My Spiritual thoughts

Can you imagine the wonder and awe, the splendor and the Glory, of that moment when God the Father and His Beloved Son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove! To have them call Joseph by name, forgive his sins, and answer his deepest questions. (see Joseph Smith History in the Pearl of Great Price) Or what about the marvelous and miraculous moment when the ancient apostles saw Jesus walking to them on the water in the midst of a storm, and the amazement Peter must have felt when Christ bid him to come to Him upon the water, and he actually took those incredible first steps… on top of the water… without sinking! (See Mark, and Matthew 14:25-31) Or what of the ancient inhabitants of America when, wonder of all wonders, they heard the voice of God the Father from heaven announcing Jesus Christ as His Beloved Son, and saw the Resurrected and glorified Lord descending in glory from heaven into their midst, and then heard His call to individually come unto Him and experien...

I am sure that each of us is heartbroken to some degree to have family, friends or loved ones who have become estranged to us. Bridges have been burned, and hearts have been broken, and chasms of separation seem to now lay between us. Perhaps they are siblings, children, grandchildren or dear friends. From our limited mortal perspective our faith can waiver and we might wonder how or if ever such relationships could ever be restored. Such is the miracle of faith and the keeping of covenants with God, who through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ can perform miracles! Consider the Old Testament stories of Jacob and his brother Esau who wanted to kill him, or perhaps that of Joseph and his brothers who desired to slay him, but instead sold him away into slavery. How could such divisions be mended? How could hearts so hardened to the point there were intent on shedding blood be softened and turned? To the mortal mind, it seems impossible. But we worship a God of mirac...

Obedience and Patience  In studying this week, I was thinking about Noah and his commitment to obedience patience, and trust in the Lord’s timing. His ministry of preaching and building the arc as commanded began at least 100 years before the flood came. When the arc was finished, he was commanded to enter the arc with his family and was sealed up inside... a full 7 days before any rain started to fall. A full week of sitting in the stuffy, sealed up arc with all those animals... just waiting and wondering. Can you imagine the obedience and faith of such a situation? How would our faith hold out? Would we begin to question or doubt whether we had actually received direction from the Lord, or if perhaps we had just imagined it all? But the rains did come, and the flood did happen. How tragic if he would have lost faith on day 6 and just came out of the arc. We might ask oursleves... how quick is my obedience? How sure is my faith and confidence? And when I act on promptings and noth...

GREATER LOVE  HATH NO MAN (John 15:13) Let’s say you’re in Gethsemane. The Atonement is up to you. How would you have felt that night Knowing such a debt is due? Would you have felt lonely? Would you have been afraid? Could you have persevered As the price for sin was paid? With courage and with bravery, With brotherly love so great, The Only Begotten Son of God Accepted His tragic fate. He probably was lonely. He probably wanted to flee. But He stayed and did it all Because of love for you and me. We were His true motivation. We were His purpose there, As the Savior of the World Proved to people everywhere  They were worthy of a sacrifice  We can barely comprehend; Jesus showed us true compassion Laying His life down for His friends. — by Bonnie Lake Bloomfield,

"The minute we think that pride is no longer a problem is the minute it is a problem.  Pride is your greatest enemy.  Humility is your greatest friend." - Elder Neil L. Andersen. Hugh Nibley once stated: "Who is righteous?  Anyone who is repenting.  No matter how bad he has been, if he is repenting he is a righteous man.  There is hope for him.  And no matter how good he has been all his life, if he is not repenting, he is a wicked man.  The difference is which way you are facing.  The man on top of the stairs facing down is much worse off than the man on the bottom step who is facing up.  The direction we are facing, that is repentance." These teachings are consistent with the Lord's parable as found in Luke 18:9-14 9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood a...

A little reminder of how the lord has blessed me and it's the little things we tend to forget and goes uncounted for when times get tough.  3 years ago May 2018:  Tender Mercies that seems to pop up when you least expect it. I was in Lowe's today having to do some exchanges and purchasing some more stuff to get our house ready for sale. I had placed my credit card in my pocket, knowing I was going to be making another purchase. After running through the store several times looking for things that I knew we were going to need, I headed to the checkout stand. As I went to pay for all the merchandise, I reached into my back pocket and my credit card was no longer there. I searched my purse just to make sure I hadn't actually put it back in there. To no avail I could not find my credit card. My heart started racing and I started to panic trying to figure out where it could have possibly falling out at. As I spoke to the employee, I asked her if she would hold on to my stuff so ...

In the scriptures light is described as life. John 1:4 “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” Genesis 1:3 that on the first day of creation “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Spiritually, light is sometimes a symbol of life that comes from a loving Creator who cares for creation. Just as all living things on Earth need sunlight to grow physically, people need the light of a loving relationship with God our divine creator to grow spiritually. When we fail to increase our light and divine understanding through drawing closer and developing a loving relationship with God, we linger in spiritual darkness also known as spiritual death. Across many cultures Light is a symbol for understanding of divine intellectual thought. Light is said to conquer darkness and bring order to chaos. Spiritual light gives nourishment to our souls. This light is known as the Light of Christ. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in dark...