and do what is right.
6/16/2024
The sacrifices God asked were of things he already owned, animals and all of the earth. God doesn’t NEED these things back; the sacrifices were to bring awareness of his continual presence. When you know God is with you, trust him and are grateful, everything is better.
Psalm 50:8-15 (TLB) 8 I have no complaint about the sacrifices you bring to my altar, for you bring them regularly. 9 But it isn’t sacrificial bullocks and goats that I really want from you. 10-11 For all the animals of field and forest are mine! The cattle on a thousand hills! And all the birds upon the mountains! 12 If I were hungry, I would not mention it to you—for all the world is mine and everything in it. 13 No, I don’t need your sacrifices of flesh and blood. 14-15 What I want from you is your true thanks; I want your promises fulfilled. I want you to trust me in your times of trouble, so I can rescue you and you can give me glory.
6/9/2024
Know the past, but let it go to live today. Expect something new from the Father each day because he gives you his energy and fresh ways of seeing things . He will make a way in the desert, and floods in the wilderness as you ask him, right here and right now.
….which was, and is, and is to come. Reverence for God is the basis of all that is right and good. They declare his holiness in heaven continually. God knows your inmost thoughts; let him work with you on them. The gratitude that will result is holy, and nothing you have ever known or felt.
Revelation 4:8 (KJV) 8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
5/26/2024
In the Garden, the first commandment God gives is not “don’t eat of the tree.” No, God tells Adam and Eve to be fruitful, multiply and take dominion over land and sea. Listening to God, the marital bed, work, and family is as foundational now as it was then.
Genesis 1:27-30 (AMPC) 27 So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth. 29 And God said, See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the land and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to all the animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the ground—to everything in which there is the breath of life—I have given every green plant for food. And it was so.
5/19/2024
