Category Archives: Daily Bread Devotional

The Economics of Jesus
Chuck Williams of Mesa, AZ, USA

Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. -Psalm 119:5-6 (The Message)

Phillip Gulley in his book If God Is Love poses some rather challenging propositions. One of them is the economics of Jesus. As a church, we have been charged with recognizing the worth of all people, globally. As I consider that position, my vision reverts to the father and daughter lying dead in the water at our border. His t-shirt is stretched around his lifeless body and that of his young daughter. This was the father’s way of making sure they would not be separated-even in death. They were the victims of an economy which could not begin to reflect Jesus but one of greed, selfishness, and lust for power.

I recall the rich young ruler who went away from Jesus sorrowing when he was told to sell all he had, and “come and follow me.” There are some who say that Jesus talked only about inner feelings: attitude, character, motives, personality, not to be taken literally. This story doesn’t talk about these psychological characteristics but about taking action. And it was the wealthy young ruler’s inability to act that caused him to go away sorrowing.

The church today needs to concern itself with the inability to act. We need to become familiar with those agencies which can assist a homeless person or one who is battling a drug problem, a family whose heat is being shut off. If we find we are not positioned to provide immediate help, we need to form alliances with those agencies who can take action. This may mean we need to develop a line item in our budgets to assist those organizations.

“Give to everyone who begs from you and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42). May we have the courage to act.

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.

Love, Embody, Incarnate
Pamela Carr of DeKalb, TX, USA

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. -1 Corinthians 1:10

A few years ago I began to notice the word “live” in many church leaders’ writings as well as formal documents published by the church. I have believed Jesus to be God incarnate and the Holy Spirit works within us and among us, but the words “live, embody, and incarnate” began to stand out to me. When Jesus called the disciples to follow, he was asking them to “live” a different way.

My husband and I have led good lives bound by honest service and religious devotion. But as I began to associate “live, embody, and incarnate” with my understanding of following Jesus, I questioned whether I was deeply living the mission of Jesus Christ in my daily life decisions. Was I embodying the love of God in my relationships, ecological choices, or care of my own physical body and mind?

I realized I am a rational person, educated by my experiences and culture, and I know what I believe. I understand the concepts from my personal world view, but to incorporate those concepts into my actions has only been partially explored. To live the mission of Christ requires consciousness of each of my thoughts, actions, and relationships in the light of the love of God. That God loves each of God’s creations and resides in them through the Holy Spirit gives me a task of listening, watching, and searching until I see God in each one I meet.

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.

Light Shines on Those in Darkness
Karin Peter, president of seventy

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness-on them light has shined.  -Isaiah 9:2

The American poet Robert Frost once wrote that one kind of perfect happiness is “to have been in pain and have it cease.” This may be physical pain, emotional turmoil, or spiritual emptiness. Whatever the cause, the joy of being released from pain is like emerging from the darkest crevice to bathe in glorious light.

To spend time in the very real areas of pain and suffering-loneliness, illness, crisis, depression, abuse, addiction, bullying and so much more-casts deep shadows on lives of individuals and families.

My family, like many others, has experienced times of debilitating darkness. The rending of a trusted relationship, the ache of divorce, the diagnosis of chronic illness, and the despair of a loved one’s return to rehab have all cast deep shadows of pain and uncertainty.

But even in these dark times, there is a hope, however dim, that somehow and in some way, light will prevail. The heartache of exile and loss will cease, and in its place will come the prevailing light of God’s mercy and grace.

As we navigate difficult times as individuals, families, and as a faith community, may we do so holding fast to the message and ministry of Jesus, the message of healing, restoration, and hope. In loving community let us heed the joyful proclamation, “Those who lived in a land of deep darkness-on them light has shined.” May it be so.

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 Stand at Your Table…
Larry Haines of Chandler, AZ, USA

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us-and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? -1 John 3:16-17

“I stand at your table asking to be fed, holding up my rice bowl, begging for your bread” (Shirley Erena Murray, \xc2\xa9 1992 Hope Publishing Company, Community of Christ Sings 298).

In 2015 the Chandler Congregation hosted a breakfast and a worship service in a local park for some homeless persons. After the service I noticed a man doing a lot of writing. I sat with him and asked what he was writing. He told me his name was David and he was writing about his experiences with I-HELP. I asked him what that was. He told me it was Interfaith Homeless Emergency Lodging Program. He gave me details and a business card for the director of the program. I told him I would call for more details.

