Hope Is Vital

We all need hope. With out hope we become depressed, lonely, or faithless. Though when we have hope in Jesus Christ and His atonement then we are full of joy, peace, love and faith. 

Faith is a part of our spirits. When we have hope in something we center our faith on that and work to have it come to pass. 

If we truly center our hope on Jesus Christ then the other hopes we have in other things will become stronger. 

As we know there is opposition in all things such as light and darkness. The opposite of hope is despair. Satan wants us to feel the loss of hope. He wants us to be miserable like himself. We must defeat him, let us come to Christ and be full of light and hope. 

When we are righteous and obedient we can have hope in eternal life and the love of the Savior. We can also have hope in the power of repentance and forgiveness. 

Hope truly leads us to action that is why it is vital in our lives. 

Hope In A Hard World

Living in this time can be a struggle. We have wars and rumors of wars. There are even moral and spiritual wars. Some might say with all the tragedies how can we have hope? 

I have asked myself this question as well. Though I read a scripture in Moroni that touched my heart.  

Moroni 7:41-42 states  41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.

 42 Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.

I really like this scripture. It helps us know what to have hope in. If we have hope in Jesus Christ and His atonement then we truly can endure all the trials that face us. 

I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who gave us His Son to Sacrifice His life for us. We are blessed to be able to have hope in eternal life and Heaven. 

I really like this song by Mercy River. It opened my eyes on how to have hope in a sometimes hard life and world. 

"The Reason For The World" 

There are no words in times like these

When tears don’t hide the tragedies

And all you want is a reason for the world

No comfort in the greeting card

Cause God is good

But life’s still hard

And your heart just wants a reason for the world

Maybe the reason for the pain

Is so we would pray for strength

And maybe the reason for the strength

Is so that we would not lose hope

And maybe the reason for all hope

Is so that we could face the world

And the reason for the world

Is to make us long for home

For God so loved your broken heart

He sent his son to where you are, 
and he died

To give a reason for the world

So lift your sorrows to the one

Whose plan for you has just begun

And rests here in the hands that hold the world

Maybe the reason for the pain

Is so we would pray for strength

And maybe the reason for the strength

Is so that we would not lose hope

And maybe the reason for all hope

Is so that we could face the world

And the reason for the world

Is to make us long for home

Well I know your past the point of broken

Surrounded by your fear

I know you’re faint and tired and lonely

From the road that you walked down here

But just keep your eyes on heaven

And know that you are not alone

Remember the reason for the world

No ear has heard

No eye has seen

Not even in your wildest dreams

A beauty that awaits beyond this world

When you look into the eyes of grace

And hear the voice of mercy say

Child, welcome to the reason for the world

Finishing #week1faith starting #week2hope

I feel a little lazy that I didnt post anything for 3 days. 

Anyway. Week 1 for faith is now complete. I wanted to share a few extra things I have learned and then begin my #week2hope posts. 

I have really enjoyed reading Preach My Gospel and the scriptures that go with these Christlike attributes. I hope you have enjoyed reading my insights. Again if you have found any insights of your own please comment and share or record them in your journal so that you can remember them. Remember whenever the Spirit speaks to you write it down so you can remember it and review it later. It will bless your life. 

So here it goes. These are some new insights I had about Faith. 

Am I a true Disciple of Christ? 

In the scriptures I studied it talked about being a diligent follower of Christ. Serving Him and obeying Him with all heart, might, mind and strength. So I asked myself am I doing this? Obviously no one is perfect though I do try my best. I liked something that Jeffrey R. Holland said. He stated ,  "You never “check your religion at the door.” Not ever."  

 I love this. We must be a disciple of all times. Not just on Sunday or when its convenient. Where we go should not change our beliefs. We need to be true followers of Christ 24/7.  

Like I said before no one is perfect. Though let us challenge ourselves to work our hardest to be an example of the believers at all times, in all things, and in all places. 

Doubt Not Fear Not. 

We have often heard this statement. Though recently I have really applied into my life. If we have true faith we need not fear. The Lord is on our side. Though what is wonderful is that He understands our anxieties, or our self doubts. Faith and fear can not exist in our hearts at the same time.  If we come to Christ He will calm our earthy fears and give us Heavenly hope. 

