Gifts!
You will have plenty to eat, and you will build good houses to live in… But when all this happens, don’t be proud! ~ Deuteronomy 8:12, 14a (CEV)
What do you have that you were not given? And if it was given to you, how can you brag? ~ 1 Corinthians 4:7b (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
We should not be proud of what we have because it is all a gift from God.
PRAYER:
Lord, I have received more than I can remember from you. And that is part of the problem. I forget and act like all the good that I have is the result of my efforts and my wisdom. That's silly and inappropriate. Forgive me and keep me mindful of the constant flow of your grace into my life. Help me to see all that you are giving to me. I don't want to be proud. I want to be grateful. I say this in the name of Jesus, the greatest gift of all! 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)
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.)