The Love of our Heavenly Father for His Children

The question arises: What must we do to qualify for God’s love?

Clearly that is an absurd question, since the scriptures tell us that God loves all of His children, and you and I are among His many children.

Because of His love for His children, His plan of Salvation included the opportunity of spiritual growth which is only possible with free choice coming through the blessing of agency. This in turn results in inevitable mistakes requiring payment. While we cannot make full payment, repentance is required to access our Father’s grace through the atonement of Jesus Christ. (John 3:16, 2Nephi 25:23)

The question, therefor, is not what can we do to earn His love, but rather: how can we think, feel, and behave to recognize His love for us? 

Let me illustrate this with an example from music. Consider a piano. A piano has many strings. Each string is made to vibrate by a hammer which hits the string when the key, attached to that hammer, is hit by the hammer when the key is depressed. When the key is depressed, a damper is lifted from that string, so only that string vibrates. The lowest frequency with which that string can vibrate corresponds to vibrational motion which looks like one loop, since the string is tied down between two fixed points. This looks a lot like a jump rope. When you wiggle the jump rope twice as fast you end up with two loops, with a point in the middle, that point doesn’t seem to move. Thus, when one side moves up, the other side moves down. The same double loop picture applies to the piano string when hit by the hammer, the string vibrates with frequencies corresponding to multiple loops. So, for the A in the middle of the piano, A4, we have a frequency of 440 Hz (cycles per second) and the string actually vibrates with all whole number multiples of that frequency, that is A5 = 2x440m, E6 = 3x440, A6 = 4x440, C#7 = 5x440, E7 = 6x440. These notes are called harmonics, and a string hit by a hammer will vibrate only with those frequencies. On one end of the string the string is fixed on the bridge, which transfers the vibration to the sound board which amplifies the sound so we can hear it. The lowest frequency is the loudest, but all the other frequencies are present. If I depress the A5 string so gently that the hammer does not hit the string, and then play the A4 string and then release it, I will be able to hear the A5 note, because the soundboard vibrations will make the A5 string vibrate. The same will happen for all the other harmonic notes. Only the notes whose frequencies are in a harmonic relationship with the note struck will be heard.

So, it is with us. If we want to feel the love of our Heavenly Father, we need to be in harmony with Him. We feel the love of our Heavenly Father when we truly love Him. How do we show Him that we really love Him? There are many ways. The following comments are certainly not exclusive, nor are they listed in order of importance. 

We need to be sincere in our prayers. While concerns occur repeatedly, they cannot be rote memory, they must come from the heart each time. Gratitude for the blessings of the gospel is always appropriate. Thanks for love by and to friends and family always helps us to understand and feel the love of our Heavenly Father. We need help in our repentance. Awareness of specific shortcomings, and a plea for assistance will help us to do better in the future. Any effort to relieve someone’s burden will bring us closer to our Heavenly Father, and we feel the warms of His love penetrate our souls.

As we experience that, we feel a calm peace fill our heart despite the turmoil of illness, injury, animosity, material loss, and all the ills the world can provide. He tells us that “. . . . in me ye might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

With my nearly 90 years of living I feel more joy associated with the love of my Heavenly Father, and the values of alternatives increasingly fade in significance.

The Greatest Gifts of God to His Children

And if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God.

D&C 14:7

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

The most sublime of feelings we can experience as children of our Heavenly Father, while dwelling here on earth, is the awareness of His Love. It suffuses our whole being with warmth, transcending sunrays, or the radiance of a warm fireplace on a winter’s evening. Unlike these, which penetrate our body from without, the awareness of the Love of God wells up from within and fills our entire being.

It is that love which motivated our Heavenly Father to present us with His plan of Salvation, His plan of happiness, which included the gifts of agency and repentance as essential elements, to give us the opportunity to accept the atonement of Jesus Christ, and eventually return to our Heavenly parents.

While Eternal Life is the ultimate goal, and thus the greatest gift our Heavenly Father has in store for us, it would not be possible without the Atonement which was voluntarily accomplished by Jesus Christ with unimaginable pain and suffering to pay for the sins, pains and sorrows of all mankind. In turn, the gift of His Son is the evidence of our Heavenly Father’s Love for His children.

As we consider Eternal Life as the goal of our existence, we realize that the quantitative element of that life has no beginning and no end, unlike any concepts associated with our earth life, which exhibit limitations. On the other hand, the qualitative aspects of Eternal Life suggest a life in the presence of our Heavenly Father, in creative harmony with Him. This suggests a level of competence achieved through steps of growth unimaginable in earthly terms. Such growth requires free choices resulting in learning, and failure overcome through repentance. Both, agency and repentance are two of the great gifts of our Father to make the trip to Eternal Life possible.

In Summary, the gift, greatest of all, Eternal Life, which includes life itself, death and the resurrection, made possible through the Atonement of Christ, which includes ability of free choice and repentance to enable ultimate freedom from sin, as well as growth to prepare for life in the presence of God, is made possible by the Love of a Heavenly Father for His spirit offspring, His children, You and Me.

Introductory Comments to Musings on Gospel Themes.

 Introductory Comments to Musings on Gospel Themes.

During my nearly 90 years of living, I have had many opportunities to be instructed, uplifted, and inspired by the scriptures. This began for me at about age 7, when the president of our Kiel branch sat my brother Klaus and me down, gave us a Book of Mormon, and the pamphlet wherein Joseph Smith tells his own story. He encouraged us to read those regularly, and then extracted a promise that we would do so, a promise which I gladly made and kept.

The occasion for that interview was a result of the war. Kiel was a major base of the German Navy with a large Submarine base. The banks of the harbor also housed many shipyards. Consequently, Kiel was a natural target for the RAF. With nightly bombing raids, the German government instituted a program to relocate children away from immediate danger. The “Kinderlandverschickung” sent Klaus and me to Ebermannstadt in northern Bavaria. Klaus was placed with the local director of the Bank, and I became a member of the Schruefer family, which lived on the cemetery, where they were hired by the city as caretakers and managers.

I had the Book of Mormon and the Joseph Smith story on my night stand next to my bed. An aunt came to visit. She was more Catholic than the Pope. She picked up the Joseph Smith story, rummaged through it and commented: “What a sweet story for Children”. I was furious, “That is not a story, that is the Truth”.

Later as a 15-year-old, I discovered 2 Ne 2 and marveled at the depth of the philosophical content in the context of the Gospel. Since then, a few years ago, I decided to read all standard works yearly. I counted the pages, divided that number by 365 and discovered that if I read 7 pages a day, I could easily read the entire canon of our scriptures by only reading each day for 15 minutes. Furthermore, that left some time for pondering. I followed that plan for three years, then the following years I decided to search for nuggets. Rather than reading carefully, word for word, I skimmed through the pages until a verse touched me, I wrote it down on a spread sheet along with some comments. In this manner I have gone through the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and I am now halfway through the Doctrine and Covenants. The result of this effort is added to the appendix.

The sole reason for writing these Blog Posts is to share the joy I have experienced as I have pondered the scriptures which have given purpose and direction to my life. 

The thoughts expressed in these posts are entirely my own. They have not been reviewed or edited by “Scriptorians”.  I alone am responsible for thoughts expressed. While I hope that principles discussed do not go counter to official Church position, no such inerrancy is claimed.

I hope that you will feel the warmth associated with attempts to draw near to our Savior as you study and ponder. It is my hope that these musings will stimulate you to do so.

 

Strengthening our Testimony of Jesus Christ

Oquirrh Mountain Ranch Ward

Sacrament Meeting 3.13.22

Strengthening our Testimony of Jesus Christ

Note: This was originally given as a talk in Sacrament Meeting. 

My dear sisters and Brothers

During the 88 years of my live, by now nearly 89 years, I have resided in 35 different Wards or Branches, 7 Missions and 11 Stakes. In all of them my testimony of our Savior has been strengthened by opportunities to serve, and mostly by the love of very dear friends. Not only has the Oquirrh Mountain Ranch Ward not been an exception to the loving experiences encountered, but on the contrary, she stands as a shining example of the love and closeness which will build Zion throughout the world.

Permit me to consider with you three phases of the Love of our Heavenly Father for all of us as expressed by John (John 3:16) “for God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting Life.”

In the first phase of this discussion, I would have you remember that our Father taught this principle to Adan and Eve in the Garden when he promised them that while Satan would have power to bruise his heel, his seed (Christ) would have power to crush his head. Later after they had been cast out of the Garden and had built an alter to pray to the Father and to offer a sacrifice, they were taught that they should offer a sacrifice because that was a symbol of the last and infinite Sacrifice of the Savior’s Atonement.

I would like to give two more examples, this time of a prophet, whose message Christ describes as: “Great are the words of Isaiah”. As I do this, I would like to invite you to a spiritual feast which will come as an answer to your search of the scriptures for additional prophesies of the coming of the Messiah.

Isaiah 53:4 Surely, He hath borne our grief, and carried our sorrows

Isaiah 61:1 – 2 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; 

        Or in Numbers 24:17 Behold a Star from Jacob shining, and a scepter from Israel rising Mendelssohn Christus

And of course, there is the promise to Abraham, given also to Isaac, and then to Jacob:  In Thee and Thy seed shall all the families of the Earth be blessed. 

There really are only three truly universal blessings: One is life itself, then there is death. Without death there would be no resurrection and no possibility for Eternal Life. And that possibility is given through the atoning sacrifice of Christ. So, this promise to Abraham is two-fold. (Gen 12:3) On the one hand Abraham is promised that He who would make the resurrection and Eternal Life possible would be borne as his seed. Jesus Christ would come through the lineage of Abraham. Mary would be a distant daughter of Israel. Furthermore, the numerous descendants of Abraham, as many as the grains of sand in the sea, will have the opportunity and responsibility to take the message of the Gospel, the Good News, the joy of forgiveness through the atonement of Christ, to the world. We of the house of Israel have that calling.

In the second phase of contemplating the mission of our Savior we come to the fulfilment of the earlier prophesies. We find Christ in the synagogue of Nazareth. By now he has already done some teaching, and word of his impact has already reached his home, so, the minister hands him the scroll of scriptures and he reads from Isaiah (Luke 4:15 – 21, Isaiah 61:1 – 2). He reads, hands back the scroll and then sits down, which at that time meant he had something to say. All eyes are upon him. They recognize the scripture as a Messianic prophesy, they eagerly await the day of his coming.  “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”  They reject him. In contrast, another fulfilment of the prophesies. (John 4:6 – 26) Christ travels through Samaria, and somewhat fatigued he sends the apostles to get food and he sits down by Jacob’s well, A Samaritan woman comes and he asks her to draw some water for him. She is amazed, that he, a Jew, would talk to a Samaritan. His response: if you knew who I am you would ask me for water, and I would give you living water. After a lengthy conversation he says: “I, that speak unto thee am he”. Let me give you a third example: (John 8:31-58)

So, as the descendants of Israel, how do we respond? How do we meet our opportunity in the third phase of the great Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Let me use three Hymns by way of a suggestion.

I love all three of these hymns, I can’t ever sing any one of them without tears filling my eyes. The first is a very sweet Christmas carol: Away in a manger. In the second verse we sing: ” I love Thee, Lord Jesus”.  I hope we do! The second is the Battle Hymn of the Republic. In the second verse we sing: “Be swift my soul to answer Him, be jubilant my feet.”

 The third is a Hymn of the Restoration: “Rise up. O, Men of God, have done with lesser things. Give heart and soul and mind and strength to serve the King of Kings.

In Conclusion, may I suggest you follow the Savior’s council to “search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”  (John 5:39) Search the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon before 3rd Nephi, for the Prophesies of the coming of the Messiah, then search the New Testament for the teachings by Christ. As you do so I promise you a level of joy beyond what you expected as you permit Christ to permeate your life. You will find the peace He promised (John 16:33) 

The Love and the Friendship which I experienced in your midst at the side of a wonderful woman during the past four years will always be with me. I express my gratitude and love to you and to my Heavenly Father,

Recognizing the love which is responsible

For sending His Son

Who makes it possible for us to experience the Joy of Forgiveness,

As we approach Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

In the Name of Jesus Christ

Amen

The Messiah in the Restoration

 The Messiah

Prophesies of His coming

Fulfilment of these prophesies

The Messiah in the Restoration

The earliest comments about the coming of the Messiah relate to the time prior to the creation of the earth. Elohim, the Father of our spirits, presented His plan of salvation to us, which included the necessity of receiving a body, in order to become like Him, and ultimately return to our heavenly home to become divinely creative with Him in His presence. This furthermore included the inevitability of mistakes which would distance us from the ultimate goal of Eternal Life.

