Mormon Musings

No matter how serious the trial, how deep the distress, how great the affliction, God will never desert us. He never has, and He never will. He cannot do it. It is not His character. He is an unchanging Being; the same yesterday, the same today, and He will be the same throughout the eternal ages to come. We have found that God. We have made Him our friend by obeying His Gospel; and He will stand by us. We may pass through the fiery furnace, we may pass through deep waters; but we shall not be consumed nor overwhelmed. We shall emerge from all these trials and difficulties the better and purer for them, if we only trust in our God and keep His commandments. George Q. Cannon Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.   Isaiah 41:10 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:

"We believe in being virtuous. This may have nothing whatever to do with sexual morality; that is covered by the word chaste. V irtuous, in this case, I believe, means having strength—the strength to do whatever needs doing. Great virtue comes in doing well and consistently the everyday, often rather tedious tasks of life. Blaise Pascal said that 'the strength of a man’s virtue should not be measured by his special exertions, but by his habitual acts' ( Pensées [1670]). Your virtue will be attained through deliberate practice of those things that bring strength and purity to your life—such things as prayer; consistent study of the scriptures; timely payment of your financial obligations, especially an honest tithe; careful adherence to the law of health, which we call the Word of Wisdom; and faithful observance of all the commandments of God. These and other goodly practices performed on a habitual basis will yield great virtue." Gordon B. Hinckely, " True to t

"You that have not passed through the trials, and persecutions, and drivings of this people, from the beginning, but have only read of them, or heard some of then related, may think how awful they were to endure, and wonder that the Saints survived them at all.  The thought of it makes your hearts sink within you, your brains reel, and your bodies tremble, and you are ready to exclaim, 'I could not have endured it.'   I have been in the heat of it, and I never felt better in my life; I never felt the peace and power of the Almighty more copiously poured upon me than in the keenest part of our trials.  They appeared as nothing to me .  I hear people talk about their troubles, their sole privations, and the great sacrifices they have made for the Gospel's sake.  It never was a sacrifice to me.  Anything I can do or suffer in the cause of the Gospel, is only like dropping a pin into the sea; the blessings, gifts, powers, honor, joy, truth, salvation, glory, immortality, a

"Now those men, or those women, who know no more about the power of God, and the influences of the Holy Spirit, than to be led entirely by another person, suspending their own understanding, and pinning their faith upon another's sleeve, will never be capable of entering into the celestial glory, to be crowned as they anticipate; they will never be capable of becoming Gods.  They cannot rule themselves, to say nothing of ruling others, but they must be dictated to in every trifle, like a child.  They cannot control themselves in the least, but James, Peter, or somebody else must control them.  They never can become Gods, nor be crowned as rulers with glory, immortality and eternal lives.  They never can hold scepters of glory, majesty, and power in the celestial kingdom.  Who will?  Those who are valiant and inspired with the true independence of heaven, who will go forth boldly in the service of God, leaving others to do as they please, determined to do right, though all mank

In the next world, we will finally receive what we have persistently desired and chosen during mortality (Alma 29:4).   Individually, we will have made so many incontestable, on-the-record choices.   The final outcome, therefore, will be perfectly just, and all mortals will so acknowledge (Alma 29:4; Mosiah 27:31).   In effect, we will receive the degree of joy we have demonstrably chosen and which we have developed the capacity to receive… Only in the framework of faith in God’s mercy and justice can we ponder the interplay of agency and joy so central to God’s plan.   Of necessity, God’s gift of agency operates in the context of genuine alternatives among which we choose.   This is a condition fully consistent with God’s plan of happiness.   Without the very important condition of agency amid alternatives, life would be an undifferentiated “compound in one” (2 Nephi 2:11).   God’s creations would then be without real purpose, and His plan would certainly not be worthy of being cal

"An Elder of Israel may preach the principles of the Gospel, from first to last, as they were taught to him, to a congregation ignorant of them; but if he does not do it under the influence of the Spirit of the Lord, he cannot enlighten that congregation on those principles, it is impossible." Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses Volume 1, January 1853 " And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach." D&C 42:14 " Wherefore, I the Lord ask you this question--unto what were ye ordained?  To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth.  And then ye received spirits which ye could not understand, and received them to be of God; and in this thing are ye justified?...Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth

The Spirit itself beareth witness to our spirit, that we are the children of God:  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if it so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together.  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:16-18 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive of those things which are prepared for those who love and fear God 1 Corinthians 2:9 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, not perceived by ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. Isaiah 64:4 For by my Spirit will I enlighten them, and by my power will I make known unto them the secrets of my will--yeah, even those things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the hea