He Knows How to Succor Us

One of my favorite scriptures is Alma 7:11-12.
"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."
To me that is a beautiful scripture and speaks volumes about the love that the Savior has for us. The purpose of the atonement was to overcome physical and spiritual death. Through Christ's suffering in the garden and on the cross, his death, and subsequent resurrection, we will be resurrected and be able to overcome our sins. Christ paid the price for our sins through the atonement. Overcoming sin and death was what was required of Christ's atonement, but our Savior did so much more. He not only experienced the pain of our sins, but He voluntarily experienced our other pains as well. He chose to experience the pain of our weaknesses, sicknesses, infirmities, and temptations. He chose that because He wanted to be able to truly understand us and know how to help us when we hurt. Elder Henry B. Eyring taught, "He could have known how to succor us simply by revelation, but He chose to learn by His own personal experience." (Adversity) What incredible love.
We all have pains, temptations, and weaknesses. I truly believe that sometimes the only way that we can come to know and understand the Savior is through the things we suffer, just as He came to know and understand us through the things He suffered.

Faith and Repentance

Recently I have been studying about faith and how faith helps us live gospel principles. One of the principles that is vital for us is the principle of repentance. For "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). How then is the principle of faith related to repentance? Romans 3:25-25 tells us that it is by faith in Jesus Christ that we can be redeemed. I'm not sure how to write all of this out, but these are some of the things that have been rattling around in my brain.


Here are some things that I know about faith:
1. In order to exercise faith in God unto life and salvation, we must have "a correct idea of his character, perfections, and attributes" (Lectures on Faith).
2. Faith unto salvation must be centered in the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Faith is a principle of power and of action, not just a passive proclamation of belief.


If we don't understand that God is our Father, that he loves us, and that he has the power to forgive us, what reason would we have for repenting? It would be useless to pray to a god for repentance if that being did not have the power to forgive sins, or if he was not inclined to grant forgiveness to the petitioner. So before we can repent, we must know something about God and about the Savior.
There are some that believe that if there is a god he makes no real demands on us, that he will forgive all sin with a simple confession, even lacking a true intent to change. We are surrounded with a culture of moral relativism, where anything goes and we don't really need repentance because there is no universal moral code. None of those beliefs stem from a correct knowledge of God and his attributes.
Having faith then helps us understand the need to repent. Faith helps us understand that we must have a desire to change, a desire to become better, and a desire to get closer to God for true repentance to be possible.


Second, faith must be centered on Jesus Christ. It is only through the atonement of Jesus Christ that we can repent and be forgiven. Without that atonement, no amount of desire or work would reconcile us to God. The Savior has said, "For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit" (D&C 19: 16, 18). The Savior shouldered the burden of our sins so that we could have the chance to repent. His atonement allows us to receive mercy. He pleads for us. "Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him-- Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of they Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life" (D&C 45:3-5). 


"The Greek word of which is the translation [for repentance] denotes a change of mind, i.e., a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world. Repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined." We have to do something for repentance to take effect. We must turn our hearts and will to God. Constant striving to become more like Him is an act of repentance. Faith is a principle of action. Faith is what keeps us striving to do better.


I hope that some of this makes sense. Faith is not simply something that helps us with the principle of repentance. It is vital to repentance. They are so interconnected that I don't think you can have one without the other. If you have faith, you will want to repent, and you cannot repent without faith.

The Spirit of God is the Spirit of Freedom

Today I had to give an hour long presentation in my leadership class. We were supposed to read a book on leadership and then present it with a partner to the rest of the class. The book that I chose was The Founding Fathers on Leadership by Donald T. Phillips. As part of our presentation, we played a clip from the John Adams movie where the congress passed the resolution to declare independence and then it showed the declaration being read to and by the people. I know that this is not the kind of thing that gets discussed in the academic world, but I could feel the Spirit of God as we watched that clip and heard the words of the Declaration. Reading through the book about some of the events that took place during the American revolution, reaffirmed for me that God had his hand in the creating of this nation. There is no way we should have won that war. George Washington was going up against the strongest military power on earth at that time. The American troops were ill equipped, poorly trained, and few in number. Somehow they managed to gain victory. It is my firm conviction that without the aid of God, America's independence would never have been realized. The Spirit of God is the spirit of freedom. I don't know if you have ever had the opportunity to go to the archive building in Washington D.C. and have seen the Declaration and the Constitution of the United States. I have only been there once, but what an amazing experience. Standing in that rotunda, I felt such a strong spirit of peace and goodness. I know that God, our father is a champion of freedom. His son, Jesus Christ suffered and died so that we could one day be completely free. Free from the sting of death, free from the pain of sin, free from the hurts and troubles of our mortal existence. That freedom may not be immediate and it may not come in the way that we anticipate, but Christ can and will make us free. And in the meantime, God continues to spread freedom throughout the world. It may not happen as quickly as we would like, and we must do our part, but if we want to be truly free, we must rely on Him. During the constitutional convention, when disagreement threatened to tear the convention apart, Benjamin Franklin said this: "I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth- that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?" I truly believe that God does govern in the affairs of men. Let us turn to Him as we seek for freedom. 

