I Think the World is Glorious

Hello, Spring!!

To me, the arrival of Spring is like arriving at the end of a long, difficult trial. Like most Californians who are spoiled with warm, beautiful weather year-round, I struggle with the concept of winter. I do not like the cold or any thing that comes as a result of coldness. However, it makes me appreciate the warmth that slowly seeps back into the calendar. Days become longer, tan lines appear, and Mother Nature seems to explode, especially out here in Tennessee, the epicenter of trees, flowers, birds, and insects (and allergies)! The advantage I see to long, icy winters is the chance to experience opposition. I realize now that I took for granted the beautiful Southern California climate, now that I am finally experiencing winter.

Can you think of how this relates to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Rather than answer that myself, I invite you to share your own insights.

This morning as I stood out on the balcony soaking up the sun's warm rays, I thought about how glorious this world is. An ancient prophet named Alma testified, "All things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." (Alma 30:44)


When you look around you, especially this time of year, how can you deny the existence of Deity? There must be a Power beyond our own that is masterfully composing this symphonic eruption of life and intelligence.

There IS.

His name is Heavenly Father. He loves us, and He wants us to "have joy!" (2 Nephi 2:25)

From the LDS Primary Children's Songbook:
I Think The World is Glorious

Lucky

A lot of times, when something miraculous happens, we attribute it to "sheer luck" or "coincidence."

Disciples of Jesus Christ know that it is something much more.

President Thomas S. Monson said, "Remember that you are entitled to our Father’s blessings in this work. He did not call you to your privileged post to walk alone, without guidance, trusting to luck. On the contrary, He knows your skill, He realizes your devotion, and He will convert your supposed inadequacies to recognized strengths." (Sugar Beets and the Worth of a Soul)

This quote makes me think of a song from the 2011 EFY Album, "He Knows Me Better," by Jenessa Buttars.  The words might not be 100% right because I typed them from my memory.

He Knows Me Better

It feels like I've only got

a piece of the picture
I'm tryin' to figure out
Just where I fit here
But there is One who sees
All I'm meant to be

In a world of voices
that say they have the answer
I escape the noises
close my eyes and I turn
to the One who sees
all the pieces put together
He knows me better

Sometimes I can't see past

what's on the surface

But He helps me understand

the depth in my purpose

that gives me faith to hold

as my path unfolds

He knows every one of us
is learning as we go
His love is the compass
that guides us home

I consider myself LUCKY to know that my Savior Jesus Christ lives and that He suffered for all that I have and will ever go through.

This was quoted in this month's Ensign article, The Enabling Power of the Atonement. Elder Holland originally stated this here: Come Unto Me.

Some other quotes about luck that I like:

"In every prayer that children hear, there should be thankfulness expressed for God’s hand in all things, for evidences of his presence and influence. He is the God before whom man bows; to him we make acknowledgment and to none other. We live in a world dominated by the concept of 'Lady Luck.' Our children too soon learn that much of their success is attributed to being lucky or to chance." How to Teach the Ten Commandments

Spencer W. Kimball counseled an audience of women, "If you succeed, it isn’t because of luck. Success comes from faith and work and prayer and from constant righteous effort. It is a question of agency—of what you choose to do with gifts of God—everything upon the earth, wherein there is life" (Privileges and Responsibilities of Sisters, General Conference October 1978). 

Serve God with All Your Heart

Jesus taught us that we should love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:36). He also taught: "O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve Him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day" (Doctrine & Covenants 4:2). Heavenly Father isn't one to waste words, so as I pondered these verses, I realized these must be separate and distinct ways to love and serve God. I found that Christlike attributes are linked with them.

So, for the last year I have been topic-studying the Book of Mormon with each of these individual ways. Since VALENTINE'S DAY is tomorrow, I thought it appropriate to share about serving God with all your Heart, arguably the most important of them all. 

