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Monday, January 9, 2023

RIGHT THINKING

EXODUS 23:1 (CEB)
Don’t plot with evil people to act as a lying witness.

PHILIPPIANS 4:8 (MSG)
Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Focus on keeping things above board.

PRAYER
Pure and holy God, make me more like you. Honestly, I can entertain malicious thoughts. Troublesome thoughts. Help me monitor my thinking. Help me interrupt judgmental thoughts and replace them with thoughts of praise, truth, and excellence. Help me see the good in others. Make me more like you, pure and holy God. Amen. (Daily Texts, Ground Up Grace edition)

THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

Sunday, January 8, 2023

LIVE GENEROUSLY

The First Sunday after Epiphany

DEUTERONOMY 15:10 (ABP)
Happily and generously give to the needy. Such an approach ignites GOD's blessing in your own life.

LUKE 6:38 (CEB)
Give, and it will be given to you.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Live generously if you want to experience God's blessings.

PRAYER
Generous God, we continue to experience your undeserved gifts on a daily basis. It's just the way you are. Yet, I confess that I look for ways to get excused from generosity. For me, it's not that I'm afraid I'll run out of money but of the energy needed to responsibly give to those in need. Reenergize me for generosity; for it is more blessed to give than to receive. And I need to receive your energy so that I can share in the blessing of giving. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

Saturday, January 7, 2023

LIVES THAT PRAISE GOD

PSALM 113:3 (MSG)
From east to west, from dawn to dusk,
     keep lifting all your praises to GOD!


ROMANS 15:5-6 (MSG)
May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!

SUMMARY SENTENCE
As we live into the grace of God we become a harmonious choir and our lives become the voices singing praises to God.

PRAYER
Loving and approachable God, you are worthy of all the praise we can collectively muster -- and then some. Unfortunately, we are not a harmonious choir. We have allowed our egos to hinder harmony as we project annoying off-key notes. Help me to become an encouraging presence in the choir -- lifting up others even when it means that I need to slip to the back. I'm excited about the potential of our choir. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

Friday, January 6, 2023

PURSUE HUMILITY

Epiphany

2 CHRONICLES 32:24-25 (CEB)
...Hezekiah became deathly ill and prayed to the LORD, who answered him with a miraculous sign. But Hezekiah was too proud to respond appropriately to the kindness he had received...

1 PETER 5:5 (ABP)
God foils the proud while favoring the humble.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Serious humility is the only healthy way forward.

PRAYER
Thank you, God, for lifting up the humble -- for honoring the least important people over the most powerful. Yet, even though I know your preferences I still find myself drawn into the pursuit of power and doing whatever I can to advance myself over others. Reinforce your framework of humility until it becomes second nature in my life. Like my master Jesus, I'm going to set aside my ambitions to care for the least and the lost. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

DAILYTEXTS.ORG

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)

EEB = EasyEnglish Bible (©2015, MissionAssist)

ERV = Easy-To-Read Version (©2006, World Bible Translation Center)

EXB = The Expanded Bible (©2011, Thomas Nelson Publishing)

GNT = Good News Translation (©1992, American Bible Society)

MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)

NCB = New Catholic Bible (©2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp.)

NCV = New Century Version (©2005, Thomas Nelson Inc)

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)

NRSVue = New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (© 2021 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)

NTE = New Testament for Everyone (©2011 Nicolas Thomas Wright.)

REB = Revised English Bible (© 1989 Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press)

TCEB = The Casual English Bible (© Stephen M. Miller)

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