GENESIS 3:19 (CEV)
You will have to sweat
to earn a living;
you were made out of soil,
and you will once again
turn into soil.
2 TIMOTHY 1:10 (CEV)
Now Christ Jesus has come
to show us the kindness
of God.
Christ our Savior defeated death
and brought us
the good news.
It shines like a light
and offers life
that never ends.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Life is hard, but God's kindness is greater than all the trauma we endure.
PRAYER
Gracious God, you're there for us -- a friend through the thick and thin. Forgive me for worrying over all the bad things which happen -- as though I have to figure out how to get through it all on my own. Wrap your loving arms around me and help me to see that I'm not alone. You sent Christ into the world to save us, I'm going to let his light shine into the dark times. Amen.
PSALM 119:67 (MSG)
Before I learned to answer you, I wandered all over the place,
but now I’m in step with your Word.
2 CORINTHIANS 7:10 (MSG)
Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
If the pain gets us back on the right path it's all worth it.
PRAYER
God, I am amazed at the way that you have carried me through the pain and disappointment that I've experienced. Forgive me for thinking that it has been a waste. Draw me close to yourself and show me how you are using the grief to bring maturity into my life. I'm going to allow the negative things to impact me positively. Amen.
PSALM 146:8 (NLT)
The LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
EPHESIANS 1:18 (CEB)
I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call...
SUMMARY SENTENCE
God opens our eyes to his call.
PRAYER
Thank you, God, for calling us to participate with you in your mission to renew the world. Start your next round of renewal with me because I'm short-sighted and tend to respond to only the things which give me immediate satisfaction. Show me how to set my will aside so that I'm focused on your will. I'm going to live according to your call. Amen.
JEREMIAH 25:6 (NLT)
Do not provoke my anger by worshiping idols you made with your own hands. Then I will not harm you.
ACTS 17:24-25 (MSG)
The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race...
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Focus your attention on God alone.
PRAYER
God of glory, your majesty, and might have never been confined to human temples or institutions. Break me open to your overwhelming presence. Release me from my need to keep you held in safe, small boxes. Beholding your brilliance, turn my face from false gods and fleeting trends. Free my hands to do your work in the world today. Amen. (Daily Texts, Ground Up Grace 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)