Christ Loves All People 

I love that in the scriptures it testifies that Christ loves all. He loves every kindred, nation, tongue and people. We have a physical testimony of this found in the Book Of Mormon. He came to visit the people of ancient America. And we know after His resurrection Christ visited others as well. Christ loves us and all no matter of ethnicity we are or what language we speak. He loves us. Let us love and care for all people as He does. 

Miracles Are Real

We can truly see miracles according to our faith and the will of God. Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us and truly have power to perform miracles. Some miracles are as simple as feeling their love during hard times or receiving an answer to prayers. Miracles also come from obeying commandments and being faithful and willing to be exactly obedient. 

On my mission we had a saying, "Obedience brings blessings, EXACT obedience brings Miracles. 

The Atonement Is Real

Imagine you are in court. You know you are guilty and are about to receive the death sentence. Then from the back the doors open and a dear friend you know comes in and says ,
"Take me instead. I will die if you let her go."
That is exactly what Christ did for us. He died for our sins so that we can be free from Physical and spiritual death. How loving is that? I can not even describe in earthy terms the Love I feel for and from my Savior. 

I can not express my gratitude enough. I testify that the atonement is there for us. Let us apply into our lives and repent of our sins and become better. 

Christ is Patient 

I am so grateful that Christ is so patient with me. I have made so many mistakes. It sometimes takes me time to return to Christ. I am grateful that Christ is long suffering and loving. He truly waits on us to turn from our sins and turn to Him. He is always there with hands out stretched waiting for us to reach out and take His hand and allow Him to lift us up. 

We have Small Minds God Understands All 

It is great to know that God is all knowing. With our small earthly minds we can not understand somethings that happen in our life. Some events might happen that we do not understand or that we might get sad about. Its like looking at one piece of a puzzle piece and trying to understand what the picture on the box is. Its great to know that God has a plan for us and that He sees and understands perfectly the full picture. 

Change of Heart 

We learn in the scriptures that many people go through a change of heart where they come to Christ. Great examples are Saul who became Paul. Alma the Elder and Alma the younger and the Lamanites who converted to the gospel.  We like these examples in the scriptures can truly have a change of heart where we align our goals and desires with the Lord and have no more desire to do wickedly but to do good continually. 

Repentance Brings Joy 

I read a scripture that talks about the joy of repentance. Faith leads us to repentance because we want to be clean and closer to Christ. Many people think of repentance as a hard chore to do. Yes it is difficult swallowing our pride and guilt to come to the Lord. Though when we do we take off the heavy burden of our sins and drop it at His scarred feet. He then takes away that burden by giving us forgiveness, peace and joy. 

Now On To #week2hope 

I hope you have enjoyed reading what I have learned and I hope you have gained new insights. Now I will start posting all about the Christlike attribute Hope. 

If you would like please join me by reading in Preach My Gospel Chapter 6 under Hope and post your insights on facebook with #week2hope. 

Attribute Activity #week1faith

In Preach My Gospel There is an activity in Chapter 6. It is the Attribute Activity. Here are the directions it has 
Read each item below carefully. Decide how true that statement is about you. and choose the most appropriate response from the response key. Write your response to each item in your study journal. Spiritual growth is a gradual process and no one is perfect, so you should expect to rate  yourself better on some items than on others. 

Key 
1- Never 
2- Sometimes 
3- Often 
4- Almost Always 
5- Always 

As tomorrow is the last day I am going to focus on #week1faith I wanted to post this. Please take today to read these scriptures and then tomorrow score yourself and make goals on how to improve and strengthen your faith. 

I hope you have enjoyed the insight I have shared. I would love to read any insight or shared testimony. Just add #week1faith. 

