The 4th Day of Christmas
They’ll realize that I am God when I break them out of their slavery and rescue them from their slave masters. ~ Ezekiel 34:27 (MSG)
Wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ~ 2 Corinthians 3:17 (NLT)
KEY THOUGHT:
We don't relate to God as a slave master but as a slave redeemer.
PRAYER:
Good God, I'm relieved as I realize that your intentions toward us are all about freedom. I confess that in my quest for personal independence I allow myself to become enslaved to unhealthy patterns and behaviors. That's ironic. Continue to free me from sin and legalism and shame and guilt and... Apply the freedom that Christ brings so that I can live as a totally free person. Amen.
The 3rd Day of Christmas
Listen to God’s voice today! Don’t be stubborn and rebel... ~ Psalm 95:7-8 (CEV)
Let the Spirit fill your life... ~ Ephesians 5:18 (CEV)
KEY THOUGHT:
Give God access to your life.
PRAYER:
Loving God, thank you for speaking into my life -- for all of your leading and guiding. I am pretty strong willed and my natural inclination is to live life on my own terms. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I sense the value of being more receptive to your leading. I'm going to give you complete unfettered access to my life for the sake of Jesus, who us the good shepherd. Amen.
The 2nd Day of Christmas
Listen, kings and rulers,
while I sing for the Lord,
the God of Israel. ~ Judges 5:3 (CEV)
When the shepherds saw Jesus, they told his parents what the angel had said about him. Everyone listened and was surprised. ~ Luke 2:17-18 (CEV)
KEY THOUGHT:
Life is full of surprises when we pay attention to the Lord.
PRAYER:
Lord, I still marvel at the gift that came to us on the first Christmas. I know that none of this should be surprising given your history with us -- given your ongoing generosity. Energize me to carry on the party. I'm eager to talk about the wonderful surprises you've brought into my life. Amen.
Christmas
You, my people, have sinned
in two ways—
you have rejected me,
the source
of life-giving water,
and you’ve tried to collect water
in cracked and leaking pits
dug in the ground. ~ Jeremiah 2:13 (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 THOUGHTS:
While all our attempts at relating to God are sloppy and ineffective, in his love, God sends the perfect sacrifice who implements forgiveness and reconciliation.
PRAYER:
Merry Chritmas, God! Thank you for sending yourself into our broken and leaky world. We know that the problem is of our own doing. Yet your love transcends the problem of sin. Thank you for reaching out! 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)
