HIS EARTHLY SUFFERING

 

No Greater Love by Adam Abram

I heard You in my heart today

And all You tried so hard to say.

My soul split open and I could see

What You suffered in Gethsemane.

 

My tears spilled and climbed that hill

Where Your suffering increased yet still.

My sorrow spilt, I saw my guilt

As You absolved me on that cross of Calvary

 

When one day soon again we meet

I will sorrow at Your feet.

My hands raw from clutching still

That gruesome cross of Calvary.

 

You have my heart,

You have my soul,

My purchased self is Yours to own.

In my memory, Your blood runs still

On that ruthless hill of Calvary.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

HIS LOVE

 

Love's Pure Light by Simon Dewey

Your love, O Your love!

Like a soothing balm

From gilded courts on high;

It flows, and it calms,

It seeks and it finds the troubled mind.

 

It gathers and it lifts the sorrowing,

the lame, the weak;

Ever and ever Your mercy divine

Looks for those who achingly weep.

 

-       CATHRYNE ALLEN 

THE GATE KEEPER

 

Clouds of Glory by Greg Sargent

“If there is an imagery upon which I would focus, it is two scriptures from the Book of Mormon. The one in which we are reminded that Jesus himself is the gate keeper and that ‘he employeth no servant there’ (2 Nephi 9:41).

“I will tell you….out of the conviction of my soul….what I think the major reason is (why he ‘employeth no servant there’), as contained in another Book of Mormon scripture which says He waits for you ‘with open arms’ (Mormon 6:17). That’s why He’s there!

“He waits for you with open arms. That imagery is too powerful to brush aside….It is imagery that should work itself into the very center core of one’s mind – a rendezvous impending, a moment in time and space, the likes of which there is none other. And that rendezvous is a reality. I certify that to you. He does wait for us with open arms, because His love for us is perfect.”

-          Neal A. Maxwell, But A Few Days, p 7

 

I have no life but this,

To know the scope of You.

I have no wish but this,

To feel that You want this too.

I have no life but this,

To know Thy approving glance;

To kneel at Thy feet,

To know there is a chance.

I have no life but this

To follow the path to Thy throne

To be greeted with a holy kiss,

And know the reality of such bliss.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

THE LIVING CUP

 

When all hope flees and darkness comes,

I find You deep within my heart.

You cradle me in Your loving arms

And offer me Your godly cup.

With eager haste I drink my fill,

New hope is born, I continue to live. 

- Cathryne Allen

(Art: Fill My Cup Lord by Danny Hahlbohm)

SEEDS OF LOVE

 

I will scatter the seeds of Your love

Along humanity’s path

To feed the hungry souls

For many years;

Until each cared for soul

Will pave the trail of my happy tears.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: You Are Loved by Alex Kovych)

 

THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL

 

O Israel!!!

You are the apple of my eye (Deut 32:9,10; Zech 2:8; Psalm 17:8)

I will not forget you…I have graven you upon the palms of my hands… (Isaiah 49:15,16)

As the Father hath loved me, so I have loved you (John 15:9)

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends….you are my friends (John 15:13)

I am your God and you are my people and your sins I will remember no more (Hebrews 8:10,12)

I have redeemed you…you are mine….when you pass through the waters, I will be with you, when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burnt…. you are precious in my sight and I have loved you…..fear not, for I am with you  (Isaiah 43:1-4)

Be not dismayed, for I am your God….. (Isaiah 41:10)

Be faithful and keep my commandments and I will encircle you in the arms of my love (D&C 6:20)

If I dwell in your heart, you will comprehend the breadth, and length, and depth and height of my love for you which passes all knowledge (Ephesians 3:17-19)

If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love (John 15:10)

You are bought with a price for all things are for your sakes, even the eternal weight of glory...... (1 Corinthians 6:20; 2 Cor 4:15,17))..........

I love You to the deepest depth of my delicate heart,

I cherish You beyond the reason of my living.

Gather me softly into Your arms;

Show me Your love that will never change;

Hold me steady and keep me protected

In the shelter of Your eternal flame.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

PURE LOVE

 

“The greater definition of ‘the pure love of Christ is not what we as Christians try but largely fail to demonstrate toward others but rather what Christ totally succeeded in demonstrating toward us. TRUE charity has been known only once. It is shown perfectly and purely In Christ’s unfailing, ultimate, and atoning love for us.

