Sunday, April 10, 2016

Stingy or generous?

I am the Lord All-Powerful, and I challenge you to put me to the test. Bring the entire ten percent into the storehouse, so there will be food in my house. Then I will open the windows of heaven and flood you with blessing after blessing. ~ Malachi 3:10 (CEV)

 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. ~ 2 Corinthians 9:6 (NLT)
Lord, thank you for being so generous with us. We get so much from you and we don't deserve any of it. I want to be generous like you. And I'm confused because my natural inclination is to be stingy -- even when I'm aware of how much I've been given. Could it be that my underlying problem is fear? What am I afraid will happen if I become more generous? I want to try it and find out. I'm going to become consistent in my giving to your church. And I'm going to look for ways to give to people all week long. I'm going to tip 20% at the restaurant -- even though I'm only expected to give 15%. Because your generous Holy Spirit lives in me, I'm going to be able to give way more than I can imagine at this point. And I'm not going to do it because I'm expecting anything in return but because I'm a part of your team. I'm not afraid. Amen.
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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 -- 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)

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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