Fear Not, I Am With Thee

Have you ever been caught in a storm in your car or while out on a walk? The thunder and lightening, rain, snow, wind and cold air seem to add a bit of uneasiness to the moment. It's different when we are in the safety of our home but being out in the storm changes everything. If you have actually witnessed this then you know there is nothing better then when the clouds part and a ray of light shines through separating the light from the darkness. The warmth from that light that seems to take our worries away and remind us that God is there and is aware of us.

Music is another way that God speaks to us. There are so many songs that I have received personal messages from that are near and dear to my heart. Today's message comes from one of my favorite Hymns How Firm a Foundation. I absolutely love this hymn especially when the Tabernacle Choir sings it. The third verse is my favorite as I feel it directed personally to me every time I hear the words:

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

Today I was reminded of this hymn throughout the day as I heard several references to it in scriptures, talks and testimonies. It got me to thinking how powerful God really is and that He will never abandon us. I thought about all the times I have been afraid and reminded myself that fear doesn't come from God. If we truly trust in God then fear will have no power over us. Anytime we feel the burden of fear overcome us it is because we are not putting our full trust and faith in God.

When we feel fear the first thing we need to do is get on our knees and talk to our Heavanly Father. Just talking to Him and asking for His help will immediately calm our fears. Having this knowledge that God has power over all even Satan, can help us have confidence in our decisions, ourselves and those we love.

Whether or not we choose to worship and follow Him, He has been, is and always will be our God and creator. Nothing will ever change that. The verse I mentioned above are the words He whispers to us through the Spirit time and time again during our times of struggle and when we pray to him in our most difficult moments.

Feeling God's love for me personally, is the best feeling I can experience in this life. I can't imagine how people survive this life and go through trials while withdrawn from His spirit. The more things we do that are displeasing to the Lord, the more we push ourselves away from Him and His love. We do this to ourselves as we no longer feel worthy of His love and lose promptings from the precious Spirit. Eventually we will experience trial upon trial until we realize how much we need Him and make that effort to come back to Him. Though we sometimes forsake Him, He will never forsake us.

In the second verse of Jericho Road's song You Melt the Madness it says:

It seems this crazy world is never going to change
So, Lord I want you to change me
And in the chaos I'll be calling out Your name
Won't You set me free with Your serenity

This is another favorite song of mine. I love this verse because it reminds me that humility is another part of the formula. How often to we ask the Lord to change everything around us and make it better? When we know that His will is always definite, we should be asking Him to help change us so that we can better deal with our trials rather than asking him to remove them from us.

Another line in this song:

Come what may no matter what I face
I'll be still and know that You are God

Again, this reminds me of the trust we need to have in Him. When we can show Him that we are confident in His will, He will bless us for our faith and we will feel peace. I challenge you to try this next time you feel fear and uncertainty. Pray for change in yourself, have faith and put your trust in God. You’ll be amazed at the difference it will make in your life.

I’d like to hear what favorite songs or hymns have brought hope and comfort into your life. Please comment below.

Entering God's Kingdom

I went to Frightmares this weekend and couldn't help but notice the hurry that everyone was in. I kept wondering "why the rush" and "what for"? People ran to get in line, they ran to the restrooms, they ran to get a bite to eat and they ran to catch a show. There was so much running going on and so many stimulating distractions that people seemed to be in their own little worlds forgetting about all those around them. You could see it on their faces "what if we don't get there on time?", "what if the line is too long", "what if there aren't enough seats?". You could read it on their minds as they drove strollers over feet, cut in front of people without apologizing, bumped shoulders without any remorse or acknowledgment. Everyone was out for themselves and no one seemed to lend a helping hand to a fellow stranger in need. I myself became an unfortunate victim after waiting in a line for 45 minutes to see a show. Initially were were 6th in line, however that soon began to change as groups of people slowly crept under the ropes and squoze around garbage cans hoping to be unnoticed. Soon a line had formed next to our line and people pushed and shoved to be in the front and slowly work their way into the main line. Everyone in line had a wandering eye letting others know that they better not try anything funny or they'd get what they had coming. I couldn't believe the tension. When the signal was given for the line to file into the seating area I saw grown adults jump over garbage cans, climb gates, and hurl themselves around baby strollers while pushing and shoving their way to get a seat. For being 6th in line we almost did not get a seat, it was complete madness. It was easy to see how quickly people could get trampled and killed is such a stampede as that one.

