Rising Up

For years the lie circled in my mind, hiding the truth it didn’t want me to find,

To who I was it made me blind, it kept my thoughts always confined,

To keep me down and continue the heist, until the moment I found Christ,

Then little by little, it cracked my wall, though brick by brick, I’d placed them all

Christ’s light crept in to my soul within, to shake it loose from the chains therein

Until the truth exploded free! it showed me who and what I could be!

Bursting and shattering what I thought I knew! Expanding my entire view!

Breaking through and starting anew, my worth no longer hidden askew

No more limits, no more fear, no more darkness will dwell here!

It starts now! My place is here, on this earth, Its’ now so clear!

OUR day is here, OUR time is now, to disavow and disallow,

The darkness that has until now, held its ground and held you down,

Show your strength, and bring YOUR light, let it roar like a lion with all your might!

To force the tide right back around, darkness will crumble to the ground,

The very thing that once held you bound, light a match and burn it down!

You’ve found your fire! You’ve found yourself, you’ve placed fear into fear itself!

That’s the truth and that’s the way, that’s the power WE can convey!

To evil’s dismay we display, that we stand fearless, and we’re here to stay!

We will not move, we will not sway, in truth we stay and Christ obey

You’ve done it before, now do it again, lets rage war against evil and sin!

The first battle was won, now onward relentless, forward forever until we are breathless!

So fight this fight, to help everyone to see, that we are the lock and Christ is the key

To unlock more for you and me, than what we know and currently see,

He is, and was, and ever will be, the strength and power for you and me

He’s the Master and he’s the way, he’s the hope in every day,

In every way, he lights the way, with him I’ll stay and never stray,

Until the end when I see his face, and we embrace, and all pains erase,

Because through his grace, I’ll be home again, and my life can truly begin!

(Please read Part 2 of 3: “The Truth” before this one)

Part 3 of 3: Unleashing the Truth!

So let me start with the last questions I asked on the previous post: “Why? Why does the adversary make such an effort to bring you down, and stop you?! Why does he so relentlessly try to hold you down?”

I know exactly why…

Because he is utterly and completely terrified of you! Read that again if you need to. Am I saying that the self proclaimed “God of this world”, even the very source of all evil and all darkness is beyond nervous, beyond threatened, but absolutely terrified of you!? Yes! That’s exactly what I’m saying! He knows he doesn’t stand a chance against you head on! His only option of stopping you is mind games and the exact opposite of the truth! He wants you to believe that you can’t take him on, stop him, resist him on or overpower him! He wants you to think and truly in your heart believe that you are weak, alone, helpless and incapable. He wants to hide the very truth about you, from you! His hope is to tell you often enough, and loud enough that you believe this lie. He knows that if he can change your own belief of your own self worth that you, not he, but you can become your own biggest obstacle. You will essentially stop your own progression through believing your not capable of it. How do I know this?… because I was there once, and it used to work on me! The fact is, his whole plot is based on a lie. The truth is he knows that you are capable of the same things as Moroni (in Alma 48:17)

“Yea, verily verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and every would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men”.

Doesn’t that make our situations the ultimate irony then? That despite our doubt, despite the fact that we may not even know of, or believe in ourselves or our potential, or even see our worth, that 3 others know it completely!? Who are those 3? They are God, Jesus Christ, and Satan. They know you even if you don’t know you. Sherri Dew once said: “the only thing the power of God and the power of Satan have in common is neither can influence us unless we allow them to”. So who’s power are we letting influence us? Who are we listening to?

So am I really saying you can not only overcome the adversary, but discover who you really are with Christ, and that you are someone incredibly capable, strong, powerful, and a force for good!? Am I saying that we are all capable of much more than we now realize? Am I saying that you, yes you, are a valued, loved, important, and cherished treasure of our Father in Heaven who loves you more deeply than words can explain?! Am I saying that we are all crucial parts of something much bigger?

Yes! Do you realize where you came from!? Every single one of us has already withstood the greatest battle between good and evil the history of the world has seen to this point! We have already fought and defeated not only the adversary but his army as well! We don’t come to this earth to gain our worth, we bring it with us! We’re here to PROVE to ourselves what our Father in Heaven already knows! We’re here to find that fire, that strength, that ability, those gifts and talents that are ALREADY within us and when we find them, USE THEM and LIVE THEM! Do you not realize that we are in the last hours even the last minutes and seconds of the last days! That alone is tribute to your strength! The mere fact that you exist, and are alive, and were chosen to come down to earth now in these times proves your worth! You were chosen now, because you are built for now! You are more than capable to not only withstand, but thrive in these last days! In the last seconds of a close game, does the coach put in the bench warmers or water boy?! NO! He puts in the best of the best, those who have the strength, determination, focus and endless resolve to see, achieve and insure victory! That is who you are!

The following are quotes from Ezra Taft Benson, March 4, 1979 in a talk called “In His Steps”

For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the Second Coming of the Lord. Every previous gospel dispensation has drifted into apostasy, but ours will not….

