A Divine Spark

Join hosts Cydni and Sher as they dive into the concept of the divine spark within each of us. From humorous meditation attempts to deep theological discussions, this episode explores our inherent spiritual freedom and identity as children of God. With insights from Christian and Jewish teachings, as well as historical perspectives, they discuss the importance of understanding our divine nature and its impact on our lives. Along the way, they share personal anecdotes, timely quotes, and a bit of playful banter.  This episode is "A Divine Spark" and we are so glad you're here!

This Week's Challenge
This week, we challenge you to learn more about God's character, because the more you understand Him, the more you'll understand your divine spark and your true identity as His child. As you come to know Him, you'll be inspired to see and love others through His eyes.

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Show Notes

Drip-Drip Drop, Words and  Music by  Matt Hoiland
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Transcript

Episode 114 - A Divine Spark

Cydni: [00:00:00] Breathe in. Breathe out. You are a divine soul. Relax. You were created from a divine spark. Close your eyes. Not if you're driving. Close your eyes later when you're not driving. Breathe in, breathe out. You are not a body. You have a body and ain't nobody going to love your body. Like Cydni and Sher podcast,

Sher: what the crap was that 

Cydni: I got the inspiration from YouTube. When you look up Divine Spark, that's what comes up. I'm not even lying. So you better have some good chimes behind that. I practiced in the car while I've got us Diet Cokes.

Sher: I have no words for you right now.

Cydni: I took this very seriously. You're an eagle. I 100% do not have a meditation voice at [00:01:00] all. I know that. That's why I asked. Free you to put music behind it to boost it

Sher: cydni. Every ounce of that was painful. All of it. Last week Cydni, we talked about spiritual freedom as the foundation of lasting joy, and today we're gonna go deeper into what makes that freedom possible. Are you ready for what it is? What could it be? God. God does this Cydni. That's the answer. 

Cydni: I feel like so often in our life that God is the answer

Sher: you know, that would solve a lot of problems if more people believe that,

Cydni: but then let's be real. Sometimes we who do seek God or try. Sometimes God gives us an answer and we are like, Hey, no thank you. I would like a different answer please.

Sher: Are you referring to us?

Cydni: I'm referring to myself. I'm looking at the man in the mirror right now. I'm saying you need to change your ways 

Sher: so God is the one who makes this, spiritual freedom possible, and he's given us a little seed to help us get that spiritual freedom. He's [00:02:00] placed a divine spark in us, or the light of Christ and the ability to know Him personally and grow confidence in our connection with Him, and this is what produces spiritual freedom. This idea of talking about a divine spark today was actually Cydni's idea. And I kind of like, okay, Cydni. That sounds fine. 

Cydni: I do wanna clarify. It wasn't really my idea. It was coming at me from every angle. Because we do that thing where we pray for guidance and sometimes I get like punched in the face and so do you. It happens for you as well. Spiritual punch to the face that a topic just comes up and up and up. And this one I heard it, it just popped out for a week at me. So here we are. It was meant for you, maybe for you to know that Sher, you have a divine spark. You are a divine spark. 

Sher: Well, actually I think it really was for me because I learned so much. I thought it was a fine topic and I was happy to learn about it, but I really learned a lot. [00:03:00] So I'm really glad that you brought this up and gave me an opportunity to study it.

Alright, what I wanna do is first go over different definitions of what a divine spark means. 

Cydni: I mean, I did look up urban dictionary, so I'll start with that. Of course she did, it just said someone who is divine is a cool girl like spectacular and close to God. Also, the word rude. Was used. Rude. Yeah. I thought that's rude to say that with divine, but then I thought, Hmm, okay, so if divine's close to godliness, I bet during the flooding of the earth that there were some people who were like, that was rude as they drowned and died. I thought maybe there is a little bit of truth to the rude or justice, 

Sher: I have a feeling the rude is what happened before the drowning. They were being rude to God. 

Cydni: Mm. 

Sher: Then they drown. 

Cydni: I'm just saying this could be a, argument for another time. I just feel some people probably thought it was rude. 

Sher: Oh, I'm sure they did. But again, I'm gonna go back to the part where God thought it was rude. 

Cydni: Okay. So we're just gonna have to agree we're both right.

Sher: [00:04:00] All right, so I wanna start with the first definition of Divine Spark, not in Urban Dictionary. So I guess it's the second definition it's found in Genesis chapter one, verses 26 through 27. it says, and God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the foul of the air and over the cattle, and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. I just love that they said creepeth too. I think that's a good word. That's solid. 

Cydni: I just like so much because what if I started using this against my children? Like you should listen to me. And when they're like, why? I could say, because I have dominion over the fish of the sea, and I could just recite the whole thing and then they'd be like, okay, I'll clean my room now. You're so divine. 

Sher: I can already see a lot of flaws with that thinking, but it's okay. I'm just sharing what comes out of my head. I don't wanna be rude, so I'll just just move on. So [00:05:00] God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he, him, male and female, created. He them. Many Christian religions call this Imago De in Latin. That literally means the image of God. . What Imago de means is being made in God's image means that humans are endowed with the ability to reason, make moral choices and engage in meaningful relationships. It conveys that humans are not mere reflections of God's physical form. But are representations of his spiritual and moral attributes, setting them apart from the rest of creation, giving each of us a unique value and purpose. that is one definition of a divine spark. Literally Imago day, we are the image of God, not just in physical form, we have part of his spirit and moral attributes in us. 

Cydni: Okay. Sher, I'm gonna stop you before you do the next [00:06:00] definition because, it reminds me of a quote that is a little bit long, but i've always loved this concept to help us understand our connection to God, not just that we are His creation, but let me read it to you.

There is a sentiment among many in this world that we are the spirit creation of God. Just as a building is the creation of its architect or a painting is the creation of its painter or an invention is the creation of its inventor. The scriptures teach, however, a much different doctrine. They teach that we are more than creations of God.

They teach that we are the literal spirit, offspring, or children of our father. What difference does this doctrinal distinction make? The distinction is monumental in its consequence because our identity determines in large measure our destiny. For example, can a mere creation ever become like a creator?

Can a building ever become an [00:07:00] architect, a painting, a painter, or an invention, an inventor? If not then those who believe we are creations of God rather than his spiritual offspring, reach the inevitable conclusion that we do not have the capacity to become like our creator. God.

In essence, their doctrine of identity has defined and dictated a diminished destiny. We believe that we are spirit offspring of God with inherited spiritual traits that give us the divine potential to become like our parent. God, the Father, as to this identity, president Packer, has written you are a child of God. He is the father of your spirit. Spiritually, you are of noble birth. The offspring of the King of Heaven. Fix that truth in your mind and hold to it. However many generations in your mortal ancestry, no matter what race or people you represent, the pedigree [00:08:00] of your spirit can be written on a single line. You are a child of God. 

And like you had said, for me that illustrates perfectly that we are set apart from the rest of the creation, which gives us each value and purpose. And what I have found in. The last few months of studying different topics, there was one thing that is reoccurring to me. Someone will talk about a problem in the world for teens and youth or just any of us really, they say, fix this? And there's a reoccurring truth I am finding, and that is teach people their identity, teach them who they are.

Sher: I can't even tell you how much I agree with that because teaching the kids that I am right now they are so lost Cydni. They don't know who they are. They don't understand What their identity is, and then that's why they end up being kicked out of school and I end up teaching them is because they are making poor choices.

They have been given agency and a [00:09:00] spiritual freedom like the rest of us. But what they're doing with that is. Making poor choices and then piling on top of that because they don't know who they are. Now I'm not picking on them because we've all been there and we've all made these poor choices before because we forget who we are. And it's easy to do that because you and I were just barely talking about how as soon as we start to feel confident about something. Something else comes along and kicks us right in our butt. 

Cydni: Right. It just makes us doubt everything. We'll have a spiritual experience followed immediately by doubt and fear.

Sher: Exactly. And you can tell in our own lives on a weekly slash daily basis, you can see the power of our Heavenly Father doing everything He can to give us that confidence to make wise choices to go back home. And on the other hand, Satan. ripping us apart, tearing us down, wanting us to be as miserable as he is so we can't return home to our Father again.

Okay. Another definition I found [00:10:00] was from Jewish teachings, and they have the word neha ma, and this is the purest part of the soul. I love that sentence. The purest part of the soul. Why do you love it so much?