As I flung my child over the bench in front of us to reserve two seats, people came in from both sides trying to sit on my child and forcefully take my spot. So I jumped over the bench and fought to reserve our spot but was unable to get anyone to slide over for my husband who was behind me. We couldn't even sit together. Suddenly a women to my left leans over and begins to yell at me. "If you hadn't have flown over the bench like a crazy woman I could have had enough room for my entire family!" I noticed that she and her 6 older children who not only took up the entire bench and sat on my child, were also part of the group that butted in line and had sneaked in from the side. I couldn't help but defend myself by saying "We waited in line 45 minutes and were 6th in line and almost didn't get a seat, which isn't fair at all." She rolled her eyes at me and said something under her breath and I though to myself, "How mean. Does she not see my cute little three year old boy? How could she yell at me like that in front of my son? He is so innocent and excited to see the show and didn't need to experience a rude woman like that." It made me sad and I couldn't understand.

Later that night I saw a TV program where grandparents were being publicly harassed and persecuted for a crime their daughter had committed. Complete strangers drove up to their home and threatened to kill them in front of little children. It made me sad and I though "What is this world coming to?"

It was then that I realized why the Savior time and time again taught us in the scriptures to be like little children.

Mark 10:15 "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little ^achild, he shall not enter therein."

Matt 19:14 "But Jesus said, ^aSuffer little ^bchildren, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Matt 18:3 "And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little ^achildren, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. "

Henry B. Eyring said in his talk, “As a Child,” Ensign, May 2006,

"But King Benjamin, who understood as well as any mortal what it meant to be a man of strength and courage, makes it clear that to be like a child is not to be childish. It is to be like the Savior, who prayed to His Father for strength to be able to do His will and then did it. Our natures must be changed to become as a child to gain the strength we must have to be safe in the times of moral peril.

Here is King Benjamin’s stirring description of what that change to become like a child is and how it comes to us:

“For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” 6

We are safe on the rock which is the Savior when we have yielded in faith in Him, have responded to the Holy Spirit’s direction to keep the commandments long enough and faithfully enough that the power of the Atonement has changed our hearts. When we have, by that experience, become as a child in our capacity to love and obey, we are on the sure foundation."

I thought about the woman at Lagoon who yelled at me and remembered how later throughout the show she couldn't help but smile at my son who was clapping to the music and winning the hearts of the dancers on stage who kept blowing kisses at him.

Children are so humble and submissive and can bring peace and a smile to stubborn or quick tempered adults. We can learn a lot from our children and must remember that they already have a place in the God's kingdom as they are perfect. We are the ones who have work to do. Instead of getting angry at our neighbor when faced with conflict we need to remember that they once were little children and will always be God's children. When we are quick to love and help our neighbors we become like little children in God's eyes. In the next life it won't matter that we got the seat we wanted but it will matter how we treated others on our way to our seat.

I challenge everyone to pay extra attention to your neighbors and fellow man in all your busy day activities. Let's not be in such a hurry to get from point A to point B that we step on others to get there. Lets be good Samaritans and more like our little ones; meek, submissive and humble.

Good Luck!

My Bookshelf

I have always been a fan of self-help, autobiographies and really anything non-fiction. For some reason, I have always felt that fiction novels are just a waste of my time. I read to be educated and inspired not entertained. My time is very valuable and so if it doesn't educate me...well, then I'll just wait for the movie to come out.

Really, I must be the only girl in the world who has not read the Twilight books, though I did see the movie. I know that if I wasn't already so busy and had very little responsibility and no children I would take on reading these entertaining novels. By nature I am not just a dreamer, I am a doer. I know that this is where my interest for non-fiction comes from. I love to learn and do! I love being productive.

So here is a list of my top three favorite reads for 2009. Each one of these books came to my attention in the most unexpected and unusual ways. I know that they were directed to me by divine intervention without a doubt. Without the spirit confirming things to me it would be very easy to assume that the authors of these books are crazy nut jobs just looking to make a buck. However after studying each author and their cause it is clear to me they have an important message to share with the world. Those not ready to hear it will be easily in doubt and quick to judge while those who are ready to hear it will experience a powerful life changing journey. Each one of these books has had a powerful influence on my life and the lives of all those who I have shared them with. I have never been moved so powerfully by any other book (besides the scriptures). You know a book is worth your time when you can't put it down, you feel the spirit testify things to you, you learn something new, and you want to be a better person. That's exactly what these books did.

