I'm writing in purple today in honor of Esther. Purple is associated with royalty and Esther was a Queen.
We had a great lesson in RS yesterday! The Bishop taught a combined RS-Priesthood lesson cause it was the 5th Sunday.
Bishop Huntington pointed out Esther 4:14 where Mordecai tells Esther if she doesn't go in and talk to the King about saving the Jews then relief and deliverance will come from another place. I bet you never noticed that before, but you read it!
"But thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
So Mordecai knows that the Jews will be saved by God. Maybe not even right now since he says thy father's house shall be destroyed, but he knows that God's work will still go forth. If not right then, then later with someone else.
My Bishop said that is the way it is with us. God's work will go forward. It is up to us whether we participate in it or not. There are things for us to do--like Esther--but if we don't step up and do it, it doesn't stop God's work. He will find others that will keep it going.
Worth pondering.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
A beautiful visual
This is the handout from our lesson this past Sunday. It is from President Uchdorf's talk in this last April's conference about waiting on the road to Damascus.
"The truth is, those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually will come to know Him. They will personally receive a divine portrait of the Master, although it most often comes in the form of a puzzle. One piece at a time. Each individual piece may not be easily recognizable by itself; it may not be clear hot it relates to the whole. Each piece helps us to see the big picture a little more clearly. Eventually, after enough pieces have been put together, we recognize the grand beauty of it all. Then looking back on our experience, we see that the Savior had indeed come to be with us---not all at once, but quietly, gently, almost unnoticed."
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Is the gospel Chocolate or whole grain wheat bread?
I found this post in my "draft" folder dated in March. Since I've been talking about making scripture reading delicious to my soul, it might be a good time to go ahead and finish this thought since it deals with food also.
John 6:24-71
Are we clueless to the power of God around us?
After you have your testimony bolstered and you are feeling that strength and courage, don't you just feel filled? It is a great feeling. And yet, it is easy to forget how great that feeling is and instead turn our focus to other stuff. Sometimes we don't even realize what we are missing until we are filled again and compare the difference.
The people that were following Jesus at this time were the same people that had participated in the miracle of the bread and fishes the day before. What a miracle and yet they were thinking of it as only a meal. JST on verse 26 says "Ye seek me, not because ye desire to keep my sayings, neither because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled."
The people say said their ancestors had been given bread from heaven before when they ate manna in the wilderness. I guess they weren't thinking beyond their next meal. It must have been a great "filling" since they are still following him and talking about it.
When they tell Jesus there has been bread from heaven before (so does that make it less wonderful?!) Jesus corrects them by saying "Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the World."
Then said they unto him, Lord, give us this bread.
And Jesus said unto them, "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.....Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die."
But lots of people stopped following him then. (v.66)
I guess that is why we are told to seek Jesus daily. So we don't forget what it is like to be filled by Him. So, we can understand that ball games, rainy weather, obnoxious people, etc. aren't the most important things in life. We need to spend more of our time seeking after the Real bread. The bread that will stick by us, fill us, give us the nourishment we need.
John 6:24-71
Are we clueless to the power of God around us?
After you have your testimony bolstered and you are feeling that strength and courage, don't you just feel filled? It is a great feeling. And yet, it is easy to forget how great that feeling is and instead turn our focus to other stuff. Sometimes we don't even realize what we are missing until we are filled again and compare the difference.
The people that were following Jesus at this time were the same people that had participated in the miracle of the bread and fishes the day before. What a miracle and yet they were thinking of it as only a meal. JST on verse 26 says "Ye seek me, not because ye desire to keep my sayings, neither because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled."
The people say said their ancestors had been given bread from heaven before when they ate manna in the wilderness. I guess they weren't thinking beyond their next meal. It must have been a great "filling" since they are still following him and talking about it.
When they tell Jesus there has been bread from heaven before (so does that make it less wonderful?!) Jesus corrects them by saying "Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the World."
Then said they unto him, Lord, give us this bread.
