Be encouraged
Help, God—the bottom has fallen out of my life!
Master, hear my cry for help!
Listen hard! Open your ears!
Listen to my cries for mercy. ~ Psalm 130:1-2 (MSG)
Just then Jesus spoke to them, “Be encouraged! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.” ~ Matthew 14:27 (CEB)
KEY IDEA:
Be encouraged; Jesus has your back.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, thank you for hearing my cries for help. So often I feel alone in my pain and I give up dealing with it. Speak to me again. Encourage me so that I can move forward as one of your healthy followers. You hear my cries. 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)
