ODE TO THE HOLY GHOST

 

When you softly whisper to my soul

I know the Father is there

Ever mindful of my needful care.

 

When you softly whisper to my soul

I know the Saviour will rescue me

When I am tempest tossed onto a troubled sea.

 

When you softly whisper to my soul

I know angels are waiting to lift my heart

In the still of the darkest night.

 

When you softly whisper to my soul

I know You will bring me home

And never abandon my care,

You are the gift that will guide me there.

 

-          CATHRYNE ALLEN

- (Art: The Comforter by Danny Hahlbohm) 

THE LOVE OF GOD PART 2

 

“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 that parents ought to have for their children. Eventually, the term was adopted into Christian dialogue to describe God’s love. However, the term is never found in the scriptures. Rather, it is a classic example of mingling philosophies of men with scripture.”  (Bruce Satterfield, Gospel Doctrine Lesson 44: God Is Love, November 2, 2015)

This theory has been supported by the leaders of the Church for many years yet I still hear people at the pulpit expressing thanks that God loves them unconditionally. President Russell M. Nelson authored an article in the Church magazine entitled “Divine Love” back in 2003 in which he addressed this false definition of God’s love:

“While divine love can be called perfect, infinite, enduring, and universal, it cannot correctly be characterized as unconditional. The word does not appear in the scriptures. On the other hand many verses affirm that the higher levels of the Father and the Son feel for each of us- and certain divine blessings stemming from that love – are conditional.” (Ensign, February 2003)

It would seem that this article was not persuasive enough so the message was repeated 13 years later in General Conference:

“There are many ways to describe and speak of divine love. One of the terms we hear often today is that God’s love is ‘unconditional’. While in one sense that is true, the descriptor unconditional appears nowhere in scripture. Rather, His love is described in scripture as ‘great and wonderful love’, ‘perfect love’, ‘redeeming love’ and ‘everlasting love’. These are better terms because the word unconditional can convey mistaken impressions about divine love, such as, God tolerates and excuses anything we do because His love is unconditional, or God makes no demands upon us because His love is unconditional, or all are saved in the heavenly kingdom of God because His love is unconditional. God’s love is infinite and it will endure forever, but what it means for each of us depends on how we respond to His love.”  (Elder D. Todd Christofferson, “Abide in My Love” October 2016 General Conference)

This is what we can find in scriptures that can illuminate our understanding of God’s love:

“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” (John 15:9-10)

“Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love.” (D&C 6:20)

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

“…..if you keep not my commandments, the love of the Father shall not continue with you…” (D&C 95:12)

God loves all His creations universally because God is love but there are degrees of His love individually. I learnt this through personal experience. I have two daughters. The oldest has been a dream to raise, the youngest took me to hell and back. I can honestly say that I feel different towards the younger daughter because she has caused me pain, stress, and worry. I still love her because she is my daughter and I would welcome her back into my life, but I give much more of myself to the daughter who returns my love with regard, respect and care. Love is a two-way street…..

One last thought: many of us suffer from mental health issues in this day and age and we tend to behave in ways that would help us cope with our condition and not necessarily in disregard of God. My hope is that we would turn to Him as a coping mechanism and thereby experience His divine love. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: As I have Loved You by Greg Olsen)

YOUR LOVE DIVINE

 

My heart overflows with gratitude

For my darkest nights

Because they bring You to me

Flowing like a river with its strongest might.

I bask in Your presence,

I surrender my soul,

I am grounded in Your strength

I am strong enough to carry on.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus the Symbol of Hope by Ivan Guaderrama)

THE LOVE OF GOD PART 1

 

“God’s love, understood as His desire for a relationship with us, is unconditional. In fact, God commands all men and women everywhere to repent and come to Him (3 Nephi 11:32). He desires to redeem us, to glorify and exalt us equally and unconditionally. Does God desire to have an eternal relationship with all His children? Yes, and in this sense God’s love is unconditional. ‘All are invited, none is excluded.’ But it takes two people to have a relationship.

“A relationship by definition, requires two points of reference, and only some of God’s children love Him back and agree to enter into the desired relationship. He does not initially love them any more than others, but in time the relationship of love that is possible with them is much, much greater than it is with those who reject Him. They ‘abide in His love’ (John 15:10)

“Many of God’s children will not love Him. They will not accept the proposal of the Bridegroom, though He loves them dearly. They will never experience the joy the gospel marriage brings. However, that is not because God is unwilling or because they failed to meet conditions that would have rendered Him willing. It is because they will not accept His proposal; they will not come to the wedding. Though He loved them first, they did not love Him back, and by their choice the relationship will not be as great as it might have been – they refuse to ‘abide in His love’.”  (Stepehen R. Robinson, Following Christ, 149-150)

A few years ago I wrote a post on Facebook saying that God the Father loves His Son the most out of all His children. One reader was enraged. He claimed that God is perfect and has the ability to love all his children equally. He said he would be devastated if his children thought he had a favourite. I was, on the other hand, astounded that he would consider himself on equal grounds in Father’s esteem with the Saviour of the world and was in his sinful state deserving of the same love. In my view, the Saviour deserves that and even more.

Through my study of the scriptures I have come to understand why the Saviour would be loved the most:

-          He saved all the rest of the Father’s children through His Atoning sacrifice and paved the way to eternal life for those who accept Him (D&C 19:16-19).

-          His perfect and complete obedience: During His visit to the Americas, The Saviour made 15 references of His obedience to the Father (3 Nephi 15: 14-16,18-19, 16:3,10,16; 17:2; 18:14,27; 20:10,14,46), including the reference to the greatest act of obedience ever, that of being sent by the Father to the cross (3 Nephi 27:13-14). In the meridian of time, He told his disciples: “I do always those things that please Him” (John 8:29). How many of us can say this?

