The Path to Jesus Christ: a life-long Journey!

What thinks Christ of me?

   Life is a long process of striving to become like Christ.  I am like most people. I mess up. I fail daily. I wish there was an easier way of becoming like Christ. And maybe not just trying to be like Christ but just being a better person. I know I can improve. I am the least perfect person.

So something I am trying to think about is what does Christ think of me?

    Life brings a lot to the table of choices. Where am I going? What am I doing? Should I do this? Life is a lot of how we use our Time. TIME = Choices. Choices define how we are. and what our character is.
So how do we define our life?

 A prophet of God teaches us how to "Stand In Holy Places" in a time where the world will often shift and turn. The world will try to change us but as we stand in holy places, and as we think to ourselves, "WHAT THINKS CHRIST OF ME?", we will not be moved. We will not need to ask what thinks of Christ of me? We will say: "I am living as a disciple of Christ. I am willing to do the fathers will - Not mine but His be done". The path to Jesus Christ: a life-long Journey!

SunRise - A New Day!

                       SUNRISE. A NEW DAY!
       
                              Before we get up
                          the dark night awakes.
                      We arise and see a new day. 
                         There is so much to say  
                               for the sunrise:
                             A new Beginning
                                 A new Day  
                                A new Start
                           A fresh View of life
                              waiting to come.

    

 

 As the dark sky turns

            to light: 

        A reminder of 

 The Savior, Jesus Christ     

     And all He has done 

        for mankind.

    A new day awakes

         A new dawn

   

     As the dark turns

            to light

    A Sunrise comes up.

            Awake!

            Awake!

   A new day is coming.

      A new dawning

         A new light. 

                                            

Hallelujah the Lord is King

 

HALLELUJAH THE LORD IS KING!  We have a righteous King - the Lord - who loves and cares for us all. He wants us to have joy, peace, and love in our lives. Jesus Christ gave us life through the Atonement.

By his example he showed us the way that we can live.
We become the sons and daughters of God as we live His commandments and change our lives.

 Mosiah 5:7 And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.

As we strive to learn and become like him, it is inevitable that we change and grow closer to God and His son, Jesus christ.
     As we put our trust in him, we are changed through faith on His name.

 Alma 36:3 And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.

We are to put trust in the Lord and He will support us in our trials. He does this through the Atonement.

 Alma34:15-17 And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.

 16 And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption.

 17 Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you.

As we have faith in Him, He will have mercy on us. As we strive to live the commandments of God, change daily towards Jesus Christ and God, and use the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we become closer to the Lord. And truly then, we become his son and daughters.

In the Arms of the Savior

     So, this last week or so, I have been studying about the Savior's Atonement and His love. I have learned how we can really utilize the Atonement, and how to apply it to our day-to-day lives. Sometimes I know for me personaly, I feel kinda drained and tired and I need the strength to keep moving. As I have studied the message of His sacrifice and Atoning love, and as I have studied talks given by modern prophets and apostles about his love and Atonement, I have tried to better apply it to my life. I think sometimes I feel as though I am not getting it or I just don't know if I need it. Whether I am a good person or a bad person, what ever choices I make in life, I know when I am or am not in line with His Gospel. But, how can we get strength from the Savior? And how can the Atonment change us, no matter where we may be at in our lives? How can we better understand his Atoning sacrifice?




Mosiah 3:19 "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."

    We learn that we naturally are an enemy to God, but as we "put off the natural man" and as we "becometh as a child" by being "submisive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, [and] willing to submit to all things", we then
"becometh a saint through the Atonement of Christ the Lord.

   So, how can we become like Christ, or what we call obtaining "Christlike attributes"? How do we become like this? Well, I have been asking that myself for a long time. How do we become like Christ?  Here is a pattern that has helped me in obtaining Christlike attributes: 

1. Studying 
2. Prayer 
3. Apply His teachings to our life


   So simple, right? There seems to be more to the math of becomeing  like Christ or using his Atoning sacrifice, but there's not. There is one thing that Jesus Christ gives us all in times of our stress and our pain and our trials, that being His arms. Christ died for all mankind. He came on Earth, died on the cross, and had His arms pierced. His arms are extended towards all.

 Alma 5:33 Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you.

 

 

Christ sendeth his mercy to all, whether we are old, young, what ever we have done in this life - even to the worst of sinners! His mercy is never too low that it can't reach us.

    "And he saith: Repent, and I will receive you".

The Lord's arms are always there, His mercy is unceasing and never-ending. His love is great. He will not forsake you, He will not leave you alone.  He is there, even when we think He is not. He loves all His children.

 2 Nephi 1:15 But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.

The Lord is able to forgive all of His children. The arms of His love is great. In this scripture, Nephi is talking about himself. The Atonement has the power for all of  God's children to receive forgiveness. As we use His arms for mercy and forgiveness, we can learn and grow from His grace. 

                   
 D&C 6:20 Behold, thou art Oliver, and I have spoken unto thee because of thy desires; therefore treasure up these words in thy heart. Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love.