Payment by all who were subject to death by reason of sin, was clearly insufficient, so someone needed to be chosen to accept the task of living without sin in the face of extreme suffering to expiate for the universal load of sin, taking upon himself the infinite sin of the world, and voluntarily giving His life, and conquering death by freely taking up His life again and becoming the first to be resurrected.

Two offered themselves for the task. 

The firstborn spirit of our Father suggested “send me”, fully acknowledging the great gift of agency and free choice in order to make it possible for all of our Father’s children to return home. He was willing to make that infinite sacrifice, give His life and take it up again, while taking upon himself the sins of the world and suffering for all our transgressions, griefs, and carry our sorrows. The condition for making this sacrifice effective in our lives was accepting this offer through obedience and repentance by offering the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

The other offered universality of Eternal Life by removing the possibility of sin, eliminating choice and agency, with their concurrent opportunities for growth. For the universality of salvation, he demanded the glory and power of the Father. 

The Father spoke: “I will send the first”. Satan rebelled, and, because of that rebellion, and the ensuing war, was cast out with one third of the heavenly host who followed him.

Moses 4:1 -  4; Revelation 12:7 – 13; D&C 29:36

The first reference to the Savior in the scriptures, in the context of mortal life, is found in relating incidents in the garden of Eden following the fall. God tells Satan: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman,    between thy seed and her seed (Christ), and he shall bruise thy head. and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

Moses 4:21

After Adam and Eve are driven out of the Garden, they obediently build an altar and offer prayers and sacrifices. An angel teaches them the significance of the sacrifice as a “similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.”

Moses 5:5 - 8

Understanding the Scriptures

2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophesy of the scriptures is of any private interpretation. 

John 5:39 Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Articles of Faith 8 We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly.

Moroni 10:5        And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

John 14:26 But the “Comforter”, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things

Prov. 4:7 With all thy getting, get understanding

1 Ne19:23 ……..for I did liken al scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning

Scriptures frequently address many topics in the same verse or chapter, consequently it is not easy to extract the intended meaning, furthermore, they often are given in the context of the contemporary culture. The result of all this is that if we attempt to understand scripture purely with our limited human philosophy as a tool, we most likely will not come to understand the Lord’s intent.

If our lives are in harmony with the Lord’s will, He will frequently send us messages, often when we study the scriptures. Thoughts will come to our mind related to the scripture we are reading with insights quite different from common explanations.

 For example, on an occasion, while studying the sermon on the mount, it occurred to me that the pain of loss for loved ones, and I had lost several relatives, dear friends, and two wonderful wives, did not compare to the anguish of the realization that on some occasions I had offended my Heavenly Father. Mat 5:4 became one of my favorite scriptures helping me to understand elements of the Atonement. 

The messages transmitted to us by the Holy Ghost are given to us according to our understanding and our needs. The Lord knows us, knows our level of understanding, consequently He speaks to us individually, according to that understanding. Though His truths are eternal and unchanging, which part of that truth He emphasizes when speaking to Uwe might be quite different from the message He gives to Jeri.

How then do we recognize that a particular interpretation of a scripture represents pure truth? 

The message of that scripture comes to us through the Holy Ghost. How do we recognize that? 

1. We have that same feeling in our heart which we felt when the warmth and peace of our testimony first filled out heart. In other words, it is in harmony with previous spiritual experiences.
2. The message is in harmony with the teachings and official publications of the restored Church, this includes the Scriptures.
3. The interpretation is in harmony with the statements of the Prophets, General Authorities, and General Conference addresses.
4. The message is uplifting and brings us closer to Christ

Seeking to understand the nature of God

Seeking to understand the nature of God,

His relationship to us

His Plan to prepare us to join Him,

And our opportunities and responsibilities 

To respond to that plan of happiness.

For behold, this is My Work and My Glory – to bring to pass the Immortality and Eternal Life of Man.

Moses 1:39

And this is Life Eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.

John 17:3

Adam fell that Men might be; and Men are that they might have Joy. 

2 Ne 2:25

Comment: Capitalization of words other than references to God and Jesus Christ, is deliberate and not intended to improve the scriptures. I merely want to draw attention to those words in the context of these ponderings.

I think it is wonderful that the restoration has brought such an increased depth of understanding to our knowledge of our Heavenly Father. I was going to say “significant” instead of wonderful, but that seemed too weak.

