Category Archives: Daily Bread Devotional

It Is Yet Day….
Grace Andrews of Independence, MO, USA

The hopes of my people and the goals of my church, while not yet fully realized, and at times and to many seemingly distant, are closer to realization than many recognize. It is yet day when all can work. The night will come when for many of my people opportunity to assist will have passed. -Doctrine and Covenants 142:5

We used to sing with fervor a beloved hymn, “Work for the Night Is Coming.” I recently reminisced about all the things I used to be able to do. The painful realization came-in some ways, my “night” has already come. Chairing organizations and committees, being involved in family and church activities, teaching classes, faithfully serving in my job, keeping schedules-many things I am no longer in a position, or physically able, to do. While shopping, I watched a young mother kneel down and tie her child’s shoes, then rise to her feet without using her hands to get up; and the thought came: “I used to do that.” I am no longer able to kneel during communion. My singing voice, though never great, is barely passable. In earlier years I so enjoyed zipping around a skating rink. Probably not wise for me to do today. Tending to the needs of our five children, keeping them safe, supporting my husband and each of them in their varied activities was routine. Today, caring for or visiting little great-grandchildren for an hour or so quickly reminds me my physical body isn’t what it used to be.

And yet, my hands are always busy. My mind is alert. So, what can I do? I made a list of things I can no longer do, and labeled it “In the Past.” It was depressing. I then made a list of things I still can accomplish and labeled it “In the Future.” And guess what! The future list far outweighs those things no longer in my grasp. As Christ has been present every step of my past, I am assured He will not leave me alone in my future. Aloud I said, “Stop mourning the past! Get up! Get busy! You have work that only you can do!” There are people you know who need to be encouraged and lifted up-cover them with God’s love. There are cookies to be made and shared, warm blankets to be crocheted. Cards to be sent, calls to be made. Support for those who are weak and burdened down with heavy trials. Only God knows how long each of us will remain on this earth, but as for me-I will look to the future! For, it is “yet day,” and I am ever joyful for opportunities to serve my Lord.

Prayer Phrase

I surrender into your love, O God.

Spiritual Practice

Surrender

What might it look like to surrender a little to God each day? A simple prayer of surrender can help us become aware of God’s consistent invitations to deeper relationship and awareness. Imagine when you encounter a challenging person or situation silently uttering this prayer, “I surrender into your love, O God.” The same prayer can be meaningful in moments of joy and gratitude as a way of returning to the awareness of oneness with God. It’s ok if we don’t surrender everything all at once all the time. The prayer of surrender is a constant practice of returning little by little to the deepest love that is the ground of our being and desires wholeness and oneness for us and all creation.

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.

In the Name of Christ
Ken Cardwell of Redmond, OR, USA

For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his faithful ones. -Psalm 37:28

I am an administrator for Jericho Table, a non-profit organization that feeds the hungry each evening in Redmond, Oregon. We average about 45-60 people a night. I frequently visit the homeless camps providing clothes, blankets, water, sleeping bags, or whatever they might be in need of-especially those who have no transportation. I have made some personal friends through this on both sides of the fence you might say-the city administrators and police as well as the homeless. I do not judge either “side” for their actions or words but just try to be a helper to both.

A retired post office clerk walked into the police station recently and said he would like to talk to someone in charge. The clerk got an officer that was still at the station to come out and talk to him. The man said, “I have some envelopes here with $50 in each that I would like you to give out to the needy.” The officer said they weren’t allowed to take donations like that but told him he knew of a person who was connected with the community that could take it. The officer just happened to be my friend Bob. What are the chances it was he! He gave the gentleman my name and number, and the man came to Jericho Table that night to tell me about the envelopes. He said, “There are 20 envelopes here with $50 in each!”

He likes to do something like this every year. He said, “I do this in the name of Christ.”

I have now given out all but one envelope. I went to the camps to meet those I didn’t catch in town and gave envelopes to the ones I knew truly needed the money and would use it to their benefit. One later said they got their friends together and rented a hotel room, got some food, and took showers. The couple with the baby used it mostly for gas. Another needed to get his truck going again. I do think they were all blessed by that postman.

Prayer Phrase

I surrender into your love, O God.

