Can He Soften All Hearts?

Today we were talking about the importance of the scriptures in our lives. The discussion was wonderful. So many great thoughts. Our teacher, Emily, led off with a story from a talk by Elder D. Todd Christofferson entitled: "The Blessing of Scripture". Here is the story that he told:

"On October 6, in the year 1536, a pitiful figure was led from a dungeon in Vilvorde Castle near Brussels, Belgium. For nearly a year and a half, the man had suffered isolation in a dark, damp cell. Now outside the castle wall, the prisoner was fastened to a post. He had time to utter aloud his final prayer, “Lord! open the king of England’s eyes,” and then he was strangled. Immediately, his body was burned at the stake. Who was this man, and what was the offense for which both political and ecclesiastical authorities had condemned him? His name was William Tyndale, and his crime was to have translated and published the Bible in English.

"Tyndale, born in England about the time Columbus sailed to the new world, was educated at Oxford and Cambridge and then became a member of the Catholic clergy. He was fluent in eight languages, including Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. Tyndale was a devoted student of the Bible, and the pervasive ignorance of the scriptures that he observed in both priests and lay people troubled him deeply. In a heated exchange with a cleric who argued against putting scripture in the hands of the common man, Tyndale vowed, “If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough, shall know more of the Scripture than thou dost!”

"He sought the approval of church authorities to prepare a translation of the Bible in English so that all could read and apply the word of God. It was denied—the prevailing view being that direct access to the scriptures by any but the clergy threatened the authority of the church and was tantamount to casting “pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6)."

"Tyndale nevertheless undertook the challenging work of translation. In 1524 he traveled to Germany, under an assumed name, where he lived much of the time in hiding, under constant threat of arrest. With the help of committed friends, Tyndale was able to publish English translations of the New Testament and later the Old Testament. The Bibles were smuggled into England, where they were in great demand and much prized by those who could get them. They were shared widely but in secret. The authorities burned all the copies they could find. Nevertheless, within three years of Tyndale’s death, God did indeed open King Henry VIII’s eyes, and with publication of what was called the “Great Bible,” the scriptures in English began to be publicly available. Tyndale’s work became the foundation for almost all future English translations of the Bible, most notably the King James Version.¹

William Tyndale was not the first, nor the last, of those who in many countries and languages have sacrificed, even to the point of death, to bring the word of God out of obscurity. We owe them all a great debt of gratitude. "

First does the point that King Henry the VIII was the kings whose heart was softened? Amazing.

Our discussion really took off when woman after woman spoke of her conversion story. I am amazed by the response that I get when I have religious conversations with others who love the scriptures and the gospel and the Savior but have never been told by their clergy to read and pray for their own answers! This is so shocking to me. Why wouldn't a clergy be willing to encourage anyone desiring for truth to seek it to the fullest?
These women speaking of their own gospel discoveries found that one common denominator was the opportunity to not only read the scriptures for themselves but to ask and know that they would receive answers to their prayers. It's such a liberating way to live the gospel.
Each of us is so different.-each with different personalities, life experiences, cultures, family issues, etc. So why wouldn't we be approaching the Lord in different ways needing a different take on how to maneuver in life?
Yes, many things are a constant-morality, charity, love, the Atonement, the 10 Commandments, etc. The constants are the road signs of life, the speed bumps, the lines in the road. But how we travel on the road with those that we have chosen or maybe not chosen at times to travel with takes asking and answering from someone who really knows us and those around us, no?
So when we say that we have a personal relationship with the Lord, we really need to take a look and see if we are asking Him for the answers that bring our lives to a fullness and help us to be a better person.

Two other thoughts:
If the Lord can soften the heart of a leader like King Henry the VII, then why should we be tentative about Him doing the same in our day with the many wicked or hardened men and women in leadership?

