Serve Him With All Your Heart and Soul

"But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul." Joshua 22:5

In this scripture we are admonished to love the Lord, follow His example, keep His commandments, cleave unto Him and serve Him with all our heart and soul. I think that the first three things are easy to do. We can love Him, follow His example and obediently keep His commandments, but cleave is something which signifies a strong, tight hold not just holding His hand but clinging on as if our life depended on it. Which in fact it does, our salvation depends on our willingness to hold tightly to Him and serving Him with our whole being. We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted or loosen our hold on the one being who can bring us safely home.

The Lord Requireth the Heart

"Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days." Doctrine & Covenants 64:34

The Lord requires my heart, he requires my willing mind and he requires my obedience. I believe that the Lord can make of me something much better and grander than I can make of myself. But in order for Him to make anything of me, I must give Him my heart, will and obedience.

Meaningful Change is Painful

I was thinking about the story by C. S. Lewis called The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. In the story Lucy & Edmond return to Narnia with a cousin named Eustace. Nobody much liked Eustace, he complained about everything and avoided being helpful. At one point Eustace is turned into a dragon. He learns that he has been very difficult to be around and essentially sees the truth about himself. He meets Aslan the lion (the Christ figure) and Alsan tells him to undress and wash in a well. Eustace scratches his skin and removes it three times, but each time there was another layer to remove. Aslan says" You will have to let me undress you." Eustace explains, "I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I lay just flat down on my back to let him do it. The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt."

I think this is how we change out hearts. We try to make small changes in ourselves. These changes are easy and really don't cost us much. We may be proud of ourselves for the progress we have made. However it is all nothing compared to the progress we can make if we allow the Savior to painfully remove the bad parts of us. I think that sometimes we don't turn to the Savior until we are desperate and it is only at that point we are willing to endure the pain that will refine us.

Turn the Heart of the Children to their Fathers

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children , and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." Malachi 4:5-6

I just have to add this scripture here. These are the last verses found in the Old Testament. Before the Second Coming of Christ, Elijah the prophet will come to the earth. This tradition and belief is practiced today among the Jewish community during Passover. A seat is placed at the table for the honored guest, Elijah. The door is left ajar to allow him to enter. This prophesy was fulfilled with the dedication of the Kirtland, Ohio Temple. Elijah came and restored the priesthood sealing power to the earth. By this sealing power families are sealed for time and eternity and generations are link together in family groups.

So what exactly makes us think about our extended families. What motivates us to seek our ancestors, to know them and find out who they were? I have found that as I turn to my ancestors and learn about them, they become real and a bond is created between us. Its like making a new friend. Once you know someone you never look at them the same, they become a part of you.

Let Zion Rejoice

"And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them." Moses 7:18

"Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion - THE PURE IN HEART; therefore, let Zion rejoice, while all wicked shall mourn." D & C 97:21

One heart and one mind, this description reminds me of the Godhead. They are one in purpose. I think we as married couples are meant to be of one heart and one mind. I don't think this means we must like all the same things and have the same interests, but I think in the grander picture we must be headed in the same direction leading our families. When a couple is of one heart and one mind they try together to do those things which will lead the family to God. When one is distracted and forgets to call for family prayer or scripture study the other is there as a fall back. The goal is the same, but the means of lifting, encouraging and inspiring are unique to each individual. We can truly rejoice as our families are on the path to becoming the pure in heart.

Do we know our Hearts?

"Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice - yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command - they are accepted of me." D & C 97:8

Honest and broken hearts, contrite spirits, willing to observe our covenants by sacrificing, all these are required by the Lord. As I am honest with myself and approach the Lord with a broken heart and contrite spirit, bending my will to the Lord's, keeping my covenants at the cost of sacrificing other good things, my sacrifices will be accepted of the Lord. I believe as I make covenants with the Lord part of my keeping these covenants will in turn require sacrifice. The sacrifice may be of time, things, or even desires.

Blessing for those that Love Him

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1 Corinthians 1:9

Our Heavenly Father loves us. He wants to bless us. He is willing to fill our cups to overflowing. In order to receive the fullness of His blessings we must do all that He requires. This is how we demonstrate our love for Him. "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15 Keeping the "Big 10" commandments is not enough. More commandments are listed out for us in the scriptures, others are given us during general conference by the mouth of living prophets and still others are personally revealed to us by the Spirit of revelation. The more we align ourselves with the Lord the more our Heavenly Father can bless us.

Facing Challenges

"Thus there began to be a mourning and lamentation in all the land because of these things, and more especially among the people of Nephi. And it came to pass that when I, Mormon, saw their lamentation and their mourning and their sorrow before the Lord, my heart did begin to rejoice within me, knowing the mercies and the long-suffering of the Lord, therefore supposing that he would be merciful unto them that they would again become a righteous people. But behold this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin. And they did not come unto Jesus with broken hearts and contrite spirits, but they did curse God, and wish to die. Mormon 2:11-14

This passage shows that oftentimes difficulties and challenges are aimed at returning our hearts towards the Lord. There are two ways to react when challenges come, one is to soften our heart and turn to the Lord the other is to remain with a hard heart and curse God.

Hard Hearts

"..I was forbidden to preach unto them, because of the hardness of their hearts; and because of the hardness of their hearts the land was cursed for their sake."
Mormon 1:17

Knowledge and blessings are withheld from those whose hearts are hard. Not only that, but the land may be "cursed" for the sake of those with hard hearts. I wonder if the curse is to help humble or bring to remembrance former knowledge and understanding. So, if I have a hard heart and everything is going badly, maybe its really a blessing to help me return to a soft heart.

New Year Changes

I've been thinking about goals and change at the beginning of this new year. I recently heard a talk about the meaning of repentance. As a young person I thought negatively about repentance. Repentance was for people who do bad things. However, repentance means to change direction. Of course this triggered my memory of Alma speaking about a change of heart. We all need to have a change of heart in order to be closer to the truth. Thinking about repentance in this was is easy. Weekly if not daily I can assess my direction and make the necessary changes in my life.

Turn to the Lord With All Your Heart

"Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, .."
Joel 2:12-13

Turn to the Lord with all my heart, also with fasting. Come unto the Lord with my whole soul and center of my being. Approach Him with an attitude of fasting, humility and sorrow for sins.
Turn to the Lord with a broken heart for the Lord is merciful, gracious and kind. A contrite heart is willing to learn and be newly formed in the hands of the Lord. It is easy to give your soul to a God who is merciful, gracious, slow to anger and is greatly kind. I am not afriad of being hurt, shamed or criticized. The Lord will kindly and patiently direct me to the changes that are needed in order to be the person He wants me to be.