“Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.” (Prov. 10:12)

     We cannot cover our own sins.  We must uncover or acknowledge them to God which leads to God’s forgiveness and mercy.  David led by example: “I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.  I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” (Psalm 32:5) The Lord grants mercy to those who obey Him: “Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.” (Psalm 32:10) When we trust in Him, we will obey Him.

     Jesus adds to Heavenly Father’s conditions of mercy: we must not harbor resentment or unforgiveness if we truly want God’s mercy for ourselves; the mercy we show others is the mercy we’ll receive: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matt 6:14-15, see also Mark 11:25-26) We are further commanded to forgive one another: “Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.  And ye ought to say in your hearts – let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds.” (D & C 64:9-11, see also Rev. 20:12 & 2 Tim. 4:14).

     Jesus knew forgiveness brings joy: our “Sorrow shall be turned to joy.” (Jn. 16:20) Jesus came “that [we] might have life, and that [we] might have it more abundantly.” (Jn. 10:10) Living with sin or even bitterness and resentment is certainly not ‘abundant life.” He showed us the way and we are to help others find the way when Jesus commanded: “Ye are the light of the world….Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:14, 16) Letting your light shine begins with releasing resentment and forgiving others who have wronged you.

     So, let your light shine today.  Be a beacon that draws others unto Christ.  Leave any bitterness and all worries behind: “Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22), “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31) Go forth and “walk as children of light.” (Eph. 5:8)

Grace & Peace

The Pure Love of Christ

1 Corinthians 13:2 says, “though I have the gift of prophecy and understanding all mysteries, and all knowledge; and thought I have all faith, so that I could move mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” “Charity is the pure love of Christ” (Moro 7:47).

Charity “is everlasting love” (Moro 8:17).  The Lord calls us to be perfect (see Deut 18:13; 1 Kgs 8:61; 2 Chr 16:19; Matt 5:48; 2 or 13:11; Eph 4;12-13; ; Jas 1:4; D&C 76:69, 106) We must “put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness” (Col 3:14) so that we “may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Col 4:12).

I say all of that to say this: I do not want to miss the chance to love you.  I want you to know that loving you is the most important thing to me and matters the most to me.  I just want the chance to let you see Jesus in me and through me.  I do not know when I will have the chance to love you as you deserve, but I will stand ready and patient on God’s timing.

I do love you with all my heart.

Grace & Peace be with you all

Visitation

I've been blessed with a visitation by my Dad & Step-Mom.  

I'm so thankful for being able to receive a visit.  Praise God!

Grace & Peace.

Blessing Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

We come to you now in the mighty name of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We thank you for the atonement of Jesus Christ.  We thank you that your servants who humbly, carefully, diligently, and faithfully seek to obey all of your commands are blessed in the city and the country, that our children and their children are blessed, that our assets produce exceedingly abundantly, that we are blessed when we come in and when we go out, that our enemies will be defeated and flee from us in seven directions, that our storehouses are blessed, that everything we do is blessed, that you bless all the works of our hands, that we don’t need to borrow anything, but can lend to many, that we are the head and not the tail, that we only move upward and never downward, and that we are blessed to prosper abundantly and have many healthy, prosperous children.

As we walk in the light, we fellowship with you, Lord.  Our joy is complete as we seek You in Your Word.  Write Your Word upon the tablets of our hearts.  Search our hearts, oh Lord, find any unconfessed sin and remove any wickedness so we may have pure hearts and a righteous spirit within each of us.

Pour your Spirit unto us this day so we may have wisdom, understanding, love, peace, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control, and that we might receive all the promises of the Spirit while we walk in the Spirit always.

We pray, oh Lord, that you grant us, according to the riches of your glory, strength with power in our inner selves through Your Spirit, and that the Messiah continues to dwell in our hearts through our faith.  We pray that we are rooted and firmly established in love so we may comprehend the dimensions of Your love and understand the Messiah’s love for us that surpasses knowledge so that we might be filled with Your fullness.

We ask this according to Your power that works in us – To You our God be glory in Your true Church and in Jesus Christ and to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Intercession Prayer

Taken from Matt 12:29, Matt 9:38, and 2 Cor 4:3-4.  Pray for others:

            I rebuke you, spirit of evil blinding the eyes of __________, you are commanded to stop everything you are doing to keep __________ out of the Kingdom of God.  In Jesus’ Name you stop now!  Lord, send someone to __________ with the glorious gospel of Christ who You know __________ will listen to.  I claim __________ for the Kingdom of God. I believe I receive salvation and deliverance.  In faith I praise You for it.  I am standing on Your word, God.  I need your help and __________ needs Your help too.  Lord, I refuse to be afraid of the devil’s weapons brought against us because I know that according to Your Word, they cannot prosper.  I trust in Your protection, and I think You for it now.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Happy Birthday, Alyssa

3/3/15

Happy Birthday, Alyssa

            Let me first say that I will always believe in you.  You can meet any challenge that awaits you. I don’t ask you to succeed for me or anyone else but God.  I can imagine your graduations, your achievements, the life you will create.  When I think of you, I just see you.  I hope you can see yourself this same way.

