debsuth

I have a friend who often taught that we need not be self-reliant as much as we need to be Lord-reliant. Certainly, she understood the need for self-sufficiency but only to the point where we would remember the Lord and seek His influence in our lives. All too many times, I have neglected Him in my life, thinking I knew or had the better way. Or honestly, I probably just didn’t think to ask. (This is so vital that our children are taught how to remember Christ in their lives. In my parenting class, we have been reading a book by Gene R Cook titled, Raising up a Family to the Lord. It is fascinating! He gives such bedrock advice of how to teach children to learn from the Holy Ghost and to hear the voice of the Lord. There are many practical ideas and applications, I highly recommend it.) Christ teaches He is the vine and we are His branches. With Him, we have life and without Him, we are nothing. He said, “abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me” (John 15:1-7). Have you ever thought about the word, abide? I always thought it meant, to stay, and it does. It means to remain, to stay. Elder Holland describes this word a bit further in his 2004 conference talk. He teaches that in this context, the word abide would be to stay forever, to come to Christ with conviction and endurance, and to come permanently. Not only can we endure, he continues, but we can prevail and triumph in a holy cause that will never fail us. We abide in Christ when we seek, ask, and show we love Him by trying to do His works. The parable of the husbandman found in John 15 allows us to see how our Father in Heaven sent many prophets to teach His children. And they learned many things, but it was not enough. He needed to send His son, Jesus Christ, who came to teach us how us to love. Elder Holland explained that Christ “came to improve man’s view of God and to plead with them to love their Heavenly Father as He has always and always will love them” (Grandeur of God, 2003). As we love God and daily commune with Him, we will abide in Him. Our thoughts will be turned to Him and to His Son, and we will welcome the influence of the Holy Ghost in our lives. We will seek Him and plead to have the gifts of the Spirit. We will become more Lord reliant. The Spirit will teach, comfort and guide us that we will understand the way: the law and the truths we need to follow. The husbandman was seeking to have a vineyard that would bear fruit. As the branches abide in the vine, they are nourished and taught the words of God. Having the fruits of the Spirit in our lives bring joy to our Father in Heaven. He delights in the righteousness of His children. As He has always loved us, He would that we might have this joy for ourselves. Sending His Son to earth to teach us so that we might have a greater love for mankind, more than ourselves, brings joy. Elder Claudio R. M. Costa counseled “we can lay down our lives for those we love not by physically dying for them but rather by living for them—giving of our time; always being present in their lives; serving them; being courteous, affectionate, and showing true love for those of our family and to all men—as the Savior taught.” Living as Christ would do if He were here is the simplest of doctrine and the most essential. Listen to the spirit in the words of a Primary song written by Sally Deford. “If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do? Would I think of His commandments, and try harder to be true? Would I follow His example? Would I live more righteously if I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?” “If the Savior stood beside me, would I say the things I say? Would my words be true and kind if He was never far away? Would I try to share the gospel? Would I speak more rev’rently if I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?” “He is always near me, though I do not see Him there, And because He loves me dearly, I am in His watchful care. So I’ll be the kind of person that I know I’d like to be if I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me.” I have always loved these words, and I will continue trying to live them. Happy Easter everyone!

While reading JST Matthew21:47-56, I was again struck by the statement made of Christ as a “stone of stumbling and rock of offence.” I have often pondered over this, but I never fully understood our role in this situation with Him as our stone of stumbling. It seemed wrong in some ways and just altogether confusing. As I studied more, I began to understand Christ will give to His disciples trials of their faith in Him. It wasn’t that He wanted them to fall or be crushed as the scripture writes, but that He wants us to succeed through Him! 1 Peter 1 is a wonderful resource that teaches us about our divine potential and the necessity of our trials to refine and make us complete. When we turn to Christ we will have the strength we need to overcome any trial that He gives us. The connection between Christ’s Atonement and His stone of stumbling is for our sakes, for our testimonies. Peter teaches “that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1Peter 1:7). When we cherish our testimonies, we will “rejoice with joy” for the love of God that we possess and for the eternal salvation promised to us (1 Peter 1:8). But sometimes it is difficult to understand why we endure trials not of our making. It is easy to understand we suffer from our own weakness, but difficult to grasp the importance of all adversity in our lives. Elder Alexander B Morrison of the Seventy taught this important principle, “As we endure undeserved suffering, we develop Christlike attributes that perfect our souls and bring us closer to Him.” I simply hadn’t thought of it that way before. When we endure all crosses and pains of this world, we are that much closer to becoming like Christ, who suffered so much more than we ever will, all for the sake of others. He did not suffer for Himself, but for all man. If I can learn to have even the smallest amount of charity, I might be able to patiently bear adverse conditions in my life. I can learn to love others with a purity that only Christ can give. When we allow adversity to purify our hearts when we are obedient to the truth, as Peter teaches, then he admonishes that we will “love one another with a pure heart fervently” (1 Peter 1:22). He goes on to teach that this is what is meant by being born again. We can be renewed and made pure when we have endured all trial, no matter if it is of our own making or not. Peter was a great example of living a life devoted to Christ. As we become more willing and seek to do His will, we will begin to see it is of our choosing to love those that offend and hurt us. We can forgive and move on, in the name of Christ, and look forward to the day when all will be made right. In my search of this concept, I came across this beautiful quote from President Kimball. Because he teaches it so simply and directly, I want to end with his words and not my own. He said, “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven” (in Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle [1972], 98.) I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to endure my crosses and the crosses of the world, for the adversity in my life, both due and undue. I am and will always be grateful for the love of a Savior who has lifted and succored me in my trials, especially in those I was unaware of at the time. I will kneel before Him, and thank Him someday. In that day, I will understand all that He had ever done for me. And until then, I will hold onto my faith regardless of what crucible of affliction I am called to pass through.

