I viewed my life as
hopeless pieces
And shame consumed my
fragile heart.
I questioned every move
and every choice;
I berated, I gave no
value to any part.
Not until my trust
consumed me
And my will to heavens
flew
Did solace nestle in my
soul
And such freedom as I
never knew.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art by David Beraru)
We are about to study the book of Joshua this week. Joshua is one of those Old Testament figures we don’t talk about much yet there is so much to admire about the man. I feel he is overlooked to our detriment because he too, like Moses, was a prototype of Christ:
“Joshua, the son of Nun, of the
tribe of Ephraim, was first called Oshea or
Hoshea,….[Numbers 13:16], which
signifies saved, a saviour, or
salvation; but afterwards Moses,
guided no doubt by a prophetic spirit, changed his name into….Yehoshua or Joshua, which signifies he shall save or salvation of Jehovah; referring, no doubt, to his being God’s
instrument in saving the people from the hands of their enemies, and leading
them from victory to victory over the different Canaanitish nations, till he
put them in possession of the promised land…in the New Testament he is
expressly called….Jesus [see Acts 7:45; Hebrews 4:8].” (Clarke, Bible Commentary, 2:3). In other words, in the original Hebrew
both Joshua and Jesus were the same name.”
(see Old Testament Student Manual Book 1 p 236)
As a preface to the Ten
Commandments which Jehovah gave to Moses he made it clear why they were given: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of BONDAGE.” (Exodus 20:2). The operative word here is
‘bondage’. It has reference to the Ten Commandments which are meant to give
Israel freedom. If Israel cleaved to obedience of the Law, they would never
again be in bondage, physical or most importantly, spiritual.
Thereafter, Moses made it a point
to define the deliverance from Egypt as deliverance from ‘bondage’ (Det 6:12;
8:14; 13:5). After Jehovah confirmed to Joshua that he is to take charge of the
Tribes and lead them to the promised land, He charged him to make the law the
basis of all he did. He was not to vary from it or depart from it, all that he
spoke was to conform to it, and he was to meditate upon it constantly (Joshua
1:5-8). Joshua followed these rules to the letter and like Moses, reminded
Israel that they had been delivered from ‘the house of bondage’ in the land of
Egypt (Joshua 24:17). He understood clearly what the God of Israel had done
which made him a spiritual leader of God’s people as well as the physical one.
At the onset of conquest of the
promised land, the mighty Jehovah spoke to Joshua and told him he is to conquer
all the land from Lebanon to the river Euphrates (Joshua 1:4). In actuality, this
meant the region south and southwest of the Lebanon mountains, north and east
of Egypt, east of the Mediterranean coastal plain and west of the Arabian
desert (OT Student Manual 1, p 236). In other words, the land that lay before
Joshua was massive. Overwhelming, isn’t it? But Jehovah issued an admonition to
Joshua to ‘be strong and of good courage’ three times (Joshua 1:6,7,9) assuring
him: ‘I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee….be not afraid, neither be thou
dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest’ (vs 5,9).
And then the promise: Joshua was told that he must adhere strictly to the law of Moses and he shall have success (v 8) but not just any success, he was promised that his success would be so great that there shall not any man be able to stand before him all the days of his life (v 5). This Joshua did, obeying all of the Lord’s instructions with exactness (fascinating examples of this to look out for in his story). The result of his meticulous obedience? A success unsurpassed: the Lord was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country’ (Joshua 6:27).
We, of the House of Israel, are standing on the earth which is our ultimate promised land. This earth will one day be redeemed and sanctified from all unrighteousness that it may be prepared for the celestial glory, that the bodies who are of the celestial kingdom may possess it forever and ever (D&C 88:17-20). This is our promised land. This is our ultimate forever home.
Before each of us is the vastness of our mortal probation fraught with challenges
and trials to conquer and overcome. It is also the ‘house of bondage’ from
which the Saviour has delivered us through His atoning sacrifice if we will but
obey the commandments, the path to unsurpassed freedom.....
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Artist Unknown)
Will I be lost in crowds of heaven
When my mortal shell at last I leave,
And will this earthly life appear unreal
When my true home is to me revealed?
Will I come to see Thy face
I so often sought on bended knee,
And forget all the lonely moments
I suffered with merciful help from Thee?
My heart will rend within my chest
When I kneel before Thy throne;
I will weep with grateful heart
For cherished truths that I have known.
-
CATHRYNE
ALLEN
(Art: Christ by David Beraru)
Sometimes when I consider the atrocities in the world today and some of the things we say and do, from our leaders down to the common man, I am convinced we are operating here on the level of intelligence called stupidity. I don’t know how God tolerates us in this weakened state of mortality.
At other times I hear a piece of music
that lifts me to the gates of heaven or I see a piece of art that rends my soul
with gratitude for beauty or read a poem that bares someone’s soul and I see the
other side of humanity. I am often amazed by the talents, strengths, attributes
and achievements of many of us. I am especially enthralled by people enshrined
in holy writ…..their capabilities, their sufferings, their level of endurance,
their skills at handling life, and especially their faith, devotion to and love
of God.
