THE PRECIOUS CORNER STONE

Christ the Redeemer by Greg Collins

 “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation…….”  (Isaiah 28:16)

“The tried and precious cornerstone is Jesus Christ Himself. Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote: One of Isaiah’s great Messianic prophecies was that the promised Messiah would be “for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.” (Isaiah 8:14-15). Both Paul (Romans 9:33) and Peter (1 Peter 2:7-8) record the fulfillment of this prophecy.” (Mormon Doctrine, p 657)

“Jacob referred to this figure when he said that “by the stumbling of the Jews they will reject the stone upon which they might build and have safe foundation” (Jacob 4:15). Paul also used the same imagery when he said the foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ was Apostles and prophets, with Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone (see Ephesians 2:19-20)” 

-          (Old Testament Student Manual 1 Kings – Malachi p 163)

Just as Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the Church, He is also supposed to be the cornerstone of our ‘spiritual house’. Sometimes we might think that being members of His Church is sufficient. The sufficiency happens, however, when we make active His Atonement in our lives. Then our foundation will be sure and we will not be exposed to the risk of falling. Using the familiar and common parts of daily life as object lessons for his teachings, Isaiah teaches us how the Atonement can spiritually cover us:  

“For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.” (Isaiah 28:20)

“…..if we are not covered by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, we will find ourselves like a man in a bed too short for him with a blanket that is too small to cover him. No matter how appealing sin may look at first, it can never satisfy our inner needs. The sinful person will be ever like the man in a short bed with inadequate covers. He will twist and turn and constantly seek comfort, but he cannot find it. The Atonement of Christ for sin covers, or is efficacious for, only those who trust in God with all their hearts and keep His holy commandments.”  (Old Testament Student Manul 1 Kings-Malachi p 163)

I have seen your sins

And the years you have lived with futile pride.

I bore your life with crimson drops

And sought forgiveness on your behalf

To pay the price of justice

And mend your broken heart.

I wait for you to come

Into the shadow of my wings,

I have paid the price,

Come unto Me,

Your God and your King.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

A MILLENIAL NATION

 

The Bridegroom by LDS Bookstore 

By Isaiah’s time, Israel, a chosen nation of God had sunk into such spiritually depraved condition that Isaiah referred to them as Sodom and Gomorrah (Isaiah 1:10). Their hypocritical performances of the Mosaic offerings and feasts was a clear indication of their superficial form of worship devoid of repentance (1:11).

As per Jehovah’s inexhaustible mercy, the following hope was issued to Israel that they can still remain chosen:

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)

Even though this beautiful promise can be applied to individual members of Israel, it was originally issued to Israel as a nation: “No matter how many prophets the Lord sent to Israel and Judah, the how many times he pleaded with them, all through their history they were rebellious. Here we find a promise that if they would return to the Lord, their past sins would be forgotten, and he would again receive them as his people and bless them abundantly, and they should continue to be his covenant people.” (President Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:180)

The House of Israel has had a treacherous past but its destiny remains. This destiny is centred on the Millenial Day when “out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (2:3).

“Jerusalem shall be the gathering place of Judah and his fellow of the house of Israel, and Zion shall be the gathering place of Ephraim and his fellows, upon whose heads shall be conferred ‘the richer blessings’. These two cities, one in the land of Zion [America] and one in Palestine, are to become capitals for the kingdom of God during the Millennium (Old Testament Student Manual 1 Kings – Malachi p 139). In other words, the House of Israel will be the theocratic governing body of the world with Christ as its head during the Millenium age.

In chapter 2 of his book, Isaiah summarized the basic spiritual problems that troubled Israel in his day and made this a dualistic prophecy applicable to the last days before the Second Coming:

·         Verse 6: Ancient Israel looked to the religious philosophies and the gods of the Assyrians and other heathen countries for power and for sustenance. Today people look to may other religions and philosophies of men for wisdom and guidance instead of the gospel of Jesus Christ;

·         Verse 6: Ancient Israel was joining the heathen nations in all their wickedness, and modern society is joining with the influences of the world rather than looking to the Lord;

·         Verse 7: The people were wealthy and materialistic. Their hearts were set on the things of the world. In the last days, materialism runs rampant.

