God, you know my foolishness;
my wrongdoings aren’t hidden from you. ~ Psalm 69:5 (CEB)
Rescue us from the evil one. ~ Matthew 6:13b (CEB)
KEY IDEA:
God rescues people from sin and the evil source of all our wrongdoing.
PRAYER:
Lord, this week we are especially mindful of the sacrifice that saves us from the hand of the evil one. Thank you. As we acknowledge you as Savior help us to leave all sin behind and to follow you as Lord. I am going to live for you. Amen.
Won’t you give us fresh life
and let your people be glad
because of you? ~ Psalm 85:6 (CEV)
Jesus said: You are now very sad. But later I will see you, and you will be so happy that no one will be able to change the way you feel. ~ John 16:22 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
The new life that God generates is the source of unstoppable happiness.
PRAYER:
Creator God, starting with the resurrection of Jesus, you are in the process of refreshing all of creation. That makes me happy like nothing else. Please forgive me when I allow the discouragement and negativity of this current world system to get me down. Start the refresh with me. I am going to live now the kind of happy life that characterizes the new creation. Amen.
Palm Sunday
Please look down from your holy home, from heaven itself, and bless your people Israel... ~ Deuteronomy 26:15a (CEB)
He helps his servant Israel
and is always merciful
to his people. ~ Luke 1:54 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
The Lord is always merciful
to his people.
PRAYER:
Lord, I am grateful for the ongoing kindness which you show to me. I need to be more responsive to your mercy. I am too ho-hum about it. Reshape my life so that your mercy is a major theme in my life story. I'm going to make sure that I remember your kindness 24/7. Amen.
A kind answer soothes angry feelings, but harsh words stir them up. ~ Proverbs 15:1 (CEV)
You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family. ~ Matthew 5:9 (MSG)
KEY IDEA:
We're at our best when we focus on creating cooperation rather than escalating conflict.
PRAYER:
Lord, you are the Prince of Peace and you have brought incredible peace into my life. But I still react harshly when people treat me poorly. Give me the heart of a peacemaker and the practical wisdom to know when and how to create cooperation. Because I'm a follower of you, Jesus, I'm going to live the life of a peacemaker. 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 -- a 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)
