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Friday, February 2, 2018

The company of Jesus

Your faithful love is priceless, God! Humanity finds refuge in the shadow of your wings. ~ Psalm 36:7 (CEB)

So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! ~ Hebrews 10:35 (NLT)

KEY IDEA:
We need to find our home place in the safe company of Jesus.
PRAYER:
This world seems so cruel, Lord God. Health and strength are such fleeting treasures. Then I consider my Savior. I remember his call to follow and fear not. I remember that Jesus' confidence in your power to redeem also frees us to give ourselves away in love -- hoarding nothing. In the company of Jesus, I fear nothing. Hallelujah! Amen. (Daily Texts, Mount Carmel Ministries edition, altered)

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Humility

Who can tell God what to do? He judges powerful rulers. ~ Job 21:22 (CEV)

And all of you must put on the apron of humility, to serve one another; for the scripture says, “God resists the proud, but shows favor to the humble.” ~ 1 Peter 5:5 (GNT)

KEY IDEA:
Humility always looks good on you.
PRAYER:
Lord, who can tell YOU what to do? Your wisdom and sense of justice are beyond our ability to understand. But that reality doesn't always throttle my attempt to try. I am way too opinionated. With gentleness help me to learn humility so that I can serve you well. Amen.

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Thirsty?

When the Lord led his people through a hot, dry desert, they did not suffer from thirst. He made water come from a rock for them; he split the rock open, and water flowed out. ~ Isaiah 48:21 (GNT)

Come, whoever is thirsty; accept the water of life as a gift, whoever wants it. ~ Revelation 22:17 (GNT)

KEY IDEA:
The Lord is eager to quench the thirst of his people -- whether it is physical thirst or spiritual thirst.
PRAYER:
Lord, you are generous. I take your generous provision for granted. Because of you I have more than enough of what I need. Thank you! Please continue to keep me aware of both the conventional and the sometimes unconventional ways you provide. I want to give you the recognition that you deserve and to help others see how much you care for thirsty people. Amen.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Good God

I sing praises to the Lord for his great victory! ~ Exodus 15:1 (CEV)

What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it -- we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are... ~ I John 3:1 (MSG)

KEY IDEA:
God is really good to us.
PRAYER:
Gracious Father -- you really go to bat for your children. Forgive me when I fall into doubt and forget that you are on the side of your people. Help me to trust you as a child trusting a father -- for you really are our father. And as good as our biological father might have been you are even more of a father than him. You are the kind of father who is always advocating for his daughters and sons. And I'm going to live as your blessed child. Amen.

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 — 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)

EEB = EasyEnglish Bible (©2015, MissionAssist)

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

EXB = The Expanded Bible (©2011, Thomas Nelson Publishing)

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)

NRSVUE = New Revised Standard Version (© 2021 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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