THE IMPOSSIBLE

 

There were once two women whose sons were to change the history of the world. One was a young virgin called Mary and the other her cousin, advanced in years and past the bearing age, called Elisabeth. They together proved that with God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37).

 

Elisabeth and her husband Zacharias walked blamelessly before the Lord and even though they prayed many years that Elisabeth would bear a son they arrived at the autumn of their lives childless. It was in the year of his appointed priestly service that Zacharias travelled to the temple in Jerusalem from their village of Hebron to perform sacred rites and ordinances.

 

Just as Zacharias was burning incense inside the temple, the multitude were outside praying for redemption of Israel from the Gentile yoke (Luke 1:10). As the timely prayers ascended, angel Gabriel stood on the right side of the altar of incense and spoke: “Fear not Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard: and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John” (Luke 1:11,13).

 

Six months later the same angel appeared to young Mary advising her she too will bear a son (Luke 1:30-33). Gabriel explained to Mary how the baby would be conceived and to assure her it is indeed possible, he quickly told her about her cousin Elisabeth who was also a recipient of a miraculous conception (Matthew 1:18-25). What comfort that would have been to such a young girl to know she did not stand alone in the realm of hard to explain miracles.

 

Elizabeth, languished for years in 'the waiting room' with her husband Zacharias, longing for a child, not knowing the important role she was to play, that of being the mother to the forerunner of the long-awaited Messiah. But Elizabeth's role of being John’s mother was not her only purpose. Her other purpose was to validate Mary’s pregnancy. She was the proof people were given to believe if one miraculous conception was possible, the other was also.

 

One can only imagine how Mary felt when she came to Elisabeth’s side for refuge and validation, to hear the witness born of the Holy Ghost issue from Elizabeth’s lips: “Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Luke 1:42). Blessed indeed…..

 

ODE TO MARY AND ELIZABETH 

Among valiant sons of God

Who were chosen rulers to be

Stood the daughters so fair

They echoed throughout eternity.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Mary and Elizabeth by Mandy Jane Williams)

PEACE

 

"About fifty years ago, Mr. F.M. Bareham wrote the following:

 

A century ago men were following with bated breath the march of Napoleon and waiting with feverish impatience for news of the wars. And all the while in their homes babies were being born. But who could think about babies? Everybody was thinking about battles.

 

In one year between Trafalgar and Waterloo there stole into the world a host of heroes: Gladstone was born in Liverpool; Tennyson at the Somersby Rectory; and Oliver Wendell Holmes in Massachusetts. Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, and music was enriched by the advent of Felix Mendelssohn in Hamburg.

 

But nobody thought of babies, everybody was thinking of battles. Yet which of the battles of 1809 mattered more than the babies of 1809? We fancy God can manage His world only with great battalions, when all the time he is doing it with beautiful babies.

 

When a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants discovering, God sends a baby into the world to do it.”

 

-       Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle: pp 84, 85

We have fought many battles since 1809 and today, in 2025, we are still fighting and turmoil reigns supreme. We fight other nations, we fight our own countrymen, we fight our neighbours, we fight our families, we even fight ourselves. And there is one thing we seem to be overlooking, that God sent us a baby 2025 years ago to give us peace.

Every year we celebrate His birth but we do not celebrate Him. Some of us try hard to take Christ out of Christmas and focus on the tradition instead. Maybe animosity between nations and brotherhood of man will cease when instead of Christmas we start celebrating The Prince of Peace. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Emmanuel by June Jameson)

FORERUNNERS PART 2:

 

I am always amazed at Mary, the mother of Christ. Girls in the meridian of time married young so historians claim that according to the traditions of the day, Mary was a young girl of 15 when she gave birth to Jesus. To take on such a responsibility of raising the child of so much importance would make many of us retreat.

The stigma of pregnancy outside marriage would have been unbearable in Mary’s day. It reminds me of the Jews who spat His birth into the Saviour’s face by calling Him ‘a child of fornication’ (John 8:41). What an incredible insult to the purity of a woman who put her very reputation on the line to enable the salvation of the very people who would crucify the fruit of her womb! Mary would have to be the greatest forerunner of Christ because she gave Him life.

What amazes me even more is what kind of a valiant and righteous spirit she must have been in the beginning to be chosen to be the mother of Christ. I stand in awe of that. Alma called Mary ‘a precious and chosen vessel’ (Alma 7:10).

