THE WAITING ROOM

 

“God can provide miracles instantaneously, but sooner or later we learn that the times and seasons of our mortal journey are His and His alone to direct. He administers that calendar to every one of us individually. For every infirm man healed instantly, as he waits to enter the Pool of Bethesda, someone else will spend 40 years in the desert waiting to enter the promised land.

“For every Nephi and Lehi divinely protected by an encircling flame of fire for their faith, we have an Abinadi burned at a stake of flaming fire for his. And we remember that the same Elijah who in an instant called down fire from heaven to bear witness against the priests of Baal is the same Elijah who endured a period when there was no rain for years…one’s life cannot be both faith-filled and stress-free. It simply will not work…..

“Christianity is comforting, but it is often not comfortable. The path to holiness and happiness here and hereafter is a long and sometimes rocky one. It takes time and tenacity to walk it…..

“The point is that faith means trusting God in good times and bad, even if that includes some suffering until we see His arm revealed in our behalf. That can be difficult in our modern world when many have come to believe that the highest good in life is to avoid all suffering, that no one should ever anguish over anything. But that belief will never lead us to “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

-          Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “Waiting On the Lord” GC October 2020

 

You tell me I must

stay and conquer

Like You conquered

Your turbulent sea;

I understand,

But oh how I long to see

The shores of eternity.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Deep Calls to Deep by Aeron Brown)

MINISTERING ANGEL

 

 

When the Saviour granted John’s wish to remain on earth until the Second Coming, He said He would make him ‘a ministering angel’ for the heirs of salvation who live on the earth (D&C 7:6).

I have often wondered what form of service that ministering would take and then I discovered something which has had a far wider influence in the world than anything else The Beloved could have done in person:

“Five of the books of the Bible were written by John: the Gospel of John, three epistles, and the book of Revelation. The world’s most widely distributed book is the Bible, portions of which have been translated into 2,233 languages as of 2000. It has been estimated that between 1815 and 1999 some 3.88 billion Bibles were printed (see Guinness World Records 2002, p 138). Certainly, John’s written prophecy has gone forth among the nations” (Doctrine & Covenants Student Manual, p 17).

The Bible is the best-selling book in the world, with an estimated 5 billion copies sold so far. Imagine what John the Beloved has done and continues to do for Christianity throughout the world. His writing continues to influence, uplift, inspire and teach Christians everywhere.

A couple of years ago I had a sister in the Church comment on one of my posts telling me that I should stop preaching to the choir and get out to teach the unconverted. I reminded her that even the choir needs converting from time to time.

It gives me comfort that John’s writing ministers for ‘the heirs of salvation’. I consider myself one of those heirs having accepted Christ as my Saviour and Redeemer. I can tell you that I need to be comforted, inspired and taught by the word of God just as much as those who are yet not converted.

The word of God does not discriminate between the children of God. We are all equally in need of spiritual nourishment. I find that in the scriptures. I don’t know where I would be if the prophets and scribes of old did not keep records of prophecies and accounts of inspiring events and men and women of valour.

I could go on and on about the importance and purpose of scriptures. They that are given by inspiration from God make us wise unto salvation, they are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:15,16, JST 16a). But I suspect you know all this because you are the converted……

This, however, is what I consider John’s ministering amounting to: “…..the scriptures shall be given, even as they are in my own bosom, to the salvation of mine own elect. For they will hear my voice, and shall see me, and shall not be asleep; and shall abide the day of my coming; for they shall be purified, even as I am pure.” (D&C 35:20,21).

Who are the elect? They are the heirs of salvation, they are those who know Christ, they are those who love Him and obey Him, they are the ones who will be saved and they are the ones who are preparing for His appearing.

I am certain this was the Beloved’s intent every time he sat down to write. I am certain he wanted to bring to us the Christ that he knew and loved…..to bolster our faith, to keep us believing and hoping, to help us look forward to that day when He shall come in His glory to gather us in the arms of His love….to save us….to take us home.

Cherish the scriptures, feast upon the words of Christ and feel ministered to……

Daily I stand in my holy place

As I feast upon Thy word,

Ever hopeful I will meet You there,

Thy Spirit to embrace

And the cares of this world to arrest.

I reach for You in darkness

And step up to heaven’s door;

I am bathed in light

And am granted entrance to Your heart.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Uplift the World by Eva Koleva Timothy)

BUT WHO ARE YOU?

