FAILING HEARTS

Recently the leaders of our Church have issued us with a mandate to 'Hear Him'. In Section 45 of the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord talks a lot about hearts. He also gives us, the members of His Church, a glimpse of the days as they will be before His appearing. Prefacing this glimpse, the Saviour admonishes, "Hear my voice" and "harden not your hearts" (v 6). He then proceeds to elaborate on the state of men's hearts in the last days. In the midst of all the commotion in the world today, nothing is more obvious than the Saviour's prophecy that 'men's hearts shall fail them' (v 26) and that their hears will be turned from Him because of the precepts of men (v 29).

Right now the world is filled with hatred. Opposing the Saviour's commandment to 'love one another, as I have loved you' (John 13:34), the adversary has succeeded in creating division amongst the people  through wars, political agendas and health scares. We are fast becoming distrustful of one another through the present pandemic, intolerant of each other's political convictions, fearful of Government powers and judgmental of each other's successes. So bleak will things get that we are told "....men will harden their hearts against me, and they will take up the sword, one against another, and they will kill one another"(v 33).

And now for the hope that lies in us: "But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved...." (v 32). Elder Bednar has once said that when you gain entrance to another's heart, you stand on holy ground. Could we not then count each other's hearts as holy places too?  I don't think we can turn the tide as the Saviour has already outlined the future as it will be, but I am pretty sure we, as His disciples, can be the means of saving many, and there is a way. This way is to resist Satan's opposition to Christ's commandment to love one another. And here is the interesting part. Have you ever wondered why the Saviour's said 'love one another' and not 'love everyone'? Quite simply, it is far too hard for us mortals to love 'everyone' at once. It is far easier to love one person at a time and by loving one person at a time, we end up loving well......everyone. Imagine this simple scenario. If each one of us loves five people and those five people love five people each and those five people love five people each and so on. The energy of this love would be spread so far and wide that in the end we would love 'everyone'. In this world of ours, could we not turn the tide of failing hearts for many?

And what is the ultimate goal of loving others? Simply this: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples....." (John 13:35). Our love is the greatest tool by which we can bring others to the fountain of all love; the love that brings peace, the love that brings salvation, the love that brings eternal life. The love of a God who has loved us and died for us that we might be glorified and have eternal joy in the mansions of Him who has loved us best.

- Cathryne Allen, Did Not Our Hearts Burn When He Opened To Us The Scriptures?

published 2021 by amazon.com

I AM GOD

I am the Lord,

and there is none else,

there is no God beside me.

I have made the earth,

and created man upon it,

I am the Lord,

and there is none else.

A just God and a Saviour,

there is none beside me.

Look unto me, and be ye saved,

all the ends of the earth: 

for I am God,

and there is none else.

Unto me every knee shall bow,

and every tongue confess,

I am the Lord and there is none beside me.

- Isaiah 45

ON THE MORROW

 On the morrow come I into the world....

To give peace to the suffering
To give hope to the down-trodden
To strenghten the weak
To lighten your burdens

To lift the downtrodden

To give sight to the blind

To give power to the faint

To give might to the weary
To comfort those who mourn

To bind up the broken-hearted

To show mercy to the penitent
To give you living water

To free the captive

To be a refuge from the storm

And a shadow from the heat

To give you rest from sorrow and fear

To break the bands of bondage
To lift up the hands which hang down
To strengthen the feeble knees

To empower the powerless

To conquer the sting of death
To be a light unto the world
To love you 
To help you
To save you.

-Cathryne Allen

AN INCREASE OF FAITH

"My ring finger and my middle finger were completely cut off when I was a baby. A nursery attendant rocked over them while I was crawling around. The top plastic surgeon in Louisiana put them in a jar and threw them away saying they could not be re-attached and I would never have fingers or finger nails but my parents got a hold of the word of God and refused to believe the professional medical opinion. Instead they chose to believe God's word: ".....all things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23). They consumed their lives with the word of God and would not allow negative, unbelieving people speak over their 'faith project' (me). Weeks later, when the doctor removed the bandages, I not only had fingers but finger nails! Whatever you're believing for, God specializes in doing what man says is impossible. Only believe! Every time I get a manicure I can't help but thank the Lord that my parents had the faith to believe God could heal and restore my fingers." - Terri Savelle Foy

Believe that He is and believe that He can. The brother of Jared moved mount Zerin (Ether 12:30). Are we any less than him? Can we not through our faith in the Holy One of Israel heal our sickness, calm our troubled minds or overcome our sins? Now more than ever we need to believe and seek an increase of faith. The time since His birth is getting longer but the time of His second coming is getting shorter. The 'Bridegroom cometh' (D&C 133:10) not tomorrow but today. Only believe.

A GOD OF MIRACLES PART 2

During his mortal ministry, Jesus performed many miracles. He healed the sick, gave vision to the blind, turned water into wine, fed the hungry masses, raised the dead, walked on water and calmed the troubled seas. These miracles He did not do just out of compassion but to show people who He was and what He could do. The physical nature of these miracles stood as the mirror image of the spiritual miracles that Christ could perform. Healing physical ailments typified His ability to heal spiritual ones. Christ's greatest miracle is His ability 'to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man' (Moses 1:39). This He achieves in two ways: immortality comes to us through the miracle of His resurrection, and eternal life, meaning life with God, through the miracle of making us holy.

Many spiritualists in the world today are pushing the theory that we are good enough as we are. Whereas it is admirable to teach people that they should love themselves on all levels of self-improvement, this theory can also be damaging. It stands in stark contrast to the scriptures which repeatedly tell us to 'consider our unworthiness' (Alma 38:14, Ether 3:2, Mosiah 4:11). Because of this repeated mandate many people abandon religion feeling guilty and lacking faith that they cannot live up to godly standards. In their efforts to remain connected to deity they tend to gravitate towards theologies which expect very little of their followers. For instance many people forsake Christianity in favour of Buddism. Dalai Lama declares the simplicity of his religion thus: "This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." As needed as kindness is in our world today, this is not, however, the only virtue that will lead us to eternal life. This philosophy overlooks virtues such as honesty, integrity, sexual purity, obedience, faith; not to mention the very first commandment, to love God and not have any other gods before Him.

Those of us who find it hard to accept scriptural references to our unworthiness tend to  miss an important mark. They miss the Saviour amidst the scriptures. When the scriptures speak of our unworthiness it is always in conjunction with Christ's power to save. Reflecting upon our imperfections therefore should bring us to Christ rather than push us away from Him. We were given imperfections and weaknesses for this very purpose (see Ether 12:27) with the promise that He will make us mighty to overcome. Why is it important to be harnessed with Christ on our journey to perfection and improvement? Because it is motivating to know that we do not need to do the work of changing alone and because no matter what we do, we can never secure salvation by our merits alone. Eternal life, being the greatest gift of God (D&C 4:7), can only be given to us through the grace of Christ, after all we can do (2 Nephi 25:23); Christ's grace being power to overcome. Accepting Jesus Christ as our Saviour outweighs any virtue we could possibly live up to for His greatest miracle is what He can do with what is within us. Thus coming to Christ serves the purpose of giving us hope of eternal life rather than cause to lose it. Coming to Christ means faith in His ability to make of us more than we can make of ourselves. Is this not His greatest miracle?

"Trust me, learn of me, do what I do. Then, when you walk where I am going, we can talk about where YOU are going, and the problems you face and the troubles you have. If you will follow me, I will lead you out of darkness. I will give you answers to yours prayers. I will give you rest to your souls."

- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Broken Things to Mend", Ensign May 2006