Would I be willing to accept the answer to my question if I were to ask the Savior, “What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17). Jesus beheld this man, and loved him even when He looked on his whole being described with the words, “then Jesus beholding him loved him.” (Mark 10:21). That is so tender. We don’t know the rest of the story of this man. We don’t know if he did what he was commanded to do; to sell whatever he had and give to the poor. We don’t know, but let’s assume he did. In verse 17, we read that he came running and kneeled before the Lord. So far his actions speak very highly of him, and when he addressed Jesus as “Good Master,” this shows the love and respect he held for Jesus. But he had great possessions and probably enjoyed having them. Perhaps it took time, but I can imagine him giving them away and serving others around him. It would have taken time to adjust his thinking to be able to overcome them. For some, and maybe he, it would be a short time, and for others, it may take longer. I don’t know which category I would fall into. So, I try every day to give of myself just a little more. And if I fall back a step or two, I do my best to come before Him in humility asking again for help to be and do more. If we give our whole heart to Christ, then we may more comfortably take our cross and follow Him. Perhaps this may take a lifetime to accomplish, but if we are willing to keep Christ at the center of our lives, then the possessions won’t take such a great hold of us and we can let go much more easily. Sometimes our very circumstances are the things we need to give up, or just in the caring of them. Letting go of past experiences may very well be part of my possessions that I am holding onto. If they crowd out my thoughts and love for Jesus Christ, then they need to go! In October 2017 General Conference, Sister Neil F Marriott taught how we might handle our circumstances, “When we give our heart to the Father and the Son, we change our world-even if circumstances around us do not change. We draw closer to Heavenly Father and feel His tender acceptances of our efforts to be true disciples of Christ.” Taking our cross today requires personal sacrifice and a willingness to be His disciple. We will grow closer to Heavenly Father when we show we are trying to be as this man who came running and kneeled down before the Savior to ask Him what he could do to inherit eternal life. How often do we ask this of ourselves and with such urgency?

Do I hear the Shepherd’s voice? And if I do, do I follow Him? I asked myself these questions when I was studying John 10. Christ said, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.” He tells us we will hear his voice because we will know Him. If we took a step back and honestly asked ourselves how well we knew Jesus, could we answer positively? It is something I have often wondered. So while I hear His voice through promptings, scriptures, prayer, and music, do I genuinely hear and listen? The Jews were stubborn in their ways, and they would not adapt their thinking to believe in Christ. They saw Him perform miracles, testify of His divinity, yet they could not see. There may be things in our lives that will affect our ability to believe Christ and follow Him. Do we honestly see and understand Him for who He is in our lives? Let me share a story that may help to clarify. Since it is Valentine’s Day, let’s talk about chocolates. I wanted to find the perfect box for each of my children so that they could have a gift from my husband and me. I looked at every one on the aisle, and while some were good, they weren’t right. Others were fancy, but not the thing I was looking for. I kept looking on and changed my direction a few times, and finally came to the last aisle. I was still searching and asking myself if that chocolate gift was right. Somehow I just couldn’t decide on one. As far-fetched as it sounds, I found the perfect box at the end of the last row. It was just the right size, price, look and the chocolates inside I knew would be delicious. Each chocolate was separate and gave my children choices of what they might have; I knew they would love them! As silly as this sounds, I was patient in this story and, I wasn’t giving up. I did not settle for the mediocre candy that looks good but tastes cheap on the inside. I was seeking, searching and waiting until I found them. In my mind, I had the idea I wouldn’t buy any if I couldn’t find a decently good gift, it wouldn’t be worth it. Isn’t this how we seek the Savior, always owing to our conscience to keep waiting and watching? We would never settle for any common or ordinary thing in life to satisfy our profound demands for acceptance and love from our Savior. So we watch and wait, always seeking and asking for Him in our lives. We will all be rewarded at the end if we hold out faithful to the end. Endurance is the most significant test of our time. There are so many distractions and false gods that we have to hold true to our testimony and belief in Jesus Christ. We keep seeking and listening for His voice. He is there, waiting for us. But we also need to be tested for our valiancy to Him. I will always be grateful to Him in my life, although, I have a long way to becoming what He needs me to be, I am seeking, asking and waiting.