·         Verse 7: The land was “full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots”. The horse was a symbol of warfare as was the chariot. Today is an age characterized by wars and military power.

·         Verse 8: The land was filled with idolatry then, and people still turn to false gods today, though not necessarily to idols made of wood or stone.

·         Verse 9: Nephi’s quotation of Isaiah in the Book of Mormon says that the “mean man boweth NOT down, and the great man humbleth himself NOT (2 Nephi 12:9). Here Isaiah was referring to the fact that men would not worship the true God. In the preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord indicated this failure would be a major concern of the last days (D&C 1:16).

-          (Old Testament Student Manual 1 Kings – Malachi, p 139)

To fulfil our destiny as the Millenial Nation we need to heed this call:

“O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord”  (Isaiah 2:5)

Like Israel of old

I foolishly sought man’s protection

Until you showed me the strength

Of Your invincible arm

And how much easier You can make

My journey’s difficult path.

How foolish I was to trust in man’s might,

How foolish to seek mortal comfort

And settle for feeble sentries of the heart.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

HONOURING HIS SACRIFICE

 

Salvation by Ron DiCianni

“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? Saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats…..bring no more vain oblations….I am weary to bear them…..when ye make many prayers, I will not hear….” (Isaiah 1:11-15)

Animal sacrifice is something we of our day cannot relate to until we study the practice in full to understand how it pointed to the sacrifice of the only sinless man who sacrificed himself for every sinful person that will ever walk this earth. The year I studied this ancient practice I discovered the power of personal consecration and wished I could have witnessed animal sacrifice in person.

Israel of old lost the sacredness and solemnity of animal sacrifice as they slid into such a sinful state that it became to them a habit and an excuse for feasts and festivals (Isaiah 1:13,14). The true meaning was lost, the Saviour was not honoured for His power of salvation, and he rejected the killing of animals which held no redemptive power.

I have read the abovementioned scriptures before, but yesterday they brought a fresh perspective into my mind. There is a practice akin to animal sacrifice which we of this day participate in. Whereas ancient Israel needed an ongoing ritual to point them to Christ who was to come to atone for them, we today have an ongoing ritual to point us to Christ who has been and atoned for us. It is called the sacrament.

Well might the Saviour also reject our partaking of the sacrament if it is done without the necessary commitment of repentance. What good is our breaking of the bread in vain if it is not done with a broken heart and a contrite spirit? In partaking the sacrament without intent to repent, our sins continue to do what Paul called “crucifying the Son of God afresh” (Hebrews 6:6).

The power of the sacrament is one of purifying our souls to the state of forgiveness because the broken bread is a revered symbol of the broken flesh of the Saviour who would lift us higher to the throne of God than we can ever hope to lift ourselves. There is no sin, except the sin against the Holy Ghost, that is greater than His Atonement for ‘though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isaiah 1:18). This is grace, this is mercy, this is forgiveness of the suffering God for all of Israel who come to Him with sincere repentance born of a broken heart.

He is the Shepherd of Israel

Who would not see us lost,

Who rescued our souls

Never counting the cost.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

SACRIFICE OF THE HEART

 

The Compassionate Christ by Greg Sargent

“Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” (Psalms 50:3-5)

Psalm 50 reads more like a revelatory instruction to Jehovah’s saints than a song of praise. It accentuates thanksgiving and praise of God above the animal sacrifices of the day. Psalm 51 goes further to explain that the sacrifice God wants from us is that of a ‘broken and contrite heart’ (vs 15-17).

Psalm 51 was written by King David following that fateful visit of Nathan the prophet who exposed David’s sin with Bath-Sheeba. It is one of the most heart wrenching story of the Old Testament. After giving David a touching story of a poor man’s lamb being taken away by a rich man to sacrifice for a single meal of a traveller, David was outraged and claimed that the rich man needs to be put to death but Nathan simply replied ‘thou art the man’ and outlined the seriousness of what David had done despite all the blessings he had received at God’s hand (see 2 Samuel 12:1-14). It humbled David to the dust.

