On your feet now—applaud God!
Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence. ~ Psalm 100:2 (MSG)
I pray that you will be grateful to God for letting you have part in what he has promised his people in the kingdom of light. ~ Colossians 1:12 (CEV)
SUMMARY SENTENCE Celebrate God's accessibility.
PRAYER Thank you, God, for coming down here to rescue us from sin and death. Thank you for enlisting us in your salvation army and entrusting us with important parts to play. Forgive me for being distracted by matters of less significance. Help me to focus so that my life spills over in continuous and joyous celebration of your generosity. Amen.
Haven’t you brought this on yourself
by abandoning the Lord your God,
who has directed your paths? ~ Jeremiah 2:17 (CEB)
Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in him. “If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure." ~ John 8:31 (MSG)
SUMMARY SENTENCE Believing in Jesus is a matter of living according to what he says.
PRAYER Lord Jesus, you are the living word of God. Thank you for the direction you bring into my life. Forgive me for my cheap approach to believing that is overly casual about living it out. Have mercy on me and reset my life so that it is according to your word. I'm going to believe in you. Amen.
Your dead will live. ~ Isaiah 26:19 (CEB)
We do this because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus... ~ 2 Corinthians 4:14 (CEB)
SUMMARY SENTENCE Through Jesus we come to realize how temporary death is.
PRAYER Loving and powerful God, thank you for overcoming death and for taking us with you -- even into the new eternal life. Forgive me for allowing the losses I experience to feed my own fear of death. Stir within me the hope of new life that belongs to all who travel with you. I'm going to stick close to you. Amen.
The 2nd Sunday after Pentecost
You've made humans the managers of everything you've created. You've given them the authority that goes with the responsibility. ~ Psalm 8:6 (ABP)
Therefore, imitate God like dearly loved children. Live your life with love, following the example of Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. ~ Ephesians 5:1-2 (CEB)
SUMMARY SENTENCE Imitate God.
PRAYER Kind God, thank you for all that you do for your children. I want to become more like you and take care of the creation in a way that pleases you, but my selfish short-sighted childlike behaviors get in the way. Forgive me and steer me into loving patterns. With your help I'm going to live my life with love. 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)
