Mormon Musings

When we first cross the border of belief and enter the territory of testimony, that is a highly significant moment. We come through, as it were, a port of entry. The Spirit has borne witness to us that Jesus is the Christ, that God lives, that other truths related to these are accepted by us. Our later experiences do not really represent the recrossing of that border again and again, but are reminders and reassurances of the earlier resolve.  Elder Maxwell (Deposition of a Disciple, p. 51.)

"That man is greatest and most blessed and joyful whose life most closely fits the pattern of the Christ. This has nothing to do with earthly wealth, power, or prestige. The only true test of greatness, blessedness, joyfulness is how close a life can come to being like the Master, Jesus Christ. He is the right way, the full truth, and the abundant life." —President Ezra Taft Benson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z71k1GWasZU

The world today is so saturated with doctrines of men that it is easy to forget and lose faith in that all-important account of the Savior’s life and ministry–the New Testament.  This sacred volume is the centerpiece of scriptural history, just as the Savior Himself should be the centerpiece of our lives.  We must commit ourselves to study it and treasure it!  There are priceless pearls of wisdom to be found in our study of the New Testament…” Elder L. Tom Perry, ”The Sabbath and the Sacrament,”  Ensign,  May 2011, 6

According to Elder Maxwell, James wrote his famous verses first and foremost for Joseph Smith--it was all part of the Divine Plan leading up to the Restoration: "We know of Joseph Smith's special experience in reading James 1:5, 'Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart (JSH 1:12).' James was inspired to so write and Joseph to so respond to [such] words! Others have benefited and will continue to benefit from James 1:5, but its primary purpose was to be part of the spiritual [awakening] leading to the last dispensation." Elder Neal A. Maxwell, C.E.S. Symposium, August 15, 1991

The Apostle Paul defined  faith  as “the substance of things hoped for [and] the evidence of things not seen” ( Hebrews 11:1 ). Alma declared that faith is not a perfect knowledge; rather, if we have faith, we “hope for things which are not seen [but] are true” ( Alma 32:21 ). Additionally, we learn in the  Lectures on Faith  that faith is “the first principle in revealed religion, and the foundation of all righteousness” and that it is also “the principle of action in all intelligent beings.”   1 These teachings highlight three basic elements of faith: (1) faith as the  assurance  of things hoped for that are true, (2) faith as the  evidence  of things not seen, and (3) faith as the principle of  action in all intelligent beings. I describe these three components of faith in the Savior as simultaneously facing the future, looking to the past, and initiating action in the present. Faith as the assurance of things hoped for looks to the future. This assurance is founded upon a cor

Some seek to brush aside conscience, refusing to hear its voice.  But that deflection is, in itself, an act of choice.  Like it or not, therefore, reality requires that we acknowledge our responsibility for our desires. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, November 1996, p. 21