I think that it's time I share two more of my favorite scriptures. The first is 1 John 4:8 "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." Ponder on that. If you do not love, or do not know or recognize love you really can't know God. In fact, it's hard to comprehend the love of God, the greatest sign of his love being manifest in sending the Son (John 3:17), if you do not manifest love for Him and for others. For more on that point, see i write to understand myself: Love.
Another great scripture, another written by John the Beloved, is John 17:3 "For this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Life eternal comes from knowing God and Jesus. To know them we must walk more than a mile in their shoes; we must come to and strive to live the life that they live. We find life eternal in repenting of our individual sins and striving to keep the commandments and covenants.
My focus with these two scriptures leads me away from discussing man's potential to become like God. I want to couple the two together. First, let's begin with the last (hmmm I feel a chiasmus coming on...): life eternal is knowing God. Join that with "he that loveth not knoweth not God. It would seem to follow then that in order to find life eternal we must learn to love. It all comes back to love. The whole plan of salvation, the atonement, EVERYTHING about the gospel of Jesus Christ centers on love for God and our fellow man, Christ being the very center of our love being the ultimate symbol of and corporeal embodiment of the love of the Father.
I've begun to understand even deeper what love is lately. A new love on a new and deeper level is developing. I feel as though I'm beginning to understand a little better what love is and what it's like. Of course that love will deepen as it consistently has throughout my life. I learned to love my siblings and parents. Then my school. That moved on to loving my friends. It continued into loving the people I was serving and teaching as a missionary. Now that love is deepening even further into a beautiful romance. It will move into loving my children and then further on when more posterity is born.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
One thought sticks out to me...
For the past couple of weeks I've pondered what to write for my followers. I've even felt some pain at not having anything to write or say for a while. This idea remains in the forefront for me.
A while back I wrote about pain, desire, and submission. I was confronting a strong trial. Or at least at the time the storm sure was fierce. In retrospect I was able to see the fulfillment of 1 Corinthians 10:13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
At that time I felt a strong interest in a particular person. While the friendship was still new and strong she introduced me to the radio station KLOVE. They play Christian worship music all day long. I love hearing these songs. So many great, inspiring, uplifting and upbeat songs constantly stream across the airwaves. Now normally when someone introduces me to something new, whatever that thing may be is often associated with memories of that person. Not this time. The songs from this station lead my thoughts to Christ and strength and faith.
As I could feel the storm raging around me I dove deeper, rooted myself more firmly, and placed my faith in the Lord while listening to these uplifting and encouraging songs. The storm seemed to pass rather quickly. In a very literal sense, my escape had been prepared for me and it was neatly bundled with the person associated with the test.
Josh Wilson sings a song titled "Before the Morning" (it's posted on my music blog). At one point the chorus says "All the pain that you've been feeling it can't compare to the joy that's coming." I've been holding onto that promise, and I think its fulfillment is coming soon :)
On another note, it has been a year since I started this blog. In it I have recorded some rather intimate moments. I feel the growth that has come since then. I hope my readers can see it in my writing. Even more, I hope that they too find encouragement to put their faith and trust in Christ.
A while back I wrote about pain, desire, and submission. I was confronting a strong trial. Or at least at the time the storm sure was fierce. In retrospect I was able to see the fulfillment of 1 Corinthians 10:13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
At that time I felt a strong interest in a particular person. While the friendship was still new and strong she introduced me to the radio station KLOVE. They play Christian worship music all day long. I love hearing these songs. So many great, inspiring, uplifting and upbeat songs constantly stream across the airwaves. Now normally when someone introduces me to something new, whatever that thing may be is often associated with memories of that person. Not this time. The songs from this station lead my thoughts to Christ and strength and faith.
As I could feel the storm raging around me I dove deeper, rooted myself more firmly, and placed my faith in the Lord while listening to these uplifting and encouraging songs. The storm seemed to pass rather quickly. In a very literal sense, my escape had been prepared for me and it was neatly bundled with the person associated with the test.
