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Friday, April 24, 2015

Troubling grace

The Lord our God is right in everything he does. ~ Daniel 9:14 (part) (NCV)

“He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair!.. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’ ~ Matthew 20:13a, 15 (NLT)
Lord, your outrageous generosity is disturbing. We are so quick to recognize your grace when it is extended to others. But then we start comparing it to what you have done for us. That only makes us unhappy. We always forget some of what you have done for us. We are shallow and we have hindered the transformation that should come when we remember your generosity. That's because we are very focused on our own self-interests. Please help me to shift my focus from me to you. I know that once I do that I'll be less grumpy. I might even become crazy generous, too. Amen.
Challenging Words
  • outrageous -- extreme, extravagant, wild, crazy, scandalous, inexpiable, inexcusable 
  • hindered -- blocked, stopped, slowed down, prevented from moving forward
  • transformation -- dramatic change, overhaul, remaking
  • grumpy -- to be in such a bad mood that if affects other people, really unhappy

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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)

EEB = EasyEnglish Bible (©2015, MissionAssist)

ERV = Easy-To-Read Version (©2006, World Bible Translation Center)

EXB = The Expanded Bible (©2011, Thomas Nelson Publishing)

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)

NRSVue = New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (© 2021 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.)

REB = Revised English Bible (© 1989 Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press)

TCEB = The Casual English Bible (© Stephen M. Miller)

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