(Click to enlarge.)
"And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

"And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."

-Mosiah 24:13-14

‪#‎BecauseOfHim‬ ‪#‎Hallelujah‬ ‪#‎Ponderize‬

Living Water

I love these words of the prophet Isaiah!
Brigham City Temple, 2012.

"O Lord, I have trusted in thee,
and I will trust in thee forever.
I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh;
for I know that cursed is he that putteth
his trust in the arm of flesh.
Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust
in man or maketh flesh his arm"
(2 Nephi 4:34).

God Blesses Us Abundantly

D&C 78:17-18 Perspective

Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee

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).

Divinely Possible

On Monday morning, my alarm went off at five o'clock, just as I had intended. Although I'm not a morning person, I had to get my son to the school early so he could do a make-up timed run for his fitness class, which ironically enough, he'd missed by participating in the region championship cross-country race.

I had started the weekend physically and emotionally exhausted. Though I had tried to re-charge by sleeping late on Saturday morning, an emotionally taxing phone call and the realization that I'd forgotten about an impending deadline just raised my stress level higher. Having decided to "just keep swimming," I had made some progress - but I was still tired and worn out.

As I sat on the edge of my bed trying to gather the strength to start my day, I quickly reviewed the calendar. "We need to leave the house by 6:30," I thought, "or as close to that as humanly possible."

Almost immediately the thought entered my mind that nothing was "humanly possible." Not one item on my to-do could be accomplished by relying on my human abilities. Yet, with God all things were possible (see Luke 1:37).

My son and I could leave the house by as close to 6:30 as divinely possible.

"Help, please," I prayed.

And His grace was sufficient (see 2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

"Grace Shall Be As Your Day"Out of the Best Books No. 6

Emily Freeman loves the word of God like I do, and I find so many of her insights immensely valuable. In this short book, she outlines six lessons to help us as we wait for the answers or the miracles we need, according to the Lord's promise:

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised (Jeremiah 33:14).

My favorite of the lessons is Recognize and Remember His Mercy. The hymn "Come, Come, Ye Saints" contains the line grace shall be as your day. In other words, "Grace will be given as your day requires." The hymn "How Firm a Foundation" teaches this same principle: "As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be." Says Emily:

I believe in a God who continually ministers to His people. ... A friend told me that in Finnish the phrase tender mercies is written lempeät armoteot, which translates directly as "gentle works of grace." I love that translation. The Lord is tender and gentle in His ministry to us.

The Lord very literally poured out blessings from heaven on the children of Israel. "Behold, I will rain bread from heave for you; ... in the morning bread to the full; ... and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God" (Exodus 16:4, 8, 12). He will pour out blessings on us too. "I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those who He hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance" (1 Nephi 1:20).

Great power comes from recognizing and remembering the hand of God in our lives. Henry B. Eyring taught, "[As] we come to see the hand of God more clearly ... in time we not only remember Him, but we come to love Him and, through the power of the Atonement, become more like Him" ("O Remember, Remember," General Conference, October 2007).

A related lesson is Trust God's Heart. Emily writes about the quote that hangs on the wall of her mother's bedroom:

When you can't see God's hand,
trust His heart.
Words that we can cling to when find ourselves wondering about God's purposes can be found in the Apostle Paul's epistle to the Romans:

If God be for us, who can be against us? ... Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ... Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (Romans 8:31, 35, 37).

Note of Explanation: Part of my 10-week plan for summer this year was 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.

"Art Thou Greater Than He?"Out of the Best Books No. 5

Accompanied by a CD of three songs, this little book by singer-songwriter Kenneth Cope presents, in about twenty pages, the lyrics to his song "Greater Than Us All" with added pictures, quotes, and scriptural references. The back cover of the book summarizes the context of the song like this:

Long before Calvary and the crown of thorns, before Bethlehem, or Israel, or even Eden, Jesus demonstrated His matchless love.

I was not familiar with the song prior to reading through the book, but the lyric that I found most meaningful as I read and listened was this one:

Every heart felt of His love / For us He'd come

The accompanying scripture is 1 John 4:19: "We love Him, because He first loved us." What a magnificent expression of Jesus's love was evident in His willingness to become our Teacher, our Exemplar, our Savior, and our Redeemer! Because of His perfect love, He is greater than us all - which enables us to rely upon Him in our sorrows, our sins, our pains, and our afflictions (see Alma 7:11-13).

In D&C 122:8 is recorded the word of the Lord to Joseph Smith while he was imprisoned in Liberty Jail.

The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.

In other words, nothing we can ever experience, no trial we must ever endure is greater than Jesus's power to comfort and heal! He is always with us!

Note of Explanation: Part of my 10-week plan for summer this year was 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.