Christ Understands, Literally

My scripture study this week led me to think on some things that are incredibly important to me. They are centered around a question at the core of my beliefs--actually, at the core of Christianity as a whole. These things I explored and am about to share with you are things I have often felt I should understand more fully, things I believe in but my ability to articulate them and feel confident in my knowledge behind them have, in my opinion, come up wanting. I say "things," but it all enters on one particular, all-encompassing thing:

The Atonement of Jesus Christ.

I've had a question travel through my head several times over the past few months. That question is:

"What exactly do I believe about Jesus Christ, and what scriptural backing is there behind those beliefs?"

My thoughts around this question focus on a particular aspect of my beliefs about our Savior: the ever-important night in the Garden of Gethsemane. I've always been taught that Christ has a perfect understanding of everything we go through in life, not just the things related to sin but also every pain of spirit, body, heart, and mind that we experience here on earth. This belief has been my lighthouse in the fog of life, my anchor in storms of doubt and worry. He understands my heartbreak. He has felt my anxieties. He knows what I go through in the times I feel alone, unimportant, unqualified, or unloved. He even understands the more petty things like jealousy or boredom, and the more temporary things (a.k.a things that only apply to this mortal life) like financial worry, career choices, and even meal planning.

I could not function in life without the knowledge that Christ knows how I feel in all of my circumstances and emotions. I've taken comfort in this belief since I started learning of Christ and praying with Him in my mind and heart when I was around 6 years old. But, in Sunday School a few weeks ago, the thought came to mind that my understanding is that Christ's ability to have this perfect empathy is because of what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane, and that the actual accounts of the Garden in the New Testament don't substantiate that belief. This was a huge challenge for me, because it meant that my core beliefs about how Christ is involved in my life don't have a scriptural source. That the testimony I've held on to came merely by word of mouth from parents and teachers.

But that couldn't be right. I was sure I had found scriptures that resonate with what I have felt since I can remember. I thought about this on and off in the following weeks, but never felt directed to any particular scriptures. Or, rather, any scriptures I turned to didn't seem to have the content I wanted. Any time the Garden of Gethsemane or the Atonement has been brought up recently, I've felt a twinge of worry and doubt cross my heart. However, I've also felt an excitement and determination to learn more. This past Friday as I opened up my "Come, Follow Me" study guide, I was thrilled to see this week's study topic: "Not as I will, but as Thou wilt." It was about Christ's experience in the Garden! I delved into the contents of the lesson and found scriptures that brought solace to my soul and joy to my heart. I want to record those scriptures and thoughts here, so that I can refer back to them when I need them, but also in hopes that they can help someone else understand more about our Savior, Jesus Christ, too:

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows (Isaiah 3:4)

He shall suffer temptations and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer (Mosiah 3:7)

And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. (Alma 7:11-12)

The Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee (1 Chronicles, 28:9)

This is not the first time I've read these phrases. In fact, many of them were already marked in my scriptures. It is, however, the first time they resonated with me in the way they did this week. These were the answers I had been searching for. Our Savior truly knows us. He understands everything we go through. He knows how to comfort and guide us because He has experienced it all "according to the flesh" (a.k.a in the exact same way we do).

He wants us to live our lives in the most fulfilling way possible. He promises us: "I am come that they might have life, and they they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Or, if we adjust those words to have a more personal tone:

I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly.

Connecting these scriptures to the questions I've had in my mind these past few months has given me a new understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I will not pretend I understand it in its entirety, but my beliefs have certainly been strengthened, as has my resolve to intentionally include Christ in my life from day to day. I hope you feel the same result from pondering with me.

Her Own

I was reading a great article today. It was on feeling belonging and fulfillment through our relationship with Christ. There were many things that stuck out to me in it, and I think it would benefit anyone to read it. You can find the full article here.

Right now, though, I want to focus on one aspect of it. It talks about the emotions associated through a relationship with Christ, one of which is that we will feel a sense of belonging. I feel that I've been struggling with connection lately, everything from realizing I haven't had BFFs to rely on lately to learning new twists and turns in my relationship with my husband. I've been trying to pray, ponder, and study this out, and as I was thinking about that this morning, this jumped out to me:

"...belonging [through Christ] seeketh not her own"
(derived from 1Cor 13:5)

Has my yearning for a sense of belonging been self focused? Have I been seeking to fill other's lives with joy or have I been selfishly assuming that it is another's responsibility to do that for me? It's hard not to feel a sense of belonging, but this article taught me that maybe a better sense of belonging comes not when we are seeking it for ourselves, but when we seek to bring it to other people.

A short thought, but full of things to think about.

Just what I needed

The Lord really knows just how to help us when we are struggling.  Earlier this week, I was having a particularly difficult evening, struggling to stay motivated and feeling very down on myself.  I turned to my scriptures, knowing that simply reading them would calm my spirits.  I was not expecting to find what I did.