Clearly, that understanding was not only available to Adam, Abraham, Isaiah, and all the Old Testament prophets, but was a reality to them.

They knew Him and conversed with Him. Christ reminded his contemporaries, but except those few who faithfully began to build His kingdom, they rejected Him and the reality of His Father. 

But even those few, eventually, because of unrighteousness and the worship of human knowledge, lost that understanding during the great apostacy. Church leaders saw a great need to reconcile the teachings of Christ with the human wisdom represented by infallible Greek philosophy, and the resulting creeds show no resemblance to the personal testimony Christ bore of His Father.

Like prophets of old, Joseph Smith communicated with God. He saw both the Father and the Son and conversed with them. When challenged by persecution he bore a powerful testimony: “I had seen a vision, I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it.”

The restoration brought renewed understanding of a number of fundamental concepts. 

1. “Elohim” God the Father, and  “Jehovah “ God the Son are two distinct personages.
2. They have physical, resurrected, and glorified bodies.
3. None of the churches of that time represented the church established by Christ in the meridian of times.
4. Communication between God and man did not cease with the death of the early apostles, it is essential for the saving role of the Church and was reestablished by God.
5. The canon of scripture is not closed
6. The Priesthood, divine authority to perform saving ordinances, was restored
7. The structure of the Church of Jesus Christ was restored, with the foundation of Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone.
8. Sealing powers were restored to form eternal families.
9. Authority was restored to perform vicarious saving ordinances for deceased individuals and families.
10. Temples are built for live and vicarious eternal ordinance performance.
11. The nature of man as a spirit child of Heavenly parents, embodied in a physical body was again taught. 
12. The nature oof God, as a Heavenly parent, whose most pronounced characteristic is love for his offspring was restored.
13. The plan of Salvation, which includes life as spirits in the presence of Heavenly Parents, earth life as a preparation for return to Heavenly parents, redemption by Jesus Christ on conditions of repentance and obedience to eternal principles, and ordinances, was again revealed.
14. The precious gift of free agency, including acceptance of consequences, and the effectiveness of repentance through the infinite sacrifice of Jesus Christ was clarified by revelation.
15. The variety of eternal destination possibilities based on earthly performance and acceptance of eternal principles, including divine ordinances, were again taught/

Back to the first of the scriptures which motivated these musings.

It states that the most significant, if not the sole concern of our Heavenly Father is our happiness. Clearly, there are many things which motivate our actions, among them acquisition of wealth, desire of worldly recognition, exercise of power, gaining knowledge, search for pleasure, giving service, and many more. Many of these are not in harmony with the will of our Heavenly Father. 

Only the confluence of three elements will result in the depth of happiness our Heavenly Father would have us experience

1. The will of our Heavenly Father
2. Our own deepest innermost desires
3. Our actions resulting from our desires

When those three become one, then and only then will we be truly happy.

Anything less will require repentance prior to experiencing true happiness and joy.

The gospel furthermore teaches us that only a resurrected body housing our spirit is capable of a fulness of joy, and that will only happen in the presence of our Heavenly Parents.

Returning to our Heavenly Father permanently means gaining Eternal Life. This, in turn, requires progress on earth, made possible by the gifts of agency, and repentance which becomes effective through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

At this point a comment about the will of our Heavenly Father seems in order.

In view of the scripture: “This is my work and my glory – to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” it should be obvious that divine commandments are not arbitrary whims imposed as obstacles or fetters. Our loving Father, with His infinite experience, knows what it takes to progress to His level. Consequently, He gives us guidelines. These are not just wise hints, but He knows and shows us the way. The proverb “many ways lead to Rome” is relevant if you want to go to Rome, but we should prefer Eternal Life as a goal. Often limiting personal freedom is presented as an objection to rigid commandments. The reality is that behavioral restrictions become a limiting influence only for actions at the boundary of acceptable behavior. The dog at the feet of his master is not even aware of the leash around his neck. The bumper sticker “They are not the ten suggestions” may represent an amusing comment, however if we truly love the Lord, and accept His commandments as benevolent, we will want to follow His slightest suggestions.

Indeed, the commandments are designed to help us become more like our savior. The closer we come to that goal, the less we need the “restrictions” of the commandments. We would keep them even if we did not have them, we would live Christ-like because of who we are, but until we have carved the commandments into the flesh of our heart, we still need them in the picture on the wall as a reminder, and a driving force to improve.