I believe in Christ

What does it mean to take upon you the name of Christ? What does it mean to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? To me it means that I am His and He is mine. He is my Savior and I love him. I am his child and like a child I will put my trust in him. I can partake of His atonement and be saved in his kingdom. What does it mean to be a Child of God? How do you conduct your everyday life?

                Much of the answers to these questions are located in the scriptures. In these sacred books he has given us a plan to follow. We have the road-map before us in the palm of our hand. We must partake of this knowledge every day and learn from Christ and his teachings. We truly can hold all the books of the scriptures in the palm of our hand. I was reading the scriptures on my phone and cross referencing many of the connecting scriptures when a thought occurred to me. I really do have all the scriptures in the palm of my hand. But not only the scriptures, but the words of the latter-day prophets, all the conference talks from the beginning to now, seminary and institute student manuals, preach my gospel, pamphlets, books etc. It’s all there right at our fingertips, right in our pocket. We have only to open them and listen and feel of his spirit. We can bring the Spirit into our hearts every day. We just have to listen or read his words.

                How do we become like the Savior? It happens one day at a time, one lesson at a time, and even one trial at a time. Many may ask, “How can God love the world when so many tragedies and trials are everywhere. My answer that I have been given is that there is no other way. We cannot learn to be humble if our food fell from heaven. We could not learn to be compassionate for the sick, if we did not suffer with illness. We cannot love a child unconditionally if we did not have to sacrifice so much to bring them to this world and provide for them. We could not be grateful for our blessings, if we at one time or another went hungry or was cold or frightened. We could not be together with our eternal companion, if we did not have to work with all our might to survive the ups and downs of marriage. We could not understand how He loves the sinner, if we did not enter into temptation and needed his forgiveness and love. We cannot see miracles that Christ performs every day in our lives, if at first he did not give us the trials that will open our eyes to see ourselves through his eyes.

                What does it mean to believe in Christ? It means that we believe Him when he says that he will suffer you to come unto him. He will be there to bring us home to a Father in Heaven that loves us as. We can live with him again someday. We just have to desire to do so. One step at a time, one prayer at a time, and one scripture study session at a time, all we have to do is show up. I am a child of God and I am grateful to belong to His church.

Hope in Christ

                One of the things that I have noticed in my efforts to develop the Christ-like attribute of Hope is that hope is very fragile. Just when you think that you have a grasp on keeping hope in your heart something comes along to challenge that strength. One thing that I have had to come to grips with is that we only grow though trials. I have had many trials in my life and only when I get to a point that I can look back do I realize that I did grow and learn from a trial. The trick is to have hope in the middle of the pain and darkness. I have been able to develop hope through recent trials by looking to Christ to make me able to bare it. As I look outward to him and to my family I feel empowered that together we can get through it. I have learned that if I read my scriptures and pray always I have the ability to turn to Christ for his enabling power. I have learned not to turn in on myself but to look outward and gain strength. In the past I have closed myself off to the Lord and to my family. I found that this was a dark and lonely place, a place that Satan had much power over me, discouraging me from having hope and moving forward.

                It has made all the difference in the world as I work to develop hope and faith in my Savior and my Father in Heaven. I am doing the things that make developing hope as an attribute possible. The little things like scripture study, prayer, and service to others and in the church have helped me stay on the path to making this attribute strong in my heart. Only a year ago this was not the case. I struggled every day with having hope for the future.  I had intense depression and self-doubt in myself and my marriage. I didn’t know how to find the strength to keep working and striving to be a daughter of God. Then the Lord led me to take the Pathway courses and this has made all the difference for me. I feel stronger and full of hope and faith. I know this came by immersing myself in the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets. I learned to make goals and to keep going forward. I now feel that I can continue to work to be a child of God and to return to him someday. The trials are still there and they keep coming like a never-ending river flowing against my swimming stroke, but now I feel that I have allowed the Savior to be with me and he gives me the power to keep swimming.

                Now I look at my life with hope and faith. I know that I can with the Saviors help return to that Father that gave me life. I know that I can make a difference in my life and the lives of my family. I have a greater testimony of reading and studying the scriptures. I have a greater testimony of the plan that the Lord has for me. I am willing to accept the path that he has put before me. I feel stronger in the face of heartache and distress. I have learned to turn to my Savior for the gift of the comforter. I have faith that he will be beside me always. My heart is open to accepting the things that he wants me to learn.

                I have grown closer to my Savior as I strive to keep hope burning bright in my life. I feel that I know him better than I did before. My love for my Savior has increased and I can feel that he loves me. I know that my Father in Heaven lives and loves me. I know that he has hope in me and in my family. I know that he knows what we need if it be in blessings or trials. I have learned to look at my life in a positive light, despite the mistakes and the sour notes. I have learned that even mistakes can be a learning experience. Nobody is perfect, but He wants us to strive to be like him and to become perfect. It is only by walking through the bad times can we know the sweetness of the good. I have hope that someday I will run into his arms and He will greet me with a loving kiss and a heavenly hug.  

If He Called Me by Name

                When I read 3 Nephi 11, I often imagine what it would be like to be there with the multitude as they cried, “Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God!”(3 Nephi 11:17). I feel his love as he called the prophet Nephi by name and asked him to come forth. I imagine that I would fall to his feet and kiss them and wash his feet with my tears. I think how amazing it is that he knows each of us by name. If I could hear his voice saying, “Gina, come unto me.” What would it be like to hear my name on his lips, to see his eyes look my way, and to feel the prints in his hands and his feet. Tears come to my eyes as I imagine such an event.

                Then he called the little children to come forth so that he could bless them. “And it came to pass that he commanded that their little children should be brought. So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him.” (3 Nephi 17:11). He waited for all the children to be brought, every single one of them. He left no one out. I imagine that all my little grandchildren are around his knee. Their little heads being kissed by the Savior. The love that he feels for them is amazing and pure. Then he blessed every one of the children individually. “And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones. And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angles did minister unto them.” (3 Nephi 17:23, 24)

                What can each of us do to have this kind of experience in our lives today? Can we have the Savior bless our lives like he did the prophet Nephi and the children of the Book of Mormon? We absolutely can have this kind of experience in our lives. We must know the Savior with all our hearts, our minds and our souls. We can do this by studying the scriptures every day and getting to know him. We must read about him to know him. Then we can pray meaningful prayers in feel his spirit in our hearts. Then finally we need to become more like him. Each and every day we can become more like him by acting as he would act and loving the little children in your life as the Savior would love them. See the children through his eyes. See others that are not children through his eyes.

                We can experience knowing the Savior like the people of Nephi. We have it within our power to hear him call us by name, and to feel his loving hands on our head as he blesses our lives. It is up to us to come near unto him. We must be the ones who open the door and let him into our lives.