The Second Commandment

 The shortened version, the one most of us memorize, says, " Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image"

The full text says, "4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:4-6)

Phew...that was a long one. What does all this mean? Is He only talking about something like the golden calf of the Israelites? Or does this go deeper? 

I believe it goes deeper. In today's world, many of us take time away from our Heavenly Father and our Savior and direct it to a myriad of other things: career, money, fame, personal body image, possessions, ... 

In Deuteronomy 6:5 we read, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Yet, when we take our worldly pursuit to an extreme, we enlist all our heart, soul, and might, to reach those "idols". In short, we are worshipping any likeness of anything "that is in the earth beneath" and moving away from God. 

Do we want to be so involved with pursuing and worshipping our worldly achievements that we put aside our pursuit of a relationship with our Heavenly Father and with our Savior? 

All of our worldly pursuits will have an end, but our relationship with our Heavenly Father and with our Savior will stand and continue through the eternities. In Matthew 6:19-21 the Savior tells us (and I paraphrase) to not accumulate things here on earth but to "lay up for [ourselves] treasures in heaven... for where [our] treasure is, there will [our] heart be also."

What takes up all of your heart, soul, and mind?

The First Commandment

 In Exodus chapter 20, the Lord reveals to Moses the Ten Commandments that the children of Israel were to follow. 

The first commandment is "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3)

What does this mean? And why did God give us this commandment?

To me, this means that I am to love Him and serve Him the very best way I can. 
In Deuteronomy 6:5 it says, "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." 

Why does He give us this commandment? Does He really need us and our love and service?
I believe that NO, He does not need us, but we need Him.
Each and every single person that has lived, is living, and will yet live upon this earth is His child and He wants us to have joy.
To help us, He has given us the commandments. All He has done, does, and will do in the future is for our benefit, our growth and progression, that we might return to His presence. 
Thinking again about this first commandment, when we choose to love and serve Him, our hearts change. We find that we no longer have disposition to think or act in opposition to His commandments, and to the directions He gives us.
And when we follow Him, with all our heart, soul, and might, we will be able to return to His presence.

I am not perfect. I am far from perfect, and I think I have made this statement before.
However, I also know that because of Him, and His commandments, my heart has changed and is changing. My desire to have Him as my God has increased. My desires to follow Him and serve Him, by serving others, have increased.

Will you join me in renewing our commitment to love Him and serve Him?

The Ten Commandments

 Anyone who grow up in a Christian Church has learned or, at the very least, has been exposed to the Ten commandments. 

In today's society, many of these commandments are overlooked or looked upon as "obsolete."

But are they "obsolete?" Are they something to be put aside and to allow them to collect dust in the recesses of our mind?

What do you think? What are your feelings about the Ten Commandments? Have your feelings changed over the years? 

I grew up Catholic. I learned the Commandments at school, given that I went to a school run by nuns. However, as years passed, I forgot them. Sure, I knew the general gist of them, but I could not list them in order and, for a few of them, I couldn't even remember the correct wording. I still can't.
I knew that some of them were "common sense," like the one that spoke of not killing or stealing.
But I never really took the time to study them and to understand them.

Lately, I've decided to learn them by memorizing them, studying them, and applying them in my life. I've decided that if I wanted to obey Heavenly Father with exactness, I needed to truly understand them, along with other Gospel principles and doctrines, and live them.

So, for the next few Sundays, I will write about the Commandments, one each Sunday. I will try to explain what they mean, and not just what the wording means, but what they mean to me and how I feel I can best follow them. 

For now, I would like to explain what the Ten Commandments are, not in my words, but in the words of others who are much more versed than I am in these sacred writings.

"The Ten Commandments are eternal gospel principles that are necessary for our exaltation. The Lord revealed them... [they are] a vital part of the gospel. Obedience to these commandments paves the way for obedience to other gospel principles." 

I know the Ten Commandments are not obsolete. We need them today more than ever. If we started to follow them wholeheartedly, we might not change the world, but we would definitely change ourselves. We would be able to find the peace that Jesus Christ has promised us. 

Will you join me in learning them and applying them in your life?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Today, I want to share my testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I joined back in 1982. It seems so long ago, yet if feels as if it happened only a little while ago, given that I have so much I still need to learn.

A few months ago, I decided I wanted to really work on my knowledge, understanding, and application of the teachings of the Gospel in my life. So, I began a personal program of study that spanned from the scriptures to the words of modern Prophets and Church Leaders, found in various Church publications.

I am not done and, honestly, I don't think one life would be enough to really understand and make my own the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. However, I am beginning to really understand the immense love that our Heavenly Father and Savior have for us. 

This love has been manifested from the beginning of time and continues today. Their love for us has been supporting us, guiding us, helping us, and rescuing us since the very beginning. 

Throughout the ages, men have worshipped the Father and the Son, then forgotten about Them, to return to worshipping Them (especially when times were hard - then, they would remember our Father in Heaven and our Savior, and the Prophets who testified of Them). 

This last dispensation has been no different from the previous ones, in regard to mankind forgetting about their origin and their destination. The teachings of the scriptures began to be modified, perhaps to make them easier to understand, of perhaps to fit a personal agenda. 

Because of this, many plain and precious truths were no longer taught correctly, if they were taught at all. Heavenly Father and the Savior knew that we needed those plain and precious truths restored. The Church as it was originally organized by our Savior while He was here on earth needed to be restored. 

