This should be an interesting read. Sacrificing for the kingdom or choosing not to and walking away. This should be very applicable, as are all scriptures.
Mon, July 27: DC 124: 1-21
Tues, July 28: DC 124 87-90, 97-110, DC 126
Wed, July 29: Our Heritage pg 51-52, 55-58, 61-62
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Looking for justice
I really love this section of the Doctrine and Covenants. I love that the prophets gets to the point where he just really wants Heavenly Father to miraculously take him from his afflictions, because we all get to that point I think. We just want it all to go away sometimes. I wonder if the prophet was thinking of the time Alma and Amulek were in prison and it miraculously tumbled to the ground. Sometimes Heavenly Father does take it all away. But most of the time we get this response:
7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.
It may not be the easy response that we want (poof your troubles are gone!), but it is a response. From The God of all. That alone is a comfort. He is listening, He is aware, and all justice is in His hands, not ours.
Perspective of justice is one of the difficult issues during trial. We get all upset about how unfair things are: why me? why not her/him? why now? I don't deserve this. They don't deserve that. Blah, blah, blah. It is helpful to remember that:
24 Behold, mine eyes see and know all their works, and I have in reserve a swift judgment in the season thereof, for them all;
25 For there is a time appointed for every man, according as his works shall be.
We are not the ones to hand out justice or judgement. It will come, but not by our own definition or our own time table or what consequences we think are just. The point of our affliction is that they are ours. The are to develop who we are, not make us bitter about what other people are or are not. Because:
8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?
Not only should we not think that our suffering is greater that the Savior's, but only He is in the position to judge and give justice or true mercy. Of us it is required to forgive all men.
7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.
It may not be the easy response that we want (poof your troubles are gone!), but it is a response. From The God of all. That alone is a comfort. He is listening, He is aware, and all justice is in His hands, not ours.
Perspective of justice is one of the difficult issues during trial. We get all upset about how unfair things are: why me? why not her/him? why now? I don't deserve this. They don't deserve that. Blah, blah, blah. It is helpful to remember that:
24 Behold, mine eyes see and know all their works, and I have in reserve a swift judgment in the season thereof, for them all;
25 For there is a time appointed for every man, according as his works shall be.
We are not the ones to hand out justice or judgement. It will come, but not by our own definition or our own time table or what consequences we think are just. The point of our affliction is that they are ours. The are to develop who we are, not make us bitter about what other people are or are not. Because:
8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?
Not only should we not think that our suffering is greater that the Savior's, but only He is in the position to judge and give justice or true mercy. Of us it is required to forgive all men.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
"O God, Where Art Thou?"
More on tribulations this week, but a different perspective
Monday, June 20: Doctrine and Covenants 121:1–33;
Tuesday, June 21: 122
Wednesday, June 22: Our Heritage,pages 45–53.
Thursday, June 23:
Isaiah 53:5–6 D&C 88:6
Hebrews 2:17–18
D&C 122:5–8
Alma 7:11–12
Monday, June 20: Doctrine and Covenants 121:1–33;
Tuesday, June 21: 122
Wednesday, June 22: Our Heritage,pages 45–53.
Thursday, June 23:
Isaiah 53:5–6 D&C 88:6
Hebrews 2:17–18
D&C 122:5–8
Alma 7:11–12
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
It's really hard to hear
I know that when you are in the midst of affliction, it is hard to hear things like: "it will make you stronger," "you are buiding character," "you are being tested," etc. I suspect it's hard to hear because it's true. You really just want the affliction to be over with instead of being told there may never be an end (in this life), because essentially, that's what those statements mean, i.e. you are in a process and who knows when it will end. But for me, even those words give some direction, which is better than the alternative - just suffering to suffer. If we are all going to suffer in one way or another, let's make something of it despite the despair.
There are some great spiritual "one-liners" in Monday's reading DC 101:1-41, that are like the lines above, but with more peace-giving truth:
5 For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified. You can suffer, or you can bear the burden with the Lord. You can carry the yoke alone, or you can be yoked with someone who will not remove your burden, but carry it with you.
8 In the day of their peace they esteemed lightly my counsel; but, in the day of their trouble, of necessity they feel after me. If you keep a continual relationship and running dialog with the Lord, when the trouble comes, you will not have to "feel after him," you will already know where, exactly, to turn.
9 Verily I say unto you, notwithstanding their sins, my bowels are filled with compassion towards them. I will not utterly cast them off; and in the day of wrath I will remember mercy. You will bring on your own troubles, and may deserve the consequences, but the Lord will still have compassion - which does not mean He will remove the trouble of the consequences, but He can help you understand them and learn and feel love.