In the first 160 pages I have already tallied 40 references to the hardness/softness of our hearts (the wicked are hardhearted, Nephi could not soften the hearts of his brethren, etc). I have learned that God really cares about how soft our heart is; i.e. how teachable we are. The Lord requires our hearts so the Atonement can truly work on our behalf. (2 Nephi 2:7).

In the New Testament Paul teaches us that Charity comes from a pure heart (1 Timothy 1:5). We can serve God with all our heart by having Charity. My Dad described it well in his last letter to me: "I think ofttimes charity is just glossed over when studying the Gospel. Many seem to focus on the Savior's atonement or perhaps his teaching of love for one's brother without looking deeper. They think of charity as just giving of your stuff to those who don't have much. But charity is much more than that."

It is more than that.

Without charity, we are nothing, and we cannot be saved without it. In Lehi's dream, the Tree of Life, which represents the love of God, is the most joyous to the soul (1 Nephi 11:21-23). We overcome the natural man by becoming full of love (Mosiah 3:19). Charity is more than doing good deeds; it is the pure love of Christ, it is loving others the way that Jesus Christ loves us. So how do we get this charity? We pray for it. We go out and serve, as I mentioned in an earlier post.

Another Christlike Attribute associated with serving God with all your heart is Humility. Those who are humble recognize that their gifts and strengths come from God (1 Nephi 4:31, 9:5-6,17:50-51, Alma 26). They are willing to trust God's servants (1 Nephi 1:1, 2:16, 4:6-7, 5:5, 5:8). They express gratitude and do not go about their day without constantly praying for help (2 Nephi 32:8-9 , 1 Nephi 18:16).

Christ's baptism was an act of humble submission (2 Nephi 31:7). The Savior was the greatest example of charity and humility and yielding his heart to God (Helaman 3:35). It is so important that we give God our heart (see the second comment about this). I know that if I am righteous, Satan has no power over my heart (1 Nephi 22:26).

I love the Book of Mormon! I never grow tired of studying it and learning from it. It IS the word of God! It is another Testament of Jesus Christ! As we study the scriptures, we can learn how to serve God with all of our Heart.

In the song, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, there's a certain line I love the most:

"Here's my HEART, Oh, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above."

What are some other ways we serve God with all our heart?

The Song of the Righteous is a Prayer

My thoughts turn to the wonderful people I have been teaching and the questions and concerns that they have had. I also think of my own spiritual needs and the aspects of my faith that I have been actively working to build.

My mind instantly goes to prayer.

In Doctrine and Covenants 25:12, The Lord tells Emma Smith that "the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing." During this time, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been restored to the earth but a few months, and it's noteworthy that the Lord thought it essential to call someone to organize the music of the Church so early in its latter-day history.

I submit that most religious songs are, in essence, prayers. There are songs of praise to our Maker, like "How Great Thou Art." There are songs of Worship and repentance, like "More Holiness Give Me." There are songs of desperate pleas for the Lord's presence, like "I Need Thee Ev'ry Hour."

In a missionary meeting yesterday, I heard a powerful quote, "Pray as if a child might open his eyes to see if He is really there." (Gold star goes to whomever can find the reference for that first)

WOW.

I think of the kind of faith a little child has. In General Conference last October, President Henry B. Eyring told a story of his 3 year-old granddaughter's experience in an LDS temple for the first time:

"She looked around and asked, 'Mommy, where is Jesus?' Her mother explained that she would not see Jesus in the temple, but she would be able to feel His influence in her heart. Eliza carefully considered her mother’s response and then seemed satisfied and said, 'Oh, Jesus is gone helping someone,' she concluded."

President Eyring explained that no pavilion obscured Eliza's knowledge that God is close to her and she expected to see the Savior in His temple. I love the perfect faith and innocence that little children have! The song I chose for this post is A Child's Prayer.



Please pray. Talk to Heavenly Father. He LOVES you and He wants to hear from you. He misses His precious sons and daughters. He will help you with any of your challenges. He is the Greatest Listener. As a representative of Jesus Christ, I promise you that Prayer is essential to helping us become like our Savior and Redeemer. I continue to have incredible experiences with prayer every day. I had a particularly special experience last night as I knelt to pray. I knew without a doubt that I was truly talking to a Divine Being, and not to the corner of my bed. He was really there, and he heard  and answered my sincere, pleading prayer last night and He answered it!