The word (Hebrew root dkh) translated as “contrite” means “to crush”, therefore, “a broken or contrite heart or spirit is one that is crushed, smashed, broken to pieces…The symbolism of our smashing or breaking or crushing our hard, wilful heart into pieces and offering the result to God is significant, because a smashed heart no longer exists in a recognizable or retrievable form….It is at this point that the Lord can replace our now broken, offered heart with a new one” (see Ezekiel 36:26). (Dana M. Pike, “3 Nephi 9:19-20: The Offering of a Broken Heart” in Third Nephi: An Incomparable Scripture)

I think David understood this principle well when he pleaded with God: “Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:9,10)

When the Saviour comes to judge His people, He will require the spirit of repentance from us. Placing our sins on the altar of sacrifice is the ultimate we can give and if our hearts are pure and sincere, forgiveness will be HIS to give and He will be glorified for the salvation of our souls.

Before the birth of Christ, animal sacrifice was required in expectation of His sacrifice. The sacrifice of Christ fulfilled this requirement and in itself denotes a broken and contrite heart offered in the Garden through His submission and humility and upon the cross through His willingness of  extreme suffering. How little is asked of us in comparison to the greatest sacrifice of all!

I gave you my all:

My heart, my body, my soul.

I paved the way

And conquered death.

Come and take my hand;

Eat and do not hunger,

Drink and do not thirst.

I am in your midst;

I am the only,

I am the last,

And I am the first.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

KNOWING HIM

 

When Moses ascended Mt Sinai for the second time, Jehovah descended in a cloud before him and passing by him, He proclaimed:

“ The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”  (Exodus 34:6,7)

This is so significant. This was not someone stroking his ego by listing His amazing qualities. This is a proclamation of someone who knows who He is and what His purpose is. Take notice of the attributes and qualities the Saviour listed: mercy, grace, longsuffering, goodness, truth, forgiveness….these are all qualities that benefit the human family. The proclamation was and still is: “I am your God and I am here to save you.”

But make no mistake, He is also a judge, as he indicates at the end of His statement, and He seeks accountability for the sins we commit and pass on to our children for generations to come. In other words, He is also a God of power, truth and justice. There is no fault in Him, only balance.

Moses wrote down how Jehovah described himself and no doubt He shared that description with the Hebrews he presided over because it was imperative that they knew who the source of their salvation was and what He was like.

“We live in a day of restoration when we know that God exists. However, the knowledge of his existence is only preliminary to our knowing his characteristics and attributes. When the challenges and traumas of life arise – and they are a natural part of this mortal experience – though we know there is a God, the issue will depend more critically on what He is like.

“The questions in those difficult times will center on whether I can depend on and trust in Him implicitly. Does He, for instance, have knowledge and power sufficient to save me? And for that matter, does he have the mercy and desire to do so?” (Jerry A. Wilson, “The Great Plan of Happiness – Insights From The Lectures on Faith” p 27)

Some years ago I determined that I would get to know what the Saviour is like through the Book of Mormon. I noted all His attributes and qualities I could see in the margins of my book. Mercy was the most prevalent attribute and it was just about on every page. I don’t know where I would be today if I didn’t know that He would be merciful towards my blunders, my imperfections and my humanity.

 

Aside from the scriptures, our convictions of who the Saviour is and what He is like, born from personal interactions with the spirit would have to be our greatest knowledge. Consider this tender image President Heber C. Kimball had of God:

 

“I am perfectly satisfied that my Father and my God is a cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good-natured Being. Why? Because I am cheerful, pleasant, lively and good-natured when I have His Spirit. That is one reason why I know and another is – the Lord said, through Joseph Smith, “I delight in a glad heart and a cheerful countenance.” That arises from the perfection of His attributes. He is a jovial, lively person, and a beautiful man. (“Journal of Discourses” 4:222)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus Loves Me by Chris Brazelton)

 

CHOICES

 

My life is a bag of choices I dare to make,

A dream of perfection eluding me still.