“It is that charity – his pure love for us – without which we would be nothing, hopeless, of all men and women most miserable. Truly, those found possessed of the blessings of His love at the last day – the Atonement, the Resurrection, eternal life, eternal promise – surely it shall be well with them….Life has its share of fears and failures…but one thing in time or eternity does not fail us – the pure love of Christ.”

-          Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “Christ and the New Covenant” [1997], 336-37

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   (Romans 8:38,39)

As the stars in heaven

That burn with everlasting light

So is my love that burns for Thee

On the altar of my godly heart.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: God of Wonders by Yongsung Kim)

LOVE UNFEIGNED

 

There is a word in Hebrew which is difficult to render in English. It is usually translated as ‘steadfast love’. The Hebrew word is HESED. It is a covenant word that refers to the faithfulness or loyal love that binds two people together in covenant.

This love is motivated by an inner loyalty which arises out of the relationship itself and not by legal obligation. Such covenant love has the quality of constancy, firmness and steadfastness. It is a love you have for another that you would never break because of deep loyalty you feel towards them.

I am feeling today the responsibility of my covenant that I made with the Saviour in my pre-mortal life. Perhaps because I am struggling presently with my mortality and feeling very inadequate. My patriarchal blessing says I made promises in pre-earth life but I feel deep down it was a covenant and not just a flighty promise that I made to stay faithful to Him and the cause of salvation.

It has always fascinated me that the Saviour presents His relationship to His Church in a marital setting (2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:7-8; 21:2,9). At times I have thought it strange that He will be the bridegroom and the Church His bride at the Second Coming….until I came to understand that this is about love. That those who truly and undeniably love Him will be like a bride coming to the wedding with love unfeigned. She will be bound to the bridegroom by HESED.

Hosea speaks of Israel of the Old Testament as a fickle woman that lacks steadfastness and trustworthiness of true covenant love. He describes Ephraim as ‘a silly dove without heart’ (Hosea 7:11). In Hosea’s ‘vivid figure, Israel’s HESED was like a transient morning cloud, or like the morning dew that evaporates quickly (Hosea 6:4)’  (Old Testament Student Manual comments for Hosea 6:6).

The only way to understand HESED is to understand God’s love for the House of Israel. The scriptures are replete with message of love from the Saviour toward us: we are chosen to be a special people above all people upon the face of the earth (Det 7:6); He would sacrifice others for Israel (Isaiah 43:1-7); He has redeemed us because we are His (Isaiah 43:1-3); Israel is ‘the apple of His eye’ (Det 32:9,10; Zechariah 2:8; Psalm 17:8). Does this not make you feel special?

And this is the pinnacle of His love: Even though we often wander and break our covenant with Him, the Saviour will NEVER break His covenant with us, His people (Deuteronomy 4:31; Leviticus 26:44,46; Isaiah 49:15,16; 2 Kings 13:23). And this is why: “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands….” (Isaiah 49:16).

This is HESED.

Such love as Yours

Burning bright in my heart,

I will forever know.

Through highs and lows,

Through depths unknown,

Its flame I will carry with me

Wherever I go.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Your Faith Has Saved You by Randy Riemel)

THE HEART OF THE SHEPHERD

 

"Some years ago, it was my privilege to visit the country of Morocco as part of an official United States government delegation. As part of that visit, we were invited to travel some distance into the desert to visit some ruins. Five large black limousines moved across the beautiful Moroccan countryside at considerable speed. I was riding in the third limousine, which had lagged some distance behind the second. As we topped the brow of a hill, we noticed that the limousine in front of us had pulled off to the side of the road. As we drew nearer, I sensed that an accident had occurred and suggested to my driver that we stop. The scene before us has remained with me for these many years.

An old shepherd, in the long, flowing robes of the Saviour’s day, was standing near the limousine in conversation with the driver. Nearby, I noted a small flock of sheep numbering not more than fifteen or twenty. An accident had occurred. The king’s vehicle had struck and injured one of the sheep belonging to the old shepherd. The driver of the vehicle was explaining to him the law of the land. Because the king’s vehicle had injured one of the sheep belonging to the old shepherd, he was now entitled to one hundred times its value at maturity. However, under the same law, the injured sheep must be slain and the meat divided among the people. My interpreter hastily added, “But the old shepherd will not accept the money. They never do.”

