First Recorded Miracle

     There is much that is difficult and challenging in the world today, my brothers and sisters, but there is also much that is good and uplifting. As we declare in our thirteenth article of faith, “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” May we ever continue to do so. --Thomas S Monson

     I testify that as we follow the Savior, we will love as He loved, we will do as He did, and we will be instruments in His hands as we serve.  --john

Those Who Love Jesus

Christ Healing the Sick at the Pool of Bethesda, by Carl Heinrich Bloch

The Savior’s Love

The importance of demonstrating daily a true and an abiding love was convincingly taught by the Master when the inquiring lawyer stepped forward and boldly asked Him, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”

Matthew records that “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

“This is the first and great commandment.

“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”¹

Mark concludes the account with the Savior’s statement, “There is none other commandment greater than these.” ²

His answer could not be faulted. His very actions gave credence to His words. He demonstrated genuine love of God by living the perfect life, by honoring the sacred mission that was His. Never was He haughty. Never was He puffed up with pride. Never was He disloyal. Ever was He humble. Ever was He sincere. Ever was He true.

Though He was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by that master of deceit, even the devil; though He was physically weakened from fasting 40 days and 40 nights and was an hungered; yet when the evil one proffered Jesus the most alluring and tempting proposals, He gave to us a divine example of true love of God by refusing to deviate from what He knew was right. ³

Jesus, throughout His ministry, blessed the sick, restored sight to the blind, made the deaf to hear and the maimed to walk. He taughtforgiveness by forgiving. He taught compassion by being compassionate. He taught devotion by giving of Himself. Jesus taught by example.

As we survey the life of our Lord, each of us could echo the words of the well-known hymn:

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,

Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.

I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,

That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died. ⁴

Showing Our Love

To demonstrate our gratitude, is it required that we too lay down our lives as did He? Some have.

In the beautiful city of Melbourne, Australia, there is situated in an impressive setting a historic war memorial. As one walks through the memorial’s silent corridors, one sees tablets of marble that note the deeds of valor and acts of courage of those who made the supreme sacrifice. One can almost hear the roar of the cannon, the scream of the rocket, the cry of the wounded. One can feel the exhilaration of victory and, at the same time, sense the despair of defeat.

In the center of the main hall, inscribed for all to see, is the message of the memorial. The skylight overhead permits easy reading. The words almost stand up and speak: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” ⁵

Today, the challenge which we face and must meet is not that we should go forth on the battlefield of war and lay down our lives. Rather, it is that we, on the battlefield of life, so live and serve that our lives and actions reflect a true love of God, of His Son, Jesus Christ, and of our fellowmen. This is not accomplished by clever signs printed on bumper stickers affixed to automobiles.

Jesus teaches each of us: “If ye love me, keep my commandments. …

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” ⁶

The above is an excerpt from an address given by Thomas S. Monson.  For the full text click here:

http://www.lds.org/liahona/1999/03/those-who-love-jesus?lang=eng

Notes

1.     Matt. 22:36–39.

2.     Mark 12:31.

3.     See Matt. 4:1–11.

4.     “I Stand All Amazed,” Hymns, number 193.

5.     John 15:13.

6.     John 14:15, 21.

“He Is Risen”: A Prophet’s Testimony

“He Is Risen”: A Prophet’s Testimony

Who’s on the Lord’s Side?

Play Hymn

“260: Who’s on the Lord’s Side?,” Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, no. 260

Energetically

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

Now is the time to show.

We ask it fearlessly:

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

We wage no common war,

Cope with no common foe.

The enemy’s awake;

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

[Chorus]

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

Now is the time to show.

We ask it fearlessly:

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

We serve the living God,

And want his foes to know

That, if but few, we’re great;

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

We’re going on to win;

No fear must blanch the brow.

The Lord of Hosts is ours;

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

[Chorus]

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

Now is the time to show.

We ask it fearlessly:

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

The stone cut without hands

To fill the earth must grow.

Who’ll help to roll it on?

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

Our ensign to the world

Is floating proudly now.

No coward bears our flag;

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

[Chorus]

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

Now is the time to show.

We ask it fearlessly:

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

The pow’rs of earth and hell

In rage direct the blow

That’s aimed to crush the work;

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

Truth, life, and liberty,

Freedom from death and woe,

Are stakes we’re fighting for;

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

[Chorus]

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

Now is the time to show.