Cydni: I think it gives me hope because I feel like all the things we go through and experience, it kind of makes you feel held down a little bit or defeated or like you've made mistakes, you've made wrong choices, and there's this hope that those things are true and maybe you feel a little broken, a little dirty, a little used and abused, but. Deep in our core, there is the divine spark. There's the purest part of the soul that cannot be touched by anything wrong in this world. 

Sher: I love that. And, this is the part that is the most directly connected to God. So like you said, it's the part that God gave us. It is the purest part. It's deep down sometimes and we just gotta find it. But it? It's there. It is the divine spark, and that [00:11:00] spark is what drives us to seek freedom, connection, and joy. On a side note, when I was looking up the definition of Nesha Ma, I found a little Instagram video where an adult daughter was saying this to her dad, who did not look very well, and she said to him, I love you, daddy. And he responded back, I love you, Nesha Ma. , and then she explained that this is like saying, you are so important to me that you are forever part of my soul, and this is what God is saying to us. He's Saying that you are literally part of my soul. We are part of him.

He's not just the architect and we're the building. We are his child. We can become like Him, the architect. He doesn't want us to be a building. He wants us to be more than that. He wants us to act like His sons and daughters.

Cydni: You brought Satan into this a minute ago, and I'm just thinking if our identity, which it is so important to understand, to help us overcome [00:12:00] weaknesses, and to help us have a purpose. Of course, Satan is going to attack that, and for me, the greatest example in the scriptures is when Satan temps Christ and we know that Satan comes to Christ when he's in a vulnerable position, many scholars studying this have said the real story, the real temptation was denying who He was That Satan wanted to make him prove who he was, as if to say, you have to do these things to prove you really are God's. Son or we can think of Moses who sees God face to face and when he does, God calls him my son. And when Satan comes right after he says, son of man, to tear down his identity, to make him question the power, to take that away.

And we see it in this day and age with identity identities are attacked. and if I was Satan. I think that is where I would attack as well, is someone's identity you're trying to attack that divine spark, that pedigree chart of one line, that we are gods.

But we [00:13:00] have to be like Moses and say, get away Satan. This is from CS Lewis. He said in the Bible that we were Gods and he is going to make good on his words. The process of becoming like God will be long and Im very painful, but that is what we are in for nothing less. He meant what he said. For me, this would possibly illustrate that sometimes those very difficult things we go through are to help us break through the shells that we've gained over years of hardship. And it helps us to break through to, once again release the truth that there is a divine spark within us. It's sometimes those difficult dark moments Are there to help the light shine through us. 

Sher: As we're talking about identity, I know this is shocking, but I went to my history brain and one of the things that you learn as you study history is that you can tell the stages of when nations and civilizations are in decline. One of the steps for that decline is not [00:14:00] knowing your identity as a country or a nation. Now, I know we're talking about individuals and who they are. But everything has this. If you don't know who you are as a nation, as a civilization, as a country, it ruins everything, and that's what Satan tries to attack. It doesn't matter if it's an individual or a nation. Satan wants to ruin your identity and the foundation of who you really are. That's what Satan is going after. You can see it throughout history and you can see it in our own society, that Satan is truly attacking the identity of countries and the identity of individuals.

And then moving on the next definition, I found is by President John Taylor. A woman asked him, these questions? She said, where did I come from? What am I doing here? Wither, am I going? I think we should use the word wither more I feel like it should be like wither. Wither. Am I going? 

Cydni: That's what I feel like. I don't know if I've got that work, but I support you. All right. That's fair. Just 'cause I'm not good at accent. They all sound the same. [00:15:00] 

Sher: Mine too. That's the only one I have. All right. And what is my destiny after having obeyed the truth? If faithful to the end, and this is President Taylor's answer, no, as thou, not thou, art, A spark of deity struck from the fire of his eternal blaze and brought forth in the midst of eternal burning.

He then explains how we were with God in the preexistence and that we were getting ready to go to Earth. And this is what was said to us. But daughter, remember you go on this condition that is you are to forget all things you ever saw, subject to sickness, pain, tears, mourning, sorrow, and death. But when truth shall touch the cords of your heart, they will vibrate then int intelligence shall illuminate your mind and shed its luster in your soul, and you shall begin to understand the things you once knew, but which had gone from you.

