POWER
MICAH 2:1 (MSG)
Doom to those who plot evil,
who go to bed dreaming up crimes!
As soon as it’s morning,
they’re off, full of energy, doing what they’ve planned.
MATTHEW 20:25-26 (CEB)
But Jesus called them over and said, "You know that those who rule the Gentiles show off their authority over them and their high-ranking officials order them around. But that’s not the way it will be with you. Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant."
SUMMARY SENTENCE
God's desire is that we'd use whatever power we have to serve those with less.
PRAYER
Gracious God, you've given us more power and privilege than we're ready to acknowledge. Perhaps we're afraid that you'd expect us to use it all for the good of our neighbors. Jolt us with a fresh dose of reality so that we can better align our lives with Jesus and his kingdom. Afterall he came to show us how to serve. Amen.
*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS
The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2011 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)