What are your experiences with prayer?

Because I Have Been Given Much

The Christlike Attribute I am focusing on this year is Charity. For some this comes so easily and naturally; for others it takes a bit of work. In this last General Conference, Elder M. Russell Ballard told us that the best way to ingrain the love of Christ into our hearts is one simple practice:

"In your morning prayer each new day, ask Heavenly Father to guide you to recognize an opportunity to serve one of His precious children. Then go throughout the day with your heart full of faith and love, looking for someone to help....If you do this, your spiritual sensitivities will be enlarged and you will discover opportunities to serve that you never before realized were possible."

The only way we can truly have charity is to constantly be "giving-minded." One of my New Year's Resolutions is to perform one act of service a day, and in order to reach that I have to constantly be searching for the opportunity. For me, it's more than allowing the car to pull out in front of me or holding the door open for someone at the library.  Those are givens.

Charity turns my mind towards the Savior, who performed the greatest act of love man has ever known:
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)

Because I have been given the Gospel, I, too, must give it. Because we have been given the gift of eternal life, we must share the knowledge of that gift. As members of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, do we fully realize what we have?

 Because I Have Been Given Much

Because I have been given much, I too must give

Because of thy great bounty, Lord, each day I live

I shall divide my gifts from thee with every brother that I see

Who has the need of help from me

Because I have been sheltered, fed by thy good care

I cannot see another's lack and I not share

my glowing fire my loaf of bread, my roof's safe shelter overhead

that he, too, may be comforted

Because I have been blessed by thy great love, dear lord

I'll share thy love again according to thy word

I shall give love to those in need

I'll show that love by word and deed

Thus, shall my thanks be thanks, indeed

LDS Hymns, No. 219

More, Savior, Like Thee

New Year's!!! My favorite holiday. The excitement of Christmas still lingers as people aren't quite ready to take down trees and lights. And it's a day of new beginnings! Why is goal setting so important? I love to set goals and make plans; to me it is the truest form of repenting because we are making action plans to change and become more like our Savior. It is so important that we are constantly focusing on how we can better ourselves.

I love this song because to me it is a prayer to Heavenly Father asking Him to help us change. You can also look at it as a list of Resolutions. The final "more" sums it up...More, Savior, like thee.

More Holiness Give Me

More holiness give me,

More strivings within,

More patience in suff'ring,

More sorrow for sin,

More faith in my Savior,

More sense of his care,

More joy in his service,

More purpose in prayer.

 

More gratitude give me,

More trust in the Lord,

More pride in his glory,

More hope in his word,

More tears for his sorrows,

More pain at his grief,

More meekness in trial,

More praise for relief.

 

More purity give me,

More strength to o'ercome,

More freedom from earth-stains,

More longing for home.

More fit for the kingdom,

More used would I be,

More blessed and holy--

More, Savior, like thee.

 

 LDS Hymns, No. 131

Mary, Did You Know?

Word on the street is Cee-Lo Green has a stunning rendition of "Mary Did You Know?" circulating the web. I actually got a chance to hear it at an adult learning class Sister Tauoa and I volunteered at this week, and again when a member played it for us at a lesson. I add my personal "Amen!" with the oohs-and-aahs to this out-of-character performance.

Back in my Deseret Book days, I was surrounded by amazing illustrations of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. Unfortunately, I can't remember my favorite, but I do love the new Bible videos produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This screen-shot-edited photo is from a scene where the Wise Men bring gifts to the now toddler-aged Jesus.

I love the Mary in these videos. The actress really helps me ponder on what Mary must have felt and thought as she first heard the news that she would bring our Savior and Redeemer to this world. I often wonder, did Mary truly absolutely the events that would follow the birth of Jesus Christ?




Mary, Did you know