Category Archives: Daily Bread Devotional

Discerning Our True Capacity
Janne Grover, Council of Twelve Apostles

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. -Colossians 1:19-20

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?
Am I moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

I confess it is easy for me to be lulled into a comfortable idea of moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One. It takes little or no courage or conviction for me to claim the guiding question, post it on social media, and uphold it in teaching and preaching. The idea of a peaceful Jesus offers me a comfortable place to dwell.

In a Lenten context of journeying with Jesus toward the cross, the guiding question becomes disruptive. In his journey to the cross Jesus was fully self-giving as he challenged unjust religious and political systems and responded to a cruel death with forgiveness. That Jesus calls us to a just peace, a self-giving peace that offers ALL a peaceful place to dwell.

So, what does it mean for me…for us…to journey with Jesus, the peaceful One, toward the cross today? How much self-giving is required? To what extent do I challenge unjust systems…the very systems that privilege me while oppressing others? Amid the challenges of racial injustice, climate crisis, and unequal wealth distribution in my context and calling, I don’t know if I am even capable of making the journey. Isn’t it sufficient for me to be authentically compassionate toward others, to recycle and reduce single-use plastics, to be a non-racist, and to be generous? When I ask these questions and listen deeply, the Spirit seems to whisper, “Find your true capacity.”

Discerning true capacity is an ongoing practice that invites self-reflection of where I am overextended, where I have allowed myself to get comfortable or complacent, and where there is room for greater response. Even when my journey with Jesus toward the cross seems feeble, and I feel paralyzed by fear and guilt and overwhelm, I remain assured of God’s delight in each faithful step.

Lent provides space to consider what the Holy Spirit is inviting us to give, give up, or forgive in our journey toward Jesus, the peaceful One. It will disrupt, challenge, and require courage of conviction in our response; but the reward is nothing short of new life…a peaceful place for ALL to dwell.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (John 13:1-15)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Diane and the Christ-Spirit
Susan Oxley of Seattle, WA, USA

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
  and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
  and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
  and sustain in me a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
  and sinners will return to you. -Psalm 51:10-13

During the pandemic, I began curbside pickup of groceries. I noticed a woman in a lawn chair near the parking lot, wearing a surgical mask the color of her eyes and a gray hoodie. We exchanged waves as I drove past. One day, I stopped and offered her some money. “My name’s Susan,” I said.

“I’m Diane,” she replied. “Thank you for stopping to talk to me.” She didn’t thank me for the donation, but for the brief conversation.

A week later, rain fell as I picked up my groceries. “Diane, aren’t you getting wet?” I asked.

“It doesn’t bother me,” she said. “A man is bringing me hot chocolate to warm me up.”

“Great. Well, here’s an umbrella to keep off the rain.”

Diane’s eyes opened in surprise. “Thank you. Would you like to hear a poem?” I nodded. Diane rattled off the titles of several poems, and I chose one at random: “Western Skies.”

Diane recited the poem with yearning and hope, a tribute to the beauty of nature and the connections of memory. Her voice, filled with peace, captured me. “Did you write it yourself?” I asked. “Oh, yes, a long time ago, but of course I changed the words a little, and it comes out differently.” Her account was confused and contradictory. I promised to return to hear the other poems, and we parted. I looked up “Western Skies,” a 2018 song by the British band Mostly Autumn. I recognized Diane’s poem in the lyrics.

I watched for her during two winter months but didn’t see her. But there she was again on an unseasonably warm day in January. She told me about her early school days and recited a poem called “Bus.” I feel a kinship with Diane and whatever mysteries her life holds. The peace of Christ lives within her, a place of sanctuary and calm in the storm of life. The Spirit in her and the Spirit in me unite us in hope, and I am humbled and blessed.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (John 13:1-15)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Know God
Scott Murphy, First Presidency

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. -Jeremiah 31:33

One of my favorite moments when witnessing a baptism is when the person rises from the water and clears it from his or her face. In that fractional moment of disorientation-from the water to the awareness of what just happened-an incredible joy flows outward through a smile that beams from ear to ear. In that sacred moment of covenant, it is less about a word or theological concept, and more about a relationship of love with God.

In our scripture text today, I find myself wondering what it must have felt like to hear those prophetic words Jeremiah shared from God to those who suffered in exile. Was there a moment between the exiles’ turmoil and the awakening that burst within them in hearing these words, which brought overwhelming joy and ear-to-ear smiles?

