The Second Sunday of Easter
PSALM 62:10 (NLT)
And if your wealth increases,
don’t make it the center of your life.
MATTHEW 6:21 (CEV)
Your heart will always be where your treasure is.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
We tend to adjust our lives so that they support what we've invested in.
PRAYER
Generous God, you've blessed me with more than I can handle. So I am turning to you to handle the blessings in my life. Show me who you want to bless through me. Help me avoid getting stuck with too much. Amen.
PSALM 71:9 (ABP)
God, don’t throw me out with the trash just because I've gotten old. Now that my strength is waning I need you more than ever.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:16 (CEB)
So we aren’t depressed. But even if our bodies are breaking down on the outside, the person that we are on the inside is being renewed every day.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Even when our health starts to fail we trust that God will be with us.
PRAYER
Creator God, I am made in your image. You are the potter; I am the clay. As years roll into decades, I sense the Holy Spirit stronger within me. Encourage this strength in us as we grow up into eternity. Keep us close to your heart. Renew us daily in your love to serve you. Amen. (Daily Texts, Ground Up Grace edition)
ISAIAH 43:1 (CEB)
Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are mine.
ROMANS 8:31 (MSG)
With God on our side... how can we lose?
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Trust God to carry you through.
PRAYER
Thank you, God, for standing up for us -- even though we have been inconsistent in our faithfulness to you. We give in to fear; panic; try to solve problems in our own way, and end up messing things up even more. Help me to respond to your faithfulness with trust. I'm going to move forward with confidence, even when the situation is messy and confusing. Amen.
GENESIS 3:9-10 (MSG)
GOD called to the Man: “Where are you?”
He said, “I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid.”
HEBREWS 4:13 (NLT)
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Nothing can be hidden from God so strive to be upfront and truthful.
PRAYER
All-seeing God, nothing escapes your view. You know the naked truth about me. I admit that my first impulse is to cover things up with excuses -- some of which I believe to be true. Help me to become more self-aware and truthful in all my dealings. I'm glad that you are merciful. 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)
