The Eighth Day of Christmas
The Second Sunday in Christmastide
...Worship and serve God with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought... ~ 1 Chronicles 28:9 (NLT)
God gives peace... I pray that God will make you ready to obey him and that you will always be eager to do right. May Jesus help you do what pleases God. To Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever! Amen. ~ Hebrews 13:20a, 21 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
God is the one worth pleasing.
PRAYER:
Lord, as we begin a new year my prayer is that I might please you in 2017. That's my goal. But you know that already. For you know my heart and mind -- all the positive and all the negative. I know that I can't please you on my own so I ask that Jesus would help me. I'm looking forward to a good year of service to you. What higher goal could there be? Amen.
The Seventh Day of Christmas
How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!... And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing,
even life everlasting. ~ Psalm 133:1, 3b (NLT)
Do better and pay attention to what I have said. Try to get along and live peacefully with each other... I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will bless you and be kind to you! May God bless you with his love, and may the Holy Spirit join all your hearts together. ~ 2 Corinthians 13:11b, 13 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
It's important (and desirable) to live together in peace and unity.
PRAYER:
Prince of Peace, you have blessed us with a truly unique unity. I'm thankful -- even though am not as serious about maintaining peace and unity as I should be. I pray that your Holy Spirit would continue his work of pulling us together. I want to be a team player. Amen.
The Sixth Day of Christmas
But mightier than the violent raging of the seas,
mightier than the breakers on the shore—
the Lord above is mightier than these! ~ Psalm 93:4 (NLT)
I have told you this, so that you might have peace in your hearts because of me. While you are in the world, you will have to suffer. But cheer up! I have defeated the world. ~ John 16:33b (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
The Lord defeats suffering -- commandeering it to accomplish his goals.
PRAYER:
Powerful Lord, even the suffering of life has to back down when you attack it. Thank you for being our defender. Help me to stop whining when suffering comes. Help me to embrace the peace that you give us -- especially during the difficult times. I'm going to live at peace because of you. Amen.
The Fifth Day of Christmas
And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken! ~ Jeremiah 1:8 (NLT)
The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them. ~ Luke 19:10 (NCV)
KEY IDEA:
The Lord looks out for his people.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for looking out for me. I feel loved. I know that it doesn't make any sense but even with you on duty I'm still paralyzed by fear at times. Help me to trust you. I'm going to live confidently. 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 — my own 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)