Elizabeth and Zacharias

Here are just a few thoughts I have about Elizabeth and Zacharias. In Luke 1 it says that both Elizabeth and Zacharias were "righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." They had been unable to have children even though they had prayed for that blessing and were now "well stricken in years." While Zacharias is working in the temple an angel comes to him and tells him that Elizabeth will have a son and that his name will be John.

I have wondered why the Lord sometimes makes some of us wait to receive our righteous desires. Sometimes we are told that if we just made more of an effort or had greater faith that we would receive those blessings. But Elizabeth and Zacharias were faithful. They were blameless before the Lord. They were doing their duty and remaining righteous. Why did the Lord make them wait? I think sometimes there is something that the Lord needs us to learn before we can receive the sought after blessings. Sometimes the blessings are delayed because the Lord is preparing us to be of service to others. I think that this may have been part of what was happening with Elizabeth and Zacharias. Elizabeth was a cousin to Mary, who would be the mother of Jesus. Mary was young, unmarried, and was going to be the mother of the son of God through a miraculous conception. We don't know much about Mary's family, but certainly she would have needed some people to accept and understand her situation. What better place to find acceptance and understanding than from your cousin who has just had a miraculous conception of her own? I think that Elizabeth was uniquely prepared to be someone that Mary could go to. I think that just maybe this was one reason that Elizabeth had to wait for so long to have a child. It was not because she wasn't doing her part. It was not because she didn't have enough faith. The Lord knew that Mary would need someone, so he prepared Elizabeth to help fulfill that need.  

New Beginnings

It's a brand new year. Time to figure out what was wrong with our life in this past year and start on the process of remaking ourselves...again. We had a lesson in church this last Sunday on setting goals. What kinds of goals to set. How to set goals. Why we should set goals. Yes, I think goals are important. We should be constantly striving to become better people and make changes in our lives that are necessary. However, while I was listening to the lesson on Sunday, I was struck by the thought that it is only because of our Savior, Jesus Christ that we have the ability to truly work on remaking ourselves and becoming better. It is only through the atonement that we can let go of our mistakes and have a new beginning. Christ is the one who inspires us in our quest to be better and He is also the one that will guide and help us through the process.

During the lesson the teacher also talked about the number of times that we intend to make changes but they just never occur. Most of us have made new year's resolutions that somehow don't even last through the end of January. Why is that? Maybe it is because we are trying to accomplish the remaking and reshaping of ourselves all by ourselves. I think that if we made an effort to prayerfully consider some goals for our lives and then consciously petition heaven for help to achieve them we might end the year with a greater sense of accomplishment and fewer regrets. Just a thought. We may still find ourselves unable to accomplish everything we desire, but I think we will have learned something about ourselves and maybe just a little bit more about aligning ourselves to God's will. We might also gain a deeper understanding of the atonement and a closer relationship with the Savior who truly makes it possible for us to become new.

On Gratitude

We have recently received counsel from God's prophet to cultivate a spirit of gratitude. President Monson said, "Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God's love. We have all experienced times when our focus is on what we lack rather than on our blessings. Regardless of our circumstances, each of us has much for which to be grateful if we will but pause and contemplate our blessings."

I think that this is something that I need to work on. While I see beautiful things all around me, I also have a tendency to notice the flaws. I remember a story I read years ago that was in the Church News. My mom sent it to me on my mission. It was part of an article called Look for Good (August 1998). It talked about a philosopher who would spend hours in the woods studying nature and then sharing what he learned with the people in his village. One day as he was getting ready to go, three of his friends stopped by. They each asked him to bring home something so that they could study those things that the philosopher had given lessons on. One asked for a hawthorne twig, one asked for a rose, and the third asked for a lily. When the philosopher returned that night he gave each of his friends the requested item. The first man complained that there was a dead leaf on his hawthorne twig. The second one was upset because there was a thorn on his rose, and the third man found dirt on the roots of the lily. The philosopher took each gift back and removed the offending items. Then he gave the dead leaf, the thorn, and the dirt to the three men. Then he said, "Now, each of you has what attracted you first. You looked for the dead leaf and found it. You looked for the thorn; it was there. You found the dirt on the roots of the lily. You may keep what attracted you first. I will keep the hawthorn twig, the rose and the lily for the beauty I see in them."

