For Jesus is My Light

 

And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

Mosiah 2: 41

The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.

Isaiah 60:19

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Psalm 16: 9. 11

For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:

Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers...

1 Peter 3: 10-12

There is sunshine in my soul today,

More glorious and bright

Than glows in any earthly sky,

For Jesus is my light.

Oh, there’s sunshine, blessed sunshine

When the peaceful happy moments roll.

When Jesus shows his smiling face,

There is sunshine in the soul.

There is music in my soul today,

A carol to my King,

And Jesus listening can hear

The songs I cannot sing.

Oh, there’s sunshine, blessed sunshine

When the peaceful happy moments roll.

When Jesus shows his smiling face,

There is sunshine in the soul.

There is springtime in my soul today,

For when the Lord is near,

The dove of peace sings in my heart,

The flow’rs of grace appear.

Oh, there’s sunshine, blessed sunshine

When the peaceful happy moments roll.

When Jesus shows his smiling face,

There is sunshine in the soul.

There is gladness in my soul today,

And hope and praise and love,

For blessings which he gives me now,

For joys “laid up” above.

Oh, there’s sunshine, blessed sunshine

When the peaceful happy moments roll.

When Jesus shows his smiling face,

There is sunshine in the soul.

Text: Eliza E. Hewitt, 1851–1920

Music: John R. Sweney, 1837–1899

You can make the pathway bright,

Fill the soul with heaven’s light,

If there’s sunshine in your heart;

Turning darkness into day,

As the shadows fly away,

If there’s sunshine in your heart today.

If there’s sunshine in your heart,

You can send a shining ray

That will turn the night to day;

And your cares will all depart,

If there’s sunshine in your heart today.

You can speak the gentle word

To the heart with anger stirred,

If there’s sunshine in your heart;

Tho it seems a little thing,

It will heaven’s blessings bring,

If there’s sunshine in your heart today.

If there’s sunshine in your heart,

You can send a shining ray

That will turn the night to day;

And your cares will all depart,

If there’s sunshine in your heart today.

You can do a kindly deed

To your neighbor in his need,

If there’s sunshine in your heart;

And his burden you will share

As you lift his load of care,

If there’s sunshine in your heart today.

If there’s sunshine in your heart,

You can send a shining ray

That will turn the night to day;

And your cares will all depart,

If there’s sunshine in your heart today.

You can live a happy life

In this world of toil and strife,

If there’s sunshine in your heart;

And your soul will glow with love

From the perfect Light above,

If there’s sunshine in your heart today.

If there’s sunshine in your heart,

You can send a shining ray

That will turn the night to day;

And your cares will all depart,

If there’s sunshine in your heart today.

Text: Helen Silcott Dungan, ca. 1899

Music: James M. Dungan, 1851–1925

Christ's Atonement and the Journey of Mortality

 

The grand objective of the Savior’s gospel was summarized succinctly 

by President David O. McKay (1873–1970): 

“The purpose of the gospel is … 

to make bad men good and good men better, and to change human nature.” 

Thus, the journey of mortality 

is to progress from bad to good to better 

and to experience the mighty change of heart—

to have our fallen natures changed. 

And they all cried with one voice, saying: 

Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; 

and also, we know of their surety and truth, 

because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, 

which has wrought a mighty change in us, 

or in our hearts, 

that we have no more disposition to do evil, 

but to do good continually.

Mosiah 5:2

For the natural man is an enemy to God, 

and has been from the fall of Adam, 

and will be, forever and ever, 

unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, 

and putteth off the natural man and 

becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, 

and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, 

willing to submit to all things 

which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, 

even as a child doth submit to his father.

Mosiah 3:19

I draw your attention to two specific phrases. 

First—“putteth off the natural man.” 

The journey from bad to good is the process of 

putting off the natural man or the natural woman in each of us. 

In mortality we all are tempted by the flesh. 

The very elements out of which our bodies were created 

are by nature fallen and ever subject to the pull of 

sin, corruption, and death. 

But we can increase our capacity to overcome the desires 

of the flesh and temptations 

“through the atonement of Christ.” 

When we make mistakes, as we transgress and sin, 

we can repent and become clean 

through the redeeming power of 

the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Second—“becometh a saint.” This phrase describes the continuation and second phase of life’s journey to make “good men better” or, in other words, to become more like a saint. This second part of the journey, this process of going from good to better, is a topic about which we do not study or teach frequently enough 

nor understand adequately.

I suspect that many Church members are much more familiar with the nature of the redeeming and cleansing power of the Atonement than they are with the strengthening and enabling power. It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for us—that is fundamental and foundational to the doctrine of Christ. But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to live in us—

not only to direct us but also to empower us.

Most of us know that when we do wrong things, we need help to overcome the effects of sin in our lives. The Savior has paid the price and made it possible for us to become clean through His redeeming power. Most of us clearly understand that the Atonement is for sinners. I am not so sure, however, that we know and understand that the Atonement is also for saints—for good men and women who are obedient, worthy, and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully. We may mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves, through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our obviously limited capacities.

The gospel of the Savior is not simply about avoiding bad in our lives; it also is essentially about doing and becoming good. And the Atonement provides help for us to overcome and avoid bad and to do and become good. Help from the Savior is available for the entire journey of mortality—

from bad to good to better and to change our very nature.

Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, 

being the first that should rise.

2 Nephi 2:8

The Savior has suffered not just for our iniquities but also for the inequality, the unfairness, the pain, the anguish, and the emotional distresses that so frequently beset us. There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, “No one understands. No one knows.” No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, succor—literally run to us—and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying upon only our own power.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, 

and I will give you rest.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” 

(Matthew 11:28–30).

I declare my witness of and appreciation for the infinite and eternal sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know the Savior lives. I have experienced both His redeeming power and His enabling power, and I testify that these powers are real and available to each of us. Indeed, “in the strength of the Lord” we can do and overcome all things as we press forward on our journey of mortality.

The King of Love My Shepherd Is  

The Tabernacle Choir

Excerpts from the talk....

The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality

By Elder David A. Bednar

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles