Child of mine

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Prov. 22: 6)

Christ wants me to become a child.

Hope

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. (Ps. 146: 5)

Sometimes Melissa asks me what I’m envisioning for tomorrow: I typically respond that I haven’t thought about it yet. By not anticipating the future, I have denied myself the chance to hope: a chance to see God’s hand working in my life.

Letting Go

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matt. 11: 28)

Maybe the Lord meant “all you who are working hard moving around with burdens on your backs, but never set them down”. Sometimes I pick up things and carry them forward, denying the reality that times will change and all lifecycles will complete another loop.

There is a beginning and an end to all earthly things. Learn how to pick up on everything and let everything go.

Glory of the World

JST Matt. 4: 8-10

And again, [the Spirit] taketh [Jesus]… and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And the devil came unto him again, and said, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

It was by the Spirit that Jesus saw kingdoms “and the glory of them”. United with Father and Son, the Spirit’s glory is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man”(Moses 1: 39). Perhaps the Spirit showed Jesus the world’s people and their potential exaltation. Then Satan’s offer was that each beloved child would receive a fullness of joy (Moses 4: 1-4). There would be no blood-sweat to endure, no Atonement to be made, no heartache or heavenly weeping at the loss of His precious children (Moses 7: 37).

The substance of temptation is a devil saying “There is a happier, easier, better way than what God commanded—you won't have to work so hard and it will work out better for everyone.” 

I should answer as Jesus answered: loyal to God, trusting His way as best, knowing that growth of the human spirit is His most important outcome.

A Light Cross

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.(Matt. 16: 24)

You would think that Jesus would describe His light burden (Matt. 11: 30) using a different symbol than this torture-used beam. Maybe He was teaching that even under preponderous injustice, carrying someone else’s burden is the way to find a lightness of step.

Whole Armor of God

One way to think about God being in us (see John 17: 21) is to imagine ourselves as His clothing/armor. We are every different type, and He needs every different type—the headstrong, the heart-strong, the strong-of-stomach—to make His armor full, “and he denieth none that come unto Him”(2 Ne. 26: 33).

Dirty Diapers

As a father, I look on everything my children do with a mixture of amazement and joy. Even a dirty diaper is magical because is means that everything is working just the way it should be. I wonder if the Lord looks on my sins the same way I look at dirty diapers? In one sense, it is an absolutely normal part of life: we can't be living and human and not sin (Ether 3: 2). At the same time, “the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.”(Alma 45: 16) 

For the Lord, victory is when we come to Him and ask to be changed.