Lifeline

I have been "reading with our daughter. She has had me tell her the stories about the life of Jesus Christ as we turn the pages of the gospel art book that I purchased. Each picture is wonderful and so artistic. One particular painting has put an indelible stamp on my mind. In the picture that I am referring to, is a water scene. The waters are choppy and the sky, stormy gray. Several men are in a boat but the central subjects of the story are not. To the right and standing on the water is the Savior. In the water is Peter reaching for the Savior. Most are familiar with this stunning recorded event. Most are aware of the soon to be Apostles seeing the Savior walk on water and Peter wanting so badly to try it out. In his efforts he succeeded, for a moment, then noticing the impossible, he sank. He asked for the Savior's assistance in his moment of failure and the Savior reached out and saved Peter(Matthew 14:22-32).

I, personally, have always loved this story. I love that the Savior could walk on water. I love that Peter was able to walk some, too. That just seemed so great and brought it to a place that made me think that I could try it out someday (with Jesus' help).

But right now for me, this story has more dimensions.

The Savior asked the disciples to head on out on the water.

They were very familiar with water having been fishermen.

The Lord took the time to go to a mountain to pray after spending the day preaching the gospel.

After quite a while (what looks like between 3 and 6am) He came down from the mountain and saw the disciples.

They were obedient and were working hard to get to where the Lord had requested that they go. He saw their struggle with the elements and walked to them.

In the pressure of dealing with the storm at sea, the disciples didn't know who the Savior was. They thought that he was a spirit on the water.

When the Savior declared that it was Him, Peter asked the Lord to essentially prove it by allowing Peter to walk on the water, too.

It was still stormy.

It was, in our mortal knowledge and experience, a very awkward and strange thing to even walk on water. Would it ever occur to you to consider doing it? No one else does this. I've never seen anyone do it. I wouldn't think it something normal to consider doing.

Yet, here was Jesus walking, for what sounds like quite a distance, to His Disciples in the storm.

How many times have we been told by the Spirit that we needed to do something and we turned away from the prompting dismissing it because it seemed so illogical, strange, out of date, uncomfortable, etc? How many times have our trials been impossible in our eyes? Isn't it in the scriptures that we read that we won't receive a trial that we can't handle? And yet we reason our way out of doing things the Lord's way in order to fit in or keep cool or not make waves with our families and friends. Were we put here to go with the flow of society? Did the Lord go with the flow of society?

now one might want to say that with the storm others wouldn't see this all happening but the Lord saw His disciples from where He was on the shore. So we might assume that others would, if awake, be able to see the whole event unfold.

Well, not only did Jesus do such a strange thing (he could have procured a boat for himself), but then Peter asked to do the same thing!

Now let's talk about Peter.

Here he is seeing something ridiculous and he says that he wants to do it, too.

This should indicate that he's pretty bold and daring in nature.

Peter indicates that he knows that if it is indeed the Savior that the Savior would have the power to make it possible for Peter to walk on water.

So Peter has a lot of faith to start with.

Peter is ok with doing this during a storm so he's not easily deterred from a challenge.

And if anyone was watching, he didn't seem to care either.

The Savior was totally fine with giving Peter this unexplainable experience of walking on water. He didn't lecture him on asking for a sign. He didn't tell Peter that Peter wasn't capable.

So there must have been a reason for the event.

Just in my mind,

I wonder if the Lord thought that it was important to let Peter and the disciples see the real power that He had over the elements.

I wonder if the Lord, knowing Peter's future roll in the church as the head after He would be gone, thought it wise to allow Peter to exercise his faith. Peter, like a child, did so well! And then. . .

Like a normal human being realized the implications of what he was doing.

Notice that I say, "what he was doing". It was Peter walking on water. He made a conscious choice. Peter was exercising his faith successfully. Peter in the midst of a storm at sea, WALKED ON WATER.

This is stunning. It is not normal for anyone to even consider it and yet Peter actually did it.

Well, like I said also, like a normal human being, Peter looked around and considered this event and faltered.

This is what really has been on my mind lately.

I face real challenges that are seemingly completely out of my control. There is a huge storm in the world. This storm is a perfect storm of lacking morality, empty of faith, destitute of personal responsibility, full of the strength of anger, lacking in hope, wavering in the characteristics of charity, and burdened with pride.

Men on every continent live to enslave humankind.

Humankind is complacent in general to the onslaught.

It's a terrible storm. There aren't many willing to fight or weather it.

There aren't many with faith to WALK ON WATER.

When Peter questioned, he began to sink. As President Thomas S. Monson said, "Your future is as bright as your faith."

Do we have the options at this point to question? Do we have time? Can we afford to sink? (well we always have the choice)

Many of us are working with all that we have (for some it's a lot and for some it's a little) to defend our God, our Families, our Freedoms and the same blessings for others. We sit in our homes, go out in public, type on the computer, get on the phones and faxes. We work really hard to educate ourselves. We are trying to walk but I'm afraid that each one of us at various times has a bad night or discouraging events. Each one of us struggles to know the next step and if it's even possible in the raging, stormy sea. Many of our friends think we're crazy. They look from the shore and shake their heads. "Give up. What you're doing is nuts!", we hear.

Some won't give up.

Some can't give up.

Some love their God and their Families and their Freedoms more than the storm.

These are those that the Lord can lift up.

The Lord said to Peter, "Oh thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt?" but he was just making a statement of fact. An evaluation for the moment. In fact the Savior knew where Peter's faith would take him and who can deny the strength we read about and are inspired by further on. Peter was labeled a rock for a reason. Peter led so many to the Savior's gospel. Peter lifted people up then and still does with his writings. Peter not only traveled and taught among the Jews, he did even more with the "Gentiles" as a free man in the Roman Empire.

If we liken the scriptures unto us, we'll be able to see that we can and should exercise our faith no matter how goofy the prompting is to us. Each of us has a life to live. Each of us is here to help another and to make a difference. All roads are a little different but can get to the same place.

We, like Peter, might "check it out" so to speak and walk for a little bit and then get bombarded by the storm. It might really worry us to the point that we think we can't make it.

But as He always will, when we cry out for Jesus Christ to save us, He will.

And not only will he save us when we make the effort to turn to Him . . .

He will calm the storm.

"And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of the that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day." (Alma 36:3)

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.

To Be Like Him

45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, 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

47 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.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen." (Moroni 7:45-58)