The Atonement of Jesus Christ -- healer+pain reliever

I was thinking the other day about how the atonement of Jesus Christ is like that anti-biotic + pain reliever cream you put on a small cut.  The name of Jesus Christ provides the key to accessing the protective and pain-relieving power of the atonement.  Believing in the name of Jesus Christ, to me, means believing that He is who He said He was and who others proclaim Him to be -- the Son of God, born of a virgin -- and that He has power unseen to the world and immeasurable by worldly means.  It means believing that He did take the pains, sins, sicknesses, infirmities, and afflictions of every kind upon Himself.  Believing these things can change the way I view other people and interact with them.  It can change the way I choose to live my life.  Life, for everyone, includes pain, sin, sickness, infirmity, affliction.  As we experience these things, we sometimes become more interested in and attracted to solutions -- coping mechanisms -- that are contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ.  If we persist in these coping mechanisms, we will find a certain measure of relief, but not ultimate peace and healing.  It is difficult to express what I feel and I am sensitive to the fact that I don't know everything -- I have not experienced every life, every tragedy, every pain, every feeling -- and it causes me to hesitate many times in sharing what I so firmly believe.  It is not easy for everyone to believe as I do partly because their life experiences have affected or shaped them in ways that are important to them and they have their own firmly held beliefs.  I cannot judge them for their beliefs nor comment on God's purposes in their lives.  I can only share my interest in them and try to live as I have indicated -- being directed by the feelings that flow naturally from my belief in the name of Jesus Christ.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has produced many videos that attempt to teach, inspire, and encourage people in believing the the name of Jesus Christ, I have included one of those videos here.

Nearer, My God, to Thee | BYU Vocal Point ft. BYU Men's Chorus

We were reading in the Book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon tonight for family scripture study.  I love the chapters 2-5 as they are such a good study on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how its power can work to change and heal hearts.  It also helps shed light on the plan of salvation in general.  I was able to administer a Priesthood blessing to Eric tonight.  He came home from scout high adventure camp today feeling very sick.  He went to bed early and asked me to administer a blessing. I felt prepared, I felt that my heart was clean and it felt so good.  In the blessing, the feeling I had was that Eric would be completely healed when he had learned what Heavenly Father wanted him to learn about the atonement of Jesus Christ.  It felt so right at the time.  I don't know much about God's ways and means, but I know about other people's experiences and I believe their testimonies about how God can work.  I do know that there is good and there is evil in this world and that I can choose the good over the evil.  I also know that the more often I choose the good over the evil, the more sharply attuned I am at recognizing evil and more committed I am to avoiding it.  I am up late tonight and listening to good music.  I am hoping that my anxiety for my meetings tomorrow will be minimal.  I feel anxious because I feel uncertain about my ability to help people.  I feel that my whole existence is meant for helping people come to Christ and I know how much I fail at that because of my weaknesses, my fear, my pride.  I have thought a lot about pride and really feel that all of my sins and weaknesses can be traced to pride.  I also was reminded today about the importance of persistence.  The 30 day rule was brought up in a podcast I was listening to.  When you do something everyday for 30 days it will become a habit and soon it will be harder not to do the thing than to do it.  I'd like to start this blogging habit.  It is a therapeutic activity for me and a revelatory experience -- maybe those are the same thing.  My heart is sort of crying and rejoicing and is a little tense or something.  As I am listening to this wonderfully pure music it speaks to my heart and opens a door.  I yearn to connect with the music.  I once imagined that I could sort of make the music part of my cells, part of my being, that my life could sort of proceed on a certain frequency or modulation of some sort that matched everything I feel when I listen to good music.  I should be able to live a live in harmony with  those feelings.

I was praying this morning and felt a deeply profound gratitude for the records I call scriptures.  I call them scriptures and they have been accepted by many others as scriptures--but not everybody--because we consider them holy, sacred, spiritual communications from God to man.  The reason for my gratitude is because these records provide very specific focus on one "family tree".  The family of Adam and Eve, but then it narrows even more to the family of Noah, down through Abraham through Isaac and then Jacob.  In each case, the narrowing of the focus is through individuals who make and keep covenants with God.  I was imagining that this is a bit like having a very detailed description of one tree in a forest of millions of trees.  Like walking into forest and drawing all of my attention to just one tree--a tree that, from the perspective of the entire forest, might even seem insignificant if it weren't for the scriptures.  What does focusing on this tree teach me about myself, about life, about others and my relationships with them?  I believe that this focus has given me direction and meaning, it has helped me deal better with the tragedy and pain of life, with disappointment and sorrow.  It has helped me feel assured of something more meaningful than this life only.