For such a valiant spirit, there would have to be a protector and that man was Joseph. Not only did he care for Mary and ensured her safety, he was a man spiritually in tune who was willing to receive heavenly instructions and follow them. In this way, he became a forerunner that ensured the safety of Jesus’ life in his youth. Imagine him taking his young family to another country away from family and kin to ensure the safety of a child who was not even his.  How did they live there, what did he do to support them?

And here is an awesome proof that Mary and Joseph paved the way for the Saviour’s earthly mission. We always think that they went to Bethlehem because of the Roman’s tax decree. Elder Bruce R. McConkie reasoned that this decree was just a vehicle to fulfil the prophecy that the Saviour would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1-8). He goes on to say that Mary and Joseph knew of this prophecy and knowing who Mary’s baby was, would have moved heaven and earth to make it to Bethlehem so He could be born there (The Mortal Messiah Book 1, p 341.

Would women really have been expected to attend accounting of taxes and census? Surely only Joseph would have been required to be there. Any governmental procedure in the ancient world was conducted by men with men. Women came under the jurisdiction of men. Their record keeping tracked only the paternal and not the maternal line. The scriptures attest to this.

So why else would Joseph put Mary ‘heavy with child’ through a journey of eighty dusty, dreary miles from Nazareth, riding on a slow stepping donkey, to Bethlehem if the primary motivation was not Jesus’ place of birth?

Imagine if Joseph had gone to Bethlehem alone and Jesus was born in Nazareth instead. How much cause would the Jewish ruling class have had against Jesus who claimed He was the promised Messiah that was prophesied would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2-4)?! I am certain that Mary and Joseph contemplated this and used it as motivation to fulfil the sacred responsibility they were entrusted with.

Could Jesus have had a better beginning to His life with parental forerunners such as this??? I think not.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Mary and Joseph by Greg Collins)

FORERUNNERS PART 1:

 

In the ancient world there were men who held an important job. They were required to go ahead of a travelling party to clear the path of fallen trees, rocks, undesirable persons or any obstacles that would prevent the travelling party from finishing their journey. They prepared the way. They were called 'forerunners'.

In my patriarchal blessing there is an interesting sentence that goes like this: "As you remain faithful to your trust, your guardian angels will never forsake you. They will go before you to 'prepare the way' and will be close to you and give you strength to resist evil."

I have reflected on this and wondered how much harder I would have struggled in my life had not an obstacle been removed from my path here and there, a temptation repressed, a disaster averted, a hurtful incident prevented. I realised that I could very well have come this far more on the merits of my forerunners than on my own strength.

It amazes me that even the Saviour needed a forerunner. I reflected on this too and realised he had five obvious ones. The most famous 'forerunner' to whom this title was applied symbolically was John the Baptist. John was born according to God's promise to be 'the voice crying in the wilderness' to herald the arrival of one greater than he, as prophesied by Isaiah (40:3) and Malachi (3:1).

His ministry provided a nucleus of faithful baptised believers from whom Jesus could call His apostles. These were men already converted and ready to serve, and well prepared under John’s ministry to believe and act the instant the Saviour called them to abandon everything and follow Him. Such was the power of John the Baptist, a martyr, who valiantly testified, taught and prepared the way and whom Jesus characterized as "a burning and a shining light" (John 5:35).

But John had someone who ‘prepared the way’ for him too….his parents, who are the greatest example of parental forerunners. Stricken in age and childless, they fulfilled an incredible prophesy and brought John into life safeguarding him from murderous Herod so he could grow into manhood and fulfil his purpose. Both John and his father were martyred in the end for their roles as forerunners (See Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p 261; Matthew 23:35; Matt 14:3-12).

There are two other important examples of parental forerunners and they are Mary and Joseph. They were entrusted with a priceless charge of infant Jesus but more on them later. Considering their spiritual calibre, it is not hard to conclude that these five people were handpicked in pre-earth life for this purpose (D&C 138:55,56).

I look back on my parental forerunners and am grateful for the greatest sacrifice they made to take me out of a socialist country in my youth and bring me to Australia so I could have freedom to become who I was destined to be, by taking upon myself the name of Him, through the waters of baptism, who had foreordained me to have His Gospel in this life and to bear witness of His name.

 

What faith You had

In those who held You

by Your mortal hand;

How loyal to their charge

Were they who sustained You

When it all began.

