Everything Depends..........

It has been written that the greatest gift of God is eternal life. I think we can conjecture that the second greatest gift is the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is the comforter, messenger, and teacher that God has given us to lead us through the darkness and back to Him. When we are obedient to Gods commandments we qualify ourselves for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. Even though the Savior cannot walk by our side everyday, it is like he is when we follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Because of the supernal gift of the Holy Ghost we have the ability to speak the mind, will, and word of the lord.

I am so grateful for those times that I have been confident that I have listened to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I had an amazing experience during the time I spent serving as a ward Mission Leader. I had been prompted to call an assistant and desired to seriously petition the Lord as toward whom I should call. I was standing in the corner of the chapel and turned to the right and saw someone sitting in the chapel. I heard a voice that wasnt my own say, "call him." I did so, and I still say that calling Cody as the Assistant Ward mission leader was the best thing I ever did. After I was released, Cody was called to take my place. That calling has changed his life, and I am proud to think that I had a small part in that. I know that following the Holy Ghost is what protects us and allows us to bless the lives of others. Elder Lawrence C. Corbridge, while commenting about the mission of the Holy Ghost commented, "It is the power by which the Lord makes Himself manifest unto those who believe in Him. Every good thing depends on getting and keeping the power of the Holy Ghost in our lives. Everything depends on that."

I am so grateful that our Savior dies and gave us this wonderful companion to guide, protect, strengthen, and testify to us during out sojourn through mortality. 

The Pains he had to bear

Like everything else in the Mosaic law, the passover feast was pointing to something greater, something more significant. The paschal lamb was pointing the Jews to their Savior, who would in every way save them from those destroying angels of sin and death. For centuries the Jews celebrated this feast as they anticipated their Saviors heroic arrival, which was to be followed by their glorious emancipation from Roman oppression. How dreadful it was that they had "looked beyond the mark" and did not recognize the mission of Jesus of Nazareth.

As the paschal lamb caused the Jews to look forward to the Messiah, the Sacrament of the Lords supper was instituted so you and I could look back and remember our Messiah. Each week we partake of the emblems of that supper and remember that sacrifice the Savior made of his own flesh and blood. We remember that great and last sacrifice that ransomed us from awful fates that sin and death imposed upon the children of men. We remember the portal that Jesus Christ opened, allowing us to re enter the presence of our Heavenly Father. We remember the inexplicable suffering and power of the wine press, Gethsemane. We remember that it was there where he suffered pains, sicknesses, disease, and heartaches of every kind so that he would "know how to succor his people."  We remember his trial. We remember that he was mis judged by the two groups of people who we renowned for their jurisprudence. We remember that his own people chose a false Jesus;they suffered Barabbas to live. We remember the thronging, the crown of thorns, and the haunting journey toward Golgotha. We remember that he was crucified between two thieves and then buried in a rich mans tomb, this only validating Isiah's vision that "he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death." We remember that, in the end, death would have no power of him and that he became "the first fruits of them that slept" as he rose on that resurrection Sunday. 

As you and I remember these things each Sunday we partake of those emblems and renew our pledge to Him, our pledge to always remember Him and keep His commandments. As we do this we not only qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost, but we also renew the blessings of that atonement. Our sins our washed away with each worthy renewal of this covenant. Thanks be to God that he sent us his Son to overcome the malignant vicissitudes  of mortality. Thanks be to the Son that he was perfectly obedient to the will of our Father and protected us from those destroying angels of sin and death. 

Watch and take heed

Weeks like this really make us think that the world has to be coming to an end soon. We certainly see wars, hear rumors of war, and see tempests and Earthquakes worldwide. The chaos in Libya and the destruction that has literally changed Japan forces us to consider the Saviors prophetic statment to the 12, "for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows." Not only does the Savior remind us that these things must be, but that they are only the beginning. Jesus' concern does touch on these natural disasters, however it is centered on our potential to be decieved, fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body.

Because God loves and knows of those things that will confront us before his coming, he has mandated that we do two very important things, watch and take heed.

When the Savior implored us to watch I dont think he meant in the same way we watch TV. I think that he meant us to recongize, analyze, anticipate, and look for the digns that will lead to his coming.

As he exhorted us to "take heed of ourselves" I think he wanted us to be self aware, cognisant of our weaknesses and habits. The Savior himself didn't even know when that day of his coming was to be, so he counseled us to watch and pray. I'd like to think he had the Holy Ghost on his mind as he offered that counsel. Certainly he didnt want us perform these tasks alone. The Holy Ghost is to be our guide through these last days of strife and tumult.