Forgiven -- really
The people of Israel will no longer say,
“We are sick and helpless,”
for the Lord will forgive their sins. ~ Isaiah 33:24 (NLT)
Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” ~ Mark 2:5 (NLT)
Lord,
THANKS: Thank you for forgiving me. I mean, really truly forgiving me. You do not hold my sins against me. You are not secretly keeping track of all the wrong I do so that at some point you can bring it up again and clobber me -- reminding me of my guilt and shame. That is not the way you think and operate.
REGRET: I'm sorry that I continue to sin. But more so, I am sorry that I doubt your forgiveness -- at least in the way that I think and act.
INTERCESSION: Help me to let go of my sin and doubt. I need to be healed from the kind of thinking where I am not fully trusting you. Help me to accept your love and welcome without worry -- even when I don't deserve such.
PURPOSE: I'm going to act according to faith -- bringing my hurts -- and the hurts of others -- to you for healing.
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)
