Sufficiently Remembering

Alma 5:6: "And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, you that belong to this church, have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers? Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them? And more over, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from hell?"

In the Book of Mormon there are 240 references to 'remembering'. In all the things we are to remember, the most important to remember is the Lord and what He has done for us through His matchless atonement. Fleeting thoughts are no good however, we are to 'sufficiently retain in remembrance'. Our remembering must lead us to love the Lord more and to purify ourselves in Him, if it is to be sufficient.

President Kimball said, "Those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives". Seems like a good place to start.

What would you record today if you could?

Facts not Opinions

"The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as a definite, abstract statement of fact. So it is from the first words... to the last, the works of the Father are declared as facts, not theories."

—Elder Anthony W. Ivins Conference Report, April 1918-

Truths about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

A great video. Remember to mute the music on my blog (located just to the left of this post!).x

Improving the Quality of your Prayers

Bishop H. Burke Peterson:
"As you feel the need to confide in the Lord or to improve the quality of your visits with him—to pray, if you please—may I suggest a process to follow:

• Go where you can be alone, go where you can think, go where you can kneel, go where you can speak out loud to him. The bedroom, the bathroom, or the closet will do.
• Now, picture Him in your mind’s eye. Think to whom you are speaking, control your thoughts—don’t let them wander—address Him as your Father and your friend.
• Now tell him things you really feel to tell Him—not trite phrases that have little meaning, but have a sincere, heartfelt conversation with Him. Confide in Him, ask Him for forgiveness, plead with Him, enjoy Him, thank Him, express your love to Him, and then listen for his answers.
• Listening is an essential part of praying. Answers from the Lord come quietly—ever so quietly. In fact, few hear His answers audibly with their ears. We must be listening so carefully or we will never recognize them. Most answers from the Lord are felt in our heart as a warm comfortable expression, or they may come as thoughts to our mind. They come to those who are prepared and who are patient.
  (“Conference Excerpts,” New Era, Jan. 1974, 6)

Stablizing Power

President Spencer W. Kimball:
"There are depths in the sea, which the storms that lash the surface into fury, never reach. They who reach down into the depths of life where, in the stillness, the voice of God is heard, have the stabilizing power which carries them poised and serene through the hurricane of difficulties".
(“Conference Excerpts,” New Era, Jan. 1974, 6)

"And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm."
(Mark 4:39)

There is only One who has that stabilising power upon our souls, Jesus Christ. We can have peace, when we are still.

En-route Thanksgiving

In 1 Nephi 2 the Lord commands Lehi to take his family from Jerusalem, leaving behind their inheritance, gold & silver and go into the wilderness, to the promised land. They come to the edge of the red sea, and after traveling for three days, pitch their tents. I love what happened next:

“And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God.”
(1 Nephi 2:7)

I love that. Lehi didn’t wait to give thanks until he had ‘arrived’ at his destination, but stopped en-route regularly (see 1 Nephi 5 & 7), to give thanks. I am sure when we are promised something or are seeking for a particular blessing or gift, when it is finally received we give thanks, but how many times do we stop en-route to give thanks for the journey we are taking – I know I need to do sooo much better with that. There are always offerings of a broken heart and contrite spirit to give along the way, and figurative altars to build, where we can stand still and thank the Lord for being with us on the journey.

So much to be thankful for, and thank goodness we have today to remember our blessings.

Where are my Horses and Chariots of Fire?

"In the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help from both sides of the veil and you must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike--and they will--you remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection. They will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed."

(Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "For Times of Trouble," New Era, Oct. 1980, 15)

The Spirit and Revelation

Just a couple of good quotes I've been sent recently:

"We are told that our mission in life is to "come unto Christ, and be perfected in him" (Moro. 10:32). But that is not a simple thing. Life is too complex to provide a rule book that covers every situation. Instead, the Lord has given us the Holy Ghost to serve as our teacher, watchman, mentor, and guide."
(Gerald N. Lund. Selected Writings of Gerald N. Lund)

"The patterns of revelation are not dramatic. The voice of inspiration is a still voice, a small voice. There need be no trance, no sanctimonious declaration. It is quieter and simpler than that."
(Boyd K. Packer Ensign, Nov. 1989)

Just liked them:)

Oil, Lamps, Willingness & Ability

"It is important that you have oil in your lamps so that when you say to the Lord, "Here am I; send me," you are prepared and qualified to be sent. We are all heaven sent, but what we are able to accomplish in the Lord's work depends to a large extent on our willingness and ability."

—President James E. Faust, Ensign, Nov. 2002-

Reflections of Christ, Slideshow & Song

Mute my blog - sit back - enjoy!

Blessing of the Temple

Just a footnote about last weeks video I posted on 'Why Mormons Build Temples' that was released by the Church - it was the no. 1 most watched video on You Tube last week. This clip is a part 2 to that:

Daily Priorities

I worked in a temple office in Europe for several years and so I would have to show my temple recommend to enter each day. One week I wasn’t at work from Friday until Tuesday, so my recommend hadn’t been used between those days, and when I got to work on Tuesday morning I had to have a bit of a hunt for it in my wallet, as it had worked it’s way down to underneath my bank card and library card, those being the cards I had used most recently.

I thought about that in relation to the account of the children of Israel in the wilderness, and how the Lord provided substance for them during their journey. It says:

“Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.”
(Exodus 16:4)

The Lord could’ve rained enough ‘bread from heaven’ to last a week or a month at a time, but chose to only send down enough to last the day. He wants us to remember Him and have daily experiences where we know that we need Him, and that He will daily provide for us.

Whilst my recommend being under those two other cards bears no eternal significance, it just reminds me that it’s easy to sometimes put other things first in our lives. Life can get so hectic; we have meetings to go to, errands to run, family to support, friendships to develop, problems to solve, assignments to get done, callings to serve in etc. etc. etc., whilst these are 'good' things in and of themselves, if we are neglecting our personal relationship with the Saviour, developed mainly through personal prayer and scripture study - then application, it becomes more and more hidden, and life becomes harder and harder as a result - the good covers the great, instead of the great UNcovering the good.

So, I suppose what I am saying is that I hope that our daily priority will be our relationship with the Saviour, as all the other things really do take care of themselves, because He will take care of us if we do.

Beyond Confirming Evidence

Faith is not perfect knowledge (see Alma 32:26). As President Boyd K. Packer, has stated: "Faith, to be faith, must go beyond that for which there is confirming evidence … , must go into the unknown … , must walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness"

(In Faith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1983, p.42).

I hope you have opportunities to exercise your faith in Christ today. I hope I can too.

"Shape up and Say your Prayers"

"Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?"
(ECCL 3:22)

"Love the work. Don't do it grudgingly. Smile about it. Be happy in your duty. Shape up and say your prayers. Everything will be all right".
(President Gordon B. Hinckley)

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Isn't President Hinckley amazing. So straight to the point - "Shape up and say your prayers", I find, that for me, a lot of my problems are exasperated because I haven't done those two things - It's just great counsel:)

I hope you have a wonderful day.