CHEERFULNESS
PROVERBS 15:13 (MSG)
A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face;
a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day.
PHILEMON 7 (NLT)
Your love has given me much joy and comfort, my brother, for your kindness has often refreshed the hearts of God’s people.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Cheerful people refresh those around them.
PRAYER
Thank you, God, for cheering me up when I get down. Your gifts can't help but make me smile. I don't understand, then, how it is that I can be such a sour puss at times. Why do I let things drag me down? Lighten my heart again so that I can share the joy with those around me. 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)