How tender their heart

To see the Hope of Israel

And recognize The Great I am.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Child of Grace by Liz Lemon Swindle)

A HOLY EXPECTATION

 

“In our day we look forward with hope and joy to the Second Coming of the Son of Man, and to the setting up of the millennial kingdom of peace and righteousness, over which he shall assume personal rule for the space of a thousand years. We do not know and shall not learn either the day or the hour of that dreadful yet blessed day. We are expected to read the signs of the times and know thereby the approximate time of our Lord’s return and to be in constant readiness thereof.

“There was an element of this same uncertainty associated with his first coming, although such appears to have arisen because of lack of faith on the part of the people and not from the deliberate design of the Lord to withhold such knowledge from them.”

-          Bruce R. McConkie, “The Promised Messiah”, p 457

The Jews had anxiously expected the Messiah for many generations and by the time the Saviour was born, their whole social structure was alive with the Messianic hope. Therefore, there was no surprise to anyone, when the wise men came from the east, asking: “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2).

It was prophet Micah, that the chief priests and scribes quoted to Herod, who had prophesied 700 years earlier that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2-4). The Jews knew there were prophecies of His birth but they had ‘no eyes to see and no ears to hear’ (Ezekiel 12:2) and so they did not fully understand the obscured scriptures regarding the time (see Isaiah 49:8; Daniel 9:24-26; Matthew 13:16,17;).

It was the wise men of the east who had prophetic insight. It is presumed that they themselves were Jews who lived in one of the nations of the East as millions of Jews did back then. They were the devoted members of the House of Israel who studied the scriptures under inspiration, read the signs, and became the first witnesses of the birth of their King. The world knew nothing of these prophecies. (see Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah Book 1, 358).

So it is with us and the Second Coming. We do not know the day of the Saviour’s return but we are expected to read the signs of the times and be in constant rediness.

Why do we need to be ready? Because this time, the Saviour will not come as a baby but as the King of Kings “to recompense unto every man according to his work…” (D&C 1:10)……We need to be ready because every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ and that He sits upon the throne of God forever and ever…..(D&C 88:104). Our genuine and heartfelt testimony of this will be our passport to the Kingdom of Heaven.

We need to be wise….

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Following the Star by Greg Collins)

THE GREAT I AM

 

When God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush, He identified himself as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” and commanded him to deliver the children of Israel out of the Egyptian bondage (Exodus 3:6-10).

But Moses was not content to go to Israel telling them ‘the God of your fathers sent me’ so he asked God to identify himself by His name which he would take to the Israelites (v 13). God answered: “I am that I Am. Tell them I AM sent me” (v 14).

I AM is the name that identifies Jehovah. It is the equivalent of “Yahveh” or “Jahveh” now rendered “Jehovah” and signifies “The Self-existent One”, “The Eternal”, “The First and the Last”. So sacred was the name regarded by the Jews that their traditionalism forbade the utterance of it. (see James Talmage, “Jesus the Christ”, p 412)

Hence the Lord was not saying “I AM THAT I AM” but rather, “I am ‘that’ I AM”. I am Jehovah.

During His earthly ministry, the Saviour identified himself as seven main I AM’s as contained in the Gospel of John:

-          I am the bread of life (6:31,51)

-          I am the light of the world (8:12)

-          I am the door of the sheep (10:7,9)

-          I am the good shepherd (10:11,14)

-          I am the resurrection and life (11:25)

-          I am the way, the truth and the life (14:6)

-          I am the true vine (15:1,5)

As I look at these seven proclamations I could summarise them in this one scripture: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

As we approach this Christmas season and yet again celebrate the Saviour’s birth, may we reflect on who He really is and more importantly, who He is to each of us individually. We should know that. May we think about everything we know of Him and what particular name of His means the most to us.

My favourite name for the Saviour is “The Great I Am” (D&C 39:1) and surely He is. There is no greater.

I marvel at His willingness

To descend from the regions of bliss

That was His heavenly home

To pay the ransom for my soul.

 

He is my greatest gift,

My love and my all,

I bow in reverence

before the foot of His throne.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

INFINITE MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

 

This will blow you away….