We ask it fearlessly:

Who’s on the Lord’s side? Who?

Text: Hannah Last Cornaby, 1822–1905

Music: Henry H. Russell, 1818–1900, alt.

The Lord’s Side

• Joseph B. Wirthlin
• March 1993 Ensign

     I would like you to consider with me one of the great hymns of the Restoration: "Who's on the Lord's Side?" written by Hannah Last Cornaby, born in 1822 and an English convert to the Church [of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]. The words of this hymn seem particularly attuned to our time and society. The hymn impressed me when I was a small boy in the Salt Lake City Thirty-third Ward. It apparently was our Sunday School chorister's favorite song; we seemed to sing it every Sunday. We young children would leave Sunday School singing, "Who's on the Lord's side? Who? Now is the time to show." The words and melody would stay in our minds after we sang it. In fact, I've never forgotten it or our chorister.
     The words of the hymn echo the words of Moses as he called the rebellious children of Israel to repentance after he had destroyed the idolatrous calf they had made. "Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. . . . Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord" (Exodus 32:26, 29).
     Joshua, who succeeded Moses, told the children of Israel essentially the same thing after he had led them into their promised land of Canaan. Shortly before his death, he called the people of Israel together for a final blessing and warning, much as Moses had done. What a prophet says as he nears the end of his life is very important because he is concluding his accountability and placing the full responsibility for others' conduct on their own shoulders. Joshua reviewed with Israel exactly what God had done for them miraculously and then exhorted them to Choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. . . . And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. [Joshua 24:15,24]

     We, too, must choose whether we will serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, or follow the gods of indulgence and sin that clamor for our attention on every side.  The Lord has left no doubt in defining his side and where the Saints should be in their thoughts, words, actions, and practices. We have his counsel in the scriptures and in the words of the prophets. To ancient Israel, the Lord said through Moses: "I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil" (Deuteronomy 30:15). The Lord counseled his prophet Jeremiah to instruct the people: "Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death" (Jeremiah 21:8). That is the contrast; that is the choice. Either we are on the Lord's side of the line or on the side of the adversary. Nephi declared that we "are free to act for [ourselves]--to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life" (2 Nephi 10:23). Yes, Men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. [2 Nephi 2:27]

     The line between those who are on the Lord's side and those who follow the adversary has been with us from the beginning. Even before the creation of this world, the children of God divided themselves into two groups with different loyalties. One-third of the host of heaven followed Lucifer, separating themselves from the presence of God and from the two-thirds who followed the Son of God (see D&C 29:36­39). This division has persisted throughout the history of mankind and will continue until the day of judgment when Jesus comes again in his glory. We read in Matthew that all nations will gather before him, and he will
Separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. . . .
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. [Matthew 25:32­34, 41]
     The prophet Nephi tells us why many choose the wrong side of the line:
Now the cause of this iniquity of the people was this--Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world. [3 Nephi 6:15]

The humanities: learning, sacrifice, and love.

     I arose this morning, exercised while listening to a devotional on television, accomplished my household chores, and then had my personal devotional where I read, studied, and pondered scripture, prayed, showered, and got dressed for work.  I wore my Army uniform for the first time in over 15 years.  The colorful cloth and shiny metal on the jacket include an Expert Field Medical Badge, a National Defense Service Medal, and a Humanitarian Service Medal.  I put on my white lab coat over the uniform and left the house.

     I rode my bicycle the two miles to the medical center where I rounded on my patients, most of whom were receiving dialysis today.  Each patient has a unique story and a special spirit.  After charting and completing paperwork, I pedaled another two miles to the university where my son-in-law received his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force.  General Robert C. Oaks spoke at the ceremony.  After a small reception, we came home for lunch and I played with two of my grandsons. 

     Graduation for my daughter and son-in-law went from late afternoon to early evening.  The learning, sacrifice, and the love demonstrated by faculty, students, and families were amazing.  It was quite a day.

     Thank you, Sue, for driving me to and from the graduation ceremony.  Thank you, Matt, for letting me borrow your shoes.  Thank you, Ben, for calling me to let me know you arrived in Buffalo safely.  Thank you, all, who diligently learn, sacrifice, and serve as Jesus would.  God bless.

