You drink all the wine you want
and wear expensive perfume,
but you don’t care about
the ruin of your nation. ~ Amos 6:6 (CEV)
You obey the law of Christ when you offer each other a helping hand. ~ Galatians 6:2 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
When we care for others in practical ways we are living according to the way of Jesus.
PRAYER:
Kind God, thank you for caring so much that you sent your Son into the world to intervene on our behalf. I wish that I was consistent in the way that I care for people, too. But my wealth tends to make me blind to the needs of others. I want to care but the world expects someone like me to live in a certain way. Help me break my addiction to pleasure and comfort. Help me to care like Jesus. That's my goal. Amen.
Those who have been replanted in the Lord’s house
will spring up in the courtyards of our God. They will bear fruit even when old and gray;
they will remain lush and fresh. ~ Psalm 92:13-14 (CEB)
May the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow more and more... ~1 Thessalonians 3:12 (GNT)
KEY IDEA:
Those who are planted in the Lord will continue to grow indefinitely.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, thank you for transplanting me into your garden, where I can be near you and receive your care. I'm sorry that I sometimes think things are nicer outside your garden. There is no good reason for that. I'm not even unhappy with where you have planted me. But my eyes wander and my desires grow.
Keep me rooted and growing in you. I want to be lush and green -- bearing lots of love fruit for everyone. Amen.
Let us live in awe of the Lord our God,
for he gives us rain each spring and fall,
assuring us of a harvest when the time is right. ~ Jeremiah 5:24 (NLT)
God sends rain from heaven and makes your crops grow. He gives food to you and makes your hearts glad. ~ Acts 14:17 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
The many good things that happen give us evidence of God's existence and his generous involvement in our lives.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Lord, for the rain that falls -- for the food that grows -- for the joy that I have in spite of the chaos in the world. I don't doubt your existence or your involvement. Sometimes I don't act like I believe but that is because I'm full of self and allow myself to get distracted. Help me to tune into your presence and your presents. I'm going to live in awe of you. Amen.
The Lord said to Elijah: But seven thousand Israelites have refused to worship Baal, and they will live. ~ 1 Kings 19:18 (CEV)
You have stayed with me in my time of trial. ~ Luke 22:28 (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
Those who stay faithful to the Lord will experience the life he gives.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for your faithfulness to us -- your undeserving people. You are indeed a God of grace, offering full acceptance to those who accept your grace and stick with you. I'm not perfectly faithful. Help me to trust your faithfulness and allow it to become the seed of faithfulness in me. I'm going to grow in faithfulness and the life of Christ. 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)
