Bread of Life

Get ready for a mini talk! One of my goals this year is to get closer to Christ. Things are starting to open up for me and are becoming “plain and simple”. I want to share one of the insights I received recently. 

I love the duality of the scriptures and how you can learn multiple things from one scripture; even two different people can learn completely different things from the same scripture! I have been studying the different names of Christ. One name that stood out to me is “bread”:

John 6:35, 51

“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. … I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

The bread Christ is talking about is the atonement! We eat bread during the sacrament to remember the body of Jesus Christ.

Alma 5:34

“Yea, he saith: ‘Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely;”

Two additional names of Christ are Vine and Living Water. Vine and Water can also be tied to the sacrament through our drinking of the sacramental waters in remembrance of Christ’s blood. 

In 2 Nephi 32:3, he tells us to “feast upon the words of Christ”! All this imagery is about food and drink, and Christ wants us to feast upon them! Christ wants us to enjoy and savor and appreciate and enjoy the atonement. He wants us to use it, not just passively eat and drink a morsel each Sunday.

In the Old Testament, there is a story about God feeding the children of Israel manna and quail. The bread fell from the sky! This was in similitude of Christ’s atonement! Christ was physically feeding them, but would eventually spiritually feed them as well through the atonement! 

Revelation 2:17

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.”

Through the restoration of the gospel, we have the opportunity to go through the temple. Not only do we enjoy the blessings of baptism and the sacrament, we get to receive the blessings through the temple ordinances as well! 

Christ is the living bread! The scriptures are plain and simple and they are beautiful! 

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

When I read the sacramental prayer again, I saw how beautiful the prayer really is! We have all heard the different names of Christ, but have you stopped to think about the meaning of those names? --Advocate, Gatekeeper, Holy One, Bread, Lion, Rock, Shepherd, Morning Star, Captain of Salvation, Commander, Door, Son. 

“O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of they Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of the Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.”

book review: A Noble Masquerade

PG

I LOVED this book! I sat down yesterday before church and finished it last night. Good characters. Good story. Good writing. I seriously want to read it again. Right now!

Lady Miranda Hawthorne feels like a spinster at the ripe ole' age of 21. She is trying to be herself while being a lady and finding a husband who loves her for her and not for her family's fame and fortune. 

There is comedy, drama, action, and love. It reminded me a bit of "Pride and Prejudice". 

**I received a copy of this book from the publisher. This review is my own and I was not compensated for my opinion.

book review: Taken

PG

I finished this book a long long LONG time ago. I just couldn't make myself write a review because this book wasted my time and it made me uber mad. The first sentence on the book jacket specifically says that Shannon was abducted by the Jacoby crime family, but for the fist 200+ pages (Yes, 200+ pages!!), Shannon will not talk about who abducted her! Seriously? I know who abducted you because of the jacket. Get on with the story!

After the big reveal that the Jacoby family abducted her, the story finally moved forward and it was an interesting read. 

*I received a free copy of this book to review. I was not compensated.

book review: From the Start

PG

I loved this book! The characters and story were so well written that I couldn't put the book down; my house and kids suffered for the two days it took me to read this. 

Kate and Colton seem like every-day people that I'd meet on the street, except they are both semi-celebrities. I love that they both overcame their back stories in a very human way that was more realistic than fantasy. I also loved that they showed real human emotions that actually helped other people. Both Kate and Colton showed real love toward a lot of people, including strangers. This is a story that more people need to emulate in every-day life. 

**I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House publishers. This review is my own opinion. I was not compensated in any way.

BofM365: Omni 1:1-11

Day 90

Q: Why is it important to keep records of your family? Why should we keep a journal?

It's easier for me to connect with people that I know something about. Keeping a record allows future generations to connect with us on a personal level. I think it's important even now to share stories and memories with my kids about their aunts and uncles and grandparents so they get to know these family members that they don't get to see very often who love them. Writing down truths and experiences now even helps me remember.

BofM365: Jacob 6:1-13

Day 85

Q: How is repentance a continuous process? Why doesn't it end once you take the sacrament?

Because we're human.

BofM365: Jacob 5:61-77

Day 84

Q: The Lord also labored in the vineyard. What does this mean to you?

All of Jacob chapter 5 is about the allegory of the vineyard. This last chunk of scriptures is about the fourth and final visit of the Lord of the vineyard. There is a sense of urgency from the Lord of the vineyard, he almost sounds anxious. I love that he works right along side of his servants and is there 100%, not just supervising from afar off.

There are two other things that stood out to me in this last visit from the Lord. In verse 65 the Lord is giving instructions to graft in branches to his entire vineyard for the last time, but he warns his servants to not destroy all the bad branches:

And ye shall not clear away the bad thereof all at once, lest the roots thereof should be too strong for the graft, and the graft thereof shall perish, and I lose the trees of my vineyard.

I talked about something similar to this in one of my past posts; about how the wicked are permitted to be among the righteous. We are all here on Earth to gain experience and prove, once and for all, whose side we are on. The righteous and the wicked are all here, mixed together, to learn and grow and we are all gaining experience from each other.

The other thing that stood out to me in this chunk of scripture was the Lord of the vineyard declaring that the vineyard was going to be good, "like as it was in the beginning." What a promise! "In the beginning," to me, means the garden of Eden, or even our premortal lives! The peace, love, and promises for us there is a worthy goal to obtain indeed.