Thankful for the Opportunity to Inherit Eternal Life

Eternal stretches from the beginning to the ending

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending -Revelation 1:8

Eternal = God

Eternal life is God’s life

The greatest gift of God is to inherit eternal life

We have the opportunity to follow Jesus and inherit eternal life

Learn of Christ

Detail from The Second Coming, by Grant Romney Clawson

The knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest education of all. (See Matthew 11:29.)

Testimony Through Music and Art

Sometimes a singer/songwriter/artist will express your feelings.  

Click here for one of several of my favorite songs by Keith Green as performed by Petra.

Lord, Save Me, by Gary Kapp © Gary Kapp

Click here to learn more about Gary Kapp

Lyrics to song: I Don't Want To Fall Away From You

After all the things that you have shown me

I'd be a fool to let them slip away

And doin' things I know I shouldn't do,

(Chorus) But I don't wanna fall away from You

I don't wanna fall away from You

I don't wanna fall away from You... from YOU!

After all I've only grieved Your spirit

and then I don't know why you stay with me

But every time I fall Your love comes through, (Chorus)

When the light is gone, and good times are getting old

There's no one left to count on

And all my friends are gone

When I search for love, oh Lord, You're a fount to my soul, my SOUL!

In a way my life is full of burdens

But in a way you carried them from me

Cuz no one understands the way you do, (Chorus)

He Loves Me

Music & The Spoken Word

The Making of Music and the Spoken Word

Message from program 3571: 

     After World War II a statue of Christ that was damaged in the fighting was painstakingly restored—except for its hands, which could not be repaired. Instead of crafting new hands, the addition of this powerful phrase gave the statue new meaning: “Christ has no hands but ours.” While earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal, it is our opportunity to lift and bless the lives of others. Acting in harmony with the best we know, we can become the hands of heaven.

Mother Teresa became the hands of heaven in the slums of Calcutta. She described her efforts, which brought life and hope to thousands, in these words: “I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.”¹

Albert Schweitzer’s hands built a hospital in Africa, where he spent 50 years caring for the needs of strangers who became his friends—all because he believed “the purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.”²

We need not travel to India or Africa to find opportunities to be heaven’s hands. If our hearts are filled with compassion, mercy, and love for others, we will daily discover that we are surrounded by those who need our help. If our hands are willing^, they can do heaven’s work in ways both great and small.

English novelist Mary Ann Evans once questioned, “What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?” Under her pen name of George Eliot, she wrote: “May I reach that purest heaven [to] be to other souls the cup of strength in some great agony.”³

As we seek to become the hands of heaven in the lives of others, our Father in Heaven will give us the strength and inspiration necessary to do His will on earth. For God will continue to accomplish heaven’s great work through willing human hands. 

¹Mother Teresa, Great Quotes From Great Leaders, ed. Peggy Anderson (Lombard, IL: Celebrating Excellence in Publishing, 1990), p. 101.

²Albert Schweitzer, ibid., p. 32.

³George Eliot, “The Invisible Choir,” as found in The Book of Virtues, comp. William J. Bennett (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993), p. 182.

More research on the statue of Christ

Ponder Timeless Truths

In this fast-paced life, do we ever pause for moments of meditation – even thoughts of timeless truths?

Our Heavenly Father is mindful of each of us and our needs.

Each [of us] can be enlightened and uplifted and comforted as the Spirit of the Lord is felt.

Let us learn and contemplate our duty.  Let us be willing and worthy to serve.

How blessed we are to be here in these last days.

I slept and dreamt

That life was joy

I awoke and saw

That life was duty

I acted and behold

Duty was joy

--Rabindranath Tagore

I know what pleasure is,

For I have done good work

--Robert Louis Stevenson 

The above words are all excerpts from recent talks given by Thomas S Monson at General Conference

Why Weepest Thou?

Why Weepest Thou? By Simon Dewey, courtesy Altius Fine Art

For more information: Paintings by Simon Dewey

He Is Risen

Ponder what the Savior means to all humanity—and to you personally. And then share the good news.

Freedom to Choose

The Three Rs of Choice

Each of us has come to this earth with all the tools necessary to make correct choices.