“How many Messianic prophecies have there been? In the real and true perspective of things, ten thousand times ten thousand is not a beginning to their number. They are in multitude like the sand upon the seashore. Obviously, all the prophetic utterances about Christ and the plan of salvation were Messianic in nature. But such teachings merely introduce the subject. For instance:

“Every proper and perfect prayer uttered by a righteous man, woman or child, from the day Adam stepped through Eden’s portals into his lone and dreary habitation, to the day the angelic hosts acclaimed the birth of God’s own Son, was in fact a Messianic prophecy. The mere saying, with sincerity and understanding, of the words of the prayer itself constituted a Messianic affirmation.

“Why? Because all the prophets, saints, and righteous hosts prayed to the Father in the name of Christ, thus witnessing that they knew that salvation came through him and his atoning blood. Similarly, every true prayer today is a reaffirmation that Jesus is the Lord and that through his blood the believing saints are redeemed.

“Every shout of praise and exultation to the Lord Jehovah was Messianic in nature, for those who so acclaimed worshiped the Father in the name of Jehovah-Messiah who would come to redeem his people.

“And so with every baptism, every priesthood ordination, every patriarchal blessing, every act of administering to the sick, every divine ordinance or performance ordained of God, every sacrifice, symbolism, and similitude; all that God ever gave to His people – all was ordained and established in such a way as to testify of his Son and center the faith of believing people in him and in the redemption He was foreordained to make.”

-          Bruce R. McConkie, “The Promised Messiah” p 27-8

We, the saints of God, are living and breathings testaments of the Saviour Jesus Christ if we live in the way that was ordained for members of His Church to live: every prayer we utter, every testimony we bear, every ordinance we participate in, every sacrament emblem we take affirms our allegiance and loyalty to the Saviour.

And I would add that through every worthy thought of Him we cultivate, every worthy action in example of Him we execute, every unrighteous temptation we resist through our obedience to His commandments, we ultimately increase the spirit of belief throughout the world.  

We are the living scriptures some people will ever read.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus by Joseph Brickey)

VESSELS OF THE LORD

 

The injunction “be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord” has been given anciently and in our day to the men who have the priesthood upon them (Isaiah 52:11; 3 Nephi 20:41; D&C 133:5). The meaning is that the priesthood holders need to be clean as they handle ‘the sacred vessels and emblems of God’s power’ as they administer the duties of the priesthood such as the sacrament.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland encouraged the men of the Church to be ‘sanctified instruments’ themselves by being clean, not only because of what they do but more importantly because of what they are to be (CR Oct 2000, 51-52; or Ensign Nov 2000, 39). President Gordon B. Hinckley also reminded the gathering of the priesthood of this important principle:

“Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord (D&C 133:5). Thus has He spoken to us in modern revelation. Be clean in body. Be clean in mind. Be clean in language. Be clean in dress and manner.” (CR April 1996, 68; or Ensign May 1996, 48). In other words, don’t just be clean so you can handle the vessels of the Lord, but BE the vessel. When people look at you, they should recognise God’s power within you through your cleanliness. You are the vessel of the priesthood.

I am reminded of Joseph and how people recognised the authority he had when they met him, how much he reflected the powerful spiritual demeanour that was in him and because of it many trusted instantly that he was the prophet and a man of God. I love this story that illustrates that:

“While waiting for the ferry-boat, a man of the world, knowing of the miracles which had been performed, came to Joseph Smith and asked him if he would not go and heal two twin children of his, about five months old, who were both lying sick nigh unto death. They were some two miles from Montrose.

“The Prophet said he could not go; but, after pausing some time, he said he would send some one to heal them; and he turned to me and said: “You go with the man and heal his children.”  He took a red silk handkerchief out of his pocket and gave it to me, and told me to wipe their faces with the handkerchief when I administered to them, and they should be healed…..I went with the man, and did as the Prophet commanded me, and the children were healed.” (Wilford Woodruff, “Leaves From My Journal” [1881] p 65)

There was one other who had the spiritual demeanour that exuded power the people trusted in and that is Apostle Paul: “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.”  (Acts 19:11,12)

The power of the priesthood works on principles of faith and righteousness. What an incredible privilege for you men to exude inspiration for both.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Prophet Joseph Smith by David Lindsley)

LEAVING THE PAST

 

I tend to look back a lot now that I am in my twilight years. Not surprisingly, my rear-view mirror syndrome has brought up a lot of issues that have long been buried and caused me a great deal of guilt that I was not aware of. I have lived a good life but this is what happens when you are very hard on yourself. You are never good enough to the most important person you have to live with – yourself.