Before I called the director, however, he called me. As a result, the congregation has housed and fed three meals to an average of 20 guests once a month.

The rewards go both ways. One of our guests now has a job at the Gilbert Senior Center where Jane and I pick up meals to deliver to shut-ins. Mike comes out every time and thanks us and the congregation for our help in his time of need. I’m thankful for that initial contact which led to a commitment to engage in Christ’s mission.

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.

A Road That Leads Uphill Makes You Stronger
Doug Middleton of Senlac, Saskatchewan, Canada

I will lift up my eyes to the hills-from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. -Psalm 121:1-3

I was born into a loving and dedicated Community of Christ family. At a young age I decided to make my own path. After wandering into a lot of desolate places, my path brought me back to the church family of my birth. I was welcomed home and felt at home.

Over the years I developed confidence and used the gifts that God blessed me with to serve God and work for our church family; but I became overly confident and thought I could handle anything. This led to burnout as there were some problems that I just couldn’t fix. I lost my confidence, which led to a spiral of depression! I questioned, “Why did this happen to me?”

For a number of years I prayed to be back to my normal self. I came to the point of praying, “Lord, heal me or take me, because I cannot live like this.” I was sure my family would be better off without me.

About this time, a friend gave me a possible reason for the depression saying, “You can’t help somebody on a road you have never traveled.”

My prayer became “Lord, heal me into the man that you want me to be!” It continues to be a daily journey, but I am stronger than I was 10 years ago, and I have been able to help my family through some very devastating things-things that I wouldn’t ever have been able to help with before the depression!

My question is still “Why?” but also “Where are you leading me, God?”

I know I am in good hands when I trust God to lead me where God wants me. I realize that I don’t want to be the man I was, but I want to be the person that God wants me to become for this time in life. I try to live every day, asking “God, where will your spirit lead me today?”

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.

When We Dance Together
John Bonney of Springfield, OR, USA

And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. -Matthew 5:47-48

I try to acknowledge people as they pass me, looking for a seat on the bus or sitting next to me. I not only try to see the Spirit in them, but to affirm them. Affirmation gives others the sense that someone else notices that they “are.” They have value and worth.

As people come in contact with me, I may merely nod to them, perhaps smile, and on some occasions we talk. Most folks are a passing story. I just present to them a look in my eyes that says “you count for something.”

I often rode the bus with a young woman named Calista. She was 21 years old at the time, afflicted with cerebral palsy, and I had difficulty understanding her. Still we enjoyed a connection during the months we rode together. I learned a little more of her story. While I knew her, she married and seemed happy. I hope she knows that matters to me.

I often wondered if physical, emotional, or intellectual challenges mask the inner person. Patrick has Down syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, and is ten years younger than I. I saw him regularly on the bus for about three years. I understood about 10 percent of what Pat said, but his character came through loud and clear. Despite our limitations, all people reflect the God who made them.

As we dance into the rest of our existence, limitations fall away. We will be known. We are worthy of the wonder of our creation. I imagine that it pleases God when we all dance together.

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.

This Expansive Light of Mine
Catharine Craig Doty of Lamoni, IA, USA

There are many who say, “O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!” …I will…sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety. -Psalm 4:6, 8

As a child, I enjoyed singing “This Little Light of Mine.” I remember being in the front of our church with the other children, singing my heart out. You remember that song, don’t you? “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…”

My infant son and I spend our mornings singing. We listen to music in ways not available when I was young. Now we turn on the Xbox and connect to Raffi Radio, a streaming online radio station. Lately, our playlist includes a jazzy version of that same tune I loved to belt out when I was seven. As an adult, the lyrics have a different meaning for me, and I have found a deeper inspiration when I sing to my baby. My expanded light:

This little light of mine
My mission is to let it shine
This little light of mine
A new voice I will find
This little light of mine
God grant me courage to shine
I am light, I am brave, See me shine.

Won’t let apathy blow it out
Gonna work to make it shine
Not gonna let doubt shut it out
I trust in the Divine
Won’t let sadness snuff it out
Remember to let God shine
I am light, I am brave, See me shine.