            I want you to know I am proud of you.  I love you no matter what.  Nothing will ever change that.  Ever.

            You are God’s masterpiece.  “We are His workmanship” (Eph 2:10).  You are made in God’s image (Gen 9:6) and you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps 139:14) since God’s hands fashioned you (Ps 119:73).  For this I thank God for your creation.  God is glorified in you.

            Did you know you are a miracle?  From the moment when you were just a few minutes old and you recognized my voice and your teeny tiny hand grabbed hold of my finger, I knew you were special.  You are so special to me, Peanut.

            Have a Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday, Tessa

3/3/15

Happy Birthday, Tessa

You are now a fully vested adult.  You have every authority and responsibility one can have as an adult.  I hope you take this responsibility seriously.  Because I did not.

            Don’t let peer pressure steer your life.  We can choose to not be offended by the words or actions of others. When we unite in righteousness with others who are faithful, we are stronger in our battles against evil.  “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart is mouth speaketh.” (Luke 6:45)

            Just last week I helped lead a man to Christ.  To see his face and see how he acts you would be amazed. His heart has changed.  He is no longer that hardcore gang member I first met.  He is now a beacon of light.  With time he will become a very productive ambassador for Christ. (2 Cor 5:20).  I am excited by his transformation.

            I hope you too can find joy like this in your life.  My hope is you can find the joy and peace Isaiah speaks about in verse 51:11.

            Happy Birthday, Tess.

The Power of Prayer

I recommend you read the scriptures looking at how they can apply to your life.  The other day, I was reading Mosiah 27 in the Book of Mormon. I was touched by the story of young Alma being involved with all sorts of wickedness with King Mosiah’s sons.  Then an angel visited the wayward boys in an answer to intercessory prayer.  Alma’s family and friends were praying for them to stop their evil ways and return to God and accept redemption through grace.  This was a big moment in Alma’s life.  He finally repented and turned to God.  When we repent from sin, we repent to (turn to) God.  Alma didn’t stop there, he began to evangelize and share the gift of Christ – salvation from all sin.

Alma’s conversion reminded me of my own.  I was visited by an angel (of sorts) and after much investigation, scripture reading, and prayer I came unto repentance.  Now I continue my scripture education (pursuit of a Master’s degree in Christian Counseling) and sharing the Gift of Christ with everyone. Remember, Christ came for us sinners not for the righteous.

Well, another thing struck me: the answered prayer.  If we are in humble, right-standing, the Lord will answer our prayers (Mosiah 27:14).  I thought I would give it a try.  So, I prayed for one man in my dorm that he would turn to the Lord and that the right person would have the right words to help him along. The very next day, he came to my room to tell me he wanted to go to church.  I told him the time it started and he went on his way.  In 27 years he had not gone and was as far from the Lord as one can be, next without me saying anything to him, he went to church on his own.  Talk about an answered prayer!

I encourage you to wait on the Lord in faith.  The Lord will answer our prayers (Psalm 38:15).  The Lord will speak to the humble (Isaiah 38:15). In Mark II: 22-24, Jesus tells us we can move mountains with our faith.  When we ask in prayer, believe that we receive it, then it will be ours.  My favorite verses on prayer are in Revelation 5:8, 8:3-4 where it describes the prayers of the righteous as sweet incense to God in Heaven.

Keep Praying.

Grace & Peace

Happy Birthday Derek

1/16/2015

Happy Birthday, my Son.  A teenager – WOW!

While I am far away, please indulge me as I share some thoughts with you.  If you get nothing out of this, then at least it can be an object to rebel against.  When I was your age, I felt the need to rebel against something.  Perhaps, in time, you will re-read this and see that I do love you and that I want nothing but the very best for you.  The past cannot be undone, it can only be forgiven.

“Build me a Son, Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid… And then I, his father, may dare to whisper ‘I have not lived in vain.’” – General Douglas MacArthur

Derek, be strong, brave, careful, and considerate.  Men deal with the world. Boys are born to contest the world.  “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too.” – “IF” by Kipling. 

Then you will succeed in my eyes.  I am proud of you.  I am proud of what you have achieved and overcome.

“Forgive me, I’ve done everything wrong, I have done nothing right.  I was, as a model, insufficient, and as a preceptor, hypocritical.  Here is what I wish to have said: Our time is almost done, and I have taxed you with my pomposity and garrulousness and officiousness, and you have been supremely patient with me.  But perhaps you might listen for just this last time, in the hope that these words might aid you.” –Polonius

Derek, your distance from God is based on your own standing.  God is where He has always been. “The best way to know God is to love many things.” – Vincent Van Gogh.  The power of love is the greatest power in the universe.  It’s beyond defeat.  It never fails (1 Cor 13:8).  God is love.  Releasing love is releasing God into any situation.  Then Jesus becomes responsible for its successful outcome.  Talk about powerful.  Keep faith, hope and love, but remember that love is the greatest of those.

I love you, buddy!

            -Dad