Wednesday, January 12, 2022

GOD RULES!

JEREMIAH 10:10 (CEB)
But the LORD is the true God!
He’s the living God and the everlasting king!


MATTHEW 11:25-26 (MSG)
Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer: “Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You’ve concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that’s the way you like to work.”

SUMMARY SENTENCE
In simple terms, God rules!

PRAYER
Living God, thank you for abiding in me and all people. I often grasp at gaining worldly wisdom and intelligence. Then I risk missing your hidden love messages. Keep me focused on you like an infant caught by her mother's smile. From you, Father, I receive words of loving acceptance. Today I proclaim them to others. Amen. (Daily Texts, Ground Up Grace edition)

THE LORD'S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

STAY GROUNDED

ECCLESIASTES 5:7 (NLT)
Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead.

COLOSSIANS 2:18-19 (MSG)
Don’t tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions. They’re a lot of hot air, that’s all they are. They’re completely out of touch with the source of life, Christ...

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Stay grounded with Christ.

PRAYER
God, you are more real and more grounded than anything in existence. Yes, you are mysterious and we get sucked into endless theories that seek to demystify you. Forgive our unrestrained imaginations. Thank you for the revelation of yourself that comes through Christ Jesus. Help me to stay in touch with him. I'm going to live a life grounded in Christ. Amen.

THE LORD'S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

Monday, January 10, 2022

CUT SOME SLACK

PSALM 19:12 (NRSV)
But who can detect their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.

1 CORINTHIANS 4:5 (CEB)
He will bring things that are hidden in the dark to light, and he will make people’s motivations public. Then there will be recognition for each person from God.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Trust that God will be the insightful judge.

PRAYER
Lord of order and justice, thank you for your promise to bring to light all that needs to be revealed. I'm way too eager to jump the gun and pronounce judgment before I have enough information. Grant me patience and help me to trust that your insights are true and total. Because Christ is at work in my life I'm going to cut people a lot of slack. Amen.

THE LORD'S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

Saturday, January 8, 2022

TRUST THE LORD

The First Sunday after the Epiphany

ISAIAH 31:1 (CEV)
You are in for trouble
if... you depend on
an army of chariots
or a powerful cavalry.
Instead you should depend on
and trust
the holy Lord God
of Israel.

HEBREWS 2:1 (CEB)
This is why it’s necessary for us to pay more attention to what we have heard, or else we may drift away from it.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Put your trust in the Lord rather than in commanding and controlling power.

PRAYER
God, you are the almighty -- the one to whom all are accountable. Yet, we rely a lot on having access to the kind of power which is so prevalent in the current world system. Forgive us our false dependency and free us to trust you to make things right. I'm going to look to you not only as the measure of justice, but also as the source of it. Amen.

THE LORD'S PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. 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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