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As my mid-section droops, my reading glasses increase in strength, and as I get a bit on with the middle of my rigorous, wonderful life in Christ, I ask myself, ‘What am I learning about deepening my communion and so, my relationship, with God and Jesus Christ?” About “prayer”?
In response, I’d like to share 6 learnings and leanings—things I’ve learned or am coming to know more fully– about intimately engaging with Father in Heaven. These impressions beaded themselves together in a spiritual necklace, if you will, of personal reflections, as I considered the approach of the National Day of Prayer.
1. The Law of Asking
Why does God—the literal Father of our spirits-ask us to pray if all-powerful? There are lots of answers offered but a salient one in my mind is that there is a fundamental law of asking. God operates by many laws–including those of justice and mercy and agency and the law of asking (Bible: 1 John 5:14,... Read the rest of this entry »
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He was chosen before the world began to be the Savior of the world. He is the second member of the Godhead, which consists of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.
Jesus Christ is the Firstborn of God. We lived with God before we were born, and when God presented the great Plan of Salvation to us, He volunteered to come to earth to atone for our sins. It was impossible for us to live a sinless life and impossible, therefore, for us to atone for our own sins. However, the laws of justice and mercy allowed someone else to fulfill that role. Jesus Christ was the only One who could do so. If He had refused, or if He had backed out when it got difficult, we would never have been able to be saved from our sins. For this reason, Christians love and revere Him.
Jesus came to earth through a divine miracle. His mother was a mortal woman chosen for her righteousness. His Father was God. Mary was engaged to be married and learned... Read the rest of this entry »
Becoming Christian can seem like a very large leap into an entirely new lifestyle. However, for many people, particularly those who have practiced other faiths already, the process may not seem too complicated. It’s important to take it a few steps at a time and not to get overwhelmed.
Baptism is an important step in the process of becoming Christian. In the Christian Bible, the New Testament tells us that we must be baptized in order to enter Heaven.
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.(Acts 2:38).
If you are becoming a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes called Mormons, that baptism will come after a few meetings with missionaries who will help you learn more about Jesus Christ and His gospel. You will learn how to pray and will start to become familiar with the... Read the rest of this entry »
THE MIRACLE AT CANA IN GALILEE.
Soon after the arrival of Jesus in Galilee we find Him and His little company of disciples at a marriage party in Cana, a neighboring town to Nazareth. The mother of Jesus was at the feast; and for some reason not explained in John’s narrative, (1 Nephi 3:23) she manifested concern and personal responsibility in the matter of providing for the guests. Evidently her position was different from that of one present by ordinary invitation. Whether this circumstance indicates the marriage to have been that of one of her own immediate family, or some more distant relative, we are not informed.
It was customary to provide at wedding feasts a sufficiency of wine, the pure though weak product of the local vineyards, which was the ordinary table beverage of the time. On this occasion the supply of wine was exhausted, and Mary told Jesus of the deficiency. Said He: “Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not... Read the rest of this entry »
Everyone has challenges. It doesn’t matter where we’re from, what religion we are, how much money we have or our status in society. Nothing in this world can make a person immune from the difficulties of life.
Some of the greatest challenges I have faced in my life came at an early age. At 12 I was diagnosed with a hereditary condition which caused my body to not produce enough of a chemical called Serotonin. The result of not having enough of this chemical produced in your body is depression. I was then diagnosed with severe social anxiety and had to drop out of school. My parents divorced when I was 15 years old and by the age of 17, my mother stopped talking to me. Her last words to me were “I don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore” before she moved away without telling me where she was going.
Between the ages of 12 and 18, my life was a mess. Our family physician said that my parent’s divorce would destroy me and the countless... Read the rest of this entry »
By Jan Mayer, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . As a “Mormon woman,” Jan is a graduate of BYU and mother of five children. She has written for numerous publications, including The Denver Post, The Villager and NorthStar.
I worked in a small office area with a woman who had great disdain for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (nicknamed “Mormons”). We had been briefly acquainted before she recommended me for a job. Although she knew I was a Mormon, she thought I had been deceived and that she could change my beliefs.
When she learned that I was a devout Latter-day Saint (Mormon)—truly converted–she was appalled. When I asked where her information had come from, she told me she had taken classes at her church. Shocked, I told her that I couldn’t understand why one religion would teach against another—that it didn’t seem very Christ-like. She told me that the world... Read the rest of this entry »
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are sharing their witness of the Savior, their love for Him, their knowledge of His atonement, crucifixion and resurrection online this Easter weekend in an unprecedented social media wave.
Witnesses are posted on mormon.org, a site created to share Mormon beliefs with friends of all faiths. We invite you to take a look and to share and extend the witnesses you see and read with those you love and those in your broadest networks, that the Savior may be honored and glorified and remembered in a special way this season and all seasons.
The Internet initiative, sponsored by the Church’s Mormon.org website, will run Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 6-8 April 2012. Comments from the Church’s Missionary Department explained that this will be a unique chance for Mormons to share their personal testimony of Jesus Christ with people of other faiths.
Read more about the campaign at LDS.org.
My own witness... Read the rest of this entry »
by Nora Moore Hess
The Men of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir have made a truly exceptional recording of the following Mormon hymn. I heard it yesterday on their broadcast, and then I listened to it on iTunes again and again:
Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy
Brightly beams our Father’s mercy
From His lighthouse evermore,
But to us He gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights be burning;
Send a gleam across the wave.
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.
(“Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy,” Hymns #335)
Someone I love very dearly is back in jail again. He gets into trouble, usually small things, and then just waits for it to go away. He always seems genuinely surprised when it doesn’t. When I heard he had been arrested again, I felt my usual combination of sadness and relief. Jail is not always such a bad place. He has a place to sleep and three meals... Read the rest of this entry »
Written by Julia Baker, a BYU student, studying a volume of scripture known as the Pearl of Great Price, which is written by prophets; members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “Mormons” revere it as sacred text. This post comes from a book within the Pearl of Great Price known, as The Book of Moses; it is an extraction from the translation of the Bible as revealed to Joseph Smith the Prophet, June 1830—February 1831.
Our Relationship with God the Father
I grew up in Fort Worth Texas, a city slapped right in the middle of tornado alley. I remember one night when the winds were roaring outside my window, a flash of lightening hit nearby. The sheer force of such natural power coursing through the air in even such relative proximity shook the glass in my window panes and made my ears ring. I had never felt a fear of storms, but at that moment I was struck with the same realization Moses felt: “Now, for this cause I know that man... Read the rest of this entry »
The Book of Mormon, another Testament of Jesus Christ, is the religious history of a people that inhabited the Americas from around 600 BC to 400 AD. It was translated by Joseph Smith from an ancient record by the gift and power of God. As its title indicates, its teachings about Jesus Christ combine with the teachings of the Old and New Testaments to help form the foundation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; the nickname “Mormons” comes from its title. In the Book of Mormon, Jesus himself talks about how He no longer requires animal sacrifices. Instead, He requires the sacrifice of a broken heart:
I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.
And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto... Read the rest of this entry »
