Your Never Alone

When I first saw this picture I was reminded of the Atonement and everything that Christ has done for us. Then as I studied the picture a few other things came to mind. The one that has really stuck with me is the foot prints in the sand poem:

           "One night I had a dream--
I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord
and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints,
one belonged to me and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life.
This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you would walk with me all the way,
but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life
there is only one set of footprints.
"I don't understand why in times when I needed you most,
you should leave me."
The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child,
I love you and I would never, never leave you
during your times of trial and suffering.
"When you saw only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you.""

                                                                             -Mary Stevenson

The next thing that stuck out to me is the love that Christ shows to all of us. Even those of us that had turned our back on him. In the picture the one man is holding a hammer I would assume he like most of us have sinned and is going through a rough time and needs Christ in his life to carry him through those rough times. I know that if we will just take a few minutes of every day to say a quick prayer and ask for the help we need that Christ will be there to help us make it through our trials.

Christ like love

This morning I was reading in the Book of Mormon and im reading in Mormon right now. I was really impressed with the Love and the Charity that Mormon and his son Moroni had. They were the last of the Nephites and they were writing in the Book of Mormon and telling everybody that reads the book that they need to increase there love and have charity and it always gets me how he could have so much faith in what he was doing when he was one of the last people of his kind. It showed me that when we exercise our faith in the lord he is going to bless us and help us do those things that we need to do and nothing can stand in our way when we do those things we have been commanded to do. I think we all need to remember the things that we all have been blessed with and not take advantage of those things but use them to help others and continue to bring others to christ.

Repentance

Well I thought it would be a good thing to cover repentance based on the past things I have posted because, all the other posts topics lead up to repentance.  So repentance is to have a change of heart and a willingness to move forward and not look back on what you have done.  With that being said the first step to repentance is to recognize and admit that what you have done is wrong.  With out that first step taking place none of the other steps will work or fall into place so doing that first step is so crutial. Second you have to be sorry that you have done something wrong most of the time we will feel guilt or other feelings but we will know that we were wrong in doing that thing. Third you need to confess your sins to your Father in Heaven and to those people you might have affected by what you did wrong.  Fourth you will want to correct or compensate the best you can. If it means paying for a candy bar you stole or if it means telling someone the truth when you lied to them there are so many ways to correct the situations we put our selfs into we just need to do our part and find the way to correct what we have done wrong.  Fifth and final step is the hardest one of all, Never do it again.  Its simple yes but hard at the same time. we need to turn away from what we have done wrong and stop doing those things and never do them again! Then we can all feel of the joy that comes from being worthy to have the spirit with us.

Agency

One thing that has been on my mind that kind of goes along with the Atonement is our free agency. Our Agency is what determines how we live our lives. There are always consequences to the choices that we make whether they are good or bad. Those choices along with the consequences whether good or bad are what determine the outcome of our lives. If we truly want to be free we need to live at a higher standard so that we can continue to grow and come closer to Christ. When we make those wrong choices we are only pushing ourselves away from Christ and Heavenly Father. If you will turn to 2 Nephi : 27 it says: "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." So like it says we need to exercise our free agency either unto liberty and eternal life or choose captivity. I know that if we truly do want to be free that we must make those right choices and our Heavenly Father will reward us for making the right choices.

The Atonement

Recently I have been talking a lot about building faith and doing all the small and simple things to build and strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father. So I thought for today I would talk about something a little different and focus more on Christ and his Atonement. When i think about the Atonement the first thing that comes to mind is when Christ is Suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. I cant even imagine how hard that task would have been for him to take on. It was so intense that he even bled from every poor and an angel needed to come and minister unto him. We can only imagine what the angel said to comfort him and help him through the hard task he was going to be embarking on. When i think about that I start to realize all the pain that I have caused the savior and wish that I had not made so many mistakes and it gives me the extra strength I need to not make those same mistakes and to try to be like Christ and live the best life I can.  I know that we can be forgiven of our sins through Christ and his Atonement and that we need to repent while in this life because as it says in Alma 34: 32-33

"32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed."

So we need to use the time we have in this life and repent of our sins and come unto Christ.

Christ in our Lifes

Since we are not to far into the new year yet its a great time to recognize Christ in or lives. There are so many ways that we can look for Christ in our lives but a few specific examples come to my mind.  First we can ask our selves do we feel like we have the spirit with us to lead us and guide us daily? Second are we worthy of having Christ in our lives, would he feel comfortable with the things we are doing? So after we ask our selves these questions we can see where we are at and decide what we need to do better in order to come closer to Christ and to feel of his loving spirit in our own lives. There are always things we can improve on to invite Christ into our lives. we have to make the effort to invite him into our lives.  Just as Christ said in Matthew 7:12–13
"12 Say unto them, Ask of God; ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
13 For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened."

All we have to do is ask and we shall revieve and knock and it shall be opened unto us. Christ makes it so simple for us to have him in our lives its us that push him away at times. I know that as we do these simple things and make those changes in our lives we can come closer to Christ and feel the love that he has for us.

The new year

As this new year started there were a few things that came to my mind that could help anyone to strengthen their faith in christ. The first few that come to my mind are the simple things that we can easily over look everyday. For example saying our prayers morning and night that is so essential to help us and to help us stengthen our relashinship with our father in heaven. Another that comes to mind is studying the scriptures its so simple to sit down for 10-15 min a day and just read the scriptures and feel of the spirit that comes into your life when you study the scriptures. Lastly just doing those things that we have been commanded to do.  In Matthew 22:37-39 Christ is telling us what the best thing we can do to and is also telling us that it is the greatest commandment he says:

"36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

So if we can do these simple things that we have been asked to do our faith will strenghten and we will continue to feel gods love and spirit in our lives.