Spiritual Practice

Surrender

What might it look like to surrender a little to God each day? A simple prayer of surrender can help us become aware of God’s consistent invitations to deeper relationship and awareness. Imagine when you encounter a challenging person or situation silently uttering this prayer, “I surrender into your love, O God.” The same prayer can be meaningful in moments of joy and gratitude as a way of returning to the awareness of oneness with God. It’s ok if we don’t surrender everything all at once all the time. The prayer of surrender is a constant practice of returning little by little to the deepest love that is the ground of our being and desires wholeness and oneness for us and all creation.

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.

Confronting Privilege
Mary Jacks of Redmond, OR, USA

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. -Matthew 5:14-16

January 19, 2019, stands out to me for two reasons. My niece and I went to hear Robin DiAngelo talk about her book White Fragility. As her lecture and the reviewers of her book state, I was challenged to embrace a more deeply nuanced exploration of white culture and dominance. While providing a powerful, scholarly analysis of white fragility, she also invited me to engage in deep personal inquiry and to be a part of collective change. As powerful forces of white racism swell around me, DiAngelo encouraged me to have a courageous conversation about my white culture of complicity and to relinquish ingrained hyper-attachment to individualism and predictable patterns of my own racial group.

Then, leaving the hall after her lecture, I fell in the dark trying to get in the car and broke a bone in my left foot. As I recovered from surgery and healing of my broken foot, I studied her book and engaged in conversation about the racism around me. One thing I know is that I am blind and unconscious as I miss so many things. As a white person raised in Western society, I am conditioned into a white supremacist worldview because it is the bedrock of my society and its institutions. Yes, I believe in the worth of all and diversity as our Enduring Principles proclaim. I was taught by my parents that everyone was equal. In addition, I have people of color in my family.

But as DiAngelo states (White Fragility, Boston: Beacon Press, 2018, p. 129) the ubiquitous socializing power of white supremacy cannot be avoided. These messages circulate 24/7 and have little or nothing to do with my intentions, awareness, or agreement. Entering conversations with this understanding is freeing because it allows me to focus on how-rather than if-my racism is manifest. When I move beyond the good/bad binary, I can become eager to identify my racist patterns because interrupting those patterns becomes more important than managing how I think I look to others.

Stopping my racist patterns is more important to me than working to convince others that I don’t have them. I do have them, and people of color around me already know I have them. My efforts to prove otherwise are not convincing. It is so very difficult, and I am learning many things. An honest accounting of these patterns is no small task for me given the power of white fragility and white solidarity, but it so necessary and I desire to be a part of the change.

Even now when I feel my foot ache or am aware of it as I work out daily on my treadmill, I am reminded that I am to continue on this journey of becoming more aware of my own racism and the power of conversations that can uncover it. Pray for me that it may be so!

Prayer Phrase

I surrender into your love, O God.

Spiritual Practice

Surrender

What might it look like to surrender a little to God each day? A simple prayer of surrender can help us become aware of God’s consistent invitations to deeper relationship and awareness. Imagine when you encounter a challenging person or situation silently uttering this prayer, “I surrender into your love, O God.” The same prayer can be meaningful in moments of joy and gratitude as a way of returning to the awareness of oneness with God. It’s ok if we don’t surrender everything all at once all the time. The prayer of surrender is a constant practice of returning little by little to the deepest love that is the ground of our being and desires wholeness and oneness for us and all creation.

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.

Moving Forward
Pamela Carr of DeKalb, TX, USA

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” -Matthew 5:9

My husband of 51 years died in 2018, and the following is something I wrote during that first year of emptiness. It is my hope that someone can see the importance of gratitude, the acceptance of struggle, and the act of letting go in life.

The reality is my husband’s soul decided to go on. His personality is gone as well as his physical presence, but I am grateful for the gifts he provided in his time here on earth. That gratefulness replaces my sadness, my loneliness, my missing him, and I am able to continue. Choosing to walk in that gratefulness instead of any other emotion honors the reality of him being no longer physically present.

Death is in every cycle of life. As my children’s need of me died, they grew in confidence and ability to care for their own needs. As I grew in my ability to build relationships with my students, my need to be the perfect teacher died-not the desire to broaden their conceptual basis, but the need to be praised for how I did it died. As my husband’s disease progressed disabling him physically, many things died: our traveling dreams, our ability to socialize, even our ability to communicate at times. All died a natural death. What was resurrected included our realization of what was important to each of us, the reality of what was in the pain of letting go. We lived in the simplicity of talking, sitting quietly together, knowing this was forming each of us for the next part of our spiritual journey. We quit fighting the reality of life and explored what God had in store for each of us.