36 Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full. Death seems to be quite extreme, but it covers the fear of many things, so know that your joy in this life or the next only comes when you are yoked with the Lord IN ALL THINGS.
37 Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the soul, and for the life of the soul. There are many things to concern yourself with in the midst of affliction, but be concerned mostly about your soul, i.e. how IS this going to build your character, how IS this going to make you stronger, why IS this a test for you?
38 And seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life. PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE. People say never to pray for patience, because you'll get affliction to try and practice patience. There really is no other way (other than to be blessed with the gift of patience) to develop patience that to exercise extreme self-control during affliction. This is self-control in making good choices during affliction and self-control in making consistent effort to be close to the Lord (when not in affliction too).
In between those verses, the Lord talks about the end of the world and how those who did not suffer beside the Lord will burn and die and what not. This is not to give the Saints (us) a sense of revenge or a premeditated condescention of "I told you so," this is to let us know that justice will be served, that affliction we endure will not be for nothing, if we endure it well, if we have gained an abiding testimony of our Lord and Savior and all the He is capable of offering.
Perhaps when I reach the judgement bar, all of my single experiences will be forgotten and I will stand before Him as a representation of my cumulative experiences and that representation will say it all. We tend to think of each experience as just that: single experiences, when really (in my estimation as of late), we should think of each experience as just another building block we invent something really good with. This is one of the things the Savior offers, to help us see that our experiences are building blocks. Satan helps us to see that our experiences are reason to pity ourselves, our bodies, our spirits. Yick. I like building blocks better.
There are some great spiritual "one-liners" in Monday's reading DC 101:1-41, that are like the lines above, but with more peace-giving truth:
5 For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified. You can suffer, or you can bear the burden with the Lord. You can carry the yoke alone, or you can be yoked with someone who will not remove your burden, but carry it with you.
8 In the day of their peace they esteemed lightly my counsel; but, in the day of their trouble, of necessity they feel after me. If you keep a continual relationship and running dialog with the Lord, when the trouble comes, you will not have to "feel after him," you will already know where, exactly, to turn.
9 Verily I say unto you, notwithstanding their sins, my bowels are filled with compassion towards them. I will not utterly cast them off; and in the day of wrath I will remember mercy. You will bring on your own troubles, and may deserve the consequences, but the Lord will still have compassion - which does not mean He will remove the trouble of the consequences, but He can help you understand them and learn and feel love.
36 Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full. Death seems to be quite extreme, but it covers the fear of many things, so know that your joy in this life or the next only comes when you are yoked with the Lord IN ALL THINGS.
37 Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the soul, and for the life of the soul. There are many things to concern yourself with in the midst of affliction, but be concerned mostly about your soul, i.e. how IS this going to build your character, how IS this going to make you stronger, why IS this a test for you?
38 And seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life. PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE. People say never to pray for patience, because you'll get affliction to try and practice patience. There really is no other way (other than to be blessed with the gift of patience) to develop patience that to exercise extreme self-control during affliction. This is self-control in making good choices during affliction and self-control in making consistent effort to be close to the Lord (when not in affliction too).
In between those verses, the Lord talks about the end of the world and how those who did not suffer beside the Lord will burn and die and what not. This is not to give the Saints (us) a sense of revenge or a premeditated condescention of "I told you so," this is to let us know that justice will be served, that affliction we endure will not be for nothing, if we endure it well, if we have gained an abiding testimony of our Lord and Savior and all the He is capable of offering.
Perhaps when I reach the judgement bar, all of my single experiences will be forgotten and I will stand before Him as a representation of my cumulative experiences and that representation will say it all. We tend to think of each experience as just that: single experiences, when really (in my estimation as of late), we should think of each experience as just another building block we invent something really good with. This is one of the things the Savior offers, to help us see that our experiences are building blocks. Satan helps us to see that our experiences are reason to pity ourselves, our bodies, our spirits. Yick. I like building blocks better.
