A Christ-honoring life
The First Sunday in Advent
Lord, ruler over all, every single person should respect and honor you. You alone deserve such recognition. ~ Jeremiah 10:7 (ABP)
Might God, who is the source of peace, bring you to maturity so that you are doing the things which please him. I pray that Jesus Christ would bring this about in your life. ~ Hebrews 13:20a,21a (ABP)
KEY THOUGHT:
We aim to do everything that pleases God -- and through Christ that can happen.
PRAYER:
Lord, ruler over all, I acknowledge that you are worthy of obedience -- even though I fail to live up to what I know is true. Continue to unpack the life of Christ into me so that I am living a Christ-honoring life. 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)
NRSVue = New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (© 2021 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.) NTE = New Testament for Everyone (©2011 Nicolas Thomas Wright.)
REB = Revised English Bible (© 1989 Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press) TCEB = The Casual English Bible (© Stephen M. Miller)