Through a plain young boy, who was humble, teachable, and willing to do Their will, They restored The Church as it was when Jesus started it. 

I have a testimony that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true organization established in these latter days, before the Second Coming of our Savior, to help us prepare for His Coming. By "us," I mean all mankind, all over the world, those who are already members of The Church, and those who are not. Those who already know about the Savior and those who are yet to know Him. 

The more I study the scriptures and the words of the Prophets, the more I pray, the more I serve others, whether within The Church or outside of it, the more I try to truly understand His will for me, the more I feel of Their love. 

I invite all who might be reading these words, to get in touch with the missionaries or with a friend who is a current member and ask them questions; ask them to share the Gospel with you. Heavenly Father and the Savior love you just as much as They love me, or the Prophet, and They, through the Holy Ghost, will testify of its truthfulness. 

We are all children of our Heavenly Father. The Savior came to earth and did all that he did for each and everyone of us. None excluded. 

I share this testimony in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Scriptures

Today, across the world, wherever members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will meet, testimonies will be shared.

Every first Sunday of the month, members of the Church share their testimonies of the Gospel, of Jesus Christ, of the blessings they receive. We do this, except for April and October, when the first weekend is spent listening to General Conference. I will expound on this later.

Today, I would like to share my own testimony. 
As I have begun reading the scriptures again, I had neglected them for a while, I received a testimony that they are true and that if we live by what we are taught in them, our lives will be better. Mind me, I said better, not necessarily easier. We will still have challenges, we will still experience hurt, sorrow, and/or pain. However, if we heed them, we will find the peace that we are promised within them.

The Scriptures "were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." (Romans 15:4) 

The scriptures testify of our Savior Jesus the Christ. The scriptures give us the blueprint to follow so that we can find peace and rest in our Savior, so that we can follow His example, so that we can feel of His infinite love for us. If we read them daily, if we set time aside to study and ponder them, we will have the Spirit with us to guide us and help us, just like the Savior has promised. If we read them daily, if we set time aside to study and ponder them, we will come to intimately know our Savior; we will feel close to Him, and we will want to follow Him. 

Of this I testify, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” (Exodus 20:7)

As I try to follow in the Savior's footsteps, one small, very small step at the time, I decided to review the 10 Commandments. I know them, I learned them, but I never quite "studied" them. 

As I was reading and studying about this topic, it struck me that this one did not have a "modern" explanation, like for example "Thous shalt have no other gods before me" and "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image." The other gods and graven images of modern times are money, fame, other material possessions... you get the drift.

This one has exactly the same application/meaning that it had when it was given. 

I started pondering what the meaning of this commandment is. I grew up thinking and believing that it meant I should not use crude language that included His name in it. So many expressions of anger or even amazement are used with His name in it. And I was not incorrect. 

However, I felt that it had to be more than that. So, I asked myself, what if we read this commandment as "Thou shalt honor the name of the Lord thy God" instead? If we read it this way, then we need to ask, what does it mean to honor His name?

My thoughts on this are that to honor His name means that we do our best to act like the Savior acted: we serve one another, we diligently fulfill our duties as parents, children, grandchildren, workers, church members...; we speak as the Savior spoke: we can be firm and loving at the same time, we use words of encouragement and support; we love as the Savior loved: we are kind to everyone, independently of their creed, sex, job, family status...

The Savior was perfect and, for us, perfection, is not attainable in this life. We all fall short. Heaven only knows how imperfect I am, how many times I have failed in all areas of my life, especially as a parent. But all He asks of us is to keep trying, to keep progressing, one step at the time. 

I have challenged myself to follow this commandment more fully that I have been. I know I will falter, and that is why I am grateful to our Savior and His Atonement. 

If you feel like you need to improve in following this commandment as well, you can do it! Rely on the Savior and, line upon line, precept upon precept, you will make it. 

Thankfulness and Positivity

We had a big storm last night. There were a lot of thunders and lightnings, hail, and strong winds. 
When we woke up this morning, leaves were strewn all over the yard. Trash cans had been toppled over.
As my mom and I went for a walk, we could see how many trees, bushes, and flower plants had suffered through this storm. Some places had nets to protect from the hail that had "pockets of hail still in them. 

Those whom we encountered commented, "what a disaster!"
Yet, I could not feel the weight of this "disaster." As I looked around, I felt grateful that I could not see any trees on the ground, roofs displaced, car windows broken. So, I would reply that, at least, all we had to do was to clean up the leaves in the yard and pick up a couple of trash cans. 

When we are grateful, we are able to look at what is positive and good in our lives. The same works the other way around: when we look at the positive side of things, we find that it becomes easy to be grateful for our situation.

In Psalm 100:4 we read, "...be thankful unto him, and bless his name."
When we show gratitude, we are happier. 
"Challenges will certainly come...but we don't have to be weighed down by discouragement and sadness. We can put our trust in the Lord and be positive. Jesus Christ promised us we would experience tribulation, be He also urged, "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33) - We Believe in Being Positive

I realize that this storm is nothing compared to other storms in our lives. There is sickness, loss of work, loss of loved ones, inability to financially take care of needs. These are much bigger storms. Yet, I believe that if we do put our trust in Him, and we do our best to look at what is positive, even in such dire situations, we will find a way to be grateful and we will be comforted. We will find peace.