Faith

___* I believe in Christ and accept Him as my Savior. (2 Nephi 25:29)
___* I feel confident that God loves me. (1Nephi 11:17)
___* I trust the Savior enough to accept His will and do whatever He asks. (1Nephi 3:7)
___* I firmly believe that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ I can be forgiven of all my sins.
(Enos 1:5–8)

___* I have enough faith in Christ to obtain answers to my prayers. (Mosiah 27:14)

___* I think about the Savior during the day and remember what He has done for me.

(D&C 20:77, 79)

___* I have the faith necessary to help make good things happen in my life or the lives of others.

(Ether 12:12)

___* I know by the power of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true. (Moroni 10:3–5)

___* I have enough faith in Christ to accomplish anything He wants me to do—

         even miracles, if necessary. (Moroni 7:33)

He Knows Our Pains

We have all gone through trials. I think for many of us one of the most annoying things that happens when you are in pain is when someone comes to you and says ,"I know how you feel." Yes we know that they are trying to be nice and sympathetic but it's kind of annoying because the statement is cliche and has no validation. Do they really know how you feel? Not really. Ok they might have gone through a similar trial but its not totally the same. During these trials we sometimes feel completely and totally alone. 

It's great to know that at trying times we are not alone. Christ our Savior knows exactly what we are going through perfectly and personally. He knows our pains. 

In "True To The Faith" It has this great quote 

"Having faith in Jesus Christ means relying completely on

Him—trusting in His infinite power, intelligence, and love. It

includes believing His teachings. It means believing that

even though you do not understand all things, He does.

Remember that because He has experienced all your pains,

afflictions, and infirmities, He knows how to help you rise

above your daily difficulties (see Alma 7:11–12; D&C 122:8).

He has “overcome the world” ( John 16:33) and prepared the

way for you to receive eternal life. He is always ready to help

you as you remember His plea: “Look unto me in every

thought; doubt not, fear not” (D&C 6:36)"

True To The Faith- Under Faith 

We need to remember that Christ is waiting to help us with His arms outstretched. 

I think it's interesting that sometimes as friends we compare who has gone through the most. Then I think. Christ has gone through the most. In Doc and Cov 122 Joseph Smith has gone through many hard trials. He prays in his suffering and then is taught by God about how it will be a small moment. One of my favorite verses in this chapter is verse 8 which states ,"The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?" 

This is a strong statement. We can never suffer more than the Savior. I love that He never belittles us when we are crying out in our pain. 

He never says,  "You're being a wimp I have gone through way more than you. Just deal with it you will be fine."   (Which I sadly have to admit I have totally done that to a friend.) 

Christ is always there with His arms out with a kind voice saying things such as ,

"Come here dear one I know it hurts, I will comfort you. This shall be a small moment. This trial will make you stronger. You are loved." 

I love my Savior and I testify that He loves you and I. He will always be there when we fall. 

If you would like please share your experience of when Christ has helped you in your trials in the comments below. Or please share your experience on Facebook with #ChristKnowsMe 

He Suffered For Us

He Will Lift Us Up

He Will Comfort Us

Faith First

In my studies I have been reminded of a pattern. Faith First.

In Article of Faith 4 it reads , "We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are :first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ..."

In the Young Women theme Faith is the first value.

We always hear "Faith before the miracle."

I think that faith is first because it is our foundation. There are many things we can have faith in. Such as blessings of paying tithing, keeping the Sabbath day Holy, friends keeping promises, The sun rising each day etc. Though the most important thing to have faith in is our Savior Jesus Christ.

If we have faith in Jesus Christ that He truly is our Savior then every other faith or knowledge we need to gain will fall into place.

It is like a building. You do not build the walls, or the roof with out the foundation first.

I love a scripture I memorized on my mission it was Heleman 5:12 we put our names in where it says "My Sons." I ask you as you read this quote to put your name into it and apply this scripture into your life.

12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

This scripture is Beautiful. We must build our lives upon the Rock of Our Redeemer. It makes me think of the primary song. "The Wise Man Built His House Upon The Rock." 

I ask us all to be wise men and women and to build our lives upon our Faith in Jesus Christ who is the Rock of Our Salvation. 

Remember if you put FAITH FIRST everything will fall into place. 

If you have any experiences where you have put your faith first and have seen blessings and miracles please share by commenting below or on Facebook with #faithfirst and #week1faith. 