That story has stuck with me. It is easy to look at the world and see everything that is going wrong. It is easy for me as a teacher to notice the students that are not doing what they are supposed to do. Maybe it takes a little bit more of an effort (at least for me) to notice the good things. I don't think we need to ignore the bad. We can't help correct it if we just look the other way, but we should be making an effort to recognize the blessings that we have been given. Some people are very good at this already. I am blessed to have several such people in my life: family members, co-workers, and friends. How wonderful it is to have people around you that are optimistic and grateful. They are good examples for me.

I have been very blessed. I have a wonderful family. We all get along, and like to be together. I was watching some television show the other day and the character in the show was saying how much she hated Christmas because she had to spend time with people she didn't like (including family). I don't understand what it is like for some people to not get along with their family members. I love being with my family. When we have a chance to all be together we have a lot of fun. I have beautiful little nieces and nephews that are just a delight to be around. I am very grateful to have such a loving family and that all of us have testimonies of the Savior. I have also been blessed with health. I'm around sick children frequently as a teacher, but I haven't gotten sick very often (I hope I didn't just jinx myself). I have a good job, and fantastic people to work with. Financially I have been able to meet all of my needs and even have some of my wants. I am so very thankful for the gospel and for the Savior's love and forgiveness. I am thankful for the knowledge I have that He lives.

Sheep

I had intended to go to bed early tonight, but I can't sleep, so I thought I should work on this blog. A couple of months ago I went to the state fair. I was walking around and looking at the animals. One building housed the sheep and goats. One of the pens had four or five little goats. As I was walking by, a girl came in to check their water and feed and then she left. I watched those little goats try to follow her, and start bleating for her. It reminded my of the one year that I took a lamb to the fair. I had two little lambs, Elbert and Louise. All summer long I took care of them and got them ready for the fair. Sometimes, I would even just go sit with them or walk around with them. They would always follow me. They were sweet little companions for me. When fair week came I was really downhearted because I knew that I would have to sell my lambs at the end of the week. After the lambs were sold, they put them all together in one big pen. Someone had told me that they weren't going to feed or water the lambs that next day. Well, I didn't want my little lambs to go without food and water so I went to find them. I wasn't sure how I would find them. They were in a very large pen with a lot of sheep that all looked pretty much the same. As I was approaching the pen, two of the lambs moved toward me. They came running over to me and I recognized them as my little lambs.
Seeing those goats at the state fair reminded my of that experience and it made me think about a scripture. John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." Though I don't understand how He does it, the Savior knows each of us individually. Out of all of the billions of people on this earth, He knows my name. He knows and recognizes me, but do I always know and recognize Him? Have I spent sufficient time with Him to know His voice and trust Him enough to follow? I do want to come to know Him better. I want to gain a real relationship with Him. I have been thinking recently that this is something I need to spend more time on. There are a lot of things going on in my life right now, and I think they are all important, but I really feel that I need to build a better relationship with the Savior. Sheri Dew has said that in the days ahead a casual commitment to Christ will not be enough to see us through. I think that to gain that relationship with the Savior I need to spend more time with Him, and spend more time trying to follow Him. I want to be numbered among His sheep.

Life is Good

So the other day I was sitting on my balcony in my rocking chair, eating strawberries and enjoying a light breeze. It was a wonderful, peaceful moment. The night before I was on my balcony watching lightning dancing around in the clouds over the mountains. It was awesome! The Lord truly blesses us with so many wonderful beautiful things in life. I have been feeling really optimistic lately. There are things happening in our nation that are somewhat frightening. I want to do what I can to resist what I consider to be evil forces that are trying to destroy our Constitution and our nation as well as the family. But even with all of that going on, I feel a peaceful sense of optimism. The bad guys can't win. They may make things really uncomfortable and maybe even downright dangerous, for a while, but they can't win. If we turn to Heavenly Father and the Savior, even in uncertain times, we can be supported and sustained. And meanwhile, the Lord blesses us with beautiful sunsets, calming feelings, meaningful relationships with friends and family and so many other blessings. Even certain sounds for me are beautiful treasures. I love to listen to meadowlarks singing. That is one of my favorite sounds. It thrills me every time I hear it. Another great sound is the laughter of my nieces and nephews, or to hear their voice on the phone because they just wanted to call me to say "hi." Life is good, and I'm so thankful to Heavenly Father for making it so.

