Mormon Musings

"As we are faithful to the promises we have made, we will feel our love for Him. It will increase because we will feel His power and His drawing near to us in His service." —Henry B. Eyring, " Come unto Me "

"Just as chalk can be removed from a blackboard, with sincere repentance the effects of our transgression can be erased through the Atonement of Jesus Christ." —Boyd K. Packer, " The Key to Spiritual Protection "

"We are not and never need be alone. We can press forward in our daily lives with heavenly help." —David A. Bednar, " Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease "

Jesus is the Light and Life of the World.  Elder Bednar recently gave a talk on this very subject: https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/christmas-devotional/2015/12/the-light-and-the-life-of-the-world?lang=eng

Let me suggest that hands are made clean through the process of putting off the natural man and by overcoming sin and the evil influences in our lives through the Savior’s Atonement. Hearts are purified as we receive His strengthening power to do good and become better. All of our worthy desires and good works, as necessary as they are, can never produce clean hands and a pure heart. It is the Atonement of Jesus Christ that provides both a  cleansing and redeeming power  that helps us to overcome sin and a  sanctifying and strengthening power  that helps us to become better than we ever could by relying only upon our own strength. The infinite Atonement is for both the sinner and for the saint in each of us. Elder David A. Bednar, October 2007 General Conference

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/the-lord-is-my-light?cid=HP_MO_5-4-2015_dPTH_fGC_xLIDyL1-A_&lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1979/08/jesus-the-perfect-leader?lang=eng

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHBo7ka3YZQ

Our Father provided the sun, the moon, and the stars—heavenly galaxies to guide mariners who sail the lanes of the sea. To us, as we walk the pathway of life, He provides a clear map and points the way toward our desired destination. He cautions: beware the detours, the pitfalls, the traps. We cannot be deceived by those who would lead us astray, those clever pied pipers of sin beckoning here or there. Instead, we pause to pray; we listen to that still, small voice which speaks to the depths of our souls the Master’s gentle invitation, “Come, follow me.” President Thomas S. Monson, October 2014 General Conference

  28  Hast  thou  not  known?  hast  thou  not  heard,  that  the  everlasting  God,  the  Lord ,  the  Creator  of  the  ends  of  the  earth,  fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary?  there  is  no  searching  of  His  understanding.   29  He  giveth  power  to  the  faint;  and  to  them  that  have  no  might  He  increaseth  strength.   30  Even  the  youths  shall  faint  and  be  weary,  and  the  young  men shall  utterly  fall:   31  But  they  that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew   their   strength ; they  shall  mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles ;  they  shall  run ,  and  not  be  weary;  and  they  shall  walk,  and  not  faint." Isaiah 40:28-31

"...you and I are much more familiar with the nature of the redeeming power of the Atonement than we are with the enabling power of the Atonement. It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for us. That is fundamental an d foundational to the doctrine of Christ. But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to live in us—not only to direct us but also to empower us. I think most of us know that when we do things wrong, when we need help to overcome the effects of sin in our lives, the Savior has paid the price and made it possible for us to be made clean through His redeeming power. Most of us clearly understand that the Atonement is for sinners. I am not so sure, however, that we know and understand that the Atonement is also for saints—for good men and women who are obedient and worthy and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully. I frankly do not think many

"...come unto Christ, and be perfected in Him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love god with all of your might, mind and strength, then is His grace sufficient for you, and by His grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not His power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot." Moroni 10:32-33

12  And  whatsoever  thing  persuadeth  men  to  do  good  is  of  me;  for  good  cometh  of  none  save  it  be  of  me.  I  am  the  same  that  leadeth  men  to  all  good. Ether 4:12

"I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness." John 12:46

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10

"I am the light of the world.  he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12

"...as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me." Mosiah 26:30

“For it is not chance but choice that is involved here. Each of us has some control over finding joy. To paraphrase Elder Marion D. Hanks: “No matter how we live, there will be pain in this world. But misery is optional.” Think about it. Christ is against selfishness and sin – not because He is the giant spoilsport, but the other way around. He is against sin and selfishness because He is against despondency and melancholy and morbidity. He is against the shrinking of our capacity for fulfillment. On this He is the world’s leading expert. He knows. As the book of Hebrews has it, “For the joy that was set before him [He] endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). Whose joy did He envision? Ours. He saw beyond our sins and stupidities and our clumsy mistakes. He knows what we have within us to become. And having paid the awful price in blood, He is entitled to alert us to reality. This changes the kinds of questions we ask of life. Instead of “What’s in it for me?” we ask, “What’s in it for tho