God has saved for the final inning some of his strongest children, who will help bear off the Kingdom triumphantly. And that is where you come in, for you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God…

All through the ages the prophets have looked down through the corridors of time to our day. Billions of the deceased and those yet to be born have their eyes on us. Make no mistake about it—you are a marked generation. There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time as there is of us. Never before on the face of this earth have the forces of evil and the forces of good been as well organized…

Which makes it all the more important for us to wake up to who we really are and prepare ourselves and our children. This is who we are and what we are. This is what we can be with Christ! Sure the adversary is growing and recruiting soldiers every single day but guess what… SO ARE WE! The game changer is we know how this ends. The question is where will you be when the final buzzer sounds?

Regardless of what you believe or what you think. The truth is, the fact is, you are of infinite worth, and your individual potential is just as limitless! You are needed, and you are important! That is your worth! That is your potential! Your true worth doesn’t come from anyone else but from God and Christ. If you are looking for true and lasting happiness from the world, and gauging and determining your self-worth from facebook, Instagram, friends, family, your own perceptions or whether or not you have a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife, what your Church calling is or has been, or depending on how much wealth you have accumulated you will not find true joy and happiness. Why? Because it’s not the source of joy and happiness! I say that because I’ve tried it that way and it doesn’t work. I can also testify that I know who and where the source of true joy and happiness is… God and Jesus Christ. I think the first step to becoming truly happy and finding our true worth and purpose on earth is to first look in the right place for it.

With that understand that we that we are all unique! We are all individual with different likes and dislikes, gifts, talents, abilities, hobbies, interests, backgrounds, experiences, struggles, and stories and all these are for a very specific purpose. You are special and with your unique set of gifts and insight there are people that you, and you alone can influence. Maybe it’s a friend, family member, co-worker, an entire nation, or a complete stranger you will run into next Thursday at the grocery store… I don’t know, but what I do know is you are here because you have a job to do, we all do. You have people to help, lift and love. It may be an act of service, simply listening to someone, or something as simple as a smile. Never underestimate what God can do with a simple smile or act of love. I’ve been on both ends of something that simple and will testify they were moments I will never forget! God needs you and can and will use you if you let him.

You are unique for a purpose. We can’t compare ourselves and our life circumstances to anyone else, because we aren’t them! We’re not supposed to be them! We’re supposed to be us, and we need to be us! If we were all the same how effective would we be? Let me put that question into perspective: Can you build a house with only a hammer? How about only a nail? A Screwdriver? A tape measure? A saw? No! The hammer needs the nails just like the wood needs the saw. The screw needs the screwdriver and all the tools together need the contractor to make a home!

Do not let the adversary convince you to be ashamed or embarrassed of your differences or of who you are. Satan will try to downplay, or degrade the very tools and gifts, talents or traits that are unique to you. Satan will attempt to fool you into hiding the very gifts that our Heavenly Father gave us that make us special!

I  personally believe that if we had achieved everything our Father in Heaven had for us to achieve… if we had completed everything we had been sent here to this earth to accomplish we wouldn’t be here. But yet, here we are. What if every day when you wake up you ask yourself a simple question: “God has given me another day, why?” That’s not a question for me to answer for you… that’s a question for you to answer for yourself!

I want you to try one more thing for me. Insert your name in place of Moroni in the scripture mentioned prior and now again below. (Alma 48:17). Do this every single morning and see how that changes your day, then your week, then your month, then your life. Set it as your goal and what you strive toward.

“Yea, verily verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto (insert your name here), behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men”.

So my hope and prayer is that we can all wake up to our potential and worth. Let us work hard to get rid of the boundaries that we place on ourselves to become more and become better! Let us make a powerful choice to be the best of what we can be, no matter what that is! To see what power, faith, and potential we have for good! Let us rise up to our callings and blessings and start to view ourselves through God’s eyes… because when we do, we’ll find the truth.

(Please read Part 1 of 3: “The Mirage” before this one)

Part 2 of 3: The Truth

When I say “self worth” is under attack like never before what do I even mean? I mean that Satan is ruthlessly and relentless trying to alter the way you feel about yourself and how you view yourself to ultimately steer what you believe about yourself in your heart. He is trying to slow you down, push you down, and keep you down because this can alter your inner relationship with who you really are, and who you think you are. This will change how you think, act, speak, serve, and the very life you live.

Is Satan being successful? Well… Unfortunately, yes he is, especially with our youth.

How many of us, or our youth at one point or another, or even this very second have felt or feel that we aren’t good enough. That we don’t measure or stack up. That we’re aren’t pretty enough, smart enough, talented enough, or good enough in some way, or even any way? How many of feel that we’re too short, to tall, to thin, or not thin enough? How many of us feel like everyone else has it all figured out or that they are more spiritual, more gifted, more talented, or a better parent or spouse, or more deserving of love than we are? How many of us have felt that we aren’t worth much… or even worth anything at all? How many of us have felt, or do feel, like we don’t even matter?

