JEREMIAH 27:5 (NLT)
With my great strength and powerful arm I made the earth and all its people and every animal. I can give these things of mine to anyone I choose.
MATTHEW 5:5 (NTE)
Blessings on the meek! You’re going to inherit the earth.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Because God is the strongest and most powerful being he will lift up those of his own choosing -- including the humble, powerless, and broken.
PRAYER
Creating God, your outstretched arm is at once power and grace, from which bursts forth all life. Forgive me when I boast about my abilities and make arrogant demands on your goodness. Create meekness in my heart that looks to you alone. Make me humble enough to receive gratefully the inheritance of the earth you so abundantly bequeath. Amen. (Daily Texts, Ground Up Grace edition)
PSALM 138:3 (MSG)
The moment I called out, you stepped in;
you made my life large with strength.
ROMANS 10:12 (MSG)
It’s exactly the same no matter what a person’s religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. “Everyone who calls, ‘Help, God!’ gets help.”
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Get help by calling God.
PRAYER
Gracious God, thank you for your eagerness to help everyone who asks. I confess that in my small-mindedness I'm inclined to limit your generosity to the people who are most like me. I've created a mental world where I'm the definition of your favor. Expand my experience of your assistance so that I call on you more often and encourage more people to do the same. Amen.
2 SAMUEL 22:19-20 (NLT)
The LORD supported me.
He led me to a place of safety...
MATTHEW 9:9 (CEB)
As Jesus continued on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at a kiosk for collecting taxes. He said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
God leads us to a better spot.
PRAYER
Gracious God, thank you for calling us to follow. I confess that I often see it as a duty to follow your leadership rather than that you are leading me to a better spot. Help me to trust that you are always working to make things better for me. I'm going to trust that your leadership is more than an obligation. Amen.
The 5th Sunday of Eastertide
DEUTERONOMY 32:46-47 (CEB)
Set your mind on all these words I’m testifying against you right now, because you must command your children to perform carefully all the words of this Instruction. This is no trivial matter for you—this is your very life!
JOHN 6:63 (MSG)
Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
God's word to us is life-giving.
PRAYER
Word of life, you catch my attention with your urgent call to be centered in your holy promises. I know that I often treat your words as trifling or trivial, completely missing out on their strength and power. Speak life into me again. Give me the heart to live and share your word with those around me. Amen. (Daily Texts, Ground Up Grace edition)
*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)
