Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Closer than you think

You have brought justice and fairness to Jerusalem; you are the foundation on which we stand today. You always save us and give true wisdom and knowledge. ~ Isaiah 35:5-6 (CEV)

Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. ~ Matthew 10:7 (MSG)

KEY IDEA:
God's kingdom is closer than you think.
PRAYER:
King Jesus, thank you for coming to live among us and to save us from the grip of sin and death. I'm grateful but I'm also frustrated that there is still so much dysfunction, hate, and sorrow in the world where I live. Help me to accept the reality that your kingdom is close by and that I don't have to worry about all that other nonsense. I'm going to focus first on how close your kingdom is. I'm going to let that reality shape my life instead of all the fear and destruction that shows up in the news daily. Amen.

DAILYTEXTS.ORG

*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS

The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2011 I started posting these Bible verses for my spiritual formation students at Pacific Islands University. In the process of responding to the verses, I found the rhythm of looking for a common thread and writing a prayer based on that key idea to be helpful for my own soul.

The prayers are more or less modeled on the TRIP method, which is what I ask my students to do in their journaling. ~ Brad Boydston

TRANSLATIONS

ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase -- a freestyle biblical adaptation -- somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon

CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)

CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)

EEB = EasyEnglish Bible (©2015, MissionAssist)

ERV = Easy-To-Read Version (©2006, World Bible Translation Center)

GNT = Good News Translation (©1992, American Bible Society)

MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)

NCB = New Catholic Bible (©2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp.)

NCV = New Century Version (©2005, Thomas Nelson Inc)

NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)

NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)

NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)

NRSV = New Revised Standard Version (© 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)

NTE = New Testament for Everyone (©2011 Nicolas Thomas Wright.)

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