HARD TIMES
GENESIS 3:19 (CEV)
You will have to sweat
to earn a living;
you were made out of soil,
and you will once again
turn into soil.
2 TIMOTHY 1:10 (CEV)
Now Christ Jesus has come
to show us the kindness
of God.
Christ our Savior defeated death
and brought us
the good news.
It shines like a light
and offers life
that never ends.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Life is hard, but God's kindness is greater than all the trauma we endure.
PRAYER
Gracious God, you're there for us -- a friend through the thick and thin. Forgive me for worrying over all the bad things which happen -- as though I have to figure out how to get through it all on my own. Wrap your loving arms around me and help me to see that I'm not alone. You sent Christ into the world to save us, I'm going to let his light shine into the dark times. 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)
