The Peace and Light of Jesus Christ, and how it comforts and warms us

The Light that comes from Jesus Christ, through the spirit, fills us with love, in a peaceful way. It brings a renewal of hope, and as light fills our souls, it can be an oasis in the desert. As I have felt the spirit at sacred times, like last night, I'm filled with gratitude for Christ the Lord, who makes it all possible. 

It's like cool water to dry lips, or like a warm blanket on a freezing night. His spirit refreshes us, and warms us when all other warmth seems gone.

He lives, and loves us, and will be there for us.

I often feel a heavy weight, one that at times feels too heavy to bear.

But with one breath of the spirit, it goes away, and I'm left with a feeling of gratitude yet again.

I know that God the Father lives, and that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the World. And I know that through the spirit. 

You can find out more about Christ at the website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or read scriptures, watch videos, and listen to talks on the Gospel Library Mobile App.

Picture is the sun coming over the Mountains.

Gratitude for Repentance, and more of my Testimony of Christ

I'm grateful for repentance. I strive to do the right thing, but it seems I often fall short. 

One thing that is strong, despite the buffetings, is my Testimony of Christ.

I'm so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, whose spirit I have felt at times in my life when I needed it most, at those times when the darkness seemed to envelop me.

I know that Christ lives, because of the spirit that comforts, strengthens, and lifts me.

Please come unto Christ. He lives.

Oh, at the bottom will be a snip of what the views on the blog were, before I went kind of ocd, got worried about technicalities, and deleted them. My testimony is still strong.

I know that Christ lives, and is my Savior and Redeemer. He is everything to me. And I hope and pray that he is for you.

His gospel has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and successive prophets and apostles.

The Book of Mormon, along with the Bible, is the word of God.

If you haven't already, I encourage you to discover more about the Love Christ has for you through his restored church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You can also get the Gospel Library Mobile App for Apple, Android (Google Play or Amazon), and Microsoft.

Here's the views of this blog currently. 772,922 of them. Most are from about ten years of doing it, and unfortunately are deleted, nearly all 2500 or so of them. It was a dumb thing to do, since my testimony was still strong at the time. And it's even stronger now. But mental illness and other factors can make you see things in a weird way.

Picture is one I took from over 10 years ago. The light of the Sun is constant and steady. Even during the night, it still is shining, waiting for the new dawn that the peace of Christ brings.

There is Hope in Christ, and my testimony

For the last few years, I've struggled with some severe OCD, Depression, and some physical challenges as well.

You get so fearful of doing the wrong thing that you go to extremes.

In part due to mental illness, I became worried about some concerns on this blog, and despite partially resolving them, on a whim, I deleted every post on it. Over 2,500 posts. And it wasn't due to lack of testimony, but for other reasons.

And I started to engage in the work of the Lord in other ways.

But things haven't been the same.

I'm sad about that now. This blog has been a labor of love for over a decade, and due to some mental illness and other reasons, most of the posts are gone.

To any of you who are struggling with mental illness, please know that there is hope and healing out there. Family History can help with that.

Testimony: I wanted to just post something now and share my testimony, and some insights from the past few years.

I know God lives, and that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer.

His love is there for you if you will just reach out to him for it.

As I have engaged in the work of the Lord, and immersed myself in the Gospel of Christ, I have found a renewal of hope in him, and as Alma, have felt to sing the song of redeeming love at times in between the darkness that has seemed to envelop me (Alma 5).

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is God's church on the earth. Russell M Nelson is God's Prophet on this earth at this time, and there are Apostles and Prophets and disciples of Christ who are called of God.

Authority to minister in holy callings has been restored as well. God's Authority has been restored.

I have felt the power of the Lord to heal our hearts, minds, bodies, and all else. And even though we go through trials, and we still sometimes have to face the darkness, we have the light of Life, even the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, to light our way.

Our leaders have stated that if we will focus on Christ, and make him the center of our lives, we will have his promises that he makes to Covenant Israel, which are outlined both in the temple, in the scriptures, and in the words of Modern-Day Prophets.

