When the High Councilman phone and ask me to speak at church, I hesitated, and thought hmmmmmm things are not going great are we sure we want to do this.......but my conscience got the better of me and this is what happened and I said "Yes I will speak with you what would you like to me to speak on?" I would just like you to answer this question.....WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO GET TO KNOW CHRIST BETTER IN
YOUR LIFE?
What a question....….mmmmm I put up my
Christmas tree……
Prepare to be worthy to enter the temple and to
participate in temple ordinances. Read Alma chapter 5. Make a list of the questions Alma asks. Answer the questions for
yourself, and make a list of the things you can and will do to prepare yourself
to be pure and worthy to enter the temple and receive all the blessings our
Heavenly Father has promised His beloved daughters.
The questions that this one question reminded me are
found in Vs 14-16 in Alma 5
14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have
ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in
your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your
hearts?
15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him
who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view
this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in
incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds
which have been done in the mortal body?
16 I say unto you, can you imagine to
yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day:
Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of
righteousness upon the face of the earth?
Can you imagine it? Can you think it? Can you think about the voice of the Lord saying "Come unto me ye blessed, for behold your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?
Henry Ford said
“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t you
are right”
So one the first things I do to know Christ better in
my life is think about him. I think of Him, and I talk to Him, sometimes that
is done on my knees and sometimes not. I have conversations with Christ. I ASK him questions. I have focused a lot on
Ask this past year because it is the YW/YM theme for 2017 it goes along with
the scripture found in James 1:5-6
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that
giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shallbe given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed
The older I get the more wisdom I am lacking…..and the
more I ask of God.
But lets not forget the how, for this is another way
to get to know Christ and that is to ask in FAITH, nothing wavering……
21 And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have
a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye
hope for things which are not seen, which are true.
I do not have a perfect knowledge of Christ or of
all things but I can have a perfect faith and hope for things which are not
seen, which are true.
I was witness to an incredible example of this, on
Monday. I went to a funeral. Now considering my husband’s line of work I know
you are all thinking “shocker”. But this was a very difficult and personal
funeral to attend, it was for the death of a 19 month old little girl named
Madison. This sweet tough little thing most likely spent more of her 19 months
in hospital than she did at home. And I knew I was “walking on holy ground”
When the Father, and grandmother of this precious daughter of God sang this song
together, I will just read the words to you.
When peace like a river, attendeth
my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul
Though Satan should buffet, though
trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul
It is well, it is well with my
soul
My sin, oh, the bliss of this
glorious thought
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul
It is well, it is well with my
soul
Earlier this year, I asked the young adults of the Church to consecrate a portion of their time each week to study everything Jesus said
and did as recorded in the standard works.I invited them to let the scriptural citations about Jesus Christ in the Topical Guide become their personal core curriculum.
I gave that challenge because I had already accepted it myself. I read and underlined every verse cited about Jesus Christ, as listed under the main heading and the 57 subtitles in the Topical Guide. When I finished that exciting exercise, my wife asked me what impact it had on me. I told her, “I am a different man!”
I want to
add my testimony to what Joseph Smith wrote in the Introduction to the Book of Mormon,“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most
correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would
get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”
“My dear brothers and sisters, I promise that as you prayerfully study the Book of Mormon every day, you will make better decisions—every day. I promise that as you ponder what you study, the windows of heaven will open, and you will receive answers to your own questions and direction for your own life. I promise that as you daily immerse yourself in the Book of Mormon, you can be immunized against the evils of the day, even the gripping plague of pornography and other mind-numbing addictions.
Whenever I hear anyone, including myself, say, “I know the Book of Mormon is true,” I want to exclaim, “That’s nice, but it is not enough!” We need to feel, deep in “the inmost part” of our hearts, that the Book of Mormon is unequivocally the word of God. We must feel it so deeply that we would never want to live even one day without it.”
Brothers and Sisters I want to
know Christ better I want to make better decisions every day. I want to receive
answers to my questions and direction for my life. I want to be immunized
against the evils of our day including pornography and other mind numbing
addictions. I truly want these things if you too want these things than we will
study and ponder the Book of Mormon daily.
