This week have have studied more about our lord and savior Jesus Christ. I have read many scriptures that stood out to me and I want to share with you some of the thoughts, ideas, and feelings that came to me.
In Jacob 2:21 I read "...And the one being is as precious in his sight as the other. And all flesh is of the dust; and for the selfsame end hath he created them..." Brothers and Sisters, this is another scripture that reminds us that the Savior loves each and every one of us no matter the choices we have made. His love is ongoing and never ending. There is nothing we can do that will stop Him from loving us. He may get disappointed in some of our actions and the choices we make however, he will not stop loving us. He wants each and everyone of us to use the atonement in our lives so we can reach our eternal goal.
Friends, I know that God lives, he loves each and everyone of us the same. Like the parable of the lost sheep, Christ will leave his ninety nine that are on the straight and narrow path to find the one that is lost, and when he finds the lost he will rejoice.
Like it says in Luke 15:7, "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."
The church is true
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Sunday, May 15, 2016
The fall
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. Mosiah 3:19
Friends, as I have been reading a little bit about the fall this week the above scripture really stood out to me. It made me do some self reflecting on my tendencies to be a natural man. I wondered if I am working to "putteth off the natural man" or if I am yielding "to the enticings of the Holy Spirit".
I will be the first to say that this life is difficult, challenging, and it is easy to forget who we are amid the turmoils of temptation. There is so much evil in the world today that tries to persuade us that what is wrong is right. There are many situations in life that cause us to lower our standards and make choices we wouldn't normally make if we want to be "popular".
As a Father of 4 wonderful children I have been given the responsibility to raise them in truth and righteousness. Like we learn in The Family: A Proclamation to the World; "individuals who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God."
I think we should all ask ourselves the following questions;
When away from your family do you act the way you want your children to act?
Do you participate in demeaning behavior?
Do you live the standards you are trying to teach your children at all times?
Are you yielding to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and putting off the Natural Man?
Do the choice's you make daily draw you closer to God?
Am I using the atonement in my life?
I want to publicly recommit this day to follow the council of the above scripture 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."
I would like to challenge anyone who reads this to take the necessary steps to put the atonement to work in your life. That is what it is for, no matter how far you think you have fallen, it is never too late. The savior is waiting patiently to help us through our worldly struggles, but he will not do it unless we ask and act for ourselves.
I love the Lord
Friends, as I have been reading a little bit about the fall this week the above scripture really stood out to me. It made me do some self reflecting on my tendencies to be a natural man. I wondered if I am working to "putteth off the natural man" or if I am yielding "to the enticings of the Holy Spirit".
I will be the first to say that this life is difficult, challenging, and it is easy to forget who we are amid the turmoils of temptation. There is so much evil in the world today that tries to persuade us that what is wrong is right. There are many situations in life that cause us to lower our standards and make choices we wouldn't normally make if we want to be "popular".
As a Father of 4 wonderful children I have been given the responsibility to raise them in truth and righteousness. Like we learn in The Family: A Proclamation to the World; "individuals who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God."
I think we should all ask ourselves the following questions;
When away from your family do you act the way you want your children to act?
Do you participate in demeaning behavior?
Do you live the standards you are trying to teach your children at all times?
Are you yielding to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and putting off the Natural Man?
Do the choice's you make daily draw you closer to God?
Am I using the atonement in my life?
I want to publicly recommit this day to follow the council of the above scripture 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."
I would like to challenge anyone who reads this to take the necessary steps to put the atonement to work in your life. That is what it is for, no matter how far you think you have fallen, it is never too late. The savior is waiting patiently to help us through our worldly struggles, but he will not do it unless we ask and act for ourselves.
I love the Lord
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Covenants
A covenant is a two way promise. Throughout our lives we make many covenants to God. Some of the covenants we make happen when we are baptized and when we receive the Priesthood.
In D&C 20:37 it tells us of the covenants of Baptism when it says "are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins" In this verse it tells us the covenants we make at baptism, they being; Take upon them the name of christ, serve him until the end, manifest they have received a remission of their sins through the spirit of Christ.
If we covenant to do all of this the Lord covenants that we will be forgiven of our sins, and that his spirit will always be with us.
When a young man receives the priesthood Heavenly Father gives his Oath that we can have the power of the priesthood if we magnify our callings and strive keep the commandments.
I have learned through my own personal experiences that when we sin and fail to live up to our end of covenants we feel pain. The Holy Ghost is hard to hear and recognize, we can go into a downward spiral that is hard to get out of. Not only does this affect ourselves but it affects all of those we come into contact with especially our loved ones.
I hope that everyone can realize the importance of living up to all of the covenants we make with God. What we learn in Psalms 89:34 is reminds us that if we keep our end of the promise the Lord will to, it reads "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips."
