Spiritual Thoughts

I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
He gave me life that I might enjoy all things.

We must always remember Who is on our side.
One plus God is a majority.

When we work for the Lord we don't get paid much money,
but the retirement plan is out of this world!

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

-- Psalm 23.

Faith is not something piously stuffy, but is a scientific procedure for successful living.

Prayer is the greatest power available for solving personal problems.

One man's formula for success: Positive thinking, prayer, hard work, fair dealing, treat people right, (Picturise, Prayerise, Actualise).

The four hardest tasks on earth are neither physical nor intellectual feats, but spiritual ones: To return love for hate; to include the excluded; to forgive without apology, and to be able to say 'I was wrong'.

-- Author Unknown

First priority in your life - maintain your own spiritual and physical strength.
Then comes the family,
Then the church,
Then your professions –
And all need time.

-- Harold B Lee

Every day is good if you pray.

Seven days without prayer makes one weak.

S piritually
M inded
I s
L ife
E ternal

P ray
U ntil
S omething
H appens

Resentment blocks spiritual power.

When we fail to keep our commitments, we lose character.

-- Vaughan J. Featherstone

This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.

-- Psalm 118: 24.

Let us not fail to act because of fear of mistakes. That is a mistake in itself. We learn by doing. This is never more true than in sharing the gospel.

If God be for us, who can be against us.

-- Romans 8:31.

If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

-- Mark 9: 23.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

-- Timothy 1: 7.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

-- Philippians 4: 13.

Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.

-- Romans 12: 2.

A Christmas thought: Wise men still seek Jesus - He is the reason for the season.

Anywhere without God, you will be lonely.

-- Henry B. Eyring.

If a mirror is held up to the sun, or other source of light, and held in the right direction, it can reflect that light into an otherwise dark place. If our life is going in the right direction, it can reflect the light of the Son, or the light of the gospel, into an otherwise dark life.

-- Matthew 5: 16.

Happiness depends upon the situation.
Joy depends on the Lord.

J.O.Y. Jesus first, Others next, Yourself last.

Dear God, I said,
I cannot see the road ahead.
You do not need to see, said He,
Just love your family,
And trust in me.

Christ died for the boneheads too, so He has every right to ask us to put up with the boneheads for his sake.

-- Elder Orson F Whitney.

The scriptures tell us there must be opposition in all things. That is true but in some situations we must have the courage to stand for the right and BE the opposition.

Thoughts on Malachi - very last verse.
Turn the hearts of the fathers to the children - and the children to the fathers.
The fathers are the past - the children are the future.
Both are vital - we cannot survive without either.
Today lays the foundation for tomorrow, and tomorrow is the reason for today.

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

-- Gordon B Hinckley.

Jesus has chosen to keep the wounds from the cross to remind us who He is.

-- Jeffrey R. Holland.

A prayer - May our hearts hear what the spirit has to say.

It is better to prepare and prevent
Than to repair and repent.

All those who do not have problems had better start praying for them, because we do not progress without challenges.

In challenging times ...
Remember in the scripture class
We often read, "It came to pass".
Be very glad it did not say,
"It came to stay!"

Every day I need thee Lord, but this day specially,
I need some extra strength to face whatever is to be.
This day more than any day I need to feel Thee near,
To fortify my courage and to overcome my fear.
By myself I cannot meet the challenge of the hour.
There are times when human creatures need a higher power,
To help them bear what must be borne. And so, dear Lord, I pray
Hold on to my trembling hand and be with me today.

-- Trappiste Monk

Faith is belief in God and Jesus Christ.
Through study we gain knowledge of God and Jesus Christ.
If we are to increase our faith, we must increase our knowledge.

F.A.I.T.H. stands for, Forgive And Introduce True Happiness.

Aim to have an open heart and an enlightened mind.

Faith is believing in the rainbow, even in the middle of the storm.

Parents, keep family prayers short - your children have tender knees.

-- Ezra Taft Benson.

Prayer -
We seek to be worthy of that which Thou has given us. Bless us that we may love Thee more, and in our love be more obedient.

-- General Conference 1995.

We should not ask why good people have troubles and trials, but how should good people respond when they have trials. The rain falls on the just and on the unjust. God does not insulate us from trouble.

-- Marion D. Hanks.

God is the great I AM, not the great I WAS.

God wants us to give up fear of all kinds of things. Fear is the thief that steals our todays while we are worrying about tomorrow.

Satan doesn't want just your body - he wants your whole soul, that is spirit as well as body, but he starts with your body.

We are not so much asked to give up earthly possessions, as to be less possessed by them. Whatever we embrace instead of Jesus will prevent us from being embraced by Him.

-- Neal A. Maxwell.

Prayer is the key to Heaven, but the lock is on our side of the door.

Prayer is the key to the day and the lock of the night.

There are 3 answers to prayer - Yes, No, Not yet.

To have the Holy Ghost with us we must do 2 things -
Live worthily.
Ask for it.

Perfection is a process of achieving, not a state of having arrived.

