FOCUS

 

Whenever I read Section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants, I am always intrigued by the instruction that Emma Smith was given to ‘lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better’ (v 10).

What followed was an assignment to organize the first hymnal of the Church because the Saviour’s soul ‘delights in the song of the heart’ (v 12) . In other words, regardless of all the turmoil that was around her as Joseph’s wife, it was asked of Emma to focus on Christ.

Five chapters later we read of a reprimand that came through revelation to David Whitmer: “….your mind has been on the things of the earth more than on the things of me, your Maker” (D&C 30:2).

I am amazed when I think of the sacrifices the early Church members made regardless of the trying time of the then young Church. Consider the following story and see how difficult it would have been to have the right focus amid such hardship:

In 1831, Oliver Cowdery headed the first mission to the American Indians “travelling on foot 300 miles over prairies, without shelter and fire, living on frozen corn, bread and raw pork. At length they reached Independence, Mo., on the extreme western frontier of the State.

They had traveled four months and suffered untold hardships; they had preached to two Indian nations and to thousands of white people, and organized several strong branches of the Church.

“After having rested a little at Independence, three of the brethren crossed the frontier and visited the Shawnee Indians. Then they went among the Delawares. These manifested a great deal of interest in the Book of Mormon.

Therefore, the jealousy of ministers was aroused and these prevailed upon the Indian agents to expel the missionaries from the Indian country.” (Smith and Sjodahl, Commentary, p 144, D&C Student Manual p 59)

Imagine preaching and organizing branches amidst the hardship as experienced by these early saints. How easy would it have been for them to lose their focus with the very survival they had to contend with.

Remember Peter who eagerly walked towards Christ on water but the waves beat upon him and he lost his focus? He took his eyes off the Saviour and he started to sink.

Our challenges might be different to those of the early Saints but in our day and age, I feel, we are walking on water and the waves of evil of our day are beating upon us. The world is in terrible commotion with wars, calamities, crime, and worst of all hatred…..something I hear expressed even in the Church about political leaders.

The Saviour wants us to look past all that and to look to Him, to focus on things of a better. Keeping our eternal perspective is the path to our survival. We are to come to Him and not allow the waves of worry, fear and hatred to beat us down. We are not of the world, we are of Christ…..or we should be.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Come by David Bowman)

THE ELECT

 

Joseph received the golden plates from Moroni eight months after he and Emma were married. From that moment on their lives were punctuated with persecution and trial.

Emma traveled with Joseph on many of his missionary journeys and shared with him the joy and sorrow that came with preaching of the gospel. The joy must have outranked the sorrow for Emma showed incredible strength during her trying life with Joseph. The Prophet’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith, said this of her:

“I have never seen a woman in my life, who would endure every species of fatigue and hardship, from month to month, and from year to year, with that unflinching courage, zeal and patience, which she has ever done, for I know that which she has had to endure….she has breasted the storms of persecution, and buffeted the rage of men and devils…which would have borne down almost any other woman.”  (History of Joseph Smith, pp 190-91)

In July of 1830, Joseph received a revelation for Emma known as section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants in which He called her ‘an elect lady’ (v 3). When Joseph organized the Relief Society on 17 March 1842, he appointed Emma as its first President and explained that to be ‘elect’ means to be elected to a certain work (History of the Church, 4:552-53).

When President Joseph F. Smith received his vision of the spirit world in 1918, he observed that many of the ‘noble and great ones were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God’ and that they ‘with many others  received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labour in His vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men’ (D&C 138:55-56). I believe this is when Emma was elected.

What a worthy woman Emma she must have been long before this world began to head the female contribution to the ‘wonderful work and a wonder’. Besides her work in the Church, her support to Joseph in his calling was equal in part to his accomplishments. She was there body and soul and did not shirk to give anything that was asked of her. She stands at the head of all the valiant women of this Church who have laboured for the salvation of the human race.

This is what I see in Emma: when the Saviour opened this last dispensation, He did not forget His valiant sisters. He enlisted us to work alongside the priesthood in establishing His Church to make available the priesthood ordinances of salvation. What a privilege it is to be harnessed with Him in this important work of salvation for the human family.

We, the sisters, will stand as a symbol of righteousness and spiritual endeavour of Zion when the King of Kings returns to reign. And long after this earth is rolled together as a scroll, we will stand as queens and priestesses in the celestial kingdom of our God forever.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Emma's Hymns by Liz Lemon Swindle)

 

 

 

THE ARMOUR

 

In Section 27 of the Doctrine and Covenants, we are told to ‘lift up our hearts and rejoice’ because there is a way to withstand the evils of our day, if we put on the armour of God (D&C 27:15-18). This is good news indeed when you consider the evils of our day which have the power to extinguish any happiness and down-right destroy us.

