MALACHI 3:18 (CEB)
You will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked,
between those serving God and those not serving him.
GALATIANS 6:9 (CEB)
Let’s not get tired of doing good, because in time we’ll have a harvest if we don’t give up.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Keep up the good work that you're doing.
PRAYER
Lord, we're grateful that your love for us doesn't depend on how good we are. Forgive us for thinking that your grace excuses us from pushing forward with the good that you are doing through us. Fill me with energy for right living so that I might bring honor to Christ the righteous one. Amen.
ISAIAH 40:1 (CEV)
Our God has said:
"Encourage my people!
Give them comfort."
LUKE 9:11 (ABP)
Jesus welcomed the crowd that was following him. He told them about God’s kingdom and healed those who were sick.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
It's good to know that God welcomes people like us and even has an encouraging word.
PRAYER
Thank you, God, for your warm welcome and encouraging words. Forgive us for thinking of you as stern and aloof. Give me an encouraging word to say about what you're up to -- and the wisdom to know when and how to speak it. Because you're in charge of my life I'm going to encourage those around me in the name of Jesus. Amen.
PSALM 44:8 (CEV)
We boast about you, our God,
and we are always grateful.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-17 (TPT)
Let joy be your continual feast. Make your life a prayer.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Make your life a prayer.
PRAYER
Honorable God, it is a privilege to approach you. Forgive me for embracing distractions that keep me from using my life as a prayer to you. Turn it around for me. I want the entirety of who I am -- everything I think, do, and say to be an expression of my gratitude to you. Amen.
PSALM 118:17 (MSG)
I didn’t die. I lived!
And now I’m telling the world what GOD did.
GALATIANS 2:20 (MSG)
My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
I live because of what God does.
PRAYER
It's a relief, God, to know that my life doesn't hinge on how well I perform. I can't keep it up. Forgive me for pretending that I can. Help me to embrace the life of Christ in such a way that I'm allowing his life to bubble up through mine. I am alive because I'm connected to your life. 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)