In those sacred moments filled with words of love and grace was the awareness that God was not satisfied to be known just as a “covenant” on stone. God wanted to be experienced through a loving relationship that made the covenant personal in the heart of each person.

When the concept of “covenant” moves from a word or concept to the experience of feeling the incarnation of God’s love and peace, you cannot help but smile.

As you continue your Lenten journey, may you encounter those moments when God’s yearning to be in relationship with you causes you to consider the covenant you have been invited to experience in God. And in those moments of sacred awareness, may the joy you feel bring a smile from ear to ear.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (John 13:1-15)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Finding Joy on a Detour
Meghan Gray of Blue Springs, MO, USA

Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace-
  in peace because they trust in you.
Trust in the LORD forever,
  for in the LORD GOD
  you have an everlasting rock. -Isaiah 26:3-4

Last summer, my family and I went on a camping trip. An hour into our journey, we discovered the campsite had no water for bathing or drinking. It didn’t seem feasible to stay somewhere without drinking water for a whole weekend, so we tried to switch our reservation.

Unfortunately, it was fraught with problems. Where were we going to stay for the night? What were we going to do? This journey was not turning out the way we had hoped!

Sometimes that’s the way it is in our spiritual and religious lives, too. The best laid plans and our best intentions are crushed, and we’re left to pick up the pieces.

Many people felt that way last year when in-person gatherings had to be canceled due to COVID-19. In my own congregation, church suddenly stopped on March 13. After two months of nothing, we courageously tried a virtual worship. What a blessing to see each other and share in spiritual growth together!

Nonetheless, some folks continue to complain about online church. No, it’s not the same as in-person gatherings (I miss them, too). However, it is more beneficial to focus on the positives of this new journey, like the new people we’ve connected with, the guest ministers joining us from far away, and lack of need to create bulletins or PowerPoints.

And most importantly, we’ve kept all our members safe during a pandemic.

Even on this strange social-distancing journey, we must continue asking ourselves the guiding question, “Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?” Are we keeping our eyes open to see the God-moments along the way? What is God teaching us in this moment on this journey? How is God asking us to be more present, to be more adaptable, to focus on what is most important for the journey ahead?

My family and I had a God-moment on our camping trip because of the loss of a campsite. We suddenly realized we were close to our uncle’s house and were inspired to call him. They welcomed us with open arms! This detour that started full of stress and worry turned into a memorable blessing where connections were strengthened and renewed. The same thing could be happening on your own journey. Are you paying attention along the route?

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (John 3:1-8)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect
on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Yearning for Home
Kat Goheen of Langley, British Columbia, Canada

Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called-that you might inherit a blessing. -1 Peter 3:8-9

I had such a strong evocation this week, visiting with a friend that I am mentoring. She wrote of the joy of aliveness that was “unmistakably welcoming me home.” Home leapt up for me as we shared these words together. I felt home in wordless, imageless ways, and was suddenly wrapped in the warmth and acceptance of countless greetings.

We are in a strange season in which we are unable to physically welcome many of our loved ones home. Even though we understand the reasons for staying apart, and know they are rooted in love, there is inevitably a feeling of pulling apart; a weakening of hospitality as we struggle to find ways to stay connected. Deep within, we yearn for this invitation to come home.

There is something in our Lenten journey that “unmistakably welcomes us home.” We follow the familiar story through Jesus’ heavy journey to Jerusalem, and the highs and lows of his reception there. We watch in confused amazement, along with the disciples, as Jesus’ values spring to life on a big stage-disturbing moneychangers and celebrating the lowly. Heaven on Earth! We stay awake, as long as we can, as our Beloved suffers uncertainty and fear. Through the familiarity of the retelling, through living the story again, we discover ourselves finding home in the very person of the One we follow. He is both our address and our invitation, unmistakably welcoming each of us to come home and be ourselves. What are we waiting for?

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (John 3:1-8)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Meddling in Each Other’s Lives
Daniel Hedman of Placerville, CA, USA

I lift up my eyes to the hills-
  from where will my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
  who made heaven and earth.  -Psalm 121:1-2

“Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?”

