A Mighty Fortress

Isaiah 40: 28-31

 28 ¶Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the^aeverlasting God, the Lord, the ^bCreator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no ^csearching of his understanding.

 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

 31 But they that ^await upon the Lord shall ^brenew their ^cstrength; they shall mount up with wings as ^deagles; they shall ^erun, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Psalms 18:1-2

 1 I will ^alove thee, O Lord, my strength.

 2 The Lord is my ^arock, and my ^bfortress, and my deliverer; my God, my ^cstrength, in whom I will ^dtrust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Samuel 22:2-3

 2 And he said, The Lord is my ^arock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

 3 The God of my rock; in him will I ^atrust: he is my ^bshield, and the horn of my salvation, my high ^ctower, and my ^drefuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

A mighty fortress is our God,
A tower of strength ne'er failing.
A helper mighty is our God,
O'er ills of life prevailing.
He overcometh all.
He saveth from the Fall.
His might and pow'r are great.
He all things did create.
And he shall reign for evermore.

Text: Martin Luther, 1483-1546, adapted

Music: Attr. to Martin Luther

As The Dust...

Humility

To make meek and teachable, or the condition of being meek and teachable. Humility includes recognizing our dependence upon God and desiring to submit to his will.

Helaman 3:35

35 Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.

Alma 34:38

38 That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

Helaman 12:8

8 For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God.

Be Thou Humble

Be thou humble in thy weakness, and the Lord thy God shall lead thee,
Shall lead thee by the hand and give thee answer to thy prayers.
Be thou humble in thy pleading, and the Lord thy God shall bless thee,
Shall bless thee with a sweet and calm assurance that he cares.

Be thou humble in thy calling, and the Lord thy God shall teach thee
To serve his children gladly with a pure and gentle love.
Be thou humble in thy longing, and the Lord thy God shall take thee,
Shall take thee home at last to ever dwell with him above.

Text and music: Grietje Terburg Rowley, b. 1927. © 1985 IRI

D&C 112:10

Be thou ^ahumble; and the Lord thy God shall ^blead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.

ETHER 12:27

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their^aweakness. I ^bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my ^cgrace is sufficient for all men that ^dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make ^eweak things become strong unto them.

...and with my song will I praise him

Psalms 28: 6-7

Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; 

my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: 

therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; 

and with my song will I praise him.

Securing Peace and Happiness

Excerpts from a talk by Richard G. Scott, 2006

The Atonement Can Secure Your Peace and Happiness

RICHARD G. SCOTT

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

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True, enduring happiness, with the accompanying strength, courage, and capacity to overcome the greatest difficulties, will come as you center your life in Jesus Christ.

Our Father in Heaven wants each of us to enjoy peace and happiness in mortal life. Our Master, Jesus Christ, and His prophets have taught how to have that peace and happiness, even in a world that is ever more challenging, with increasing conflict and an intense concentration of alluring temptations.

Let the Savior be your “lead” in life. He has said, “I am … the Rock of Heaven … ; whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall.” ¹ The Redeemer will safely lead you over the most difficult obstacles of life. His laws are absolutely secure anchors of protection that dispel fear and assure success in an otherwise dangerous world. Such a life will certainly provide you peace and happiness.

True, enduring happiness, with the accompanying strength, courage, and capacity to overcome the greatest difficulties, will come as you center your life in Jesus Christ. Obedience to His teachings provides a secure ascent in the journey of life. That takes effort. While there is no guarantee of overnight results, there is the assurance that, in the Lord’s time, solutions will come, peace will prevail, and happiness will be yours.

The challenges you face, the growth experiences you encounter, are intended to be temporary scenes played out on the stage of a life of continuing peace and happiness. Sadness, heartache, and disappointment are events in life. It is not intended that they be the substance of life. I do not minimize how hard some of these events can be. When the lesson you are to learn is very important, trials can extend over a long period of time, but they should not be allowed to become the confining focus of everything you do. Your life can and should be wondrously rewarding. It is your understanding and application of the laws of God that will give your life glorious purpose as you ascend and conquer the difficulties of life. That perspective keeps challenges confined to their proper place—stepping-stones to further growth and attainment.

The Lord is intent on your personal growth and development. Your progress is accelerated when you willingly allow Him to lead you through every growth experience you encounter, whether you welcome the experience or not. Trust in the Lord. Ask to be led by the Spirit to know His will. Be willing to accept it. You will then qualify for the greatest happiness and the heights of attainment from this mortal experience.

Peace and happiness are the precious fruits of a righteous life. They are only possible because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I will explain.

Each of us makes mistakes in life. They result in broken eternal laws. Justice is that part of Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness that maintains order. It is like gravity to a rock climber, ever present. It is a friend if eternal laws are observed. It responds to your detriment if they are ignored. Justice guarantees that you will receive the blessings you earn for obeying the laws of God. Justice also requires that every broken law be satisfied. When you obey the laws of God, you are blessed, but there is no additional credit earned that can be saved to satisfy the laws that you break. If not resolved, broken laws can cause your life to be miserable and would keep you from returning to God. Only the life, teachings, and particularly the Atonement of Jesus Christ can release you from this otherwise impossible predicament.

