Saturday, November 27, 2021

WAITING

The First Sunday in Advent

PSALM 119:76 (CEV)
I serve you, LORD.
Comfort me with your love,
just as you have promised.

LUKE 2:25 (CEV)
At this time a man named Simeon was living in Jerusalem. Simeon was a good man. He loved God and was waiting for God to save the people of Israel. God’s Spirit came to him...

SUMMARY SENTENCE
God fulfills his promises to those who wait.

PRAYER
Lord, I'm impressed by people like Simeon who patiently wait for their entire lives for what you promise. I admit that I have a hard time waiting for anything. I want everything to happen now. Help me to eliminate all the unnecessary hurry from my life. I'm going to delight in waiting for you. Amen.

Friday, November 26, 2021

SAVIOR & PROTECTOR

PSALM 17:7 (CEV)
Show your wonderful love.
Your mighty arm protects those
who run to you
for safety
from their enemies.


1 THESSALONIANS 5:23 (CEB)
Now, may the God of peace himself cause you to be completely dedicated to him; and may your spirit, soul, and body be kept intact and blameless at our Lord Jesus Christ’s coming.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
God is our saving protector.

PRAYER
Saving Lord, criminals were crucified with you in places of honor, on your right and left hands. You are not like me. You overcome your enemies by changing them into your friends. By your Spirit, grant me such power also. Help me to see that death is nothing, and in your love all become family, through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Daily Texts, Ground Up Grace edition)




GOD UNDERSTANDS

PSALM 94:9 (CEV)
God gave us ears and eyes!
Can’t he hear and see?


MATTHEW 6:8 (NLT)
Your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Don't underestimate God's understanding of the situation.

PRAYER
Great God, you are creator, redeemer, and sustainer. I confess that my understanding of your involvement in the problems we face is limited to my own capacity. Wipe that nonsense from my brain. Free me to believe that you are bigger and your capacity greater than I imagine. No matter what is happening I'm going to trust that you are at work in the midst of the situation. Amen.


Thursday, November 25, 2021

WELCOMING

HOSEA 14:3 (CEV)
Our LORD, you show mercy to orphans.

EPHESIANS 2:19 (CEV)

You Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens with everyone else who belongs to the family of God.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
The Lord welcomes all -- even the most disenfranchised.

PRAYER
God of all, you call everyone a member of your family -- even me. Soften our hard edges; fill us with humility and love in order to welcome strangers and aliens among us. Let our prayer of thanksgiving today not be for our own prosperity, but for the honor of caring for all your children. 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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