Sunday, February 1, 2015

Looking at Jesus

I will always look to you, as you stand beside me and protect me from fear. ~ Psalm 16:8 (CEV)

And we must be determined to run the race that is ahead of us. We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete. ~ Hebrews 12:1-2 (CEV)

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for leading us. I'm glad to have someone to watch as I run along this rough trail. Sometimes I let fear overtake me -- but then I look up and see that you are right in front of me -- blazing the trail. Therefore, I am turning my eyes away from the things which make me afraid and I am fixated on you -- you alone. When I do that, I know that my faith is maturing -- in spite of the voices which try to tell me that I'm going nowhere and that I'm not making any progress.

Challenging Words
Blazing the trail -- the action of cutting a pathway through a thick forest, jungle, or grassland. Making a pathway where no one else has walked. This has become an idiom for the kind of leadership that takes followers through unexplored territories or new projects that no one else has done. Such a leader is called a "trailblazer."
Fixated -- completely focused, not looking away, obsessed
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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.)

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