Thought Control (Rewind)

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…

Commentary on “Born Again”

And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.  1 John 2:17  NASB Will – By now we all realize that John did not use the words “born again” in his report of the conversation between Yeshua and Nicodemus (John 3).  He used…

Messianic Collateral

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus,  2 Timothy 1:1  NASB Promise of life – Paul’s second letter opening makes some changes.  They are worth noting.  First we see that Paul is still an apostle but now this is by the will…

Friendly Reminder (1)

Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4 (almost NASB) Wishes to be – What do you long to be?  What desire do you hold in your heart?  James’ comment is not about active expression and outward progression.  James uses the Greek verb boulomai, a…

The Difference

  “How often I desired to gather your children in the way a bird gathers her chicks from under her wings.And you did not desire it.”Matthew 23:37 Did Not Desire – My wife and I had a 3AM conversation.Obviously, it was serious.She pointed out, rightly so, that I struggle with the willingness to remove those…