Category Archives: Daily Bread Devotional

Stand Firm during the Storm
Elizabeth Brown of Augusta, GA, USA

So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God… -Ephesians 2:17-19

Every morning when I wake up, I thank God. I ask for his strength as I go to the swimming pool each day. Looking out through the big panel of windows at the pool, I see three trees that remind me of the body of Christ in the church.

In the springtime the leaves come out on the branches and provide a place for the birds to make their nests and rest. Eventually young birds leave their nest because they have been nurtured. The church is the same way. We go to church and we rest in the word of God that is spoken to us. Then we go out to tell others about God’s word, to comfort the broken, rejected, and lost, and to encourage others in this dark world.

The trees also give shade and protection from the elements. The trees stand firm through many storms. As believers in Christ we go through many storms in our lifetimes, too. We have the word of God that keeps us planted. We will not become uprooted if we keep standing in God’s word.

The body of believers give each other comfort when storms come into their lives. We can comfort each other during these storms. We know the storm is just passing as we meditate on the word of God and trust that God will not leave us. One thing we should know, the storm will not last forever. God is with us whether we are in or out of a storm. The body of Christ is made up of believers who accept Jesus as their savior. We are the body of Christ.

Prayer Phrase

God bless the spaces between us.

Spiritual Practice

Tears of Compassion

Offer a silent prayer for the gift of God’s compassion. Cup your hands and ask God to make you aware of the suffering that causes the Earth and its inhabitants to groan and weep. Be open to faces or places, sounds or voices, feelings of connection with those who suffer. Imagine catching the tears of those you see and holding them in your hands. Listen for prayer images or words God may give you. Discern any active responses of ministry or healing you sense invited to complete for those who weep.

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 Mystery of Existence: Awe and Trust (Part 2 of 2)
From A Way of Life: Understanding Our Christian Faith

[Excerpted from “The Mystery of Existence: Awe and Trust,” A Way of Life: Understanding Our Christian Faith, Anthony J. Chvala-Smith, Herald House, 2019, pp. 25-27]

The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. -Psalm 19:1-2

Ever since the creation of the world [God’s] eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. -Romans 1:20

The writers of scripture believed they could see in the beauty of the night sky and in the twists and turns of human experience the handiwork of an Artist. According to Psalm 19 and Romans 1, the heavens and indeed all things cannot help but tell of the One from whom they come. The mystery that surrounds us is like a few notes of a great symphony, which we tend to tune out. But mystery has a way of pressing in on us. Sooner or later, amid the struggles and joys of life, we will hear the notes again and for a moment wonder what it all means.

As Christians we believe all things point beyond themselves toward the reality of God. God has created the kind of cosmos that prompts us to wonder. Wonder opens us to seek for a meaning to the vast expanding universe around us and to the complex inner universe of our lives. That quest, begun in awe and trust, is the beginning of what Christians call faith. Neither the mysteries of nature nor the riddles of our experience prove the existence of God. Nor is a knowledge of and reverence for these mysteries the same as being a Christian. “Proof” is not the same thing as faith; reverence before a nameless mystery is not the same thing as trust in God. Rather, the very presence of mystery is God’s way of rousing us to ask and seek. In the journey of asking and seeking, we open ourselves to God, who was already seeking us.

Community of Christ theology strives to value mystery and to be open to the questions human experience prompts. We honor the mysteries of the universe because we hold that they point to their infinite source. To honor the gift is to begin to honor the Giver, and the Giver is the One who is beyond all we can know or comprehend, the One scripture calls the Living God.

Prayer Phrase

God bless the spaces between us.

Spiritual Practice

Tears of Compassion

Offer a silent prayer for the gift of God’s compassion. Cup your hands and ask God to make you aware of the suffering that causes the Earth and its inhabitants to groan and weep. Be open to faces or places, sounds or voices, feelings of connection with those who suffer. Imagine catching the tears of those you see and holding them in your hands. Listen for prayer images or words God may give you. Discern any active responses of ministry or healing you sense invited to complete for those who weep.