Let me tell you something… I have been there, I know what that feels like. I know what it feels like to think that for years on end. I know what it feels like to feel that so often that you start to not only believe it, but also accept it. I know what it feels like to be scared to tell anyone because you fear they would know your weaknesses and faults, and wouldn’t like, love or even accept you because of them. I know what it feels like to think that isolation is safer, when in reality it’s not. I know exactly what it feels like to be incapable of accepting or feeling love for yourself, and also what it feels like to refuse love because you don’t feel like you deserve or are even worth it… not only from others but from, and especially from God. I know what it feels like to gather 100% of self worth from my own perception of how I thought others thought of me… when the kicker is I gathered that perception through the adversary’s eyes which skewed the truth! In a nutshell, I realized looking back now… I took the adversaries smear campaign of myself to myself hook line and sinker!

Now, let me tell you something else I learned that took me about a decade to figure out… That way of thinking and looking at life wrong. It’s untrue. In fact, it’s more than that, it’s complete and total bull crap. Why? Because it comes from Satan, and because it comes from him, it’s completely, totally, unarguably, undeniably, and inevitably false. In fact, it’s beyond simply “false”… it’s the exact opposite of the truth!

When you are told or feel that you are weak… it’s because you’re STRONG!

When you are told or feel that you are worthless… it’s because you’re PRICELESS!

When you are told or feel that you are defective… it’s because you’re UNIQUE & PERFECT!

When you are told or feel that you are not needed… It’s because you’re CRUCIAL!

If you feel like you can’t or won’t measure up… it’s because YOU CAN AND YOU WILL!

If you don’t feel you are worth much or anything at all, I want you to realize something. God himself sent his Son Jesus Christ to earth to not only provide the perfect example of how to live for YOU, but to perform the single greatest act this world has ever or will ever see, the atonement… FOR YOU! Christ himself who could have declined at any time, willingly went through humiliation, pain, agony and suffering beyond our mortal and physical comprehension even unto death just to have the opportunity to live with YOU again! YOU in the eyes of God himself and his Son Jesus Christ were and always will be worth it! That is how important, needed, loved and appreciated you are!

What if in the very moments of the most intense fear, agony, doubt, and panic, when Christ himself, even the alpha and omega himself was in doubt and even trembled, bled, and wanted to turn back… what if he thought of you and how much YOU meant to him? What if the mere thought of YOU gave him hope and peace? What if you, YES YOU, are who sustained him in those moments? What if you in the ultimate reversal of roles were who gave your God, even your Redeemer the strength to go on despite the monumental physical and emotional cost!? I wouldn’t doubt that for a second!

The world will try to tell you what matters most is what’s on the outside. The world will focus on the outward appearance and ignore the single most important thing about you… your heart!

Another thing I have learned from my experience is this: When we feel unworthy of love, or appreciation it’s because we refuse to forgive ourselves even though our Savior will or already has. With that in mind, I want to ask you 3 questions, and I want you to truly think about them. Read them a couple times if you need to!

1- Who are you to deny love to who God loves?

2- Who are you to deny forgiveness to one of God’s most prized creations?

3- Who are you to deny happiness and joy to one of God’s greatest and most precious masterpieces… yourself?!

The fact is we all sin. We have all sinned, and will sin again. Yet I fear that we hold ourselves to not only an unreachable, but unrealistic and impossible standard of perfection, and when we don’t achieve it because we sin, we refuse forgiveness to ourselves. This leads to not loving and even hating who and what we are.

What’s strange is often times the hardest person to forgive in this life is not someone else, it’s not your kids, your spouse, or ex-spouse… it’s ourselves.

Sometimes the hardest person to see quality traits in… is ourselves

Sometimes the hardest person to be patient with… is ourselves

And the hardest person to show love for is the person we see in the mirror every day. Ourselves!

I promise you though, if you truly repent and accept the atonement which has already been done for you, the most amazing thing will happen!…

You will feel complete joy! Beyond making you whole! It will make you more confident, happier, and at peace and you will find, feel and keep that joy for others and in life. I know this, because I’ve been there. I know what it feels like to finally accept and feel the love of Christ! It is a feeling beyond description and beyond what words can convey! It is a feeling so engulfing and complete that it’s goes beyond your physical body and beyond description! It literally changes you! It will change the way you think, act, and treat yourself and others! It will change your relationship with yourself and others and God. If you ask me, it’s the single greatest feeling you could ever feel and it comes from something as simple as LOVE. Love… that requires no money or special talent to give or receive yet is worth more than all the money in world!

So, having said all this. The question is why!? Why does the adversary make such an effort to bring you down, and stop you?! Why does he so relentlessly try to hold you down?

I know exactly why…

To be Continued in Part 3: Unleashing Who You Are!

Back in the day when I was a junk food loving kid, when not only colored TV’s but color itself was newly invented, before Netflix and even tivo, if you watched TV or sports you were forced against your will to endure commercials. No pausing, no skipping, or fast forward, it was awful. Among the most common of these commercials were McDonald’s. Of all the advertisers on TV at the time, their commercials were the worst! (or the best depending on how you look at it) Their “food” was advertised extremely well. Their burgers looked so big, juicy, and delicious you would willingly give up a kidney just to try a single bite knowing and really believing it would totally be worth it. It didn’t matter if you were eating dinner that very second, when you saw their commercials you instantly became hungrier than you ever remembered being in your entire life. Shortly after being compelled by your taste buds to drive to their “restaurant” you found yourself ordering exactly what you had just had the privilege of witnessing. You were preparing for heaven in food form. You were preparing to get exactly what you had just seen. Your taste buds were uttering their last words because they realized they were about self destruct due to the over stimulation from an overload of tastiness. You were prepared to slip into delicious food coma and you were prepared to embrace it.