There is No Death : Sarah Menet

Sarah Menet had a near death experience in 1979. Prior to this experience she had decided that there was no God. Because of her horrific experiences in life she assumed there was no afterlife and that if God really existed she wouldn't have been allowed to suffer the things she had. Therefore she commit suicide and was pronounced dead on the scene. During her brief death until paramedics arrived and revived her at the hospital Sarah was shown how her choice had consequences and how it would affect her eternally and others. She saw and was taught many things such as why bad things are allowed to happen to good people, why we are here on Earth, what happens after we die, what is deja vu, is there such thing as reincarnation, and what is Hell like. Sarah was also shown many future events that would take place such as two tall buildings collapsing in New York City, plagues striking four specific cities in the U.S and nuclear war. She also met her dead grandmother for the first time and got to see her unborn son in whom she did not know would be born to her until later in life. She was also allowed to see the Savior and was permitted a brief visit to "Hell" (which matches details of the book below) After getting a second chance at life Sarah could not deny God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. It has been her desire ever since to share this message with those who will listen.

23 Minutes in Hell: Bill Wiese

Bill Wiese a successful real estate broker kissed his wife good night one evening and shortly after had an experience that has forever changed his life. Being a spiritual man of Christian faith and very shy this experience was very unexpected and difficult to endure. It wasn't until later that Bill was shown the purpose of his brief visit to Hell. While there he witnessed the "Lake of fire", and it was explained to him in detail the horrific torments that will happen to the wicked and those who don't repent of their sins in this life. For many, reading scripture isn't enough to motivate a person to repent of their sins, however after reading Bill's experience it is very believable that fear can motivate a person very quickly. Bill's experience has brought many people who claim that there was "no hope" to change their hearts or lifestyle to turn their lives around for the better and believe in and follow God. After reading what Bill witnessed the scriptures come to life as he makes sense of several scriptures references that speak and warn of Hell. You can watch some of Bill's seminars on YouTube as he describes his experience in person. The book offers far more detail.

Dream and Visions of the Last Days: Roger Young

After taking on the topic "The Last Days" for a family goal to study throughout the year, Roger and his family became experts on the topic as well are preparedness. He began teaching classes on the topics of food storage, preparedness, signs of the last days and warnings from the prophets. It wasn't before long that members of the church from all over the world, began contacting Roger and sharing with him their dreams, visions and experiences of the last days. They were all having the exact same dreams and visions which marveled Roger as they did not know each other. Roger cites visions such as the George Washington vision all the way up to the Ruben J Clark prophecy. Roger carefully notes that he the purpose of this book is to "convince a few more people to follow the living Prophet a little more closely, and to prepare themselves and their families for the events which lie in the (near?) future by preparing Spiritually (getting temple recommends and using them often), Physically (obtain a minimum one year supply of food, clothing, shelter and other necessities), and Mentally. And as part of this preparation to perhaps come to understand some of the events that they will likely have to pass through." I recommend buying the DVD as Roger explains in a recorded seminar the reality of the last days, the signs that have passed and what we can expect real soon. After reading these visions of prophets, apostles and saints you will be a changed person.

Let me know what you think! I'd love to hear your thoughts. Happy Reading!!

Introduction

I am a mother, a wife, author, speaker and entrepreneur. With all I have been blessed with I feel an overwhelming sense of joy, peace, humility and happiness and have a strong desire to share what I know and feel publicly.Though I write and speak a lot about self help topics I have felt prompted by the spirit recently to start a blog of a spiritual nature. My purpose in doing so is to invite all who come here to think a little clearer, look a little deeper, live a little better, walk a little further and stand a little taller.

I have a strong love for my Savior Jesus Christ and strive to be like Him daily. I have a strong love for my Heavenly Father and I feel His hand in my life daily. I desire for others to feel the same and to come and share your thoughts here often. For those of you who aren't sure, I hope you'll visit here often anyways and that you'll at least feel peace, love and importance from the topics and messages shared.

I write from the heart and I write what I feel strongly about.Though I write boldly I do so respectfully and with a deep reverence and humility. Throughout my life I have always sugar coated my beliefs in fear of offending others who believe differently however I have since learned that by doing so I am not being true to myself, my faith and what I stand for. I am happy to have a place where I can put aside those fears and let my light shine forth. I hope you'll join me!