Wednesday, October 27, 2021

GOD'S YES

PSALM 34:3 (CEV)
Honor the LORD with me!
Celebrate his great name.


2 CORINTHIANS 1:20 (MSG)

Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Celebrate God's YES!

PRAYER
Thank you, God, for responding so positively to all our needs -- even to the point of sending your Son to become the sacrifice that breaks death. I confess that at times I twist my relationship with you so that you seem negative and adversarial. It's because I'm not getting my way. Turn me around so that I can see your overwhelming YES -- the yes which defines our relationship. I'm going to set aside the negativity which I have been projecting back on to you. Amen.

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

THE RACE

PSALM 20:7 (ABP)
Many people put their trust in military might or personal strength, but we put our trust in the reputation of the Lord our God.

HEBREWS 12:1-2 (NLT)
And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Fix your eyes on Jesus if you want to complete this difficult race.

PRAYER
You, O God, are totally reliable. You're the best coach there is. Yet, I've been known to accept training from coach wannabes. Consequently, I buckle under the pressure of the race. Help me to keep my focus on you and you alone. I'm going to depend on you to help me complete the race I've been called to run. Amen.


Monday, October 25, 2021

FACING EVIL WITH CONFIDENCE

PSALM 83:1-2 (CEV)
Our God, don’t just sit there,
     silently doing nothing!
Your hateful enemies
     are turning against you
     and rebelling.

MATTHEW 6:13
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.


SUMMARY SENTENCE
We can face evil with confidence.

PRAYER
You, God, are a stable wall of protection. Yet sometimes it feels like you let evil take over -- and that's frustrating. I confess that my responses are driven by the crashing wave of the moment and that I don't even try to see things from your eternal perspective. Help me to trust that you are saving us from the time of trial. While your enemies rebel at the thought that they're not going to get what they want, I'm going to trust that you will get what you want -- even in the face of evil. Amen.

Sunday, October 24, 2021

HOPE

The 22nd Sunday after Pentecost

HAGGAI 2:5 (MSG)
I’m living and breathing among you right now. Don’t be timid. Don’t hold back.

ROMANS 15:13 (MSG)
Oh! May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace, so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope!

SUMMARY SENTENCE
We're lifted above the fray into hope by the Holy Spirit who lives among us.

PRAYER
Holy Spirit, come! Restore my joy and peace in believing. Whenever I fall on hard times, my hope in you is undermined. I trust in you in soft, easy circumstances and lose sight of you when things take a downward turn -- forgive me! Grant me your power that makes me abound with hope. Amen. (Daily Texts, Ground Up Grace edition)

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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