I grope in darkness

Hoping my choices are pleasing to Thee;

And when I leave this weak and mortal shell

And kneel on hallowed ground at Thy feet,

Then will I cry, my Lord and my God,

Forgive my reckless sins a thousand tears deep.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Divine Faith by Greg Collins)

JOSEPH THE PURE IN HEART

 

"Young man, a thousand miles away from home, can you keep the standards of your mother and father?  One man changed the history of the world by taking into a foreign country these standards: He was good looking, he had personality; he was young.  Because of his physique and general carriage, he carried prestige.  She was a woman of importance….. She tempted him once - she tempted him twice - yes, and many more times.  Each time he remembered the teachings of his folk at home.  He looked sin in the face and stood like a rock….. “ (Bishop Marvin O. Ashton, Improvement Era, Vol. XIviii, December, 1945, No. 12)

 

Joseph's ultimate test of faith came in the form of a woman.  This test of faith became the crowning glory of proof that he would never stray from his faith and commitment to live God's laws.  Joseph referred to Potiphar's wife's invitation as 'great wickedness' (Genesis 39:9).  The following insight into Joseph's character helps us have appreciation of his tenacity and ability to overcome what could have been an overwhelming sense of hopelessness as his life took a turn for the worse.

 

Joseph never failed to recognise that something good always comes out of something bad.  He believed that even his unjust imprisonment was a blessing.  The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs quotes Joseph as saying: "I gave thanks to the Lord and sang praise in the house of darkness, and how I rejoiced with cheerful voice, glorifying my God, because through her trumped-up charge I was set free from this Egyptian woman".

(James H. Charlesworth, The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments)

 

Joseph felt it was better to sit in a dark dungeon for two years then to have succumbed to sin. How easy it would have been to embrace a sinful life far away from his family….nobody would have known! But God would have known and this was more important to Joseph….because God sees all and He knows all. And Joseph knew if he was faithful to the God of his fathers, he would have the right to hope for help from Him.

 

It is staggering to think of what lay on the line when Joseph was tempted by his master's wife.  Had Joseph succumbed, his destiny, the destiny of his family and the destiny of his descendants would have all been in peril. Had he chosen the life of sin, he would never have become the man that he became.  This would have had disastrous effects not only on him but on us too.

 

Just as Joseph became a saviour of his family temporally, I am convinced his morally clean life has had an impact on his progeny and their role in becoming spiritual saviours to their brethren of Israel and the rest of the Father's children:

 

"Wherefore thy brethren (the other tribes of Israel) shall bow down unto thee, from generation to generation, unto the fruit of thy loins (Ephraim and Manasseh) for ever; For thou shalt be a light unto my people, to deliver them in the days of their captivity, from bondage; and to bring salvation unto them, when they are altogether bowed down under sin". (JST Gen. 48:10-11)

 

When I consider Ephraim’s responsibility of salvation, I am convinced that the lives that we live have an impact on our generation and on the generations to come: “No one sins in isolation. We cannot say that our actions influence only ourselves for even if we do something sinful that is completely personal, our individual loss of spiritual power means a lessening of power for all mankind and contributes to the withdrawal of the Lord’s Spirit, and that is damaging to all…..” (Old Testament Student Manual Gensis – 2 Samuel p 243)

 

But there is hope…in repentance and a God who can extend mercy to the penitent….

 

Like a bird in flight

Our sins ascend to Thee;

Rising from the ashes of mortality

They seek Thy mercy to set them free. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Though Your Sins Be As Scarlet by Greg Collins)

THE POWER OF PREPARATION

 

Joseph, the son of Jacob, would have to be the greatest example of the importance of preparation. Joseph started off as somewhat of an insufferable teenager. Not that he was unrighteous but because his advantages in early life were leading him to a possible path of pride. Here’s what I mean by that:

1.       He was favoured and most loved of all of his father’s children. He was the only one who was honoured with a coat of many colours which symbolized not only favouritism but high status in the ancient world  (Genesis 37:3). This alone had the potential of going to his head;

2.       He policed his brothers and reported their evil doings to his father (v 2);

3.       He bragged about his dreams of the prosperous future and leadership that they promised (v 5-10). This earned him the derision of his brothers who named him ‘the dreamer’ (v 19).

