Guilt and Innocence
The 14th Sunday after Pentecost
No human is innocent in the sight of God.
Not once in a thousand times could we win our case if we took him to court. ~ Job 9:2-3 (CEV)
Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. ~ 1 John 3:19-20 (NLT)
God,
THANKS: Thank you for treating us as innocent, even if we really are guilty and struggle with real guilt feelings. But the fact is that the only thing that counts is the innocence of Christ that has been graciously shared with us.
REGRETS: I regret that I'm not always confident in what Christ has done. I mean, I am in my head. But then I do things to try and prove to myself and others just how innocent I am on my own. I'm eager to justify my words and my actions.
INTERCESSION: Please grant me a fresh sense of wonder regarding all that Christ Jesus has done for us -- for me.
PURPOSE: I'm going to live as someone who belongs to his truth.
Amen.
*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS
The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2011 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)