You shall then begin to understand and know the [00:16:00] object of your creation. Daughter, go and be faithful. Thou bid father and mother and all farewell, and along with thy guardian angel Thou came on this globe, thou has obeyed the truth and thy guardian angel ministers unto thee and watches over thee.

If faithful the cup is within thy reach drink, then the heavenly drought and live. Now, I didn't know what drought meant, but it means draft, so drink the heavenly draft. I don't know if that sounds delightful, but that's what it means. Drink, then the heavily draft and live. The reason I like this quote so much is it says so plainly that we are Heavenly Father's children, that we are sons and daughters of deity.

We carry in our soul, Imago Deo, Neha Ma, a divine spark, the light of Christ whatever term you wanna use. This is directly connected to our Father in Heaven. That [00:17:00] spark, that divine spark is there. If we choose to grow it and remember our true identity, now, that is spiritual freedom. Understanding this divine spark and who we truly are. If we understand this, then we act differently, and you were kind of referencing this earlier, but the choices we make begin to match that divine royalty. We truly are. We want to make our Father in Heaven pleased with us. We wanna honor our legacy, our inheritance. We wanna show Him that we respect and honor Him, and we wanna live up to what He expects of us. 

So last week we talked about the suppression of spiritual freedom. During the dark ages, the elites of the society wanted to crush the knowledge of our divine spark. They were the ones that wanted to have the divine spark. because they believed they were better than everyone else, but they took that knowledge of who every person is and they hid it. The elites wanted to keep the knowledge for themselves, and they wanted to make sure all [00:18:00] of us stupid little minions didn't have access to it.

They wanted it made clear that as their subjects, that we weren't as good as blessed, as chosen, as loved. But thank goodness there were brave souls that stood up to the kings and queens and were willing to be persecuted and even killed. For the right, for each and every individual to have their own individual connections with God.

They understood that each of us had our divine spark inherited from our Father in Heaven. they wanted us to have that spiritual freedom and that access of who we really are. just think of all the sacrifices from so many people throughout history that made it possible that we have access to the knowledge that Cydni and I are just so freely blabbing right now. We can just. Access it through our computers, through our phones, through ai, which makes it even faster and quicker. We have all of this knowledge of the prophets and the apostles and Christ Himself, who has testified, who we truly are, 

Cydni: and I just was asking [00:19:00] myself why would they want. This information held back. And it's because they don't want them to reach their fullest potential and recognize how wrong the systems were. They didn't want them to rise up and see who they were.

Sher: It's almost like they wanted, like Satan to control us instead of us being in control. It was all about Satan wants to control us elites want to control us. But God wants us to control our own destiny. 

Cydni: But that's not happening around here. Not with the divine spark we're all carrying within us. That's right. And Lorenzo Snow, he said we were born in the image of God, our Father. He begat us like unto Himself. There is the nature of deity in the composition of our spiritual organization. In our spiritual birth, our Father transmitted to us the capacities, powers and faculties, which he possessed as much as the child on its mother's Bosom possesses, although in an undeveloped state, the faculty's [00:20:00] powers and susceptibilities of its parent and he says more, but I just was laughing a little bit when he talks about that just as a child possesses the same as a parent, I was thinking my poor kids you guys are like us. You can maybe have a bit of a temper and procrastinate and never finish a task.

You are blessed with your parents', DNA, and powers and abilities, so. Good luck out there. Good buddy. But luckily for them, their ultimate father is God, so they're gonna be fine. Right? 

Sher: Hopefully, God's pretty powerful. I think you'll see 'em through it, despite the weakness of their parents.

Cydni: I sure hope so. It's not just me, it's generations of people like me, . So I'm sorry, I, what to say. It's outta my control. But I like what you said earlier that though this information was kept away from so many people, I think you and I probably both have dozens of quotes that illustrate over and over and over who we are that we are Gods and He is with us, and we are not alone.