-          Nobody loves the Father more than Christ. This He showed very clearly in pre-earth life when He volunteered to preserve His glory and opposed Satan who sought to take it away (Moses 4:1-4). I don’t recall any of us stepping up volunteering for this…….

-          Jesus was not only Father’s spirit child but His ONLY mortal child hence the Father calls Him ‘The Only Begotten’ and ‘The Beloved Son’….the references of which are too numerous to list.

-          Christ was and is the most righteous of all Father’s children and ‘he that is righteous is FAVOURED of God’ (1 Nephi 17:35).

-          And finally…..Mormon called the Son of the Father ‘His MOST beloved’ (Mormon 5:14).

A female reader attempted to support the man who challenged my Facebook post and said that the Father loves ALL His children.  I asked her if He loves Satan too considering that God cannot love evil which Satan has become and through his evil has destroyed many of Father’s children as opposed to Christ who has saved us all. She answered ‘yes’. Some of us are deluded beyond recognition…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Father and Son by Danny Hahlbohm)

Diana Hahlbohm - Official Website

I HEAR YOUR VOICE

 

I hear Your voice in empty silence

When loneliness envelops me;

I hear Your voice in violent storms

That plague Me in mortality;

I hear Your voice in my struggles

That never let me be;

I hear Your voice when You pilot me

On dangerous journeys of earthly seas;

I hear Your voice beckoning me

To stay the course because

You will never abandon me.

I hear Your voice getting closer

And more distinct on the narrow path

That leads me home to Thee.

I see Your arms wide open

Waiting to welcome me.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Be Not Afraid by LDS Book Store)

THE COURAGE TO GO HOME

 

Sometimes we make such a mess of our lives that we have to admit it. The parable of the Prodigal Son is the best example of this (see Luke 15). I see in this parable an analogy that could apply to all of us.

To recap, a man had two sons. Imagine you are the younger and you wanted to leave home and make your own way in the world and perhaps sow some wild oats.  You plan to part ways with your family so you ask your father for your inheritance. The plan was to have some fun and even gamble and maybe make some speculative investments to double your money. You are sure there is an easier way to make it than your father tilling his fields.

The father obliges and sends you out into the world. No doubt he can see that you could learn a few lessons. Much like our Father in Heaven who had sent us down to earth not just to learn a few lessons but to eventually become like Him and enjoy the riches of eternity.

The older brother in the Parable, the heir of all his father had, was pretty much of the opinion that his brother deserved all the misfortune he got. This brother never sought him who was lost, despite the kinship, despite the brotherhood, despite the father's sorrow over his loss.

Our older brother, on the other hand, knowing from the beginning that He alone would inherit all the Father has, had a very different approach to the situation. Knowing that none of us could come back home by our own efforts, in essence said: ‘I will pave the way, I will seek them and I will bring them back.

So you the prodigal, with your inheritance spent are now reduced to the lowest form of poverty and misery that the world can offer. You find yourself sleeping and eating the husks with the pigs in your service. Imagine such degradation and suffering as eating and sleeping with pigs, especially for one of an honorable parentage who was raised in wealth and was attended to by servants.

Your suffering is extreme, you can sink no lower. You reflect on the home of your youth and the security and safety you had there and how well you were provided for. If only you could go home to the Father who loved you!  But you have no means to make your way back. And you are in agony of remorse for what you have done. The guilt and shame is consuming you.

And then, the unthinkable happens. Your older brother finds you and tells you he will pay for your way home and he will redeem you from all your debts and he will even share his inheritance with you. There are some conditions that will have to be met to ensure your return but you will be saved from the failure your life has become. It is almost too good to be true and you hesitate in your weakness.

And then the hope and courage is born to follow your brother home! You would go home to the father who loved you and would surely forgive you and allow you to serve him. You would go home to the father who would lift you out of the misery and hopelessness you had fallen into. You would go home because there was a path of return, with a price paid to cover all your debts.

What exquisite hope his father was to the prodigal! How that hope would have lifted him out of the mire he was in and propelled him to return home! And what courage was given him by his brother who sought him to bring him home! He was not forgotten and he was wanted!

So here some of us are, like the prodigal, eating husks with the swine for this is not much more that this world has to offer. What hope our Father must have had when He sent us out into the world that we would remember the splendour we came from, that we would want to run home.

 

And so a great sacrifice was made for our return. The Son who came to guide and to seek us to bring us home climbed the hill of Calvary so that we could in our lowest earthly moments say:

For me Your body was broken,

For me Your blood was spilt,

For me Your death was offered

That I might live with You still.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Modern Prodigal Son by Liz Lemon Swindle)

The Official Website of Liz Lemon Swindle – Lizlemonswindle

A STEP OF FAITH

 

Never before had a fisherman stepped

Onto the waves of the sea.

He knew how quickly they could

Take him into the depths of the deep.

But the Master had bid him come

And he ached to be with Him.

 

Like Peter of old, I fear to step

Out of the rocking boat,

I fear losing the ground beneath my feet.

 

I see Him in the distance,

His hand outstretched waiting for me,

I too long to be with Him

But the waves try so eagerly to swallow me.

 

The boat rocks and seeks to destroy me,

I cry my tears of daily pain

And I wonder if anything of me will remain.

 

I wait for Him to come to me to rescue me

And like Peter deliver me from the depths

Of the raging sea;

I hear Him say:

“To know yourself,

YOU have to come to ME.”

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Step of Faith by Michael Malm)