God is Good!

Sometimes I receive the clearest revelation when I am in the shower...I don't know why, maybe because there are basically no distractions and I am usually singing hymns...yes I do sing in the shower...don't judge :) Any-who. . . Last night when I was in the shower I was thinking about how good God had been to me that day, seeing all the things that he helped me with (homework especially and being generally productive) and I just realized that God has always been good to me. Always. And, if He always HAS been good to me, then He always WILL be good to me. Just a nice reminder that I can trust God. He has always been trustworthy, so even though it is hard sometimes, I can trust Him now and I will always be able to trust Him!

How to be Filled

You know that feeling, where you feel kind of empty inside? A kind of loneliness that doesn't really go away, but it isn't REALLY loneliness because you can feel it even when you are surrounded by the ones you love the most? Where there is a place that you want to be filled but isn't? You try to fill it with more social activity or more study, or any manner of things, but it just doesn't quite work? Well sometimes I feel that way, and sometimes there are times when that part of me is completely filled and I am simply happy. A inner happiness that does fill that part of you.

Recently in my Book of Mormon class we have been studying how the Book of Mormon teaches the Doctrine of Christ, namely Faith, Repentance, Baptism, partaking of the Sacrament, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End.  As I have been doing the reading I have noticed something that I absolutely love about the scriptures relating to these different parts of the Doctrine of Christ. What I love is the word 'fill'. In so many scriptures it talks about how these simple principles and ordinances will FILL you, for example . . .

Alma 36:20 "And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!" This is what Alma described feeling after he had excercized faith and repented.

and...

3 Nephi 19:13 "And it came to pass when they were all baptized and had come up out of the water, the Holy Ghost did fall upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire." ***

I love the fact that there is a part of me that is just waiting to be filled by the Holy Ghost, that I can literally have a member of the Godhead with me at ALL times. I know that by striving to adhere to the simple teachings of Jesus Christ and growing in our faith in him, we will be filled. We don't have to be empty or lonely and having the gentle influence of the Holy Ghost filling us makes everything more bearable. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I am so grateful that he inspired so many of his Prophets in the Book of Mormon to teach His simple truths so that we may have a more perfect fullness of joy in life.

*** for more scriptures about being filled through the Gospel of Jesus Christ see...

3 Nephi 18:9
Alma 29:10
Alma 19:30
3 Nephi 26:17
3 Nephi 12:6
3 Nephi 20:9
Moroni 8:17
Mosiah 21:28

The Atonement

My mind has been on the Atonement of Jesus Christ a lot recently. It seems everywhere I go I am hearing all about the Atonement. I have had Relief Society lessons, Religion Class lessons, English spiritual thoughts (3 of these have been focused solely on Alma 7:11-13), My cousin's blogpost about the Atonement working in her life, and even more. This really shouldn't surprise me because as Joseph Smith said... 

"The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it."

The Atonement truly is at the center of our religion, without it we wouldn't have a religion to begin with. We would be lost forever, becoming angels to a devil (2 Nephi 9:9) and with no incentive to make good choices. 

Recently the thought that has been weighing most on my mind is in regards to the "Infinite" aspect of the Atonement. Why that aspect do you ask? Well, let me tell you. Once upon a time while I was on my mission we had a lesson set up with a potential investigator. He was somebody that previous missionaries had talked to but hadn't taught, so we thought we would introduce ourselves and see if he was interested in learning more. When we got to his house he was very friendly and welcoming. He was very strong in his faith, but liked to talk about religion. We had a nice conversation for the most part, but something that he talked to us about really bothered me. It was something that I disagreed with very strongly but never had the opportunity to discuss in more detail. He said something along the lines of . . .

Christ only suffered for the people that he knew would repent and accept his sacrifice. 

I know those weren't his exact words, but that was the gist of his belief. In my heart I immediately disagreed but I didn't feel like I could articulate my thoughts and beliefs clearly enough and didn't wan't to end up bible bashing so my companion and I didn't say much on that score, but it has stuck with me ever since. 

God loves all of his children, there is no one that has ever lived, that will ever live, or that lives now that is not loved by God. He sent His Son to this world to suffer and die because he loves his children. In Doctrine and Covenants 19:16 it says "For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;" Christ came to atone for the sins of ALL mankind. His Atonement is not just infinite in that it covers each of our individual sins and weaknesses and trials and burdens and sicknesses and temptations, it covers ALL of that for EVERY individual that ever has, does, or will exist. I just can't believe that a God who is all loving would provide a way for only those who would accept his son. It is such an important thing in understanding the character of Christ to know that he suffered even for those that would reject him, because otherwise they would be doomed. They would never have a chance and I know that God would never do that to even one of His children. To believe that Christ didn't suffer for all is to believe that God doesn't love all His children and that Christ's atonement is not infinite. 

I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have and that has been strengthened by this study that God does love each and every one of us and that Christ's atonement really can and does radiate its glorious light into ALL.

Alma 34:14 "And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal."