God Never Leaves Us Alone

“Behold I say unto you, Nay; for … 

it is by faith 

that angels appear and minister unto men. …

for behold, 

they are subject unto [Christ], 

to minister according to the word of his command, 

showing themselves unto them of strong faith 

and a firm mind 

in every form of godliness.” 

Moroni 7:30

"From the beginning 

down through the dispensations, 

God has used angels as His emissaries 

in conveying love 

and concern 

for His children."*

"God never leaves us alone, 

never leaves us unaided 

in the challenges that we face."*

"Usually such beings are not seen. 

Sometimes they are. 

But seen or unseen they are always near. 

Sometimes their assignments are very grand 

and have significance for the whole world. 

Sometimes the messages are more private. 

Occasionally 

the angelic purpose is to warn. 

But most often it is to comfort, 

to provide some form of merciful attention, 

guidance in difficult times."* 

"Matthew records in his gospel 

that after Satan had tempted Christ in the wilderness 

“angels came and ministered unto him.”⁸ 

Even the Son of God, 

a God Himself, 

had need for heavenly comfort 

during His sojourn in mortality. 

And so 

such ministrations will be to the righteous 

until the end of time."*

And whoso receiveth you, 

there I will be also, 

for I will go before your face. 

I will be on your right hand 

and on your left, 

and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, 

and mine angels round about you, 

to bear you up.   

D&C 84:88

"My beloved brothers and sisters, 

I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. 

In doing so I am testifying that God 

never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. 

“[N]or will he, so long as time shall last, 

or the earth shall stand, 

or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved.”¹³ 

On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from God, 

shut out from heaven, 

lost, alone in dark and dreary places. 

Often enough that distress can be of our own making, 

but even then 

the Father of us all is 

watching 

and assisting. 

And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, 

seen and unseen, 

known and unknown, 

mortal and immortal."*

*The Ministry of Angels

By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

2008

Finding Jesus Christ, Our Redeemer

"There’s a short verse in (the book of )John that I love. It tells of a group of outsiders who make their way to a disciple with an important request. “Sir,” they say, “we would [like to] see Jesus.”

"That is what we all want—we want to see Jesus for who He is and to feel His love."*

"I thought my life was about following rules and measuring up to abstract standards. I knew God loved you perfectly but didn’t feel it myself. I’m afraid I thought more about getting into heaven than being with my Heavenly Father.

You may struggle to see God as a loving Father. You may look heavenward and see not the face of love and mercy but a thicket of rules through which you must wend your way. Perhaps you believe God rules in His heavens, speaks through His prophets, and loves your sister, but you secretly wonder whether He loves you. Perhaps you have felt the iron rod in your hand but not yet felt your Savior’s love to which it leads."*

"If you, like me, can sometimes only lip-synch but not “sing the song of redeeming love,”⁵ what can we do? "*

"When I realized that I was spiritually face-blind, that I saw rules but not the face of the Father’s mercy, I knew it wasn’t the Church’s fault. It wasn’t God’s, and it didn’t mean everything was lost; 

it’s something we all have to learn. "*

"Even the early witnesses to the Resurrection often came face-to-face with the resurrected Lord but did not recognize Him; from the Garden Tomb to the shores of Galilee, His first followers “saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.”

 They had to learn to recognize Him, and so do we."*

John 21:4 4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus

"I also read and reread and reread the four Gospels—this time reading not to extract rules but to see who He is and what He loves. And, in time, I was swept away by the river of love that flowed from Him."*

"Jesus announced at the outset that He had come “to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.”This wasn’t just a to-do list or good PR;   it is the shape of His love."*

Doctrine and Covenants 88:49–50 49 The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not; nevertheless, the day shall come when you shall comprehend even God, being quickened in him and by him.50 Then shall ye know that ye have seen me, that I am, and that I am the true light that is in you, and that you are in me.....

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.Doctrine and Covenants 93:1 1   Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;

*"Sir, We Would Like to See Jesus" By Elder Robert M. Daines

Of the Seventy, October 2023