Our enemy knows us well. He knows us both from our pre-mortal life and from observing us in our mortal state.  He knows what buttons to push when and he knows how to get into our cracks and inflict wounds that might never heal therefore it is of utmost importance to put on the 'whole armour' of God upon us to prevent these wounds.  A section or two is not enough.  Almost all the armour will not do.  It needs to be a complete armour for complete protection.

When Ahab, the king of Israel led his army against the forces of Syria, he took every precaution to avoid being injured, even disguising himself so that the Syrians would not recognise him and focus on his destruction.  The only thing he did not do was wear enough armour and ‘someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel BETWEEN the sections of his armour’ (2K22:34, NIV). By the evening, he had bled to death.

The degree of protection we have from the adversary is proportional to the diligence and heed we give to the Lord's commandments.  How obedient we are here is an indication of how much we are willing to stand for the conviction that was ours in our pre-existence.  The extent of our armour is a good indication of how valiant in our testimony of Jesus we are being here and now. 

Our testimony of Christ is the key. When writing to the Ephesians, Paul took the concept of the armour to a new level when he admonished the Romans to put on ‘the armour of light’ meaning ‘the Lord Jesus Christ’ (Romans 13:14). The armour of God truly does protect us from spiritual darkness because each section of the armour deals with a gospel principle that counteracts sin. This is the greatest protection we can have. The ‘armour of light’ however suggests something more. It means bringing the light of Christ to the world to counteract the darkness.

The adversary is having enormous success but He can never win against ‘the light of the world’. His power is no match for Him who has conquered the power of sin and death.

Now more than ever, we need to wear the armour of God and the armour of light and bring it to the world.  The more righteous we are, the more light we are endowed with until we come to that day when we become as glorious as the one who is the source of all light.

In the words of Terri Savelle Foy: Satan has no power on his best day to take you out on your worst day……

Is this not cause enough to rejoice???

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Put On the Armour of God by Celestial Heritage)

HOLY WITHOUT SPOT

 

 

As the Saints of the Most High through baptism and spiritual re-birth, we have two destinies.

The first is the New Jerusalem where we can enjoy the peaceful fruits of the Millenium and the second is our ultimate destiny in the celestial kingdom of our God. It would seem that both of these have a condition upon which we can arrive at both.

The Prophet Ether spoke at great length about the destiny of America and the New Jerusalem that will be built upon it. And this is the condition: “”…..and blessed are they who dwell therein, for it is they whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb….(Ether 13:10).

John the Revelator spoke of the ultimate destiny, the celestial kingdom, which he saw in a vision, populated with ‘a great multitude, clothed with white robes, who came out of great tribulation and had washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’ (Revelation 7:9,14).

This washing of our garments is a figure of speech representing sanctification for forgiveness of sins. According to Moroni, sanctification is a process that looks like this: come unto Christ, deny yourself of all ungodliness, love God to receive His grace, seek forgiveness, recognize His power, receive remission of your sins, become holy without spot (Moroni 10:32-33).

The reward of the process of sanctification through which we wash our garments pure through the blood of Christ is without price. The alternative doesn’t bear thinking and the alternative is this. If we do not sanctify ourselves through Christ’s redemptive power, we are destined to spiritual suffering beyond our comprehension by paying for our sins ourselves (D&C 19:4,15-18; Mosiah 2:38).

Understanding suffering has been a quest of mine for some years. I’ve tried to understand why suffering is so encapsulated in mortality and why it is so necessary for salvation. Through the Inspired Version of Hebrews 11:40a, we learn that without sufferings we cannot be made perfect.

Over the years I have gleaned some of the reasons for this necessity for perfection from my personal life and from the scriptures: suffering is a great teacher which refines our character developing in us attributes such as patience and tolerance; suffering teaches us to reflect on Christ’s suffering for us; suffering can prove our character and faith in God through trials as in Job; suffering can foster our faith in God and the power of His deliverance.

The greatest lesson I have learnt however, was the one I received through revelation. It was given me to understand that suffering in this life gives us a glimpse into spiritual suffering and anguish of soul we would have to bear if we did not repent of our sins and take advantage of Christ’s power of redemption…..hence the necessity to wash our garments in the blood of Christ.

The avoidance of spiritual suffering should not be our only motivation but THIS should be: “……the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)

When He comes, we will be His when He makes up His jewels (Malachi 3:17) and we will shine forth as fair as the sun having been washed clean to dwell in the Kingdom of our God, now and forever.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Washed by the Blood by Danny Hahlbohm)

 

 

SECRET CLOSET

 

“One day when I really understood what Jesus Christ had done for me, I invited Him to come into the house of my heart and as soon as I invited Him, He came, without any hesitation and when He was there, He filled the house with joy and I wanted to run and tell all the neighbours about my guest and how wonderful it was to have Him there.

“And then one day He said: "There is a peculiar odour in this house and it is coming from that locked closet. And although you've let me go into every room in the house, that one door has always been locked and you've never let me in".

“Now that made me mad! I had let him into every room in my house. I ran and did his errands for Him, I let him use my money and now he wanted to look in my secret closet, so I said: "I hold the key and I will not let you in that closet. It's very small, only about 2 feet by 4 feet. The rest of my house is large enough and is perfectly presentable so it shouldn't make any difference".

“And He said: "I cannot stay in this house if you do not give me the key to the closet". And so He left. Oh, I was sad....And great despair and gloom and depression came over me. Because you see, once having had Him as a guest in my home, life was unbearable without Him. And so I went and tearfully pleaded with Him and begged Him: "Come back and I will give you the key to the closet and I will withhold nothing from you. I cannot stand to live without you".

“And so I gave Him the key and He opened my secret closet. And then quickly and efficiently He cleaned out those things that were dead and rotten that I wanted to feel were not there and wanted to ignore. He cleaned the whole closet out, fumigated it, painted it and He made it perfectly acceptable.

“Afterwards I said: "I am so ashamed that you know what was in my closet". And He said: "Why, I see only a house that is totally acceptable to me". And then I knew why I loved Him so and why of all my biggest brothers only this one could love me enough to clean out my closet. And then He said: "You know, I have cleaned out so many closets but it's a strange thing. I can never remember afterwards what was in them".

-        Author Unknown

I read an interesting post yesterday titled “You Can Ask for Forgiveness, But Nothing Will Ever Be the Same”. The closing remarks were this: “Asking for forgiveness is important, but we must accept that some wounds leave permanent marks. We can mend relationships, but we cannot erase history. The best we can do is learn from our mistakes, become better individuals and cherish the people in our lives with greater care and respect.”

Whereas this was a very meaningful and good advice in regards to our relationships, it made me reflect on the many mistakes I have made in my life that I have regretted but with gratitude that I will not bear the scars of them and will not be accountable for them anymore, that through repentance there is one man who can wipe my slate clean forever.

This gratitude brings me to the feet of my Saviour who has made an irrevocable promise that ‘though my sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow’ (Isaiah 1:18). And an even greater promise, that He shall ‘remember them no more’ (D&C 58:42). If He remembered, I would live in shame forever that He knew what was in my secret closet.

How great is the Saviour of my soul who knows my heart and honours my godly sorrow!

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

SANCTUARY

 

We frequent the Temple for various reasons: to be obedient, to renew our covenants, to advance the work for the dead, to receive answers to our prayers, to understand the doctrine of Christ, or to just get away from the world and feel at peace. There is something that works for everybody. Take notice though of the last reason I listed. The Temple would have to be a sanctuary like no other and here is why.

Some years ago I read this prophetic address delivered by Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone at the Manti Temple in April 1987 and was highly impressed by it. I have reflected on it recently because of the latest push for us to increase our temple attendance, particularly by President Nelson:

"Before the Saviour comes the world will darken. There will come a period of time where even the elect will lose hope if they do not come to the temples. The world will be so filled with evil that the righteous will only feel secure within these walls. The Saints will come here not only to do vicarious work, but to find a haven of peace. They will long to bring their children here for safety's sake...

 

“The covenants and ordinances will fill us with faith as a living fire. In a day of desolating sickness, scorched earth, barren wastes, sickening plagues, disease, destruction, and death, we as a people will rest in the shade of trees, we will drink from the cooling fountains. We will abide in places of refuge from the storm; we will mount up as on eagles' wings; we will be lifted out of an insane and evil world. We will be as fair as the sun and clear as the moon.

 

“When the Saviour comes He will honour His people. Those who are spared and prepared will be a temple-loving people. They will know Him. [This is a clear reference to the Ten Virgins parable]

 

“Our children will bow down at His feet and worship Him as the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. They will bathe His feet with their tears and He will weep, and bless them for having suffered through the greatest trials known to man.

 

“Let us prepare them with the faith to surmount every trial and every condition. We will do it in these holy, sacred temples".

 

I can see Christ’s immense mercy as the temples dot the earth.  In a world where people’s hearts are failing them through ‘enticements of the world, the distraction of alluring voices, the neglect of spiritual nourishment, the fatigue from the demands of discipleship’, a sanctuary from the world is needed like never before (see Elder Neil L. Andersen in CR, Temples, Houses of the Lord Dotting the Earth, April 2024). We will need to this sanctuary especially when the desolations of the last days come upon us.

 

This is the Saviour’s mercy. His godly desire for our protection cannot be overstated. How great are His rewards for the value of our discipleship! May we kneel at the altars of our temples with overflowing gratitude for the sacred houses of the Lord, the sanctuaries of the last days where we will come under the protection of His wings.

 

Your arms are our shelter,

Your heart is our home,

Our only hope

For protection from the storm.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: In The Shadow of Your Wings by Daniel Gerhartz)