Bee

Bee
"There is power in our love for God and for His children, and when that love is tangibly manifest in millions of acts of Christian kindness, it will sweeten and nourish the world with the life sustaining nectar of faith, hope, and charity" -Elder M. Russell Ballard (Click on the picture to read this great talk!)

Saturday, March 30, 2013

He is Risen

I'm not sure if this video will work or not, but it's a great one to help us remember what Easter is really about.  I am so grateful for the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Through him we can be redeemed from Satan's grasp.  Have a wonderful Easter holiday!


Saturday, March 23, 2013

Scrub, Scrub, Scrub!

This past week I decided I was going to clean a couple cookie sheets which have 6 years worth of baked-on grease and grime.  I got out my steel wool pads and began scrubbing.  About an hour later I had one shiny cookie sheet, a throbbing arm and a dirty shirt.  Whoa...that was a lot of work!  I decided to leave the other cookie sheet for later!

Just like this cookie sheet, we must be spotless to live in the presence of Heavenly Father.  We all sin, hence the need for a plan to be cleansed.  Heavenly Father's plan was for someone perfect to come to Earth who overcome physical death, and also would be willing to pay the price of our sins and sorrows, to provide a way to overcome sin and spiritual death.  Jesus Christ was that man. He's kind of like a heavy duty sin scrubber (I hope that's not irreverent, but it's true!)

Christ died on the cross, but had power over death and was alive again the third day with a glorified and immortal body.  He showed himself to many people.  This act of resurrection is a gift to all mankind.  Everyone who ever lived and died will have their spirit and body reunited and will live forever.


Christ made it possible for us to return to Heavenly Father, by paying the price of sin demanded by justice.  He makes it possible for us to be clean (however, we still have to pick up that scrubber and go to town!)  The Atonement is a gift, given only to those who humble themselves (admit they have dirty cookie sheets), have faith in Jesus Christ, confess and forsake sins, are baptised by immersion, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end.  Through continued repentance, we can be forgiven and cleansed from our sins and the burden guilt and shame places upon us.  We can be worthy to return to the presence of God.
As we rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He can help us endure our trials, sicknesses, and pain.  We can be filled with joy, peace, and consolation.  All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  
In paying the penalty for our sins, Jesus did not, however, eliminate our personal responsibility. We must show that we accept Him and that we will follow His commandments.  Only through the gift of the Atonement can we return to live with God (Preach My Gospel, 52).
AND....I could not help but leave that gleaming cookie sheet out on the counter for a couple days.  It would be a shame to stick it away in the drawer and not show how beautiful it was!  So, if you feel so inclined...share the gospel so that we may all be cleansed from the grime of this world.

Scripture Study

Resurrection
2 Nephi 9:6-7
Alma 11:42-45
Alma 40:23
Helaman 14:15-19
D&C 88:27-32
JST, 1 Corinthians 15:40-42
Bible Dictionary, "Death", "Resurrection"

Atonement
2 Nephi 2:6-8
Alma 7:11-13
Alma 34:8-10
D&C 19:15-19
D&C 45:3-5
John 3:16-17
1 John 1:7
Bible Dictionary "Atonement"

The Gospel--The Way
2 Nephi 9:1-24
2 Nephi 31
Alma 11:40
3 Nephi 11:31-41
3 Nephi 27
Moroni 7:27-28



Friday, March 8, 2013

Dilemma

So here we are, on earth, for a couple of reasons.  First of all, we all want to have joy; and second (though we may not know it or think about it often) is to return home....to God's presence.  (Have you ever felt homesick, but not for your home here on earth?)

God, our Father, is perfect and has a perfect, immortal body.

We are....not so perfect, and have a body that is definitely not perfect (no matter how hard we try to make it so), and we all will eventually die...this of course, because of the Fall of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.  Also there is spiritual death, which happens when we sin (and yes, we are all guilty). Sin distances ourselves from God and always eventually causes unhappiness.

So...how could we possibly hope to return home to our Father in Heaven?

God cannot allow any degree of uncleanliness in His presence; yet, we are unclean.  Is God going to be all alone in Heaven?  Certainly not.  He knew that we would need someone to mediate for us.

Hence His gift to us: the Savior, Jesus Christ and His Atonement: the ONLY way for us to be clean and with God again.

How do I apply the atonement into my life?

Join me next time :)

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Glad to be Here!

When was the last time you thought about thanking Eve that we are here on this earth?  God made Adam and Eve and placed them in a beautiful garden where everything came easy and was provided for them.  They could have lived forever in this perfect state of innocence, however, they also had their agency.  I believe that Mother Eve realized that in order to progress they needed to experience opposition.  They did not know what joy felt like because they'd never experienced sorrow or pain.

Satan tempted Adam and Eve and they partook of the forbidden fruit.  This was God's plan for them, but He wanted the choice to be theirs.  Because of this choice Adam and Eve had to leave the garden and God's presence (also known as spiritual death).  They also became mortal and subject to physical death.  They now experienced pain and suffering, and had agency to choose between good and evil.  As dreadful as this sounds, they could also now grow and progress; and have children...so the rest of us could come to earth and receive a body and be tested.

Only through this way could we have the opportunity to become like God.  I'm so thankful that Eve was realized that.  Personally I think she was smarter than some give her credit for.