Look Not Behind Thee

One of the shortest scriptures in the Holy Bible is in Luke 17:32.  Christ reminds us to " Remember Lot's wife.".  Now you may remember the story of Lot, and Sodom and Gomorrah.  In this story, the people of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah were extremely wicked, and God saw fit to destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.  But Lot's family lived within the city of Sodom and Gommorah, and they were still a righteous people.  So God warned Lot and his family to depart from Sodom and Gomorrah, and to "look not behind thee" (Gen. 19:17).  Well, as Lot and his family were departing from the wicked city, Lot's wife decided, for whatever reason, to look back.  Immediately she was turned into a pillar of salt.  I have thought much about this story, and about the phrase "Look not behind thee".

God gave Lot and his family a very strict command, and the command was very clear.  Whenever we disobey God's commands, there are consequences, and in the instance of Lot's wife, the consequence was very sincere.  But what brings the consequence isn't necessarily dependant on our actions, but more dependant on our intentions.  When we are willingly and intentionally disobeying God, that is a lot more severe, then if we were accidentally to disobey one of God's commandments.  So God really looks upon our desires, and the intentions of our hearts.  We can assume that in the case of Lot's wife, she was more then just looking back, but she was desiring to go back.  She had the desire of returning to her old ways, and to return back to who she once was.

In a lot of ways, God is calling us to leave Sodom and Gomorrah ourselves.  He is asking us to leave our old sinful ways behind us, and to not look back.  He is asking us to not even think about looking back.  It is not easy, but it is very rewarding.  It takes faith, and it takes effort, but the reward is so great.  The reward is eternal life.  Christ will help us to leave our own "Sodom and Gomorrah's",  but we have to make the choice whether or not we will look forward with faith, or to look back in doubt.  We must look forward with faith, with a firm belief that what God has to offer us is so much greater then what the world has to offer.  When we do this, we will be given a strength, stronger then our own.  I know that Christ lives, and through him we can move forward and we can leave our old ways behind us.  I love my Savior, and I know that he is real.  I am a witness of these things, because I have experienced them in my own life.  I hope that we can all remember to always look to the future with faith.  Have a wonderful day!!!

If Planted it Will Grow!

As summer has been coming around, I have been seeing a lot more beautiful weather here in North Carolina.  With this beautiful weather comes beautiful scenery.  This is such a great time of year!  Here in North Carolina, there are a lot of different flowers and trees that bloom and grow, and make it a very scenic place.  I love to bike down the roads and just see all of the flowers blooming.  It is truly beautiful!  I have grown to appreciate the scenic things of life a lot more as I have grown older.  I have pondered much over the nature that our loving Father in Heaven has given us.  He is truly a wonderful artist.  But I have also thought about all of this on a much more spiritual basis.  God has given us life, and he gives us life everyday.  But what is Life?  Well life is often defined by growth.  So when we think of life in this way, it makes us think about the scriptures in a very different way.  Christ hath said "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3).  We were meant to Grow.  We were meant to become better and stronger.  That is what our Father in Heaven wants us to do.  He truly wants us to Grow.

This growth can come in many different kinds of ways.  Growth can come physically, mentally, emotionally, or even spiritually.  Our Father in Heaven wants us to grow in these things.  He wants us to become better, and he wants us to become stronger.  All this can be done through his son Jesus Christ, and through his everlasting sacrifice for each one of us.  This sacrifice is called the Atonement, and it's great power is described all over in the scriptures.  Often times, down here in the south, they call it the Grace of the Lord,  and that Grace is designed to help strengthen us and to help us grow.  In the book of Mosiah it says "...For the natural man is an enemy to God,... unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the Natural Man and becometh a saint through the Atonement of Christ the Lord..." (Mosiah 3:19).  The Atonement of Jesus Christ is meant to change us, and it is meant to help us grow.  It is there to help us put away our unrighteous desires, or to put off the Natural man, but it is also there to help us to become saints as well.  So in other words, the Grace of Christ the Lord, is there to help us change from bad to good, and from good to better.  It is there to help us grow.  That is why the Lord came to the earth.  He came so that we may gain eternal life, and so that we could come to know our Father in Heaven.  I know that Jesus Christ lives, and it is through him that you can change and that you can grow, and become what your Father in Heaven has planned for you.  You were meant to be something beautiful, and Christ is there to help.  When we come to him, we find out our potential, and we learn who we really are; Children of a loving Father in Heaven.  You were meant to be great, and you have the potential to do so, through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Prayer

If anyone knows anything about warfare, they know that communication is key.  I am serving as a missionary for my church in a city called Jacksonville, and right by Jacksonville there is one of the largest military Marine bases in the nation.  I do not know a whole lot about the Marines, and the Armed Forces, but I do know
that in order to win a war, there must be effective communication.  We ourselves are fighting a war each and every day.  That war is against Satan himself.  Satan is giving it everything that he has to lead us astray, and to destroy us.  He is fighting with all of his might, to lead us in path's that only lead to destruction.  We have to fight back.  If we just sit back, idly, then we shall be overtaken by the adversary, and be led down paths which only lead to darkness and misery.  Our adversary is strong, and he is powerful, and the only way that we can win this war against Satan is through effective communication.  That communication, which is prayer, is essential if we want to win this struggle that we face each and every day.