Josh Wilson sings a song titled "Before the Morning" (it's posted on my music blog). At one point the chorus says "All the pain that you've been feeling it can't compare to the joy that's coming." I've been holding onto that promise, and I think its fulfillment is coming soon :)
On another note, it has been a year since I started this blog. In it I have recorded some rather intimate moments. I feel the growth that has come since then. I hope my readers can see it in my writing. Even more, I hope that they too find encouragement to put their faith and trust in Christ.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sumbission, part 2
It seems to have been last week that my little trial became apparently more intense. For whatever reason there may be, my mind flashed to the football camp scene from the movie Remember the Titans. It's the part where the coach asks, "What are you?" Their response comes loud and clear, "Agile! Mobile! Hostile!" Coach Boone then asks, "Will you ever quit?" The team resounds their intense reply, "NO! WE WANT SOME MORE! WE WANT SOME MORE!" That lead me to ponder my situation further. I thought, "Hmmm, I'm here in the crucible in the middle of the refiner's fire. I can feel and see some imperfections and impurities in myself." My thoughts lead me to want to ask the Lord to turn up the heat so such things would burn off quicker. "I know I can do anything so long as He's with me," I thought, "I can face it if He goes with me." Luckily my thought process didn't end there. It struck me how impatient it would be to actually ask the Lord to quicken the process. I also noted how little that would demonstrate trust in the Lord's knowledge and understanding. My final thought drifted back to, "Not my will, but Thine be done. Do what is necessary, Lord and take all the time You need to. Grant me patience to see this through." It was rather humbling to realize that I was being impatient and distrustful.
More often than not the Lord is like a dentist. So long as we're taking care of our mouth and teeth, the visit is routine and relatively painless. However none of us will take perfect care of our teeth. We go in to have something done about some pain or odor, etc. Frankly, I want my mouth to come out perfect. I do what little I can, but the rest must be done by the Master Dentist. My attitude, then, must be, "Here I am Lord. Do what you must to make me better. Take the time You must." Dentistry isn't always as quick as we would like. We might be in the chair for several hours. We may need several follow-up visits. That's okay; it's normal. What is not okay is to sit in the chair and say, "Ya know, I have another appointment in an hour, can you hurry it up?" and certainly not, "There's a pain in my left eye-tooth and you're not doing anything about it. Do you really know what you're doing?"
We must exercise our faith in the Lord in such times. We hold on our way, trusting that the Man doing the work knows what He's doing. We know He has walked with us in times past and when the path became too hard He carried us. We can't rush the work, but we can ask for our faith in His knowledge to give us patience until we reach the end of the ordeal.
More often than not the Lord is like a dentist. So long as we're taking care of our mouth and teeth, the visit is routine and relatively painless. However none of us will take perfect care of our teeth. We go in to have something done about some pain or odor, etc. Frankly, I want my mouth to come out perfect. I do what little I can, but the rest must be done by the Master Dentist. My attitude, then, must be, "Here I am Lord. Do what you must to make me better. Take the time You must." Dentistry isn't always as quick as we would like. We might be in the chair for several hours. We may need several follow-up visits. That's okay; it's normal. What is not okay is to sit in the chair and say, "Ya know, I have another appointment in an hour, can you hurry it up?" and certainly not, "There's a pain in my left eye-tooth and you're not doing anything about it. Do you really know what you're doing?"
We must exercise our faith in the Lord in such times. We hold on our way, trusting that the Man doing the work knows what He's doing. We know He has walked with us in times past and when the path became too hard He carried us. We can't rush the work, but we can ask for our faith in His knowledge to give us patience until we reach the end of the ordeal.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Love
I often ponder on the subject of faith while I'm working, normally only while we're in the truck so that I'm doing it without driving. This week it crossed my mind that faith and obedience are linked to love.
Consider for a moment John 14:15 "If ye love me keep my commandments". Jesus laid it down rather black and white that we demonstrate our love for Him by keeping his commandments. Now think about this description of faith found in the Bible Dictionary: faith comes by righteousness. Keep in mind that we demonstrate, at the very least, a particle of faith when we obey the Lord. So in keeping the commandments we show and exercise both faith in and love for the Lord.