Delight in goodness and share it with others. How many times have you or I walked or passed by a familiar scene and neglected to see it for what it was? Jesus Christ taught the people the parable of the seeds thrown onto the ground for planting, and those who fell onto good ground were able to grow. I believe we have a genuine part in this analogy. In our hurried and sometimes turbulent lives, it becomes complicated to see past ourselves. It takes great patience and practice to overcome our self-doubt and worry so that we can more efficiently love others. When Jesus Christ testified of His love for us, He commanded us to love others as He has loved them. He called us His friends. We then are to be friends to all of His children. Back to the parable, if the seed is thrown onto poor soil or among thorns, it is choked out and no longer can grow. If the ground was prepared and carefully nurtured each day, the seed will have the chance to develop. To prepare the soil of our lives, we need to have no doubt in His promised blessings, but to push forward and continue to live as His disciples. We cannot let the worries and concerns for worldly things bother us to the point of distraction, so we no longer can see or hear the voice of the Lord. For me, this begins again every day. Everything I do affects how I can respond to the promptings I am given. I have a responsibility to myself, my family and the people around me to share what I have been given through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The other day I washed my car, and it brought much delight to me. After waiting and waiting for the snow and wind to settle, I bravely paid for my dirt buster car wash, hoping it would last as I drove home. If this seems shallow to you, let me try to explain. The cleanliness of a shower, car wash, or newly folded laundry is a small nudge for me to keep working. When the world around me is dirty and dingy with pessimism, I can look forward to tomorrow by holding onto the clean around me. Keeping the Sabbath day will allow us to keep ourselves pure and unspotted from the world. So, as I watched the miracle of a lovely car wash, I was given the sense of clean, a fresh outlook of the world around me. I smiled as I could now see clearly through the windows that were clean once again. We choose to prepare our soil every day of our lives, and we are given opportunities to create happiness. Keeping ourselves clean will allow us to have joy for others. When I nurture the seeds of faith I have been given by our Father in Heaven, with His loving kindness I am ready to receive those of a new day.

"Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." (Matthew 3:3) We know we can make our paths straighter with our walk with Him, but how do we make the Lord's paths straight? When Alma goes to the people in Gideon to cleanse the church, he says in Alma 7:19, "I perceive ye are in the paths of righteousness; I believe you are in the path that leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I believe ye are making his paths straight." The idea of keeping our paths straight for the Lord, perhaps means He cannot go or vary from His path. "He cannot walk in crooked paths." (Alma 7:20) He cannot walk with us if we do not cleanse ourselves, if we do not take His redeeming blood upon us and cleanse our daily lives, our walk will not and cannot be with His. The definition of the word, "straight” showed some interesting ideas. Here are the several meanings: 1. Not having curves, bends or angles. 2. Vertical or level. 3. Following one after the other in order. 4. Following each other without interruption. Not having curves, bends or angles means to me that we could not go to the left or the right in our choices. I love how definition # 2-4 gives more to this understanding. Our straight path is on a vertical climb or is level with His. Our walk is orderly, following after one another, united in our purpose; there is strength in our unity. And the 4th meaning of "straight" means there is no interruption as we follow or walk the path. This is why it is so important to be present in our Sunday meetings, prepared to take the sacrament, and ready to begin a new week again. It is why we remember Christ throughout the week, and why we continually seek forgiveness and guidance so that we might stay close to Him. Our walk with Christ is humble and gentle. With Him, we can be easily entreated, "Full of patience and long-suffering." We will keep His commandments in diligence, developing temperance for our bodies and spirits, and we can ask for things we need! (Alma 7:23) Now here is the part we may often forget, "Always returning thanks unto God for what ye do receive." (Alma 7:23) Why, when the way is so easy and light, do we tend to leave out this vital principle of thankfulness? Perhaps if we took the time each day to be still and remember Him in our lives, we could account for our blessings, His tender mercies. I believe the more we look, the more we will find His walk paralleled with our own as we seek Him. And for me remembering is an act of thankfulness.