Liahona

Today I was reading in 1 Nephi 16:28-29:
"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them.
And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things."

I feel like the scriptures are a liahona to me, the words do not change but the way that they make me feel does. Sometime I get these great a-ha moments over verses that I have read before. I know that the Lord directs our path and when we have faith and are diligent in our scripture study we will feel His guidance and see His hand in our very lives.

The Ministry of Angels

Today I read a talk by Elder Holland from November 2008 General Conference.

"I ask everyone within the sound of my voice to take heart, be filled with faith, and remember the Lord has said He 'would fight [our] battles, [our] children's battles, and [the battles of our] children's children' (D&C 98:37; emphasis added). And what do we do to merit such a defense? We are to 'search diligently, pray always, and be believing[. Then] all things shall work together for [our] good, if [we] walk uprightly and remeber the covenant wherewith [we] have covenanted' (D&C 90:24). The latter days are not a time to fear and tremble. They are a time to be believing and remember our covenants."
"My beloved brothers and sisters, I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challeges that we face. '[N]or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved' (Moroni 7:36). On accasions, global or personal, we may feel distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal."

I really believe this, I feel the Spirit testifying of the truth of it. I pray that I may be a mortal angel and aid and assist those around me. I am thankful for all of my mortal angels and the heavenly angels too.

The Best is Yet to Come!

Today I was reading in Mathew 13:33
"Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened."

I really like this verse, its funny how different things stand out to us a various times in our life. The leaven is the gospel, I am the woman, the meal is the world or those in my sphere of influence. Leaven makes things rise, the gospel will raise us all to new levels of peace, happiness and joy. I feel like making bread now :).

I also read in D&C 39, the blessing recorded here is for James but I believe in likening all scriptures to myself. I believe that parts of this blessing can be mine if I am true and faithful to the covenants that I have made.

Verses 7-8
"And now, behold, I say unto you, my servant James, I have looked upon thy works and I know thee.
And verily I say unto thee, thine heart is now right before me at this time; and, behold, I have bestowed great blessings upon thy head;"

I feel like I have had great blessings bestowed upon my head. I know that Heavenly Father can look upon my heart and I pray that I may live in such a way that my heart is ever before Him.




Verse 12
"And it shall come to pass that power shall rest upon thee; thou shalt have great faith, and I will be with thee and go before thy face."

If I have the Holy Ghost and I am living worthy of that blessing then power will rest upon me and I will have great faith. There have been times in my life where I have felt that the Lord was with me, sometimes I feel rather far away from Him but I know that it is me keeping myself from Him and that He ever reaches for me. I think that I should reflect upon the things that I can eliminate from my life that will allow us to be closer for I believe the time speedily cometh where I will need to have Him go before my face.

Verse 23
"And again, it shall come to pass that on as many as ye shall baptize with water, ye shall lay your hands, and they shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and shall be looking forth for the signs of my coming, and shall know me."

This is a scripture that really gives me hope, I have been baptized and I am looking for signs of His coming. When He comes I will know Him!

One more quote from November 2008 General Conference
"One of the challenges of this mortal experience is not to allow the stresses and strains of life to get the better of us---to endure the varied seasons of life while remaining positive, even optimistic...We can't predict all the struggles and storms of life, not even the ones just around the next corner, but as persons of faith and hope, we know beyond the shadow of any doubt that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and the best is yet to come."
Elder L. Tom Perry

I Love the Scriptures!

Yesterday in my reading I came across this scripture:
Genesis 18:19 "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."

I really like this message, I want the Lord to be able to say this of me. I want to teach my children correct principles so that the Lord knows that He can trust me to do His will and then He will be able to do all that He has promised me He will.

I also came across this one:
D&C 38:4 "I am the same which have taken the Zion of Enoch into mine own bosom; and verily, I say, even as many as have believed in my name, for I am Christ, and in mine own name, by the virtue of the blood which I have spilt, have I pleaded before the Father for them."

How wonderful to have reaffirmed to me that my prayers are heard and the Savior is my advocate with Heavenly Father. I imagine that in my low times when I cry out He goes to Heavenly Father and pleads my case for me. This just gives me great comfort to know that He cares for me that much.

Hope in Tribulation

Our bishop gave an excellent talk yesterday. There are a lot of people really struggling in our ward, probably in every ward, in every city, in every nation, times right now are hard. He reminded us of the scripture "Adam fell that man might be and men are that they might have joy." It's a short scripture but it has a lot of meaning. He said that because of the fall we naturally experience sorrows and pain but Heavenly Father intended for us to have joy in spite of the other hardships that we face. He out lined 5 steps to increase our joy in hard times:

1. Attend the temple
D&C 109:22 "And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them; "

I think that it is a beautiful blessing to have the promise of angels to have charge over us, if we are true to covenants that we have made in the temple.




2. Be grateful
D&C 59:20-21 "And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.
And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.

I think that we can usually spot the silver lining even in the clouds, especially if you have lived any amount of time in the pacific northwest, being grateful for even what seem to be the smallest blessings will help us be happy.

3. Serve others
Forget yourself and your problems and reach out ot someone who has even less than you do. This always works for me.

4. Take the longview
We are sometimes limited in our perspective. We should pray to see things from God's view. We know that the things that we experience here will really be just a small moment compared to eternity.

5. Stay close to family and friends
Its not good to isolate ourselves in hard times thinking that we may spare our family and friends from what we are going through. I isolation just makes it easier for the adversary to work on us and keep us from the true source of joy Jesus Christ our Savior.

These were all really good things for me to think about and to remember. Today in my scripture study I found a couple other things that I would like to share.

1 Nephi 7:12 "Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him. "

All things are in the Lords power. We must be faithful, I know that there is happiness in being faithful.

D&C 31:9 "Be patient in afflictions, revile not against those that revile. Govern your house in meekness, and be steadfast. "

meek
1. Showing patience and humility; gentle.
2. Easily imposed on; submissive.

Having patience in afflictions is one that I still struggle with, but I am working on it. The other reminder that I like is to be meek, another one that I am working on. I know that things in my household will run smoother the closer that I get to mastering these things.

The last thing that I want to share is a qhote from C.S Lewis "God knows quite well how hard we find it to love Him more than anyone or anything else, and He won't be angry with us as long as we are trying. And He will help us" (The Quotable Lewis, 409)

God our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ know us perfectly, its important to remember this, they understand all of our motivations and understand perfectly why we do the things that we do. They are perfectly loving and understanding. I am so grateful to know this.

Murmuring.

1 Nephi 2:12
And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them.

This is probably my fourth time reading the Book of Mormon and for some reason this scripture just stood out to me. Maybe its because I tend to be a complainer and even if I am not complaining out loud its generally happening in my mind, well I want to be different so I am practicing not complaining. Laman and Lemuel complained because they didn't know the dealings of God, I know somewhat of His dealings, I definitely know of His blessings... so I am really going to try harder not to complain and murmur.

Scripture Of the Day

This is my favorite scripture today. 1 Nephi 1:20:
(This is the last half of the scripture and I can't read it with out thinking about Elder Bednar's talk in conference.)
"...But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."

I really love this scripture. I see the tender mercies of the Lord in my life, I am so grateful that Elder Bednar gave his talk because it makes me look for those tender mercies. Even when times have been tough, when I have made it to the other side of the challenge I look back and see the Lords hand.