The 4 R's of repentance are -
Recognise, Remorse, Restitution, Resolve.

If you went to see a stage play and arrived in the 2nd Act and left at the end of that, you would never find out much about the whole play. That is the same as when we live on earth and know nothing about the pre-existence and after-life.

Satan is a workaholic, and happily works overtime, and loves night duty.

A mission is like tithing. The 2 years you serve is 10% of the 20 years you have lived on earth.

Cain was not his brother's keeper, he was his brother.
We are not our brother's keeper, we are his brother.
A keeper denotes power and confinement.
Brother denotes love.

When you ask God for a gift,
Be thankful if He sends
Not diamonds, pearls and riches,
But the love of real, true friends.

When you really contact God, all things become harmonious; all things melt into an ocean of peace.

-- Paramahansa Yogananda.

All of life is a school of experience that points in one direction - towards God.

-- Paramahansa Yogananda.

God is the light that constantly extinguishes the darkness of ignorance.

-- Paramahansa Yogananda.

Repent and cry, then pray and try.

For those that believe no explanation is necessary. For those that don't - none is possible.

The 10 Commandments in verse

Thou shalt have no God but me,
Before no idol bow thy knee.
Take not the name of God in vain,
Nor dare the Sabbath Day profane.
Give both thy parents honour due,
Take heed that thou no murder do.
Abstain from words and deeds unclean,
Nor steal, though thou art poor and mean.
Nor make a wilful lie, nor love it.
What is thy neighbours do not covet.

Prayer

I got up so early one morning
And rushed right on into the day.
I had so much work to accomplish
That I didn't have time to pray.

Problems came tumbling about me
And heavier came every task.
"Why doesn't God help me?" I wondered.
He answered, "But you didn't ask."

I wanted to see joy and beauty
But the day dragged on, sadly and bleak.
I wondered why God didn't show me.
He said, "But you didn't seek."

I tried to come into God's presence.
I used all the keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided,
"My child, but you didn't knock."

So I woke up early this morning,
And paused before entering the day.
I had so much work to accomplish,
That I had to take time to pray.

Man's love of God is measured in terms of obedience and service.

-- Bruce R. McConkie.

Service keeps us from selfishness.
Selfishness keeps us from service.

An act of service is only a vehicle for love.

Don't ask God to guide your footsteps
unless you're willing to move your feet.

If you pray, why worry? If you worry, why pray?

Live your life so that those who don't know Christ will get to know Him through knowing you.

Every law kept brings a blessing,
Every law broken brings a blight.

God doesn't call the equipped
He equips the called.

God is light. The light shows up our own imperfections so we are more comfortable in a bit of dark.

Sins come about by disobedience to the laws of God.
Mistakes come about by lack of knowledge of the laws of God.

Satan is a necessary evil because only through the way we re-act to his challenges do we grow.

Whenever I pass the chapel,
I linger for a visit
So when I die and am carried in,
The Lord won't ask, "Who is it?"

A prophet has taught that the witness of the Holy Ghost makes an impression on our soul that is more significant than a visitation from an angel. The Bible teaches that when we testify on the basis of this witness, the Holy Ghost testifies of our words.

The mission of the Holy Ghost is to witness of the Father and the Son.

-- Dallin H. Oaks.

The ultimate selfishness is being willing to break a covenant to satisfy an appetite.

Selfishness is concerned with 'I'. The letter 'I' has no knees to bend, whereas the first letter of 'We', does.

The 7th commandment of the 10 commandments is to do with extra-marital sex. Extra-marital sex is a secular religion with its own liturgy of lust and supporting music. Its theology focuses on self. Its hereafter is now. Its chief ritual is sensation, although, ironically, it eventually desensitises its obsessed adherants, who become past feeling.

Selfishness is self-destruction in slow motion.

Many assert their needs, but where are the corresponding obligations?
So many are demanders, but where are the providers?
There are more with something to say, than there are listeners.

-- Richard G. Scott.

One life

He was born in an obscure village.
He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty.
He then became an itinerant preacher.
He never held an office.
He never had a family that we know of.
He never owned a house that we know of.
He did not go to college or university.
He had no credentials but himself.
Nineteen centuries have come and gone,
And today he is the central figure of the human race.
All the armies that ever marched,
All the navies that ever sailed,
All the parliaments that ever sat,
And all the kings and queens that ever reigned
Have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that ...
ONE SOLITARY LIFE.

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
May angels guard me through the night
And wake me in the morning light.

At night when you can't sleep,
don't count sheep - talk to the Shepherd.

I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day
I'd rather one should walk with me than merely show the way.
The eye's a better pupil, and more willing than the ear
For counsel is confusing, but example's always clear.
The best of all the preachers are the ones who live their creeds
For, to see good put in action is what everybody needs.
I know I'll learn to do it, if you'll let me see it done.
I can watch your hand in action, but your tongue too fast may run.
And the lecture you deliver may be very well and true,
But I'd rather get my lesson by observing what you do.
For I might misunderstand you, and the high advice you give,
But there's no misunderstanding how you act, and how you live.