I too must give

This week there was a lot of chastisement of the Pharisees in these chapters.  In Matthew chapter 23 Christ chastises the Pharisees for caring more about what others think. They were truly man fearing rather than God fearing. Yes, recognition for the things that we do good should be given, but seeking it out can destroy our souls. We live in a world where gratification is demanded, where it shameful to be greedy but not to be entirely focused on one self. We live in a very selfish world.  To be honest I kinda thought when I was younger, when "the sign of the times," started becoming signs, that it would be because of wars between countries. But in fact it has become war with our selves.  The more I read from the old testament this time round I can see more clearly the need to be humble. Christ in chapter 23 of Matthew, cries repentance to them, calling them 'Hypocrites'. He teaches that humility is a greater quality to possess than the items and objects...

As I continue studying the New testament each verse and principle I study all seem to coincide whether it be about my main project with humility or another, the spirit teaches what I need to learn in that week through these scriptures.  My reading this week has lead me to Mark 10. In verse 27 it reads    "...with men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." We have learned throughout our lives that life is incredibly difficult. We knew this before we came that it would be but we also knew we would have a God, a Heavenly Father, to be their by our side. But because of our forgetfulness and the veil we must relearn what that means.  We lack understanding and with out the proper guidance we lean to our own understanding, as I have mentioned before in a previous post. With men, by ourselves it (being life and all its challenges) is impossible. Think for a moment; would a person drive at night with no lights? He may try but ...

Man! This week was a dooszy (I'm not sure if that's the correct spelling of the word but it accurately describes this week.) Every aspect of my spiritual education this week, from church or else where, seemed to connect one way or another to what I studied for my NT class. This last weekend I attended a missionary homecoming, in Utah, where the sister's topic was submitting her will to the Lord. It was a wonderful talk and the spirit was felt and shared. As I returned from my trip life all of the sudden hit very hard. Returning to work wasn't difficult, staying at work was. My coworkers are mean to each other, they complain about how hard their lives are, they smoke, they shout curses and are over all very selfish and worldly people. I care for them and tolerate their behavior often but on Thursday afternoon it was to much and I was ready to call it quits. I knew I had to return the next day, even though I desired to give my two weeks notice. I continued o...

At the end of Luke 7 a woman, known to be a sinner, comes to Christ and washed the feet of the Savior with her tears and wiped his feet with her hair and oils. As this scene is taking place the savior perceives what is being said about her and turns to Simon, "I have something to say to [you]," Can you imagine putting yourself in Simon's shoes for just a moment? I personally would be anxious to hear what the lord wants to tell me. But Simon should know by now that the savior is always ready to teach and so he replies, "Master, Say on." (Luke 7:40) As Christ gives his parable of the two debtors, the creditor 'frankly forgave them both,' (Luke 7:42) of there debts. Christ then asks which of the two loved the creditor more. Simon's reply was the one who was forgiven more. Of course if you have more to loose or more that needs to be forgiven, how much would you love the savior if he just frankly forgave? This woman came to her creditor, h...

As I am participant in my online New Testament class, I am learning many things about Repentance. On the last legs of my mission our focus was on Faith and repentance and I personally added humility to that list of things to search the scriptures for. Now as I take this class I find my self doing the same thing, searching for those evidences of Faith, Repentance and Humility.  As I was reading our assignment this week I came across Luke 3. At first I thought it was Christ speaking to us then I realized it was his beloved prophet John. Let's just take a moment and realize how spiritual and obedient, faithful and humble this prophet was that came before the Christ. He told of many truths. John was Awesome and the biblical sense of the word.  He preached of the 'baptism of repentance,' crying out about the plan of Happiness, the plan that all of us take part. As he preaches about the plan , "And all Flesh shall see the salvation of God," (Luke 3:6) he then turns...