Sunday, August 1, 2021

LOVE

The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

DEUTERONOMY 6:5 (ABP)
Give the entirety of who you are to your GOD. Love him with all your heart, your entire being, and every ounce of your energy. Don't hold back anything.

1 JOHN 4:19 (ABP)
God's love for us came first, enabling us to love.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Let God's love -- and love for him -- become the driving force in your life.

PRAYER
Jesus Christ, God's only Son,
     Word become flesh, Anointed One.
Your perfect love removes my fear,
     and boldly I draw near.

Perfect your love in me.
Perfect your love in me.
Your perfect love removes my fear,
     and boldly I draw near.


by Cheryl A.B. Boydston. ©2003

Saturday, July 31, 2021

GOD GIVES

DEUTERONOMY 8:18 (ABP)
Remember your God! He’s the one who gives you the strength to thrive...

JOHN 3:27 (NLT)
No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
God empowers us to thrive.

PRAYER
Thank you, Lord, for the power you give to live generously. All that I have is from you and belongs to you. Teach me to use my time, talents, and treasurers wisely, giving life to others so they too may know of your goodness. Forgive me for my sometimes stingy attitude. Amen. (Daily Texts, Ground Up Grace edition)


Friday, July 30, 2021

LOVED

PSALM 32:10 (MSG)
God-defiers are always in trouble;
God-affirmers find themselves loved
every time they turn around.


ROMANS 5:5 (NLT)
And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
To be loved by God is to be fulfilled.

PRAYER
God, life is full of disappointments but you are not one of them. To the contrary your love carries us through the disappointing times. Forgive me for taking your love for granted. Help me to become a messenger of hope to all who are experiencing disappointment. I'm going to gush the love of Christ to the world around me. Amen.

Thursday, July 29, 2021

FRUITFUL LIVES

EZEKIEL 36:8-9 (CEV)
Trees will grow on you mountains of Israel and produce fruit for my people, because they will soon come home. I will take care of you by plowing your soil and planting crops on your fertile slopes.

MATTHEW 20:1 (MSG)
God’s kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
God is cultivating his people into an awesome vineyard.

PRAYER
Loving God, thank you for investing in us -- even when we are resistant to growth. Cultivate your kingdom in me. Shower me with your grace. I want to produce good fruit for you. Amen.

DAILYTEXTS.ORG

*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)

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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