On the Road to Emmaus

This is probably one of my favorite stories in the New Testament.

It's found in Luke 24.

Mary and other women had been to the sepulchre and saw that Christ was not there.

An angel testified to them that He was risen and told them to tell His disciples.

After being told of this miraculous event and not believing it, two of His disciples walked to a village.

And they talked while they walked; trying to figure everything out.

While they were talking, Jesus joined them.

But "their eyes were holden that they should not know him."

And He asked them to explain to Him what they were discussing and why they were sad.

They couldn't believe that He hadn't heard everything that had happened in Jerusalem recently.

So they explained to Him what they believed had happened and what they had hoped would happen.

His response was to teach them and expound scriptures to them.

As they came closer to the village (which was more than seven miles away) it seemed that Jesus was going to keep walking.

They still did not know who was walking with them but they "constrained him, saying Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."

Can you imagine being taught by Jesus for that entire seven mile walk?

Of course, they wanted Him to abide with them.

But, it wasn't until after Jesus had broken bread with them that their eyes were opened and they knew Him.

What was their response?

They immediately went back to Jerusalem.

And they found the other disciples and "told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread."

There are times when my eyes are "holden" or restrained from seeing the Savior in my life.

Could it be that He wants me to talk to Him about what I know and what I'm hoping for?

Not being able to see Jesus doesn't mean that He isn't walking with me.

He is always there asking me what I'm worrying about or why I'm sad.

Asking me what I believe so He can teach me.

But, I have to take the time to hear Him.

So, if I study His words in the scriptures with a purpose, it becomes different than just reading the scriptures.

That is when my heart burns and I lose track of time and I want Him to abide with me.

I feel like I could "walk" forever if I were just able to keep that feeling with me.

The gospel word for that is endure.

But, how do I know Jesus?

When are my eyes opened so I can see Him.

On Sunday, I get to break bread with Jesus.

When I take the sacrament I promise to remember Him always.

And His promise is that I can have His Spirit with me always.

If I take the time to reflect on my weekly journey, I see Christ.

This is how I know Jesus.

I know that He died for me.

I know that He loves me.

I see Him.

And just like his disciples I want to share that with everyone.

Jesus Christ lives!

My Place

I went to a movie one time called The War Room.

It was about a woman who was a real estate agent and was having trouble in her marriage.

One of the houses she was to sell belonged to an older woman who taught her about turning to God for help.

She had a place in her house that she called her war room because she fought against darkness there through prayer.

It was a closet and it was full of scripture quotes taped to the wall.

The woman ended up creating a space like that for herself and it helped change her.

After seeing the movie, I started adding some notecards to my closet wall.

So, as I was studying the Come Follow Me lesson this week, there was a verse that stood out to me.

This is after Jesus has shared the Passover meal with his disciples and introduced the sacrament.

And it is right before He is to accomplish the greatest act in history - His Atonement.

 "And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him." Luke 22:39

The Greek translation of the word wont is accustomed.

In John 18:1-2 it says, 

1 "... he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.

2 And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples.

Gethsemane was a place that Jesus was accustomed to go to.

He went there often.

And that is the place He chose to go when He descended below all things.

I love the idea that Jesus went to a familiar place.

So, what is my place?

I thought about how much I love being outside and how I feel so close to God when I'm in nature.

But, the place that I go most often or that is the most familiar to me is not there.

I realized that my place is right next to my bed.

Anytime I am feeling stressed or joyful or tired, I go to the side of my bed.

I have spent hours there. 

Kneeling.

Writing.

Praying.

Pondering.

It is a sacred place for me.

My place.

Being Perfect

I was reading, Luke 1:37 in my gospel study this morning, "With God, nothing shall be impossible"

So, I asked myself the question, "What seems impossible to me?"

Getting everything done that I need to.

Staying focused on what needs to be done.

Basically, being perfect!


Then I remembered an experience I had the other Sunday while taking the sacrament.

My mind was going over all the things I needed to do better in the up-coming week.

And I heard a whispering in my mind that said, "You don't need to be perfect".

It was then that I realized that I was thinking about all the things I was not doing perfectly.


But, what about the scripture (Matt. 5:48) that says, "Be ye therefore perfect..."?


I have heard that one translation of perfect, actually means "complete".

Be ye therefore complete.


The only way I can be complete is with Jesus Christ.

When I take the sacrament I am renewing my covenant to take His name upon me.

As long as I am remembering Christ and trying to become who He wants me to be, I am complete.


My focus needs to be on Jesus Christ.

Not just "what am I not doing right?'


I remember Jesus by repenting and choosing to do God's will.

I remember Jesus when I pray and study my scriptures daily.

Jesus will perfect (complete) me. 

Because with God, nothing shall be impossible .

Strengthening our Faith in Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ and His Atonement by honoring the Sabbath Day

Here's the talk I gave in stake conference on Saturday night.

I wrote it all out before hand, but when it came time to actually speak, I didn't share this exactly.

I am much more comfortable in a teaching position than speaking, because then I can ask questions and be strengthened by others' testimonies.

I felt that I really needed to get my own personal testimony on this subject to be able to speak on it.

And I wasn't sure I had much of a testimony of keeping the Sabbath day holy.

I mean, I follow all the "rules" and I try and do what God wants me to do; but I try and do that every day, so I'm not sure how that makes Sunday different.

I was praying a lot for help to come up with what I should speak about.

I had a couple of scriptures that I found that were helpful and I thought I should share.

And then on Friday, when I was still struggling to focus my thoughts on this topic, I went to the temple.

There was a man in a wheelchair who couldn't speak clearly.

The woman next to me and I shared experiences of other times that people with disabilities had strengthened our faith.

And that was when I knew how honoring the Sabbath day had blessed me.