The favouritism, the self-righteousness, the revelations, all point to a teenage lack of humility and a slippery slide in the opposite direction. Joseph was 17 when his brothers cut him off from his home and sold him into servitude in Egypt but by the time he was 30 he was Egypt’s ruler (Genesis 37:2; 41:46). When his brothers arrived in Egypt to buy food, we see a different Joseph, a Joseph with a tender heart willing to forgive and yearning to embrace his brothers and re-unite with his family (Genesis 42:24; 43:24-31). This story alone is worth the weeping.

There was something wonderful about Joseph….besides his integrity and righteousness, he had an uncanny ability to make lemonade out of lemons. He possessed a positive attitude and God used this attribute to refine and teach him. Through his optimism Joseph could see and understand that his servitude in Egypt had a higher purpose, that of saving the entire House of Israel (Genesis 45:5-8). There was no pride in this admission, only credit and honour to God.

This was the preparation of Joseph, a prolific figure in the patriarchal line and a prototype of the promised Messiah. His life heralds the exciting and complicated history of the House of Israel that we belong to. Knowing the patriarchs and the people who shaped this history is a privilege we should consider to be of immense worth.

Sometimes God is preparing us for something great when it least seems like it…. “He has the ability to turn everything into something good. This is a godly characteristic. Everything, no matter how dire, becomes a victory to the Lord” (Hartman Rector Jr., “Live Above the Law To Be Free”, Ensign Jan 1973, p 130). It reminds me of this poem by Benjamin Malachi Franklin:

My life is but a weaving between my God and me,

I cannot choose the colours, He weaveth skillfully.

Oft times He weaveth sorrow; And I in foolish pride

Forget He sees the upper and I the underside.

Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly

Will God unroll the canvas and reveal the reason why

The dark threads are as needful in the weaver’s skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver

In the pattern He has planned.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Joseph of Egypt by Michael T. Malm)

TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD

 

Imagine sitting on a family feud for 20 years. Imagine having to face the person who sought to take away your life because of this feud after all the time you were estranged from them. This was the situation Jacob found himself in when God commanded him to return to Canaan. He knew he would come across his brother Esau and dread took possession of him. So much so that he prayed to God for protection.

Consider his humility in approaching God: “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant…deliver me I pray thee from the hand of my brother…..” (Genesis 32:10) Then he evoked God’s promise of the Abrahamic covenant through which he would be blessed with posterity ‘as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered for multitude’ (vs 11,12)

Imagine Jacob’s joy when Esau “ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him”…..and instead of animosity, hatred and vengeance, they wept….(Genesis 33:4). And this is the reward of forgiveness in Jacob’s words: “I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God….” (v 10)

This reminds me of that famous quote from the finale of Victor Hugo’s novel “Les Miserables”, “To love another person is to see the face of God”, emphasizing that selfless love breaks all the barriers of contention, hatred and discord and represents the highest, divine and sacred experience.  

I could not imagine life without forgiveness. Living in such immense opposition and weakness, we simply could not survive spiritually without it because the imperfection of this life would canker our souls beyond saving. Forgiveness rescued me from the greatest trial of my life. This forgiveness was what made me ‘see the face of God’ because it came as His gift.

Now in this later stage of my life, I am learning more about self-forgiveness of my humanity. I erroneously and arrogantly expected I was going to be perfect in this life…..my weaknesses taught me otherwise. Self-forgiveness, like forgiveness of others, is a freeing tool that makes something wonderful of us. Consider Alma the Younger who suffered the godly sorrow asked of every repentant sinner (Alma36:18). 

Obviously’, the Saviour didn't require more than that of Alma.  He did not require him to live in the past or the future beating himself up for what he did.  What He did require of Alma was for Alma to become a great man.  A man who would be an instrument in His hands to convince others of His great power to save. 

Alma, who once 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).  Alma certainly did become that great man that the Lord needed…because of forgiveness.

