Author Archives: karbly

Find Life in Surprising Places, Part 2
Janne Grover, Council of Twelve Apostles

What is the spiritual attitude, trajectory, and focus of our lives? Are we enthusiastically on our way to Jesus in the priorities, character, and vision of our discipleship? As Community of Christ, are we listening and moving together toward Jesus in our relationships and concerns? -Stephen M. Veazey, “Discover Your Future”

The wilderness can feel like a threatening place. Perhaps we equate the wilderness with testing, uncertainty, and suffering. Scripture testifies of this through the journey of Israel and the story of Jesus. The Israelites’ liberation from oppression and slavery led them to years of testing, uncertainty, and suffering in the wilderness. Following sacrament of water and spirit, Jesus was led into the wilderness for long days of personal trial and suffering. We find wilderness testing in our own journey as individuals and as community. The challenges before the church can feel like a wilderness of testing and uncertainty as we see once-thriving congregations decline and close. It is easy to be consumed by hopelessness and despair when overwhelmed by wilderness circumstances beyond our control.

The wilderness is also a place of formation, revelation, and new life. The Israelites received unexpected manna to satisfy their hunger, and water from a stone to quench their thirst. Jesus’ experience in the wilderness formed in him a deeper awareness of divine purpose and strength. Could our wilderness journey be any different?

Lenten Reflection Questions:

• How has this journey through Lent connected you with the stories of your biblical and spiritual ancestors?
• How does our own wilderness time, personally and communally, form us in a deeper awareness of divine purpose and strength?

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Lenten Spiritual Practices

Moving Toward the Peaceful One

As Jesus was nearing the final days of his life, he wept over the city and proclaimed, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:41-42).What are the things that make for peace in our lives, communities, and around the world? During the Lenten season, spend time in silent refection or journaling each day to notice: Am I moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One? Pay attention to your attitudes, actions, and relationships this day. When did you most embody the peaceful One in your daily living? When were your thoughts or actions contrary to the peace of Jesus Christ? How might Jesus, the peaceful One, who is always near to you, be inviting you to draw nearer to him through your daily living?

Fasting and Giving-$40 in 40 Days

A Lenten fast gives us an opportunity to make space in our lives so that God can live in and through us.  It’s a time to evaluate what we hunger for most and what we consume. This year, we’ve been invited to tithe as a spiritual practice by setting aside $40 during the 40 days of Lent. If you are participating, pay attention today to the dollar you have given. What might you have done with that dollar otherwise? How does Lenten generosity invite you to reflect on what is “enough” in your life? Who might you invite to join you in this practice? How might your gift be magnified by the many others responding to the same call?

You can make your $40 offering anytime during the Lenten season online or through your offering envelope for Worldwide Mission Tithes.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Find Life in Surprising Places
Janne Grover, Council of Twelve Apostles

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. -Isaiah 43:19

The wilderness can feel like a threatening place. Perhaps we equate the wilderness with testing, uncertainty, and suffering. Scripture testifies of this through the journey of Israel and the story of Jesus. The Israelites’ liberation from oppression and slavery led them to years of testing, uncertainty, and suffering in the wilderness. Following sacrament of water and spirit, Jesus was led into the wilderness for long days of personal trial and suffering. We find wilderness testing in our own journey as individuals and as community. The challenges before the church can feel like a wilderness of testing and uncertainty as we see once-thriving congregations decline and close. It is easy to be consumed by hopelessness and despair when overwhelmed by wilderness circumstances beyond our control.

The wilderness is also a place of formation, revelation, and new life. The Israelites received unexpected manna to satisfy their hunger and water from a stone to quench their thirst. Jesus’ experience in the wilderness formed in him a deeper awareness of divine purpose and strength. Could our wilderness journey be any different?

Perhaps our deepest longing is met when we choose to see the blessings that come through the wilderness journey. What appears stark and desolate also reveals clarity of what matters most. The wilderness becomes a place of new life as we peel back layers of assumptions, traditions, expectations, and cluttered ways of being to discover what we seek, what we long for, is right before us. What we need, we already have.