As adults we move beyond the innocence of our childhood. Songs and ideas evolve with us. Considering all the hurt, indifference, poverty, and darkness that shadow our world, this children’s hymn seems all the more important to sing, teach, reflect on, and expand with.

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.

Light Shines in the Darkness
Zac Harmon-McLaughlin, director of Community of Christ Seminary

All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. -John 1:3-5

I don’t know about you, but in our world it is easy to become cynical. God’s beloved creation seems to be plagued with poverty, hunger, violence, oppression…and the list goes on. These problems seem so large that they overwhelm us and we often cease our challenge to the status quo simply because we don’t know where to begin.

However, John 1 gives us an insight to our own capacity to create meaningful and sustainable change in the world. “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:3-5). Our being is the light of God! You, me, the other-all created with life and light! John continues, “And the word became flesh and lived among us…” (John 1:14). God not only gives us life, but God lives among us, within us, through the risen Jesus Christ. The joy of salvation, resurrection, and grace all in one place-you and me!

When I step back to recognize that I am a holder of the light of God, I am reminded of words in Matthew that call me to be a light in the world. I recognize that while these problems are vast and complex, I play a role in changing the world simply by being the person God has called me to be-God’s own beloved.

My prayer is that we don’t become cynical, but that we embrace our own light. We often think the only way to change the world is to do some grand publicized act. Jesus’ marker of success was much smaller-love God, love your neighbor. That’s how you challenge cultures of oppression and violence; that’s how you abolish poverty and end suffering. Perhaps St. Ignatius was on to something when he invited his congregants to join their lights together as a community of Christ. He ended many of his letters to them in the same way I now end this: “Go, set the world on fire!”

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.

Feast in God’s Love
Norma Rockhold of Jefferson City, MO, USA

They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. -Jeremiah 31:12-13

This morning I sit on my porch and soak in the beauty of God’s creation. My little hummingbird sits stubbornly on the tomato cage and refuses to go to the feeder.

We have been gone for five days and the feeder went dry. Who knows how many times he tried to feed and it was empty. Now it is clean and full, but he won’t even try it! So sad.

It is there for him. The food is abundant. It is FREE. All he needs to do is partake. It would give me great joy if he would come, but he sits stubbornly and gives up a chance to feast.

Then the Lord spoke to my inner being. “Every day you have the chance to feast with me-in quiet times, in study, in meditation. Every day it is there for you. It is free. It is abundant. And it would give me great joy if you would. But sometimes you just sit, and don’t take advantage of what is prepared for you.”

Am I like the little hummingbird? Do I give up a chance to feast in God’s love?

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.

In the Wilderness
Margaret Polly of Salem, OR, USA

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me…Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ -Matthew 25:34-36, 40

I was taught that if I prayed hard enough, paid my dues, and was kind and generous, my prayers would be answered in a kind of transactional arrangement. However, after a lifetime of wrestling with God over important matters and sensing that my prayers were falling on deaf ears, I have given up the traditional prayers of petition and intercession. My old God has been surrendered to the creative Divine Wild Mystery God who cannot be known, tamed, or manipulated by my actions. My prayers have simply become ones of gratitude and thanksgiving.

I thought I was at peace with this. Then this past summer, I lost my sister. She didn’t die, although it feels like it. Her schizophrenic brain, her paranoia, and her delusions took her away from us. She abandoned her daughter, her apartment, and life as she knew it to live on the streets where she feels safer.

Loving someone with mental illness can be a barren place with dry ravines where cries for help are never answered because there are no answers. Help us, help us, help us. The ill person is not alone in their wilderness. They sweep up those who love them, carrying them along down their own despairing rocky road.

How I yearn for my old God! How I want to pray enough or give enough tithing that God will intervene. I want to guarantee that God will provide an oasis for her in the midst of her troubled life.

I have moments of despair in the unknowingness of this strange, unwelcome terrain. Although I feel alone, I know that many others share this experience of loving and grieving. But I surrender in this desert space. I am dwelling together with the Divine mystery, looking and longing for peace. They say the wilderness can be a place of healing. Is it? I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.

Each morning, before the sun comes up, I slip into my sacred space where I meet God. I hold my sister in the light. I send love to her. I try to be thankful, and I prepare for a day of gratitude.

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.