Feeling God's Love

I had an experience a few weeks ago in which I felt Heavenly Father's love. The details are rather too personal to share in this setting, but I did want to write something of what I felt. Sometimes I wonder if the things I'm doing with my life are the right things. Sometimes I wonder why certain blessings that I desire never occur. Sometimes I wonder if I have enough faith. So, what an amazing blessing it was to truly feel that Heavenly Father loves me. Maybe I don't always deserve His love, but He still gives it freely.

Beatitudes - Turning to Christ

I have recently been reading the beatitudes in Matthew 5 of the New Testament. I have been considering them, not just as characteristics that we should try to develop, but actually as instruction on turning to the Savior and partaking of the atonement. In verse three we are told that the "kingdom of heaven" belongs to the "poor in spirit." Utilizing the footnotes, we learn that poor in spirit means poor in pride, or humble in spirit. The Book of Mormon further clarifies this scripture by adding "the poor in spirit who come unto me." So it is not just people who are humble that will receive the kingdom of heaven, but those that turn to Christ. Only those who humble themselves, come to Christ and repent, thus accessing the power of the atonement, can gain celestial glory.
Verse 4: Blessed are they that mourn ( I think we could add here again "who turn to Christ". There are plenty of people who mourn that are never comforted because they don't know where to turn to receive comfort). I have considered this verse in a couple of different ways. First, blessed are they that mourn because of trials or adversity. If these people turn to Christ, they can be comforted by the Savior and the Holy Ghost. In John 14: 16 the Savior promises the first and second comforters. Christ is one of these comforters, and the other is the Holy Ghost. As we receive that comfort we will be blessed with increased faith and testimony. I have heard many people say that they are grateful for the trials they have had because of the blessings that can come as they turned to Christ in the midst of their trial. The second way I looked at this was regarding those who mourn because of sin they have committed. Again, they will only be blessed with comfort as they turn to Christ and repent. This fits in nicely with the first principles and ordinances of the gospel. First we must have faith in Christ, then we can repent and part of the repentance process involves a certain mourning. Then through the saving ordinances of baptism and confirmation, we can receive the Comforters into our lives.
Verse 5 seems to be a reiteration of verse 3. The meek are those that are humble and teachable. They will inherit the earth, which will become the Celestial Kingdom.
Verse 6: Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. I think this describes people who desire, seek, and are teachable (that seems to be coming up a lot). These are not people with a temporary, passive desire, but rather people who truly want to learn and are willing to act on the knowledge gained. These people will be filled. Filled with what? The Book of Mormon comes to the rescue again. 3 Nephi 12: 6 "they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost."
Verse 7: Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. I don't have too many deep thoughts on this one. Just that we must forgive others to attain forgiveness ourselves. This is also taught in D&C 64:9 and 82:1. Again, this is part of what we must do to access the cleansing power of the atonement.
Verse 8: Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Something that is pure is something that has been cleansed, sanctified and made holy. Those who have been truly converted in their heart, can be cleansed through baptism, sanctified and made holy be the Spirit through the power of the atonement. These people will see God. They will be able to see God's hand in their life, but they will also one day be able to stand in His presence. Again, you can only become pure in heart as you turn to Christ and partake of the atonement.
Verse 9 seems to be a bit of a shift to me. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God. All of the previous beatitudes, at least to me, talk about accessing the atonement. Now in verse nine is where we start becoming like Christ, the Prince of Peace. Other scriptures tell us that we only receive the power to become sons and daughters of Christ after we have believed on Him and accepted His atonement in our lives. See Mosiah 15: 11-12, John 1:12, 3 Nephi 9:17. So this blessing again is contingent on our accepting the atonement. This is how we gain the power to become like the Savior.
Verses 10-12 talk about enduring persecutions and reviling. Once we have accepted the atonement, our lives are not going to be all lollipops and roses. We may be, and probably will be, called upon to endure persecution and reviling because of our beliefs. There are many other scriptures that teach that those that endure to the end will be lifted up and saved at the last day. See 1 Nephi 13:37, 1 Nephi 22:31, Matthew 10:22. It makes me think of Lehi’s vision of the tree of life in 1 Nephi 8. In verse 28 of that chapter, Lehi describes how some people fell away after they had partaken of the fruit. They became ashamed because others were mocking them. Once we have reached the tree and partaken of the fruits of the atonement, we must hold firm to that position, or we can fall away.
So, where am I in this process? I am not exactly sure. I am trying to do what I can to learn more about the atonement and increase my faith. I know that Heavenly Father will help us in those efforts. He is anxious to bless us.

