God blesses
When the Lord returned the people to Jerusalem after being exiled, everything changed. Their fortunes were restored. It was like they were living in a dream. ~ Psalm 126:1 (ABP)
Very early on the first day of the week, after Jesus had risen to life, he appeared to Mary Magdalene. Earlier he had forced seven demons out of her. She left and told his friends, who were crying and mourning. ~ Mark 16:9-10 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Sometimes the good news from God appears to be too good to be true. But it is true.
PRAYER:
Lord, you are full of surprises. You do not abandon your people -- even when we abandon you. You make a way to make things right. Help me to trust you to do that when I start to doubt that things will ever be good again. You are the kind of being who wants to bless people. I'm going to live the dream. 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)
