I have used this scripture before, but I feel it is appropriate to use it again. In Alma 7:11-12 it states that He toke upon Him the pains and the sicknesses of His people so He may know how to succor His people according to their infirmities. Again, the word "succor" more or less means to run to the aid, but how can He do that if the only thing His Atonement entailed was His death on the cross at Calvary. Let me tell you. I would like to begin by saying this, everything Jesus Christ did during His entire life and ministry was for the purpose of being able to "succor" us. He performed miracles, taught true doctrine and served the least of the people yet others still spat on Him and laughed at Him as He took His cross on His own back to the place of martyrdom. He knows what it feels like to be alone as He states, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) while on the cross. I asked the individual I previously mentioned above if they knew what the Garden of Gethsemane was and what had happened there. They told me they didn't know. I feel like this is a very important part of what the Atonement is, so I am going to explain it. In Luke 22:41-44 we read that it is here that Christ actually took upon Him the pains and sicknesses of the world. It talks about how Christ's agony was so great that He bled from His pores. I cannot imagine the amount of pain and anguish one must go through to bleed from their pores, but I can imagine it is more painful than anything you or I have experienced. Even if I may not have mentioned it on here, Christ has been through every negative thing you will go through in this life for the sole purpose of being able to "succor" you. That is charity for sure if you ask me! I love my Savior very much and cannot thank Him enough for all that He has done for me. Of this I testify in His sacred name, even Jesus Christ. Amen.
Showing posts with label Suffering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Suffering. Show all posts
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Power to Heal
Today, I hope to help you understand what the Atonement of Jesus Christ really means. Just the other day, I had someone tell me, "Well, I am so very grateful that Jesus died for me and I am forever in debt to Him for it, but that is nothing like being raped or losing a loved one, so how could He possibly be able to help me get through this?" I didn't realize that people actually thought that. In this post, I hope to have the Spirit help me teach you that ALL things that are unfair in life can be healed and made right through the Atonement of Christ.
I have used this scripture before, but I feel it is appropriate to use it again. In Alma 7:11-12 it states that He toke upon Him the pains and the sicknesses of His people so He may know how to succor His people according to their infirmities. Again, the word "succor" more or less means to run to the aid, but how can He do that if the only thing His Atonement entailed was His death on the cross at Calvary. Let me tell you. I would like to begin by saying this, everything Jesus Christ did during His entire life and ministry was for the purpose of being able to "succor" us. He performed miracles, taught true doctrine and served the least of the people yet others still spat on Him and laughed at Him as He took His cross on His own back to the place of martyrdom. He knows what it feels like to be alone as He states, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) while on the cross. I asked the individual I previously mentioned above if they knew what the Garden of Gethsemane was and what had happened there. They told me they didn't know. I feel like this is a very important part of what the Atonement is, so I am going to explain it. In Luke 22:41-44 we read that it is here that Christ actually took upon Him the pains and sicknesses of the world. It talks about how Christ's agony was so great that He bled from His pores. I cannot imagine the amount of pain and anguish one must go through to bleed from their pores, but I can imagine it is more painful than anything you or I have experienced. Even if I may not have mentioned it on here, Christ has been through every negative thing you will go through in this life for the sole purpose of being able to "succor" you. That is charity for sure if you ask me! I love my Savior very much and cannot thank Him enough for all that He has done for me. Of this I testify in His sacred name, even Jesus Christ. Amen.
I have used this scripture before, but I feel it is appropriate to use it again. In Alma 7:11-12 it states that He toke upon Him the pains and the sicknesses of His people so He may know how to succor His people according to their infirmities. Again, the word "succor" more or less means to run to the aid, but how can He do that if the only thing His Atonement entailed was His death on the cross at Calvary. Let me tell you. I would like to begin by saying this, everything Jesus Christ did during His entire life and ministry was for the purpose of being able to "succor" us. He performed miracles, taught true doctrine and served the least of the people yet others still spat on Him and laughed at Him as He took His cross on His own back to the place of martyrdom. He knows what it feels like to be alone as He states, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) while on the cross. I asked the individual I previously mentioned above if they knew what the Garden of Gethsemane was and what had happened there. They told me they didn't know. I feel like this is a very important part of what the Atonement is, so I am going to explain it. In Luke 22:41-44 we read that it is here that Christ actually took upon Him the pains and sicknesses of the world. It talks about how Christ's agony was so great that He bled from His pores. I cannot imagine the amount of pain and anguish one must go through to bleed from their pores, but I can imagine it is more painful than anything you or I have experienced. Even if I may not have mentioned it on here, Christ has been through every negative thing you will go through in this life for the sole purpose of being able to "succor" you. That is charity for sure if you ask me! I love my Savior very much and cannot thank Him enough for all that He has done for me. Of this I testify in His sacred name, even Jesus Christ. Amen.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Scourged and Crucified
Continuing with my Easter theme on this "Good Friday", I am brought to the Savior being scourged and crucified. Jesus Christ had the power to stop everything that happened to Him at any time he very well pleased, but He knew that this sacrifice of Himself was essential for the rest of us. I can't emphasize this enough, Christ was so selfless that He gave His life for us. He loves us so much to suffer the pains of death. His life was made short in order for us to be saved.
"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:3-5.)
The Savior continued to suffer for our sins when He allowed Himself to be crucified. On the cross, He allowed Himself to die, and His body was then laid in a tomb. I love my Savior so very much and know that I could not make it through life without his redeeming power. I ask y'all to remember the Savior in your lives especially during this Easter season.
"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:3-5.)