I realised in my reverie that I was in sore need of self-forgiveness. This made me reflect on the two men from scriptures who are in my mind perfect examples of this principle, Paul of Tarsus and Alma, the son of Alma.

When I study Paul’s epistles I am amazed at the grand scale of his growth, the depth of his understanding of the doctrine of Christ and his repeated testimony of the only source of our salvation. His words expounding doctrine have been studied for over 2,000 years. Yet in the beginning, presumably because of his guilt, he considered himself ‘the least of the apostles’ and not worthy to be called such because he persecuted the church of God (1 Corinthians 15:9).

Paul eventually came to recognise his good deeds and self-worth through the greatest tool of all: “By the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). I believe he arrived at that place of self-forgiveness when he could in the end, in clear conscience say: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

In his day, Alma became a living testament of the Saviour's power of deliverance.  Not only because Christ forgave him for his sins but because He freed him to become a great man.  After Alma came out of his three days of torment he immediately began to preach of Christ's mercy and His power to save (Mosiah 27:32).

Nowhere in the scriptures does it say that he moped around and agonised over his past sins and felt bad about himself because ‘he had his guilt taken away from his heart, through the merits of God’s Son’ (Alma 24:10). Alma, who went about with the intent to destroy the Church became Alma who led the Nephite armies in battle, who sat naked with Amulek in dungeons, who was spat upon by the unrepentant, who dumbfounded an anti-Christ, who baptised thousands of souls unto repentance (Alma 4:4-5), who the Lord in the end took up unto himself (Alma 45:19). 

When you look at Paul and Alma, do you see broken men with a past or do you see powerful servants of the Lord?  If you are still 'harrowed' up by your past sins, you are missing the person that you could be.  If you believe you are no good, the Lord can make nothing of you.  If you have repented of your sins but can't let them go, you are giving them more power than you are giving God. Your forgiveness is not complete until you allow the Saviour to take away your remorse. The power of the Atonement can complete this process. 

Remember, consequences of sin keeps your wrong doing in your memory discouraging backsliding better than guilt. Guilt just stops you from moving forward.

Mortality is not for the faint hearted. It affects each of us negatively in different degrees but the grace of Him who died to make all things new is our only saving grace (2 Corinthians 5:17)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Lean On Him by Chris Brazelton)

A LIVING BOOK PART 3:

 

This would have to be the greatest proof that the Old Testament is not a dead book: all scriptures are very much alive because they contain the word of God and God is not dead. His word will live forever.

Cast your mind on the road to Emmaus when the resurrected Saviour joined two travellers who were discussing the hottest topic of the day, His possible resurrection (Luke 24:13-15). They told Him they ‘trusted’ the Galilean was the Messiah who would redeem Israel but were now sceptical because He had died (v 21). It would seem that nobody besides Isaiah understood the necessity of His death.

The Saviour simply expounded ‘unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning HIMSELF….beginning at Moses and all the prophets’ (Luke v 27).  He thought the written word of the past was all they needed as proof of the living Christ. The rest came with the witness of the Holy Ghost which burned within their hearts (v 32).

Now we come to the greatest man of the Old Testament who testified of Christ, of His birth, His ministry, His necessary death: Isaiah, whom Jesus quoted more frequently than He quoted any other prophet. His words have lived through the New Testament, The Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants. Why? Because “great are the words of Isaiah”…..(3 Nephi 23:1) This, from the Saviour’s own mouth.

Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah as a ‘suffering servant’ in earthly ministry who was “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” is heart rendering (Isaiah 53:3-8) and his prophecy of Christ’s Second Coming as  the King of Glory when the Saints will praise His ‘loving kindness and the great goodness toward the House of Israel….to give unto them that mourn in Zion, beauty for ashes..” a splendour to look forward to (Isaiah 63:7; 61:3).

How can we ever proclaim dead the eloquence of Isaiah who announced: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). This is the prophecy of the living Christ, the majestic King who will make us His forever.

We cannot think that anything that has been and gone is dead. If we do, we run the risk of believing that the very God we worship is dead also. He who has the whole human family in His hands is more alive than any of us. All that has been will echo throughout eternity, most especially His words that live on….even the words of the Old Testament, the root of our beginning.

“For whatsoever things were written afore time were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4)

I stand in awe of Your sacrifice

And Your soul’s pain;

The body freely given

For nothing of You to remain.