In his 2017 address “Time to Act!” President Veazey challenged the church to birth, nurture, and multiply communities of disciples and seekers focused on spiritual formation and compassionate ministry and action. Rather than viewing this challenge through a lens of what is, he stated, “Such communities of disciples and seekers can gather anywhere, any time. While some may choose to do so, they are not dependent on owning buildings or property. They will be connected locally and globally. They will be salt, leaven, and light.” Salt, leaven, and light; that is what captures me the most. It is not something new or unattainable…it is already present in us.

Perhaps this is the wilderness clarity of what matters most. God’s vision of shalom, the peaceable kin-dom, the Zion of our hopes and dreams, does not rely on buildings, programs, or organizational structure. It relies on individuals and communities authentically living Christ’s peace in the world. It is realized when those who claim the name and mission of Christ respond to the needs of a suffering world in ways that are life-giving and world changing. Stones release streams of living water through every faithful act of kindness and generosity that affirms the worth of persons, honors the sacredness of creation, and pursues just peace.

The invitation in this wilderness journey…for individuals and communities…is to travel lighter, to shed attachments enough to see with clarity the pathway already set before us, to focus on what matters most…and discover new life in surprising ways.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Lenten Spiritual Practices

Moving Toward the Peaceful One

As Jesus was nearing the final days of his life, he wept over the city and proclaimed, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:41-42).What are the things that make for peace in our lives, communities, and around the world? During the Lenten season, spend time in silent refection or journaling each day to notice: Am I moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One? Pay attention to your attitudes, actions, and relationships this day. When did you most embody the peaceful One in your daily living? When were your thoughts or actions contrary to the peace of Jesus Christ? How might Jesus, the peaceful One, who is always near to you, be inviting you to draw nearer to him through your daily living?

Fasting and Giving-$40 in 40 Days

A Lenten fast gives us an opportunity to make space in our lives so that God can live in and through us.  It’s a time to evaluate what we hunger for most and what we consume. This year, we’ve been invited to tithe as a spiritual practice by setting aside $40 during the 40 days of Lent. If you are participating, pay attention today to the dollar you have given. What might you have done with that dollar otherwise? How does Lenten generosity invite you to reflect on what is “enough” in your life? Who might you invite to join you in this practice? How might your gift be magnified by the many others responding to the same call?

You can make your $40 offering anytime during the Lenten season online or through your offering envelope for Worldwide Mission Tithes.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Breathe on Me, Breath of God
Adam Wade, president of seventy

He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. -Ezekiel 37:3-5

This morning I went scuba diving. The name of the particular dive site we visited was “The White Valley,” somewhat convenient given today’s scripture in Ezekiel! There was sand for miles and miles. Unlike the vision of the prophet, my valley was covered in approximately 18 meters (50 feet) of ocean above me. The only bones scattered across this valley were fish bones.

Preparations were carefully made to ensure the equipment was all working correctly in order for us to safely breathe. A 20-minute boat ride jetted us across the smooth ocean to the place where we would roll ourselves backward into the blue depths.

As we sat on the boat, gently bobbing up and down in the swell, the instructor went through a safety briefing before we set out. As always, we were reminded of one of the most important rules of diving-the constant requirement to BREATHE. Never hold your breath. If you are moving up or down at depth underwater, holding your breath can cause your lungs to rupture. That’s not something you desire with a whole lot of ocean above you!

In that moment, I was reminded of our lives as disciples. There are times when it may feel as if the valley is dry and there is little or no hope. Perhaps we find ourselves in the depths, surrounded on all sides by water, feeling as though we are sinking. Yet…in these times, it is important to remember to BREATHE. Not a superficial breath, but that deeper inhalation that gives us a moment of calm, nourishment, and life. We breathe in God’s spirit of love and peace.  We pause to remind ourselves that God journeys with us, beside us.

As you breathe, may God’s Spirit give you renewed strength, and help remind you that there is indeed hope. Breathe.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Lenten Spiritual Practices

Moving Toward the Peaceful One

As Jesus was nearing the final days of his life, he wept over the city and proclaimed, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:41-42).What are the things that make for peace in our lives, communities, and around the world? During the Lenten season, spend time in silent refection or journaling each day to notice: Am I moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One? Pay attention to your attitudes, actions, and relationships this day. When did you most embody the peaceful One in your daily living? When were your thoughts or actions contrary to the peace of Jesus Christ? How might Jesus, the peaceful One, who is always near to you, be inviting you to draw nearer to him through your daily living?

