God's Everlasting Love

A few days ago we met someone on his front porch and started talking about our Savior with him. We testified of God's eternal love for all of us and this man stopped us mid-sentence.

"God loves us? What does that even mean? What is his love?"

That is an excellent question. Happily we testified of how he cares about our worries and wants us to be happy. That he is ready and willing to bless us as we are obedient to his commandments. We left him a copy of the Book of Mormon and with high hopes that someday soon, he too will see and recognize God's pure and unique love for him.

As we left, his question stayed with me. What does it mean, God loves us? Experiences from the past and present came to my mind. I know that God does love me, and I can tell you why. These may not seem very big, but to me they mean the world.

One day I was struggling to stay positive. My mind was stuck in a sinkhole of negativity and I couldn't get out of it - nor did I have the desire to get out of it. My companion and I at the time were on our way home for a little dinner when I looked up at the sky. Right there, more brilliant than any picture, movie, or song, was a glorious sunset. Vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows dipped and ducked around the clouds. With every passing minute the clouds would shift and the sun would set even lower, casting new colors on the sky above.

Instantly the day was made bright. I could continue forward with a positive hope that everything would turn out alright.

There was another day that I lost my camera. Nothing abnormal about that, I have a bad habit of losing things of worth, but this camera wasn't mine. It was lent to me by a family I knew. I was heartbroken at the loss. It was a simple thing, just a camera, but I prayed to my Father in Heaven, asking if he would help me recover it. He had helped me in the past, and I had faith that he could help me find it at that point.

A memory came to my mind. I walked into the church building and up to the stand where we had been singing songs the day before. Lo and behold, the camera was there. I am so grateful to know that God hears and answers our prayers.

There have been other times as well. Daily random instances remind me of God's love. From the flight of a bird above my head, to the peace that comes during my prayers, he is always sending me little messages of love. Often times, he helps us through other people, and I can't number how many people have played that part in my life that lifts me up when my hands hang down and encourage me when I think of giving up. These people are angels from God, and are witnesses to his love for me.

With Christmas in the recent past, think about the gifts that you have given; the gifts you have received. Is that a smile on your face? You know how to give good gifts because you love the people around you. They in turn love you back. Our Heavenly Father is the same way, except perfected. Every day he gives us gifts because of his love for us. "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" 3 Nephi 14:11

Christ shows us how much Heavenly Father loves us.

God sent his son to die for us in the greatest act of love

this world has ever seen.

I know that there is a loving, caring, Heavenly Father. He knows all about our worries, our pains, and our joys. He is there for us every moment of every day. He knows exactly what we need and has the power to give us all. They won't always be big signs that say "I LOVE YOU", but if you learn how to listen and pay attention to the wonders around you, it'll add up to the overwhelming knowledge that there is someone who is watching out for you and loves you.

I know that he does love you. I know that he does care about the difficulties that you are currently facing. I know that you are very special in his eyes. Ask him yourself. He is always listening, and is ever ready to respond. I know that as you look for him, he will show himself to you in exactly the way you need.



 

Your 3 Choices

You have been given the task to give light to an entire city.  You have three power sources that you can turn to give the light, and you must choose only one source to do the job.  The first source is the sun.  The second, the moon.  The third choice is a single star in the night sky.  Which one are you going to choose to light up your city?

Naturally, you'd chose the sun.  It is light, it is bright, and it is much more powerful than the others.  With that much light, the people of your city will be able to see, work, and do more than if they were relying on the power of the others.  It is clearly the best choice.

Now, there are a couple of rules of usage for each of these choices, or else you won't be able to use it.  To use the power of the sun, you need to obey all of the commandments of someone else who has used the sun before and knows its power.  Not only that, but you must be sure to use this power for only good and never to further yourself.  You must go through regulations and processes in order to gain access to it.  You must work very hard yourself to use it.

To use the power of the moon, you do have to do good things, but there are less regulations, less rules, and less structure.  Less work for you to do.  To use the power of a far-distant star, you don't have to do much at all.  Whatever you want.

Now which source do you want to use?  If you really care about this city you're in charge of, and not so concerned about your own personal work you'll still chose the sun.  With it you'll do so much more and so many more people will be blessed because of it.  It really isn't comparable to the moon and the stars because of its brightness.

So you pick the sun!  You do the work, and great things happen because of it!

Now let's switch to reality.  There are three choices all of us must choose from.  They are comparable to the sun, the moon, and the stars in glory and in power.  These choices are what kind of a life we will have after we are finished with this one.  After we have died and are resurrected, we will be judged according to our works, and based on that judgment we will live different kinds of lives.  The degrees are known as celestial, terrestrial, and telestial, respectively.