I am in awe of the ‘Man of Sorrows’……of His mercy and His love. The older I get the more I feel the overwhelming reliance I have on His salvation. He has made my earthly life possible and my eternal life a surety because of His forgiveness of my humanity. I am in awe of His ability to liberate the beauty in me.

 

If I had the might to plant Thee in each heart

Of all that breathes,

In pursuit of such a quest I would walk the earth

With apparent ease.

As I can do so little this desire to meet,

I lay my loyal love at Thy holy feet.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Gentle Saviour by Jay Bryant Ward)

BE SANCTIFIED

 

“It is the right of all members of the house of Israel to see their King and enjoy His presence. This is a specific promise to those who will sanctify themselves (D&C 50:45-46; 67:10; 93:1). Since the scriptures teach that no unclean thing can dwell in His presence (see Moses 6:57), it is clear that the Saints who are caught up to meet Him must be sanctified.”  (Doctrine & Covenants Student Manual, p 336)

Sanctification is the second step in our preparation for the Second Coming as per D&C 133:4. The purpose of sanctification is to have our minds become single to God, through our repentance, so that we can be purified by the power of the Holy Ghost (D&C 88:68). Without sanctification we cannot be in Christ’s presence or the presence of the Father.

The Book of Mormon states that we can be ‘sanctified in Christ by the grace of God’ and that sanctification comes as a result of yielding our hearts to God through prayer, fasting and humility (see Helaman 3:35 and Moroni 10:33). However, repentance plays a major part in this  process because it leads to forgiveness which leads to sanctification. But not just any repentance:

“To every forgiveness there is a condition. The plaster must be as wide as the sore. The fasting, the prayers, the humility must be equal to or greater than the sin. There must be a broken heart and a contrite spirit. There must be ‘sackcloth and ashes’. There must be tears and genuine change of heart. There must be conviction of the sin, abandonment of the evil, confession of the error to properly constituted authorities of the Lord. There must be restitution and a confirmed, determined change of pace, direction and destination.”  (Spencer W. Kimball, “The Miracle of Forgiveness”, p 353)

A broken heart and a contrite spirit means ‘godly sorrow’ and not just abandonment of sin. It is going through godly sorrow that we lose the inclination to sin (see Alma 13:12 and 2 Nephi 4:31). Not that temptation no longer exists, because that is the nature of this fallen world, but we no longer seek it or are attracted by it (D&C 20:33-34). Because our hearts have been changed we have ‘no more disposition to do evil’ (Mosiah 5:2)

Imagine living in your finest outfit for a long time without changing. Imagine the collected dirt. Even though you realise where you’ve gone wrong and have made that outfit dirty, and you now try all you can to avoid adding more dirt, you are still dirty. The outfit needs to be washed to match your new life-style. This is what sanctification does. It washes you clean so you can be the new you.

Grant me the strength dear Saviour

To embrace the grandeur of my eternal goal,

That I might sin less and obey more.

Thou who art the deliverer of my soul,

May glory be Thine forever more.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

A SAVING WORD

 

“A 1986 “Guideposts” magazine contains the story of a woman who discovered what she called “the nevertheless principle”. She had been facing a difficult experience with her husband’s having a malignant brain tumour. She said that in the midst of the experience, at a moment of her greatest pleading, God granted her a word in a moment of inspiration. This single word was NEVERTHELESS. She said:

“I knew it had to be a special word, though I didn’t yet know it would become a life-style. I was sure only that it was a kind of promise. It was even a powerful little phrase: never the less.

“Never the less with God, no matter what. Always the most. Though I was alone in this automobile, nevertheless God Himself was right here beside me. Though doctors pronounced Jerry incurable, nevertheless he would be gloriously healed. Perhaps not here on earth as we had prayed. If Jerry’s physical body should die, nevertheless he would go on living in another, greater dimension.” (Marion Bond West, “One Simple Word from God”, p 12)

-       (Jerry A. Wilson, “The Great Plan of Happiness” p 40)”

This woman researched the word ‘nevertheless’ in her Bible and found it 90 times. There is a scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants which uses this word to its biggest potential to teach us of Christ’s character:

“For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance; NEVERTHELESS, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven” (D&C 1:31-32).