Prayer truly is a lifeline.  It sustains us, and strengthens us.  Through prayer, we can literally talk with our father in heaven and receive the aide that we need.  If we try to win this war against the adversary ourselves, then we will fail.  But when we unite ourselves with God through prayer, then Satan will have no power over us.  I have truly seen prayer work miracles in my life.  I have been in many tough situations.  Situations where I could not handle it on my own.  But as I called upon my Loving Father in Heaven, he has sent down his Grace and his Love, to accompany me. Sometimes we get upset when we are given hardships in life, or sometimes we get a little impatient when our prayers are not answered immediately.  This leads some to turn away from Prayer and to turn away from God, but that is the poorest decision one can make.  If you are in the middle of a war, and you are facing a tough situation, the worst thing that you could do is to decide not to call for aid.  Sometimes we think that we can handle it on our own, but we simply cannot.  Prayer does work, and prayer is real.  I know that God does answer each and every one of our prayers, and through our prayers the Lord will strengthen us against all temptation.  It is through our Faith that we can receive strength necessary to combat all evil.  This I absolutely know to be true.  I would invite each and every one of you to give prayer a try, because I know how much happiness it can bring into your life.  SEMPER FI!

Motherhood

Tomorrow is a wonderful day, because it is Mothers day!!!!  I love mothers day!  It
gives us a wonderful opportunity to share our love and thanks for all the wonderful people in our lives who have helped us along our way.  There are many women in my life who have helped shape me into the kind of person that I am today.  I have my grandmas, my aunts, my mother, and even close friends, that have helped me grow into the kind of man that I am today.  I am so very grateful to these wonderful ladies, and for their wonderful examples.  I am so very grateful for their love and their patience towards me, as I have learned and as I have grown.  Now because Mothers Day is so near, I would like to thank each one of them through this blog post.  You all are the best!

I know that mothers are absolutely essential to life.  If it wasn't for the Mother of All, Eve, then none of us would be here today. (Gen. 3:20)  It was through Eve, that life could come into this world.  Mothers give us life.  That is such a wonderful and powerful gift from God!  If it wasn't for that wonderful gift, then none of us could be here today.  It is a gift that should be honored and respected, and something that should not be treated lightly.  Each and every women in the world has a very important responsibility.  Even if you are not a mother right now, or even if you do not have the capability to be a mother, you still have the responsibility to fulfill that role as a mother to those that you love.  It was not just my Mom who raised me into the man that I am, but it was the combined effort of each and everyone of the women who has loved me and has been there in my life.  It is a great responsibility to be a mother, but it is also a great blessing.  I am so blessed to have the women that I have in my life today.

I would like to thank each and every one of the women who has helped me to grow, and to learn.  I know that it is through mothers, that we can learn to be more loving, and more caring, and more Christlike.  I have had many examples of righteous women in my life, and I am so grateful for each and every one of them.  They have blessed my life in numerous ways.  I know how important mothers are in our lives, and in our communities.  Mothers, we need you, and we need you to be great Christlike examples for your children and those around you.  I love each and every mother out there who is doing their best to help those they love grow, and learn in this crazy world.  I am so very grateful for my mother, and for all that she has done for me.  I love her so very much.  I hope you all can share your same love for your mothers as well.  I hope you have a great Mothers Day!

Forgiveness

I talked in a post earlier about true repentance.  Repentance is to change, and to become better, but if it were not for the heavenly virtue of forgiveness, repentance would mean nothing.  Forgiveness is real, and it is free to all who willingly ask for it.  The Lord has said "Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me." (Mosiah 26:30).  This, I absolutely know to be true.  If you repent and simply just ask,  the Lord will forgive, because he wants to forgive.

Forgiveness is incredible, and it is truly a miracle. If it wasn't for the Savior's ability and willingness to forgive then all hope would be lost.  But the Savior does love each and every one of us, and because of that he truly does want to forgive all of our trespasses against him.  It doesn't matter how many times we mess up or make a mistake, if we simply do what the savior asks of us, and go to God in prayer, we can obtain forgiveness.  The Savior forgives so freely based on our desires to change and become better.  I just love it, and I love that Christ loves us enough to forgive us, always.

Forgiveness is truly a Christlike attribute, and it would do us well to follow in that example that Christ has set.  The Lord has said "I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men." (D+C 64:10).  We have been commanded to forgive all men.  This is such an important commandment because the Lord has also said "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy" (Matt. 5:7).  The gift of mercy is free to all, but it is important to treat others the way we want to be treated.  When we extend the hand of mercy, then we are given that same hand in return.  We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23),  that is why we need mercy, and that is exactly why we should extend mercy as well.  For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged (Matt. 7:2).  Forgiveness is real, and it is wonderful.  We need to learn to let people repent.  We need to learn to let things go.  We need to learn to forgive, when someone asks us for forgiveness.

"For behold, are we not all beggars?... And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins.  And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay;  he has poured out his spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy." (Mosiah 4:19-20).  The Lord will truly forgive each and every one of us.  Let us follow in that example.  This world will be a better place.  We can make a change in this world.  There will be greater joy in the family, and greater love in the home, when we truly learn to forgive.  It truly is a miracle, but we can make that miracle happen each and every day, if we let it.  Have a wonderful day!