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 Mystery of Existence: Awe and Trust (Part 1 of 2)
From A Way of Life: Understanding Our Christian Faith

[Excerpted from “The Mystery of Existence: Awe and Trust,” A Way of Life: Understanding Our Christian Faith, Anthony J. Chvala-Smith, Herald House, 2019, pp. 25-27]

The earth rolls upon her wings; the sun gives his light by day, and the moon gives her light by night; and the stars also give their light, as they roll upon their wings, in their glory, in the midst of the power of God. -Doctrine and Covenants 85:12a

Life is full of profound mysteries. …There is the mystery of beauty. Why does a full moon…or the vastness of the night sky awaken deep awe in us? There is also the mystery of order. Why do the march of the seasons, a V-shaped flight of geese, or the intricacies of DNA inspire us? There is the mystery of love. Why do being respected, needed, and embraced by another human being matter so much? And with love, there is the mystery of compassion. Why amid fear, hatred, and cruelty do some open their lives in kindness and vulnerability to others? There is the mystery of birth. How can so common an event stir such hope and joy in people? But on the other end of life, there is the mystery of death. What do we make of the stark reality of loss and pain, of our dread of endings, and of the love that survives them?

Among all these mysteries none is as perplexing as we are to ourselves. If we think about it, our very existence poses countless questions. Who am I? Why am I? Why do I seek for meaning to my existence? What is this strange longing in me, this desire to connect to something greater than myself, this need to devote myself toward something that is worthy of reverence, this yearning to entrust myself fully to a purpose worthy of my deepest commitment?

Beauty and order, love and compassion, hope and loss, longing and conviction: these experiences touch our lives with the awareness that we stand ever before a tremendous mystery. They link human beings across ages and cultures in a common language of awe and trust.

Their very existence helps us glimpse what it means to be human.

Yet from the perspective of Christian faith, these experiences are much more than riddles to tease our minds or even hints of a shared humanity. Life’s mysteries are signs that something greater is in our midst. These experiences are like the kind of instructions that say, “Start here.” The mysteries that meet us daily raise the most important of all human questions: Is there more to the universe than meets the eye? They are clues that a purposeful Presence, who is the source and goal of all things, is reaching out to us from our own depths. From this human experience of mystery emerges the question of the existence of God.

Prayer Phrase

God bless the spaces between us.

Spiritual Practice

Tears of Compassion

Offer a silent prayer for the gift of God’s compassion. Cup your hands and ask God to make you aware of the suffering that causes the Earth and its inhabitants to groan and weep. Be open to faces or places, sounds or voices, feelings of connection with those who suffer. Imagine catching the tears of those you see and holding them in your hands. Listen for prayer images or words God may give you. Discern any active responses of ministry or healing you sense invited to complete for those who weep.

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 Peace
Karen Ann Smith of Ludington, MI, USA

Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. -Joshua 1:9

I dreamed I was walking through deep snow. Maybe the snow represented my concerns. Maybe it was because my brother in Colorado has gotten snow these last couple of days, but it doesn’t matter. In my dream I came upon a young mother taking her kids to school. I told her there is no school until further notice. Young families, teachers, para-pros, and everyone whose lives have been disrupted by COVID-19 are on my mind and in my heart.

It’s a very scary, very stressful time in which we are living, but I think of what Mr. Rogers once said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'”

I look to the helpers, those who are still working in the frontlines of this pandemic, who are still providing essential needs. I look to those who check on shut-ins, who mail postcards and notes, who make checking-on-you phone calls. A musician I know is doing love podcasts and lifting fallen spirits in that way.

God is still in the heart of the people. Look to the helpers and you will see. Be a helper in your own unique way, and you will find peace.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).

Prayer Phrase

God bless the spaces between us.

Spiritual Practice

Tears of Compassion

Offer a silent prayer for the gift of God’s compassion. Cup your hands and ask God to make you aware of the suffering that causes the Earth and its inhabitants to groan and weep. Be open to faces or places, sounds or voices, feelings of connection with those who suffer. Imagine catching the tears of those you see and holding them in your hands. Listen for prayer images or words God may give you. Discern any active responses of ministry or healing you sense invited to complete for those who weep.

