God remembers! That covenant he made with Israel will never ever leave his mind. And his word is good for a thousand generations -- longer than you can imagine. ~ Psalm 105:8 (ABP)
Jesus said: The earth and the sky won't last forever, but my words will still be defining reality for at least that long. ~ Mark 13:31 (ABP)
KEY THOUGHT:
God is faithful to his word forever!
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, I'm flakey and in spite of my good intentions I can't always keep my word. It's tempting to think of you through the grid of my own experience. In the moments when I start to doubt that there is meaning and that your justice will prevale help me to recognize the good news of your unending faithfulness. Amen.
The Lord has saved me and I expect that he'll do it again. So let's go to his house with our ukuleles and sing, sing, sing -- without end. ~ Isaiah 38:20 (ABP)
After he was healed, the previously lame man, jumped up and kept jumping as he began to walk. He even accompanied Peter and John, walking and leaping his way into the temple -- praising God all along the whole way. ~ Acts 3:8 (ABP)
KEY THOUGHT:
Let loose in celebrating the salvation that comes from God.
PRAYER:
Glorious God, you are worthy of all expressions of praise. For you keep on saving us. I'm slow to get a groove on. Save me from being too self-concious just as you save me from the things which dampen the Kingdom of God party. I am going to celebrate you with all that I am. Amen.
When the poor and needy
are dying of thirst
and cannot find water,
I, the Lord God of Israel,
will come to their rescue.
I won’t forget them. ~ Isaiah 41:17 (CEV)
To the thirsty I will freely give water from the life-giving spring. ~ Revelation 21:6 (CEV)
KEY THOUGHT:
God generously refreshes those in need of refreshment.
PRAYER:
God, thank you for sending Jesus into the world to serve refreshment. I confess my dehydration, although I am in denial about how bad it is. Drench my life with a fresh outpouring of living water so that I can move forward quenched. Amen.
They will admit that I alone
can bring about justice.
Everyone who is angry with me
will be terribly ashamed
and will turn to me. ~ Isaiah 45:24 (CEV)
And to the glory
of God the Father
everyone will openly agree,
“Jesus Christ is Lord!” ~ Philippians 2:11 (CEV)
KEY THOUGHT:
Eventually everyone will have to admit that Jesus is the boss.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, I recognize that you are Lord -- at least most of the time. I sometimes live for myself rather than for you. Help me to set aside my personal opinions and agendas so that I can fully embrace yours. Then my life will bellow out that "Jesus is Lord." 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)