Fasting and Giving-$40 in 40 Days

A Lenten fast gives us an opportunity to make space in our lives so that God can live in and through us.  It’s a time to evaluate what we hunger for most and what we consume. This year, we’ve been invited to tithe as a spiritual practice by setting aside $40 during the 40 days of Lent. If you are participating, pay attention today to the dollar you have given. What might you have done with that dollar otherwise? How does Lenten generosity invite you to reflect on what is “enough” in your life? Who might you invite to join you in this practice? How might your gift be magnified by the many others responding to the same call?

You can make your $40 offering anytime during the Lenten season online or through your offering envelope for Worldwide Mission Tithes.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Discover Who We Really Are, Part 6
Kris Judd of Des Moines, IA, USA

O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. -Psalm 63:1

You are invited to spend time in prayer with this scripture through the practice of Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading). Read the text four times, pausing for silence after each reading. The prompts below will guide you in the movements of this prayer.

Lectio Divina:

• What captures your attention in this text? What word or phrase are you invited to hold and savor?
• What moves within you in response to this text? What memories, feelings, or images are evoked for you?
• What is God’s invitation for your life in this text? Is there a new awareness, summons, or way of being that you feel called to explore?
• Rest into God’s presence meeting you through this story here and now. Let the words guide you into a few moments of silence and stillness in divine presence. Breathe and simply be.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Lenten Spiritual Practices

Moving Toward the Peaceful One

As Jesus was nearing the final days of his life, he wept over the city and proclaimed, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:41-42).What are the things that make for peace in our lives, communities, and around the world? During the Lenten season, spend time in silent refection or journaling each day to notice: Am I moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One? Pay attention to your attitudes, actions, and relationships this day. When did you most embody the peaceful One in your daily living? When were your thoughts or actions contrary to the peace of Jesus Christ? How might Jesus, the peaceful One, who is always near to you, be inviting you to draw nearer to him through your daily living?

Fasting and Giving-$40 in 40 Days

A Lenten fast gives us an opportunity to make space in our lives so that God can live in and through us.  It’s a time to evaluate what we hunger for most and what we consume. This year, we’ve been invited to tithe as a spiritual practice by setting aside $40 during the 40 days of Lent. If you are participating, pay attention today to the dollar you have given. What might you have done with that dollar otherwise? How does Lenten generosity invite you to reflect on what is “enough” in your life? Who might you invite to join you in this practice? How might your gift be magnified by the many others responding to the same call?

You can make your $40 offering anytime during the Lenten season online or through your offering envelope for Worldwide Mission Tithes.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Discover Who We Really Are, Part 5
Kris Judd of Des Moines, IA, USA

If we as Community of Christ truly are “on our way to him,” then Jesus’ passions and concerns will visibly be our passions and concerns (Doctrine and Covenants 164:9d). Any gaps between our views and his vision will be resolved as we move toward him! Not by trying to conform him to us. That’s what it means to be “on our way to him”! It is ongoing personal and communal spiritual transformation in Christ as a life- long adventure! -Stephen M. Veazey, “Discover Your Future”

Take time away from the distractions the world offers, even for a few moments each day. Examine prayerfully how your life and very being are reflecting the message of Jesus. How willing are you to follow the same Spirit that led Jesus into the wilderness to move into your own time of reflection, prayer, and hunger? How will you move closer to this Jesus? What will be born out of your wilderness experience?

Do not fear to go where the Spirit leads you to go.

Lenten Reflection Questions:

• How willing are you to follow the same Spirit that led Jesus into the wilderness to move into your own time of reflection, prayer, and hunger?
• How will you move closer to this Jesus?

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Lenten Spiritual Practices

Moving Toward the Peaceful One

As Jesus was nearing the final days of his life, he wept over the city and proclaimed, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:41-42).What are the things that make for peace in our lives, communities, and around the world? During the Lenten season, spend time in silent refection or journaling each day to notice: Am I moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One? Pay attention to your attitudes, actions, and relationships this day. When did you most embody the peaceful One in your daily living? When were your thoughts or actions contrary to the peace of Jesus Christ? How might Jesus, the peaceful One, who is always near to you, be inviting you to draw nearer to him through your daily living?

