Be true to yourself

If there was any of the fives senses I would not want to lose, it would be sight. I think it would be so hard! Imagine never knowing what colors were. Faces. The sky. Buildings.

In John 9, Jesus heals a blind man.
Imagine you're the one who's blind and you're standing outside of the temple. The rest of your senses are heightened to try and compensate the loss of your sight. So, as you are standing there, you can sense someone coming up to you. Then you hear that person spit onto the ground.

Maybe that's a little rude, spitting at you at stuff. I mean, you're blind.

Not only that, but you hear them pick up the clay that they have now created.

Personally, I would be worried they were going to throw it at me.

Not this guy though, he doesn't react.
He just stands there as Jesus comes closer and puts the smushed clay onto his blind eyes. Not only that, but he then tells the blind man to wash in the Silom pool...the furthest pool of water from the temple AND there were many, many steps. That's a tough journey for a blind guy.
Jesus is going to make you work for your salvation. That's how it's always been.

So after this miracle of the blind man washing and receiving his vision, the Pharisees decide to question him.
First of all, this man was healed on the Sabbath day. This is a big no, no to the Pharisees. How could someone who did this kind of work on the Sabbath be the son of God?
Jesus was a sinner for spitting on the ground during the Sabbath. He could not perform miracles.

Again and again these outside forces were questioning this blind man's faith and this miracle. However, his testimony was only strengthened.

A lot of the time, we think that outside forces will try and tempt us to lose faith in our testimony. Outside pressure isn't what causes our faith to shake, it's internal doubt.
If you know, and I mean really know something to be true, you are not going to abandon that truth.
If anything, those outside pressures are going to solidify what is true to you.
If you are already doubting what is being questioned, you'll begin to lose it.

As Elder Holland so boldly stated, "Be true to the faith you do have."

Transitioning to Luke 10 -the story of Mary and Martha-

As a woman, this story has always bugged me.

How was it all fair that Mary was considered the better part, when Martha was busy trying to make everything comfortable and pleasing to the Lord?
I mean, wasn't Martha being the better hostess? Isn't that how we are supposed to be? Doing something?!?

Then, in Sunday school we were told that it was more important to be listening to the Lord's word.
This was still unsettling to me.

It wasn't until my New Testament class that things made a little more sense to me.

Let's pretend to be Mary for a moment.
In verse 40, Martha says "Lord, dost though not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me."

Okay.

Totally awkward.

Oops! I probably should be helping my sister.
She probably feels totally embarrassed. I would.

But remember that Jesus never congratulates the condoner. He never says to the Pharisees, Scribes or Saducees, Oh, you're right. So-and-so, go and do this. 
Nope.
So when Martha points a finger at Mary, Jesus doesn't tell her she is right.

What if Jesus was telling Martha to be Martha and let Mary be Mary.
We aren't all the same person. We have different strengths and do different things.

I know I'm extremely guilty of this. I get frustrated when people aren't doing what I'm doing.
I know what I'm doing is the right thing, so why can't they be like me?!
Because not everyone is me.
No one is me, but me.

Mary and Martha were both doing good things. The chastising came when one of them pointed a finger at the other telling them to be different.

I feel much better looking at it this way. The focus shouldn't be trying to better other people, but to better yourself.
Being different isn't a bad thing.
Focus on your own strengths and weaknesses, not others.

Don't forget to be awesome!

The Faith of a Woman

By Matthew 15, Jesus is pretty much a celebrity. You've got the haters (Scribes and Pharisees) as well as his fans (apostles and other followers). You can imagine that many people were seeking out Christ for miracles and teachings. Typically, we think of Jesus as a pretty nice guy, right? He blesses, heals, strengthens, forgives, etc. Which is why Matthew 15 is a bit surprising in regards to Jesus's character.

Staring in verse 22, a woman of *Canaan decent approaches Jesus saying her daughter is sick.
*Note - this means she is a Canaanite and of different decent (stuck with darker skin). Despite her different race (and there is a lot of racism at this time), she still had the courage to seek out Jesus.

In other stories Jesus would act according to her faith, telling her according to her faith her daughter would be healed. However, he doesn't do that in this story...at least not at first.

In the very next verse it says that, "but he answered not a word." Jesus was not paying any attention to her. How incredibly disappointing. This was supposed to be the almighty Jesus who could calm the seas, heal the sick, cure the blind, and be a friend to all mankind, yet, he wasn't listening to this woman who was pleading for his help.

Then in verse 25, she drops down and begins to worship Jesus saying, " Lord, help me." At this point, she would have had every reason/right to turn around grumbling about the so-called "Jesus Christ." Instead, she pushes her faith even further and worships Him. I think we could all learn to be a little bit more like this woman. If there are challenges standing in our way, disappointments, frustration, keep standing firm and don't give up. In the words of Elder Holland, "doubt your doubts, before you doubt your faith"
This woman knew that Jesus would help her.

Yet, in verse 26 Jesus responds to her worshipping with, "... It is not meet to take the children's bread, and cast it to dogs."
Okay, I think at this point I would have been totally insulted and probably given up.
This woman is way stronger than I am. She responds saying, "Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs, which fall from their masters' table."
Wow. What an example of complete faith. Even when the answer was no, she showed all of her testimony, even if it was just crumbs.