The particle of faith leads us to plant the tiny mustard seed. Faith and obedience lead us to nurture that seed until it grows to maturity. This develops our faith in the Teacher further because we have evidence of the truth of what He taught. We develop love for the teacher as we reap the harvest of our faith.
These three principles I hadn't ever considered before, but now they seem to be intertwined in an intricate pattern. Obedience without love is mechanical. It makes a person seem more like a robot than a warrior. Faith does not happen without some love for without love faith seems like the robot walking into the dark without any purpose.
I submit that while the three principles can exist and faith and obedience can be done without love they are devoid of purpose as such. Love gives EVERYTHING rhyme and reason. It's the tempo, the beat of our marching band. Without love we are but empty temples, beautiful, but nonetheless without the motivation to perform the work. Love leads a child to better obey his or her parents. Love for a school leads an athlete to stand strong in the sporting arena. Love for the Lord leads a young man or woman to leave home and serve an unknown people. Love is a gift from Christ and being from Him it is our motivation to follow the Good Shepherd. When we emanate that love clearly, it leads others to follow us while we follow Him.
Love and faith are a seed and sprout therefrom into a great tree. Obedience with love is powerful and under the direction of the Master Horticulturist will lead a tree to grow to it's fullest potential.
Consider for a moment John 14:15 "If ye love me keep my commandments". Jesus laid it down rather black and white that we demonstrate our love for Him by keeping his commandments. Now think about this description of faith found in the Bible Dictionary: faith comes by righteousness. Keep in mind that we demonstrate, at the very least, a particle of faith when we obey the Lord. So in keeping the commandments we show and exercise both faith in and love for the Lord.
The particle of faith leads us to plant the tiny mustard seed. Faith and obedience lead us to nurture that seed until it grows to maturity. This develops our faith in the Teacher further because we have evidence of the truth of what He taught. We develop love for the teacher as we reap the harvest of our faith.
These three principles I hadn't ever considered before, but now they seem to be intertwined in an intricate pattern. Obedience without love is mechanical. It makes a person seem more like a robot than a warrior. Faith does not happen without some love for without love faith seems like the robot walking into the dark without any purpose.
I submit that while the three principles can exist and faith and obedience can be done without love they are devoid of purpose as such. Love gives EVERYTHING rhyme and reason. It's the tempo, the beat of our marching band. Without love we are but empty temples, beautiful, but nonetheless without the motivation to perform the work. Love leads a child to better obey his or her parents. Love for a school leads an athlete to stand strong in the sporting arena. Love for the Lord leads a young man or woman to leave home and serve an unknown people. Love is a gift from Christ and being from Him it is our motivation to follow the Good Shepherd. When we emanate that love clearly, it leads others to follow us while we follow Him.
Love and faith are a seed and sprout therefrom into a great tree. Obedience with love is powerful and under the direction of the Master Horticulturist will lead a tree to grow to it's fullest potential.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
My little experiments muwahahaha
So honestly these weren't some mad scientist's experiments, but rather personal experiments in my own lifestyle and behavior. I recently returned to setting goals for myself on a weekly basis and have doubled my efforts to keep a couple in particular.
The first goal of behavioral change was to quit watching TV. While setting goals I realized that I was spending a massive amount of my free time watching TV, particularly on Friday and Saturday, my days off. Four or five weeks ago I set out on this venture. I happily report that I've watched a mere 45 minutes of actual programming. I don't count movies seen on a movie channel, in the theater or on disc. I do admit to having watched 3 movies since I set out to change my habits.
While it has been somewhat difficult to fill my time with worthy activities it has also been rather rewarding. The first Friday or two I did spend that extra time on my laptop wandering cyberspace (this is another habit which is to change). As time has moved forward I've found the attraction of television fade out once again. I find myself stretching my mind a little to decide what I'm going to do. I've had more time to do a couple of little projects around the house.
The second change has been facilitated by the first. The second has been to attend the temple more often. I've averaged one visit a week for the last four weeks. The experience has been incredible. Not everything can be told, but I can say I've found added strength to face my challenges and more determination to do what is right. By cutting out television I freed up time and gave myself more will-power to get to the temple and obtain the blessings God has for me there.
