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LDS guided scripture meditations to help you find peace through Jesus Christ, so you can have the Spirit to strengthen you throughout your day. I'm Vauna, and I come from the perspective of my faith as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These mindful devotionals follow Christ’s simple and beautiful promise in the Book of Mormon where he said, “If ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you.” Let’s contemplate some of the sweetest scripture verses together and remember that God is always inviting us to abide in His love.
Welcome to the O Remember podcast, where we take time for deeper reflection on scripture. This is episode 3, Daily Bread, a guided scripture reflection on John 6:35. My name is Vauna and I am pleased to share this time with you as we seek more peace in our lives by centering on the true source of inner peace, Jesus Christ. I come from the perspective of my faith as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Here we can follow Christ’s simple and beautiful promise in the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi 18:7 & 11, where he said, If ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you. Remembering not easy to do in these distracting and distressing times. So today let’s come together and remember … to gather the spiritual manna that God offers us every day.
Today’s scripture is a classic and dearly loved verse in the New Testament. It’s an analogy that is simple but powerful because we all understand hunger and thirst. We know what hunger feels like in our body and we know what spiritual hunger feels like in our soul. The emptiness, the weakness, and intense need. We also know the feeling of contentment and wholeness that comes when we are filled with good healthy food and when we are filled with the nourishing, healing Spirit of God.
Let’s begin letting go of any stress or distraction that could diminish our connection with God. We’ll get more out of this time if we start by calming our mind and body so we can be open to the quiet impressions of the Spirit. You can close your eyes if you like or if you’re able to where you are. Start to notice your breath and let it become slower and deeper and easier. What would a really full, easy breath feel like? See if you can breathe into that ease. You can take 3 or 4 nice deep breaths like that and then as you return to normal breathing let it be easy. Now notice where there is any tightness or tension in your body. If you can imagine taking a cold and brittle bar of chocolate and then set it down on a sunny warm marble kitchen counter, how it would soften, imagine your entire body relaxing and softening like that bar of chocolate. Maybe it starts with your head, your neck, your shoulders - let them drop down and be soft and relaxed. While you’re breathing, notice if there is anywhere else in your body that could relax even more. Maybe your hands, your back, your hips, your legs, your feet. All as soft and relaxed as a warm bar of chocolate.
Now bring your attention to the area of your heart. Move out of your busy mind and into your quiet heart. You might take a moment now to send a prayer asking to sense the presence of God with you now, and as you go about the rest of your day. Dedicate this time to receiving that presence and spirit.
Now we’re ready to consider our scripture for today. We’ll read the scripture four times so you can go a little deeper into it each time. As we read this for the first time listen for a word or phrase that stands out to you. Reflect on that idea for a few moments.
John 6:35 “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
As we read it a second time, focus on that word or phrase that speaks to you and allow that idea to grow.
John 6:35 “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
You know we don’t like to be hungry. But A slight sensation of hunger is a good thing, it’s our body’s way to let us know it’s running out of fuel and we need to eat to restore our energy. When you think about it it’s a beautifully well-engineered system that God designed to create this feeling we really don’t like so we’ll be motivated to go eat so we can feel better.
In a similar way, when our spirit is not being regularly fed and refueled, we often begin to feel uneasy and uncomfortable. It’s important to recognize that discomfort as spiritual hunger, a signal to seek spiritual nourishment. If we ignore it our soul will begin to weaken and starve. But in this scripture, we hear assurance that we never have to get to the point of desperate spiritual hunger if we accept the bread of life that is offered to us. We can be continually refueled with light and truth through Christ.
Let’s read it a third time, and this time, ask what God is saying to you in these words. What does he want you to understand? Trust even very quiet and subtle impressions that come to you.
“ And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
What thoughts are coming to you as you contemplate this verse? I wonder if you can imagine for a moment, what it would feel like to be constantly reenergized with peace and faith and light? What if every time you started to feel drained and spiritually empty, you turned to Christ and were restored, over and over? Even during challenging times, to still feel sustained and nurtured so you had the strength to handle it. What would it feel like to have absolute confidence that every time you turned to Christ, you would be filled and you knew your soul would never ever experience spiritual starvation? What would be different in your life?
Now let’s read it a fourth and final time. What action is God inviting you to take? What do you want to create in your life? Is there something you feel impressed to start, stop, or continue?
“ And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
Before we go on let’s appreciate the peace and reassurance we have experienced. Thank you Heavenly Father for offering us the true bread of life to sustain us through our journey on earth. That bread is joyful and delicious and healing. Help me remember to seek and receive that gift every day by coming to Christ and choosing to believe on Christ. Help me notice when I am spiritually empty and to remember to recenter on Christ and be filled with light and faith. We send our deepest love and gratitude for this promise.
