Shed Light

In the Sermon on the Mount the Savior told the People, 

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel,
but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

To understand better what this means I went to my trusty dictionary and looked up the word light. 

I found three definitions that shed some light :) on these verses. Light is: 

(1) something that makes vision possible. 

(2) Spiritual illumination 

(3) something that enlightens or informs.

This made me think of the amazing people who have been a light to me. Without exception these people have increased my vision, especially my vision of myself. They have taught me the gospel by their words, but especially by their deeds. And they have all enlightened me. Unfortunately, many of them have moved on from this world and I can’t thank them, but some still live and to them and others who daily cross my path shedding their light on me, I will be forever grateful. 

People with light, warm my soul and make my path brighter.

Somthing to Ponder

"Remember the words of your God;

pray unto him continually by day,

and give thanks unto his holy name by night.

Let your hearts rejoice."

(2 Nephi 9:52)

Spring!

Yellow crocus are pushing through dark brown soil in my front yard. For me this is the visual equivalent of a delightful chuckle that interrupts a long silence or a spontaneous outburst of song among children at play. It is also a reminder that after the storms and chill that are so much a part of telestial life, there is always something wonderful waiting for us. 

Spring is also a time that renews my hope and teaches me about my Savior. As Nephi taught, “All things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him” ( 2 Nephi 11:4). And in the book of Moses we read. “And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath all things bear record of me” (Moses 6:63). While this is true all year long, spring intensifies the lessons. New pocking through the earth, brighter sunshine tickling my cheek, warmer breezes stirring the air, the promise of new fruit blossoming in the trees all remind me of grace and love and hope and eternal life made possible because of Jesus Christ.

Spring is the perfect time for leisurely walks in places where nature is my personal tutor.

Living In Truth

I keep talking about Truth and Living in Truth but some of you are new to Good News! so I wanted to review the definition of Truth. When the Savior said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." most of us just think about the truths He is teaching. The Good News of the gospel is Truth and those truths shall make you free.  But there is so much more to Truth.

In D&C 93:24 we learn that, "Truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning." From this we learn that Truth is reality or verity. The Truths of the gospel are, indeed, real, but there are many things in a telestial world that we don't like that are also Truth. When we accept them and make the best of life in spite of them (Come what may, and love it!) we are living in Truth.

Triumph!

There is a wonderful parable in the New Testament in which Jesus explains what will happen to those who follow Him:  “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock."

But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:46-49).

Sometimes we tend to think that if we are doing what we are supposed to be doing, no storms will come into our lives. But this parable clearly teaches us that storms come to those who are building on the solid rock of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to those who are building on the shifting sands of the world. Both groups undergo adversity and trials. The difference isn’t in the adversity, the difference is in the strength, power, and help of those who build upon the rock. The promise is that when we build our foundation upon the rock we will triumph over the storms.

I Shall Not Fear

In the book of Deuteronomy Moses makes a promise to Joshua before he leaves. He says to Joshua, “And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:8). The  

Good News! is that this is not just a promise made to Joshua. This is a promise made to all those who love and follow God.

We all go through hard times. We all suffer. But when we know that the Lord is with us, we can meet the challenges, adversity, stress, and vexation of life without fear. When you know He will not fail you, you have confidence to move forward. Just thinking about this brings a wave of warm feelings into my heart. I am not alone. I don’t have to face the trials of life alone. I can walk with God who knows all and sees all and, therefore, He can guide me through all.

Psalm 23 celebrates this fact:

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

Clarification on Yesterday's Post

Today I need to clarify some things from yesterday. 

There is no way a few paragraphs can ever cover all the bases on a topic like why bad things happen. I do not think we cause all bad things to happen. As I’ve written in other entries on Good News! this is a telestial world and in a telestial world there are such things as weeds, abuse, diseases, death, destruction and all manner of natural disasters that cause us problems and sorrow—not to mention the bad decisions other people make. What I was trying to say is that in the midst of all this telestialness, I believe God will always be prompting us how to deal with it in the very best way possible. Sometimes that means we will be guided to avoid the problems and adversity. Sometimes it means we will be strengthened to endure the problems. Sometimes it even means that the adversity is giving us the opportunity to help in the Lord's work by being an example to others. In any case, adversity if endured well will always word for "good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28).

What I was trying to say yesterday is that we need to listen more. I didn't say that adversity happens because we do something bad. I do not believe that.  I said that sometimes the Lord is prompting us to do things that would help us avoid future adversity but because we aren't listening we are unable to avoid it. But whatever the situation, whatever the outcome, whatever the reason, we will be better off if we listen and follow the Spirit. That is what I was trying (and failed) to say: we need to listen better to the Spirit. 

Telestial life keeps us occupied with worry, stress, anxiety, fear and even positive things like excitement, expectation, and busyness. But life becomes easier and better when we learn to break through that mental chatter and listen and follow the Spirit.

PS Thanks to all of you who left comments or emailed so that I realized I hadn't adequately stated what I meant! I hope this helps.