Pressure
The Fifth Sunday in Lent
I tested you in hard times
just as silver is refined
in a heated furnace. ~ Isaiah 48:10 (CEV)
Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:11 (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
Living for Jesus means that we are living under pressure. But the pressure is forming us so that the life of Jesus is more evident through us.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, I am so grateful for the way that you endured suffering so that we could be saved from sin and its consequences. But I don't really like the idea that I'm going to suffer, too. That scares me. I prefer a more relaxed life with fewer pressures. Help me to more fully embrace your agenda and your way of doing things. No matter what happens I am sure that you have my best interests in mind. I am counting on it. 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)