One of the greasy acne faced teenager served up your meal and you were mere seconds away. You could see the light at the end of the tunnel and you were just about to experience pure joy in food form. Then it happened…

Reality hit you square in the face like when you walk into a glass door at the mall because you tried to “push” the door when it clearly says “pull”. Staring right back at you with just as much confusion is a paper thin piece of what you suppose is the hamburger portion of your hamburger although it looks more like a buffalo chip than a burger. It looks more like it’s fresh from the prairie than fresh from the grill. To add to your confusion, that buffalo chip is slapped between two buns that look like they were just wrung out from your great grandma’s clothes wringer and the entire burger looks thin enough you could fold it up in your wallet and not even notice it was there. 90% of the sauce was splattered on the box or wrapper as opposed to on the burger itself and the pickles you asked for? They aren’t even there, and a whopping 7% of the slice of cheese is actually on your burger with the rest melted on your wrapper. You tally this all together and a debate begins in your head as to whether or not the wrapper and box the burger came in would actually be more delicious because it surly looks that way. Then, you looked at the other side of your tray hoping for redemption but all you see is a side of mashed potatoes in a vertical box that you have to use your imagination just to wrap your head around the thought that at one point they may have actually been crispy french fries.

Then, at that moment you realize something. You just got worked. You were played like a fiddle and lied to. You were fooled into thinking the exact opposite of the truth was the truth. The commercial had you believing McDonald’s actually made quality food. They had you believing all the top athletes at the time really enjoyed McDonald’s and endorsed them because their food was good rather than because they were being paid an obscene amount of money to help perpetuate a lie. They had you believing that you were about to enjoy the best meal of your life. The bottom line is this: They had you believing their lies when in reality their commercials had more bullcrap in them than a Texas rodeo. Nothing they said was the truth. Down to their drink machine that was out of ice when you tried to fill your drink up. Wow… didn’t I just sum up way too much of what we see every single day on facebook and instagram? Did that not just sum up a vast majority of the world?

So what does this experience which I’m sure you can all relate to have to do with the Gospel? Well… actually quite a bit. Not only the Gospel but everyday life.

The adversary is serving up buffalo chip patties with sides of mashed potatoes cleverly disguised as juicy, and delicious Hamburgers and fries every single day to millions of people and guess what, people are eating it up like there’s no tomorrow. The funny thing is, most people eating this up every day don’t even realize or even care that they are doing it and some may not even realize it!

They don’t look for the truth or care to look into it themselves. They simply accept the “advertisement” for what it pretends to be not knowing or caring it’s not true. The adversary is a liar. He’s nothing more than a complete fraud. He’s got nothing more than your pure and utter destruction on his “to-do” list every single second of every single day and he’s not lazy nor is he complacent. He takes no days off, nor is he any respecter of persons. He has no morals, no guideline, no compass or conscious, and no line he won’t cross. He is going down and bringing everyone he possibly can with him. He knows his time is about up and he’s trying to disguise his nose dive with both engines on fire as a fun and harmless skydiving adrenaline rush and inviting all to join him. The reality is, he doesn’t even have a parachute, and neither do those who are with him.

The fact is we all know how this will end. The fact is, we’ve ALWAYS known how this will end. But yet, just like the McDonalds commercials which contain as much truth as the Sahara contains frostbite people always seem to lose sight of these truths and start to believe otherwise. Not only that… they are actually full heartedly convinced of untruth. They are convinced the exact opposite of truth is the real truth.

Think about it… Satan is not merely selling buffalo chips as hamburgers, oh no… he’s doing much more than that. He’s more than just bent, or slightly tweaked the truth like in advertisements today… he’s flat out warped, manipulated, hidden, disguised, disfigured and mutilated the truth and altered the very perception and reception of truth to the point he’s painted it as the exact opposite of what it is. Do you fully understand this!! He’s altered the world’s view on marriage, on justice, on mercy, on religion, on everything you can possibly imagine and he’s having tremendous success! He is selling black as white, up as down, and left as right. He’s not only doing but actually succeeding in selling evil as good, and good as evil, bond as free and free as bonded. He has manipulated it so well that the world and even some of us are actually confusing complete opposites with each other!

I am absolutely fed up with this because I can see how it’s working! I know how he’s working and it makes me angry because it used to work on me! In my opinion this single tactic of opposites and the specific direction he attacks with it is MORE effective than pornography, drugs, and alcohol COMBINED! I say that because it doesn’t only affect those who struggle or battle any of those things… it affects every single one of us every single day of our lives! From what I can see, he is combining his forces like NEVER BEFORE to go after the very heart of our army. He in his absolute fury is attacking the strongest part of us! He is attacking not only each of us, he is attacking our very future… he is attacking our YOUTH!