Faith Is Felt Not Seen

Many of us have heard the common definition of faith is "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrew 11:1 

This makes me kind of think about the wind. We can not see it but we feel it and we see its effects. 

One year my sister was an amazing example to me. She was at school when an Atheist started arguing with her about her faith.

 He said "How do you know God is there? You can't see him."  

Then she asked, "Well can you see your heart?" 

He replied "Well that's different." 

And she said, "No can you take out your heart and hold it and see it right now?" 

He replied, "uh , um, no" 

She said, "But you know it's there, you can feel it right?" 

He said , "um yeah." 

She said, "Exactly! You feel it. That is how I feel about God. I can not see Him but I know He is there because I can feel Him and He gives me life." 

At that point the boy could no longer argue his point so he just walked away. 

It amazes me how strong my sister was. Her analogy is perfect and beautiful. Our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and The Holy Ghost are like our heart. We can not see them but we can feel that they are there, and they give us life and a purpose for life. 

We also have the analogy found in Alma 32 about planting a seed of faith. Its a great imagery in our mind of the work we go through to see the fruit of exercising our faith.

Do you have any faith Analogies Or a story where you have stood strong for your faith? 
 I would love to hear them. Please comment below. 

Exercise Your Faith. Receive Spiritual Muscles.

In Moroni 7:25 it states ,"...men began to exercise faith in Christ..." 

When I read this I thought about exercising. When I exercise my physical body I feel good. I receive energy and endorphin's. Though sometimes after a work out I am sore, though I love this sore feeling because it means my muscles are becoming stronger. 

Just like exercising to strengthen our physical bodies, we can exercise our faith to strengthen our spirits. And sometimes we go through trials that are painful, but help us to become spiritually stronger. 

How do we exercise faith? Well we do not run on a treadmill or lift weights to make our testimonies stronger. We exercise our faith by doing what we call the simple "Primary Answers" prayer, scripture study, church attendance, and keeping the commandments. Though when I think about it those are simple but vital. I love a quote that my dad says often , "The Gospel is simply beautiful and beautifully simple." We can also exercise our faith by being examples of the believers. Sometimes this is the most painful exercise. Almost like the dreaded leg day.  

Being an example of the believers is tough because we have many friends or even just the world pushing on us and trying to drag us down or prove us wrong. This is when we work on our spiritual muscles the most. We must lift ourselves, and stand strong. 

It brings me peace to know that when I stand for my faith I am never alone. Heavenly Father , Jesus Christ, The Holy Ghost and angels stand by me. Also it is so wonderful to know that the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is world wide. So if you feel alone in school because there are not many members remember that there are faithful church members all over the world. 

Remember to stand for truth. Do the simple things. EXERCISE faith and your testimony will become STRONG. 

Explore The Scriptures They Will Take You On Adventures.

In Preach My Gospel on page 116 it states, "As you explore  the scriptures and search them, you learn of His ways, His love for all people, and His commandments."

What really caught my attention was the Explore. It made me think of going on an adventure or of the people in the past exploring new worlds, or of fictional tales of people exploring new planets and worlds or even of Dora the Explorer. Each had adventures.

How do we explore the scriptures?  I think that if we put into our mind the definition of exploring which is

1. to traverse or range over (a region, area, etc.) for the purpose of discovery

2.

to look into closely; examine:

I think this is a great definition that we can apply to our scripture study. I think in our minds we can travel through our Scriptures and discover new truths. We can bring the Scriptures to life and have an adventure just like with any book. Though instead of fictional stories, these miracles and adventures truly happened. 

I think we can also look into and examine the scriptures. We can continually ask ourselves questions like, How do I apply this to my life? 

Could I have been that faithful? 

What did these wicked people do that I can learn to avoid? 

How can I be more like Captain Moroni? 

If I were in their position what would I have done? 

etc 

Use questions to get your mind going and then write down the answers in a study journal so that you can go back and see what you have learned. Also if you start recording thoughts and Ideas that is when the Spirit can help you. Also when you are going through a hard time you can go to you study journal for a spiritual boost. 

I hope you are enjoying your week. #week1faith. 

Let us EXPLORE our scriptures. There are adventures and miracles waiting to be read.