The Savior continued to suffer for our sins when He allowed Himself to be crucified. On the cross, He allowed Himself to die, and His body was then laid in a tomb. I love my Savior so very much and know that I could not make it through life without his redeeming power. I ask y'all to remember the Savior in your lives especially during this Easter season.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Suffering in Gethsemane
How much do you appreciate Jesus Christ? Do you love Him as much as He loves you? Does your life show it? With Easter approaching, I though I would focus my next few posts on what the Savior, Jesus Christ, did for us the few days preceding His resurrection. These questions I asked are questions that I think are very important for us to think about each and every day, multiple times a day even. How we answer these questions will tell us how much we need to change in order for Christ's Atonement to have any real effect on us.
Jesus Christ atoned for our sins. To atone means to suffer the penalty for sins, thereby removing the effects of sin from the repentant sinner and allowing him or her to be reconciled to God. We know that Jesus was the only one capable of doing this and because He did so, we are able to enjoy the benefits that come from it. His sacrifice is free to all who accept him as their Savior. All he asks of us is to have faith in Him, repent and try our best to live worthy lives. We do not need to ask him to be our Savior, because He has already suffered for us; we just have to accept Him and His suffering for us. One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible describes His suffering:
"And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:41-44.)
Jesus Christ atoned for our sins. To atone means to suffer the penalty for sins, thereby removing the effects of sin from the repentant sinner and allowing him or her to be reconciled to God. We know that Jesus was the only one capable of doing this and because He did so, we are able to enjoy the benefits that come from it. His sacrifice is free to all who accept him as their Savior. All he asks of us is to have faith in Him, repent and try our best to live worthy lives. We do not need to ask him to be our Savior, because He has already suffered for us; we just have to accept Him and His suffering for us. One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible describes His suffering:
"And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:41-44.)
I know that Jesus Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for me. I know that through him and his sacrifice I can be saved for the things I do wrong. I know that if each man was the only man to walk the Earth, Christ still would have done what He did. I love my Savior so much. I ask you to ponder those questions I asked before, and if Christ is not in your life as much as you would like I invite you to change that. Let Christ change your life forever.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Why Pain and Suffering?
If God loves us, why does he allow is to suffer through pain and sorrow? This is a question I have heard many times while serving as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Here are some of the answers I have found during my service and throughout my life so far.
One of the things that pain and sorrow does for us is that it allows us to grow. Much like working out breaks down our muscles and makes them sore, trials and hardships can be taxing to us spiritually. However, when we work through those trying times, our spiritual selves will come out on top, and we will be stronger than ever before. It is analogous to the way our muscles rebuild themselves after an intense workout. No pain, no gain, as the saying goes.
"Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.
Nevertheless—whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people." (Mosiah 23:21-22.)
Another thing, I don't necessarily think that people are inherently evil, there are just those people who don't understand what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. Needless to say, bad things do happen to good people. These "bad people", for lack of a better term, when wronged, need to have their revenge. If God was to make sure nothing bad ever happened to us that would mean He would have to stop all of the "bad people" from doing bad things. If God was to do that, He would be taking away our agency, which is the freedom to choose. When people do bad things, they are accountable for what they did. If God was to stop them from doing anything, then how could He punish them; they didn't do anything wrong. Thus, good people have to go through the pains and sorrows caused by the wickedness of others.
Finally, there must be opposition in ALL things. We cannot experience happiness without knowing what it is like to be sad. If life was all puppy dogs and biscuits, we would take it for granted very quickly. We would simply exist in a state of limbo, going around our lives in a rather pointless existence, for without pain and sorrow, neither would there be any happiness. I like to think of it this way. Imagine the tastiest cookie you have ever eaten. If that was the only cookie you ever had, you would expect all cookies to taste like that and it would be nothing special. It takes eating something like a salty cookie, which is clearly nowhere as delicious, to realize how delicious that first cookie actually was.
I have found that it is easier to just accept the trials God places before me and ask Him for the help that He is always willing to give us. We can get through our hard times if we just trust in God and rely on the fact that He knows what He is doing.
One of the things that pain and sorrow does for us is that it allows us to grow. Much like working out breaks down our muscles and makes them sore, trials and hardships can be taxing to us spiritually. However, when we work through those trying times, our spiritual selves will come out on top, and we will be stronger than ever before. It is analogous to the way our muscles rebuild themselves after an intense workout. No pain, no gain, as the saying goes.
"Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.
Nevertheless—whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people." (Mosiah 23:21-22.)
Another thing, I don't necessarily think that people are inherently evil, there are just those people who don't understand what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. Needless to say, bad things do happen to good people. These "bad people", for lack of a better term, when wronged, need to have their revenge. If God was to make sure nothing bad ever happened to us that would mean He would have to stop all of the "bad people" from doing bad things. If God was to do that, He would be taking away our agency, which is the freedom to choose. When people do bad things, they are accountable for what they did. If God was to stop them from doing anything, then how could He punish them; they didn't do anything wrong. Thus, good people have to go through the pains and sorrows caused by the wickedness of others.
Finally, there must be opposition in ALL things. We cannot experience happiness without knowing what it is like to be sad. If life was all puppy dogs and biscuits, we would take it for granted very quickly. We would simply exist in a state of limbo, going around our lives in a rather pointless existence, for without pain and sorrow, neither would there be any happiness. I like to think of it this way. Imagine the tastiest cookie you have ever eaten. If that was the only cookie you ever had, you would expect all cookies to taste like that and it would be nothing special. It takes eating something like a salty cookie, which is clearly nowhere as delicious, to realize how delicious that first cookie actually was.
I have found that it is easier to just accept the trials God places before me and ask Him for the help that He is always willing to give us. We can get through our hard times if we just trust in God and rely on the fact that He knows what He is doing.
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