They rejoice in what you have done,
as people rejoice when they harvest grain... ~ Isaiah 9:3 (GNT)
All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. ~ Acts 4:32 (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
God's people join together to share.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Lord, giving us enough to share with each other. Keep me connected to you and mindful of your generosity so that I can become generous, too. I'm slow to let go of what I have. But I am going to start by rejoicing in what you have done through Christ Jesus our Savior. Amen.
With all my heart
I praise the Lord!
I will never forget
how kind he has been.
The Lord forgives our sins,
heals us when we are sick... ~ Psalm 103:2-3 (CEV)
The man went into the Temple with them, walking back and forth, dancing and praising God. ~ Acts 3:8 (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
When God makes us well again we celebrate.
PRAYER:
Lord, I praise you. I can't forget how kind you have been. Yet I do. Once I've been feeling better for awhile the memory slips to the back of my mind. Help me to keep the memory fresh. I want to walk, dance,
and praise you every single day. Amen.
When the righteous see God in action
they’ll laugh, they’ll sing,
they’ll laugh and sing for joy. ~ Psalm 68:3 (MSG)
God’s kingdom isn’t about eating and drinking. It is about pleasing God, about living in peace, and about true happiness. All this comes from the Holy Spirit. ~ Romans 14:17 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Joy doesn't come from keeping all the religious or family rules -- but from pleasing God through a Holy Spirit directed life.
PRAYER:
Lord, it is a real joy when I see you in action. Your Spirit makes me sing. However, I'm still tied to the rule book. I know that rules can be good but I also know that rule-keeping isn't what really pleases you. Help me to be less concerned about rules and appearances and more into letting the Holy Spirit give me direction. I'm committed to living out the Kingdom of God. Amen.
Be true to your name, Lord God!
Show your great kindness
and rescue me. ~ Psalm 109:21 (CEV)
So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. ~ Luke 15:20 (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
The Lord is full of love, kindness, and compassion.
PRAYER:
Lord, I am thankful to be the recipient of your love, kindness, and compassion. You freely embrace sinners. I confess that while I am grateful to receive your kindness, I can be a bit like the older son in the prodigal son story that Jesus told in Luke 15 . I don't get as excited when other people receive your mercy and compassion. I desperately want to see people get what they deserve. Please give me a fresh glimpse of your love so that I begin to grasp how deep and wide it is -- so that I'm changed -- so that I am filled with love, kindness, and compassion for sinful people. That is what I want to characterize my life. 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)