Thanks for reading
Justin
In D&C 20:37 it tells us of the covenants of Baptism when it says "are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins" In this verse it tells us the covenants we make at baptism, they being; Take upon them the name of christ, serve him until the end, manifest they have received a remission of their sins through the spirit of Christ.
If we covenant to do all of this the Lord covenants that we will be forgiven of our sins, and that his spirit will always be with us.
When a young man receives the priesthood Heavenly Father gives his Oath that we can have the power of the priesthood if we magnify our callings and strive keep the commandments.
I have learned through my own personal experiences that when we sin and fail to live up to our end of covenants we feel pain. The Holy Ghost is hard to hear and recognize, we can go into a downward spiral that is hard to get out of. Not only does this affect ourselves but it affects all of those we come into contact with especially our loved ones.
I hope that everyone can realize the importance of living up to all of the covenants we make with God. What we learn in Psalms 89:34 is reminds us that if we keep our end of the promise the Lord will to, it reads "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips."
Thanks for reading
Justin
Sunday, May 1, 2016
The Book of Mormon
This week I dove into reading some of the prefaces of the Book of Mormon including, the title page, the testimony of the 3 witnesses, the testimony of the 8 witnesses, and the testimony of Joseph Smith. I have also studied a lot of related scriptures that explain the importance of obeying God and the value of the golden plates.
Because of some of the choices I have been making lately I feel like I am moving away from the savior and the still small voice is getting harder to hear. When you pile on all of the stresses of day to day life it can be hard to climb out of that rut. Although, I know the only way to get it turned around is to turn to our Savior, this is hard to do when discouraged.
As I started reading the Testimony of Joseph Smith my daughter came into the room and asked if I would read to her. I obliged and started over so she could hear the whole thing. During the reading she asked me questions about the many visits Joseph received from Moroni and about the Urim and Thumim.
My daughter is 10 years old and I figured she knew about the first vision, the Urim and Thumim, etc and I think she did but just forgot. I started to think about my other children and what questions they might have about the gospel. The conversation I had with my daughter made me remember how important the gospel, the church, and the Savior is to me. The only thing I could think about is how I need to share this with my children.
I started to realize my oldest son will be old enough to serve a mission in 4 years my second son in 6 years and my youngest son in 10 years. Then I started asking myself the following questions; Are my boys going to serve a mission? Are my boys preparing themselves to serve a mission? What am I doing to help them prepare? I can't answer the first two question but, I can answer the third question and the answer is that I am not doing enough.
I know that it is through our example as parents that things become important to our children. Right then and there I recommited to doing daily personal and family scripture study, daily family prayers, weekly family home evening, and making an effort to fulfill all of my Priesthood responsibilities and helping and encouraging my children to do the same.
I want to challenge everyone who views this post to take an inventory of your life like I did and reprioritize things if necessary to put the most important things first. Our example to our children can affect many generations of people for good or bad. I hope and pray that as my children continue to grow and develop into adults I can look back and know I made it clear to them that I value and am extremely grateful for the restoration of the gospel.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Because of some of the choices I have been making lately I feel like I am moving away from the savior and the still small voice is getting harder to hear. When you pile on all of the stresses of day to day life it can be hard to climb out of that rut. Although, I know the only way to get it turned around is to turn to our Savior, this is hard to do when discouraged.
As I started reading the Testimony of Joseph Smith my daughter came into the room and asked if I would read to her. I obliged and started over so she could hear the whole thing. During the reading she asked me questions about the many visits Joseph received from Moroni and about the Urim and Thumim.
My daughter is 10 years old and I figured she knew about the first vision, the Urim and Thumim, etc and I think she did but just forgot. I started to think about my other children and what questions they might have about the gospel. The conversation I had with my daughter made me remember how important the gospel, the church, and the Savior is to me. The only thing I could think about is how I need to share this with my children.
I started to realize my oldest son will be old enough to serve a mission in 4 years my second son in 6 years and my youngest son in 10 years. Then I started asking myself the following questions; Are my boys going to serve a mission? Are my boys preparing themselves to serve a mission? What am I doing to help them prepare? I can't answer the first two question but, I can answer the third question and the answer is that I am not doing enough.
I know that it is through our example as parents that things become important to our children. Right then and there I recommited to doing daily personal and family scripture study, daily family prayers, weekly family home evening, and making an effort to fulfill all of my Priesthood responsibilities and helping and encouraging my children to do the same.
I want to challenge everyone who views this post to take an inventory of your life like I did and reprioritize things if necessary to put the most important things first. Our example to our children can affect many generations of people for good or bad. I hope and pray that as my children continue to grow and develop into adults I can look back and know I made it clear to them that I value and am extremely grateful for the restoration of the gospel.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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