Like Martha, I often find myself "careful and troubled about many things" (Luke 10:41). Recently, as I sat on the edge of my bed early in the morning and worried about the day ahead, the admonition consider the lilies came into my mind.

This simple phrase was a powerful reminder that my Father is mindful of my needs.

He knows my anxious heart.

He is aware of my struggles.

And He will provide.

As Jesus taught, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32).

God Blesses Us Abundantly

Mark 6:31-32 #SpiritualWhitespace

"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1-2).

How Thirsty Are You?Out of the Best Books No. 4

In The Woman at the Well, Emily Freeman retells the well-known story found in John 4:5-42 of the Samaritan woman who meets Jesus at Jacob's well. Told from the viewpoint of the woman, whom Freeman calls Maya from mayim, the Hebrew word for water, the account draws on the writings of Alfred Edersheim, Frederic W. Farrar, and James E. Talmage. Illustrated by the beautiful paintings of Simon Dewey, the book emphasizes that the feelings of unworthiness or inadequacy that we all sometimes experience can be healed through the living water that comes from the One who knows us and every detail of our lives. He can teach us what we need to know and can quench our thirst if we are but willing to drink.

Whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give [her] shall never thirst:
but the water that I shall give [her]
shall be in [her] a well of water
springing up into everlasting life"
(John 4:14).
"The Lord provides the living water that can quench the burning thirst of those who lives are parched by a drought of truth. As at Jacob's well, so today the Lord Jesus Christ is the only source of living water."

- Joseph B. Wirthlin (1995)

"The Atonement can fill that which is empty, straighten our bent parts, and make strong that which is weak."

- Bruce C. Hafen (1990)

Note of Explanation: Part of my 10-week plan for summer this year is to read one short, inspirational book each Sunday afternoon and ponder on what I can learn from it. This blog post represents part of my efforts to do that.

"Peace, Be Still"(Mark 4:39)

One of my favorite stories of Jesus is found in Mark 4. He and some of His disciples have boarded a ship to cross the Sea of Galilee. Jesus is sleeping when a great storm arises. Fearful of the possible outcome, the disciples wake Jesus, asking with anxiousness, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?"

Jesus arises and rebukes the wind with the command "Peace, be still." The wind ceases, and a calmness settles over the water - and over the disciples.

Pacific Ocean. December 2011.

According to the Bible Dictionary, miracles are "an important element in the work of Jesus Christ, being not only divine acts, but forming also a part of the divine teaching." This point is beautifully illustrated by Jesus's calming of the sea - for not only can He calm the water but also He can calm our troubled hearts, our agitated minds, our tempestuous lives.

In 1874, Mary Ann Baker penned the words to the still-popular hymn "Master, the Tempest is Raging" following a period of tumult in her own life after the death of her brother. She said:

I became wickedly rebellious at this dispensation of divine providence. I said in my heart that God did not care for me or mine. But the Master’s own voice stilled the tempest in my unsanctified heart, and brought it to the calm of a deeper faith and a more perfect trust.

As the refrain of the hymn wonderfully asserts:

Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea
Or demons or men or whatever it be,
No waters can swallow the ship where lies
The Master of ocean and earth and skies.
They all shall sweetly obey my will.
Peace, be still! Peace, be still!

What a promise it is that no waters can swallow the ship - or hinder a goal or destroy a family or overcome a faith - in which Jesus is present!

"Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).

"Repent Ye"(Matthew 3:1-2)

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea.

And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The Greek word translated as repent denotes a change of heart or mind. In other words, the result of repentance is conversion.

At the conclusion of his final address to his people, King Benjamin acknowledged the "mighty change in [them], or in [their] hearts, that [they had] no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually" (Mosiah 5:2). He described the change this way:

And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters (Mosiah 5:7).

People sometimes assert that a leopard can't change its spots, meaning that one cannot change his or her essential nature. This is true. In our efforts to change who we are, willpower and self-discipline are effective only up to a point. A leopard can't change its spots. But Jesus Christ can change a leopard's spots - and He can change us!

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).