The merciful
See that justice is done and be kind and merciful to one another! ~ Zechariah 7:9b (CEV)
God blesses those people
who are merciful.
They will be treated
with mercy! ~ Matthew 5:7 (CEV)
Merciful God, I don't know why but I like it when people get all the punishment they deserve -- nothing more, but also nothing less. I get excited when bad guys go to jail -- not because I feel that everyone is safer or that justice is done -- but because it makes me feel superior. That's the way I think. But apparently it is not the way you think. You, who are superior, are constantly looking for ways to show mercy and for ways to bless those who do the same. I need to change if I'm going to be like you. Have mercy on me and forgive my attitude. Transform me into someone who is passionate about showing mercy. I want to be like Jesus. I want to be Jesus to everyone I encounter today -- both friends and enemies. 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 -- 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)
