holding hands

The other day I learned something that completely blew my mind and changed the way I think about a lot of things. I'll try to walk you through it :)

First of all, this scripture:

For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. {Isaiah 54:5}

Thy Maker is thine husband. The metaphor the Lord chooses to use for His relationship with us is husband & wife. Interesting.

Let's next look at two of the ten commandments:

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to [idols], nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. {Exodus 20:5}

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife... nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. {Exodus 20:17}

Doesn't there seem to be a discrepancy here? God calls Himself a jealous God, then commands us not to covet. How can this be? Look closely at the commandment not to covet... not to covet what, specifically? Thy neighbour's wife. Here's the thing though... we aren't "His neighbour's" wife. We are His, by covenant and by marriage. He is jealous for me. I am His. He bought me with a price & by covenant I am His. Thank God, literally! What love He has for me. He will never break that covenant.

Jehovah Himself said,

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness...

For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee." {Isaiah 41:10,13}

"Other comforts fail and comforts flee," as the hymn says, but He will not.

Neal A. Maxwell taught,

"God has no distracting hobbies off somewhere in the universe. We are at the very center of His concerns and purposes." [Compare this with the god Baal in 1 Kings 18:27, who might've been off on a journey or sleeping somewhere in the universe.]

I need to be as devoted to Christ as He is to me. Jesus comes first, above and before everything and anything else. No "holding hands" with anyone or anything else! And no cuddling with my fears. This is what it means to be faithful.

Being the bride of Christ takes faith. It takes faith to choose Him first, run to Him first, turn to Him first. 

Remembering this metaphor He gave has taught me a great deal about my relationship with Christ. For example, husbands pay for things. Jesus paid for everything; my job is to let Him and stop trying to pay for things myself. He already suffered for sin, I don't need to suffer for it again.

Being married to Him, I get to go where He goes. It's almost like a marriage visa ~ I can be sealed to Him and brought to heaven because of the covenant. My job is to cleave unto Him, keep my covenants, love Him, be faithful to Him, & put Him first in all things. :)

I feel my Savior's love :)

I Am with thee

Sometimes, days are rough. Yesterday was rough. Sometimes I'm just crippled by how not-good I am and how much I wish I were better, but I'm not. So sometimes I cry in my car. Which is dangerous haha. So then I go home and open up my scriptures and pray and read about Jesus.

I was reading in Isaiah 41 last night when something stood out to me...

Fear thou not, for I AM with thee. Be not dismayed, for I AM thy God. I will strengthen thee.

The Great "I AM" is my God. He is all powerful & infinitely, powerfully loving. He has the strength to strengthen me - be not dismayed. I AM is my God, & He is awesome & powerful. ♥

I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I will help thee. 

I don't need to be afraid of not yet being all the way good. The Lord, my God, will help me. He is the only One who can, and he can. He has all power, both in heaven and in earth. (Mosiah 4:9) 

He created me. He knows me. He can fix me.

When Moses asked "Who am I?" God answered "I will be with thee."

I AM that I AM can be translated as "I will cause to be what I will cause to be." He has the power to bring about righteousness for those who follow Him.

Jesus is the bridegroom, & the bridegroom takes care of His bride. All things that He has, she has.

Fear not thou, for I AM with thee. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee. For I the Lord the God will hold thy right hand. Be not thou dismayed, for I AM thy God. I will help thee. ♥♥♥

motivation

First of all, a story. 

There was once a man who had a dream. And in that dream, he "beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy." He also "beheld a rod of iron, and it led to the tree by which I stood." He observes two different groups of people moving forward along that rod of iron, towards that tree and its fruit. The first is described thus:

"I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree. And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed. And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost."

He then saw a second group, described as, "other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree."

What makes the difference between the first group, who were afterwards ashamed, and the second who were not? The answer, I think, is found in the difference between "clinging" and "continually holding fast." Clearly in this context the word clinging has a negative meaning. The word "cling" can denote fear, and I think in this case it certainly does. By contrast, "continually holding fast" denotes the same amount of dedication to this rod of iron, but with a significantly different motivation.

Interestingly, the first group - the clingers - mentions a "mist of darkness," (certainly frightening) while those who continually hold fast do not. Did they just grab onto the rod of iron to help them escape the darkness, and not necessarily to get to the fruit?

So let's break the metaphor apart. Let's say that the tree is Jesus Christ, and the fruit is His love. Let's also say that the rod of iron is Christ, because He can do that - be both the Way, the Reason, and the Result. :)

What we have are two reasons for following Christ ~ fear, and the opposite of fear - love. Our first group, motivated by fear, eventually becomes ashamed and falls away from the Savior. The second group, motivated by love, does not.

I think this has an important message for us about why we should do the things we do and how we should motivate others. Do we follow Christ because we're afraid that if we don't we'll be somehow unbearably punished? Because we're afraid of what others might think of us? If so, that will eventually fall away, and we'll be left with nothing to stand on - no reason to stay.
Fear is infinitely weaker than love.

