Life definition
The Lord God has told us
what is right
and what he demands:
“See that justice is done,
let mercy be your first concern,
and humbly obey your God.” ~ Micah 6:8 (CEV)
Jesus says: I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. ~ John 13:15 (NLT)
Lord God:
THANKS: Not only have you told us what you want us to do -- and not only have you modeled how you want us to act -- you have also put your Holy Spirit in us to empower us for the assignment. Thank you!
REGRETS: I find it easy, though, to gloss over both the teaching and the modeling. When it becomes really radical I tend to make up ideas to explain how you can't possibly expect me to live that way. I say things like, "After all, I'm not the Son of God." Or "This must just be for the future when the Kingdom of God is fully operational."
INTERCESSION: Help me to maintain a radical Jesus edge. Help me to fully embrace even the hard things which Jesus teaches and models.
PURPOSE: I know that I can do all things through Christ Jesus who has implanted his Holy Spirit in me. With his assistance I'm going to pursue justice, mercy, and humble obedience to you as the rule which defines my life.
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)