Fasting and Giving-$40 in 40 Days

A Lenten fast gives us an opportunity to make space in our lives so that God can live in and through us.  It’s a time to evaluate what we hunger for most and what we consume. This year, we’ve been invited to tithe as a spiritual practice by setting aside $40 during the 40 days of Lent. If you are participating, pay attention today to the dollar you have given. What might you have done with that dollar otherwise? How does Lenten generosity invite you to reflect on what is “enough” in your life? Who might you invite to join you in this practice? How might your gift be magnified by the many others responding to the same call?

You can make your $40 offering anytime during the Lenten season online or through your offering envelope for Worldwide Mission Tithes.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Discover Who We Really Are, Part 4
Kris Judd of Des Moines, IA, USA

He sustained him in a desert land, in a howling wilderness waste; he shielded him, cared for him, guarded him as the apple of his eye. -Deuteronomy 32:10

Lent offers each of us 40 days to wrestle with who we truly are-the good and not so good. We are invited to examine the ways our very selves reflect the Divine as well as ways in which our actions and motives are not aligned with Christ. We are invited to return to a sense of our true identity-a beloved child of God-and strip away the illusions and untruths we have been tempted to believe about ourselves and others. It is a time to ask ourselves essential questions: Who am I, really? How am I called to live out my discipleship? Will I allow transformation to occur within me?

Lenten Reflection Questions:

• Who am I, really?
• How am I called to live out my discipleship?
• Will I allow transformation to occur within me?

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Lenten Spiritual Practices

Moving Toward the Peaceful One

As Jesus was nearing the final days of his life, he wept over the city and proclaimed, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:41-42).What are the things that make for peace in our lives, communities, and around the world? During the Lenten season, spend time in silent refection or journaling each day to notice: Am I moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One? Pay attention to your attitudes, actions, and relationships this day. When did you most embody the peaceful One in your daily living? When were your thoughts or actions contrary to the peace of Jesus Christ? How might Jesus, the peaceful One, who is always near to you, be inviting you to draw nearer to him through your daily living?

Fasting and Giving-$40 in 40 Days

A Lenten fast gives us an opportunity to make space in our lives so that God can live in and through us.  It’s a time to evaluate what we hunger for most and what we consume. This year, we’ve been invited to tithe as a spiritual practice by setting aside $40 during the 40 days of Lent. If you are participating, pay attention today to the dollar you have given. What might you have done with that dollar otherwise? How does Lenten generosity invite you to reflect on what is “enough” in your life? Who might you invite to join you in this practice? How might your gift be magnified by the many others responding to the same call?

You can make your $40 offering anytime during the Lenten season online or through your offering envelope for Worldwide Mission Tithes.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Discover Who We Really Are, Part 3
Kris Judd of Des Moines, iA, USA

Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. -Deuteronomy 8:2

The wilderness the Spirit led Jesus into for 40 days offered him significant time for reflection and prayer and little distraction from his purpose and calling. It was a time of preparation for the challenges ahead. The scriptural image of Jesus’ temptation in the desert comes right before he enters the synagogue to unroll the scroll of Isaiah and boldly proclaim his mission.

The author of Luke 4 informs us that during this time in the wilderness, alone and famished, the devil tempted Jesus to denounce his true identity and serve himself and his own needs. The 40 days had underlined for him who he truly was, enabling him to resist the “if you are the son of God” challenge with truth and rebuke the illusions and untruths he had been offered.

Lenten Reflection Questions:

• How might the wilderness of Lent bring the gift of space for deeper reflection and prayer?
• What has underlined for you who you really are?

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Lenten Spiritual Practices

Moving Toward the Peaceful One

As Jesus was nearing the final days of his life, he wept over the city and proclaimed, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:41-42).What are the things that make for peace in our lives, communities, and around the world? During the Lenten season, spend time in silent refection or journaling each day to notice: Am I moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One? Pay attention to your attitudes, actions, and relationships this day. When did you most embody the peaceful One in your daily living? When were your thoughts or actions contrary to the peace of Jesus Christ? How might Jesus, the peaceful One, who is always near to you, be inviting you to draw nearer to him through your daily living?