And when reading about faith:
Defin: " And now as I said concerning faith—^afaith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye ^bhope for things which are ^cnot seen, which are true."(Alma 32:21)

When we, in faith, seek for answers and get an answer we know that it's up to us to see that answer through. We act on the answer even if it shakes us a little. If we have enough faith to follow through on the answers we get we can very well come to a point each time where we gain perfect knowledge on that thing we are praying about. A great scripture for this:

"27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than ^adesire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

28 Now, we will compare the word unto a ^aseed. Now, if ye give place, that a ^bseed may be planted in your ^cheart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your ^dunbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to ^eenlighten my ^funderstanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

29 Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge.

30 But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow.

31 And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own ^alikeness.

32 Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away.

33 And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good.

34 And now, behold, is your ^aknowledge ^bperfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your ^cfaith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your ^dmind doth begin to expand.

35 O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it is ^alight; and whatsoever is light, is ^bgood, because it is discernible, therefore ye must know that it is good; and now behold, after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect?

36 Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither must ye lay aside your faith, for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that ye might try the experiment to know if the seed was good.

37 And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit.

38 But if ye ^aneglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out.

39 Now, this is not because the seed was not good, neither is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable; but it is because your ^aground is ^bbarren, and ye will not nourish the tree, therefore ye cannot have the fruit thereof.

40 And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the ^atree of life.

41 But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with ^apatience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree ^bspringing up unto everlasting life.

42 And because of your ^adiligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the ^bfruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.

43 Then, my brethren, ye shall ^areap the ^brewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth ^cfruit unto you." (Alma 32)

Wonderful discussion today on the gift and blessing of having the scriptures and the things we gain from having them in our lives!

Is My Line of Communication Open?

In RS today our cool teacher, Sis. P. Heilig, asked us at the end of a great lesson (of a lesson on the life of Christ) to do some word association. She said "My Beloved Son" and asked,"what does this make you think of?"
I thought of something that I've learned lately. Throughout the last 20+ years of raising our 5 children, I've noticed that when they are making really good choices, I can "feel" or receive pretty constant promptings as to what they need or how they are doing. I can understand quickly in many instances what to say or do for them to best take care of them in any area of their lives.
But sadly, when a child has made a negative or sinful enough choice to block the Spirit from their lives, it puts up a wall for me, too. I find this devastating. I love the Spirit working in our lives to teach us, build us up, protect us, and nurture us. With one child for almost 6 months I couldn't figure out why we couldn't "connect" in our communications. This son is by nature so kind and good. When on track, he's an amazingly intuitive person, hard working and social. But with his sins came this negative, argumentative, reclusive side that I couldn't work through. For a Mom who has relied with great success on the Spirit working miracles in our home, I really didn't find this fun at all! I did all of the things I could think of. I talked to him, prayed for him, fasted for him and worked to watch closely for hints of what might be wrong.
Once my son took steps to repent, that barrier lifted. I couldn't believe the difference!!! I had never felt this as a parent-the stark contrast of having and not having ability to use the power of the Spirit in our home.
Sadly I thought of a year in my life when I chose out of righteous living. At the time that I went through repentance, I felt my own distance from Heavenly Father and the struggle to enjoy the Spirit again. I felt the rush of peace when I had received forgiveness and the commitment to work from that point on to live in a way to never lose the Spirit again.
I have now felt the pain that my very good parents must have felt. I openly apologized to my Dad when he was in town last week in front of some of my siblings at the temple for creating this kind of a barrier. It pains me now to know that I was capable and selfish enough to do that to such great people (parents of 10 children). I had had no idea the pain that a parent could feel in this way.
So when I heard the words, "My Beloved Son", I immediately thought of the gratitude and overwhelming (if anything for our Father is overwhelming) or fully encompassing joy that our Heavenly Father had to have felt when His Son followed through on the plan from so long ago in the pre-existence. When He could say that everything was done completely on track with all of the covenants and events happening in line with His understanding as our Father. How much more trusting I am now of our Savior's love for us.
He did EVERYTHING "right" thereby not blocking the relationship with our Father in Heaven. We can trust everything that he did because he never lost the Spirit. By so doing, He really was one with the Father. He knew exactly what was needed and acted completely in tune with The Great Plan of Happiness.
What a glorious Brother we have. What a great example. How he loves us to be so unselfish for 33 years of mortal living as well as in the time before and after his earthly life.
It's motivating for me to try to do better and to learn from the scriptures more of what Heavenly Father would like for me to learn and be.

