Mormon Musings

"Jesus never doubted His power, but He was never confused about its source, either." "Has not the Lord with equal truth and relevance told us, concerning the resources of this planet, 'For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare'?  Should not this reality sober us in terms of what might be achieved as regards to poverty?  Clearly, it is the attribute of love, not other resources, that is in short supply..." "Though Jesus now governs galaxies, yet of a night He stood by Paul when Paul was in jail.  We do not fully understand how Jesus oversees His vast flock and also provides such individualization in His ministry, but we are counseled: 'Believe in God; believe that He is, and that He created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that He has all wisdom, and all power...believe that man doth not comprehend all things which the Lord can comprehend.'  It is one of the hallmarks of human vanity that we assume, because we cannot...

Our Lord's admonition to men to become perfect, even as the Father is perfect (Matt. 5:48) cannot rationally be construed otherwise than as implying the possibility of such achievment.  Plainly, however, man cannot become perfect in mortality in the sense which God is perfect as a supremely glorified Being.  It is possible, though, for man to be perfect in his squere and in a sense of analogous to that in which superior intelligences are perfect in their several spheres; yet the relative perfection of the lower is infintely inferior to that of the higher. Elder James E. Talmage, Jesus The Christ , page 248, note 5

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty. You might say, “I’m not the creative type. When I sing, I’m always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop.” If that is how you feel, think again. We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy. Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things. You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us. The bounds of creativi...

The great challenge is to refuse to let the bad things that happen to us do bad things to us.  That is the crucial difference between adversity and tragedy. Elder Neal A. Maxwell

  "...men are not mere ciphers in a vast but dumb space; they are everlasting and accountable individuals.  Modern witnesses affirm that meaningfulness of life, human identity and human belonging.  The vastness of God's creations are the verification  of meaning, not its annihilation .  There is eternal purpose, and it is to be found in the Father's Only Begotten, Jesus Christ."  p. 8 "...the Lord's plan of salvation is not a set of floor plans for a new house that we as clients can modify or reject.  The Architect is not our employee, but our Host, even the Lord of Hosts; He is not only our Landlord, He is also our Lord!" p. 9 Elder Neal A. Maxwell, "Even AS I Am", pp 8-9

  That simple suggestion in   Come, Follow Me   to think about my blessings brought a sweet spirit and some unexpected spiritual insights. As I continued reading about Alma and his ministry in Ammonihah, I discovered that Alma provides a good example of what it means to ask, seek, and knock. We read that “Alma labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his Spirit upon the people.” That prayer, however, was not answered the way he hoped, and Alma was cast out of the city. “Weighed down with sorrow,” Alma was about to give up, when an angel delivered this message: “Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice.” The angel then told him to return to Ammonihah and try again, and Alma “returned speedily.” 8 What do we learn from Alma about asking, seeking, and knocking? We learn that prayer requires spiritual labor, and it does not always lead to the outcome we hope for. But wh...

The Book of Mormon provides spiritual nutrition, prescribes a plan of action, and connects us with the Holy Spirit. Elder Benjamin M.A. Tai

As we go through pains, sicknesses, afflictions, and temptations of every kind, our Savior will be there to succor us.  He has paid the price through His atoning sacrifice to know us and to know how to help us.  He knows how to delivery us safely back home.  He is our Deliverer--our all! Marilyn S. Bateman

Your future is not determined by the conditions around you.  It is determined by your faith, your choices and your efforts. Elder Paul V. Johnson

Brother Kimball referred to Zion’s Camp going to Missouri.  When I returned from that mission to Kirkland, a brother said to me, “Brother Brigham, what have you gained by this journey?”  I replied, “Just what we went for; but I would not exchange the knowledge I have received this season for the whole of the Geauga County; for property and mines of wealth are not to be compared to the worth of knowledge.”  Ask those brethren and sisters who have passed through scenes of affliction and suffering for years in the Church what they would take in exchange for their experience, and be placed back where they were, were it possible.  I presume they would tell you that all the wealth, honors, and riches of the world could not buy the knowledge they had obtained, could they barter it away.  Let the brethren be contented, if you have trials and must have hard times, learn to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in it all.  He directs the affairs of this world… Brigham You...

  The Atonement: All for All Bruce C. Hafen Of the First Quorum of the Seventy When the Savior’s all and our all come together, we will find not only forgiveness of sin, … “we shall be like him.” In recent years, we Latter-day Saints have been teaching, singing, and testifying much more about the Savior Jesus Christ. I rejoice that we are rejoicing more. As we “talk [more] of Christ,” 1  the gospel’s doctrinal fulness will come out of obscurity. For example, some of our friends can’t see how our Atonement beliefs relate to our beliefs about becoming more like our Heavenly Father. Others  mistakenly  think our Church is moving toward an understanding of the relationship between grace and works that draws on Protestant teachings. Such misconceptions prompt me to consider today the Restoration’s unique Atonement doctrine. The Lord restored His gospel through Joseph Smith because there had been an apostasy. Since the fifth century, Christianity taught that Adam and Eve’s...

In its simplest terms, self-mastery is doing those things we should do and not doing those things we should not do. President James E. Faust April 2000 General Conference