Identity Theft

One thing that I have learned from this passage is our relationship to God when he says "Moses, my son" (Moses 1:4).  By and large most people do not realize their eternal identity.  That each of us truly is a son or daughter of God.  Understanding our relationship with Him it is no wonder why He would love us so much that He would go through all of this work to give us happiness.

The Business of Tearing Down

"But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment"  Matthew 12:36  There is a poem that has always been a favorite of mine called "Wreckers"  by Dan Clark.  It reads:

"I watched them tearing a building down

A gang of men in a busy town

With a hove-heave-ho and a lusty yell

They swung a beam and the side-wall fell

I asked the foreman are these men skilled

The kind you'd hire if you had to build

He gave a laugh and said no indeed

Just common labor is all I need

I can easily wreck in a day or two

What has taken a builder years to do

Overcome Evil with Good

What does it mean in Revelation 13:7 speaking of the Devil that "[Power] was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them"  There have been times when I have read this and thought are we utterly hopeless?  Since the adversary has been given power to overcome us we might as well just give up then right?  WRONG!!!  I have patiently pondered this passage and  I'd like to suggest to you the "reason of the hope that is in [me]" (1 Peter 3:15) 
The first and foremost reason for us to not be discouraged about being overcome is Jesus Christ has told us  "be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."  I always find comfort in those words, no matter how dark the day, the Savior's words light the way. 

A Superficial Knowledge

"Now, the atonement of Christ is the most basic and fundamental doctrine of the gospel, and it is the least understood of all our revealed truths. Many of us have a superficial knowledge and rely upon the Lord and his goodness to see us through the trials and perils of life."  -Bruce R. McConkie

As I have often pondered these words through out course of my trials and triumphs (mostly during the trials).  I am ever more humbled at the sober realization of what Jesus of Nazareth did for me and for all the world.  I recently heard a song from a musical called "The Garden" by Michael McLean, in it described the pain that the Savior must have gone through in the Garden of Gethsemane.  I have heard songs before that brought a sense of the spirit of Gethsemane but nothing like this.

Thou art a God of truth

I am grateful for the divine injunction from the Lord to "seek learning...by study and also by faith" (Doctrine & Covenants 88:118) One of my favorite things to do is to learn new things.  Especially when it is in a subject I know nothing about and it completely blasts a crater in my mind saying "I never would have imagined that."  We live in such a unique world so diverse and complex. Not everything that has been speculated by science is true hence the changing in college textbooks constantly.  Sometimes even members of the church have a tendency to "speculate" on certain theories leaving us asking ourselves "do I feel the Holy Ghost testify that is a truth".  Truths are things as they really are, were and will be.