 

I ache, I ache,

Knowing the cost;

Then I read Your living word

And I am comforted

Knowing nothing is lost.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Transcendent Glory by Greg Collins)

A LIVING BOOK PART 2

 

One of the reasons why I believe  the Old Testament is a living book is because all the prophecies have not yet been fulfilled, least of all ‘the marital relationship’ between Jehovah and Israel:

“The Saviour commonly described his relationship with ancient Israel as a marriage. So when Israel descended into patterns of sustained disobedience to Jehovah’s commandments, Israel was “unfaithful”, like an unfaithful spouse. The Lord thus warned through Moses that Israel should not worship other gods, for Jehovah ‘is a jealous God’…..

“In expressing the permanence of his covenants with Israel, again the Lord used the language of marriage: “I will betroth thee unto me forever….and I will say to them….thou art my people, and they shall say, Thou art my God.” (Hosea 2:19,23) (Elder Bruce C. Hafen, “The Belonging Heart” p 142)

Until we, Israel, are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb, we are betroth to the Saviour (Revelation 19:7-9). In plain terms, we are in the ‘engagement period’ awaiting the wedding. And this is something of importance to us as we wait. Ancient betrothal was a legally binding agreement considered as serious and unbreakable as a marriage itself, with a formal divorce required for any separation. The Saviour already considers us His own because of the covenants we have made with Him…..hence He is a jealous God.

Why would the Saviour describe our relationship to Him through the metaphor of marriage? It’s all about love. There is a word in Hebrew which is difficult to render in English. It is usually translated as ‘steadfast love’. The Hebrew word is HESED. It is a covenant word that refers to the faithfulness or loyal love that binds two people together in covenant.

This love is motivated by an inner loyalty which arises out of the relationship itself and not by legal obligation. Such covenant love has the quality of constancy, firmness and steadfastness. It is a love you have for another that you would never break because of deep loyalty you feel towards them. This is the bride that the Saviour wants…..a deeply committed one grounded in love.

The only way to understand HESED is to understand God’s love for the House of Israel. The scriptures are replete with messages of love for us from the Saviour: we are chosen to be a special people above all people upon the face of the earth (Det 7:6); He would sacrifice others for Israel (Isaiah 43:1-7); He has redeemed us because we are His (Isaiah 43:1-3); Israel is ‘the apple of His eye’ (Det 32:9,10; Zechariah 2:8; Psalm 17:8).

And this is the pinnacle of His love: Even though we often wander and break our covenant with Him, the Saviour will NEVER break His covenant with us (Deuteronomy 4:31; Leviticus 26:44,46; Isaiah 49:15,16; 2 Kings 13:23). And this is why: “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands….” (Isaiah 49:16). This is HESED.

Such love as Yours

Burning bright in our hearts,

We will forever know.

Through highs and lows,

Through depths unknown,

Its flame we will carry with us

Wherever we go.

We await Thy call…..

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Sending Forth the Bride by Danny Hahlbohm)

A LIVING BOOK PART 1

 

The Old Testament is my favourite book of scripture. I cannot tell you how it touches the core of my heart. I believe we need to understand our  history to better understand our present and our future. Once we understand who we, as a group of people really are, we will hope for the destiny that is ours as God’s favoured people.

I have heard it said that the Old Testament is a ‘dead book’. I suppose some think it is so because it contains the fulfilled law of Moses but to me nothing that has been and gone is dead. The law of Moses is not all there is to the Old Testament and indeed the more important content of it is the everlasting covenant between Jehovah and His chosen people.  

Consider the prophets of old who are still very much a part of our dispensation:

-          Father Adam who will yet return to earth and preside at the meeting of Adam-Ondi-Ahman to deliver up his stewardship to Christ, who holds the keys of the universe, but will retain his standing as head of the human family (“Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith” p 157);

-          The righteous Father Abraham who Jehovah himself covenanted with, promising that the covenant would be fulfilled in the latter days and that in “his seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed” (1 Nephi 15:18). This is us and this is our day. We are “the seed” and these are the latter days. The covenant is not dead. It is very much alive. 

-          Ezekiel who prophesied the end of times with the battle of Armageddon that will usher in the Second Coming (Ezekiel 38) and his amazing prophecy of resurrection of the human family (chapter 37). This too is yet to be fulfilled, therefore it is not a dead doctrine.

