God's message
Whether we like it or not, we’ll do it. We’ll obey whatever our God tells us. Yes, count on us. We’ll do it. ~ Jeremiah 42:6 (MSG)
Don’t suppress the Spirit. Don’t brush off Spirit-inspired messages... ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20 (CEB)
KEY IDEA:
It is to our benefit to pay attention to God's messages -- even when we don't like what he is saying.
PRAYER:
God, your voice -- especially as it comes to us through scripture -- gives us direction. You show me what you want me to become and how to move forward in a complicated world. I confess, though, that I can be pretty casual about your word. I listen to just enough that I feel confident that I've got the bases covered -- that I more or less know what you expect. Please don't give up on me. I know that I need to hear more of your voice. Transform me so that I am become a serious listener -- someone who takes even the messages that I'm not interested in seriously. 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)
