Do what is good and run from evil
so that you may live! ~ Amos 5:14 (NLT)
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. ~ Philippians 2:5 (NLT)
KEY THOUGHT:
To experience the life you were designed to experience, adopt the attitude and mindset of Christ Jesus.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Jesus, for establishing a new life and a new creation -- and for inviting us to become a part of it all. I know that you want us to adopt your attitude and mindset for they are the norm in the new creation. Yet, I too quickly allow the mind-set of my peers to define what I find acceptible. Help me to embrace your thinking and attitude. I'm going to live the new life in a new way. Amen.
The 14th Sunday after Pentecost
I love you, God—
you make me strong. ~ Psalm 18:1 (MSG)
When a sinful woman in that town found out that Jesus was there, she bought an expensive bottle of perfume. Then she came and stood behind Jesus. She cried and started washing his feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. The woman kissed his feet and poured the perfume on them. ~ Luke 7:37-38 (MSG)
KEY THOUGHT:
God's love for us changes how we approach life.
PRAYER:
Kind God, thank you for welcoming the weak and the broken into your presence. You actually seem to enjoy having people like me around. The irony is that I tend to be judgmental of people like me. Help me to relax in your presence so that I can be transformed by your love. Amen.
I will appoint for them a single shepherd, and he will feed them. My servant David will feed them. He will be their shepherd. ~ Ezekiel 34:23 (CEB)
Jesus said: ‘I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep and they know me...’ ~ John 10:14 (CEB)
KEY THOUGHT:
God's care for us is relational.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Jesus, for looking out for me. Forgive me for trying to relate to you through a bunch of rules. Help me to experience your guiding presence. I'm going to live into the relationship which you have establised with us. Amen.
Why does God bother giving light to the miserable, why bother keeping bitter people alive,those who want in the worst way to die,and can’t, who can’t imagine anything better than death... ~ Job 3:20-21 (MSG)
Since Jesus himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested. ~ Hebrews 2:18 (NLT)
KEY THOUGHT:
God spares us so he can help us.
PRAYER:
Gracious God, I'm sure that you have saved my life more times than I realize. Why? Lead me into an ongoing awareness of your purpose for my life. Keep me tuned into the voice of Christ so that the trials which come my way are manageable. He has already proven his expertise. 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)
