I Am Back

So is it time that I got back into the blog game?  YES!  What is my reason for staying away so long?  That is easy to answer.  It is something I am very good at.  PROCRASTINATION!  Oh how I need to get that word out of my life and how it just keeps sneaking back in the door once I throw it out.

Wikipedia defines procrastination as "the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in preference to more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, thus putting off impending tasks to a later time."   My plan was to blog on Sunday.  Then Sunday rolls around and I find myself doing more pleasurable things like taking a nap.  Well today I fought the nap battle and won.  Here I am blogging and not the least bit tired.

Now to blog about something important to me instead of the junk I just wrote.

This morning I was listening to a talk by Cecil O Samuelson.  He said something that just keeps going around and around in my head.  He said, "God loves us not because we are good but because He is good."

I love that.  So many times when I make a mistake the thought comes into my head that I am now unworthy.  God will not want me back.  It is too late to turn around and go back to HIM.  Then I remember who is talking.  It is satan.  Because it is too late for him, he wants it to be too late for all of us.  He want us to be as miserable as he is.

God on the other hand is saying it is never too late.  I love you now and always.  I want you back to live with me.  It is not too late to turn around and correct your mistakes.  There is a good video on lds.org called Wrong Roads.  It is by Elder Jeffery R. Holland.  he tell a personal experience that reminds us to always trust God and the direction He gives us.  He says that when we make decisions, God expects us to pray, trust, and be believing and then not to give up, panic, or jump ship when something doesn't seem to be going right.

Satan, on the other hand, wants to deceive us and get us on the wrong path that will lead us away from God.  He wants to overthrow us.  He tries to make the glitter of the world look better that which will bring us eternal happiness.

I know that God lives.  I know that God loves me.  He loves me not because I am good but because He is good.  He wants what is best for each for me and each one of us.

Learning and Re-learning

I have been studying about sacrifice. I have learned and re-learned so much from Genesis 22:1-14. Those are 14 of the most fantastic verses ever written.

In verse 1 God temps or from the Hebrew text he "tests or proves" Abraham and Abraham is ready to answer.

Then in verse 2 comes the most difficult trial anyone could be asked to face. Abraham is commanded to sacrifice his "only" son Issac. (My bet is he didn't tell Sarah what the Lord had asked him to do.) God will sacrifice His "Only Begotten Son." Abraham leaves Beersheba and goes about 50 miles north to Moriah where the Lord has told him to go. Why does the Lord ask a man that is more than 100 years old to travel 50 miles? Why Moriah? 2 Chr. 3:1 tells us that is where Solomon built the temple of the Lord.

Verse 3 says he saddles his donkey, cuts the wood and heads out with his son Isaac. The donkey and the wood are important. Who gets to ride the donkey? Does Abraham? Does Isaac? Who rides a donkey into the city of Jerusalem on the final week of his life? Is it by chance there is a parallel here? No, the Lord does not do anything by chance.

Verse 4 & 5 say on the third day Abraham sees the place afar off and asks the young men to stay there with the donkey while he and his son go on ahead to the place to worship.

Then in verse 6 Abraham takes the wood they have carried with them and lays it on his son. So Isaac carries the wood. This tells me he was not a young child. He is a man that is strong enough to carry enough wood for a sacrifice. He carries the wood to his place of sacrifice. Christ carried his wooden cross to his place of sacrifice also.

Isaac is beginning to wonder about this sacrifice. He asks his father. Dad you have the fire, I have the wood, where is the burnt offering?

Verse 8 Abraham tells Isaac. "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering." This is a prophetic statement. God, the Father, will provide his only begotten Son as the lamb for a burnt offering.

Then in verses 9 - 12 Abraham builds the altar and binds his son and lays him on the alter. He takes his knife to slay him and the angel of the Lord stops him. At this point we know that Isaac knows what is going on but we learn something important about Isaac. He willingly allows his father to bind him and willingly lays on the alter with a knife over him. He is willing to do what his Father has commanded. Christ willingly gives himself as a sacrifice. He willingly lays on the alter and gave his life for us. Abraham sees the last great sacrifice from our Father in Heavens perspective.

