lds-me

[lds-me]

As I was reading about the spirit and that all good things come from God I was also reminded of another thing. The fact that Satan will never convince us to do something good.

I'm currently reading The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, written as a POV of a devil (highly recommend). I have been reminded numerous times through this book and through church leaders that when we understand who Satan is and how he works we simultaneously come to know our Heavenly Father.

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I remember being upset when I Am a Child of God changed "Teach me all that I must know" to "Teach me all that I must do". That's what I grew up with and I didn't want a change.

But then I came to understand. It takes more than just knowing something to return to God's presence.

Someone pointed out that "Satan knows everything necessary to return to God's presence. But that knowledge isn't going to save him, because he's not doing anything with it."

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Mark 9:24 will always be one of my favorite verses.

A man comes to Christ asking for him to heal his son. Christ responds, telling him that all things are possible if he believes. To this, the man "said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

"Help thou mine unbelief" will get me every time.

He didn't ask for help believing because he didn't believe. He asked for help because he did believe and needed help making up the part of him where his faith lacked.

I've seen this in so many people. In a friend scared to follow a prompting from God. In a young girl wanting desperately to know if the Book of Mormon is true. In myself constantly.

Christ healed the boy. More importantly, he helped the man's unbelief. Miracles can happen even when we feel our belief is lacking. We can turn to Christ and ask him to make up the rest. To "help thou mine unbelief".

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Matthew 14:22-33 is the story of Peter walking on the water to Christ. In verse 29 he is beconed to come to Christ on the water. In verse 30 he looks away, becomes scared, and begins to sink.

He cries out "Lord save me"

He doesn't first try to save himself or turn back around to grab his boat. He doesn't call out to his friends for help. He immediately calls out to the Savior.

And then "IMMEDIATELY Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him". He didn't wait, saying "You're the one who looked away. I'm gonna wait now for you to recenter and take a step to me." He didn't wait and say "Well now you get to sink there a moment as you learn your lesson." No, he IMMEDIATELY stretched forth his hand, the moment Peter called out to him. Sometimes when we uncenter our lives from Christ we think we need to suffer before Christ will come. But he will come immediately.

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"God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called." -Christine Caine

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Adam and Eve didn't condemn us. They allowed us to become more than we could otherwise be.

I've recently been reading the book "The Christ Who Heals" by Fiona and Terry Givens, and thoroughly enjoyed the story of a woman who dreamt of the fall of Adam and Eve.

There was a woman who dreamt about a man who was working diligently for his master. While working he fell and injured himself and couldn't get up without help. After being helped up, he was not reprimanded for falling, but rather recognized for how diligently he'd been working. He didn't deserve to lose his job, but to be promoted.

The woman, after waking realized that she had dreamt of the fall of Adam and Eve. Their fall didn't come because of a huge mistake they made. It came because they were doing their best to follow God's commandments and allow the rest of his children to. So much of the world criticizes Adam and Eve for eating the fruit, but they didn't condemn us, they allowed us to become more than we could without the fall.

The fall of Adam and Eve is like a baby's first fall while learning to walk. It's just one of many, but it leads to so much growth along the way.

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Alma 29:7

“7 ​For behold, the Lord doth ​​​grant​ unto ​​​all​ nations, of their own nation and ​​​tongue​, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he ​​​seeth​ fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true.”

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Anne Lamott

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100/365 reasons to pray

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You know what's neat? God knows us so perfectly that he can take our ordinary lives and mold them to help us in things such as understanding the scriptures better.

For example, lately I've been LOVING the Inheritance Cycle books (you know, the ones that start with Eragon). The whole plot of the series is based around a war that's going on, so there are a lot of battles and the characters have to work through a lot of strategy. Throughout it, I've learned to be fascinated by war strategy.

Fast forward to today. I've been doing well at keeping up with Come Follow Me, but felt I was neglecting the Book of Mormon. So, for my scripture study today I decided to open my Book of Mormon and start reading where I last left off. I currently happen to be right in the middle of the war chapters in Alma. As I began reading I found that I understood what was happening in a way I never had before!

I already learned to love the war chapters during my mission, but there were still far too many parts that I didn't quite understand. However, thanks to this tender mercy from a Father in Heaven who knows me perfectly, as I began reading today I found myself picturing Helaman and Moroni's strategies and seeing the kind of leaders they were in a way I never had before. I found myself relating to and understanding these prophets, and it was an amazing feeling!

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"We get credit for trying". Oh how grateful I am for that! Today I didn't remember to fit in my scripture study until I was on the road for a 3 hour car trip. But I wanted to study my scriptures! So I turned on my audio of the Bible and started listening.....aaand I didn't understand a thing that was happening in the section I was listening to.... But the feeling of peace that came over me for putting in the effort to listen to the scriptures was amazing. You get credit for trying, not just succeeding ❤

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We are often told that we are a sum of all the choices we make in life. Yes, our choices, good or bad, help us become who we are, but they do not DEFINE who we are. We are not our mistakes, we are children of God.

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And just like that, I'm home!

Hello! I've been in Ohio and Kentucky serving as a missionary for the last year and a half. I've seen incredible miracles, including miracles that came from this Tumblr page itself. I wish I had the words adequate enough to express how much I have learned and changed, and how much my Savior Jesus Christ means to me, but I don't. What I can do however is keep sharing my testimony and serving the Lord. And if any of you have any questions you would like to ask, I would be more than willing to answer. I hope you are doing well in such a weird time as now, and I hope that you know that your Heavenly Father hears you!

With much love,

Kylie

[lds-me]

Basic moral principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ never change, but practices and implementation do - or why would we have continuous revelation?

Norma B. Ashton