Monday, July 13, 2009
I skipped out and new readings
Summer is not as laid back as I thought it would be. Oh, we're having fun alright. But I'm making sure we are having fun so there is no fighting or boredom, so when we do have days at home, the kids really want to be at home and they play better together. For this reason, I am behind one week with this blog. Hopefully the few who read this blog will have had at least one stake conference so this blog will still be a week ahead now or right on. If not, I apologize profusely my only excuse is that I am trying to be a peacemaker and not a yeller for my kids. I would just skip to the next week, but this topic is one I can't pass up. Prepare to read:
"They must needs be chastened and tried, even as Abraham"
Monday, July 13: Doctrine and Covenants 101:1-42
Tuesday, July 14: DC 101:43-101
Wednesday, July 15: DC 103
Thursday, July 16: DC 105
Friday, July 17: Our Heritage 27-29, 37-45
"They must needs be chastened and tried, even as Abraham"
Monday, July 13: Doctrine and Covenants 101:1-42
Tuesday, July 14: DC 101:43-101
Wednesday, July 15: DC 103
Thursday, July 16: DC 105
Friday, July 17: Our Heritage 27-29, 37-45
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Love conquers all
As I read through DC 112, the verse that sums up missionary work for me is this:
10 Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.
11 I know thy heart, and have heard thy prayers concerning thy brethren. Be not partial towards them in love above many others, but let thy love be for them as for thyself; and let thy love abound unto all men, and unto all who love my name.
I marvel at the stages of life. When I was a teenager, being taught about going into the world and teaching the gospel, I saw it as a black and white issue: go on a mission and teach. When I was a missionary I was teaching and it was still a black and white issue. That was my calling and my life. My Mission President encouraged us often to talk to the members about missionary work, so we did. It was frustrating at times when families would just not be willing to offer their friends for us to teach. I just didn't understand the sociality of it all. After returning from a mission and living in places with less than 50% LDS people (much less), I understand why we were not given friends to teach on the mission. You just don't want to have that uncomfortableness of a friend offering something and a friend refusing something.
I feel now that the time for inviting friends to church and to talk to the missionaries is something that is led by the Spirit. We of course felt this as missionaries, but I think our expectations were probably unrealistic as far as timing goes. I see now that our job was to encourage people to love their neighbors. To pray for the right time to talk about religion. To soften friends hearts, or just open them a little for the time that may come when they will be ready to hear more.
Doing missionary work for or with any one person is a personalized journey. We hear remarkable stories about people who are "golden," when the timing and people and circumstances are just right. This stories create very high expectations. We also hear stories about people who take years to study, then refuse, then study some more, then get angry, then study some more, then maybe take a chance to smile at the missionaries, then refuse and on and on. These stories about kill your desire to help in anyway.
Which brings me back to verses 11-12. We are to be humble and the Lord will lead us. If we are humble, we will say the right things, to the right people, at the right time. If we pray and love people genuinely, they will respond and their hearts will be soft. And if they do not show the slightest interest in the gospel in this life, perhaps their hearts will be more open in the next because of the friendship and love that you continued to show regardless of differences.
Love conquers all!!!
10 Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.
11 I know thy heart, and have heard thy prayers concerning thy brethren. Be not partial towards them in love above many others, but let thy love be for them as for thyself; and let thy love abound unto all men, and unto all who love my name.
I marvel at the stages of life. When I was a teenager, being taught about going into the world and teaching the gospel, I saw it as a black and white issue: go on a mission and teach. When I was a missionary I was teaching and it was still a black and white issue. That was my calling and my life. My Mission President encouraged us often to talk to the members about missionary work, so we did. It was frustrating at times when families would just not be willing to offer their friends for us to teach. I just didn't understand the sociality of it all. After returning from a mission and living in places with less than 50% LDS people (much less), I understand why we were not given friends to teach on the mission. You just don't want to have that uncomfortableness of a friend offering something and a friend refusing something.
I feel now that the time for inviting friends to church and to talk to the missionaries is something that is led by the Spirit. We of course felt this as missionaries, but I think our expectations were probably unrealistic as far as timing goes. I see now that our job was to encourage people to love their neighbors. To pray for the right time to talk about religion. To soften friends hearts, or just open them a little for the time that may come when they will be ready to hear more.
Doing missionary work for or with any one person is a personalized journey. We hear remarkable stories about people who are "golden," when the timing and people and circumstances are just right. This stories create very high expectations. We also hear stories about people who take years to study, then refuse, then study some more, then get angry, then study some more, then maybe take a chance to smile at the missionaries, then refuse and on and on. These stories about kill your desire to help in anyway.
Which brings me back to verses 11-12. We are to be humble and the Lord will lead us. If we are humble, we will say the right things, to the right people, at the right time. If we pray and love people genuinely, they will respond and their hearts will be soft. And if they do not show the slightest interest in the gospel in this life, perhaps their hearts will be more open in the next because of the friendship and love that you continued to show regardless of differences.
Love conquers all!!!
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