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Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Rise Up!

Rise up, oh children of light, and let us give glory to the Lord, who alone can save our souls. O Lord, as you withdraw sleep from the eyes of my body, grant me wakefulness of mind so that I may stand before you in awe and sing your praises worthily, all of this day.

Syrian Orthodox, 11/11/14

Keep Me from Falling

'Mid the discordant noises of the day I hear thee calling;
I stumble as I fare along Earth's way; keep me from falling.

Mine eyes are open but they cannot see for gloom of night:
I can no more than lift my heart to thee for inward light.

The wild and fiery passion of my youth consumes my soul;
In agony I turn to thee for truth and self-control.

For Passion and all the pleasures it can give will die the death;
But this of me eternally must live, thy borrowed breath.

'Mid the discordant noises of the day I hear thee calling;
I stumble as I fare along Earth's way; keep me from falling.

Benediction

Eternal God, heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted me as a living member of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have blessed me with the grace of forgiveness through the sacrifice He made for me and for all people. Send me now into the world in peace, and grant me strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord.

Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.

Guidance

Galatians 5:22-23 (Daily Prayer Bible)

Fruits of the Spirit - Kindness (Galatians #81)

22-23 The Spirit, on the other hand, produces fruit: . . . kindness . . . . In this, the Law and the Spirit agree, because the Law does not forbid such things.

DP Parallel Bible (3-Column) - Galatians 5

About the Daily Prayer BibleThe “Daily Prayer Bible” is a paraphrase translation. This means accuracy to the original text has been sacrificed, to make it more readable and readily understood. This is especially useful in the Epistles of Paul. Verses are often out of order and often explanatory matter is included in the actual translation.

It is part of a larger work, DP 3-Column Bible, a Bible translation with 3 different levels of literal accuracy, which you can access by clicking the link at the bottom of the Scripture section. We call the most readable and least accurate translation the “Daily Prayer Bible”. The middle translation (“The American Bible”) is what is called a “literal” translation, accurate to the original text but using English grammar and idioms.

The third translation is a unique transliterative text, called “Verbatim Bible”, that has an unparalleled degree of accuracy but is not readable except with difficulty. It gives the non-Greek-reading user the ability to see the inaccuracies and ambiguities that become invisible in even the best so-called “literal” translations, such as the NASB or our own American Bible..

Notes on the Scripture

ncient Greek did not have nearly as many words as English does — I would guess about 10% as many. This is especially difficult for the Biblical translator when it comes to abstract nouns and adjectives (like “kindness” or “kind”), because many Greek words stand for more than one English word. Greek nouns are necessarily broader than English ones. But this also make studying the Bible directly from the Greek deeper and more helpful.

The Greek word Paul used here (chrestotes) has several related meanings. Kindness is certain an accurate and useful way to translate it, but how we generally think of “kindness” is perhaps too narrow to cover the range of meanings that Paul intended. So we should broadly flesh out kindness, to get at everything Paul wants to say.

First off, kindness involves what we might call “uprightness” in one’s relationships with other people. So we must understand that it includes, for example, honesty; and as another example, disdaining malicious gossip. It signifies a general attitude of goodness and concern towards other people in all sorts of ways, even when they are unaware of it.

One also finds generosity towards others as a meaning of kindness in the Bible. We must be generous towards others in all sorts of ways: Generous with praise, generous with patience, and generous with our worldly wealth. And as we study Christ, we see that our generosity may include sacrifices, both great and small. Those of us who are parents might sacrifice a planned vacation to pay for our child’s education or wedding or something; but would we do this for a friend? How about someone we don’t really like very much?

Timothy Keller calls kindness “an ability to serve others practically in a way which makes me vulnerable, which comes from having a deep inner security. Its opposite is envy, which leave me unable to rejoice in another’s joy.”

Seen this way, lack of kindness springs from an inadequacy of faith. If there is one thing faith will do for us while we are still on earth, it is the shrinking of insecurity, anxiety and fear. This is suffering that “taking up our cross” will actually alleviate! Feeling secure in one’s salvation and resurrection is proof against the fears of the world. If you are immune to caring what others think of you, you are free to base your deeds on what God thinks of you and follow his commands, no matter how the world may see them.

The Annunciation, from a 16th century
French “Book of Hours.”

Daily Inspiration

“ Running to God ”

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