...my people will feast on my good gifts. ~ Jeremiah 31:14 (NLT)
Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously. ~ Matthew 10:8 (MSR)
KEY IDEA:
God has redfined life so live generously.
PRAYER:
God, you have given more to me than I can possibly realize. I don't even try to take it all in. I need your help so that I become more grateful and generous. I'm going to start each day listing the things for which I am grateful. Amen.
You have looked deep
into my heart, Lord,
and you know all about me.
You know when I am resting
or when I am working,
and from heaven
you discover my thoughts. ~ Psalm 139:1-2 (CEV)
In God we live, move, and exist. ~ Acts 17:28 (CEB)
KEY IDEA:
God is the source of our existence -- our identity.
PRAYER:
You know me, God, at a level deeper than I can know myself. That's because you are the source. Forgive me for thinking that I am all alone and that no one understands me or my pain. Bring to my awareness the source of my identity in you. I am going to quit looking for myself apart from you. Amen.
Lord God All-Powerful,
make us strong again!
Smile on us and save us. ~ Psalm 80:19 (CEV)
Our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and a good hope. May he encourage your hearts and give you strength in every good thing you do or say. ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (CEB)
KEY IDEA:
God will give you needed strength.
PRAYER:
Lord God All-Powerful,
make us strong again! I am weak and easily allow the world to get the best of me. But I trust that you are changing all that. Through your grace I am going to become strong enough to consistently say and do the right thing. Amen.
Our days here are relatively few, so help us to grow wise by living them well. ~ Psalm 90:12 (ABP)
Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock. ~ Matthew 7:24 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Aim for the wisdom that comes through obedience to Jesus' teaching.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Jesus, for being my teacher. I don't pay very close attention sometimes and I'm certainly not totally obedient. That's why I lack wisdom. Straighten me out so that I'm walking your talk. I want to become one of your solid and wise followers. Amen.
*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS
The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2011 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)
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)
