Shining like the sun
If you love Jerusalem,
celebrate and shout!
If you were in sorrow
because of the city,
you can now be glad. ~ Isaiah 66:10 (CEV)
But everyone who has done right will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. ~ Matthew 13:43a (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
God promises a great future for the active citizens of his kingdom.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Lord, for the hope that you have given us through Christ Jesus. Thank you for initiating the Kingdom of God. I count myself as a citizen of that kingdom because I am trusting in what Christ has done and is doing. But I'm not sure that I'm yet to the point where I'm shining like the sun. Please do what it takes in my life to get me to that point. I'm eager to become a full participant in the celebration. 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)
