Monday, September 15, 2014

Our Gifts


Timothy 4:14
14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.



Moroni 10:8-18

And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.
 For behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom;
 10 And to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
 11 And to another, exceedingly great faith; and to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
 12 And again, to another, that he may work mighty miracles;
 13 And again, to another, that he may prophesy concerning all things;
 14 And again, to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits;
 15 And again, to another, all kinds of tongues;
 16 And again, to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues.
 17 And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will.
 18 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that every good gift cometh of Christ.

Doctrine and Covenants 6:11
1And if thou wilt inquire, thou shalt know mysteries which are great and marvelous; therefore thou shalt exercise thy gift, that thou mayest find out mysteries, that thou mayest bring many to the knowledge of the truth
(All art by gifted artist J. Keith Richards. Visit his web site here)

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.

'Tis the gift to be loved and that love to return,
'Tis the gift to be taught and a richer gift to learn,
And when we expect of others what we try to live each day,
Then we'll all live together and we'll all learn to say,

'Tis the gift to have friends and a true friend to be,
'Tis the gift to think of others not to only think of "me",
And when we hear what others really think and really feel,
Then we'll all live together with a love that is real.[9]

Tis the gift to be loving, tis the best gift of all
Like a quiet rain it blesses where it falls
And with it we will truly believe
Tis better to give than it is to receive

'tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be fair
'tis a gift to wake and breathe the morning air
and each day we walk on the path that we choose
'tis a gift we pray we never shall lose


Sunday, September 7, 2014

Rise Up!




"....our destiny is not determined by the number of 

 times we stumble but by the number of times we rise

up, dust ourselves off, and move forward."



Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise.
-Anonymous

Rise Up, Ye Saints, Rejoice!

Rise up, ye Saints, rejoice!
And let your hearts take wing!
Add to the heav’nly choir your voice
As all creation sings.
The long-awaited day
Has dawned o’er all the earth.
And death and sorrow now give way
To glorious rebirth.
Rise up and praise the Son
Who light and hope does give.
Our Savior, the Atoning One,
Has died that we might live.
Yea, Christ did come to save,
To break the chains of sin,
To conquer sorrow and the grave,
And new life usher in.
Ye who have suffered loss,
Shake off despair and gloom.
Look up and see the vacant cross,
Behold the empty tomb.
Yea, Christ has conquered death,
And all shall be restored.
Our loved ones shall again draw breath,
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Rise up, all ye who mourn
And lay aside your pain.
For Christ has all our sorrow borne
That we may smile again.
Our tears He’ll gently dry,
As we behold His face.
We’ll bid all mortal cares goodbye
And glory in His grace.


"Every person, young and old, has had his own personal 
experience with falling. Falling is what we mortals do. But as
 long as we are willing to rise up again and continue on the
 path toward the spiritual goals God has given us, we can learn
 something from failure and become better and happier as a
 result.
My dear brethren, my dear friends, there will be times when
 you think you cannot continue on. Trust the Savior and His
 love. With faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the power and
 hope of the restored gospel, you will be able to walk tall and
 continue on."