Right of choice

Responsibility of choice

Results of choice

 A recent editorial submitted to the Daily Herald / Opinion / Letters to the Editor Posted: Monday, April 2, 2012

Responsibility comes with freedom

Recent events reported by the news media depict how individuals have abused their responsibility to serve and protect. As a retired Army soldier and a recent volunteer for our community's Mobile Watch, I am saddened by individuals who use positions of responsibility to hurt others.

In my community's Mobile Watch, I sacrifice my right to carry a concealed weapon while I am on patrol; we are taught to never be confrontational. As a soldier, I was required to put my life in harm's way for others; this included civilians and enemy combatants too.

Eleanor Roosevelt is quoted as saying, "Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect."

Thank you to all those who responsibly serve!   - John DeWolfe Walker, Provo

Read more: http://www.heraldextra.com/news/opinion/mailbag/responsibility-comes-with-freedom/article_37c1bde2-6529-5379-8cca-9917da991285.html#ixzz1r2TBSrz8

Lighthouse of the Lord

You can also listen to the recent address to the young women: Address to the Young Women on 3/24/2012

Believe

Be Obedient

Endure

“He Is Risen”—a Prophet’s Testimony

Thomas S. Monson

“He Is Risen”

“The clarion call of Christendom,” President Thomas S. Monson has declared, is that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead. “The reality of theResurrection provides to one and all the peace that surpasses understanding” (see Philippians 4:7).¹

In the following excerpts, President Monson shares his testimony of andgratitude for the Savior’s Resurrection and declares that because the Son conquered death, all of the Father’s children who come to earth will live again.

 

Life beyond Mortality

“I believe that none of us can conceive the full import of what Christ did for us in Gethsemane, but I am grateful every day of my life for His atoning sacrifice in our behalf.

“At the last moment, He could have turned back. But He did not. He passed beneath all things that He might save all things. In doing so, He gave us life beyond this mortal existence. He reclaimed us from the Fall of Adam.

“To the depths of my very soul, I am grateful to Him. He taught us how to live. He taught us how to die. He secured our salvation.”²

 

Dispelling the Darkness of Death

“In certain situations, as in great suffering and illness, death comes as an angel of mercy. But for the most part, we think of it as the enemy of human happiness.

“The darkness of death can ever be dispelled by the light of revealed truth. ‘I am the resurrection, and the life,’ spoke the Master. ‘He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.’

“This reassurance—yes, even holy confirmation—of life beyond the grave could well provide the peace promised by the Savior when He assured His disciples: ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’”³

 

He Is Not Here

“Our Savior lived again. The most glorious, comforting, and reassuring of all events of human history had taken place—the victory over death. The pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary had been wiped away. The salvation of mankind had been secured. The Fall of Adam had been reclaimed.

“The empty tomb that first Easter morning was the answer to Job’s question, ‘If a man die, shall he live again?’ To all within the sound of my voice, I declare, If a man die, he shall live again. We know, for we have the light of revealed truth. …

“My beloved brothers and sisters, in our hour of deepest sorrow, we can receive profound peace from the words of the angel that first Easter morning: ‘He is not here: for he is risen.’”⁴

 

All Will Live Again

“We laugh, we cry, we work, we play, we love, we live. And then we die. …

“And dead we would remain but for one Man and His mission, even Jesus of Nazareth. …

“With all my heart and the fervency of my soul, I lift up my voice in testimony as a special witness and declare that God does live. Jesus is His Son, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is our Redeemer; He is our Mediator with the Father. He it was who died on the cross to atone for our sins. He became the firstfruits of the Resurrection. Because He died, all shall live again.”⁵

 

A Personal Witness

“I declare my personal witness that death has been conquered, victory over the tomb has been won. May the words made sacred by Him who fulfilled them become actual knowledge to all. Remember them.  Cherish them. Honor them. He is risen.”⁶

^References

1. “He Is Risen,” Liahona and Ensign, Apr. 2003, 7.

2. “At Parting,” Liahona and Ensign, May 2011, 114.

3. “Now Is the Time,” Liahona, Jan. 2002, 68; Ensign, Nov. 2001, 59; see also John 11:25–26; 14:27.

4. “He Is Risen,” Liahona and Ensign, May 2010, 89, 90; see also Job 14:14; Matthew 28:6.

5. “I Know That My Redeemer Lives!” Liahona and Ensign, May 2007, 24, 25.

6. Liahona and Ensign, Apr. 2003, 7