Love: Part Two

The Truth About His Love

Our Father in Heaven is always waiting and wanting to show us just how much He loves us. He does so in many ways. Whether it be the tender mercies we receive at His hand day by day, or the miracles he sends as we have faith in our Savior. Even when times may seem hard and the world may be after us, we can always have hope in the Lord. "...But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance" (1 Nephi 1:20).

Our Savior's Example:

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" 

(John 15:13)

"If ye love me, keep my commandments"

(John 14:15) 

As always, Jesus Christ has provided a perfect example of love. He laid down his life, He forgives us of sins, He cheers us on as we strive to keep His commandments. People sometimes ask why in the world He would do what he did for us. The answer really is simple. HE LOVES US! We never need to despair and think that God doesn't want to be our friend anymore. Sometimes he allows us to wade through affliction and struggle with things, but how else could we ever learn? This is one of my favorite descriptions of what Christ does for each of us. 

"11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.  

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."

(Alma 7:11-12)

He understands us. He felt what we feel. His love and his mercy are all encompassing.  "It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines" (It Is Never Too Late, Jeffrey R. Holland).

  

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

(Romans 8:35-39)

I am a witness to this kind of love. He loves each of us. I am so grateful for the love and forgiveness He has extended to me. I love Him. He loves you. His love is real and this is His truth, that He will always love you. He wishes for you to follow Him. He will always lead you to do what is right if you will but listen. I testify of this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

What is Love?

Love: Part One

Love is Forgiving,

Love is Divine,

Love is Redeeming,

Love is The Vine.

God is Love.

We Have a Father who Loves us.

The greatest love we feel comes from no earthly source. We are all loved by the most powerful being in the Universe. How amazing is that? Because of our Heavenly Father we live, breathe, love, and enjoy our existence here on earth. "It is significant that of all the titles of respect and honor and admiration that are given to Deity, He has asked us to address Him as Father" (Father, Consider Your Ways). God is our Father. He loves us more than we can comprehend. As we go through this life away from Him we are given glimpses and insights into how much He really does love us by the attention He pays to our personal needs. 

Prayer in a Rainstorm:

When I was a little boy living in Northern Utah, we had one day a large thunderstorm roll through. Living in a desert, as Utah is, storms are not too common. So all the rain was an exciting and at the time, scary adventure. In many Utah homes you have what are called window wells, which are holes dug down into the ground so that you can have natural light in your basements. Usually these window wells are lined with corrugated metal or plastic and if they don't have a proper drainage system they can get filled with water during big storms. This happened to be the predicament in which one of our neighbors had found themselves. Water had started leaking into their basement and so my dad went out to help them. I remember standing on the landing in our garage looking out at the driving rain and being worried about my dad out in the rain. He really wasn't in any danger, but my young mind was worried. With my earthly father out in the storm and me needing comfort, I turned to my Father in Heaven. With the faith of a child a prayer was said and down from the heavens came the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, a gift from my Father to reassure and calm my worried heart. I remember the warmth and peace that only come from on High. I remember feeling that all was going to be okay and that I didn't have to be worried about a thing.

I was a little child worried about something rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but my Heavenly Father, the one who holds all the cosmos in balance reached out to tell me that everything would be okay. Ever since then I have looked and found, sometimes in hindsight, the evidence of His love in my life. I know that He lives and loves us. How grateful I am for that. I know that as we seek the Lord, He will show himself unto us in our daily lives. I am grateful for the opportunity to know Him. I testify that He is always there waiting for us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" 

(John 16:33).

Serving others. Serving God.

Have you ever had the thought to do something nice for someone? Have you ever followed through on that thought? What did you do? How did you feel? These are a few of the questions I'd like to discuss. Service. It is one of the most basic elements in the gospel. All of what Jesus Christ did was service. He provided a way for us to repent and, through "relying wholly on the merits of Him who is mighty to save", obtain Eternal Life (2 Nephi 31:19).  I have come to know that it is by serving our Savior that happiness comes into our lives and that it is by living His way that draws us unto Him.

An Example: Jesus Christ

Throughout Christ's mortal ministry on the Earth He performed many acts of service. Today we call most of those things miracles, but service they were. Healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, and raising the dead are all wonderful and miraculous examples of our Savior's service for those he was around. We have the mandate from his prophets to "mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort" (Mosiah 18:9). Why is that important? Because that is what He would do if he were in your place.

Something to Learn

"...I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." (Mosiah 2:17). From this scripture we see that whenever we take the time and serve someone in some way, it is as if we were doing that service to our Savior. He has said: "...Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40). He also warns us that if we ignore our duty to serve others, we are ignoring our duty to serve Him.

Personal Thoughts:

Throughout my life I've had many opportunities to share of my talents and abilities, some of those chances I took, others I let pass by, but every time I have thought of others over my own wants or needs I wind up better for it. This past week the opportunity to serve has been ever present. I know that the reason that I feel so good after serving is because the Spirit of the Lord is witnessing to me that what I am doing is right and what the Savior would have me do. He would have me help my neighbor, as he taught in the parable of The Good Samaritan (See Luke 10:30-37). I know that serving others is helping our Father in Heaven to accomplish the work he wishes to do among His children here on earth. I know that as I serve I feel a closeness to my Savior. Please give of yourselves so that God can fill you with his love! I know this to be the restored church of Jesus Christ. It is through His gospel I gain my happiest moments. I love my Savior, I look forward to serving Him in my new area in Jacksonville, this is His work. Thank you for reading. Have a wonderful day!