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Showing posts from September 23, 2012

access to our Creator (Faust)

No earthly authority can separate us from direct access to our Creator. There can never be a mechanical or electronic failure when we pray. there is no limit on the number of times or how long we can pray each day. there is no quota of how many needs we wish to pray for in each prayer. We do not need to go through secretaries or make an appointment to reach the throne of grace. He is reachable at any time and any place. President James E. Faust, Ensign, May 2002, 59

Christ watches over us (Holland)

One last piece of counsel regarding coming to Christ. It comes from an unusual incident in the life of the Savior that holds a lesson for us all. It was after Jesus had performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand from five loaves of bread and two fishes. (By the way, let me pause here to say, Don't worry about Christ running out of ability to help you. His grace  is  sufficient. That is the spiritual, eternal lesson of the feeding of the five thousand.) After Jesus had fed the multitude, he sent them away and put his disciples into a fishing boat to cross over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. He then "went up into a mountain apart to pray" (Matthew 14:23). We aren't told all of the circumstances of the disciples as they set out in their boat, but it was toward evening, and certainly it was a night of storm. The winds must have been ferocious from the start. Because of the winds, these men probably never even raised the sails but labored only with

The Gift of the Holy Ghost (John Taylor)

[regarding the Gift of the Holy Ghost]  You have seen its effects upon us. It shall bring things past to your remembrance; it shall show you things to come; it shall make prophets of you; your sons and daughters shall see visions; the heavens shall be opened unto you; you shall know of your origin, comprehend who you are, what you are, where you are going to, the relationship which exists between you and your God; and there shall be a channel opened between the eternal worlds and you; and the purposes of God shall be made known unto you. John Taylor, Journal of Discourses 5:243

let us not treat lightly the great things we have received (Benson)

"Let us not treat lightly the great things we have received from the hand of the Lord! His word is one of the most valuable gifts he has given us. I urge you to recommit yourselves to a study of the scriptures. Immerse yourselves in them daily so that you will have the power of the Spirit to attend you in your callings."  (President Ezra T. Benson, Ensign, May 1986, 2)

a key to unlock revelation (Scott)

"Pondering a passage of scripture can be a key to unlock revelation and the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Scriptures can calm an agitated soul, giving peace, hope, and a restoration of confidence in one's ability to overcome the challenges of life....Scriptures can communicate different meanings at different times in our life, according to our needs."  -Elder Richard G. Scott (Ensign, Nov. 2011, 6)

Incredible aloneness lay at the heart of the Great Atonement (Maxwell)

When  Jesus comes  again  in  rem inding  red attire, there will b e  a spectacular solar display a nd  stars will fall from their  places  in  the heavens. What wil l  then be evoked will not be an   exclamation over the solar di splay. Rather,  from human lips  praise will flow for Jesus' lov ing-kindness,  for His perfect  goodness. Then, the scriptures a ssure us  and tell us how long w e  will go on praising Jesus fo r  that Atonement: "forever  and  ever." (Mosiah 2:24; D&C 128: 23.)  The one thing He will men tion  when He comes again in maj esty  and power will have nothin g  to do with how He suffered in   the scourging, nothing to do  with the vinegar and gall or an y  of those things. Instead, His   voice will be heard to say, " I  have trodden the winepress al one,  and none was with me" ( Isa.  63:3).  Incredible alonene ss  lay at the heart of the Grea t  Atonement, and Jesus endured  it, because He let His will be swallowed up in the will of 

His capacity to succor us (Maxwell)

Can we, even in the depths of   disease, tell Him anything at  all about suffering? In ways we   cannot comprehend, our sickne sses  and infirmities were borne   by Him even before they were b orne  by us. The very weight of   our combined sins caused Him t o  descend below all. We have ne ver  been, nor will we be, in de pths  such as He has known. Thu s  His Atonement made perfect Hi s  empathy and His mercy and His   capacity to succor us, for whi ch  we can be everlastingly gra teful  as He tutors us in our tr ials.  There was no ram in the t hicket  at Calvary to spare Him ,  this Friend of Abraham and Is aac.  Neal A. Maxwell (Even As I Am, pp.  116- 17.)