Verses 13-14. Abraham sees a ram caught in the thicket and they offer him for a burnt offering. Abraham called the name of the place "Jehovah-jireh" which means "in this mount, Jehovah shall be provided."

Note of interest. When a lamb was sacrificed it was always sacrificed on the north side of the alter. Just north of the temple mount is a hill known as Golgotha.

Abraham was obedient to God's commands in offering up his son Isaac... "which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son." (Jacob 4:5)

Tender Mercy

I was reading the most read chapter in the Book of Mormon last night, 1 Nephi 1. Vs. 20 says that "the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith...."

I woke up this morning thinking of the tender mercies the Lord has given me. I am sure that because I had been reading chapter one of 1 Nephi that my first thoughts were of my parents. I, like Nephi, was born of goodly parents. I am so grateful for the lessons they taught me at a young age. But most of all, I am grateful that they taught me about God and His love for me.

My parents are both gone now but I still feel their influence in my life. It is a tender mercy for me to know that even though their mission is different right now, they still care about their loved ones on Earth. When we are seeing great afflictions in our lives, there are loved ones on the other side that are praying for us.

My Ring

A couple of weeks ago I lost my mothers wedding band that she had given me just before she died. I had been wearing it night and day. I had washed some dishes in Clorox water and the water burnt my finger under the wedding band. I took the band off and put it on the only finger it would fit on the other hand. At the time I thought, "You should go put your ring away." I didn't. The next day I had the same thought. About an hour later I realized the ring was gone. Often we get prompting from the Holy Ghost just like the ones I had received. We follow those promptings and we have no idea what could have happened because we did follow them. Other times we do not follow those prompts and something bad happens. So how do we know when we are getting a prompt from the Holy Ghost? Because any good thought comes from God, we can bet that any good warning comes from God too. I hope I can learn to be a better listener. I know I can listen better as I study my scriptures and say my prayers.

This weekend we have been staying with Daniel and Jana. I watched them as they helped their children say a few verses from the scriptures and say their prayers each night. Last night Tyler was bent out of sorts and did not want to read the scriptures. However, by the time the family had finished he was calm and ready for prayer. Did the scriptures make the difference? Yes. Is it always going to be easy? No. Is it going to be worth it? Yes!

Back to my ring. I knew that I had lost my ring around the house. Jennifer and her family were there and bless Jalynn's heart, she went clear through my garbage to make sure it did not drop off in there. The ring was not in the garbage. As I watched her I had a thought. "You are going to have to clean deep." Later I had another thought just about like that. "You will not find your ring unless you do some deep cleaning just like Jalynn did as she dug deep into the garbage." So I did some deep cleaning. I started in the kitchen because that was the room I had been in most of the time. When I cleaned the shelves off by the phone, I pulled some books off one of the shelves to rearrange them and low and behold there was my ring setting on the shelf. I am glad the Lord allowed me to have my mother's ring back. I am even happier with the lesson He taught me in listening. Any good thought comes from God.

Heirs of God

I wish I were a fast thinker. But I am not. Some time ago (6+ years) I was exercising with a lady. We would walk and talk about religion. She would ask questions about my religion and I would ask questions about her religion. I remember telling her that we believed that we could at some point after death become gods and goddesses like God our Father and Jesus Christ. "Oh no!" she said, "I could never believe that. The humanizes God and I could never put Him on the same level as us."

"So we will never become gods?"

"No, we could never become gods."

Well all these years later and now I have an answer.

Romans 8:16-17

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."

Does it not make sense that in this life we have little children and raise them up to become productive adults like we are? Don't we want the best for our children? Wouldn't we want them to become even better than we are? Doesn't it stand to reason that God would want us to be as productive as He is? He is perfect and I am not sure you could become better than perfect but it stands to reason that he would want us to become perfect like he is. He says we are His children and then heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. What are we heirs of? Would we not be heirs of perfection and Godhood?
Matthew 5:48
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
Why would Jesus tell us to be perfect if it is impossible to be perfect? Joint-heirs with Christ means on the same level.

Let me know your thoughts on the subject.