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.

Look to the Future
Grace Andrews of Independence, MO, USA

Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. -Isaiah 41:10

The lovely Crimson King maple tree in our back yard, whose trunk had been struck by lightning in earlier years, slowly began leaning heavily to one side dangerously close to our neighbor’s roof. We were crestfallen as we surveyed it sadly one day, finally concluding we would need advice from a tree service.

When the experienced tree man came to our door, we were sad at his diagnosis and solution. He told us the tree would have to be removed before it did any damage to us or our neighbor. Days later, it was almost unbearable as well as fascinating to watch him work. We expected him to saw the tree down from the trunk. Instead, he climbed high up in the tree and began trimming away the small upper branches. He then removed the larger limbs until only the lower trunk remained which he expertly removed at the tree base. He explained, “On difficult jobs such as this, I always attack the easy parts first. Then the rest of the problem becomes simple to remove.”

We learned so much that day from the tree surgeon. Whenever we are stymied by a tough problem, we think back to that lovely old tree with its bright red and purple leaves in fall, and welcome shade in the summer. The tree which we grew to love served us well for so many years. We still reminisce with pictures of that beautiful tree, but we also appreciate the younger tree we planted in its place offering shade and beauty. We think of the wise tree surgeon who advised, instead of trying to cope with the whole problem at once, try to remember to sort it out into little pieces first.

We are reminded that our loving God strengthens and upholds us every day encouraging us to look to the future and better days ahead with new life.

Prayer Phrase

God bless the spaces between us.

Spiritual Practice

Tears of Compassion

Offer a silent prayer for the gift of God’s compassion. Cup your hands and ask God to make you aware of the suffering that causes the Earth and its inhabitants to groan and weep. Be open to faces or places, sounds or voices, feelings of connection with those who suffer. Imagine catching the tears of those you see and holding them in your hands. Listen for prayer images or words God may give you. Discern any active responses of ministry or healing you sense invited to complete for those who weep.

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.

Broken and Flawed and Willing to Witness
Katie Barber of McKinney, TX, USA

You are a good and faithful people, but sometimes you fail to see the power that is resident in your own story and fellowship. Look carefully, listen attentively, and sense the Spirit among you. Do not be unduly concerned with numbers. Be fervent in your witness, passionate in your discipleship, and vigorous in your labor on behalf of peace and justice. Where two or three such disciples form community, there will the Spirit be. Many will come to see. -Doctrine and Covenants 162:8a-b

At Christmastime, one of the wise men from my nativity scene was smashed to bits. I saved all the pieces, because I felt like the scene would seem incomplete with just two wise men.

Finally, I sat down with the fragments and began to piece them in place with glue. It was quickly apparent that some pieces were never going to go back together perfectly. Several times I looked at this mess of a wise man and almost threw him away. But each time I was tempted to toss him, I stopped myself and went back to work.

When I finished reassembling him as best I could, I looked at my wise man. One arm had gaping holes in the glass and his scars were obvious. I looked at his face. I looked at the gift in his hand. I saw myself. The wise man and I shared some similarities: cracks, flaws, brokenness.

My entire ministry is based on making sure others know their worth. Despite any brokenness and imperfection they see in themselves, the gifts they bring are powerfully important and precious. In contrast, there are many times when I see my flaws and shortcomings that I want to throw myself away, like the broken wise man.

I am keeping my broken wise man to remind me of myself as I come before God and you, broken and flawed yet bearing my gift in love and gratitude and humility.

Beloved friends, I pray God will bless you with a deepening awareness of your inestimable worth, that you will never doubt you were created with great purpose. May you never hesitate to share your gifts and love with everyone you meet. Be bold, my friends, in your witness!

Prayer Phrase

God bless the spaces between us.

