Raising
God raises the poor from the dust. ~ 1 Samuel 2:8 (CEB)
Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep but loses one of them. Then he will leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the open field and go out and look for the lost sheep until he finds it. And when he finds it, he happily puts it on his shoulders. ~ Luke 15:4-5 (NCV)
Lord, you lift the lost and the poor. You raise us up onto your shoulders to carry us to safety. And you do it with a big smile on your face. Thank you for caring. I confess that I'm not as caring as I should be. Help me to think less about me and more about others. I'm intending to think and act more like you. Give me a heart for the poor and the lost. Put a big smile on my face when people are raised up. Lord Jesus, you make life livable. Thank you! Amen.
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)