Fasting and Giving-$40 in 40 Days

A Lenten fast gives us an opportunity to make space in our lives so that God can live in and through us.  It’s a time to evaluate what we hunger for most and what we consume. This year, we’ve been invited to tithe as a spiritual practice by setting aside $40 during the 40 days of Lent. If you are participating, pay attention today to the dollar you have given. What might you have done with that dollar otherwise? How does Lenten generosity invite you to reflect on what is “enough” in your life? Who might you invite to join you in this practice? How might your gift be magnified by the many others responding to the same call?

You can make your $40 offering anytime during the Lenten season online or through your offering envelope for Worldwide Mission Tithes.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Discover Who We Really Are, Part 2
Kris Judd of Des Moines, IA, USA

Surely the Lord your God has blessed you in all your undertakings; he knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing. -Deuteronomy 2:7

A time to wander in the wilderness and wrestle with the deeper questions will be offered to each of us at least once in our life. Such a time has been and will continue to be given to the church as we engage in the ongoing discernment of who we are called to be as a people. It is an invitation, not a burden. An uncomfortable opportunity to be received as gift.

As President Veazey shared in his 2017 address to the church, “It is ironic and intriguing to me that our current challenges are providing added incentive for us to ask essential questions about the essence of the gospel and the church. These challenges-financial and cultural-have pushed us into a kind of spiritual labor, and the future church already is being born.” New things are born and tested in desert times.

Lenten Reflection Questions:

• When have you wandered in the wilderness or wrestled with deeper questions?
• How is the future church being born out of the challenges we experience?

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Lenten Spiritual Practices

Moving Toward the Peaceful One

As Jesus was nearing the final days of his life, he wept over the city and proclaimed, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:41-42).What are the things that make for peace in our lives, communities, and around the world? During the Lenten season, spend time in silent refection or journaling each day to notice: Am I moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One? Pay attention to your attitudes, actions, and relationships this day. When did you most embody the peaceful One in your daily living? When were your thoughts or actions contrary to the peace of Jesus Christ? How might Jesus, the peaceful One, who is always near to you, be inviting you to draw nearer to him through your daily living?

Fasting and Giving-$40 in 40 Days

A Lenten fast gives us an opportunity to make space in our lives so that God can live in and through us.  It’s a time to evaluate what we hunger for most and what we consume. This year, we’ve been invited to tithe as a spiritual practice by setting aside $40 during the 40 days of Lent. If you are participating, pay attention today to the dollar you have given. What might you have done with that dollar otherwise? How does Lenten generosity invite you to reflect on what is “enough” in your life? Who might you invite to join you in this practice? How might your gift be magnified by the many others responding to the same call?

You can make your $40 offering anytime during the Lenten season online or through your offering envelope for Worldwide Mission Tithes.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Discover Who We Really Are: Unveiling the True Self
Kris Judd of Des Moines, IA, USA

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.'” -Luke 4:1-4

A time to wander in the wilderness and wrestle with the deeper questions will be offered to each of us at least once in our life. Such a time has been and will continue to be given to the church as we engage in the ongoing discernment of who we are called to be as a people. It is an invitation, not a burden. An uncomfortable opportunity to be received as gift.

As President Veazey shared in his 2017 address to the church, “It is ironic and intriguing to me that our current challenges are providing added incentive for us to ask essential questions about the essence of the gospel and the church. These challenges-financial and cultural-have pushed us into a kind of spiritual labor, and the future church already is being born.” New things are born and tested in desert times.

The wilderness the Spirit led Jesus into for forty days offered him significant time for reflection and prayer and little distraction from his purpose and calling. It was a time of preparation for the challenges ahead. The scriptural image of Jesus’ temptation in the desert comes right before he enters the synagogue to unroll the scroll of Isaiah and boldly proclaim his mission.

The author of Luke 4 informs us that during this time in the wilderness, alone and famished, the devil tempted Jesus to denounce his true identity and serve himself and his own needs. The 40 days had underlined for him who he truly was, enabling him to resist the “if you are the son of God” challenge with truth and rebuke the illusions and untruths he had been offered.

Lent offers each of us 40 days to wrestle with who we truly are-the good and not so good. We are invited to examine the ways our very selves reflect the Divine as well as ways in which our actions and motives are not aligned with Christ. We are invited to return to a sense of our true identity-a beloved child of God-and strip away the illusions and untruths we have been tempted to believe about ourselves and others. It is a time to ask ourselves essential questions: Who am I, really? How am I called to live out my discipleship? Will I allow transformation to occur within me?