“Because I love you, I am going to speak to you heart to heart,
without mincing words. I have seen that many times individuals have made great sacrifices to go to a distant temple. But when a temple is built close by, within a short time, many do not visit it regularly. I have a suggestion: When a temple is conveniently nearby, small things
may interrupt your plans to go to the temple. Set specific goals, considering your circumstances, of when you can and will participate in temple ordinances. Then do not allow anything to interfere with that plan. This pattern will
guarantee that those who live in the shadow of a temple will be as blessed as are those who plan far ahead and make a long trip to the temple.
Fourteen years ago I decided to attend the temple and complete an ordinance at least once a week. When I am traveling I make up the missed visits in order to achieve that objective. I have kept that resolve, and it has changed my life profoundly. I strive to participate in all the different ordinances available in the temple. I encourage you to establish your own goal of how frequently you will avail yourself of the ordinances offered in our operating temples.
What is there that is more important than attending and participating
in the ordinances of the temple? What activity could have a greater
impact and provide more joy and profound happiness for a couple
than worshipping together in the temple?”
I truly
remember sitting on my parent’s couch listening to him say those words and
having the distinct impression “that if Elder Richard G. Scott could do it than
surely you could at least try.” I have tried and have been so severely blessed
by doing so. I have had remarkable spiritual experiences well doing all the
different ordinances in the temple. These experiences have helped me get to
know Christ better in my life.
A few weeks
ago some of you might remember me bearing my testimony…it wasn’t pretty….kind of
like today…..But President Nunn also bore his testimony that day and offered
this scripture found in Moroni 6:5 "And the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls."
This
reminded me of another Scripture found in 3 Nephi 18:22 “And behold,
ye shall meet together oft; and ye
shall not forbid any man from coming unto you when ye shall meet together, but
suffer them that they may come unto you and forbid them not;”
I
actually attending two funerals this week, but the other funeral was for a
friend’s father. It was held in a United Church in Lethbridge. We were welcomed
in and seating graciously. As I sat in the sanctuary during the funeral I could
feel the spirit. I could feel Jesus Christ’s love for all the people there it
was amazing and overwhelming. I am trying to get to know Christ better in my
life by trying to love people like Christ loved them.
I wish
they were all here today so I could testify of Christ’s love for them. I wish
some of our neighbours that aren’t here today, were here so I could tell them
how much Christ loves them.
I truly love this quote by Elder Devn Corish given in his
conference address October 2016 “Sometimes when we attend church, we become discouraged even
by sincere invitations to improve ourselves. We think silently, “I can’t do all these things” or “I will never be as good as all these people.” …
Please, my beloved brothers and sisters, we must stop comparing
ourselves to others. We torture ourselves needlessly by competing
and comparing. We falsely judge our self worth by the things we do or don’t have and by the opinions of others. If we must compare, let us compare how we were in the past to how we are today and even to how we want to be in the future. The only opinion of us that matters is what our Heavenly Father thinks of us. Please sincerely ask Him what He thinks of you. He will love and correct but never discourage us; that is Satan’s trick.
Let me be direct and clear. The answers to the questions “Am I good enough?” and “Will I make it?” are “Yes! You are going to be good enough” and “Yes, you are going to make it as long as you keep repenting and do not rationalize or rebel.” The God of heaven is not a heartless referee looking for any excuse to throw us out of the game. He is our perfectly loving Father, who yearns more than anything else to have all of His children come back home and live with Him as families forever. He truly gave His Only Begotten Son that we might not perish but have everlasting life! Please believe, and please take hope and comfort from, this eternal truth. Our Heavenly Father intends for us to make it! That is His work and His glory.
I love the way President Gordon B. Hinckley used to teach this principle. I heard him say on several occasions, “Brothers and sisters, all the Lord expects of us is to try, but you have to really try!”
“Really trying” means doing the best we can, recognizing where we need to improve, and then trying again. By repeatedly doing this, we come closer and closer to the Lord, we feel His Spirit more and more,and we receive more of His grace, or help."
And I believe that is what I
doing to get to know Christ in my life. I am REALLY TRYING brothers and sisters
and I hope you are too.
xoxoxo
Barb