A Most-Blessed Easter

"The Savior has suffered not just for our iniquities but also for the inequality, the unfairness, the pain,

the anguish, and the emotional distresses that so frequently beset us. There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, 'No one understands. No one knows.' No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, succor—literally run to us—and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying upon only our own power." ~David A. Bednar

I love bearing my testimony of the Savior, but there are times when my words just won't do, and His other anointed servants - His Prophets and Apostles - say it far better than I ever could.

The Unchanging Word of the Lord

When Christ came into the world to save His people from sorrow, sin and oppression, many were disappointed because due to the traditions of their fathers, they had expected and eagerly awaited a conquering king from the royal house of David - a  man who would overthrow Roman rule and lead

the people in battle. What they got was oh, so much more! Yet they did not - COULD NOT - see it. And because of their blindness, or rather, the blindness of their Jewish leaders, they missed out on learning at the feet of the greatest teacher who ever walked the face of the earth.

However, even among those who were Christ's followers, many found some of his teachings hard to take and there was a great division among the people. And just as it was then, so it is today. To live the gospel is not a matter of picking and choosing what commandments to obey. The Lord said if we are not FOR Him, we are AGAINST Him, which means we had better decide WHOSE side we are on.
I love and cherish every single word of the gospel of Christ, and lowly sinner that I am, I will continue to do my best and pray that my humble offering will be accepted, and that the Savior's atoning sacrifice will make up the difference. Which means, I am on His side no matter what!

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He ~Matthew 10: 34-38

that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me."

 

Looking Forward to That Day

With each day that passes, I find myself reflecting more and more on the Savior's gifts to me - His teachings and His many sacrifices, the biggest of which is the Atonement. I'm more prone to tears these days and my emotions run high when I think about the many ways the Lord's life has blessed my own. Flawed creature that I am, I have received much comfort, and answers to prayers that have strengthened and increased my faith and testimony of the Father and the Son's love for me, and for all of us.

Oh, how I look forward to the Savior's return! How I look forward to kneeling before Him, for the opportunity to bathe His feet with my tears, to feel the nail wounds there, and in His hands. And how I pray that when that day does come, I will be worthy of the blessing. Until then, I will do my best to live my best and be my best.
I pray for this for all of us.

Forgive Yourself

No many how many times  I write, post, and pray to help others understand about forgiving, allowing

ourselves to be forgiven and moving on, there are still so many precious souls who can't seem to let go of past mistakes- not the mistakes of others, but their own. They can't seem to allow themselves to be forgiven, to let Christ's atonement work in their life. They can't seem to tear down that invisible screen Satan places between them and the Lord, blocking their view of the loving arms that are wide open, just waiting to receive them, to take the burden from them and free them of the heavy load they have tried to shoulder alone for so long.
How I wish that we could understand that each time we do this, we are basically saying to the Lord, "I don't believe You." We are not saying, "I don't believe IN You," but "I don't believe YOU." There is a difference.
I meet so many people who just can't seem to get past the past, which is a very, very, very important part of repentance and forgiveness. Believe me, I know! Like Linus with his comfort blanket, they drag it with them wherever they go- they can't seem to help it. But we need to remember that when we are dragging that blanket, there is an evil, unwanted rider onboard, and he is smiling and holding on, attempting to re-soil a blanket that had been laundered. Think about that.
I pray that we can all stay focused on the Savior and His promises, that our past may never dictate our present, or our future.

Destined for Greater Things

I wish wish all my heart that each and every one of us could understand how much we are loved by

the Father and the Son, how much we mean to Them, and how important our individual part is in the eternal plan. Every single person is of value and has a purpose, but it's up to us to use our gift of agency in a way that will help us discover what that purpose is. We truly are destined for greater things, but we cannot receive those greater things unless we let our will be swallowed up in the will of the Father, focusing solely on the things of Christ.
Man is that he might have joy, but to truly experience that joy, it can't be about us.
It is about Him.
It always has been.

He Has Already Lost

We know that Satan is an enemy to God, and so are the evil ones who follow and work with him to destroy the souls of men - a third part of the hosts of heaven, to be exact. He is known as the fallen

one, having fallen from heaven ( or more correctly stated, cast out.) And since Satan is God's enemy, as children of God and followers of Christ, he is OUR enemy as well. Each and every battle we fight against the powers of darkness on a daily basis is a fight against a fallen enemy.

Do you understand how vital that knowledge is!

Remember what I said before about Satan having no power over us except what we choose to give him by our disobedience to the Lord? Well, when we are doing our best to live by the spirit, heeding the promptings of the Holy Ghost, putting the Father and the Son first in every area of our life, the adversary has no power over us. NONE! Yes, we all stumble and fall from time to time, but the minute we get back up, brush ourselves off and begin again, the scrapes and bumps begin to heal and the battle armor is still in good repair, able to offer vital protection against a foe who, though he may continue to wage a war that began before we even came to the earth, will not accept his losses, because due to agency, he can still cause so much damage.

But no matter how many souls he corrupts, no matter how many hearts he turns away from the Savior, Satan will never win. He can't.
May we all live each day armed with faith in the Lord, completely devoted to Him, and sure in the knowledge that as long as we look to him in all our times of trial, no matter what our struggles are, He will help shield against the piercing arrows that the adversary is sure to unleash during the

moments of weakness that come while we patiently wait upon the Lord.

Why it Matters

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." ~Ephesians 6:11-13

Every single day, we witness things going on in the world that make this admonition from the Lord

more vital than we can even begin to fathom or understand. The meme below is one of my absolute favorites, however, I decided, just for fun, to search for some other memes online because I love this scripture so much; there are many - countless ones, but sadly on most of them, there is a major difference in word choice due to the different Bible versions. And that one change in word, to me, completely changes the admonition.

The difference? While the translation (in the widely-used King James version, and the 1599 Geneva version) is "the whole armour of God," in some other versions of the Holy Bible, "whole" is changed to "full," which weakens the admonition and takes away some of the urgency, and we CANNOT afford to do that. EVER.
Now, the difference between whole and full is that whole is something complete and entire, nothing missing, while full is utmost measure or extent, the highest state or degree. That is why words are so important. Many people may say, "Oh, it just semantics," but it isn't.

In any case, may we all put on the whole armour of God that we may be entirely and completely protected from the ever-growing evils of this world.