Mormon Musings

  For anyone today with pains so intense or so unique that you feel no one else could fully appreciate them, you may have a point. There may be no family member, friend, or priesthood leader—however sensitive and well-meaning each may be—who knows exactly what you are feeling or has the precise words to help you heal. But know this: there is One who understands perfectly what you are experiencing, who is “mightier than all the earth,” 17   and who is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that [you] ask or think.” 18   The process will unfold in His way and on His schedule, but Christ stands ready   always   to heal every ounce and aspect of your agony. As you allow Him to do so, you will discover that your suffering was not in vain. Speaking of many of the Bible’s greatest heroes and their griefs, the Apostle Paul said that “God … provided some better things for them through their sufferings, for without sufferings they could not be made perfect.” 19 ...

  Many of us are trying to save ourselves, holding the Atonement of Jesus Christ at arm’s distance and saying, “When I’ve done it, when I’ve perfected myself, when I’ve made myself worthy, then I’ll be worthy of the Atonement. The greatest dichotomy, the greatest problem in the entire universe, consists of two facts. The first we can read in Doctrine and Covenants 1:31: “For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.” That means he can’t stand it, he can’t tolerate it, he can’t blink, or look the other way, or sweep it under the rug. He can’t tolerate sin in the least degree. The other side of the dichotomy is very simply put: I sin, and so do you. If that were all there were to the equation, the conclusion would be inescapable that we, as sinful beings, cannot be tolerated in the presence of God. But that is not all there is to the equation. This morning I would like to talk to you about the Atonement of Christ, that glorious plan by which this dichotomy c...

"We are not and never need be alone. We can press forward in our daily lives with heavenly help." —David A. Bednar, " Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease "

  28  Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard,  that  the   everlasting  God, the  Lord , the  Creator  of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?  There is  no searching  of His understanding.   29  He giveth power to the faint; and to  them that have  no might He increaseth strength.   30  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:   31  But they that  wait  upon the  Lord  shall  renew   their   strength ; they shall mount up with wings as  eagles ; they shall  run , and not be weary;  and  they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31

"It is crucial to remember that we are living—and chose to live—in a fallen world where for divine purposes our pursuit of godliness will be tested and tried again and again. Of greatest assurance in God’s plan is that a Savior was promised, a Redeemer, who through our faith in Him would lift us triumphantly over those tests and trials, even though the cost to do so would be unfathomable for both the Father who sent Him and the Son who came. It is only an appreciation of this divine love that will make our own lesser suffering first bearable, then understandable, and finally redemptive." —Jeffrey R. Holland, " Like a Broken Vessel "

https://www.lds.org/liahona/2013/03/you-are-free?lang=eng&query=god+so+loved+world

Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God,  a save  it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who  b layeth  down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the  c resurrection  of the dead, being the first that should rise. Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make  a intercession  for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved. 2 Nephi 2:8-9

The storm fronts that come into our lives will not last forever.  We can surmount the drifts of difficulties and we can hold out if we maintain our perspective and faith.  Just as we know there is sun just beyond today's cloud cover, so we must not doubt the continued, watchful, and tutoring presence of The Son in spite of the stormy seasons in our lives. Elder Neal A. Maxwell (Even As I Am, pp. 102-03)

This is one of the best talks on the enabling power of the Atonement I have ever read.  It is also very practical in the approach...In short, it is VERY, VERY, VERY good. http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1966

The first company of Saints entered the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. Their journey was difficult and challenging; still, they sang: Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear; But with joy wend your way. Though hard to you this journey may appear, Grace shall be as your day. [“Come, Come, Ye Saints,”  Hymns,  2002, no. 30] “Grace shall be as your day”—what an interesting phrase. We have all sung it hundreds of times, but have we stopped to consider what it means? “Grace shall be as your day”: grace shall be like a day. As dark as night may become, we can always count on the sun coming up. As dark as our trials, sins, and mistakes may appear, we can always have confidence in the grace of Jesus Christ. Do we earn a sunrise? No. Do we have to be worthy of a chance to begin again? No. We just have to accept these blessings and take advantage of them. As sure as each brand-new day, grace—the enabling power of Jesus Christ—is constant. Faithful pi...

“The great Mediator asks for our repentance  not  because we must ‘repay’ him in exchange for his paying our debt to justice, but because repentance initiates a developmental process that, with the Savior’s help, leads us along the path to a saintly character”  Elder Bruce C. Hafen ( The Broken Heart  [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989], 149; emphasis in original).

"I love the Savior. I feel that as he hung upon the cross and looked out over the dark scene, he saw more than mocking soldiers and cruel taunters. He saw more than crying women and fearful friends. He remembered and saw even more than women at wells or crowds on hills or throngs by seashores. He saw more, much more. He, who knows all and has all power, saw through the stream of time. His huge, magnanimous, loving soul encompassed all eternity and took in all people and all times and all sins and all forgiveness and all everything. Yes, he saw down to you and to me and provided us an all-encompassing opportunity to escape the terrible consequences of death and sin.” (Elder John H. Groberg, "The Beauty and Importance of the Sacrament," Ensign, May 1989, 40)

“The Savior, as a member of the Godhead, knows each of us personally… In the garden and on the cross, Jesus saw each of us and not only bore our sins, but also experienced our deepest feelings so that he would know how to comfort and strengthen us...  “The Savior’s atonement in the garden and on the cross is intimate as well as infinite.  Infinite in that it spans the eternities.  Intimate in that the Savior felt each person’s pains, sufferings, and sicknesses.  Consequently, he knows how to carry our sorrows and relieve our burdens that we might be healed from within, made whole persons, and receive everlasting joy in his kingdom”   (emphasis added, Elder Merrill J. Bateman, “The Power to Heal from Within,” Ensign, May 1995, 14).