Startled, I asked him why. And he added, “Because of the love he has for each of his sheep.” It was then that I noticed the old shepherd reach down, lift the injured lamb in his arms, and place it in a large pouch on the front of his robe. He kept stroking its head, repeating the same word over and over again. When I asked the meaning of the word, I was informed, “Oh, he is calling it by name. All of his sheep have a name, for he is their shepherd, and the good shepherds know each one of their sheep by name.”

It was as my driver predicted. The money was refused, and the old shepherd with his small flock of sheep, with the injured one tucked safely in the pouch of his robe, disappeared into the beautiful deserts of Morocco.

As we continued our journey toward the ruins, my interpreter shared with me more of the traditions and practices of the shepherds of that land. Each evening at sundown, for example, the shepherds bring their small flocks of sheep to a common enclosure where they are secured against the wolves that roam the deserts of Morocco. A single shepherd then is employed to guard the gate until morning. Then the shepherds come to the enclosure one by one, enter therein, and call forth their sheep – by name. The sheep will not hearken unto the voice of a stranger but will leave the enclosure only in the care of their true shepherd, confident and secure because the shepherd knows their names and they know his voice.

-        (Elder John R. Lasater, “Shepherds of Israel”, Ensign, May 1988, p 74)

How dear to the heart of the Shepherd

Is the flock of His sheep;

With tenderness and love

He watches over those in His keep.

How much do they love their Shepherd!

How closely they stay by His side!

With every footstep they follow,

To forever with Him abide,

All eternity wide.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: AI Generated) 

THE INEVITABLE PRICE

 

THE INEVITABLE PRICE

 

Very often we get lost in our admiration of Paul the apostle and we miss the most important lesson we can learn from him, and that lesson is this: all our actions have consequences that cannot be escaped because what we send into the lives of others, comes back into our own.

 

Alma the Younger gave his son Corianton some interesting advice that we can relate to Paul. He admonished him to be merciful to his brethren and he shall have mercy; to deal justly and he shall have justice; to judge righteously and he shall be righteously judged and to do good continually and he shall have good rewarded to him…..and then he said summed it up beautifully: ‘for that which ye do send out shall return unto you again….’ (Alma 41:14,15). 

 

When the Lord said of Paul, ‘For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake’, He wasn’t kidding (Acts 9:16). Paul suffered five scourgings, three beatings with a rod, one stoning, one shipwreck, lengthy imprisonment, and endurance of peril, hunger, painfulness and weariness wherever he went but most of all, if you read the book of Acts, constant persecution by the Jews (2 Corinthians 11:24-27). And so you see, Paul the persecutor became Paul the persecuted…..

 

No wicked act committed against another will go unnoticed. Those who do not repent of unjust behaviour toward others will have to confront that accountability on that day ‘when the Lord shall come to ‘recompense unto every man according to his work, and measure to every man according to the measure which he has measured to his fellow man’ (D&C 1:10). We mostly focus on Saviour’s mercy these days because we want to believe that we will be forgiven for anything and we overlook the fact that He will also come to execute justice for those whose lives and spirits were crushed and damaged by others.

 

There is another great lesson here. We cannot eternally live with the God of love if we do not love one another. We cannot live with the Saviour if we are not like Him. Love is central to His character. His love transcends our weaknesses, our flaws and even our sins. Paul learnt this lesson well. In extolling the high status of charity to the Corinthians he said: even if I speak with the tongue of angels and have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and knowledge and have faith to move mountains, and bestow all my goods to the poor and give my body to be burned and have not charity toward others, I am nothing…..(1 Corinthians 13:1-8). 

I kept my love close to my heart

Until it became too heavy to bear.

It overflowed my weakened arms

And scattered along humanity’s path.

Like crumbs from the table it fed a few,

The lonely, the weak and the weary

And gladdened my giving heart.

I spread my arms wide

And fed a throng for many years

Until each cared for soul

Paved the trail of my happy tears.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

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