I had a professor in college that would joke about how he and God had an agreement that they wouldn’t meddle in each other’s lives. This always cracked me up as it was so ironic and oh so slightly irreverent-my favorite kind of humor. But as I reflect on this notion, I realize that I might (on more occasions than I’d like to admit) hope that this is the case for me. I find myself thinking, “God, please don’t bug me and I won’t bug you! I’m too busy, too overwhelmed, too frustrated, too (you name it!).” I, of course, justify all of this by thinking, when things settle down, I’ll be more present. As if, right around the corner, calm and simplicity are going to smack me in the face.

As I reflect on the question “Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?”, the question for me is, “What constitutes moving towards Jesus?” Does it require a certain activity, or a certain amount of time? Are there prerequisites involved? Well, I have to believe that the answer is simply “No.” In his book Here and Now: Living in the Spirit, Henry Nouwen says, “If we could just be, for a few minutes each day, fully where we are, we would indeed discover that we are not alone and that the One who is with us wants only one thing: to give us love” (Nouwen, 20).

We are blessed with simple moments, possibly overlooked or disregarded, of Divine encounter occurring in the most mundane of circumstances. I know this because I have encountered God at Starbucks, the laundromat, the copy room, and many other places that you just simply don’t assume God is going to show up. But I am convinced, my friends, that God is there waiting to be acknowledged, aware of our tiredness, our fears, our trepidation, our (you name it!). We move towards the peaceful One when we simply say, “Here I am. Present for this fleeting moment. Let me be a vessel of your love and peace.”

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (John 3:1-8)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

The Courage to Risk Something New
Linda Stanbridge of Lexington, MI, USA

I am Alpha and Omega, Christ the Lord; yea, even I am He, the beginning and the end, the Redeemer of the world …. Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me. -Doctrine and Covenants 18:1a, 2n

Last year our family learned the Mission Prayer. We pray each morning before we leave the safety of our home. We pray in unison, circle clockwise, counterclockwise. We even developed a schedule to prevent arguments about who “gets” to go first. To hear the confident voice of a three-year-old praying “grant me the courage to risk something new,” followed by the assured voice of a five-year-old praying, “and become a blessing of your love and peace,” has affected me deeply. Daily, we present ourselves before God, ready to be agents of change for love and peace.

As we’ve prayed the question, “Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?” it has come alive for me in new ways. Entering this practice has shown me how acts of intentional courage move us all toward the peaceful One. Each day contains an opportunity to move not only myself, but those around me, toward peace.

The greatest blessing this year has come through our children’s acts of justice. Last year our daughter was in a group of peers and adults when the statement was made that girls can only marry boys. Our child told those around her that this wasn’t true. She knew because she has witnessed people and families from across the spectrum of gender identity and sexuality and that God’s love is present and abounds in these families. She reported to us in exasperation that these injustices and aggressions exist, and this provided a powerful opportunity for us to talk as a family about how important her words were in creating justice and peace.

We are constantly presented with opportunities to do justice. When we take a moment to call those around us back into God’s redeeming and reconciling work, we move closer and closer to the peaceful One. Inching slowly perhaps, but always toward justice. Our children’s enthusiasm for the Mission Prayer and for God’s justice has shown me repeatedly that, indeed, a child shall lead them. Justice begins when each of us becomes personally responsible for becoming a blessing of love and peace.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (John 3:1-8)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Her Name Is Soniya
Eva-Margaritha Erickson of Berlin, Germany

Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. -Romans 12:17-18

Her name is Soniya-born in Afghanistan, raised in Iran, now a refugee in Germany. When I found her outside my office building, she looked like just a bundle of clothes. I found her huddled and in such a bad condition that I had to call an ambulance. She was not physically hurt as much as she was in shock and panic because she had been mistreated and abused by other refugees in her refugee home. I later learned that as a single woman from Afghanistan with a name that sounds Christian (though she is Muslim), she was at the bottom of the pecking order, even among refugees.

The Enduring Principle Worth of All Persons comes to mind. There is a hymn we sing, “For Everyone Born, a Place at the Table.” Of course, Soniya has a place at God’s table. She is a victim of a system, a victim of war, a victim even in the country that took her in as a refugee. There is no doubt in my mind that God always has a place for the poor, abused, and broken-hearted. Jesus himself showed us this through his life and ministry.

But it takes much more for me to accept that the abusers, the ones who instigate the wars for purposes of power and wealth, the ones who are refugees themselves but still mistreat a fellow refugee, would also have a place at the table. And yet they do. And yet they do.

