Moses added: “Take to heart all the words of warning I have given you today... These instructions are not empty words—they are your life! ~ Deuteronomy 32:46a, 47a (NLT)
A man named John was sent from God... He himself wasn’t the light, but his mission was to testify concerning the light. ~ John 1:6, 8 (CEB)
KEY IDEA:
God sends messengers with his instructions for life.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for caring enough about us to send apostles and prophets to share your word with us.
What you say will change our lives -- will transition us from death to life. I confess that I am casual about your word.
When there are things in your message that make me uncomfortable I ignore it. Save me from giving in. Allow me to continue to struggle until I come to see the light in your messages. Each time that happens your messengers should be blessed. Amen.
I’m creating new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain
are things of the past, to be forgotten. ~ Isaiah 65:17
Be like house servants waiting for their master to come back from his honeymoon… ~ Luke 12:36 (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
Wait. What the Lord has coming is really big.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for your promise of justice and relief from the painful things of the present.
Help me to wait and not take matters into my own hands. I'm going to trust your plan as I eagerly look forward to new heavens and a new earth. Praise Jesus! Amen.
The 1st Sunday in Advent
Sing a new song to the Lord!
Sing his praises from the ends of the earth! ~ Isaiah 42:10a
John's father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he spoke God's message: “Let us praise the Lord, the God of Israel! He has come to the help of his people and has set them free." ~ Luke 1:67-68 (GNT)
KEY IDEA:
Together with the ancients we sing the new song of freedom through Jesus.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for the new song of freedom through Christ Jesus. I confess, though, that the old songs of slavery to sin are still stuck in my head like an annoying earworm. I need you to put a new song in there -- a catchy song that won't stop and of which I will never get tired. I'm looking forward to the melody of freedom that only Jesus can produce. Amen.
Turn back—right now, each one of you!—from your evil way of life and bad behavior... ~ Jeremiah 25:5 (MSG)
Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. ~ Luke 3:8a (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
The only way to prove that we are really on God's side is to change our ways so that we are doing what he says.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for the grace that empowers us to change and follow you. I can't change myself.
As a matter of fact, on my own I don't even desire change. I say that I want to change but I'm so comfortable with even a raunchy life that it is painful to think of changing. So I am looking to you to take me by the hand. Lead me in the new direction. I want my life to be about doing what you want me to do. I repent. 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)
