The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Those who are feeling oppressed and under attack will be overwhelmed with joy as they realize how God has been working on their behalf. So if you're looking to God for help, be encouraged. ~ Psalm 69:32 (ABP)
Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened intently to everything that Jesus said. ~ Luke 10:39 (ABP)
KEY IDEA:
Give your attention to Jesus' message and you'll realize that everything will be alright.
PRAYER:
Lord, this is such an important message for me. I am prone to discouragement. I so easily miss the big picture of what you are up to because I only pay attention to a little of what you're saying. Help me to follow Mary's example and to become an attentive student of Jesus. I'm going to be encouraged! Amen.
Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return.
They will enter Jerusalem singing,
crowned with everlasting joy.
Sorrow and mourning will disappear,
and they will be filled with joy and gladness. ~ Isaiah 51:11 (NLT)
Our time with the Lord will never be interrupted again. ~ 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (ABP)
KEY IDEA:
The greatest fulfillment in life is when we are living with the Lord forever.
PRAYER:
Lord God, I know that you are forever present -- all places -- all times. I am most often unaware of your presence and what you are already doing in a place or situation. I easily panic thinking that I'm on my own. When that happens please intervene and help me to see what is really going on. I want to live a joy-filled life, aware of your presence. Amen.
But if you people will return to me, I will turn and help you. ~ Zechariah 1:3b (CEV)
Jesus said: ‘For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.’ ~ Matthew 9:13b (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
God is calling to himself all those who will come.
PRAYER:
Lord, I appreciate your invite. If I don't get distracted by the world around me I'll try to come. Maye that's my problem. I'm too easily distracted. Use this self-awareness, Lord, to refocus my life so that I'm quick to come when you call. Amen.
The Lord answered Job, "Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations?
Tell me if you know..." And he said to the sea, “You may come this far, no farther;
here your proud waves stop” ~ Job 38: 4, 11 (CEB)
By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. ~ Hebrews 11:3 (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
We can clearly see that God's ways are a mystery through which we grow.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Creator God, for gifts beyond sight or measure. Not only have you given Christ's love, hope, and forgiveness, but you have set the time and place for a life prepared for me. Sustain me in that life! As you set a boundary for the earth and sea, use my life's limitations to sharpen my purpose for you. Amen. (Daily Texts, Mount Carmel Ministries edition)
*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)