The Final Battle

I am sure that I'm not the first to consider the last battle-the ultimate good vs evil. I am sure that there are lots of theories out there on how this will all look. So I'll just add my small idea into the mix.

I was reading the scriptures about the last days. I thought about the millennium, the 1000 years of peace after the terrible trials that finish out this dispensation. And then I found myself thinking about the final battle we read about in Revelations 20:7-11 where it says, "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the whole earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them."

Have you ever thought about that last battle? I thought about trying to fight with Jesus in a kind of hand to hand combat as a youth. I thought that that would be just great because even then I knew in my heart that if I was on the Lord's side, everything would turn out well.

But as I've started to really look at the Lord's ways and ponder more about how He does battle, I have noticed quite a different battle technique.

The one thing that seems constant is that there is a power used whenever the Savior, or anyone who is a follower of the Savior, encounters Satan or a devil or devils are present.

In Mark Chapter 5 the Savior right after getting off the boat at Gadarenes was met by a man possessed by devils, He first asked how many were present and then cast devils out and into the swine which in turn jumped into the ocean.

And when Moses who had already experienced the beauty and power of Jesus Christ, was confronted by Satan who tried to convince Moses that he, Satan, was the Son of God, Moses casts him out in the name of Jesus Christ(Moses 1:12-23).

In Luke 4:33-35 there's the story about a man in the synagogue who was possessed by a devil. Listen to what he says to the Savior. ". . . Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou some to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God." Isn't it interesting that even devils were compelled to acknowledge the Savior, the Son of God? At this point Jesus Christ said, "Hold thy peace, and come out of him." The devil possessing this man threw the man's body and came out.

Here we read (in Matthew 8:16 of the New Testament) "when the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:" (bold added)

And again in Matthew 9:32 and 33 it says, "As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel."

In Matthew 4:1-11 we read about probably the most personal confrontation between Satan and Jesus Christ. Here the Savior, in the interest of intensely preparing for His official ministry, had been fasting for 40 days. The Savior was "led up" by the Spirit to face the temptations of the Devil, Satan, himself. After the three particular temptations the Savior merely said, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." It was done. Satan left and angels came to minister to Jesus.

In these few examples that show the power used to rid each person of the presence of Satan, we can see some common things. First it was not uncommon for the devil and devils to actually recognize who the Savior was, the Son of God and speak of it. Second, all that was needed was faith in the Savior and the use of His name to send these devils and Satan away. Third every time Satan or devils are told to depart, they put up a fight, pitch a fit, throw a tantrum. . . but leave.

It's more apparent than ever that this last battle will be a battle of faith and priesthood power. I think that as with Moses, even if we are all so frightened by the amount on Satan's side and the depth of evil we encounter, we will still need to be able to call on the Savior and in His name cast all evil away from us and from off of this earth forever. Yes, I did say that WE, using his name should be able to cast evil, in fact devils, away from us.

What does the Savior keep trying to tell us? He says to be perfect in Him, to have faith, hope and charity, to continually be on guard. He's telling us continually work on strengthening our testimonies of Him and the truths of the gospel and of gospel living. Do you think that He knows how hard the final battle will be? Does love us so much that he wants us to succeed with Him?

In Ephesians chapter 6 verse 11 we are told to, "Put on the whole armour of God" why? "that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil". It sounds like Jesus Christ tells us how we can succeed in this final battle. As most know from the rest of this scripture, the armour of God consists of: "having your lions girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, where with ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication"

