FOCUS
EZEKIEL 20:11 (CEV)
I gave them my laws and teachings, so they would know how to live right.
PHILIPPIANS 4:8 (CEB)
...if anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Focus on the things which please God and you'll do well.
PRAYER
Generous God, you've given us good instructions for life. Thank you. I confess that I allow some ugly thoughts to linger in my mind. When that happens, prompt me to focus on the beautiful things which please you. I'm going to focus on all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise. 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)