The demands of justice for broken law can be satisfied through mercy, earned by your continual repentance and obedience to the laws of God. Such repentance and obedience are absolutely essential for the Atonement to work its complete miracle in your life. The Redeemer can settle your individual account with justice and grant forgiveness through the merciful path of your repentance. Through the Atonement you can live in a world where justice assures that you will retain what you earn by obedience. Through His mercy you can resolve the consequences of broken laws.

The Atonement was a selfless act of infinite, eternal consequence, arduously earned alone, by the Son of God. ² Through it the Savior broke the bonds of death. It justifies our finally being judged by the Redeemer. It can prevent an eternity under the dominion of Satan. It opens the gates to exaltation for all who qualify for forgiveness through repentance and obedience.

Pondering the grandeur of the Atonement evokes the most profound feelings of awe, immense gratitude, and deep humility. Those impressions can provide you powerful motivation to keep His commandments and consistently repent of errors for greater peace and happiness.

I believe that no matter how diligently you try, you cannot with your human mind fully comprehend the eternal significance of the Atonement nor fully understand how it was accomplished. We can only appreciate in the smallest measure what it cost the Savior in pain, anguish, and suffering or how difficult it was for our Father in Heaven to see His Son experience the incomparable challenge of His Atonement. Even so, you should conscientiously study the Atonement to understand it as well as you can. You can learn what is needful to live His commandments, to enjoy peace and happiness in mortal life. You can qualify, with obedient family members, to live with Him and your Father in Heaven forever.

Lehi taught his son Jacob, “No flesh … can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah.”³

Jesus Christ possessed merits that no other being could possibly have. He was a God, Jehovah, before His birth in Bethlehem. His beloved Father not only gave Him His spirit body, but Jesus was His Only Begotten Son in the flesh. Our Master lived a perfect, sinless life and therefore was free from the demands of justice. He is perfect in every attribute, including love, compassion, patience, obedience, forgiveness, and humility. His mercy pays our debt to justice when we repent and obey Him. Since with even our best efforts to obey His teachings we will still fall short, because of His grace we will be “saved, after all we can do.” ⁴

I testify that with unimaginable suffering and agony at an incalculable price, the Savior earned His right to be our Redeemer, our Intermediary, our Final Judge. I know that He lives and that He loves you. Consistently make Him your “lead” in life. The secure anchors of His laws will assure safety and success as you scale the challenges you will face. You will not fall into serious transgression. Yours will be a life of peace and happiness crowned with exaltation in the celestial kingdom. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Angels Among Us

“I have spoken here of heavenly help, of angels dispatched to bless us in time of need. But when we speak of those who are instruments in the hand of God, we are reminded that not all angels are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with—here, now, every day. Some of them reside in our own neighborhoods. Some of them gave birth to us, and in my case, one of them consented to marry me. Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind.” 
― Jeffrey R. Holland

Psalms 103:21 

Bless ye the LORD, all [ye] his hosts; [ye] ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

Psalm 91:11

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

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.

-Jeffry R.Holland

In remembrance fo thy suffering...

1. 
   
   
   
   
   Mosiah 15:7-9
   
   
    Yea, even so he shall be led, ^acrucified, and slain, the ^bfleshbecoming subject even unto death, the ^cwill of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.
    And thus God breaketh the ^abands of death, having gained the^bvictory over death; giving the Son power to make ^cintercessionfor the children of men—
   Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon ^ahimself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and ^bsatisfied the demands of justice.
   
   
   

   In Remembrance of Thy Suffering

   In remembrance of thy suff'ring,
   Lord, these emblems we partake,
   When thyself thou gav'st an off'ring,
   Dying for the sinner's sake.
   We've forgiven as thou biddest
   All who've trespassed against us.
   Lord, forgive, as we've forgiven,
   All thou seest amiss in us.
2. Purify our hearts, our Savior;
   Let us go not far astray,
   That we may be counted worthy
   Of thy Spirit day by day.
   When temptations are before us,
   Give us strength to overcome.
   Always guard us in our wand'rings
   Till we leave our earthly home.
3. When thou comest in thy glory
   To this earth to rule and reign,
   And with faithful ones partakest
   Of the bread and wine again,
   May we be among the number
   Worthy to surround the board,
   And partake anew the emblems
   Of the suff'rings of our Lord.
   
   
   Text and music: Evan Stephens, 1854-1930
   
   
   
   
   

   John 6:35

   35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.....

Matthew 22:36-40

King James Version (KJV)

Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

John 13:35

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Thesaurus for word 'love'

Main Entry:	love
Part of Speech:	noun
Definition:	adoration; very strong liking
Synonyms:	affection, allegiance, amity, amour, appreciation, ardency,ardor,attachment, cherishing, delight, devotedness, devotion, emotion, enjoyment, fervor, fidelity, fondness,  friendship, inclination, involvement, like,  partiality,piety, regard,  respect, sentiment, soft spot, tenderness