And Jesus said unto them, "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.....Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die."
But lots of people stopped following him then. (v.66)
I guess that is why we are told to seek Jesus daily. So we don't forget what it is like to be filled by Him. So, we can understand that ball games, rainy weather, obnoxious people, etc. aren't the most important things in life. We need to spend more of our time seeking after the Real bread. The bread that will stick by us, fill us, give us the nourishment we need.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Complicated
The last month or so, I've come to realize that I have complicated my scripture reading. In my effort to really study and "feast on the word" I've made things harder for myself.
I don't want to read unless I have my notebook with to take notes. Or unless I have time to blog about my thoughts. Or unless I go in and look up where I was before--I can't just pick up the scriptures and start reading anywhere. It has to be "in the right place."
It is just excuses. All of them. It's kind of like the Zoramites that think they can only pray from the Rameumptom and that you have to have great clothes and be looking perfect in order to go to church. It IS nice to have a quiet place to pray (maybe that is where the idea came from) and it IS good to wear your best before the Lord. But, that all becomes bigger then it needs to be and you lose sight of what is really important.
Alma tells the poor people that don't have nice enough clothes to be allowed into the synagogues:
I say unto you, do ye suppose that ye cannot worship God save it be in your synagogues only?
And moreover...do ye suppose that ye must not worship God only once a week? (Alma 32:10-11)
I think to me, Alma would say, "What? You can only read the scriptures when you have your little gospel study notebook poised to take notes? Does reading scriptures and not blogging about it mean you don't get wisdom and peace from reading? Can you only read scriptures between 9 and 10 in the morning on days that the house is quiet and peaceful?
Silly, huh?
I'm going to try to do better.
I don't want to read unless I have my notebook with to take notes. Or unless I have time to blog about my thoughts. Or unless I go in and look up where I was before--I can't just pick up the scriptures and start reading anywhere. It has to be "in the right place."
It is just excuses. All of them. It's kind of like the Zoramites that think they can only pray from the Rameumptom and that you have to have great clothes and be looking perfect in order to go to church. It IS nice to have a quiet place to pray (maybe that is where the idea came from) and it IS good to wear your best before the Lord. But, that all becomes bigger then it needs to be and you lose sight of what is really important.
Alma tells the poor people that don't have nice enough clothes to be allowed into the synagogues:
I say unto you, do ye suppose that ye cannot worship God save it be in your synagogues only?
And moreover...do ye suppose that ye must not worship God only once a week? (Alma 32:10-11)
I think to me, Alma would say, "What? You can only read the scriptures when you have your little gospel study notebook poised to take notes? Does reading scriptures and not blogging about it mean you don't get wisdom and peace from reading? Can you only read scriptures between 9 and 10 in the morning on days that the house is quiet and peaceful?
Silly, huh?
I'm going to try to do better.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
We are afraid
Alma 32:28
So, a month or so ago, in teacher development class, we read this scripture in Alma. It is about how faith is like a seed that can begin to grow if we nourish it. On that day, the part of the scripture that I noticed as "...If ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that you will resist the Spirit of the Lord, it will begin to swell..."
I thought, "this is how my child is right now----Just resisting the Spirit of the Lord so they don't have to deal with promptings and whether they are doing things right or not."
They could be strengthened by the lessons they here and the things they see and have their testimony stronger and more sure. Instead, they resist the whisperings of the Spirit and try to push those thoughts away so they don't have to deal with all the effort it takes to live the gospel as we are told.
And I thought about pointing this out cause I felt like I had pegged it so accurately.
I don't remember what I was thinking about exactly when I was driving a few days later, but it was probably my struggles to read the scriptures consistently. Anyway, this scripture popped in my head again and I thought YOU are resisting also just because you don't want to deal with things. How many times have I been heading into bed and thought "I still need to read scriptures." And immediately, I try to chase that thought away with something else because I don't want to read scriptures. I want to lay in bed and read fluff. So, I studiously ignore that thought in my head and say something like "I do better reading in the morning, so I'll work on that tomorrow."