What am I talking about? What is he trying to confuse you about? He is going after your SELF WORTH.

(To be continued in Part 2 of 3: The Truth)

If there was a Hall of Fame for Christmas Movies Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer would be a voted in on the first ballet via unanimous decision. It’s a classic. We’re all familiar with this story in this movie. However today for the first time it dawned on me how similar Rudolph is to Christ!

Yes, I realize what I just said and no I’m not crazy (well at least I tell myself that) so let me explain:

Rudolph is born different from the start. He enters the world different than his friends, his family, and all other of his species. It’s apparent early on that he is special. He has something no one else has… a red nose that can glow! You would think that the other reindeer would be like “dude, Rudolph that’s totally awesome!” and embrace it and him also, but they don’t. In fact, they don’t even accept him at all. Why not? Did they hate him because he was different? Were they secretly just super jealous of his illuminated nostrils? We may never know. Instead they laughed and called him names (like Pinocchio) and what’s worse, they never let poor Rudolph join in any Reindeer games (like Monopoly). They mistreated him, teased him, mocked and shunned him. He found refuge only in Clarice and his own parents. However, despite the small amount of supporters in comparison to the “haters” it wasn’t enough for Rudolph and ran away. Skipping ahead in the story after an awesome series of events Rudolph finds himself back at the North Pole.

It’s Christmas Eve and Santa is in a heap of trouble! Reindeer poop is about to hit the fan! It’s crunch time, it’s down the wire but “it’s one foggy Christmas Eve”! What are the Reindeer to do? Santa can’t see. The other Reindeer can’t see. There is no way out of this mess! Christmas for the entire world is in jeopardy. Every child on earth’s Christmas happiness hangs in the balance. Yes, it seems as though the fog and darkness will destroy all happiness and there is no way to cut through it. They needed someone’s saving grace, to save Christmas for not only them, but each and every person on earth! They needed a redeemer of sorts, but who? Bam! Remember Rudolph? You know, that other Reindeer? Santa did, and then came to say: “Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?”

It’s key to notice Rudolph’s reaction. He had been mistreated, teased, tormented and slighted his whole life by these reindeer, but now, in the biggest of all situations he was needed by his tormentors. Yes, the same ones that never gave him the time of day. Yes, the same ones who relentlessly and adamantly opposed him. What was he to do? He could have dished up a piping hot plate of “karma” with a side of crow and offered them a nice warm glass of “shut the heck up” to wash it down with but he didn’t. Rather he busted out the greatest display of awesomeness those Reindeer had ever seen. He put on a clinic of forgiveness. He forgave all the other Reindeer on the spot and rushed to their aid! Christmas for not only the reindeer but for every person on earth was saved by him and through him. Then all the Reindeer loved him as they shouted out with glee “yippee, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer you’ll go down in history” (like Columbus).

As you can see the similarities between the story of Rudolph and the life of Christ are actually pretty plentiful. In fact, they may even be approaching plagiarism on Rudolph’s part. Maybe it’s meant to be that way. Maybe the story of Rudolph is really the story of Christ in disguise? Maybe it’s a way we can all remember Christ that much more? Maybe when we sing and understand Rudolph’s story we’re really meant to sing about and understand Christ’s story. I don’t know if that’s the real intention, but what I do know is things were different with Christ from the start also.

From the prophesy of his birth, the star, the means of Mary conceiving, his entrance into the world in such humble circumstances and more it was clear he was different from the start. How ironic that the Savior of the world, the greatest of us all, was born in not in pomp and palace, but in a manger. Christ was welcomed to this world not surrounded not by precious stone, marble, and countless servants but rather with animals and hay. Ironic, but incredibly symbolic and telling of who he was, is and always will be.

Just as there is now, to all goodness and love there is opposition. In Christ’s case there was the despicable action taken in attempt to prevent Christ’s very birth. Man’s attempt to thwart God’s will failed. As Christ grew so did the number of followers and opposition he had. He was polarizing. Those who were pure in heart saw him for who and what he truly was, while the others clouded by the fog and darkness of jealousy and pride didn’t want to or even refused to see.

The world was ripe. They needed help whether they new it or not. They needed a Redeemer. We all did. However, just like the Reindeer did, they were mocking the one, THE ONLY ONE, who could, and had the ability to help them!

Christ was wrongfully accused and allowed himself to be taken to the cross. There, while on the cross mere moments after demonstrating the single greatest display of love, and forgiveness history has ever or will ever see, he then died to perform the single greatest act the world has ever or will ever know.

It’s mind boggling to understand even a small or simple portion of this. Personally, I don’t know if our minds are even capable of doing so. Even the tip of this iceberg is jaw dropping. To understand that in the very moment, in more pain than we could even imagine or withstand, while being tortured, ridiculed, spat upon, and tormented, Christ, while hanging from a cross he himself was forced to carry himself, with nails driven through his wrists and hands, while wearing a crown of thorns and bleeding forgave those who had done or even supported these actions in the very moment they had and were doing them. This goes beyond Job’s life, this goes beyond anything we can even comprehend! Then he died. Did he die for his supporters in the crowd? Yes… and of course also those who hated him, despised him, laughed, mocked  and jeered at him as they watched his mortal life slip away. He gave his life for EVERYONE. Words don’t exist that properly put that into perspective. It’s absolutely amazing.

Here’s where the story differs. With Rudolph, after his miraculous act, “all the Reindeer loved him”. With Christ it’s much different at the moment. Even though Christ has already performed the ultimate act if sacrifice for  each of us, and offered a means to be saved for everyone, and despite what we has done for us since then, and will continue to do for us… not all the “reindeer” love him! There are many who still hate, still scorn, still despise him. Yet he still remains patient, still hoping and pleading with those to take a gift that will make them happy beyond measure and provide endless joy and happiness that unfortunately still remains wrapped.

If your like me your wishing this story had a happy ending. Well, it does… because we’re not all the way through the story are we!

If you skip to the end of the story, to “the last page” you’ll read the promise: “EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST”! That, is a happy ending!

So this season, let’s take a minute to try to understand, so we can realize that not only this time of year, but every day that Christ is the gift. The perfect gift in every way. What more do we need? What more could we want? He is Christmas. He is life. He is the reason and the goal. His life, his death and the atonement is the gift we can use every single day, every moment of our day. He is joy, love, happiness, forgiveness, mercy, kindness, and understanding. He is everything we can ever or will ever need. He is not only what Christmas is all about, but rather what LIFE itself is about.

Merry CHRIST-mas

Recently I was asked to speak in Church. My desire was to not only inspire my ward members, but to pull a King Benjamin and deliver a talk so awesome, so mind blowing, that everyone within earshot would became permanently and more deeply converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the spot… oh, and that our entire ward would be translated as well.

So, with that totally obtainable and reasonable expectation in mind I set out to find the perfect topic. To achieve a ward translation I figured I likely needed a single topic that could somehow also cover every topic of the Gospel at the same time. This meant my single topic had to cover reading the scriptures, Temple attendance, magnifying your calling, having meaningful prayer, keeping the Sabbath day holy, paying tithing, home teaching, and basically every other aspect of the Church all at once. At this point I’m feeling super good and confident about the goals I had set for myself. I somehow needed “One topic to rule them all”. The problem was that single topic that covered all topics didn’t exist. Or so I thought…

Later that night I went to a meeting where Sabbath Day observance was discussed. A comment was made that we needed to have a “Zion Stake”. The comment then continued: to achieve that we would have to have Zion Wards. In order to achieve Zion Wards, we had to become Zion Families. To become a Zion family we have to become Zion individuals. Boom! That comment was the answer to my prayers and my talk began to form in my head! I had my topic! Not only that, I realized there is in fact “One Topic to rule them all!” It was Conversion! Deep, personal, and true conversion! This means knowing and understanding that this Church is true and that God lives.

It makes perfect sense because when we are TRULY converted we will NATURALLY find ourselves reading our scriptures, having meaningful prayer, paying tithing, home teaching, and doing all those good things! When I say converted though, I don’t mean converting like Heat “fans” when Lebron came to town only to abandon the team the second he left… I mean converting like Cubs fans, who deep in their heart know they are never again going to win a World Series, yet still buy season tickets, still paint their face, still cheer for their favorite players, and still hold out hope for the impossible. In this article though, the conversion I’m talking about is deeply rooting yourself and immersing yourself in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This conversion when true, can and will change your life. It will change who you are, how you view yourself and others. It will change how you speak, how you act, and change the way you look at life. This deep conversion spans beyond this life and into eternity.

Awesome! So…  How to we become converted? This is what I love about this Church and what I love about this Gospel. There is not a single person in the Church that doesn’t know the answers to this question. It’s simple, it’s the Primary answers! Go to Church, read the scriptures, pray consistently, attend the Temple, ect… I love it because it’s not too difficult or hard to understand for anyone! It applies to every single one of us regardless of where we are in our Spiritual progression. This works every time without fail right? Yes… under one condition, I’ll explain…

James 1:5 and 3 Nephi 27:29 have something amazing in common: the word “ask”. This means you have ask for it. You have to want it. Sometimes “asking” requires you to ask really really hard, and often, before you receive an answer. If you don’t receive your confirmation right away it’s not because God doesn’t hear you, or that he doesn’t exist, it’s because you have to prove that you want it. You have to show him that you want it. Maybe you need to want it more or ask even harder. Remember that scripture that says “be ye slothful and not diligent, ask me not, and I will pour my Spirit upon you”? Me neither because it doesn’t exist! Asking for it, and wanting it will likely mean we have to take things to the next level.

