"Jubilee Cards" about Life
Combining verses, prayers, declarations, and reminders
Seven of the 50 "Jubilee Cards" help us catch onto the Life Rhythm. They clue us in to God's strategy to create life and preserve it in the beautiful world he created.
The seven "Life" cards sign us up to participate in carrying out God's campaign strategy. Using one each day in a weekly cycle is like going back to a song you like and listening to it over and over, soaking it in.
Each card has a verse, a prayer, a declaration, and a reminder.
-
Each verse tells us something about authentic, God-given life.
-
Each prayer relates to the verse.
-
Each declaration identifies us with the prayer, giving us a focus for the day.
-
Each reminder ties everything together. We know who we are.
Jubilee Cards for Life Season (default wording)
Put your name in the blanks below, or
see options to customize your own version.
Sundays
SYNC Card 1
Life Verse: In the beginning, I created the universe, including planet earth. Remember _______, if I created it all, I own it all.
Adapted from The Message paraphrase of Genesis 1.1
Prayer: Yes, Lord, it’s true. We are living on your property, breathing your air, eating food from your fields.
Declaration: This is a day to remember that God created everything and to live like it matters.
Reminder: We see ourselves in Christ as life-bringers.
--------------------------------------------------
Mondays
SYNC Card 2
Life Verse: Let the wilds go wild with joy. Let the animals dance. Put every tree of the forest
in the choir, and join all nature, _______, as it welcomes me.
Adapted from The Message paraphrase of Psalm 96.12
Prayer: Creator of nature and of us, we celebrate the way you have wired everything to know and praise you.
Declaration: This is a day to remember that God created everything and to live like it matters.
Reminder: We see ourselves in Christ as life-bringers.
--------------------------------------------------
Tuesdays
SYNC Card 3
Life Verse: It was me, ________. I breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, and he
became a living being.
Adapted from The Message paraphrase of Genesis 2.7
Prayer: Thank you, Lord for breathing life into Adam and passing it down to us. Help us share it today.
Declaration: This is a day to remember that God created everything and to live like it matters.
Reminder: We see ourselves in Christ as life-bringers.
--------------------------------------------------
Wednesdays
SYNC Card 4
Life Verse: My purpose is to give you, ________, and all my followers a rich and satisfying life.
Adapted from The Message paraphrase of John 10.10
Prayer: Yes, Lord, give us the rich and satisfying life you want to give us, and let us share it freely.
Declaration: This is a day to remember that God created everything and to live like it matters.
Reminder: We see ourselves in Christ as life-bringers.
--------------------------------------------------
Thursdays
SYNC Card 5
Life Verse: ________, just as one person did it wrong and got us into all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of trouble, back into life.
Adapted from The Message paraphrase of Romans 5.18
Prayer: Lord, thank you that when we forfeited the life you created, you still rescued us and restored us.
Declaration: This is a day to remember that God created everything and to live like it matters.
Reminder: We see ourselves in Christ as life-bringers.
--------------------------------------------------
Fridays
SYNC Card 6
Life Verse: Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings
and curses. Choose life, ________.
Adapted from The Message paraphrase of Deuteronomy 30.19
Prayer: Yes, Lord, we choose life! Help us lead others to choose life too.
Declaration: This is a day to remember that God created everything and to live like it matters.
Reminder: We see ourselves in Christ as life-bringers.
--------------------------------------------------
Saturdays
SYNC Card 7
Life Verse: ________, there is a way ahead that seems right, but it ends in death.
Adapted from The Message paraphrase of Proverbs 14.12
Prayer: Lord, let us not get fooled today by a road to death that is disguised as a road to life and pleasure.
Declaration: This is a day to remember that God created everything and to live like it matters.
Reminder: We see ourselves in Christ as life-bringers.
The story of the first Life verse above, Genesis 1.1
If we had only one Bible verse to give us the Life Rhythm, it would probably be Genesis 1.1: In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. That is the first verse in the set of seven "Life Verses" above.
