Testing
You have tested us, O God; you have purified us like silver. ~ Psalm 66:10 (NLT)
God will bless you, if you don’t give up when your faith is being tested. He will reward you with a glorious life, just as he rewards everyone who loves him. ~ James 1:12 (CEV)
God, it's hard to not give up when we're going through difficult times. And sometimes I do give up. When I'm worn out and tired I am more likely to give into the bad things which tempt me. But, really, the tests are not too hard when I stick close to you. You have already made a way through Jesus our Savior. He did not collapse under the weight of the tests he endured. And as long as we're walking arm-in-arm with him his strength gets transferred to us. There is no trial or temptation from which we can't benefit. No matter what happens today I am going to stay close to Jesus. I don't want to miss out on your rewards. Thank you for investing in me. Amen.
*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 — my own 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)
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.)