In my mind I hold a vision of a world where all God’s children learn to live with each other. I’m so impatient, I want it now! I want Soniya to be safe, yes, but I also want her abusers to experience peace so they won’t feel the need any more to make others unhappy to gain their own happiness. And I want for those who instigate wars to settle their differences over a cup of tea. I want them to learn that life has so much more in store than wealth and power.

Oh, God, teach us your ways!

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (John 3:1-8)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Connection
Wendell Martin of Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada

I will appoint Peace as your overseer
  and Righteousness as your taskmaster.
Violence shall no more be heard in your land,
  devastation or destruction within your borders;
you shall call your walls Salvation,
  and your gates Praise. -Isaiah 60:17b-18

An evangelist friend was invited to offer words of counsel for our congregation’s evangelist blessing. He began his talk by tackling the big question that philosophers, theologians, and even ordinary people have wrestled with since the dawn of civilization: “What is life all about?” He said something that inspired me at the time and continues to inspire me as I dig deeper into the meaning of his answer: “Life is about relationships.”

A relationship is a building block of life. It is how we understand who we are. We are who we are because of what we have experienced and, more importantly, because of who or what have been the agents of our experiences. Those people or circumstances change and mold us into who we are always in process of becoming. Who we are is not a static reality but an ever renewing and evolving reality.

Bearing this in mind, we must accept that our connection to all that is created is fundamental to understanding the creativity of the Divine and our place in that evolving creativity. We continue to be part of the evolution of the divine creation when we cultivate and build our relationships with all of God’s creatures, all of God’s good creation. If we live this way, we cannot participate in anything that would violate the sanctity of any part of that good creation. This means living our lives in a manner that does no harm to anyone or anything that is part of that creation because when we harm any part of it, we harm ourselves.

Admittedly this a difficult task, but if we first attempt to move ourselves into that mindset, the realization that we are connected to everyone and everything in this world, then we will move closer to being part of a peaceful solution to those issues that divide us. We will move closer to Christ, the peaceful One.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (John 3:1-8)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.

Accept the Light of the World
Linda Booth of Lee’s Summit, MO, USA

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” -John 3:16-17 

My father, Ernest Ledsworth, served as a seventy for nearly 70 years. His vibrant testimony and compassionate spirit brought many to Christ. The last year of his life was extremely difficult for Daddy and our family. He lived in a memory-care unit, while my mother lived in the skilled-nursing unit on the same senior-citizen campus.

As often as we could, my brother, sister, and I would roll Mom in her wheelchair to the memory-care unit so she could get her kisses from Daddy. Often when we visited, Daddy wasn’t aware of our presence. He often was agitated, repeating over and over a specific question like, “Where did I park the car?” “Where did they put my shoes?” “Is it time to go to church?”

One hot, sultry afternoon when I pushed Mom’s wheelchair beside Daddy’s wheelchair, he looked at me with clarity and said, “Linda, did you know that God so loved the world?”

“Yes, Daddy,” I replied. “That’s one of my favorite scriptures. I try to weave it into every sermon I give.”

“No, Linda! Did you know that God so loved the world?”  No matter what I said to calm him, his agitation grew as he asked the same question: “Linda, did you know that God so loved the world?”

Finally, he smiled that sweet smile that we hadn’t seen for a very long time and calmly said, “Linda. God so loved the world that he gave us his Son. Isn’t it marvelous?”

“Yes, Daddy,” I said. “It is truly marvelous.”

“It is, isn’t it,” he replied. “You better make sure that you tell everyone!”

In that lucid moment, my father reminded me again that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Several weeks later, our beloved father died. I still miss him. However, that last precious conversation continues to remind me of God’s great love for all people and our calling to share the “marvelous” news of Jesus Christ.

Prayer Phrase

Are we moving toward Jesus, the peaceful One?

Spiritual Practice

Gospel Contemplation (John 2:13-22)

Each week during Lent, you are invited to pray with a different gospel story from the life of Christ. Use your senses and imagination to enter the text. Allow it to come to life in you, observing details, noticing interactions, even engaging in dialogue. Notice where you find yourself in the story and how you feel about what is happening. Notice what it evokes in you or invites of you. Take time to journal or enter silent prayer to reflect on your experience and to sense where the Spirit may be leading you through this scriptural encounter.

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.