With the celestial glory we shall do many things, we will grow and gain power and help many many people.  We will live with God, we will learn to create, and we will steadily become like him.  Like the glory of the son, we will do much.  The terrestrial and telestial glories are not quite as bright, they are comparable to the moon and the stars.  Still bright, still beautiful, but not quite like the sun.

What determines where we live?  It's simple: it's what we do.  What we do here on Earth determines what we will do after we die.  If we have followed all of God's commandments and gone through what he has asked us to do (namely having faith in Christ, repenting, being baptized by proper authority, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end), then we will receive that celestial glory that awaits us.  It's a lot of work, but it is worth it.

To gain terrestrial glory, we still need to do good and be good, but not to the same extent.  To gain telestial glory, we simply need to live by our own conscience.  It's less work to be sure, but what kind of a reward would that be when compared to what we could have had?

God is waiting for us.  He is ready to reward us.  He has provided a way through his son, our savior, Jesus Christ, to do so.  All we need to do is do it.  The power of the sun is waiting.  Do the work, and great things will come because of it.

Up the Down Escalator

Have you ever gone up the down escalator?  It's actually quite fun, if there's no one going down.  You start off with a stumble as you get used to the movement and you go up and you realize you're not going fast enough so you run harder!  Up the stairs!  This is fun!  It just keeps going and going and then you find out how much energy it takes.  And you slow down a little.  You're almost at the top, but this is hard exercise!  You slack of a bit, and you find yourself going backwards.  The top disappears from sight.  That's where you make the choice, do you give up and stop this childishness?  Or do you keep going and appear triumphant at the top? 

 

This is like life.  We are all trying to make it to the top of the escalator, but our own sins, weaknesses, and trials keep pulling us down.  But as we keep living life and keep making good decisions, we move forward in life.  Closer to Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.  It takes energy and it takes work.  Our progress depends on how much we put into our life.  How dedicated are we to obeying His commandments?  We can live just "fast" enough to keep us from sliding backward, but that's not what life is about is it?  We need to push ourselves to go forward.  To progress.

 

The decision is up to us as individuals.  There is no easy way through life, and there will be many opportunities for us to give up and just let things slide.  We have the power to keep going!  We can reach the top of the stairs if we focus on our Lord and Savior!

 

Don't give up.  Keep learning, keep growing, keep going.  Our Father is waiting for us and is rooting for us.  You can do it!  I believe in you!  And even more, He believes in you. 

 

See you at the top of the stairs.

Students and Teachers

Three students were struggling with a question in their classroom.  They all had their study guides out and were trying to find the solution.  The first student suddenly slammed the book closed.


"I can't do it!"  He yelled out in frustration.  "There is NO answer to this question!" And left the room in a huff.

The two other students looked at each other and the dramatic display, then continued with their studies.  A little time passed and the second student shook his head and said, "This isn't making sense.  I keep trying to find the answer, but things aren't fitting." He calmly closed the book and said, "I'm going to see if I can find a different answer out there."  And he too left the room.

The third student was left to himself.  He thought about the other reactions.  It was a hard question...what was he going to do about it?  With a little hesitation, he picked up his book and got out of his chair.  But he didn't go to the door.

"Excuse me," he said to the teacher in the back of the room.  "I'm not sure I understand this question, could you help me find the answer?"

"But of course," the teacher replied.  "I'd be happy to."


There is another student in history who had a question he was struggling with.  Except he was no scholar.  Just a simple farm boy named Joseph Smith.  At 14 years old, he wanted to know which church was God's true church.  He wanted to know truth.  He studied the bible, he went to many different churches looking for the answer to his question.  Yet no one could satisfy him.

So what did he do?  What could he do?  He went to a grove of trees, knelt down, and humbly asked The Teacher for help to find the answer.  In response, God and Jesus Christ appeared to him.  They told him the answer to his question: that none of the churches were true at that time.  They explained to him him many more things that he needed to know to help answer his question more thoroughly.

God and Jesus Christ did appear to him.  They did speak to him, just like you and I have spoken.  Face to face.  I know that they did answer his question.  Through Joseph Smith, Christ's church has again been established on the earth.  The truth is here.  All you need to do is ask, and be willing to hear the answer.  God is there for you!  I know he is.  I know that he wants to help you find the truth.  His truth.

If you are willing to ask and to listen, you'll find the answers.  We are the students.  God is the mighty teacher.  "Ask, and you shall receive."