So finally, after three attempts of getting Jesus to heal her daughter, in verse 28 Jesus says "O woman, great is they faith: be it unto thee even as though wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."

Is it possible that Jesus knew all along that he was going to heal her daughter? Maybe.
 I do think that also He wanted to test the woman's faith and see how far she would go, laying out her testimony and then solidifying it for herself.
If every time we asked for something, and Jesus just gave it to us, we would become (as my professor so graciously put it) spoiled spiritual brats. He wants us to work for it and not be greedy just because we asked Him for help. Remember that.

Don't forget to be awesome!

All who wonder, really are lost.

One of the best parts of the Bible is all the parables. Parables are so great because they allow us to learn lessons in the form of a story, making it easier to remember them. Another really great thing about parables is that they allow us to make personal connections. One misconception that a lot of people, myself included, think that parables have a lot of different interpretations, they don't. Parables only have one interpretation. However, they do have an infinite amount of applications. That is what makes them so cool!

The parables I find the most interesting are what are known as the "lost" parables found in Luke 15. They are known as the lost parables because in each story, something is lost; a sheep, a coin, and a son. Together, these also three make up the 3 ways to leave Jesus Christ.
 1. The first parable is the sheep that wonders off from the rest of the heard. Mind you, this was a slow process. I really don't think that the sheep woke up that morning and decided to leave the safety of it's herd and try and survive on its own. More than likely, the sheep became too focused on what was in front of it (what it was eating) thus drifting farther and farther away without looking up and rechecking where it was. The sheep was more interested in what it wanted, than it's own safety. In verse 4, it says, "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?"
I don't know about you, but this really bothered me growing up.
Why should we risk leaving 99 good sheep just to go get 1 lousy sheep that wondered off?
I finally have a good answer, and hopefully this makes sense to you too. The 99 other sheep all have each other. They should be able to strengthen and protect each other. If the shepherd has to leave, the sheep are being trusted to carry on what they are doing and rely on each other for guidance. However, the lost sheep needs extra help to come back. The lost sheep has no one to look to. Hopefully that helps clear that up, because it definitely helped me!
2. Is about the lost coin. In this parable, a woman turns her house upside-down looking for a coin she misplaced. This "person" was lost because of neglect. Someone did not do their job. It makes me sad, but the only reason the coin became lost was because someone did not care enough to remember who/where it was. Whether this be not loving a person in our congregations or not opening our mouths when we were supposed to, souls can be lost. People always need to be looked after and cared for. It is our duty.
3. The Prodigal Son. This lost soul didn't wonder off. It wasn't misplaced either. Instead, it just flat out rebelled. This one chose to leave. Instead of caring about the relationship with his father, the son only cared about the here and now and what he, himself wanted. Referring to an earlier post, he wanted instant gratification to make him happy. The problem is, instant gratification (or sin) will always leave you in want. You can never fully be happy, because it is not eternal. The difference between the wonderers and misplaced is that for them, you can go find them and invite them back into the fold. For those who rebel, reaching out to them only pushes them farther away.
Have you ever tried to convince someone who has purposefully left the church to come back? Sinned? How often does it work? It doesn't.
The hard part about this, is that the lost have to come back for themselves. They have to learn the lesson for themselves. The most we can do is to do as the father did, and pray/watch for them to return.

That's it for this week. Don't forget to be awesome :)

At least you aren't a pig

One of my favorite stories is found in Mark 4:36-41. This is the story of Jesus and his disciples on the boat crossing to Capernum when it starts to storm. The apostles start to panic and think they are going to die. It's interesting that they are so frightened when their profession is fishing. They are on boats all the time! It must have been pretty bad for them to be shaken up. However,  they failed to realize that there is NO way they are going to drown when Jesus is with them.  Heavenly Father and Jesus aren't going to let them fail if they are with Christ. 

Like the apostles, we often feel overwhelmed. We get scared, think we are going to fail, and possibly drown. I know everyone feels this way. How many times do we think to ourselves 'I can't do this anymore' or 'I'm failing at everything" ? It happens all the time in school, family life, and our professions. We need to remember that if we are in Jesus's boat, He is not going to let us drown. We are pushed and tested to prove our faith. Sometimes, it is a reminder of where we should be focused. 

I also find Legion's story very interesting. He's the guy who has been possessed by many devils. It has driven him to the point of uncontrollable despair. I sort of feel bad for the guy. However, I want to think about the devils for a moment here. They are spirits and they don't have bodies. They will never have bodies. There is nothing they wouldn't do to be able to have a body of flesh and bone. They will tempt anyone and everyone so they can get inside and reside within a body. They don't care about the body shape, size, color, skill etc. They don't care what it looks like, because without flesh and bone, you can't progress. Our body was a gift from God for our spirit to reside in. We take our gift of a body for granted. 

We complain about the way we look. 

We complain that we wanted straight hair instead of curly. 

We complain that we are the wrong size. 

We complain that we are too tall or too short. 

You know how insulting that must be for God? From a young age we are taught that when we are given a gift, we are to graciously accept it and be thankful. Our body is a gift from God, we should appreciate everything about it. 

When Legion asked Jesus to release the spirits from him, the devils asked Jesus, "...Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them." The spirits would rather have a pigs body, than no body at all. That is how important having a body is. So, love yourself. Be happy you have a body. They are important. 

Don't forget to be awesome!