The story that runs through the entire Bible does not start with a description of God's character or of some other-worldly place where he lives. The story starts by describing the beginning of a world we can see.
The action shows that God had a strategy from the beginning. Things were created phase by phase in this strategy, starting from the most basic inanimate thing (light) to the most complex living thing (human beings).
God gets more deeply and personally involved as the steps of creation get more complex. At the basic phases he simply says the word, "Let there be light." Next he orders part of the created matter to do something, such as the earth to generate plants. Finally he himself takes part of the earth, shapes it into a human, and personally breathes his life into it.
The first human is male, the second is female, created from him. Many interpret this to mean she was secondary, but if the total sequence of creation is kept in mind, the last to be created would be the pinnacle of complexity and beauty.
God then deputizes his complex pair of human beings to multiply and to govern the rest of his creation, that is, to promote and protect the life and beauty he has put into it. He wants us to live in SYNC with his intentions for his whole magnificent world. He loves life, protects it, and calls us to honor it.
Alongside the first Life Verse, Genesis 1.1, the other six Life Verses on the Jubilee Cards are snippets from all over the Bible about what life really is and how we should handle it. God's rhythm for life is not monotonous. It is complex and vibrant.
It takes some time to get our minds around it, but that doesn't matter. We can love it before we understand it all if we SYNC with the parts of it we do understand.
How it all began
Genesis 1.1-31, The Message
1-2 First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
3-5 God spoke: “Light!”
And light appeared.
God saw that light was good
and separated light from dark.
God named the light Day,
he named the dark Night.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day One.
6-8 God spoke: “Sky! In the middle of the waters;
separate water from water!”
God made sky.
He separated the water under sky
from the water above sky.
And there it was:
he named sky the Heavens;
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Two.
9-10 God spoke: “Separate!
Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place;
Land, appear!”
And there it was.
God named the land Earth.
He named the pooled water Ocean.
God saw that it was good.
11-13 God spoke: “Earth, green up! Grow all varieties
of seed-bearing plants,
Every sort of fruit-bearing tree.”
And there it was.
Earth produced green seed-bearing plants,
all varieties,
And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts.
God saw that it was good.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Three.
14-15 God spoke: “Lights! Come out!
Shine in Heaven’s sky!
Separate Day from Night.
Mark seasons and days and years,
Lights in Heaven’s sky to give light to Earth.”
And there it was.
16-19 God made two big lights, the larger
to take charge of Day,
The smaller to be in charge of Night;
and he made the stars.
God placed them in the heavenly sky
to light up Earth
And oversee Day and Night,
to separate light and dark.
God saw that it was good.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Four.
20-23 God spoke: “Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life!
Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!”
God created the huge whales,
all the swarm of life in the waters,
And every kind and species of flying birds.
God saw that it was good.
God blessed them: “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean!
Birds, reproduce on Earth!”
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Five.
24-25 God spoke: “Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind:
cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds.”
And there it was:
wild animals of every kind,
Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug.
God saw that it was good.
26-28 God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them
reflecting our nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself,
and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”
God created human beings;
he created them godlike,
Reflecting God’s nature.
He created them male and female.
God blessed them:
“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”
29-30 Then God said, “I’ve given you
every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth
And every kind of fruit-bearing tree,
given them to you for food.
To all animals and all birds,
everything that moves and breathes,
I give whatever grows out of the ground for food.”
And there it was.
31 God looked over everything he had made;
it was so good, so very good!
It was evening, it was morning—
Day Six.
How it all began
Genesis 1.1-31, New English Translation
(Same story as above, but in a different translation of the Bible)
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water. 3 God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light! 4 God saw that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.
6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water.” 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. It was so. 8 God called the expanse “sky.” There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.
9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear.” It was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good.
