Don't give up
God spoke: The rainbow that I have put in the sky will be my sign to you and to every living creature on earth. ~ Genesis 9:13 (CEV)
But you must stay deeply rooted and firm in your faith. You must not give up the hope you received when you heard the good news. It was preached to everyone on earth... ~ Colossians 1:23 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Don't give up on God and the hope he gives.
PRAYER:
Lord, sometimes I give up too quickly. I think that things would be better if I were just left alone to fix things by myself. But then I remember that that's how things got so bad in the first place -- people trying to make things work without you. Thank you for your patience with me. Please encourage me when I'm stressed out because things don't seem to be going well. Help me to sink my roots even more deeply into Christ Jesus. I'm going to be one of his solid trees. Amen.
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)
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)