Imagine if that word was not there. Imagine if instead of a semicolon there was a fullstop. Instead this one simple word introduces not only three doctrinal principles but the Saviour’s attribute which makes salvation possible: repentance>obedience>forgiveness…..born out of mercy.

If there was no mercy, we would all be lost. If He was not, we would not be, silence would have wept at Calvary!

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art by Land of Dreams)

GOOD ENOUGH

 

Some twenty years ago a close friend of mine died in her sleep at age 45. She was a convert and a returned missionary like me. Soon after her death I was speaking to her mother who told me she was reading her daughter’s journals and what she learnt brought great sadness to her. She said my friend always felt that she was ‘not good enough for the Lord’. It saddened me greatly because my friend’s mother was left with the impression that the Church made her daughter feel she was never good enough. Not a good impression for a non-member.

I read something significant yesterday which made me think of my friend and I hoped that her time in the spirit world has taught her this: “We are looked upon by God as though we were in eternity. God dwells in eternity, and does not view things as we do.” (“Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith”, p 356)

This has brought amazing peace to my soul because despite everything I have endured and sacrificed in this life to remain faithful to God, I still fall into that trap of feeling not good enough when in reality my efforts and not my level of perfection, make me good enough for the sanctifying grace of Jesus Christ that will wipe away all my mortal foibles and inadequacies. I am good enough for His saving grace. I hope my friend understands this now.

I am comforted knowing that God sees the eternal me when he looks at me in this weakened state of mortality, that He remembers me from before and who I will become in the end. This moment in time is almost insignificant in and of itself compared to that. It reminds me of that scripture: “My thoughts are not your thoughts and neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8).

We tend to look at everything from the earthly perspective while the Lord looks at it from the eternal one. He focuses on our worth which is eternal. The earthly existence is finite and therefore all we glean here is fleeting and not of real substance.

There is one way, however, we are not good enough. We are not good enough without the Saviour Jesus Christ. He alone can add the missing cubit to our eternal perfection and this is how: “All sin and every transgression, except one, that man can be guilty of, may be forgiven; and there is a salvation for all men, either in this world or the world to come, who have not committed the unpardonable sin, there being a provision either in this world or the world of spirits.”  (“Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith”, p 356)

This to me means more than forgiveness for sin. It means that all of my earthly self that was at one time unacceptable to God will be wiped away: my lack of dignity, my blatant stupidity, my frivolity, my arrogance, my stubbornness, my every trespass, every transgression, every embarrassment, will one day be wiped away through the atoning power of the Saviour Jesus Christ who will make me whole and pure and bright as the rays of the sun if I have godly sorrow in my heart and my efforts at repentance yield fruit of my utmost capacity but even then, the credit will always be His and not mine.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: He Lifts Me Up by Danny Hahlbohm)

EVERLASTING FREEDOM

 

I watched an episode of Border Security the other day that made me reflect on the principle of the Gospel that grants us everlasting freedom. This is the principle is forgiveness.

In this particular episode I watched a British citizen being denied entry into Australia because he had a brush with the law seven years ago and had served 18 months in jail as a consequence. He was pretty devastated about this refusal but more so because he claimed sorrowfully that this one transgression in his life was going to follow him around for the rest of his life despite the fact that he has learnt from that experience and has strived ever since to be a law-abiding citizen. I could see how demeaning it was for him to be still considered ‘a criminal’. I wondered if he would ever see himself as a good person again.

My first thought was, indeed a criminal conviction is something that you are never free from. Once you are a criminal, you pay the price for the rest of your life. My second thought was, I wish I could shout from the rooftops that there is someone who does not only forgive wrongdoing but remembers it no more (D&C 58:42)…..that there is someone who can make you clean again and grant you freedom forever.

I thought about all my weaknesses and ‘earthly indignities, as I call them, and how sensitive I have become over the years to any wrongdoing, and I could not imagine a life without repentance and forgiveness.

I knew someone years ago who had left his wife to live a homosexual lifestyle. A few years later I saw him and his forgiving wife at the temple. It was a success story of repentance and forgiveness like no other. I reflected back then too on the amazing grace of our God who has secured our freedom from sin and paid the price of justice we could never pay ourselves.