11 God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: plants yielding seeds and trees on the land bearing fruit with seed in it, according to their kinds.” It was so. 12 The land produced vegetation—plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. God saw that it was good. 13 There was evening, and there was morning, a third day.
14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years, 15 and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” It was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night. He made the stars also. 17 God placed the lights in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth, 18 to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.
20 God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 God created the great sea creatures and every living and moving thing with which the water swarmed, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 There was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.
24 God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” It was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the cattle according to their kinds, and all the creatures that creep along the ground according to their kinds. God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness,so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.”
27 God created humankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them,
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has living breath in it—I give every green plant for food.” It was so.
31 God saw all that he had made—and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.
Alternate wordings for your own Jubilee Cards
SYNC is not about standardizing you. It is about encouraging you to SYNC with Jesus Christ, the master of creativity and variety. If creating your own version of the Jubilee Cards would help you more than the "default wording" version above, here are some options for starters:
-
Which Bible version?
The default wording in the cards at the top of this page uses a personalized paraphrase format based on The Message. You may prefer the straight quotes from Scripture. For example, here are the same verses from the New Living Translation. Use these or any other translation of your choice to replace the version we put on the cards.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1.1
Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest sing for joy! Psalm 96.12
Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. Genesis 2.7
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10.10
Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Romans 5.18
Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. . . Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! Deuteronomy 30.19
There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. Proverbs 14.12
To get more from these verses, read the verses around them in the Bible instead of just the single verses by themselves.
-
Which form of the Declaration?
This is a Creation Day, and we are alive!
This is a day to remember that God created the world, and to live like it matters. (This version is included in the "default wording" for the Jubilee Cards.)
This is a day to remember that God created the world, and to live like that changes everything.
Use this or similar wording to keep the creation of our amazing world on your mind as you go through your day. Let every plant you see and every sip of water you take remind you of that. If you like spectacular reminders, see the free daily astronomy photos on the NASA site.
As we focus on the beauty and goodness of life in our amazing world, the Source of life pumps more of it into us and we overflow with it. We actually restrict the flow if we over-think it, that is, if we keep trying harder to deliver more life or if we spend too much time measuring how we are doing as life-bringers.
We need to keep turning our attention back to genuine enjoyment of life and creation. That's why God put a day of rest into the week, a day to kick back, savor everything, and achieve nothing. 24/7 is for machines. God has a better idea--rhythm!
-
Which form of the Prayer?
Set of seven informal prayers to use in a weekly cycle
These are based on the seven Jubilee Verses above, which bring out different parts of the Life Rhythm. Use this option if you like the idea of "praying Scripture," and if variety helps you focus.
Same formal prayer every day for the whole Season
Make us a fountain of the water of life. Let it flow, let it flow, let it flow.
Use this option if you like repetition and want to drill in the basic idea
Simplest way -- no cards at all
"SYNC us with your Life" or "SYNC me with your Life." This ties you each day to the two-word prayer for all seven SYNC seasons--"SYNC us." It is based on the "Campaign Prayer," a.k.a. the Lord's Prayer. (See under "God's campaign.") A good option if you want something that will work without having to look at cards.
Write/say your own prayer(s)
Prayer is not "one-size-fits-all." Please adjust any of the above to fit you better, or start over and create your own prayers from scratch. Whatever SYNC's you with the life of the Creator is fine!
Bed-time prayer
Like mealtimes, bedtime is a great time to thank the Creator for what sustains us--food and rest. With or without the Jubilee Cards, we can look back at our day and count our blessings. We can drop off to sleep peacefully since the Creator doesn't sleep at all. He's got this.
FAQs on personal use of Jubilee Cards
Why do these cards work? Where do the cards get their power to influence us?
These tools SYNC us with Christ, the source of natural and full life. They remind us of his intentions, and those reminders have an almost magical effect on us. In SYNC with him, we experience life and have life to share. Out of SYNC, our quality of life would drop and eventually we would die.
Isn't it dangerous to add any words of our own into a Scripture verse?