You will be called by a new name, A name given by the Lord himself. ~ Isaiah 62:2b (GNT)
He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ~ John 10:3b (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
The Lord calls and leads.
PRAYER:
Lord, I know that you have called me by name. I have experienced the sense of direction and the newness that comes with it. Thank you. I know, though, that I need to be more attentive to your calling and leadership. It is so easy to get distracted from hearing your voice. Give me attentive ears and a desire for your leadership. I'm going to follow you. Amen.
Joseph said to his brothers: You tried to harm me, but God made it turn out for the best, so that he could save all these people, as he is now doing. ~ Genesis 50:20 (CEV)
Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time. ~ James 2:13b (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
God is in the business of transforming broken relationships and misguided actions into something good.
PRAYER:
Merciful God, your kindness keeps me interested in you. I deserve to be dealt with harshly but you treat me kindly. Thank you. But I'm not as merciful and positive as you. I tend to dwell on the mistakes of others and am unwilling to give second or third chances. Heal my attitude and transform my approach to people so that it is more in line with how you do things. I want to be a reflection of your kindness so that all people see Jesus through me. Amen.
The Lord gives me strength. ~ Habakkuk 3:19 (CEV)
My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9 (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
The Lord is the source of all the strength you need. He even turns weaknesses into strength.
PRAYER:
Powerful Lord, I am a weak person but you are so generous that you turn weaknesses into strengths. I confess that I get frustrated by my mistakes and weaknesses. Help me to trust you to provide the strength that I need to get through every ordeal -- even the ordeals that display my faults. Transform these weaknesses into strengths so that people will see me and honor you. Amen.
The people went to Moses and said, “We’ve sinned, for we spoke against the Lord and you. Pray to the Lord so that he will send the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. ~ Numbers 21:7 (CEV)
So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through. ~ John 8:36 (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
When Jesus frees us from sin that's when we can start to live truly free lives.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for freedom! I admit that I am prone to redefining freedom to mean getting to do what I want to do -- to say what I want to say. Help me to grow in my understanding of all that freedom truly means. I'm going to live as a truly free person because I am trusting in what Christ Jesus has done and is doing to make people free. 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)
