Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Managing gifts

O Lord, the earth is full of your unfailing love; instruct me so that I am living according to your way of doing things. ~ Psalm 119:64 (ABP)

Since God gives various kinds of gifts to each of us, make sure that you manage your gift well and that you are using it to serve others. ~ 1 Peter 4:10 (ABP)

KEY IDEA:
Use whatever gifts that God has lovingly entrusted to you to serve others.
PRAYER:
Lord, you are generous beyond what I can comprehend. Thank you for entrusting me with so many gifts. I confess, though, that my first inclination is to use whatever I have received to serve myself. Help me to look beyond self and to see the bigger picture. I'm going to love others in the same way that you have loved me. Amen.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Sacrifice

Saint Nicholas Day

So I will rescue my flock, and they will no longer be abused. ~ Ezekiel 34:22a (NLT)

Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her... ~ Ephesians 5:25b (NLT)

KEY IDEA:
God loves us so much that he has sacrificed his own life to rescue us.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your sacrifice. It is such an amazing thing that I don't fully understand how it all worked. Nor do I understand how it is that I'm so lukewarm about it all. I need you to grab my heart and imagination so that my life is totally changed by the sacrifice you made. I also want to help others see how much you have done for us. Amen.

Monday, December 4, 2017

God's message

Moses added: “Take to heart all the words of warning I have given you today... These instructions are not empty words—they are your life! ~ Deuteronomy 32:46a, 47a (NLT)

A man named John was sent from God... He himself wasn’t the light, but his mission was to testify concerning the light. ~ John 1:6, 8 (CEB)

KEY IDEA:
God sends messengers with his instructions for life.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for caring enough about us to send apostles and prophets to share your word with us. What you say will change our lives -- will transition us from death to life. I confess that I am casual about your word. When there are things in your message that make me uncomfortable I ignore it. Save me from giving in. Allow me to continue to struggle until I come to see the light in your messages. Each time that happens your messengers should be blessed. Amen.

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Wait

I’m creating new heavens and a new earth. All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain are things of the past, to be forgotten. ~ Isaiah 65:17

Be like house servants waiting for their master to come back from his honeymoon… ~ Luke 12:36 (MSG)

KEY IDEA:
Wait. What the Lord has coming is really big.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for your promise of justice and relief from the painful things of the present. Help me to wait and not take matters into my own hands. I'm going to trust your plan as I eagerly look forward to new heavens and a new earth. Praise Jesus! 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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