Taking His Name

I’ve been thinking about what it means to take Christ’s name upon us.  I guess I have always thought that it meant trying to become like Him and to do what He would do.  Lately, I’ve been thinking about it in a different way.  In our culture, generally speaking, when a woman marries she takes her husband’s name.  Having never been married, I’m not sure I understand the full implications of that, but it seems that she becomes one with him.  They are a unit together.  While they can still act and think independently of the other, they will both be striving for the same goals and helping each other to achieve them.  The woman’s identity is tied to her husband’s because she is known to others by his last name rather than her maiden name.  I have talked to several married women that I know and asked them what it meant for them to take their husband’s name.  I got different responses back.  One said that it was really hard for her to “give up” her maiden name.  Another told me that she was happy to do it.  She and her husband are a unit, and because they have different strengths and weaknesses, they can help each other.  One woman told me that she doesn’t even think about it as being her husband’s name.  It is just their name or their family name.  The scriptures say that Christ is the bridegroom.  When we partake of the gospel covenant, in a sense, we give ourselves to Christ as a woman gives herself to her husband.  We take His name upon us.  We should counsel with Him and become one with Him.  Our identity becomes tied to His identity.  

As I try to truly take His name upon me by aligning my thoughts and actions more fully with His will, I hope that I become identified by who He is more than by who and what I was before I made those covenants.  

Choosing Faith

Several weeks ago I was struggling to make an important decision in my life.  I had prayed about it for a long time but didn’t feel like I was getting a clear directive from the Lord on either choice.  Finally, I made a decision and asked if it was right.  Again, I didn’t feel like I got an answer.  So, I just went ahead with my decision.  It ended up not working out, and I had a little mini meltdown.  Obviously I had not made the right decision.  I should have been grateful that the Lord had not allowed something to work out that I was not supposed to do, but instead I started feeling angry.  I couldn’t understand why He didn’t just answer my prayer in the first place.  Writing this now, I’m pretty ashamed about my thoughts that night, because He apparently did answer my prayer, just not when or how I wanted Him to.  But that night, I couldn’t see that.   I started wondering why I should even continue to pray and seek His guidance for things.  Then I remembered a quote I had read in a talk by Elder Neil L. Andersen.  He said, “Faith is not only a feeling; it is a decision.”  Sometimes we have to choose faith.  We don’t always understand the Lord’s timing or His methods, after all His ways are not our ways.  Having faith is to trust in Him even when we don’t understand, and sometimes we have to make a conscience decision to have faith.  It is not always easy.  I am trying to choose faith in the promises given in Matthew 7:7 that if I ask, it shall be given; if I seek I shall find; if I knock, it shall be opened unto me.  I’m choosing to have faith that the Lord loves me and wants to help me in my life as I try to learn how and when he speaks to me in answer to prayers.

  

Tires & Tender Mercies

A couple of weeks ago, I left work a little after 5:00, only to discover that I had a flat tire on my car.  Now, I know how to change a tire, but I was afraid with my weak, little arms it might take a while so I went and asked someone to help me.  I wanted to make sure I would have time to take my tire in and get it repaired before the shop was closed.  I am really glad that I found someone that was willing to help.  The kind man that helped me had to work pretty hard to get my rusted-on tire off.  I don't think I would have been able to do it alone.  It took quite a while, and I started to really worry that the shop would be closed.  We finally got the donut on, and I was on my way, the whole time praying that I would be able to get it repaired that night.  Amazingly enough, I made it to the tire shop about 15 minutes before they closed and was able to get the tire fixed.  I felt like that was a real blessing from Heavenly Father, a tender mercy.  Yes, it was a little thing, and yes, I could have gotten it fixed the next day, but it was such a relief to get it taken care of that night.  I think it is sometimes those little things that help me to feel God's love, and to feel awed and amazed that He would even help me with something so trivial.  I know that we are truly children of God.  He loves us as a father does and He wants to help us.

Memory

Today I heard a song that I used to listen to in junior high or high school.  Today was the first time since then that I've listened to it.  But, amazingly enough, I could remember every word.  Isn't it interesting how our brains work?  I haven't even thought of that song for years, but I remembered it all; it was still in my head, and I knew it when I heard it.  I wonder if the same patterns of memory and recall apply to our spiritual lives.  I don't remember what my pre-mortal existence was like.  I don't remember what Heavenly Father's face looks like.  But I think that knowledge is still in me or a part of me somewhere.  Maybe that's why when the Holy Ghost testifies of a spiritual truth, it resonates with us; because we already know it.