So, after that long introduction...here's the talk:

I am thankful for this opportunity to speak tonight. I would like to share my own personal testimony of how honoring the Sabbath day has strengthened my faith in Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

I first want to talk about what strengthening my faith in Heavenly Father, His son Jesus Christ and His Atonement means to me.

It took me a while to figure out what that means or how to do that. I feel that I have always believed. I just didn’t know how to make that belief or faith stronger. I couldn’t figure out how I could “believe” any more than what I did. How do I strengthen that?

In Matthew 6:27 it says, “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature”. This was what I was trying to do with my faith. If I just “believe harder” or take more thought it would be “added to”. Reading in the same chapter, but vs. 33 it says, “seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added…” I realized that my faith is strengthened by obedience.

I may not have known how to believe more, but I could be more obedient. In fact, I even began to substitute the word obedience for the word faith in certain scriptures to help me understand faith better.

Alma 32:21 And now as I said concerning [obedience] —[obedience] is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have [obedience] ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. 
Ether 12:6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that [obedience] is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your [obedience].

I am obedient because I have hope in the blessings even if I don’t see them right away.

But obedience is not just following rules.

One of the commandments the Lord asks us to be obedient to is found in Ex. 20:8 , “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

But, if I am just going to church because it’s a rule I’m following, or if I am focusing on the activities I choose to do or not do on the Sabbath, then I am missing an important piece of obedience; of faith.

In Eph. 2:8-9 it says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

And in D&C 46:8 it says that we should “seek earnestly the best gifts”.

This tells me that being obedient (strengthening my faith) requires asking of God for this gift. We seek the gift of faith and strengthen it, by learning God’s will.

In Mosiah 2:22 it reads, “And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.”

So, how do we be obedient and honor the Sabbath day?

In Prov. 15:33 it says, “the fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility.”

It’s not just following a rule that strengthens me. It is being humble and learning from the Lord.

Elder Bednar in this last conference said, “The Sabbath is God’s time, a sacred time specifically set apart for worshipping Him and for receiving and remembering His great and precious promises.”

My faith in Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and His Atonement has been strengthened as I have honored the Sabbath day, by attending my church meetings; specifically sacrament meeting and all that I have learned and experienced by doing so.

I can say as Nephi said, “Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.” 2 Ne. 4:16

Allow me for a minute to share some of the “great and precious promises” I remember and have received as I have attended my meetings.

Bro. McCurdy was the man who always passed out the programs as we came into sacrament meeting, when I was a young. I remember when he passed the sacrament for the first time in 1978 after receiving the priesthood. I was barely old enough to understand the importance of blacks receiving the priesthood. But I have never forgotten the outpouring of the Spirit that I felt that day.

I remember the time when a young man with severe speech difficulties blessed the sacrament in one of my wards. And the knowledge that came to me of how Christ’s Atonement works in my life to make up for my weaknesses.

I remember being in the hospital one Sunday and having a couple come knock on my door and ask if I’d like to have the sacrament. And seeing this older gentleman kneel on my hospital floor and bless the sacrament just for me. Heavenly Father is aware of me and Jesus Christ would have died even if it was just for me.

I am humbled as I remember the many times I have sung in a ward choir and felt angels joining in.

I delight in the chatter of the women before Relief Society starts because of the love and friendship that is happening.

My heart is full when I seeing many who come to church even when they don’t feel they fit in or haven’t been for a while. Knowing they are there seeking God’s will blesses me.

I am blessed by the answers that I have received directly or indirectly from the speakers, teachers or music on Sunday.

And I am blessed by the revelation that has come to me unexpectedly while sitting on a bench listening to prelude music. 

“…my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord” (including the Lord’s day).

All these experiences and many more, have strengthened my faith in my Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ and in His Atonement. I have been “blessed and prospered” from keeping God’s commandment to honor the Sabbath day, by attending my church meetings and by taking the sacrament.

I testify that God lives and knows us individually. And He loves us. I know that the Lord sends the blessings you need as you keep His commandments. The Sabbath day is the Lords’ day and it is a time set aside for us to ponder on the love He has shown and continues to show us. And I believe He wants to bless us and strengthen us even more as we make the choice to honor His day.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Power vs. Control

I think I write a lot about how my life feels out of control.

And I'm always looking for the next "gimmick" that will help me get control of things.

It could be new chore charts for the kids, a new diet, a new cleaning schedule, etc.

It's my way of trying to insert some control into my life.

These gimmicks usually don't last a long time.

The desire for control can cause frustration because there are actually very few things that I have control over.

I can't control the weather, the bad stuff in the world, or even the choices my children make.

This can then lead me to look for an escape that gives me a kind of counterfeit control.

Computer games, watching movies all day, social media.

I can control what I watch or I can control my time as I choose.


But, what I really need is not control - it is power.

 
The purpose of life is not to control all things.

It is to learn to be obedient.

"And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them."  Abraham 3:25

When I am obedient, God blesses and prospers me.  Mosiah 2:22

He gives me power to accomplish what He wants me to do. 1 Nephi 3:7

Power comes when I choose the right.

 It is a gift from God.

 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Tim. 1:5

He wants to give me power.

His power.

And through that power I can accomplish amazing things.

Without Sin

The visiting teaching message this month was on Christ's attribute: without sin.

I loved Elder Christofferson's quote that Christ not only knows and feels everything that we're going through - but that He overcame them.

"We can turn to Him...because He understands. He understands the struggle, and He also understands how to win the struggle."

 I also loved the question at the end - What is the difference between perfect and pure?

When I thought of that question I immediately pictured a glass of water.

That water may look perfect and clean, but most likely there are some impurities in it.

But I can add things to that water to purify it.

By using the Atonement in my life each day I can purify my life until I become perfect like the Savior sees me.