What seeds are you resisting? What whisperings come to your mind that you don't dwell on but quickly push away because the whisperings are telling you something that you need to work on, or take time for, and you just don't feel like it?
Each of us have different things that are struggles for us. Sometimes we work on it, but then we get tired or busy or lazy or whatever and stop the effort. Cause it is so much effort! And there are lots of other things calling for our attention so it is easy to push stuff away that we don't want to take the time to focus on.
The rest of verse 28 has a great promise though.....
...you will say within yourselves---It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. "
I know reading the scriptures daily helps me. I know it makes my life better and it makes me better. I've felt the swelling inside as I read things and study things and it becomes a part of me. I feel so much more through out the day! I feel closer to Heavenly Father. This lasts all day sometimes and it feels great!
However, it has never become delicious to me. My soul has been enlarged, my understanding has been enlightened, but it is not delicious. Delicious is curling up with a fun story that you are trying to devour as quickly as possible because you just can't wait to see what happens. Even when you aren't reading it, part of your mind is thinking about when you can get back to it. Delicious is something like high quality chocolate after a long day. You stop moving and stop thinking for a few moments and just feel the good, happy, feelings going through your body as you savor the flavor.
I have stopped my consistent effort before it became delicious. It's amazing to think scripture reading could be delicious to me. If it was delicious to me, it would be something I would look forward to instead of something I do because I am suppose to. If I keep trying and keep working on it, I have faith that Alma's promise will happen to me. Delicious. Surely, I will be a Spiritual Giant by then!
They could be strengthened by the lessons they here and the things they see and have their testimony stronger and more sure. Instead, they resist the whisperings of the Spirit and try to push those thoughts away so they don't have to deal with all the effort it takes to live the gospel as we are told.
And I thought about pointing this out cause I felt like I had pegged it so accurately.
I don't remember what I was thinking about exactly when I was driving a few days later, but it was probably my struggles to read the scriptures consistently. Anyway, this scripture popped in my head again and I thought YOU are resisting also just because you don't want to deal with things. How many times have I been heading into bed and thought "I still need to read scriptures." And immediately, I try to chase that thought away with something else because I don't want to read scriptures. I want to lay in bed and read fluff. So, I studiously ignore that thought in my head and say something like "I do better reading in the morning, so I'll work on that tomorrow."
What seeds are you resisting? What whisperings come to your mind that you don't dwell on but quickly push away because the whisperings are telling you something that you need to work on, or take time for, and you just don't feel like it?
Each of us have different things that are struggles for us. Sometimes we work on it, but then we get tired or busy or lazy or whatever and stop the effort. Cause it is so much effort! And there are lots of other things calling for our attention so it is easy to push stuff away that we don't want to take the time to focus on.
The rest of verse 28 has a great promise though.....
...you will say within yourselves---It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. "
I know reading the scriptures daily helps me. I know it makes my life better and it makes me better. I've felt the swelling inside as I read things and study things and it becomes a part of me. I feel so much more through out the day! I feel closer to Heavenly Father. This lasts all day sometimes and it feels great!
However, it has never become delicious to me. My soul has been enlarged, my understanding has been enlightened, but it is not delicious. Delicious is curling up with a fun story that you are trying to devour as quickly as possible because you just can't wait to see what happens. Even when you aren't reading it, part of your mind is thinking about when you can get back to it. Delicious is something like high quality chocolate after a long day. You stop moving and stop thinking for a few moments and just feel the good, happy, feelings going through your body as you savor the flavor.
I have stopped my consistent effort before it became delicious. It's amazing to think scripture reading could be delicious to me. If it was delicious to me, it would be something I would look forward to instead of something I do because I am suppose to. If I keep trying and keep working on it, I have faith that Alma's promise will happen to me. Delicious. Surely, I will be a Spiritual Giant by then!
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