Here are some of my thoughts as I’ve pondered this scripture. One of things I find most curious about our mortal bodies is how dependent we are on frequent nourishment. We have to eat several times a day or we get distractingly and painfully hungry and weak. But we can’t tank up, we can’t eat so much today that we won’t get hungry 2 days from now. Why did God create humans to be so vulnerable? Snakes and frogs and tortoises can go a year without food. And There is so much suffering in the world caused by lack of adequate food. And even when we have enough it still takes so much time and energy – we have to earn the money for it, shop for it, or maybe you even grow it, store it, prepare it, then clean up after eating, start over. Several times every day, over and over and over. This is divine design and I believe very intentional.
Remember the great exodus of Israelite tribes from Egypt and their 40 years in the wilderness? Of course they were soon hungry; there could have been over a million people out there and they couldn’t possibly hunt enough for such a multitude, and they couldn’t stop long enough to grow food. Can you really blame the Israelites for murmuring because they were hungry? I would have been whining. I can only imagine what it would be like to be in a crowd of thousands of hangry people. Desperation would set in quick.
Enter the miracle of daily manna. Of all the mysterious qualities of manna, the one I find most fascinating is that they could only gather enough for one day. It would only last one day before it became too disgusting to eat, except as you know that they could gather twice as much on the sixth day and it would stay fresh for the Sabbath.
Of course the connection between how necessary it is to feed our physical body regularly, and how necessary it is to feed our spirit regularly is clear. Each day brings unique needs for spiritual sustenance. Maybe today you need reassurance that God is bringing all things together for your good. Maybe you need guidance on how to help someone you love. Maybe you need superhuman patience to deal with a circumstance you’re facing.
The exodus story reminds us that God is offering fresh and sweet spiritual nourishment every day. There are 3 things that stand out to me about manna.
One is that we need spiritual manna every day. Why go spiritually hungry when we don’t need to? Our heavenly parents don’t want us feel empty and weak, they long for us to accept the bounty they offer every single day. But we’re kind of like toddlers just learning to feed ourselves. Very messy and inefficient. And then we cry and say we’re hungry 20 minutes after the meal. But it’s not because we don’t have enough food available. Our parents keep putting a delicious wholesome spiritual feast in front of us and watch over us lovingly as we keep learning to taste it, enjoy it, and grow from it.
Second thing about manna, is that the Israelites never gathered manna at noon, it was early in the day because it would melt in the sun. So I remember that it’s helpful to gather it early in the day so I have a supply ready when my spiritual strength starts to dissipate. For me that means having devotional time which might be some combination of prayer, reading scriptures, meditating, writing, listening to soul-lifting music or even a gospel-based podcast, practicing yoga, or going for a quiet walk. Early in the day we will often be more receptive because later the stress and distractions of the day start to wear on our spirit and we’re less aware.
Third, is that we only need enough for the day ahead. We can trust that there will always be enough available tomorrow. I wonder how long it took the Israelites to relax and trust that manna would appear every morning and they would be fed every single day. That they would never have to go hungry.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson said that “By providing a daily sustenance, one day at a time, Jehovah was trying to teach faith to a nation that over a period of some 400 years had lost much of the faith of their fathers. He was teaching them to trust Him, to “look unto [Him] in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (D&C 6:36).” Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles CES Fireside for Young Adults • January 9, 2011 • Brigham Young University
Once they learned to trust that, think how liberating that would be. They were relieved of the extra work of harvesting and storing enough to last for weeks or months. They didn’t have to fill big baskets or pots and haul them along on their journey. They were free from menu planning and grocery shopping. It was free to all, everyone had equal access and all got what they needed, no one had to go hungry because they were poor. And no matter the season, they still found manna on the ground. No more worries about having enough in the days to come.
It’s so fascinating that he altered the properties of manna to allow the Israelites to honor the Sabbath day. When they gathered extra on the day before the Sabbath it would last for 2 days, when usually it would rot and breed worms. So We can trust that when God knows we’re going to need extra spiritual strength in a coming day he is going to provide extra spiritual calories today to sustain us through it.
I’m realizing that worrying about anything in the future is essentially doubting that God will be there and that He will surely provide all the strength I need to get through it. But we do not need to fear a spiritual famine. Just like God created manna for 40 years, he will keep showing up in our life offering just the right amount of spiritual sustenance for each day. Not too little, and not too much. Just right.
Again, I encourage you to write down the thoughts that have come to you during this time. What will you do to more fully receive the bread of life? How will you seek your daily manna and be filled?
Remember, remember that when we come to Christ, we will be filled, sustained, and strengthened.
I look forward to coming together next time when we will contemplate how we can doubt not and fear not by centering on Christ.
Until then, O remember Christ, that you may have his Spirit to be with you.