-          Dear Elijah whose spirit keeps turning the hearts of the children to their fathers to this very day.  The beloved servant of God who came to Kirtland Temple to restore the sealing power so that ‘the whole earth would not be utterly wasted at Christ’s coming’ (D&C 2:3). Christ is yet to come and the temple work for the dead is ongoing in our day to fulfil the earth’s purpose.

-          Moses, the mighty lawgiver of Israel, who conferred the keys of the gathering on Joseph Smith on 3 April 1836 in Kirtland Temple (D&C 110:11). Would we be gathering Israel today without these keys? The keys are not dead, nor is the gathering.

These prophets are still very much alive as is the history they created. And this is how important they are to our dispensation: they validate the calling of Joseph Smith: “If the Bible is evidence for anything, read about the calling of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Paul and John the Revelator. ALL were called in precisely the manner that Joseph was. All spoke with God or angels, just as Joseph did.” (Bruce C. Hafen, “The Believing Heart” p 26)

Even the greatest prophet of Israel, Isaiah, prophesied of Joseph himself down to the finest detail of the failure to authenticate the Book of Mormon by Professor Anton (Isaiah 29:11,12)

The prophets of the Old Testament will remain in my heart forever, because they were all converted and devoted to the same God we worship today, God Jehovah, God’s own Son. Their struggles, their achievements, their contribution to the Plan of Salvation and humanity will never be erased. Their memory might be like ashes blown in the winds of time but their legacy remains. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: I Was There by Danny Hahlbohm)

CONDITIONAL LOVE

 

There is a dangerous philosophy that we often hear in the Church and that is that God’s love is unconditional. The danger of the word ‘unconditional’ gives us a mistaken belief that we can do whatever we want and we will still be loved and accepted by God hence no need for restrictions and commandments as repeated offences against God will be excused. (see President Russell M. Nelson’s “Divine Love” Ensign, Feb 2003, and Elder D. Todd Christofferson, “Abide In My Love” GC Oct 2016)

This is where the philosophy of ‘unconditional love’ began: “During the last several decades, a heresy regarding God’s love has surfaced. The heresy states that God’s love is unconditional. The heresy first started with humanist psychologists who invented the term. Unconditional love, they taught, is the love parents ought to have for their children.  Eventually, the term was adopted into Christian dialogue to describe God’s love. This is a classic example of mingling the philosophies of men with scripture. This has been true even within the dialogue of the Church. And this is why President Nelson wrote his article.” (Bruce Satterfield, Gospel Doctrine Lesson 44: God Is Love, Nov 2, 2015)

I recently came to understand this philosophy on a deeper level and it is this: there is an important component of God’s love that makes ‘unconditional love’ an impossibility and that is mercy.

I know of someone in the Church who believes that all of God’s children will in the end live with Him again because of His mercy. And this is the problem…. When we believe that God’s love is unconditional, we not only think we can get away with anything, we also believe because He loves us, He will be merciful when the time comes.

If God’s love encompasses mercy and if His love was unconditional then mercy would have to be extended to the unrepentant on Judgment Day and that can never be because of three reasons: 1. Mercy cannot rob justice (Alma 42:25); 2. No unclean thing can enter the Kingdom of Heaven (3 Nephi 27:19); and 3. We cannot be saved in our sins (Alma 11:37).

The third reason seems the most important because it has to do with the Plan of Salvation. If God saved us in our sins, we would not be prepared for eternal life and exaltation. We would not have developed godly attributes that come only through repentance. If God showed mercy to the unrepentant and saved them in their sins, this would negate the purpose of the Plan of Salvation and ultimately His love which put that Plan into effect.

The more righteous we are, the more love we can receive and ultimately, more mercy. Mercy has to be our over-riding goal, a goal bigger than love because it is mercy that will save us in the end. It is mercy that will sanctify us and lift us out of our probationary state of imperfection to the Saviour’s status of perfectness to be co-heirs with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is what He suffered for, this is what He died for.

This is love. God is not the Father of spoilt children. He is the Father of eternal joy and happiness, not short-term indulgence. If we really want to be loved, we will strive to be the children He intends us to be.

“….whose keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected….” (1 John 2:5)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Lord is Good by Chris Brazelton)

HARD THINGS

 

Sometimes God asks us to do some hard things that not everyone else can do. Lehi’s colonisation of ancient America is an amazing proof of that. It shows that God puts in key positions those of His children who He knows would not let Him down. He certainly knew that a rich merchant Lehi would walk away from his riches and cross two oceans to get to where God wanted him to go.

