From God
Victory comes from you, O Lord.
May you bless your people. ~ Psalm 3:8 (NLT)
We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it. ~ 2 Timothy 1:9 (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
Life in Christ is a gift from him.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for being so generous to us. Forgive me for acting like so much rests on my shoulders -- that I have to make it all happen. Help me to understand more about what it means to live in your power and according to your calling. I am going to enjoy living out the calling of a Christ-follower. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own 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)