The book of Acts records that "God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul" (Acts 19:11). So powerful and effective was Paul in his ministry that handkerchiefs were brought from him to the sick and they were healed from diseases and the evil spirits departed from the ones so afflicted  (Acts 19:12). So well known were Paul's  works that a certain group of vagabond Jews attempted to cast out an evil spirit by his name. During the exorcism an unexpected happened. The evil spirit said to them: "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" (Acts 19:13-15) Undoubtedly this evil spirit was referring to  the priesthood authority by which devils could be cast out but when I read this story it made me feel that the evil spirit also  knew Jesus and Paul because of how mighty they were and what they did. I immediately wondered how I would feel if I was trying to dispel the adversary in some way and he said to me: "Who are you?" How would I feel if the adversary didn't know me; if he thought I was "in the bag" and didn't merit his attention; that I didn't need to be on his radar; that he didn't recognise me as a threat and a defender of the truth.  I am by nature a warrior. I like to think that I was in the front ranks with the best of them during the war in heaven.  And I like to think that I am one of adversary's  worthy opponents here in mortality. 

Reflective in Paul's letters is his unwavering commitment to Christ but we know it was not always so. Paul was a devout Jew, and a strict Pharisee no less (Acts 26:5) and he was intent on destroying the Christians (Acts 26:9-11). It's hard to believe that Christ would choose a man such as this to raise him up to such power that he could heal people and cast out devils merely by sending his handkerchiefs. Paul endured terrible hardships and paid an enormous price for his discipleship and thereby  became the greatest missionary of early Christendom. Out of these hardships was born an iron clad commitment to the very person whom he persecuted. When Ananias was given a vision in which he would heal the newly converted Paul from his blindness, he was hesitant to even meet the man who openly persecuted the believers but the Lord told him that Paul was a chosen vessel to bear His name before the Gentiles and then He added: "For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake" (Acts 9:10-16). And suffer Paul did. Repeatedly imprisoned, thrice beaten with rods, once stoned and left for dead, survived three shipwrecks, spent a night and a day in  waters' deep, dwelt in perils of robbers and of his own countrymen, lived amongst heathen, in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness (2 Corinthians 11:23-27). And this supercedes all....he was scourged by the Jews 5 times. One might wonder why Paul subjected himself to these scourgings? Many other times he escaped persecution by claiming his Roman citizenship which means the Jews couldn't touch him. So why these scourgings? According to Mosaic law, a wrong doer was to be lashed 40 times (Det 25:3) but no more than that for fear of death. Paul says he received 'forty stripes save one' (2 Cor 11:24) meaning he received 39 lashes. In their meticulous administration of the Mosaic law the Jews administered 39 lashes instead of 40 in fear of a miscount. Once the recipient was scourged he was viewed as being fully restored, having paid completely any debt incurred by his wrongdoing. The alternative to scourging meant excommunication from the synagogue. Why would Paul care about such excommunication? He was after all, a converted Christian so synagogues should not have meant so much to him, only they did.....because Paul's first point of contact in his missionary journeys was always the local synagogue. This is where the majority of his preaching took place. Paul was a missionary called to the Gentiles, and this mission he fulfilled admirably,  but in his veins ran the blood of Israel and I believe his heart rested there. Imagine going into a Jewish synagogue and telling the people you were preaching to that they had crucified their god. Now imagine doing this repeatedly knowing that you will be apprehended, imprisoned and scourged to the brink of death. But this Paul did without fear because of his commitment to Christ. Is it any wonder that the evil spirits knew him? 

And is there anyone greater than the adversary in his cause to destroy our pledged commitment to the source of our salvation? The scriptures tell us that Lucifer was "a liar from the beginning" (D&C 93:25). What did he lie about? He lied about his commitment to sustain God's plan for redemption of mankind. He had an ulterior motive, to forfeit his sustaining vote and present another plan which would give him God's glory (Moses 4:1-4; D&C 29:36). He is an upstart and a wannabe. His one goal is to steal, kill and destroy. He seeks to steal our spiritual identity, kill our faith in God and destroy our commitment to Christ. In his subtlety 'he will use his logic to confuse and his rationalisations to destroy. He will shade meanings, open doors an inch at a time, and lead from purest white through all the shades of gray to the darkest black' (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p. 152). He will stop at nothing and he will lead even the very elect away from the truth (Matthew 24:24).  But when all is said and done and the earth is rolled together as a scroll he will become nothing and those that see him will say in amazement: "Is this the man that made the earth  tremble, that did shake kingdoms?" (Isaiah 14:16). He knows nothing of loyalty, integrity and commitment. But Paul did and when his time was up he was able to say:

 "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" 

(2 Timothy 4:7)

THE HEART OF AN EAGLE

Seems that a certain man went through the forest looking for any kind of a bird of interest and he came upon a little baby eagle that had fallen out of his nest. He took it home and put it in a pen with the chickens and the turkeys and the ducks.

