Be A Doer

Recently, my Mr. asked me to give the 5th Sunday lesson. I along with my Mr. discussed some huge concerns that we were seeing. It has weighed pretty heavy on my mind and heart to see women who are sad and feel they don't matter. Women who don't see the goodness and joy. I have always enjoyed womanhood and the opportunities that would present themselves. I have always been blessed with a clear vision of what I want and what I must do to get there. Being a mom has added to it and to be honest came very naturally for me. Now, don't get me wrong....I have bad moments and days....but I love being a mom to my kiddos. We have a blast together!

Back on topic

So.....the 5th Sunday lesson....before Mr. had asked me I had read the story of Mary and Martha. Not the typical one we hear about where Mary is at his feet while Martha is preparing the meal. The one where they seek the Lord to heal Lazarus and the Lord arrives after Lazarus has died. There are SO many good, good points in this story. But I felt the love the Lord had for them. And that's is what we are missing in our busy lives. No matter what we are doing or how much we have on our plate the love of the Lord and the love we feel is our driving point. It is why we say yes to any calling. It is why we do our home and visiting teaching. It is why we have the desire to serve and be happy. Love is a magical thing! It can mend hearts, gives us the power to forgive and gives us the strength to turn to the Lord when we are overwhelmed. It is why we commit. So....without rambling on more, here is the out line of the talk I gave. I learned so much more then anyone. But I soon hope to have my family saying hung huge on my wall....."be ye doers of the word".

Enjoy!

Finding Joy and Love in Your Service to the Lord

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.

The second is like unto it “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

So….lets start with the first. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy mind.

I want you to think about ways that you feel the Saviors love. I want you to think about this while I share a story from the scriptures.

Mary and Martha (John 11)

Do we believe that the love our Savior has for us reaches this depth? You can really sense the great love the Savior had for both Mary and Martha and Lazrus.

So in what ways can we feel the Love of the Savior?

I have two questions for you.

1.    Do you believe IN the Savior?

2.   Do you BELIEVE the Savior

The word IN changes the depth of the belief we have in the Savior. So how can we first feel the love of the Savior more in our lives and two how can we show that love for the Savior in our lives.

The Savior teaches us in the scriptures that “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that DOETH the will of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matt 7:21)

This starts the parable where He likens us unto a wise man or a foolish man. It is based off of a single word…..DOETH

James 1:22 states “But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

So clearly from these scriptures the love we feel and the love we show has a huge part to do with what we do.

In the Savors ministry we read on many accounts DOERS of the work.

In Matt 8 we read about a leper that comes to the Lord. He asked the Lord “if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” He was not just a hearer of the word, but a DOER. He sought the Lord. Went to him. He asked him to heal him. He did not sit by waiting for the Lord to come to him. Can you imagine the disappointment if he would have? Would he have been healed?

More examples of this includes:

*A centurion, beseeching him and explained that his servant lie sick with palsy. The Lord healed him.

*A women diseased with a blood issue touched his garment and she was healed (Matt 9:20)

*A ruler came and worshipped Him and then asked for his daughter to be healed. She was healed (Matt 9:18 )

*Blind men followed crying asking for him to heal them. He asked if they believed him. He then healed them (Matt 9: 27)

*A man was brought that was dumb and possessed with a devil. The Savior cast him out

We see from these examples that every single one put forth some kind of effort. Weither it was to touch his garment, bring someone to him, or simply ask for a healing to take place. In none of these examples did they simply sit by and wait. They were DOERS of the word. Not only were they DOERS, and not only did they believe IN the Savior, but they BELIEVED the Savior. And not only were they doers, and believers, but they clearly had love for the Savior and they felt the love the Savior has for them.

In John 13:34-35 We read the Savior teaches the people “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, the ye also love one another.

He tells us twice to love one another.

Then in verse 35 he stats “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

“The love the Savior described is an active love. It is not manifested through large and heroic deeds but rather through simple acts of kindness and service.” Elder Ballard

So. Going back to the statement to be a DOER of the word how do we do this?

I will start by reading a scripture in 3 Nephi 17:7 The Savior is teaching his people. He asks the people to go and ponder what he had just taught and then he asks them to PRAY about it. And to prepare there minds for the next day. When he cast His eyes around the multitude He saw they were in tears and looking toward him steadfastly as if they would ask him to tarry just a little longer. He had compassion upon them.

He says to them:

3 Nephi 17:7 Have ye any… (Emphasis that all of us fit in this catergory)

He is beckoning to His people to BRING them to Him. This applies to us everyday.

“BRING THEM HITHER” They again were not just DOERS of the word, and they not only believed IN the Savior, but they BELIEVED the Savior. But not only were they doers, and believers, but they loved the Lord and they felt the love he had for them. And he healed them.

He is teaching us how to show the love for others and how to show love to the Lord, by stating to “bring them hither”. Let’s remember in the Lord’s example of healings some of the healings came because others had “brought them hither”

So in which ways do we show this love for the Lord by bringing others to Him in our lives?

What stops us?

When we feel the love of the Savior in our own lives we have the desire for others to feel it as well.  

But some may feel overwhelmed or that this check list is much to big. Or that we don’t have the time.  So, how do we do it all and get to the point where we have the joy of this life. After all when Adam fell we are told…..Adam fell that men are, and men are that they might have joy.

To me joy is more then happiness. It is a sense of peace, empowerment, calmness, excitement, contentment.

So how do we get there. It starts with the choices we make today. We can always be a little better and do a little better. But How?

The Savior tell us in Matthew 11:28-30

“… because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, succor—literally run to us—and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying upon only our own power.” Elder Bednar

We simply get there through the atonement. (fill in with quotes from Elder Bednars talk)

It encompasses everything.

It makes our burdens light

It frees us from pain, guilt, sorrow

It empowers us to get more done then we have the capability to do on our own.

Do we not only believe IN this but do we BELIEVE this? Do we believe we can be better? Be strengthened? Be forgiven? Let us do anything to must do to get to that point of belief so that we can feel the fullness of joy.

Let us take the opprotunities we have been given to lay part of this foundation. Let us rejoice! Let us be a doer ALWAYS.

When we truly believe that we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father we will believe in His plan and His purpose. We will feel his love and be able to share that love with others.

Testify of the atonement.

I encourage you to read as families and individuals Elder Bednars talk The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality”

I also encourage all of us to go home to our families and set three goal individually and as families.

1.    One for ourselves individually and as families of ways to can become closer to the Savior

2.   One for our callings. (includes home and visiting teaching) How can we strengthen those we serve? Love those we serve? And find joy in serving both individually and as families?

3.   How can we strive to strengthen our ward family individually and as families.

Show Video from Elder Eyring

Let us feel joy and peace in his service as Elder Eyring stated. Let us choose this day to follow him and show love to the Savior. Let us choose to show love to others always.

After all…”Hasting the work has to do with the Excitement we all feel about sharing the message of the gospel. It’s a natural process that comes out of Love.” (Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson general young womens president)

Testify