DEUTERONOMY 8:10 (MSG)
After a meal, satisfied, bless GOD, your God...
1 CORINTHIANS 10:31 (MSG)
So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you—you’re eating to God’s glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God’s glory.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Celebrate all the normal ways that God blesses you by blessing him.
PRAYER
God, thank you for all the ways that you are good to us. I confess that I take so much for granted and don't even stop long enough to recognize where it all comes from. So, right now, I bless you for the food I have today, the air I breathe, the water I drink, and all the ways that you take care of me. Blessed are you, O generous God. Amen.
ISAIAH 58:11 (CEB)
The LORD will guide you continually
and provide for you, even in parched places.
PHILIPPIANS 4:19 (CEB)
My God will meet your every need out of his riches in the glory that is found in Christ Jesus.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
God provides all that is needed.
PRAYER
Generous God, you provide everything we need. I know this but I confess that there are times when I give in to worry and become anxious over how things will work out. Calm my nerves and help me to trust you more completely. I know that it will be alright. Amen.
RUTH 1:16 (CEB)
But Ruth replied, "Don’t urge me to abandon you, to turn back from following after you. Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God."
GALATIANS 3:28 (CEB)
There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
Our connection with God through Christ transcends all other categorizations.
PRAYER
Welcoming God, I am grateful that you have made a place for me in your world. I confess that I'm not as generous in welcoming others as full partners. I can be so rigid. Help me to loosen up and to embrace people for who they are through you. I'm going to relate to people the way that you relate to them. Amen.
GENESIS 8:21 (CEB)
The LORD thought to himself, I will not curse the fertile land anymore because of human beings since the ideas of the human mind are evil from their youth.
TITUS 2:11-12 (CEB)
The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. It educates us so that we can live sensible, ethical, and godly lives right now...
SUMMARY SENTENCE
We have a lot to overcome if we're going to serve God, but fortunately, we have his grace, which comes to us through Christ Jesus.
PRAYER
Lord, I know my human inclinations are selfish. I am challenged with living in our present evil age. Forgive me for not reflecting your nature. I desire to be faithful to you every hour, but I am not. Create in me humility and grace. Please use me to draw others to your light and love. 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)
