Now flee youthful lusts, and pursue after righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22 NASB Pursue after – Something makes you do it. You don’t want to, but at the moment when you should say, “No,” something just overtakes you and you end…
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. Luke 9:23 NASB Wishes – How sincerely do you want to be His follower? What intensity do you put into your effort? How important is He to you?…
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…
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6 NASB When – Suppose…
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s. Exodus 20:17 ESV Not covet – There is a reason why no other legal code of the ancient Near East contains…
Whom have I in heaven but You? And beside You, I desire nothing on earth. Psalm 73:25 NASB Desire – A lot gets added in translation to fill in Asaph’s blurted exclamation. In Hebrew, the text literally reads, “Who in heaven? I do not desire in earth.” NASB, ESV, NIV and others add conjunctions, pronouns…
What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility and a striving after wind. Ecclesiastes 6:9 NASB What the eyes see – This verse is difficult to translate because the Hebrew text leaves a lot of ambiguity. Fox suggests, “Better the sight of the eyes than the wandering of…
And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matthew 19:17 NASB To enter into life – So what do you want out of life? What are the things that really, really…
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…
And YHWH Elohim formed Man out of dry, loose earth dirt Genesis 2:7a (my translation) Formed – “To bring desire into existence.” That’s yatsar. God desired partnership in the regulation and enhancement of His creation. That desire was manifested in the formation of Man. Because the desire to bring into existence is the essence of…