Did it make letting go of his soul easier? Yes, I think so. It made it easier for him to let go of physical life, knowing this part of his journey was over and I was ready to go on with my own journey. Missing one another was not the question we dealt with. It was a given. Going forward with God made the question about how we each resurrected easier.

Prayer Phrase

I surrender into your love, O God.

Spiritual Practice

Surrender

What might it look like to surrender a little to God each day? A simple prayer of surrender can help us become aware of God’s consistent invitations to deeper relationship and awareness. Imagine when you encounter a challenging person or situation silently uttering this prayer, “I surrender into your love, O God.” The same prayer can be meaningful in moments of joy and gratitude as a way of returning to the awareness of oneness with God. It’s ok if we don’t surrender everything all at once all the time. The prayer of surrender is a constant practice of returning little by little to the deepest love that is the ground of our being and desires wholeness and oneness for us and all creation.

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 Can You Help?
Karen Brown of Liberty, MO, USA

Those who desire life and desire to see good days, let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit; let them turn away from evil and do good; let them seek peace and pursue it. -1 Peter 3:10-11

Do you ever wonder how someone who is able-bodied can become homeless? I can tell you. A young man at our church got in financial trouble and has been staying with friends. He needs to get a job to pay for a place to stay (even friends won’t support you forever); however, he can’t get a job. He thought he had one, but got a call saying after they did his background check, they were withdrawing the job offer. He is certain he knows why.

About a year ago his “girlfriend” gave his car to a drug dealer. He had some tickets that needed resolved, and he couldn’t drive, so he wasn’t too concerned that the old car was gone. Then he got a call from the FBI. It seems his car was discovered in Maryland (he has been in Missouri continuously for several years). It was part of a drug bust. And to top it all off, the offenders (who were arrested in the car) had stolen his identification using the registration that was in the car. Now, he can’t get a job (he’s sure it’s because he has a criminal record, even though it certainly wasn’t him), and the employer that had the background check done won’t give him a print out of it. The FBI said they were trying to resolve the stolen ID situation, but he doesn’t know what they have done or are doing.

How long will friends continue to financially support him? How long until everyone says, “No, we will not take you in again,” and he is on the streets? How many of those you see on the streets are there because of similar situations? What can you do to help?

Prayer Phrase

I surrender into your love, O God.

Spiritual Practice

Surrender

What might it look like to surrender a little to God each day? A simple prayer of surrender can help us become aware of God’s consistent invitations to deeper relationship and awareness. Imagine when you encounter a challenging person or situation silently uttering this prayer, “I surrender into your love, O God.” The same prayer can be meaningful in moments of joy and gratitude as a way of returning to the awareness of oneness with God. It’s ok if we don’t surrender everything all at once all the time. The prayer of surrender is a constant practice of returning little by little to the deepest love that is the ground of our being and desires wholeness and oneness for us and all creation.

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.

What Does the Lord Require?
Cathi Cackler-Veazey, World Church Diversity and Inclusion Team, co-team leader

What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? -Micah 6:8

The three messages of this scripture are important guidelines for understanding what God expects of us. The first is to do justice. We know that justice includes acting mercifully. Several years ago I was creating silk screen pictures at Spectacular. Of the many I made, my favorite was the one that said “Pray for Peace, Work for Justice.” The call for justice means acting with mercy toward others. We cannot have peace without justice.

The second guideline from the scripture is to love kindness. Love that responds to human need in an unexpected or unmerited way is the essence of kindness. It brings with it the spirit that was exemplified by the life of Christ. His loving kindness to those that society marginalized was antithetical to the cultural norms of the time. Treating women as whole and equal members of society or honoring the Samaritan for his kindness in spite of his marginalization in society was an important demonstration of Godliness.

The third guideline is to walk humbly with God. To walk humbly is to be modest, without an excess of pride. For some, humility seems to be easy; for others it is a learned attribute. Again using the example of Christ, being humble provides opportunity to build deeper, more meaningful relationships with others. Humility also opens the door to listening for the concerns of others and to the leading of God in one’s life. Humility encourages one to be open to new ideas and helps one grow spiritually.

