Luke 20:16 (KJV) Evil Has Real Consequences

Luke 20:16 (KJV)

He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.

Jesus spoke a parable titled in my Bible The Parable of the Wicked Tenants, but I think it should be titled The Parable of the Patient Landlord.

It’s hard to fathom his patience. The landlord sent three servants to collect the rent. They were beaten, wounded, and sent away empty. You’d think that would be enough.

Not so this landlord. He finally sent his son to represent him before the tenants.

They killed him!

The tenants assumed ownership of that which was not theirs. They lost sight of whose property they were privileged to work. They presumed they could do as they pleased without consequences.

But consequences they faced! They were destroyed, and the vineyard was given to others.

Now hear the reaction of Jesus’s audience: “And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.”

It was the landlord they judged, and not the tenants. After all his patience, they objected to his judgment.

The applications in the parable are many. It’s primarily speaking of the Jews who had presumed upon God through all those years He had blessed them, and of the Gentiles, to whom the Lord would turn in the near future. They did not believe God had the right to make this change.

I see much the same attitude among people of all tongues in our day.

They have forgotten from whence their life and breath come. They have presumed ownership of themselves and their choices. They demand that they be allowed to do as they please without consequences.

They think God is a monster, unjust, or simply nonexistent because He judges people for their opinions, pleasures, and will. They call Christianity hateful for calling lost souls to repentance and identifying accepted social practices as sinful, evil, and ungodly.

Like those who heard Jesus’s parable, they judge the One who has been patient with them. They object when the God who gave them life holds them accountable for how they live.

But the Bible assures us that consequences they will face.

“And when they heard it, they said, God forbid.”

#Luke20v16 #ThePatientLandlord #GodsLongsuffering #CallToRepentance #AccountableToGod

Evil Has Real Consequences: Blaming the One They Wronged

The tenants beat the servants and killed the son—yet the audience objected to the landlord’s judgment. Are we doing the same when we blame God for judging our sin?

Read this Daily Visit with God on Luke 20:16, then leave a comment: Why do people question God’s justice instead of admitting their guilt?

Visit marvinmckenzie.org for more Bible studies that challenge us to repent, believe God’s Word, and live by His truth.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Luke 20:16 (KJV) Evil Has Real Consequences

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/Ugkx6G13lAoR3Ug8_mBu-fjZ4QNPrVVlprkW?si=Jq5UeG5J0yjiZZ9u

Psalms 19:2 (KJV) Recognizing Words, Missing The Message

Psalms 19:2 (KJV)

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

Creation testifies of God day after day and night after night. Its witness never stops. It is incessant and unrelenting.

Yet fallen man can tune out even a witness that never ceases. We see it in the way people respond to the Word of God. There are more means of proclaiming it than at any time in history: radio, television, the internet, social media, printed pages, and churches in nearly every community. People can drive past the same church so often that they do not even realize a church is there.

That does not mean the witness is powerless. Neither does it mean the witness should stop. It means God knows the nature of man.

And we who love the Lord are not immune. We can become so familiar with the Bible that we read its words without hearing Him. We can recognize a passage, remember a sermon about it, and move on without letting it search our hearts.

Psalm 19 calls us to do more than acknowledge that God has spoken. We must respond to what He says:

• Fear the Lord. Approach His Word with reverence, ready to obey rather than merely to agree.
• Desire His judgments. Treasure what God says, even when it corrects us.
• Guard against presumptuous sins. Do not excuse a sin simply because it has become familiar.
• Meditate on and speak His words. Give the Scriptures room in our thoughts and let them shape what comes from our mouths.

The witness is still speaking. The question is whether we are listening.

#Psalm19v2 #CreationDeclaresGod #HearGodsWord #FearTheLord #MeditateOnHisWord

Recognizing Words, Missing The Message: The Danger of Becoming Familiar with Scripture

Are you reading the Bible without hearing God? Let Psalm 19 challenge you to slow down, fear the Lord, and respond to His Word. Leave a comment: What helps you give Scripture your full attention? 

