Wednesday, January 22, 2025

MERCY FOR THE ROTTEN

ISAIAH 6:5 (MSG)
Doom! It’s Doomsday!
I’m as good as dead!
Every word I’ve ever spoken is tainted—
   blasphemous even!
And the people I live with talk the same way,
   using words that corrupt and desecrate.
And here I’ve looked God in the face!
The King! God-of-the-Angel-Armies!


1 TIMOTHY 1:12-13 (CEV)
I thank Messiah Jesus our Lord, who gave me strength. He regarded me as trustworthy by appointing me to his service—even though I used to say blasphemous things against him, and persecuted his people violently! But I received mercy, because in my unbelief I didn’t know what I was doing.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Through Jesus there is hope for even the most obnoxious sinner.

DAILY FODDER
Why is mercy such a radical action and idea? 

PRAYER
God-over-the-angel-armies, I'm grateful for your powerful presence. I admit, though, that it is an uncomfortable presence. I'm a rotten person who thinks and does rotten things. In your vast mercy forgive me and empower me to extend your mercy through my words and deeds. I'm not going to worry about judgment because I know that Christ has taken care of that. So there is real hope for me. Amen 

THE LORD’S PRAYER (ABP)
Our Father in Heaven,
     we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
     so that everything that happens here will align
     with what is happening in heaven.
Give us enough food for today.
Forgive us our wrongdoing,
     and we’ll forgive those who have wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.
Lastly, we pray that you will protect us from all forms of evil. 
Amen.

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

DOING IS BELIEVING

PSALM 119:116 (ABP)
GOD, sustain me as I face this adversity. If you do as you've promised, I'll be living on top of the world. Don't crush my hopes!

JOHN 5:24 (NTFE)
I’m telling you the solemn truth: anyone who hears my word, and believes in the one who sent me, has the life of God’s coming age. Such a person won’t come into judgment; they will have passed out of death into life.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
All who take to heart what Jesus says are already experiencing the eternal life to come..

DAILY FODDER
Eternal life isn't just a future reality. It's what happens as we live as partners with Jesus according to his eternity-based directives.

PRAYER
God, I'm counting on you because you are eternally faithful and true. Forgive me for failing to fully act on what I say I believe. Enrich my faith. I want to be the kind of believer who hears what Jesus says and acts accordingly. Amen.  

THE LORD’S PRAYER (ABP)
Our Father in Heaven,
     we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
     so that everything that happens here will align
     with what is happening in heaven.
Give us enough food for today.
Forgive us our wrongdoing,
     and we’ll forgive those who have wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.
Lastly, we pray that you will protect us from all forms of evil. 
Amen.

Monday, January 20, 2025

LOOK TO THE REVEALED LIGHT

ISAIAH 60:19 (CEB)
The sun will no longer be your light by day,
   nor will the moon shine for illumination by night.
The Lord will be your everlasting light;
   your God will be your glory.

JOHN 12:45-46 (MSG)
Whoever looks at me is looking, in fact, at the One who sent me. I am Light that has come into the world so that all who believe in me won’t have to stay any longer in the dark.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Look to the revealed light.

DAILY FODDER
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." — Martin Luther King, Jr.

PRAYER
Jesus, glory to you. My everlasting light. Praise to you, the one who brings light to my darkness. Thank you for revealing the light of love from our heavenly Father. Martin Luther King, Jr was a great example of bringing your light to oppressed people. Guide me to bring your light to those oppressed today. Glory to you, Jesus. Amen. (Daily TextsGround Up Grace edition)

THE LORD’S PRAYER (ABP)
Our Father in Heaven,
     we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
     so that everything that happens here will align
     with what is happening in heaven.
Give us enough food for today.
Forgive us our wrongdoing,
     and we’ll forgive those who have wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.
Lastly, we pray that you will protect us from all forms of evil. 
Amen.

Sunday, January 19, 2025

Sunlight

The Second Sunday after Epiphany

ISAIAH 60:1 (CEB)
Arise! Shine! Your light has come;
the LORD's glory has shone upon you.


LUKE 1:78-79 (MSG)
Through the heartfelt mercies of our God,
   God’s Sunrise will break in upon us,
Shining on those in the darkness,
   those sitting in the shadow of death,
Then showing us the way, one foot at a time,
   down the path of peace.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Wake up; God's sun is shining.

DAILY FODDER
Each day is a new experience of God's peace shining into our faces.  

PRAYER
The glorious light of your presence shines from heaven into our lives. Lord, we confess that sometimes it's hard to wake up and take on the day. Pry open my eyes so that I can see the wonder of your light and allow it to evict the darkness from my life. Great is your faithfulness. It is new every morning. Amen. 

THE LORD’S PRAYER (ABP)
Our Father in Heaven,
     we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
     so that everything that happens here will align
     with what is happening in heaven.
Give us enough food for today.
Forgive us our wrongdoing,
     and we’ll forgive those who have wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.
Lastly, we pray that you will protect us from all forms of evil. 
Amen.

DAILYTEXTS.ORG

*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 -- a 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)

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)

NRSV = New Revised Standard Version (© 1989 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.)

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