The church’s Enduring Principle Pursuit of Peace (Shalom) embodies doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. As we make decisions or take actions in our lives, we should always ask, “What does the Lord require of me at this moment?”

Prayer Phrase

I surrender into your love, O God.

Spiritual Practice

Surrender

What might it look like to surrender a little to God each day? A simple prayer of surrender can help us become aware of God’s consistent invitations to deeper relationship and awareness. Imagine when you encounter a challenging person or situation silently uttering this prayer, “I surrender into your love, O God.” The same prayer can be meaningful in moments of joy and gratitude as a way of returning to the awareness of oneness with God. It’s ok if we don’t surrender everything all at once all the time. The prayer of surrender is a constant practice of returning little by little to the deepest love that is the ground of our being and desires wholeness and oneness for us and all creation.

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 Earth Shudders
Kass Unger of North Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia

The earth, lovingly created as an environment for life to flourish, shudders in distress because creation’s natural and living systems are becoming exhausted from carrying the burden of human greed and conflict. Humankind must awaken from its illusion of independence and unrestricted consumption without lasting consequences. -Doctrine and Covenants 163:4b

This scripture has been going through my head a lot of late.

As I write this, my country is currently burning. I don’t mean metaphorically, with temperatures frequently reaching the low 40’s (104\xc2\xba F) but physically. Actually on fire. Currently 277 fires are burning across this country. They have burned nearly 8,000,000 hectares (nearly four times the area of the Amazon fires in 2019), taken 2,136 human homes and 28 human lives. One billion mammals, birds, and reptiles-some found nowhere else on earth-have also been destroyed. Many species will now be placed on the threatened and endangered list as a direct result of these fires and the destruction they have caused to habitats and ecosystems. And the fires have not yet stopped burning.

A major contributor to the severity of the fires is drought. We have had increasing drought conditions for years. The earth shudders.

I swing from extreme frustration at our leaders, humanity, and my limited effect to devastating sadness. I hate to think of how God would feel about the way we have treated “the earth, lovingly created as an environment for life to flourish.”

Over the last couple of weeks people all over the world have been reaching out with prayers and money to support Australia. And while we are the ones currently on fire, this is not just our problem. We are all called to “awaken from [our] illusion of independence and unrestricted consumption without lasting consequences.” This means that we need to stand together on issues of peace on and FOR the earth, wherever we are. Recognize that in my welfare resides your welfare, and in your welfare resides mine and all creation’s.

Prayer Phrase

I surrender into your love, O God.

Spiritual Practice

Surrender

What might it look like to surrender a little to God each day? A simple prayer of surrender can help us become aware of God’s consistent invitations to deeper relationship and awareness. Imagine when you encounter a challenging person or situation silently uttering this prayer, “I surrender into your love, O God.” The same prayer can be meaningful in moments of joy and gratitude as a way of returning to the awareness of oneness with God. It’s ok if we don’t surrender everything all at once all the time. The prayer of surrender is a constant practice of returning little by little to the deepest love that is the ground of our being and desires wholeness and oneness for us and all creation.

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.

Ready to Respond
Twyla Glassford of Windsor, Ontario, Canada

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. -Colossians 3:12, 14-15

When I entered the hospital for knee replacement surgery, I took with me a prayer shawl I had received nine years earlier for another surgery. During those intervening years I had shared the shawl with others who were undergoing surgery or therapies of some sort. The shawl was always returned.

The day after surgery my roommate, who had had the same surgery by the same doctor, was in constant pain and crying a lot. Surprisingly I was nearly pain free.

As I prayed for her during the day, the first two lines of the Mission Prayer came to mind, “God, where will your Spirit lead today? Help me be fully awake and ready to respond.” In that moment, I knew the Holy Spirit was prompting me to give my shawl to this woman, because I no longer needed it.

In the moment of giving she exclaimed, “Oh, the prayer shawl!” She had heard me asking my husband for the shawl after surgery but did not know its significance. In that hospital room I had opportunity to share about the prayer, comfort, love, and promise of God’s presence that is stitched into creating every shawl.

When I left the hospital the next day, the woman and my prayer shawl remained. The shawl, although not returned this time, was still continuing its ministry of sharing God’s love and blessing.