Spiritual Practice

Tears of Compassion

Offer a silent prayer for the gift of God’s compassion. Cup your hands and ask God to make you aware of the suffering that causes the Earth and its inhabitants to groan and weep. Be open to faces or places, sounds or voices, feelings of connection with those who suffer. Imagine catching the tears of those you see and holding them in your hands. Listen for prayer images or words God may give you. Discern any active responses of ministry or healing you sense invited to complete for those who weep.

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.

Edward Ellsworth Guy, Human Being of Note
Mark A. Scherer of Independence, MO, USA

[Excerpted from The Journey of a People: The Era of Worldwide Community, 1946-2015, Mark A. Scherer, Community of Christ Seminary Press, 2016, pp. 238-243]

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” -John 20:19-21

During his years of peace and justice ministry, Edward Ellsworth Guy (Ed Guy) advocated for the poor and dispossessed like few others of his generation. He used his well-honed speaking skills to minister to the needs of downtrodden people in rural Mexico and Central America.

To earn money in preparation for his ministerial career, Guy spent nine summers working for the United States Forest Service fighting forest fires. As a “smoke jumper” Guy parachuted into dangerous burn areas…making 74 jumps.

A tireless advocate for human rights, Ed Guy was an independent minister whose efforts were self-initiated. He was not an appointee minister and did not depend on the church for his employment.

“The church is a catalyst for community development inasmuch as it teaches people to work together, and to be concerned with their own stewardship, and with the welfare of their neighbors,” Guy wrote in 1975.

Ed Guy was less concerned for his personal safety than he was for the spiritual needs of his people. Often he found himself in dangerous urban settings. …Guy taught those around him a rule that said: “Never go alone, never travel at night, and always have a taxi waiting.”

Shootings occurred on the country roads that Guy often traveled. Traveling across Mexico and Central America under such difficult circumstances made him susceptible to many diseases. At different times he contracted malaria, dysentery, and other maladies; but Guy saw these afflictions as opportunities to identify with those to whom he provided ministry.

On Wednesday,13 April 1994, attendees of the World Conference stood to recognize Ed Guy as the first recipient of the church’s International Human Rights Award for Service to Humanity. On Friday, 21 September 2001, Ed Guy died of a heart attack in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Lloyd Hurshman summarized Ed Guy’s years of service by stating, “Perhaps very few are called to be homeless in order to reach out to the homeless, to be hungry if by that means the hungry might be fed, to sacrifice health and life expectancy that others might live. But to Edward Ellsworth Guy, human being of note, this is the normal course of life.”

Prayer Phrase

God bless the spaces between us.

Spiritual Practice

Tears of Compassion

Offer a silent prayer for the gift of God’s compassion. Cup your hands and ask God to make you aware of the suffering that causes the Earth and its inhabitants to groan and weep. Be open to faces or places, sounds or voices, feelings of connection with those who suffer. Imagine catching the tears of those you see and holding them in your hands. Listen for prayer images or words God may give you. Discern any active responses of ministry or healing you sense invited to complete for those who weep.

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.

How Will They Know We Are Christian?
Connie Altman of Jackson, OH, USA

I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
    I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    for I rejoice in the LORD. -Psalm 104:33-34

I have many Facebook friends from a variety of faiths, all of whom are well meaning. Occasionally someone sends me a story, scripture, or prayer that tells me to send it on and I will be blessed. If I don’t send it on, something bad may happen to me.

It occurs to me that perhaps this is a little like when Satan tempted Jesus by wanting him to prove he was the son of God. “If you are the son of God…” do this, this, and this, and people will worship you. How different from that is, “If you are a Christian, you will send this to 10 people”?

I understand we must be valiant in testimony, but I hope to live my life in such a way that sending out Facebook stories is not necessary to prove I am a Christian. It will take much more determination, faith, and courage to be kind to everyone, even when they are not kind to me, to be courageous enough to stand up for those whom society knocks down, and to be generous with my time, talents, testimony, and treasure with those who are in need.

My prayer is that God will bolster me up when I find it difficult to do these things. God has done it before and I’m sure will continue to be by my side.

Prayer Phrase

God bless the spaces between us.