Simon, son of Jonas, Lovest Thou Me?

After His resurrection, The Lord asked Peter (Simon) three times "Lovest thou me?"; each time Peter responded in the affirmative to which The Lord responded by telling Peter to feed His Lambs and His sheep. In his third response, Peter said "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee." I believe the Lord knew the depth of Peter's love for the Master and by asking Peter this question three times, He may have been telling Peter that his Love for the Lord should motivate his ministry to His people; it would only be his Love of the Lord that would be able to sustain him in the afflictions he would suffer. How is Love of the Lord characterized or demonstrated? In willingly meeting the needs (tending, superintending) of God's flock (that part of His flock over which you've been given stewardship), living a life consistent with the light God has given you, being humble, being subject one to another (speaking of the unified body of Christ, or the church). I used 1 Peter 5:2-6 to derive the thoughts about what it means to Love the Lord.

The Parable of the 10 Virgins

10 virgins all invited to the wedding party, all had lamps and oil to last for some time into the night. The bridegroom came in the middle of the night, in the darkness while the world slept, but the wedding party was waiting and heard the call and went out to join him. Five foolish virgins had run out of oil for their lamps. They were not permitted to join the bridegroom at his home with the others. They hoped the bridegroom would be merciful and let them in despite their lack of preparation, but the door was closed, it was too late and mercy was not extended. I believe the parable applies to those who are disciples of Christ. The parable teaches, among other things, that, for those who have received the laws of God and agreed to abide by them those laws, which govern our eternal reunion with God, are binding and we are responsible for obeying them. His mercy is sufficient to enable us to join him when we do our part to qualify to be in His presence. However, all the personal efforts we may make to be qualified will not be enough if we don't have access to his gracious mercy.

The Lord's Prayer and the 23 Psalm

I was thinking this morning about The 23rd Psalm and Lord's Prayer as read in the KJV of Matthew 6:9-13. Specifically, the word "want" draws my attention; "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want". What was the writer of the Psalm really trying to convey? Was he expressing that because he looked to the Lord as his shepherd all his wants would be met? We first need to understand the word "want". The online Encarta World English Dictionary gives one definition as "to feel the lack of something". I believe the writer of the Psalm was expressing that when the Lord is his shepherd, he doesn't feel the lack of anything. Then I was thinking about the Lord's prayer. Before He taught them the manner in which his disciples should pray, Jesus said ". . . your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him". Then He taught them how they should ask for those things they really need (according to our Father in Heaven). I believe he taught them that their needs are 1) daily bread, 2) forgiveness, and 3) deliverance from the evil one. When Jesus Christ is my Shepherd, these needs will be met and I will not feel the lack of anything because nothing else will be more important than those needs.

Lost and Found

I've been thinking lately about the states of being lost and found. It occurred to me that the Lord's work is one of finding His sheep. He has said that His sheep hear His voice. When one is lost they may not recognize that they are in that state. When we go forward in the Lord's work, we need to find the lost -- does that mean that we some times need to help people recognize how they are lost? I'm not sure I understand the answer to this question, but I do know that there are definitive feelings that accompany being lost and being found. Sometimes people can feel lost even when they are in the company of others, have all the necessities and comforts of life and appear to be in a stable situation. On the other hand, there are also times when people can experience the feelings of being found even when in the most austere, desolate circumstances -- alone, without common comforts, lacking food and water and generally at the utter extremities of the boundary between life and death. We are familiar with the phrase "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me" and I apply this to my role as a servant of the Lord. In examining and seeking to understand my feelings and thoughts and subsequent behaviors I can begin to better understand how to experience more often the feelings of being found and help others be found. When we are found we feel confident in our daily decisions, we feel safe and secure in the present and future, we feel comfortable with the present circumstances no matter what they are, we recognize the Lord's hand in our lives, we feel confident in speaking with God and hearing His voice in our hearts and minds. Simply put, when we are lost we experience the opposites of these feelings. I was just listening to a podcast wherein a man and woman share their experience of losing their sister in a car accident. It was a devestating loss to each of them, the man was only 14 at the time and he spoke of feeling like he needed to be around his family -- people whom he knew loved and cared for him. It sounded to me like he was describing the need to feel found and not lost in his extreme circumstance. He was found and continues to be carried in the arms of that love as evidenced by his continued testimony of the truth and power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.