Wednesday, January 14, 2015

City on a hill

The time is coming, declares the Lord, when the city will be rebuilt for the Lord... ~ Jeremiah 31:38a (CEB)

You are the light that shines for the world to see. You are like a city built on a hill that cannot be hidden. ~ Matthew 5:14 (ERV)

Lord, you have called us to shine forth like a bright city on a hilltop. That kind of talk makes me nervous. What if my light flickers? Everyone will see and know that I am weak. What if some other city is brighter? People will make fun of me. What if I don't really want the attention? I enjoy the freedom of inattention. Yet you call us. You call me. I can see, though, that it is not really about me. It is "for the Lord." Surely, then, you will provide enough light to make a difference through us. I am going to relax and trust you for the light. Amen.

Difficult Words
Flickers -- The movement within a flame -- sometimes it is bright but at other times not so bright. If something flickers it is not consistent or steady.
Inattention -- The opposite of attention -- a drifting mind -- not noticing or being noticed.

Posted by at

DAILYTEXTS.ORG

*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS

The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2015 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.)

Blog Archive