His Loving Redemptiveness.

Even as our resolve to follow God increases, we will continue to fall short. But rather than see occasions of repentance as humiliating admissions of remarkable stupidity that threaten His ability to continue loving us, we should view them as regular reminders of our dependence on Him.

"Our continual need to humble ourselves and repent of failings does not separate us from His love. Rather it is an opportunity to celebrate that His loving redemptiveness is larger than our weakness. Indeed, nothing can “separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39)."

God has an "unquenchable desire to help us heal our wounds, individually and collectively. . . . God is not dead, and he is not an absentee landlord. God is not uncaring, or capricious, or cantankerous. Above all, he is not some sort of divine referee trying to tag us off third base. The first and great commandment on earth is for us to love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength because surely the first and great promise in heaven is that he will always love us that way.” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “‘Look to God and Live’,” Ensign, Nov 1993, 13)

"Regardless of our earth histories, we all have someone who is crazy about us. Each one of us has Someone—a Father in Heaven—who loves us with His whole heart, might, mind and strength."

Source= The First and Great Promise- By H. Wallace Goddard & Barbara Keil

When awful things happen, even to good people, there seems built into us a desire to put blame on someone... whether we are strong in our faith or NOT. It seems that we often tend to lean towards blaming the one who knows everything, has all power, and loves perfectly----- GOD.

It is imperative that we try to remind ourselves of these things, especially when we feel W.E.A.K. or feel like a failure.

He is always rooting for YOU. God has an "unquenchable desire to help [you] heal [your] wounds..." and most importantly ---his "loving redemptiveness is LARGER than [your] WEAKNESS."

Trusting our Perfect God.

"Whether we are fourteen or ninety four, there is room to grow closer to our Father in Heaven, through his perfect Son. We can trust Him!"

THIS article really touched my heart today.

It's true.

"We become so caught up in the busyness of our lives. Were we to step back, however, and take a good look at what we’re doing, we may find that we have immersed ourselves in the “thick of thin things.” In other words, too often we spend most of our time taking care of the things which do not really matter much at all in the grand scheme of things, neglecting those more important causes."

-Thomas S. Monson

Love this quote~

"God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability." - Neal A. Maxwell

Our Worst Enemies

We attended Soda Springs Seminary Graduation this last week & there were a lot of neat things said, but I really appreciated what the Utah State Seminary teacher said. He talked about a lighthouse or a tower and said that they worked so well because one could see their enemies coming.... he than compared the lighthouse or tower with a TEMPLE. He said when you are within the temple, there aren't any windows that you look out of and that you cannot see what is outside. He then went on to say that we needed to watch out for our enemies. He then asked, "Who are our enemies?" The answer was of course, OURSELVES.

We are our own worst enemies. Think about that. We control our thoughts, our actions, and our words. We control whether or not we allow ourselves to be offended or whether we are going to offend others. We are in control of ourselves! We have tendencies to make bad choices, to misjudge, and to hurt others.... which in turn ALWAYS hurts ourselves. I think that it is extremely important to realize that we need to watch out for ourselves, making sure that WE are our own keepers... of strength, truth, and all those things that we want to stand for. We must protect ourselves from ourselves... our own worst enemies!

I have to agree with this great man.

Click on this picture to enlarge this great quote... which comes from a great man.

As humans we give up so easily on those who reject and hurt us, veiwing them as a lost cause. We can’t forgive and forget, we always hold a record of wrongs.

I am so glad Heavenly Father doesn’t look at us this way. Because of Jesus Christ and his atonement, we are given the opportunity to repent & if we choose to do just that, he loves us even when we have rejected and hurt him. Just as long as we've experienced that change of heart.

Lance B. Wickman, “Today,” Ensign, May 2008, 103–5
"It remains only for you and me to both seek and tender that forgiveness—to both repent and to extend charity to others—which enables us to pass through the door the Savior holds open, thus to cross the threshold from this life into exaltation. Today is the day to forgive others their trespasses, secure in the knowledge that the Lord will thus forgive ours. As Luke significantly recorded, “Be ye therefore merciful” (Luke 6:36; emphasis added). Perfection may elude us here, but we can be merciful. And in the end, repenting and forgiving are among God’s chief requirements of us."