The Lord says: I will take pleasure in doing good things for them... ~ Jeremiah 32:41a (GNT)
Jesus says: I am the gate. All who come in through me will be saved. Through me they will come and go and find pasture. ~ John 10:9 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
The Lord loves to do good things for his people -- those who find him through Jesus.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for your kindness and generosity. I don't give you enough credit for what you do. I think up ways to try to get you to do more for me. But you are already doing it all. Help me to see and appreciate all that you are doing for me. I know that my capabilities to see and understand are limited, but I am going to be happy knowing that you are kind and generous. Amen.
THE 4th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
My spirit stands in your midst. Don’t fear. ~ Haggai 2:5b (CEB)
This hope doesn’t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. ~ Romans 5:5 (CEB)
KEY IDEA:
God has sent his Spirit to live among us, therefore...
PRAYER:
I'm so grateful, God, that you have not abandoned me. I can sense that your Spirit is here and at work. That is true at least some of the time. And when I read your promises in scripture, I feel confident most of the time. Help me to let down my guard enough to see him the rest of the time. I'm going to live without fear. Amen.
It seems it was good for me to go through all those troubles. Throughout them all you held tight to my lifeline. You never let me tumble over the edge into nothing. But my sins you let go of, threw them over your shoulder—good riddance! ~ Isaiah 38:17 (MSG)
God our Father loves us. He is kind and has given us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope. We pray that our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father will encourage you and help you always to do and say the right thing. ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Our God gets us through the troubling times.
PRAYER:
Thank you for being here for me, Lord. Sometimes I ignore your presence and let fear take over. I become afraid that I'm going to fall into a deep hole out of which I can't climb. Comfort me. Love me. Encourage me to trust you more -- especially when trouble comes my way. I'm going to confidently move forward acting and talking like someone who really does trust you. Amen.
He was wounded and crushed
because of our sins... ~ Isaiah 53:5a (CEV)
Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven. ~ 1 John 4:10 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
God loves us so much that he sacrificed to save us from ourselves.
PRAYER:
Lord, there is no way that I can appropriately express gratitude for the self-sacrifice of your Son Jesus. You really do love us -- even though we continue to sin. Keep on saving me from my sins and sinfulness. Even though I give up too easily I am counting on you to not give up on me. As I grow I am going to live into the love and forgiveness that I have received. 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)