 God knows all His children, even Oliver, and gives them comfort in times of hardship.  

D&C 110:5 Behold, your sins are forgiven you; you are clean before me; therefore, lift up your heads and rejoice.

  Sometimes we forget to remember who it was that gave us all that we have. The Lord will not forget us. He knows all our pains and trials. I know as we lean on the arms of the Savior, we can have total trust in Him. We can also lean on him in times of stress. The Atoning sacrifice that Jesus Christ did for the whole world was to help us and to change us. His arms are of Love, Power, Mercy. He gave freely so we can return to him, as we use this great Power that He did for us. His love is forever. As we learn of this great Atonment, we can better understand His love for us all.  

What Thinks Christ of Me?

                        As you love Him, trust Him, believe Him, and follow Him,

                           you will feel His love and approval.

 

 

 

                                              

That the Lost May Be Found

                                As you seek to live the gospel and doctrine of Christ,

                                    the Holy Ghost will guide you and your family.

Children of God

There are times in our lives when we feel true happiness. The time I am thinking of is when you have a little baby. When you hold them in your hands, and feel that happiness, and you know that little baby came from God. Before that baby came here to earth, it was with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We know that is true.


"IN THE PREMORTAL REALM, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life."  (A Proclamation to the Family)       

Alma 17:11-16

 11 And it came to pass that he commanded that their little children should be brought.

12 So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him.

13 And it came to pass that when they had all been brought, and Jesus stood in the midst, he commanded the multitude that they should kneel down upon the ground.

14 And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and said: Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel.

15 And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.

16 And after this manner do they bear record: The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father;

"Fathers and mothers, next time you cradle a newborn child in your arms, you can have an inner vision of the mysteries and purpose of life. You will better understand why the Church is as it is and why the family is the basic organization in time and in eternity. I bear witness that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, that the plan of redemption, which has been called the plan of happiness, is a plan for families. I pray the Lord that the families of the Church will be blessed, parents and children, that this work will roll forth as the Father intends. I bear this witness in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."-Elder Boyd K. Packer

Happiness in Family Life

is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect,love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.”

~ The Family: A Proclamation to the World ~

21 Years Old! A time to Choose?

   Today I am 21 years old. WOW....it feels good. Never thought I would get to be this old. 21 seems to be a big time in my life. This next year is huge! I guess you could say I have a lot of choices to make in my life this year, at this age. What does the world think about 21 years old? 21, the legal age to drink? Everyone has their agency, the ability to choose what they want to do in this life. It is theirs to choose. Is there more to life than this? Yes! Being out here in the mission field in Tennessee and Kentucky, so many people look at the age 21 as the age we can drink beer and go party. Life is not meant to be controlled by substances, like beer and drugs.

    God did not send us here to fail. He sent us here to grow and learn and become something great! 21 years ago, I came to this world with a loving family, with wonderful parents, a brother, and sisters. My parents taught me how to live the gospel and showed me by their example what to do and where to go. Before I came to this earth I was with my Father in Heaven in what we call pre- Earth life. There I had agency to choose to follow Heavenly Father's plan or Satan's plan. His plan was to force all to do good and for him to take all the glory. I am grateful I followed my Heavenly Father's plan and came here on earth to have a family. My family is so great and wonderful. I love them so much! Agency is the freedom to choose to follow Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, and to inherit Eternal Life. God gave us agency, so choose wisely.          

Families

Why are families so important to the Mormon faith?

The Family is Central to God's Plan

   We Believe that God put families here to help give us support and strengthen us. The family is there to help us during trials and hard times. It is easy to say that with their support, we grow and become better. I don't know what I would do without my family. We grow together, we learn to love each other, and it is through the family that we become close to God and his son, Jesus Christ. You could say we are all brothers and sisters and we all belong to our Father in Heaven. This is all central to God's plan.

Does God Love All his Children?

   YES! God is no respecter of persons. He loves those who sin and those who don't. He loves everyone! Sometimes we think God forgets us. We think the trials we have or the problems we face mean that God does not love us. This is not true! He will love us always. He cries when you are sad and He rejoices when you are happy. He wants you to be happy. As a family, that happiness comes when you have your first child or when you have children at all. That happiness comes from your children. Through this, we see how God feels about you personally. He loves all his children.

The Gospel Of Jesus Christ Brings Safety to the Home

    The world today is full of a lot of things that can bring us down. If we let it, the world will take us and mold us into something we don't want. That is why we need a place where we can be safe from the world. A place where we can learn, play,  and grow. The home is where great families are built. With the Gospel of Jesus Christ we let God, not the world, mold us, because the Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us the power to change and grow. As we make His Gospel part of our home, we can have safety in the home.

Scripture for the day!

Enos

  1 Behold, it came to pass that I, Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man—for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it— 2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.

 3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.

 4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

 5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

The Atonement is for all of us, good or bad. As we give Jesus Christ our problems, we too, like Enos, can feel forgiveness in our lives!