Spiritual Practice

Tears of Compassion

Offer a silent prayer for the gift of God’s compassion. Cup your hands and ask God to make you aware of the suffering that causes the Earth and its inhabitants to groan and weep. Be open to faces or places, sounds or voices, feelings of connection with those who suffer. Imagine catching the tears of those you see and holding them in your hands. Listen for prayer images or words God may give you. Discern any active responses of ministry or healing you sense invited to complete for those who weep.

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.

To Joyfully Fast and Pray
Julie Conway Sword of Gainesville, FL, USA

And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart, that thy fasting may be perfect; or in other words, that thy joy may be full. Verily this is fasting and prayer; or, in other words, rejoicing and prayer. -Doctrine and Covenants 59:3

My mother-in-law routinely set aside Wednesday mornings to joyfully fast and pray. She not only included family needs in her prayers, but also the needs of those in our congregations, community, and throughout the world. I joined her in this weekly plan. Even now as I perceive current needs through fasting and prayers, I find great joy in situations, conditions, and attitudes that over time can remarkably change. What rejoicing there is in talking with the Lord! God has all power in heaven and on Earth.

There is a wonderful scripture in Isaiah that outlines what is and what is not an acceptable fast (Isaiah 58:4-12). To my surprise this passage outlines the five Mission Initiatives found in the “the Spirit is upon me” messages from Luke 4:18 and Isaiah 61:1. It’s the whole idea of community, of joy-filled, Zionic caring and living. It’s like being part of the “gossamer thread” connecting all our lives throughout the world.

So now we face a time of restricted movement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In our fasting and prayer (or rejoicing and prayer), we can reach out on our knees for friends, family, and those we know only through their dire needs. We have a great opportunity, symbolic of our willingness to take upon us the name of God’s son and always remember him, that we might have his Spirit to be with us.

Prayer Phrase

God bless the spaces between us.

Spiritual Practice

Tears of Compassion

Offer a silent prayer for the gift of God’s compassion. Cup your hands and ask God to make you aware of the suffering that causes the Earth and its inhabitants to groan and weep. Be open to faces or places, sounds or voices, feelings of connection with those who suffer. Imagine catching the tears of those you see and holding them in your hands. Listen for prayer images or words God may give you. Discern any active responses of ministry or healing you sense invited to complete for those who weep.

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.

Redeemed
Amanda Grant of Brechin, Ontario, Canada

Mark the blameless, and behold the upright, for there is posterity for the peaceable. -Psalm 37:37

I grew up on a 100-acre sheep farm with my parents. My dad also had an office job at a factory, so our farm was not our only income source. We had a farm because it was what my dad had grown up with. We grew to have a fondness for the lifestyle.

However, because my dad was a businessman, in order to keep the farm, it had to generate some financial profit. Dad made money by going to fall fairs and either setting up a display or taking part in sheep shows where the animals are judged. This meant our animals had to meet specific characteristics to appropriately represent their breed. For example, the color of their nose, face, legs, and how they stood on their feet all mattered. Sometimes things would go wrong with the animals. This meant we had to take them to the market to sell because they could no longer contribute to the farm in a practical way.

During one visit to the market I was overwhelmed by the number of animals I saw being sold that had not yet outlived their ability to be of use to someone. I finally decided if any of the animals were sold at a price I could afford, I would buy them. This desire to change what was happening around me became an “Aha” moment of what it means for God to redeem us.

God did for all of us what I could only afford to do for one. Unlike my dad, God looks at us and sees how we can still be of use, still serve God, no matter our state. The only characteristic we need to meet for God is that we are willing-willing to try, willing to hear, and willing to act.

Prayer Phrase

God bless the spaces between us.

Spiritual Practice

Tears of Compassion

Offer a silent prayer for the gift of God’s compassion. Cup your hands and ask God to make you aware of the suffering that causes the Earth and its inhabitants to groan and weep. Be open to faces or places, sounds or voices, feelings of connection with those who suffer. Imagine catching the tears of those you see and holding them in your hands. Listen for prayer images or words God may give you. Discern any active responses of ministry or healing you sense invited to complete for those who weep.

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.