Friday, April 26, 2024

NEW PRIORITIES

ECCLESIASTES 12:13 (CEV)
Everything you were taught can be put into a few words:
Respect and obey God!
This is what life
is all about.

MARK 12:29-31 (ABP)
Listen up and act accordingly! God expects two things of you that transcend everything else. First of all, he is the one and only God; so he is to be your one and only master; and you must love him with the entirety of who you are—with all your heart, mind, and activity—your soul. Secondly, act with love toward your neighbor—no matter how distant, different, or despicable the person is. Use the same level of energy that you put forth to look out for yourself to look out for the wellbeing of these others.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Make everything about loving God and loving others.

DAILY FODDER
How good of a job did you do yesterday at prioritizing love of God and others? Today is a new day.

PRAYER
Gracious God, you deserve total respect and obedience. I confess that my efforts in that direction can be pretty half ass. Renew my heart, mind, and activity so that the entirety of who I am is naturally caught up in loving you and others. I have a new set of priorities. In Jesus' name, Amen!

THE LORD’S PRAYER (ABP)
Our Father in Heaven,
     we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
     so that everything that happens here will align
     with what is happening in heaven.
Give us enough food for today.
Forgive us our wrongdoing,
     and we’ll forgive those who have wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.
Lastly, we pray that you will protect us from all forms of evil. Amen.
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DAILYTEXTS.ORG

*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)

EEB = EasyEnglish Bible (©2015, MissionAssist)

ERV = Easy-To-Read Version (©2006, World Bible Translation Center)

GNT = Good News Translation (©1992, American Bible Society)

MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)

NCB = New Catholic Bible (©2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp.)

NCV = New Century Version (©2005, Thomas Nelson Inc)

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)

NRSV = New Revised Standard Version (© 1989 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.)

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