Doesn't this scripture alone give great insight as to the great love he has for us and the determination He has to tell us how it really is? Giving us the understanding of what is needed to succeed in battle is true love and devotion. This isn't just to get ready for the final battle. But this is to do battle every day with real evil in our lives. Just like with everything else good for us we have to exercise, to train, to build our spiritual muscles. In the same chapter of Ephesians we also continue to read in vs 12, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." This is for our day to day application of the building of our armour. We have to make our armour impenetrable! We have to seal up all soft spots all possible weak areas so that the Devil has no power currently in our lives. And then we have to keep on building our defenses and patching our wounds every day so that we can discern the strategies of Satan in our lives and beat back the darkness. Remember the story of Moroni? He taught the people to fortify their cities. They didn't take for granted where their cities were located in the land. They built up high walls with great defenses they prepared by storing food and making armour. The were ready for the enemy-the enemy that was determined to take them captive. Satan would have ALL to be his captives. He thinks that this will bring him the glory he sought so long ago in the pre-existence. He is in an all out man to man, if not more like a double and triple teaming strategy with each one of us until his time is up and that final bell rings to say the game is over! If you want to talk a little more basketball, we are in March Madness. We are in the final four if not the Championship game. Both sides have come to win. One side will surely play dirty and foul out many players but their bench is deep! We need to pick the winning side. This one has classic ball strategies that have been proven since the beginning of time. It's one that doesn't require dirty playing. In fact the strength comes from loving the game and clean play. The Coach has been there before us. He's THE best coach and we just need to follow every game plan, every move, every empowering pep talk He gives us.

The constant pep talk we get is to follow His example. What was He like, this being with all power? In Moroni 7:45 we read of the characteristics that we are told will bring about the win. Here's the list: we should be able to suffer at length, be kind, no be envious, not be puffed up/proud, not seek our own, not easily provoked, not think evil things, should not rejoice in evil things but rejoice in the truth, bear all things, believe all things, have hope, and endure all things.

He, our loving Savior wants us to be triumphant with him. He wants us to have the opportunities that He enjoys, He wants our lives to be eternally filled with joy and growth and peace and love and so much more that we can comprehend. Part of his game plan is to give us a playbook-the many examples in the scriptures. We have examples of prophets, disciples, and apostles. They all faced their challenges and we have examples of their successes to motivate us. People like Daniel, Joseph, Abraham, Paul, Peter, Job, Ruth, Mary, Moroni, Helaman, Ammon and so many more.
When we are working to be like Jesus Christ, successful in our life's journey, and ultimately triumphant, we need to have and idea of what makes the Savior as powerful as He is. With the list of characteristics in Moroni 7:45, we have a fighting chance. It's a list that keeps me, personally, evaluating. It's a list that has a promise attached. In verse 46 and 47, the promise is that if we have these characteristics, we will not fail. HE HAS PROMISED THIS. I have tried this out in my life and it has worked in my darkest hours. I am still working on it, though and will until I die. It reads, "Wherefore, my beloved bretheren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail. But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever, and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him."

Remember a trial of Peter's faith when the Jesus walked on water and Peter was told he could, too, and did. What happened. Peter's faith faltered. Let's go to the list. He fell short in believing all things. It's a great example to us that we in small and big things need to keep our eyes on the prize. We need to have hope (the energy source) and the faith to do the things that Jesus tells us we can do. He tells us we can win-every day and in the end.


If in fact we are proven in this life and we find ourselves standing with our best foot forward with the Savior in that final battle and all hell unleashes, will we be able to stand tall and command this great legion of evil to cease and depart or will we shrink and doubt as the example of Peter's quick lack of faith in the account of walking on water?

This whole thought makes us look deep into our souls. It takes us to the point of the reality of the power of faith. It brings us to the real strength of the Savior. Like the story of the 2000 stripling warriors led by Helaman, if in fact, we have faith in the Savior that He will stand with us and protect us, we too will prevail. We can choose to stand with Him forever.

Did the Savior not create this earth? His power has created and destroyed at will all of this world and anything in it!

So really is that last battle a battle of metal swords, guns, tanks, and bombs? I can't find anywhere that even leads to this level of combat. As with the examples recorded for us to see, it looks like the battle will be ugly because evil is terrible and dark and powerful but the battle will be overcome by faith and the power of the priesthood and with the Savior and in His name. Ultimately as when Satan has been cast out before, we will see the huge tantrum but at the command of our Lord, Satan and his legions will DEPART.