Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4 NASB Wishes – “But, I’m not a friend of the world!” you complain. “This scripture isn’t about me. I believe in Jesus.” Well, maybe we need to carefully examine the Greek here. The translation “wishes” doesn’t exactly capture what James…
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 NASB In the beginning – We just can’t get away from the opening verse, can we? Genesis 1:1 stands as a clarion call for everything that’s different about the Hebrew worldview. Not only does it soundly deny all of the opening ideas of…
But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3 NASB Led astray – “Everyone’s human. I just made a mistake!” That might be the conclusion we draw from the translation “led astray.” After…
“It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.” 1 Kings 17:4 NASB I have commanded – Many years ago I worked in an automotive assembly plant here in my hometown of Adelaide. It was originally built by Chrysler (Australia) but in the…
Woe to you, O land, whose king is a lad and whose princes feast in the morning. Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time—for strength and not for drunkenness. Ecclesiastes 10:16-17 NASB Lad/nobility – The genre of wisdom literature in Scripture often includes observations…
“‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” Matthew 22:32 NASB The living – “Scarcely anywhere else on earth has the mystery of death so moved and fascinated people as in the valley of the…
Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said, “I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea.” Exodus 15:1 NASB Sang – Sanhedrin 91b, one of the rabbinic tractates, notices that the verb used to describe…
You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. James 4:3 ESV Passions – But I thought being passionate was a good thing. Ah, if we only read it in Greek. Hedonais, the plural noun, makes it quite clear that James is talking about self-centered pleasures, not passions. …
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. Psalm 66:18 ESV If – David’s words are harsh. “If I had any serious engagement in my heart about sin, God would not listen to me.” But when is this ever not the case? We are constantly besieged by temptations. Just…
