Sunday is easily my most favorite day of the week. Today, in particular, has been littered with all sorts of different insights and learnings – nothing really that I can connect together, per say, but just a lot of random thoughts from random sources. Here they are:
Clayton Christensen’s “The Power of Everyday Missionaries”
The power in asking questions. The gospel was revealed to Joseph Smith because he was willing to ask questions – time and time again. It was laid out for us line upon line because Joseph Smith was curious enough to ask and brave enough to listen to the answer. There is a part in the book that tells “God assured Joseph that He didn’t plan to give him all the answers at that point – that there were many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God that He would give to them in the future – provided, of course, that they keep asking questions.”
This makes me ponder my own questions. What is it really that I want to ask? AND … am I actually asking? It is one thing to know that Heavenly Father knows your heart. He knows what is inside of you, what you really desire, where you struggle etc. But when you can identify it yourself and come to the point where you are committed enough to it to actually ask for it or about it … then, at that point, you are finally ready to learn. He knows our questions, but we still have to ask them. (Side note – I love that Clayton Christensen always capitalizes “He” in his writings when referring to the Lord. Little offerings of respect say so much!)
R.S. “Power to Overcome the Adversary” by Peter M. Johnson Oct. 2019
Ralph Waldo Emerson describes nature in “The Art of Taking a Walk”: “In the woods we return to reason and faith. Standing on the bare ground – my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space – all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all, the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God.” . . . I know what this feels like 🙂
Elder Bruce C. Hafen: “Brigham Young said that when we keep the Spirit of the Lord, we will feel just as if we were again by our Father in Heaven before we came into the world. To feel His presence now is the remember His presence then. He is the Father of our spirits; and if we could know, understand, and do His will, every soul would be prepared to return back into His presence. And when they get there, they would see that they had foremerly lived there for ages, that they had preciously be acquainted with every nook and corner, with the palaces, walks, and gardens and they would embrace their Father, and He would embrace them and say, “My son, my daughter, I have you again,” and the child would say, “O my Father, I am here again.”
This makes me think of how deep down inside, we intimately know our Heavenly Father, we always have. That relationship is there and has been all along, but we close ourselves off to it through our busy lives. So much now, more than ever, do we need to mandate our own lives. What and who will be our focus? Where will our thoughts be? To what and to whom will we give our time and attention? President Hinckley’s counsel “Be Still” is 100% wisdom. In this stillness is where we remember Him and recommit to choosing Him.
President Nelson: “You were taught in the spirit world to prepare you for anything and everything you would encounter during this latter part of these latter days. That teaching endures within you!”
We already have everything we need to conquer anything we face within us. We have already been taught. Do you believe that? Ponder it for a second. How would believing in that change your life? If you actually believed that you already had all of the power, skill and knowledge to make you everything you wanted to become spiritually (all within the Lord’s will for you of course), to overcome all of your weaknesses and struggles, your flaws and dysfunctions … how would that change you and your mindset? … because President Nelson says you do. Do you believe what the prophet teaches? …
Moses: We learn about deception in Moses. When Moses speaks with the Lord, the Lord tells him “thou art my son,” and later He refers to Moses, “Moses, my son …” From this Moses learns who he is – A son of God. Satan comes along and says, “Moses, son of man, worship me.” Satan is a sneaky liar. He tries to get into our heads to manipulate our perceptions of ourselves. He wants to confuse us as to our true, divine identity. Elder Peter M. Johnson explains, “We are created in God’s own image, and He has a work for us to do. the adversary attempts to deceive by having us forget who we truly are. If we do not understand who we are, then it is difficult to recognize who we can become.” Joseph Smith adds, “If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.”
There is so much to learn by simply learning who the Lord is.
Sacrament Meeting
The Savior focused on joy to help Him endure the difficult things. Focusing on joy, having hope in the our Savior, and serving others helps to relieve our own suffering.
Come Follow Me Study with Brenda, Karen and Shay
2N11 “My soul delighteth” … The gospel really is the “good news” 🙂
2N12 There are so many warnings to the proud, puffed up people of the world. Time is running out. “And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.”
2N13:9 “The show of their countenance doth witness against them …” I have seen this first hand.
2N19 “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” This is a scripture I have loved for so long. I know that is can be interpreted in many different ways. In the scripture passages, Isaiah is speaking of the destruction of the people. God will allow destruction and consequences of such but He is still there for them. Personally, in my own interpretation, I see patience, love and mercy in this passage. God sees us. He sees us completely, in all of our weakness and struggles, in all of our strengths and triumphs. He sees us. We are allowed to choose for ourselves and sometimes those choices require suffering consequences. At no point does the Lord step in and remove the consequences of our choices, but at the same time, He NEVER abandons us. He suffers those consequences with us, by our sides the entire time. He may be disappointed in our choices, frustrated etc, but He loves us completely just the same.
Forever grateful!