I marvel at our uniqueness, our creativity, our intelligence, our very essence and all that we are and are yet to become. I imagine if there were no mortal days of probation I might never have heard of a man called Abraham Lincoln in the vastness of the Universe or been moved by music written by Mozart or heard Renee Fleming sing Casta Diva. What an amazing gift it is to be a witness of someone's unique expression of self and of the mark they leave on this world. Most of us will not earn a page in the annals of history. Most of us will never become another Abraham Lincoln or Mozart or Helaman or Isaiah but all of us have a unique light within with which we can illuminate the world.
Alma spoke of having the image of God in our countenance (Alma 5:14). Imagine our unique talents, gifts, capacities and personalities, our very souls, enhanced by an image of an exalted God. Imagine the beauty that would exude from us if we truly loved God and possessed the Saviour’s attributes. Moroni thought it was possible. He admonished us to pray for the pure love of Christ so that when He appears we shall be like Him and thereby know Him (Moroni 7:48). Imagine the hearts we could reach if they saw the Saviour in us. Imagine how many souls we could influence and bring home with us if we bore the image of Christ in our countenance.
God sees us in our entirety. He sees who
we were, our present limitations and what we will yet become. He sees us as an
amazing assortment of humanity and most of all He sees our potential. This is
how He can tolerate us here and now.
In the realms of heaven when your glorious destiny hung in the balance, the Saviour saw you and your worth and your potential. Besides His overriding desire to bring glory to the Father, this is what propelled Him to the cross.
In the words of Dr. Seuss: "Today you are you, that is truer than
true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You". How truly magnificent
are you?!!!
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: A Peaceful Heart by Michael Malm)
You paved the way to glories untold
With drops of blood and hallowed tears,
Gifting me life beyond these mortal years.
The bread of life, the living water,
Flowing into my heart from yours;
With parched lips I approach
So I will thirst never more.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: The Water That I Shall Give by Eva Koleva Timothy)
“If all the
sick for whom we pray were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the
wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the
basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended. No man would have
to live by faith.
“If joy and
peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there would be
no evil – all would do good but not because of the rightness of doing good.
There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of
powers, no free agency, only satanic controls.
“Should all
prayers be immediately answered according to our desires and our limited
understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow,
disappointment, or even death, and if these were not, there would also be no
joy, success, resurrection, nor eternal life and godhood.”
-
President Spencer, W. Kimball, “Faith Precedes the
Miracle”, p 97
In all that President Kimball said here, the test of strength, development of character and growth of power is the most significant.
A few years
ago I wrote a post on the social media extolling the virtues of Christ’s grace
and His power to save us, but not only in regards to our overall salvation, but
in every aspect of our lives. I basically attacked the often repeated phrase of
our day, “you are enough”. I said we are never enough without Him. My comments highly aggravated one reader who
commented to me that I was wrong to be making people believe in and rely on a
person they couldn’t even see. She said when she needed something to happen in
her life, she gathered up all her strength and she went ahead and did it, not
relying on anyone else. I thought at the time that this was her way of denying
the existence and power of Christ. I replied that I don't have the power to make anyone do anything, it is up to the individual what they believe and do.
I have
learnt since then there is some truth in this. I had come to the point where my
faith in God became the only thing I
relied on, to the denial of my own power. I have learnt of late that sometimes
we rely on God far too much to do things for us, to rescue us from situations
we don’t like, to heal our cracks, to make every situation better….and when He
doesn’t we question His goodness, His mercy and even, in the end, His existence.
Imagine if
God did everything for us. We would remain like toddlers for eternity, relying
on a parent for our very existence. Sometimes we forget that we are here to
rise to the status of a god. Some years ago I received an understanding that we
are here to learn to harness the power of faith, without which we cannot become
gods…..but not just any faith. The faith that we are to have in our control is
manifesting faith. This is the power of the individual.
This is
manifesting faith…. It is speaking the Word and creation comes into being (John
1:1-3); it is sending forth the winds, the rains and the floods from your mouth
and controlling the elements according to your will (Ether 2:24); it is cursing
the fig tree and watching it wither as you speak (Matthew 21:19,20); it is
speaking to the tempest waves of the sea and watch it become still (Mark 4:39).
It is seeing the end result in your mind and bringing it into being.
Brother of
Jared learnt this lesson well when he presented 16 stones to the Lord and saw
His finger light them up (Ether 3: 4-6) and when he ‘said unto the mountain
Zerin, “remove” – it was removed.’ (Ether 12: 30). If God exercised His power
in our behalf constantly, we would never come to learn of the strength of our
own power. Yes, there are things that are beyond us at times, when we can do
something ourselves and when we have to rely on the Lord. The wisdom is in knowing
the difference. If we combined faith in ourselves and faith in God, we would be
unstoppable.
Think about
it…..Christ couldn’t walk for Peter on the sea of Galilee….He could only say: “Come”
(Matthew 14:29)
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Come by David Bowman)
I lift, I lift,
Above the world below.
I reach and find Your
hand
To guide me where I am
meant to go.
You are my guiding light,
You are my all,
You are my inner compass
That will bring me home.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Guiding Light by Ivan Guaderrama)