Prayer Phrase

Let your heart be broken for a world in need. -Bryan Jeffrey Leech, \xc2\xa9 1976 Fred Bock Music Company, Community of Christ Sings 353

Spiritual Practice

Lament

Lament is an expression of our grief, sorrow, and sometimes confession to God amid the brokenness, injustice, and suffering of the human family. Lament is a major theme of the psalms and an invitation to “let our hearts be broken” as we humbly pray for awareness of right and restorative action. Spend time each day this month practicing the prayer of Lament.

Loving God, break my heart open to my own and others’ suffering because of injustice. Help me stay with what is real even when it is uncomfortable.

Forgiving God, grow in me an awareness of the ways that I consciously and unconsciously contribute to systems of violence, suffering, and injustice.

Healing God, open my eyes to invitations to relieve the physical and spiritual suffering of others.

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.

I Need You to Survive
Sharon Simms of Jacksonville, MO, USA

You who are my disciples must be found continuing in the forefront of those organizations and movements which are recognizing the worth of persons and are committed to bringing the ministry of my Son to bear on their lives. -Doctrine and Covenants 151:9

The basil plant sitting on a small wooden table on my front porch was limp. It drooped over, leaves starved for water. I imagined it dying of thirst. The plant needed attention. That plant symbolized me without God, my power source.

Through God’s love, word, relationships and fellowship with children of God, I am well-watered and refreshed in Spirit. However, when I don’t spend time in the word, when I fail to talk with God, and when I avoid gatherings of like-minded disciples, it is then that my spirit becomes dry, limp, and weary.

God did not design us to live in this world alone. We need God and we need each other. Stay plugged in to your living water and the gift of loving fellowship God provides on Earth.

God, as the deer pants for the water, so our souls long for you. Without you, we are nothing. Thank you for loving friends and family. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Prayer Phrase

Let your heart be broken for a world in need. -Bryan Jeffrey Leech, \xc2\xa9 1976 Fred Bock Music Company, Community of Christ Sings 353

Spiritual Practice

Lament

Lament is an expression of our grief, sorrow, and sometimes confession to God amid the brokenness, injustice, and suffering of the human family. Lament is a major theme of the psalms and an invitation to “let our hearts be broken” as we humbly pray for awareness of right and restorative action. Spend time each day this month practicing the prayer of Lament.

Loving God, break my heart open to my own and others’ suffering because of injustice. Help me stay with what is real even when it is uncomfortable.

Forgiving God, grow in me an awareness of the ways that I consciously and unconsciously contribute to systems of violence, suffering, and injustice.

Healing God, open my eyes to invitations to relieve the physical and spiritual suffering of others.

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.

An Unexpected Message
Karen Smith of Ludington, MI, USA

He gives power to the faint,
  and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary,
  and the young will fall exhausted;
but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
  they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
  they shall walk and not faint. -Isaiah 40:29-31

I had retreated to Bryant Woods to spend quiet time reconnecting with nature and God. Sitting alone on a park bench, I prayed for peace while contemplating my many responsibilities. Sometimes it can all be so overwhelming, and I wondered if I’m doing any good at all.

I prayed about it, left it in God’s hands, and started back down the path to my car, when I glimpsed something red hidden behind a tree branch. The message shared on a small painted rock was the perfect reply to my prayer: “This is a tiny reminder that you can do anything.”

Misty-eyed, I reentered the world ready for a new day. God provides for all who look to God for guidance and strength, including you.

Shalom.

Prayer Phrase

Let your heart be broken for a world in need. -Bryan Jeffrey Leech, \xc2\xa9 1976 Fred Bock Music Company, Community of Christ Sings 353

Spiritual Practice

Lament

Lament is an expression of our grief, sorrow, and sometimes confession to God amid the brokenness, injustice, and suffering of the human family. Lament is a major theme of the psalms and an invitation to “let our hearts be broken” as we humbly pray for awareness of right and restorative action. Spend time each day this month practicing the prayer of Lament.

Loving God, break my heart open to my own and others’ suffering because of injustice. Help me stay with what is real even when it is uncomfortable.

Forgiving God, grow in me an awareness of the ways that I consciously and unconsciously contribute to systems of violence, suffering, and injustice.

Healing God, open my eyes to invitations to relieve the physical and spiritual suffering of others.

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.