One thing I have experienced as well is that as I have read and reread the talks of President Nelson, I have found the peace of Christ, and have found a helpful roadmap to help get me through the rough times.

And I've become a better person in Christ. It has placed me more solidly on the covenant path.

One last bit, and that will be enough for now. Please, with all my heart, I encourage you to attend the temple, and engage in Family History Work and or Missionary Work.

It will be the Light in your world if you do. And this because of promises in the Scriptures from the Light of the World, even Jesus Christ.  

This blog will most likely have some reflections of mine over the past three years.

The invitation to all is to Come unto Christ.

Find out more at the website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

To close, here is a place you can view the first video of the Savior's Appearance in the Americas.

Picture is mine, taken years ago.

Two ways to adjust your focus towards Christ, and his promises

This post has two parts. First, as we see escalating attacks in the media and in person against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I have often marveled at the intensity and the frequency of these new attacks.

I won't mention them here, but I'm reminded that the Savior hasn't come again yet in part because there is still work to do.

And as it was with Paul, would not some of God's greatest works be from within the ranks of who we might think is our enemy?

Elder Anderson last Conference (Following Jesus, being a peacemaker) reminded us of a quote given by then Elder (Now President) Russel M Nelson back in 1994 (Teach us Tolerance and Love), which reads:

"Cannot boundary lines exist without becoming battle lines?"

We know that God will overcome all before he comes. However, perhaps we should pray for those who attack the church.

I do mean that. Did not the Lord say, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44)?

And the promise is "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:45). So we become more of who we need to become.

There are many things you could pray for. Here are a few examples.

1. Pray for their hearts to soften. The Lord did that many times in the Book of Mormon (Topical Guide, Soften).

2. Pray that the evil designs of the adversary might be thwarted. It is prophesied many times in holy writ that they eventually will be.

3. Pray that the work might continue on, and that more might come into the fold.

Then, the second part of this, after you pray about it, find some way to engage in the work of the Lord.

Go to the temple, focus on your church calling, spread the gospel, do some family history.

Try not to spend much of your time focusing on these negative things that can cause us to live in fear or anger, because that can become your reality, even if it is not the view the Lord wants you to have. He wants us to focus on him, as President Nelson has encouraged us to do several times. 

Focusing on the negative can skew our thinking so that we worry that evil will win. We need to change our focus.  

As we will focus more on the Lord, and do his work, we will be the recipients of promises such as "angels round about us to bear us up" (Doctrine and Covenants 84:88).

As we will spend our times focusing on our church callings, on member missionary work, Temple and Family History work, Service, and many other good things, we can have the blessings promised in the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood (Doctrine and Covenants 84:33-44).

We can have our own bit of heaven on earth, and our souls will feel of the power and love of the Lord. We will be a light to others. And the darkness of the world will not seem so oppressive.

Then we will have a better perspective. We will have more faith. We will have more confidence in the Lord's plan.

And we will be less alarmed by attacks on the church.

Follow the Prophets and Apostles. They will not lead us astray.

Closing, testimony, and the example of the Master: This Church is true, and is the Church of Jesus Christ again restored to the earth, never again to be taken away.

God loves each of his children. And I believe as we pray for those who are against the church, we become more like the Savior, who on the cross, in agony, prayed for the soldiers, saying "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

And even if they do know what they do, the God of all will not let them thwart this work. And we can engage in it peacefully, with hope and faith, and with a focus on Christ. Not on the opposition.

General Conference is coming up. Prepare for it by reading or watching talks from Last General Conference. 

Find out More about Christ, Read the Book of Mormon and Bible, Inspire your inbox, Talk with Missionaries, and more at the Church website for that.  

Find Book of Mormon and Bible videos and more on the Gospel Library Mobile App. Or do the same on the Book of Mormon App.

An Note about posts

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, I deleted all previous posts on this blog. No word yet on resuming posts. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true.