Friday, January 29, 2016

Foreigners and God

In those days ten men from nations with entirely different languages will grab hold of a Judean’s clothes and say, “Let’s go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”  ~ Zechariah 8:23b (CEB)

Some Greeks had gone to Jerusalem to worship during Passover. Philip from Bethsaida in Galilee was there too. So they went to him and said, “Sir, we would like to meet Jesus.”  ~ John 12:20-21 (CEV)
Dear God, 
THANKS:  I'm so grateful to know you and have a relationship with you. You're with us -- with me. How many people out there in the rest of the world can honestly say that?
REGRETS: I'm not as eager to share you with others as I could be. It's not that I don't want them to know. But to have them coming into my realm is disruptive. I've got a good thing going without them. I'm important. And everyone speaks my language. Well, that was the case until these misfits started showing interest in Jesus. 
INTERCESSION: I pray that you would expand my heart for outsiders. And I pray that many many people speaking foreign languages would come looking for Jesus. 
PURPOSE: I'm going to keep my eyes open for outsiders -- foreigners -- misfits -- for all those who might need to be led to Jesus. 
Amen.

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 — 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)

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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