Category Archives: Daily Bread Devotional

Embrace Transformation, Part 3
Katie Harmon-McLaughlin, Spiritual Formation Ministries

God is our refuge and strength,
  a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
  though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
  though the mountains tremble with its tumult. -Psalm 46:1-3

It is good for us to be here, to be in this desert place, to be gently weaned from what we assumed was essential to discover the deeper calling underneath. We remember, in the simplicity of this season, that this journey of faith is not actually about building the church, growing the congregation, or even saving the world. Those are good things that can be results of faithfulness, but they are not themselves faithfulness. This is the sacred paradox at the heart of this week. The cross confronts our dreams of success and invites us to surrender into a deeper life-changing mystery already at work in us and the world.

Lenten Reflection Questions:

• When do you find yourself caught on the surface of ministry or calling? 
• How does the cross redefine success and faithfulness in your life?

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.

Embrace Transformation, Part 2
Katie Harmon-McLaughlin, Spiritual Formation Ministries

“Remain here, and stay awake with me.”  -Matthew 26:38

We begin Holy Week with Jesus’ own words, a plea for deeper presence. Will we stay awake to what is happening in the dark hours of desperate prayer, or will we find it too much to bear and try (like the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane) to sleep our way through the harder parts of faith?

Lenten Reflection Questions:

• How are you invited to stay awake to Christ in your everyday life?
• When do you find yourself avoiding the harder parts of faith revealed during Holy Week?

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.

Embrace Transformation (Holy Week)
Katie Harmon-McLaughlin, Spiritual Formation Ministries

“Remain here, and stay awake with me.” -Matthew 26:38

We begin Holy Week with Jesus’ own words, a plea for deeper presence. Will we stay awake to what is happening in the dark hours of desperate prayer, or will we find it too much to bear and try (like the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane) to sleep our way through the harder parts of faith?

It is good for us to be here, to be in this desert place, to be gently weaned from what we assumed was essential to discover the deeper calling underneath. We remember, in the simplicity of this season, that this journey of faith is not actually about building the church, growing the congregation, or even saving the world. Those are good things that can be results of faithfulness, but they are not themselves faithfulness. This is the sacred paradox at the heart of this week. The cross confronts our dreams of success and invites us to surrender into a deeper life-changing mystery already at work in us and the world.

Beneath the surface, at the heart of the matter, Lent is about a return to God as the source of our living, God as the ground of reality, God as the sacred presence in all creation, God as redemptive movement throughout time. It is not up to us alone. We release our need for control. We take a breath. We take a step back. We find relief in humility. We see again a wider picture beyond the immediate concerns that have consumed our attention.

We remember that we are part of something bigger-this whole beautiful, complex, hurting, and healing cosmos. We are part of God’s work in the world to unify and restore and redeem. We are part of the divine life that connects us and fills us and encourages us to be who we were truly meant to be. Lent is the season that shouts from our depths-don’t settle for less than the immensity of divine love as the source of your life! Don’t settle for a lesser vision than the dream of shalom for all creation! Don’t settle for your culture’s assumed barriers, boundaries, categories, and ideologies that falsely divide and demean. There is yet more! Our urgencies, agendas, priorities, and passions are reordered in proper proportion to the depth and width and breadth of this sacred invitation and vision.

In this context, Holy Week is a reminder to us that the Christ-way is not a part-time journey. It requires nothing less than our whole selves. “Metamorphosis is more than just incremental change and adjustment,” writes President Veazey. “We may all have to give up something that seems very important to us. But at the same time, we together will experience a liberation-a liberation from many of the things that seem so heavy on us at times. And our experience as we move forward will give us assurance that this, indeed, is the direction God has in mind for us. And it is the direction that will bring blessing into our lives. And it will be like discovering the gospel as if for the first time, even though we have journeyed a long time with it in our movement” (“Metamorphosis,” January/February 2020 Herald).

“Remain here, stay awake with me,” urges Jesus as we move through this Holy Week. Stay present, alert, and bring your whole self. This is just the beginning.

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.

Enter with Jesus
Richard Betts, Generosity Team Leader

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven.” -Matthew 21:8-9

I once accidentally found myself in a parade. I was in Singapore. One minute I was standing in a crowd watching as people passed by. The next minute someone grabbed my arm, and I found myself walking down the street as a participant. I have no idea what the parade was about. It could have been a celebration; it could have been a protest. Needless to say, I made a very quick exit, and all of a sudden I was no longer interested in watching the parade anymore.

How many of the crowd on Palm Sunday were accidental participants? One minute they were just watching and the next they were following along or waving palm branches, singing Hosanna! Realistically only the disciples could have really understood what this parade was about, and not all of them fully understood it yet. For many this parade was a shallow experience. They got caught up in the excitement of the crowd. Later that week many ultimately regretted being a part of a crowd.

How many of us have found ourselves accidently caught up in the crowd? Our lives are full of accidental moments, but Jesus calls us to deeper experiences. He calls us to be more than accidental followers and to become intentional followers. The challenge is to continue following him even when the crowd has gone and it’s no longer exciting and fun. Follow the Christ, who doesn’t always go along with the ways of the world, even when that leads to a cross.

This Holy Week, don’t rush from the Palm Sunday parade to the Easter parade. Go deeper, following Jesus to arrest, abandonment, trial, execution, and grave. And through that journey, may you discover the new life that is possible as disciples of Christ 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.

Find Life in Surprising Places, Part 6
Janne Grover, Council of Twelve Apostles

See, it is written before me:
  I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will indeed repay into their laps
  their iniquities and their ancestors’ iniquities together,
says the Lord;
because they offered incense on the mountains
  and reviled me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
  full payment for their actions. -Isaiah 65:6-7

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.

Lenten Reflection Questions:

• How do you receive these Lenten invitations today? 
• How are you discovering new life in surprising ways through the Lenten season?

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, Part 5
Janne Grover, Council of Twelve Apostles

But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself;
  the Lord hears when I call to him.
When you are disturbed, do not sin;
  ponder it on your beds, and be silent.
Offer right sacrifices,
  and put your trust in the Lord. -Psalm 4:3-5

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.

Lenten Reflection Questions:

• When have you experienced life-giving and world-changing response to Christ’s mission? 
• How does the season of Lent prepare you to live Christ’s peace in the world?

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, Part 4
Janne Grover, Council of Twelve Apostles

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; -Psalm 130:1-5

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.

Lenten Reflection Questions:

• How does Lent invite us to see ourselves and our communities through a different lens?
• What is already present within us that can seed transformation?

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, Part 3
nne Grover, Council of Twelve Apostles

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
  the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,
  and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
  the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
  the majesty of our God. -Isaiah 35:1-2

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.

Lenten Reflection Questions:

• What matters most? 
• What layers are you peeling back this Lenten season?

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, 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.