Sher: [00:21:00] And that is what spiritual freedom is. It's understanding that we are a child of God and that we have a connection that God wants us to grow and make stronger. President Nelson said, when I speak of having confidence before God, I am referring to having confidence in approaching God Right now I. I'm referring to praying with confidence that Heavenly Father hears us, that he understands our needs better than we do. I'm referring to having confidence that he loves us more than we can comprehend that he sends angels to be with us and with those we love, I am referring to having confidence that he yearns to help each of us reach our highest potential if we can understand this, we can access spiritual freedom and pure joy. I'm not, I'm being honest, I am not there yet. My confidence is still building. As we've been talking about that as soon as we start to feel confidence, we get whacked in the head, but I [00:22:00] really want to get there. I want to understand how much God truly loves me as his daughter.

And on a side note, I just wanna mention that two prophets in quotes that I've used, two different prophets mentioned guardian angels and angels are ministering to us. So we have angels. Supporting us, ministering to us, and we have the Holy Spirit helping us. That's how much our Heavenly Father wants us home. He wants us to make good choices, use our spiritual freedom wisely, and then confidently go before him to ask for help and make connections with him. He wants that connection in the purest part of our soul. He wants us to make that grow stronger. He wants us to get off of our butts and get ourselves home. That's what he wants. 

Cydni: When you just said all of that and talked about confidence, I thought that in the beginning where we talked about how so many of the world's problems that the [00:23:00] youth face can be overcome with, understanding their identity.

The problem of a lack of confidence also can be overcome with understanding our identity. And President Nelson said, my dear young friends, I love you and I thank you. I believe in you as the Lord's prophet. I bless you to know the truth about who you are and to treasure the truth about what your glorious potential really is.

I bless you to take charge of your own testimony, and I bless you to have the desire and strength to keep your covenants as you do. I promise you will experience spiritual growth, freedom from fear, and a confidence that you can scarcely imagine. Now, You'll have the strength to be a positive influence. Far beyond your natural capacity, and I promise you that your future will be more exhilarating than anything you can presently believe.

 So we are talking about our divine spark today, and it all ties [00:24:00] to our divine identity that we are God's child and we have a direct line to Him. Joseph Smith said,. My first object is to find out the character of the only wise and true God and what kind of being He is. He taught that understanding God's character is essential for understanding oneself. As we understand God and His character, then we will understand our divine spark. It will inspire us on how to treat others, how to love others, and it will help us to see others through God's lens. We challenge you to research God's character this week. Find out more about Him. In doing so, you're understanding your own self. 

Sher: This brings us to our final thoughts. Understanding the divine spark within us, whether we call it Imago de neha, ma, or the light of Christ is the beginning of true spiritual freedom. It's a reminder that we are not just created by God, but [00:25:00] carry His essence with us. That truth once remembered changes everything. How we think, how we live, how we treat others. As President Niton said, we can have confidence before God right now because he loves us deeply, sends angels to guide us and wants us to come home. We may not feel fully confident yet, but the more we seek Him, the more that spark grows and with it comes joy, purpose, and the strength to live as the divine sons and daughters that we truly are. This is our prayer 

Cydni: from Cydni and Sher. 

Sher: Somebody's texting me and it's throwing my groove off and I was trying to stop it I could feel the groove coming right now. Okay, now I'm good. The [00:26:00] flow. Okay, here we go. Find the 

Cydni: flow. Share. Relax. 

Sher: I'm ready. Relax more. I'm ready. More. 

Cydni: I noticed that you told me to start talking without recording.

Sher: Don't take it personal

Cydni: and I am taking it personal. You're like, go ahead, Cyd. It's your turn without pushing the button to record. This is really just the Sher podcast.

Sher: Makes it a lot easier to edit.

Cydni: Ai, take out Cydni and AI is like, you better believe I will. Other people have divine sparks, but not middle schoolers. They have no divine spark. No, they have a dark soul. Oh man, I was kidding. Over here. 

Sher: of our dis of, of our divine, oh gosh, 

Cydni: Hey, wait, though. You know what, Cher? At the gym today, there was a theme of angels too. The music. There was Yes, like four songs. Like the first one was I Cry When Angels Deserve To Die. So it's weird that there's a theme there too. 

Sher: That's a horrible song. I'm glad I don't hate song. I'm glad I don't song. I was like, this is the 

Cydni: worst playlist ever. I worked [00:27:00] out hard just to get outta there. Ugh. That's all 

Sher: I can happily say. I have no idea what you're talking about. That song? Mm-hmm. Ugh. Not good. Good. I'm glad. I don't know it. Have a good week. Bye.