A sign
He will not break off a bent reed nor put out a flickering lamp. ~ Isaiah 32:3a (GNT)
This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger. ~ Luke 2:12 (CEB)
KEY IDEA:
Jesus is God present and he gently meets our troubled hearts.
PRAYER:
Father, the thought of coming into your presence can terrify me. Then I remember that you have already come to me -- as a baby in a manger. Let your birth story become a home for my frightened heart, so I may live for the day when everyone will know your great mercy and love. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. (Daily Texts, Mount Carmel MInistries edition, 172)
*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)