Quite honestly television in and of itself can be a good thing. We watch general conference, educational programs, and a few good movies. There also exists a much larger group of programs that are mindless, senseless, pointless or nonsensical. These often distract us from doing great things. They may very well be intended to do good and some are not evil in and of themselves, but they do distract from doing better things. Going to the temple has been one of those better things for me. Next I want to do my home teaching and visit more people out there. The things that I can do to help someone else thrill me! There is so much good that can be done without television. Last week I already began cutting back my time on the internet. Though it will not fade away completely the time online will be decreased. Good can and does come because of the internet or television, but if either distracts me from the great things I can do then I say rather simply, "I have better things to do."
Good is the ultimate enemy of great. Why? We wrap ourselves around doing good when there are even better acts of charity, service, and love we can accomplish IF we're willing to take a leap of faith and leave behind the good for something better.
The first goal of behavioral change was to quit watching TV. While setting goals I realized that I was spending a massive amount of my free time watching TV, particularly on Friday and Saturday, my days off. Four or five weeks ago I set out on this venture. I happily report that I've watched a mere 45 minutes of actual programming. I don't count movies seen on a movie channel, in the theater or on disc. I do admit to having watched 3 movies since I set out to change my habits.
While it has been somewhat difficult to fill my time with worthy activities it has also been rather rewarding. The first Friday or two I did spend that extra time on my laptop wandering cyberspace (this is another habit which is to change). As time has moved forward I've found the attraction of television fade out once again. I find myself stretching my mind a little to decide what I'm going to do. I've had more time to do a couple of little projects around the house.
The second change has been facilitated by the first. The second has been to attend the temple more often. I've averaged one visit a week for the last four weeks. The experience has been incredible. Not everything can be told, but I can say I've found added strength to face my challenges and more determination to do what is right. By cutting out television I freed up time and gave myself more will-power to get to the temple and obtain the blessings God has for me there.
Quite honestly television in and of itself can be a good thing. We watch general conference, educational programs, and a few good movies. There also exists a much larger group of programs that are mindless, senseless, pointless or nonsensical. These often distract us from doing great things. They may very well be intended to do good and some are not evil in and of themselves, but they do distract from doing better things. Going to the temple has been one of those better things for me. Next I want to do my home teaching and visit more people out there. The things that I can do to help someone else thrill me! There is so much good that can be done without television. Last week I already began cutting back my time on the internet. Though it will not fade away completely the time online will be decreased. Good can and does come because of the internet or television, but if either distracts me from the great things I can do then I say rather simply, "I have better things to do."
Good is the ultimate enemy of great. Why? We wrap ourselves around doing good when there are even better acts of charity, service, and love we can accomplish IF we're willing to take a leap of faith and leave behind the good for something better.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Perseverance
Perseverance is easily the hardest word to swallow and live while going through a trial. When the trail is long and rough, we've been hiking for hours, and we're worn out holding out to the end is the last thing most of us want to do. We want to stop, to quit. When the tribulation is the harshest and the persecution the sorest most of us don't want to hear anything about enduring; we only want the end to be NOW! In all actuality, when things are the hardest and roughest is when we most need to persevere.
Perseverance is intricately intertwined with patience. It's hard to be impatient and persevere at the same time (hard, but not impossible). While persevering it's necessary to be patient because the end is rarely in our line of sight, but we are arriving there.
I found a quote in seminary one day and kept it. It goes something like this:
"Some men quit when they begin to tire
Other men quit when they're about to collapse
But only the best men know that the body tires long before the mind
It is then that the impossible becomes possible" -unknown-
Perseverance is intricately intertwined with patience. It's hard to be impatient and persevere at the same time (hard, but not impossible). While persevering it's necessary to be patient because the end is rarely in our line of sight, but we are arriving there.
I found a quote in seminary one day and kept it. It goes something like this:
"Some men quit when they begin to tire
Other men quit when they're about to collapse
But only the best men know that the body tires long before the mind
It is then that the impossible becomes possible" -unknown-
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