What that means is not just doing it to do it, or just doing it to cross it off a list. We have to want it in our hearts, and with all our hearts! Going through the motions with empty intention doesn’t bring conversion anymore than buying a weight bench gets you ripped… I know, because I’ve totally tried that and it doesn’t work. There is an incredible amount of difference between “Praying” and “communicating with our Father in Heaven in deep and meaningful prayer”. There is a mammoth different between “reading the Scriptures” and “feasting up on the words of Christ and praying for understanding”. The same goes for “Fasting” and “going without food”, “home teaching” and “developing a relationship with your families” so on and so forth. What I’m saying is it’s possible to live the Gospel without the Gospel living within us. Whether we have never committed ourselves before or whether we simply need to recommit ourselves the starting point is the same. It begins with each of us. I promise you a deeper commitment to this Gospel will change your life, and for the better. I know because I’ve put those scriptures to the test, and again I promise you they work. I have seen and felt that first hand. Add this, my invitation to the countless others who have invited others to do the same. Happiness awaits.

Back when I was about 15 our scout group went on a campout to Flaming Gorge. My preparation was very thorough as I carefully loaded up my backpack for our 3 day camp. Thanks to my thoughtful considerations to the necessities our trip would require, our entire group of already obnoxious, rambunctious and annoying teenagers increased our capacities to annoy. This was all thanks to my backpack, which consisted of almost nothing but candy. While the leaders likely thought the mixture of not only teenagers, but sugar crazed teenagers in the confines of a 4.5 hour car drive was exhausting, my energy seemed to increase the longer we drove.

Upon arrival we promptly set up camp and upon completion I loudly asked “what are we doing now?” We were by a lake, in the mountains, and I had roughly 7 pounds of sugar circulating in my bloodstream. My leaders (who already looked like they wanted to go home) responded with as much enthusiasm as Ben Stein in the old claritin clear commercials and said “play cards”. I thought for a moment then said “okay, then what?” Their response: Silence… and they both climbed into their tents. I asked “what day are we renting a boat to go on the lake?”… “We’re not” was their response. “Did we really drive all the way here to play cards?” I asked? “yes”, came the response. I quickly realized the fun police had apparently threatened my leaders with their very lives at any attempt no to bore us to death. I felt like I had no freedom to enjoy the wild outdoors. So, naturally I did what any logically thinking teenager would do in the wilderness with no compass, no sense of direction, while in a place he’s never been. I grabbed my buddy and we left the group and snuck off to enjoy our newly taken freedom and fun.

Hours later it started to get dark so we headed back to camp. We entered our camp before sundown, both soaking wet from swimming, and I with a bloody earlobe thanks to a not so cool live lizard earring experiment that sounded a lot cooler than it really turned out to be. We received the welcome I should have expected. Our leaders chewed us out, and lectured us about the importance of not leaving the camp with the security of the others. They were upset we had not told anyone where we were going or when we’d be back. They had no way to track us or contact us and were clearly upset with us. From that moment we were then forbidden to leave the camp again unless our entire group was together or we had a leader with us. Bummer! This we realized was “true” lack of freedom and our actions lead to the lamest scout trip in history basically sitting in camp playing cards for 3 days.

We had wanted freedom and fun and thought we were getting it, but that was not the case. As it turned out our “fun and freedom” lead to exactly the opposite. It lead to being captive in a place we thought would provide us freedom. What we thought was the solution, was actually the problem. We had misread the entire situation, we had been deceived.

How many people in the world today have been deceived by this very thought process. The adversary is an expert in the art of deception. He and his followers have the whole “smoke and mirrors” game down pat. The world accepts, rewards, and even glamorizes the empty, hollow, and superficial things of the world while doing the opposite to the positive and righteous things. Sound familiar? How about Isaiah 5:20: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter”!

How many of us buy into this? How many of us go in search of things, places, substances, or activities to fill a void, bring a solution to, or bring us what either ourselves or the world incorrectly perceive as “happiness” or “fun” to provide what we feel is “freedom” but it doesn’t last. Why doesn’t it last? Simply because it never was! Wickedness never was happiness. (Alma 41:10) Smoke and Mirrors is all a game, the adversary’s game, and any game you play with him, you lose.

The world has and will continue to judge and call the LDS Church as something it is not. Our religion is viewed and described by the world as “restricting” and “no fun”. The adversary’s smear campaign is well funded, and is running on all cylinders. They have the support of the mass entertainment industry that constantly puts out product that is immoral, and filled with lyrics about sex, violence and drugs. They boast about and glamorize the adversary’s best weapons. The very same weapons he uses and employs on anyone and everyone including those helping him move his work along.

The world has painted a lie as the truth, and the truth as a lie! However, words, thoughts, actions, laws, and opinions of the world cannot and indeed will not change the truth. A lie is a lie, no matter how many believe it. The FACT is, the TRUTH is, it’s our abstinence from these substances, materials, things, and behavior that NOT restricts us, but allows us our freedom! Avoiding drugs, alcohol, pornography, gambling, or other addictive items or behavior is exactly what allows us to remain free. It keeps us free from slight to even crippling addictions or lifestyles. How many marriages, families or friendships are broken up due to addiction of various kinds? How many people live subject to, or as an absolute slave to a drug, a cigarette, alcohol, gambling or pornography? How many people have to schedule their days and even their entire lives around something that has such a grip on them they can’t function without it? Their addictions have their full and constant attention and affect them physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially? Addictions can be destructive, crippling and destroy everything you have including life and health itself! After reading the “fine print” packaged with the world’s idea of “fun” does it still sound like fun? Does it still sound like it provides freedom?