The same with his son Nephi. I love how his father could depend on him when he asked him to return to Jerusalem to get the brass plates (1 Nephi 3:6). Nephi immediately affirmed that the Lord will provide the way for accomplishing such a hard task (1 Nephi 3:7). The whole story thereafter reads like Arabian Nights….

Obtaining the plates took three attempts. Nephi’s perseverance was admirable (1 Nephi 3:15). This is what stands out to me though. Nephi was an obedient person who had lived by the commandments his whole life. Then the Lord asks him to kill someone. I don’t know that I could ever do it knowing how incredibly evil killing is. But God knew that Nephi’s commitment to obedience was strong enough to do such a hard thing and He knew that he could depend on him (1 Nephi 4:17,18).

David slew Goliath in the same manner by cutting off his head, without blinking, and he became a man of war but I don’t recall Nephi killing anyone else for the rest of his life. It was clearly not in his disposition to destroy life. But obedience was.

God knows us incredibly well and this is how: “During the ages in which we lived in the pre-mortal state, we not only developed our various characteristics and showed our worthiness and ability, or the lack of it, but we were also where such progress could be observed…..it was natural for our Father to discern and choose those who were most worthy and evaluate the talents of each individual. He knew not only what each of us COULD do, but also what each of us WOULD do when put to the test and when responsibility was given us.” (President Joseph Fielding Smith, “The Way to Perfection” [1970], 50-51)

The greatest example of this concept is of course the Saviour. The Atonement He performed in mortality was in actual fact just a formality. We could actually draw upon its blessings and power in pre-existence as if it had already happened. Hence, we could be born innocent as the Atonement of Christ also covered our pre-mortal sins. (See Tad Callister, “The Infinite Atonement” p 85). The Father knew that His Son could do it and would do it. And so did we…..hence our vote.

We might not be the Saviour, Nephi or Joseph Smith but we just need to be strong enough to do whatever it is the Father is requiring of us and one day we will find out who we really are and we will be amazed…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art by Liz Lemon Swindle)

AGENCY

 

“Despite great efforts to do so, no one has been able to cast serious doubt on the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. So why doesn’t everybody believe in its divine origins? Because God does not allow the case to become so compelling that we are forced to believe. Man’s agency is too fundamental to be so compromised.” (Elder Bruce C. Hafen, “The Believing Heart” p 27)

I have always believed that our freedom to choose was God given out of His respect for us but there is so much more to it than that. I have been impressed by His restraint in seeing so many of us make so many foolish choices. One would almost wish He would interfere to the point of compelling us to believe in the Gospel and especially, in salvation through His Son. But there is a very good reason for His restraint and once again, it is for the good of us, His children. In fact, Elder Hafen points out: “It was all part of a plan carefully and deliberately designed NOT TO COMPEL BELIEF.” (ibid p 6)

This is the very first reason why man’s agency is too fundamental to be compromised: “Hugh Nibley has described this principle as the “policy of reticence”, which the Lord has always followed “to protect sacred things from common misunderstandings and to protect the unworthy from damaging themselves with them.” (ibid p 6)

Instead of compelling us to believe, God has given us the principle of “line upon line, precept upon precept”, in other words, God gives us what and when we are ready to hear, for our   protection, because we are tried on what we know and understand (D&C 98:12).

The second and more important reason is this: “A key reason for the Lord’s unwillingness to compel our belief is suggested by those scriptural phrases about doing the will of the Father and “receiving him”. Something happens to people who receive him – who do his will. They learn. They develop Christlike capacities and skills beyond the reach of other people.

“Following his will changes them. These changes do not occur within the lives of those who merely see the sign or hear the word. Such changes in character and spirit also do not happen without our active, voluntary participation. Thus by being believing, by receiving the Lord, and by following him, the process of becoming LIKE HIM is set into motion. That is a point he does not want us to miss.”  (ibid 7)

I am beginning to think that our most pressing priority in life should be coming to know God. The more we know Him, the more we will yearn to be with Him. I know people who have no desire to know Him and because they do not know Him, they do not love Him. It’s the greatest tragedy that they will get through this life without experiencing the greatest love of all.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: The Everlasting God by Spencer Rasmussen)