Take time away from the distractions the world offers, even for a few moments each day. Examine prayerfully how your life and very being are reflecting the message of Jesus. How willing are you to follow the same Spirit that led Jesus into the wilderness to move into your own time of reflection, prayer, and hunger? How will you move closer to this Jesus? What will be born out of your wilderness experience?

Do not fear to go where the Spirit leads you to go.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Lenten Spiritual Practices

Moving Toward the Peaceful One

As Jesus was nearing the final days of his life, he wept over the city and proclaimed, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:41-42).What are the things that make for peace in our lives, communities, and around the world? During the Lenten season, spend time in silent refection or journaling each day to notice: Am I moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One? Pay attention to your attitudes, actions, and relationships this day. When did you most embody the peaceful One in your daily living? When were your thoughts or actions contrary to the peace of Jesus Christ? How might Jesus, the peaceful One, who is always near to you, be inviting you to draw nearer to him through your daily living?

Fasting and Giving-$40 in 40 Days

A Lenten fast gives us an opportunity to make space in our lives so that God can live in and through us.  It’s a time to evaluate what we hunger for most and what we consume. This year, we’ve been invited to tithe as a spiritual practice by setting aside $40 during the 40 days of Lent. If you are participating, pay attention today to the dollar you have given. What might you have done with that dollar otherwise? How does Lenten generosity invite you to reflect on what is “enough” in your life? Who might you invite to join you in this practice? How might your gift be magnified by the many others responding to the same call?

You can make your $40 offering anytime during the Lenten season online or through your offering envelope for Worldwide Mission Tithes.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.

Examine Our Hearts
Peter Judd of Des Moines, IA, USA

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” -1 Samuel 16:7

Each person is confronted every day with many choices. Some choices are easy. For example, I will choose to put jam on my toast and not peanut butter because I like jam but do not like peanut butter. But other choices are difficult. For example, will I stop to help someone in need or hurry home because I have had a tiring day? The scripture from 1 Samuel 16 is about making choices. The Lord offers guidance: “mortals…look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart (v. 7).”

I have often struggled when I see persons by the roadside asking for money. Will I give them a dollar or not? Will I look them in the face and smile or turn the other way? Should I be concerned about whether they actually have the need for my money or how they will use the money I give them? Today I gave two people money. One was sitting at a traffic light where I was waiting for it to turn green. I took a dollar out of my wallet, rolled down my car window, and held out the dollar to him as I moved slowly through the green light. He thanked me saying, “God bless you.” The second man approached me as I was sitting in a McDonald’s restaurant composing this meditation on my computer. He asked for a quarter (25 cents). I found one and gave it to the man. He thanked me, again with words of blessing.

I realize that today, in these two incidents, I had acted from my heart and not on the basis of outward appearance. I want to be more consistent in acting from my heart, in all my encounters with other people. The connections with the people, although brief, were more important than the money.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Lenten Spiritual Practices

Moving Toward the Peaceful One

As Jesus was nearing the final days of his life, he wept over the city and proclaimed, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:41-42).What are the things that make for peace in our lives, communities, and around the world? During the Lenten season, spend time in silent refection or journaling each day to notice: Am I moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One? Pay attention to your attitudes, actions, and relationships this day. When did you most embody the peaceful One in your daily living? When were your thoughts or actions contrary to the peace of Jesus Christ? How might Jesus, the peaceful One, who is always near to you, be inviting you to draw nearer to him through your daily living?

Fasting and Giving-$40 in 40 Days

A Lenten fast gives us an opportunity to make space in our lives so that God can live in and through us.  It’s a time to evaluate what we hunger for most and what we consume. This year, we’ve been invited to tithe as a spiritual practice by setting aside $40 during the 40 days of Lent. If you are participating, pay attention today to the dollar you have given. What might you have done with that dollar otherwise? How does Lenten generosity invite you to reflect on what is “enough” in your life? Who might you invite to join you in this practice? How might your gift be magnified by the many others responding to the same call?

You can make your $40 offering anytime during the Lenten season online or through your offering envelope for Worldwide Mission Tithes.

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

Click here to comment or read online.