Thursday, December 24, 2009

Forever Praise Him

My all time favorite Christmas hymn/song is Oh Holy Night. I love the version by Celine Dion and love to watch it on YouTube. The line in the the Celine Dion version of the song that raises goosebumps on my arm every time is "Christ is the Lord!The name forever praise we".

I can imagine myself with that large host of angels in heaven the night that Jesus was born. I believe that we all were joyous and sang praises as we watched from above Christ being born. We knew what this would mean for the world.
I love the Savior and all that represents and has done for all mankind. The spirit of Christ can be felt all throughout the world for all those who believe on His name. I am excited to celebrate his birth at this special time of year and have posted the lyrics to Oh Holy Night below. I hope you read these praises and feel His spirit. I also included a short video below that sums up today's message. Merry Christmas!

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of Our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world In sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd And the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope The weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O, hear the angels' voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.
Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts By His cradle we stand.
So led by light of A star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise men From Orient land.
The King of Kings Lay thus in lowly manger;
In all our trials Born to be our friend.
He knows our need, To our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King, Before Him lowly bend!
Truly He taught us To love one another;
His law is love And His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break For the slave is our brother;
And in His name All oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy In grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us Praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory Evermore proclaim.
His power and glory Evermore proclaim.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

A Change of Heart

My sister called me last week to share some great news with me. She had a very special experience with her son (a learning moment) that was a significant spiritual awakening for her and her family. She was anxious to share it with me and I asked her permission to share it on this blog.

She had told me a couple of weeks ago about some neighbors she had that were always borrowing from her. They live pretty far from a grocery store so she thought they had just grown accustomed to borrowing from my sister to avoid having to drive to the store.
In the beginning she didn’t mind but as the weeks wore on it seemed to be a daily thing. She began to feel like she was their grocery store and they just came and went and shopped from her kitchen. They continued to tell her each day that they planned to repay her but they never did. While in her annoyed state she couldn’t help but become bothered by some choices the family was making and they seemed to be going down hill as a family. She felt their lack of food and other items was a result of their own poor personal choices.

Last Sunday she was down in her eight year old son’s room reading scriptures with him. It’s something they do each night before they go to bed. This night was a little different though as it was fast Sunday. They had fasted that day for certain things and it was my sister’s first fast in over 14 months as she has a 5 month old baby and couldn’t fast while pregnant and nursing.

They were reading in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah Chapter 4. When she came to verse 16 – 26 suddenly she felt the spirit pour over her body and the Lord speaking directly to her.

This chapter is King Benjamin speaking to his people. He says:

16 And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.

17 Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—


18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.


She never realized she had been in need of repentance from feeling this way. The verse changed her heart.


19 For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?


Yes, God has given us all that we have and when we share we are really the hands of the Lord. We are giving on behalf of the Lord. He blesses us so that we can bless others.


21 And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.


22 And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.


Yes, my sister had been judging her neighbors and did not realize the severity of what she was doing. Verse 22 brought her to her knees.


23 I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world.


24 And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give.


25 And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain guiltless, otherwise ye are condemned; and your condemnation is just for ye covet that which ye have not received.


26 And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.


After reading this my sister turned to her son and told him that she had felt the Spirit over come her and that the Lord was trying to tell them something. His eyes watered up and he said, “Mom my eyes are watering, is that the Spirit I am feeling?” What a great teaching moment as a mother. As she taught her son that the way they had felt about their neighbors was wrong, her son believed her and agreed. She also taught her son that because they had fasted that day, they had opened up spiritual communication with their Father in Heaven. Because their spiritual eyes and ears were opened they were able to recognize the Lord speaking to them.

The next day my sister was surprised when she asked neighbors if she could borrow a latter to hang Christmas lights. Not only were they excited to lend her the latter, they gave her a bunch of things she had been in need of as well. She realized that the monetary value of what they had given her that day was more than the total value of all the things she had ever let them borrow. She was instantly humbled. My sister walked away that day a new person and had a new perspective of her neighbors.

During this Christmas season, let us remember that God gives us everything we have including our very lives. We owe it to Him to love one another and to give to those in need. Whether the gifts that we give are spiritual, emotional or physical and tangible, let us give with an open heart without judgment. I promise that by doing this we will feel the Spirit of Christ in our lives and we will be blessed immensely. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Happy Holidays!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

The Mysteries of God


The other night after reading my scriptures I began studying the Bible dictionary on some interesting topics which transpired some new thoughts for me. Here is what I read below under the definition of “God”.

God

Although God created all things and is the ruler of the universe, being omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent (through his Spirit), mankind has a special relationship to him that differentiates man from all other created things: man is literally God’s offspring, made in his image, whereas all other things are but the work of his hands. Acts 17: 28-29)

Yes, I knew this before but had never thought about it this way until now. We really are children of God. Just like we are the offspring of our biological parents, we are the real offspring of our heavenly parents. That’s what makes us unique among all His other creations. Thus we take on His image and have the amazing ability to become like Him someday.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie stated

“God himself, the Father of us all, established a plan of salvation whereby his spirit children might progress and become like him. It is the gospel of God, the plan of Eternal Elohim, the system that saves and exalts, and it consists of three things. These three are the very pillars of eternity itself. They are the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement.”

Elder Mark E. Petersen stated

“Who would exchange the privilege of becoming like God for the very questionable and temporary advantages of this world? Our actions demonstrate whether we are working toward becoming like God or the world.”

Psalms 82:6

“I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.”

No, I don’t believe for a minute that in the next life God’s children just float around on clouds and play harps. We all have a divine purpose and destiny now and throughout eternity. As we seek to find that purpose, then gradually that knowledge will be given to us.

On Earth we set goals and strive to achieve more, it is no different in the next life. There is work to be done and God has so much to teach us. We will have great responsibilities depending on our decisions we made in this life.

This knowledge is what keeps me motivated to do my best in this life. Knowing and understanding my potential makes it easier to withstand temptation. We are taught in the scriptures that when Christ returns he will reveal the mysteries of God. I look forward to that day and am very excited to know about things that are beyond my mortal comprehension. Though I struggled with chemistry and pretty much all sciences in school, I know that in the next life I will understand it inside and out. That is mind blowing.

I have a very humbling respect and deep love for our Heavenly Father and I know that He desires for us to have the desire to learn, grow and have a relationship with Him. There is so much He wants to share with us and we must be willing to seek Him each day in order to feel His love and receive His knowledge. This is my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.