The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Put new life into us,
and we will worship you. ~ Psalm 80:18 (CEV)
Jesus replied (to the blind man), “Look and you will see! Your eyes are healed because of your faith.” Right away the man could see, and he went with Jesus and started thanking God. When the crowds saw what happened, they praised God. ~ Luke 18:42-43 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Respond with praise to what God is doing!
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, I am grateful for what you are doing in the world -- and in my life. I don't express enough appreciation or wonder. My praise is perfunctory -- which is okay. But that doesn't go far enough. Open my eyes so that I burst with worship. I'm going to celebrate your grace. Amen.
Who do you think you are —
getting rich by stealing and extortion?
How long do you think
you can get away with this? ~ Habakkuk 2:6 (MSG)
Then Jesus said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” ~ Luke 12:15 (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
Don't get too attached to the good life, it will drag you down.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, you have called us to trust you and only you. And you have given us good reason for such faith. But I am easily distracted by the possibility of wealth. It affects the decisions I make and keeps me from noticing those who are in need. Restore your vision in me so that I'm measuring things by your standards. Amen.
The Lord says: So now, if you faithfully obey me and stay true to my covenant, you will be my most precious possession out of all the peoples, since the whole earth belongs to me. ~ Exodus 19:5 (CEB)
We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. ~ 2 Timothy 1:9 (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
Live like you belong to God as a part of his most prized possession. For that is who you are.
PRAYER:
Generous God, you have formed a special bond with us through Christ. Help me to live into the special person you have called me to be. I am way too relaxed about my calling. But I trust that together we will live into the covenant relationship that you have established. Amen.
The Lord will mediate between nations
and will settle international disputes.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation,
nor train for war anymore. ~ Isaiah 2:4 (NLT)
“Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” ~ Luke 2:14 (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
Universal peace is a major part of God's agenda. Start with me.
PRAYER:
Lord of my life, you bless me day by day with your favor and peace. Yet I confess that my heart is filled with the fragments of anger, fear, and resentment. I want perfection and to get my own way, but you simply desire my heart. Take it and turn it into a plowshare for your work on earth. Amen. (Daily Texts, Mount Carmel Ministries edition)
*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)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
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)