By great contrast, Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught that,
"His pure love directs and encourages us to become more pure and holy. It inspires us to walk in righteousness—not out of fear or obligation but out of an earnest desire to become even more like Him because we love Him.
 Divine love is the factor that transforms reluctant compliance with God’s commandments into blessed dedication and consecration. Love is the guiding light that illuminates the disciple’s path and fills our daily walk with life, meaning, and wonder. Love is the measure of our faith, the inspiration for our obedience, and the true altitude of our discipleship. Love is the way of the disciple." {emphasis added}


As a second witness of this truth, Henry B. Eyring testifies that,

"Love is the motivating principle by which the Lord leads us along the way towards becoming like Him, our perfect example. Our way of life, hour by hour, must be filled with the love of God and love for others... It is love of God that will lead us to keep His commandments. And love of others is at the heart of our capacity to obey Him."

May we be ever more motivated by love for our Savior, and not keep His commandments motivated by fear or obligation. As we come to know Him more and feel more strongly of His infinite and abiding love for us, we will be inspired by this love and be able to continually hold fast to Him and eventually taste of His Love and never be ashamed :)  

a prayer for healing and peace

This morning as I got on facebook and started scrolling through the newsfeed, I noticed several posts by kids from my old high school about a lockdown. As I looked further into it, I learned that there had been a violent incident involving three young girls. {If you'd like the details, you can get them from the school website.} I called my mom and texted a few friends to see if they'd heard the news. I have three siblings at that high school, and I was worried about their safety and emotional well-being. I was able to talk to my oldest brother on the phone tonight, and he says they're all doing fine, though obviously shaken by what happened.

In thinking about what has happened, a few thoughts and quotes have come to mind.

One thing that always boggles my mind is the dichotomy of good and evil in the world. How can such awful and sorrowful events occur on the same day in the same world, same town, and same facebook page as such beautiful and joyful events?

Gordon B. Hinckley said,

‎I have seen much of ugliness in this world. Most of it is the work of man. But I think I have seen much more of beauty. I marvel at the majestic works of the Creator. How magnificent they are. And they are all the work of the Son of God. 

The ugliness of what happened today is shocking. But beauty is still present in this world, even in tragedy.

Today I have had a continual prayer in my heart for the girls involved in the incident, both the two who were victims and the one who attacked them. Everyone needs our prayers and our hearts. God's love is infinite. God's love is Healing. "I am the Lord that healeth thee." {Ex. 15:26} Please pray for healing for these girls, their families, and all who were affected today.

I have been inspired and brought to tears by the unity I've seen among people in my hometown who have banded together in prayer and hope, and by the courage demonstrated by a close friend of my brother who heard the girls scream for help. I know that, as Helen Keller said,

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. 

Witnessing my young friends and siblings overcome and unite has been inspiring. I pray that they will continue to be able to overcome, and that they will have peace.

It makes me terribly sad that my younger siblings and friends have had to experience this. No teenager should ever have to deal with the emotions that come when a peer and friend is involved in such a violent attack at school. It's unfair, and I feel for the young people involved. I pray over them, that they will have peace and healing at this time as well.

One of my young friends at the high school wrote,

Everyone has a story. God's taking care of those in need today. Praying for safety & compassion at our school.

I join in her prayer for safety and compassion and add a prayer for her as well. God's hand is over everything.

I believe in hope. I believe in thinking of others before myself. I believe in God's infinite love and care for all of us. And what I believe is what gets me through.

God has told us,

Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I with strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee.

Tonight, as I pray for peace and healing over all who were affected, I trust in God's great love and compassion for all of us. I know that I cannot fully fathom what happened today, but I know with my whole being that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and that His Love brings peace, and healing, and that He understands. I know that He lives, that He loves us, and that He cares about each and every person in this world. I pray that others can know this as well.

I've been listening to beautiful things and there will be a day tonight, along with some instrumental hymns.

There will be a day

with no more tears

no more pain

and no more fears...

but until that day

we'll hold on to You always.

pray for love. pray for peace.

Perfect love casteth out all fear; I fear not what man can do.

If I love perfectly, then I will have no more fear. If I can love as Christ does, then I will feel only happiness for the good things in other people's lives. I need to see people as Christ does. That is what I will pray for - that I will love them with a perfect love. I need to pray to love more, with a Christlike love. Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever, and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in inquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Wherefore, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all those who are the followers of his Son, Jesus Christ. {Moro. 7:45, 47-48}
Charity will make me happy and bring me peace. Charity never faileth.

What does Absolute Trust look like?

Turn to God first, in everything.

No fear of others, only faith.

When thou art in tribulation, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God and shalt be obedient unto his voice (for the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) He will not forsake thee. {Deut. 4:30-31}

Constant prayer, listening for the will of the Lord.

God is everything. He is enough to satisfy every need. He is my Father, Christ my elder brother. They love me. I can trust them with my self. Who else can satisfy? No one. Peace cannot be found outside of the Father. There is no happiness outside of his plan of happiness. 

Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning, and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful. {Joel 2:12-13} Turning to the Lord hurts. Only He can heal the hurt. There can be no reservations. Absolute trust.

Turn to no one else for comfort. Nothing else.

Turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, put your trust in Him, and serve Him with all diligence of mind. {Mosiah 7:33} 

Serve him first - before receiving anything. Take a leap of faith. Scary! :)

Unto them that look for him shall he appear. {Heb. 9:28} 

Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. {D&C 6:36}