O earth, earth, earth!
Listen to this message from the Lord! ~ Jeremiah 22:29 (NLT)
Others may sleep, but we should stay awake and be alert. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:6 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Stay alert to what God has to say.
PRAYER:
Lord, I'm grateful that you talk with us. You have a a message for us. I confess that I don't listen as attentively as I could and should. Supercharge my hearing and attention span. I want to be giving to you my full and undivided attention. Amen.
The Lord is a safe place for the oppressed—
a safe place in difficult times. ~ Psalm 9:9 (CEB)
Won’t God provide justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he be slow to help them? ~ Luke 18:7 (CEB)
KEY IDEA:
God is eager to look out for his people.
PRAYER:
God, it is so frustrating to see bad people get ahead at the expense of good people. You understand that frustration better than anyone. At least that is how I read the story of Jesus in the gospels. But in the end justice wins. Save me from the doubts that come when I see how vulnerable people are treated by the powerful. I am going to trust that you are the source of justice and safety. Amen.
The Lord’s Instruction is perfect,
reviving one’s very being.
The Lord’s laws are faithful,
making naive people wise. ~ Psalm 19:7 (CEB)
God has hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ. ~ Colossians 2:3 (GW)
KEY IDEA:
Everything you need to become a wise and successful person can be found in Christ.
PRAYER:
Lord, we often complain about how little knowledge we have given the problems we face. Thank you for sending Christ Jesus, the living instruction book, into the world to shape and guide us. Yet, I look for life direction in every place but him. Refocus my gaze so that I'm reading Christ alone for directions on how to live well. I'm hoping that eventually I will become wise. Amen.
The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. ~ Jeremiah 31:31 (CEB)
You have come….. to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. ~Hebrews 12:22a,24a
KEY IDEA:
Jesus initiates new beginnings with him.
PRAYER:
Lord God, thank you for sticking with us even when we do not stick with you. Forgive my lack of faithfulness to you and your ways. Help me to more fully trust in the new covenant beginnings. I'm going stick close to Jesus. 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)