Visit marvinmckenzie.org for more Bible studies and daily encouragement to put God’s Word into practice.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Psalms 19:2 (KJV) Recognizing Words, Missing The Message

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/Ugkx_0yuhF1W3UY4ibRnCGWa8tQwg0HqMZ7h?si=6WWTZiTJxKde9ao7

Luke 18:9 (KJV) Righteous Pride Despises People

Luke 18:9 (KJV)

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

In my experience, this parable is used primarily to teach about salvation. We read that the publican went home “justified” and understand the Pharisee as religious but lost, while the publican knows he is a sinner in need of salvation. I have no complaint with that application.

But Jesus tells us at the outset whom He is addressing: those who trusted in their own righteousness and despised others. When we assume we are righteous, it becomes easy to look down on people we believe fall short. It is never right to despise others, for any cause.

Jesus closes the parable with this lesson:

Luke 18:14 (KJV)
“… for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

That warning reaches beyond the religious lost. Saved people can be judgmental and hateful toward others, too. We need humility every bit as much as the publican did.

God saves those who humble themselves and ask for mercy instead of trusting in their own righteousness. He also lifts up Christians who learn humility before Him, while those who assume they are right about everything must still be brought low.

Pride is as sinful as any sin.

#Luke18v9 #PhariseeAndPublican #ChristianHumility #TrustNotInYourself #DespiseNoOne

Righteous pride despises people: Mercy begins with humility

What does the parable of the Pharisee and publican reveal about our own hearts? Luke 18:9 warns against trusting in our righteousness and despising others—a warning Christians need, too.

Leave a comment: How has this passage challenged your attitude toward others?

Visit marvinmckenzie.org for more Bible teaching and Daily Visits with God to help you examine your heart and grow in humility.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Luke 18:9 (KJV) Righteous Pride Despises People

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/Ugkxci36h6FWIaxmBLr0ijvz0BmNMQfYFuM9?si=I4JJw_9aAzcxW7Yd

Luke 17:7-10 (KJV) Faithful but Flawed

Luke 17:7-10 (KJV)

But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?

And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?

Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.

So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

We have here another chapter and another lesson for the servant.

First, the servant works the fields.

It is the work of the believer to “go into all the world.” There are souls to be led to Christ, people to be treated kindly, and the lost to be shown the way.

Second, there are meals to be prepared in the house.

I take that to be the church work. We’ve been out in the fields, but when we come into the house of the Lord, there is still ministry to be done there.

We get tired. We’d like to rest. We’d wish the Lord would pat us on the shoulder and tell us, “That’s okay. You can quit now.”

But it’s not time yet.

We have a day of rest coming. It’s just not now.

We have a duty to perform. We are debtors to the Lord, of course, but the Apostle Paul said he considered himself a debtor to all men. Should we not think the same?

We are servants, and we are glad of it. But at best, we are weak, unprofitable servants. Even our best service is flawed. We have not placed God in our debt. We have simply done what was our duty to do.

• Do what God has called us to do.
• Labor until the day He calls us to sit.
• In that day, He has promised us rewards.

#DailyVisitWithGod #Luke17v7 #ServantsOfChrist #FaithfulService #ChristianDuty

Faithful but Flawed: Serving Without Pride

Faithful servants keep serving—not for applause, but because serving the Lord is our duty.

What part of Luke 17:7-10 speaks most strongly to you? Leave a comment and share how this passage challenges or encourages you in your service for Christ.

For more Bible studies, daily devotionals, and practical teaching from the King James Bible, visit marvinmckenzie.org.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Luke 17:7-10 (KJV) Faithful but Flawed

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/UgkxhmZbBszatngP2hrngEwmP-3gwFiyDKlT?si=vd0dM-qDGe-rF09M