Finding a solution to a problem has never been nor will ever include trying to forget it or drowned it out with any type of activity or substance. I’m not trying to be insensitive to or offend those with any type of addition, or who participate in these actions. Nor am I saying they are bad people, I’m just pointing out that those actions or substances don’t provide what they are advertised or pretended to provide. This is simply the adversary in one of his areas of expertise: False Advertising.

The reality is and will always be this: Happiness doesn’t come from a “thing”. It doesn’t come from a nicer car, bigger home, nicer clothes or material goods. Happiness doesn’t come from anything that money or influence can buy. Happiness doesn’t come from anything that can be destroyed, traded or taken from you. Rather, true happiness comes from something worth more than anything money can buy. Something worth so much, it’s priceless. Something made affordable to every single person on the face of the earth because it’s free! I am talking about a relationship with our Living and Loving Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ.

That is true happiness. Lasting happiness. Happiess that lasts because it is and always will be. The best part of all this is that Christ loves you and will help you out of any situation or addiction. Whether a lifestyle or substance is life altering or simply nagging, our Father in Heaven can help. He can guide you away from the smoke and mirrors to something stable, unchanging, everlasting and solid. Himself.

If “A Bug’s Life” has taught me anything it’s that every single grasshopper on the entire planet is a huge jerk. Normally I wouldn’t stereotype an entire species with an innumerable population based on the actions of a few fictional characters in a fictional children’s movie, But….

Every year I plant a little garden in an attempt to support my addiction to fresh garden salsa. In preparation I pull the weeds, till the dirt, supplement the dirt, and get it ready as best I can to give the seeds and plants the best chance to thrive hoping they will produce good fruit (and veggies). Sure enough after all that work is done, and well into the watering, continual weeding and caring for the plants and just as things are starting to look good, a bunch of grasshoppers roll into town. These punks ignore every possible message that could be learned from “The Little Red Hen” and help themselves to my hard work. They flaunt their lack of proper garden etiquette as they do every year which then leads me to grabbing a BB gun and going “grasshopper hunting”. Never once have I sat down and meticulously made invitations with ribbons and doilies for all the grasshoppers in the neighborhood inviting them to party in my garden all summer long. Never once have I thought to myself “man, I really enjoy the uninvited company of these grasshoppers” or “I sure am grateful they are here eating and ruining my crops I worked so hard to grow”. Yes, I love grasshoppers… just like I love taxes, splinters, and traffic jams.

The other inevitable deterrent to my garden, your garden, yo mamma’s garden and every other garden in the world (other than an aquaponic or hydroponic gardens) is that it will also grow weeds. In fact, my weeds grow better than my plants do. I don’t plant weeds, water them, care for them, or nurture them in any way. The only attention my weeds get is my grasp as I rip them from the soil. Yet despite all this my weeds continue to be the hardy and consistent plant kingdom version of Cal Ripken Jr.. The bottom line is this: If I want anything good to come from my garden I have to continually watch over and care for my plants and seeds so they will hopefully yield forth good fruit (or veggies). Good plants are much harder to grow then weeds and If I’m not careful, my garden would eventually be overrun with, and contain nothing but weeds. President Hinckley described my entire situation perfectly when he said

“Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds”.

Here’s the kicker, and the real reason I hate grasshoppers. It’s not “that” they eat but rather “what” they eat. You would think that when they roll up to “Riley’s Garden Buffet” to eat they would dine on the abundance of strong and vigorous healthy looking weeds… but they don’t. They ignore the weeds like little kids ignore veggies at the dinner table. They focus all their effort in destroying my crops and nothing but my crops. It seems they are determined to destroy all that is good in my garden and leave nothing but weeds in their stead. The bottom line is this: Grasshoppers persuadeth no garden to do good, no, not one. Neither do weeds; neither do they who are like unto them.

What I’ve come to realize is that no matter what I do (believe me I’ve tried) weeds and grasshoppers are completely and totally inevitable. Sure, I could avoid gardening all together to hopefully avoid them, but to avoid gardening would mean I would forfeit the fruit (and veggies) I so much desire. The realization is I cannot prevent grasshoppers and/or weeds from entering my garden. All I can do if I want to yield forth good fruit (and veggies) is put forth the continual and constant effort needed to keep my garden in the best possible shape I can.

So now we reach the end of this entry… I’ve done nothing but vent about grasshoppers and weeds like this was a gardening forum rather than a LDS Blog. So what’s my angle? Rather than wrangle everything in for you, my hope with this post is that while reading you were able to catch the symbolism and comparisons within it. Realizing what each “item” of the “parable” may represent. What is the garden? What is the dirt? Who is the gardener? What are the fruits? What or who are the Grasshoppers and weeds? Once we make the connections, my hope with this post (if it made sense to anyone) is that it will cause us to look back at our own “gardens” and see what needs to be done or improved upon to ensure we all have good strong “plants” to bring forth much good “fruit”.