Several years later a naturalist came by his house and passing through the garden said:
"Sir, that's an eagle, not a chicken."
"Yes Sir, but I've trained it to be a chicken. It's no longer an eagle, it's a chicken even though it measures 15' from tip to tip of his wings."
"No" said the naturalist, "It's an eagle, it has a heart of an eagle and if you let me, I'll make it soar to the heights of the heavens."
"No" said the owner, "it's a chicken. It will never fly."
They agreed to test it.
The naturalist picked up the eagle and said:
"Eagle, thou doest belong to the sky and not to this earth. Stretch forth thy wings and fly."
The eagle turned this way and that and very nervously looked down and then jumped to be with his friends the chickens.
The owner said:
"I told you it was a chicken."
"No" said the naturalist, "it's an eagle, give it another chance tomorrow."

So the next day he took it to the top of the house and said:
"Eagle, thou art an eagle, stretch forth thy wings and fly."
But again the eagle seeing the chickens jumped down and fared with them.
The owner said again:
"I told you it was a chicken."
"No" said the naturalist, "it's an eagle, it has a heart of an eagle and if you give it another chance it will soar like an eagle".
The next morning he arose early and took the eagle outside the city away from the house to the foot of a great mountain.
The sun was just rising gilding the top of the mountain with gold and every crack was glistening with the joy of that beautiful morning. He picked up the eagle.
"Eagle, thou art an eagle, thou doest belong to the sky, not to the earth, stretch forth thy wings and fly."
The eagle looked and trembled as if new life was coming to it but it did not fly. The naturalist then made it look straight into the sun. 
Suddenly it stretched forth it's mighty wings and with the screech of an eagle, it flew."

- Author Unknown

The beginning of early Christianity was also the beginning of the Great Apostasy. Within mere 30 years following Christ's ascension into heaven, the profound and simple truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ started to be blended with philosophies of men and eventually 'the wisdom of God was rejected as foolishness. The miracles of the Atonement, the Resurrection, and the ordinances were diluted and deleted. Men, blinded to the wisdom of God by their own intellectual conceit, added and subtracted at will from the truths revealed by God. Gradually and inevitably, these precious truths were changed, perverted, and lost. The simple was embellished, the holy corrupted, the truth falsified' (The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p. 229). Under the Saviour's admonition to take the Gospel to other nations, Paul and the Apostles took the Gospel beyond the walls of Jerusalem to dispersed Jews, then Samaritans and then the Gentiles, more specifically, the Mediterranean world ruled by the Roman Empire. The Gospel which they preached was grounded in the eyewitness testimony of Jesus for many had seen the Saviour following His resurrection, therefore, their testimony and message was not based on Christ's teachings only but more importantly, on their witness of His resurrection which left no room for speculation. This non-speculative nature of the Christian faith conflicted with the philosophical conjecture in the Mediterranean which was heavily under the Hellenic influence, meaning Greek philosophy. Where Jews sought signs, Greeks sought wisdom and it is the wisdom of men which they revered more than the simple truths of the Gospel. With time the Christian resistance to Greek philosophy broke down and the strange admixture of Christian truth with pagan philosophy and practice constituted the Great Apostasy (see The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p 233).

The tragedy of the Great Apostasy and the loss of simple truths of the Gospel cannot be over-stated. From about 100 A.D. until 1820, the children of men groped in darkness relying on the wisdom of men regarding their origin and destiny. Even today, despite the restoration of the truth, the world at large does not understand the meaning and purpose of life and looks to the wisdom of men, men who are 'ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth' (2 Timothy 3:7). This means many of us are confused not knowing who we truly are and what we can become. We cast our lot with men of the world who are as chickens pecking the group for gems of knowledge. We are looking down when we should be looking up. The tragedy of this is that the wisdom of men cannot elevate us above this telestial world. It teaches us to live here and now and gives no hope of anything better. The wisdom of men strives to keep us in the chicken coop not allowing us to believe that we are eagles meant for greater heights than this mortal sphere in this telestial world.

The restored Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us of our divine nature. It teaches us that within each one of us are seeds of excellence, seeds of perfection, seeds of godhood. We are meant to soar to greater heights with our eyes fixed on the glory of the sun for the glory of the sun is also the glory of the "Son" by whom we receive the same glory unto ourselves. Let us be wise and not look to the philosophies of men but to the Son who disperses confusing doctrines and false teachings of men.We do not belong to the telestial realm with the chickens, pecking the crumbs of their wisdom. We are eagles who belong to the skies, reaching for the sun which reflects the glory of celestial kingdom, which is our eternal home. It is there we want to find rest, from all our burdens, from all our sorrows, from all our tears. We are meant for greatness to which only the Saviour can lift us. He is the one that gives might to our wings, He is the sun which shines brightly and guides us to our eternal home. He is the one who He gives power to those He loves and He loves those who would have Him be their God (1 Nephi 17:40).

"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no fathoming of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint"

(Isaiah 40:28-31)