It has been awhile since my last blog post. I have been doing a lot of thinking. A lot of scripture reading. A lot of pondering. Pondering Jesus Christ. Pondering His life. Pondering His mission.
And the overriding thought that keeps coming to my mind is this quote found in many places in the scriptures…
Jesus Christ is the same. He is constant in who He is. The Jesus Christ I worship today is the same being who said He would be the Savior of the world before any of us came to this Earth. He is the same being who was born to a faithful, virtuous mother in Bethlehem. He is the same being who brought the truth of the gospel of our Heavenly Father to all the world. He is the same being who healed so many people.
He is the same being that gave His life to save ours. Then He was resurrected in all glory. And we can have that blessing too, because of Him.
He is the same being who appeared to Joseph Smith with Heavenly Father to restore His same gospel to the earth once again. That church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He is the same. He doesn’t change Heavenly Father’s commandments to fit the changing trends of society. They are constant. There are commandments we must obey in order to return to live with our Father in Heaven. We can learn a lot from toddlers about this concept. My youngest is just about to turn 3. And I am often reminded about how the tantrum part of this phase of life isn’t one that I love. She can get so fixated on what she wants, not understanding that it isn’t in her best interest for me to give in to her rants. My perspective is better than hers at this point. And so is our Heavenly Father’s. His perspective is better than ours. Our job is to trust Him. Trust our Savior to lead us to our Heavenly Father. They know better than we do.
I want to suggest three things that help us remain on the path.
- Daily Scripture study
- Daily Prayer
- Asking God what He needs us to do each day
These are not new by any means as far as advice goes. But they are critical. If we don’t know what God’s commandments are, then we will be deceived by Satan. We must read the scriptures every. single. day. My ability to gain strength to make it through any challenge has dramatically improved as I have made this one of my most important daily tasks.
We must connect with our Father in Heaven. He is our best listener. So many of us can feel overwhelmed with the challenges life on Earth brings. We all agreed to come and face these challenges, but it was NEVER God’s intention we face them alone. Yet sometimes we choose to do so. I chose that path once. It was horrible. Satan had me convinced I was not worthy of praying. That I was such a let-down. And that I had made too many mistakes. But eventually I stopped listening to the voice of Satan, and instead listened to the voice of our loving Heavenly Father. Now, prayer is my life-line. I find myself constantly praying throughout the day. Not always just a formal prayer, but maintaining that conversation with the ONLY ONE who can help me. And we do that in the name of Jesus Christ. That is how we talk to our Father. The Savior carries our prayers. The Savior carries our burdens. The Savior carries our hopes, fears, dreams, questions. He is our life-line.
And lastly, allow yourself to be a tool in God’s hands. When we are serving others, our hearts are softened. We are gifted with a small glimpse of what His love really is. And that love will lift your burdens as you serve others. Serving others doesn’t have to be a big service project! It is as simple as a hug, a text, or a plate of cookies. We can totally do that.
I know that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the way home to our Father in Heaven. And it is worth all the hard work to make the small daily choices to stay on the path, because spending eternity with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is the greatest reward.
Have a wonderful weekend! You are loved. You are known. You can do hard things.
Today there is a reason to hope.
PS You might enjoy this recent article on God’s Plan of Happiness for each one of us.
PPS Just wanted to share a bit of life at my house…we sure love our 5 surprise baby bunnies! Meet snowball.:)
A Jubilant Hope 