A BIT OF HUMOR FOR TODAY

My world needed this humor this morning -- so I am sharing it!  

My Favorite Animal:

 

Our teacher asked what my favorite animal was, and I said, "Fried chicken." She said I wasn't funny, but she couldn't have been right, because everyone else laughed.

My parents told me to always tell the truth. I did. Fried chicken is my favorite animal. I told my dad what happened, and he said my teacher was probably a member of PETA. He said they love animals very much. I do, too. Especially chicken, pork and beef. 

Anyway, my teacher sent me to the principal's office. I told him what happened, and he laughed, too. Then he told me not to do it again.

The next day in class my teacher asked me what my favorite live animal was.

I told her it was chicken. She asked me why, so I told her it was because you could make them into fried chicken.

She sent me back to the principal's office. He laughed, and told me not to do it again.

I don't understand. My parents taught me to be honest, but my teacher doesn't like it when I am. Today, my teacher asked me to tell her what famous person I admired most.

I told her, "Colonel Sanders."

Guess where I am now?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Even so, Come, Lord Jesus

Last night my heart was heavy with a weight of overwhelming sadness - - but this morning I am encouraged by what God spoke to me following 9/11:  "Keep on keeping on.  Occupy until I come."  

The reality is, we long for the perfect world that will not exist until Jesus is the Lord of lords and King of kings - beginning with the Millenial reign, and progressing into eternity!  It's a good time to get to work for the Kingdom - - and a good time to re-read Revelation 22.  Our encouragement to others is: "Look up!  For your redemption draws nigh!"

The Revelation of John, chapter 22, ESV

  Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.      No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Jesus Is Coming

And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
   “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
    I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
   And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
   “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
   Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.  Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
  “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
   The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
  I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,  and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
   He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen.   Come, Lord Jesus!
  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.   Amen.

In the meantime - for the time we have left, there is work to do!  There is a final gleaning to be accomplished - and we can be part of what God is doing in these 'last days'.  

ONE VERSE - MANY VERSIONS - edited 11/5

I grew up with The King James version of The Bible.  In fact, to my dad, there was no other Bible.  Anything else (in his opinion) fell into the category of ‘adding to’ or ‘taking away from’ God’s Word.  

With regard to the Old Testament, it made no difference to him that later translations used more ancient texts for comparison – for it wasn’t until +-1967 that scholars were able to accumulate more than a few fragments of the most ancient Scripture fragments ever found, known as the Dead Sea Scrolls (initially discovered in +-1947, but the area of Qumran was under Jordan rule at that point).  Once there was access to studying the scrolls, there was an opportunity to translate with greater accuracy. 

In addition to the age of the texts used, there is the issue of the challenge of accurately translating the Bible into modern language that purports to convey what the original texts intended.  For instance, I have been told that a given word may have +-16 different words that could be used in translation  – and certainly, some of them give a slightly different tone to the meaning.  

Those same issues carry over to the progression in translation of the New Testament.  The New Testament was originally written in Greek, as it was the universal language of the day; but the spoken language of Jesus' time was Aramaic, so what he stated was often in Aramaic - and translated to Greek when it was recorded.  Language, inflection, understanding, translation...all leave space for varying interpretation....  

So – the point of this is, I have been immersed in studying the book of James; and in looking at parallel versions, most are clear, but one verse is definitely not.  Please note the differences in the various translations that follow.

James 4:5 KJV

Do you think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

James 4:5 NIV 1984

Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?

James 4:5 NIV 2011

Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?

James 4:5 CEB

Or do you suppose that scripture is meaningless?  Doesn’t God long for our faithfulness in the life he has given to us?

James 4:5 ESV

Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?

Yaakov 4:5 (OJB)

Or do you think that in vain the Kitvei Hakodesh attests that Hashem yearns jealously over the Ruach Hakodesh He causes to dwell in us? 

James 4:5 (WE)

The holy writings say, ‘God gave his spirit to live in us.  And that Spirit wants us for himself.’  Do you think this means nothing?

I prefer the clarification in the ESV – but find as a whole the various texts provide a complement to each other.  It just happens that in this specific verse, the King James isn’t particularly clear., so I am grateful for reading the verse in other texts, which helps me gain a much better picture of what was intended.    

My take away:   I love that God is possessive and protective of His Spirit within us.   When God is referred to as a jealous God - - this is the area of 'jealousy' referenced.  He zealously and jealously protects His Spirit within us - - Christ in you, the hope of glory!!!!!