Imagine the loss of souls if there was no forgiveness. Without it we would become nothing. Consider Alma the Younger who suffered the godly sorrow asked of every repentant sinner, an intense sorrow which lasted for three days and which cast him into the very 'gall of bitterness' (Alma36:18). 

Obviously’, the Saviour didn't require more than that of Alma.  He did not require him to live in the past or the future beating himself up for what he did.  What He did require of Alma was for Alma to become a great man.  A man who would be an instrument in His hands to convince others of His great power to save. 

Alma, who in his youth 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).  Alma certainly did become that great man that the Lord needed.  Could he have ever become a great man if he had not been forgiven? I rather think he would have spent the rest of his life thinking he was worthless.

I am in awe of the ‘Man of Sorrows’ who had promised forgiveness ‘though our sins be as scarlet’ even before he had felt the burden of our infirmities (Isaiah 1:18). I am in awe of His mercy and His love. The older I get the more I feel the overwhelming reliance I have on His salvation. He has made my earth life possible and my eternal life a surety because of His forgiveness of my humanity. I am in awe of His ability to liberate the beauty in me. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: I Will Comfort You by Jay Bryant Ward)

THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS

 

In Section 64 of the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord gives us some very valuable advice about forgiveness: “Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin” (v 9).  

Forgiveness can be quite complex because it can involve so many issues such as wanting justice but not receive it and feelings of worthlessness that can accompany that void. Feelings of injustice can canker your soul. This I believe is what the Lord meant by the sin being greater in him who does not forgive. This is also the condemnation: you condemn yourself to ongoing damage to your self-worth and the Lord condemns you for stagnation of your spiritual progress.

Forgiveness is central to Christ’s character. It is the divine attribute through which He became the Saviour of our souls. And it is important for us because through it we become like Him. This is the path of forgiveness that leads us to possession of Christ-like nature: Forgiveness equals compassion, mercy and love which ultimately might bring the offender to Christ and therefore to the saving of his soul. If it doesn’t, it will still lead to the saving of your soul.

I learnt about this crucially important character trait through my divorce. It was a time when I studied about the Atonement and its power in great depth. I discovered that forgiveness would heal all my hurts and injustices. I invested myself in it and found Christ at the center of it. It wiped away all my pain and restored me to life again. I haven’t looked back since.

In the 30 years I have been divorced, I have sat through many lessons that have talked about the importance of eternal marriage and family.  It used to wreck me back in the beginning. Even though the divorce offered me much needed relief back then, I am and always was deeply passionate about the plan of salvation and the importance of family. 

All I ever wanted in life was to be married and to have children.  And I did get that but I also lost it.  That loss of a dream was excruciating and forced me to re-define my whole standing in the Church and to evaluate the strength of my testimony. 

It is never easy to be alone in the Church. You just have to value yourself enough so that others will too.  I have carved a space for myself in the Church where I believe people see my strengths more than my cracks. I found that space one day on my visit to the temple.  I used to attend with trepidation after my divorce but this one day I noticed something very significant there - men and women sit separately.  They do not sit together like they do at Church projecting a picture of marriage and family. 

I understood then, the temple is as much about individual salvation as it is about marriage and eternity.  The Church is about the individual as much as it is about family.  The gospel is as much about being a disciple of Jesus Christ as it is about finding someone to share your eternal destiny. The Saviour values you because he has died for you personally, irrespective of your marital status. 

When he visited the Americas, He invited the multitude to come to Him one by one to feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet. (3 Nephi 11:14) Why?  Because he wanted them and us to know that the Atonement is personal and that He had atoned for each one of us individually and not for the humanity collectively.  His sheep are numbered and there is not one that is overlooked. We all belong in the fold.  

When I go to Church I know there is a pew with my name on it. I feel good about myself because I know that’s where my spiritual progression began, and where it continues to this day. Forgiveness did that for me. It gave me the freedom to become who I am. There is a pew at Church with your name on it too. Own it. You have the right to sit in it.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: One by One by Walter Rane)