First of all, here is a little background.  We are still in Romans – so we know this is a pretty happy letter (because Paul gives thanks at the beginning).  Paul is still on the topic of the law, how it cannot save us, and the importance of the atonement.  He teaches how using the atonement and being close to Christ – a.k.a being “spiritually minded” – will bring us “life and peace” (Romans 8:6).  In verse 17, Paul reiterates that we become Christ’s children, as well as heirs, when we have faith in Him and use His atonement.  However, this time he adds a requirement of us: “and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together.” (Romans 8:17).  When we repent and use His atonement, it can be painful, as repenting isn’t meant to be easy.  Because of His sacrifice for us, it is mercifully easier than suffering for our sins would be without Him, but it is still a struggle we go through.  This is one way we can suffer with Christ: when we repent, we involve Him in our changing process and literally suffer with Him.  
Another way we can suffer with Christ is by involving Him in our lives, especially in times of hardship and struggle.  When we do this, a load is taken off our shoulders, and we are incredibly blessed, simply for asking Him to help us through, in other words, asking Him to suffer with us.  He is more than willing to do this for us, in fact, he wishes all of us would open the door and let Him be involved.  When we do this, we will be very blessed and our burdens will be made immensely easier to carry. 

In the next verse, Paul illustrates this point: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18).  This verse struck me very deeply.  It resonates with the truth of all I have learned about the atonement.  When we use the atonement, we suffer with Christ.  When we suffer with Christ, He makes our burdens lighter and blesses us for our efforts to come closer to Him through our trials.  In addition, He changes us and makes us better – revealing the glory in us, as this verse suggests.

Christ will help us through our most trying times, and not only will He help us, but he will make us better, stronger, more dedicated disciples in the process.  I am so grateful for the message of this verse.  It came just when I needed it, and provided me with great hope, comfort, dedication, and an increased Love for our Savior and His prophets.

Thank you, Paul, for providing these words so that the Lord and His Spirit could guide me to them.

2 Corinthians: Living in His house

Alright, so this entry was a little long.  I'm going to trim it from the original length a bit. If you'd like to see the rest (mostly historical setting because my professor likes us to include that) let me know and I can send it to you.

In the second letter we have of Paul to the Corinthians, I found a theme of “living in Christ’s house” – or, living as He would have us live: with Him.  Paul has just finished discussing many doctrinal discrepancies in the Church in Corinth.  Not only were the people of Corinth a corrupt people (we discussed in class how they were the Las Vegas or “sin city” of their time), but their views and practices in the Church were confusing; there were arguments between groups that each saw the gospel differently.

...

After going through all of that business, I started noticing the aforementioned theme.  This theme is very appropriate, because Paul is now telling them the simple truths of living the gospel after going through all of the “hairy” stuff. (1 Corinthians 11 joke…)  The first place I noticed this was 2 Cor. 5:1 “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”  When I read this verse about eternal tabernacles, my first thought was “live in Christ’s house: stand in holy places.”  This dwelling is not something we build with our hands, but something we take with us – ourselves.  When we keep The Spirit with us, our very beings become eternal tabernacles where His spirit and His influence can dwell.

A kind of add-on to this thought is in 2 Cor. 5:17.  “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  When we live in such a way that Christ can dwell with us, he changes us, he makes us better – and what we were before becomes something new.

A little later, Paul tells us how to live in Christ’s house.  One verse that struck me was 2 Cor. 6:12.  “Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels.”  In other words, you choose your behavior.  If you choose to live with The Spirit, it will become a possibility for you to live with His influence.  Another important part of living with His influence is repentance, and Paul mentions this in 2 Cor. 7:9-11.  Here he talks about godly sorrow, and how it brings repentance.  In verse 11, there are some words that stand out to me.  One is particular is “clearing.”  Like 5:17 talks about, utilizing Christ’s influence – and, with repentance especially, His Atonement – has a renewing effect; a clearing effect.

Skipping ahead a little, 2 Cor. 12:10 sums up these thoughts for us: “therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then I am strong.”  Christ makes us better when we live for Him.

As a P.S. kind of thought, 2 Cor. 11:3 reminds us to not let our minds “be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”  This is an interesting phrase, and it takes a second look to understand it.  What I took from it is that Paul is warning us not to seek more complex answers than we are given in the gospel.  His gospel is simple, it is meant to be so.  Seeking complicated answers will confuse and complicate our thoughts, just as it complicated the views of the Corinthians.  Learn from the simple truths we are given.  Live by them.  They are profound, and will change us for the better, helping us progress until we are completely back to Him.

Paul's Example, A Type of Christ

In my reading in 1 Cor. today, I found a theme of “prophets.”  How they are great examples to us, and much more on how they teach.  1 Cor. 11-14 are the chapters where we find discussion on spiritual gifts, the responsibility from having those gifts, and prophesying.  There is a lot you could find in these chapters, but I took the angle of prophets: how they teach, act, and that we should strive to follow what they do.

The verse that introduces this theme is 1 Cor. 11:1: “Be ye followers of me, even as I am of Christ.”  Paul is a great example of Christ-like living, as are all of the other prophets.  Paul’s reminder to Corinth, and to us as readers of his epistles, is to look to the prophets to learn how to be like Christ.

Later in my reading, the spiritual gifts are presented.  I’ve read scripture blocks very similar to these multiple times, but I found something new in it today.  (I Love it when this happens.)  At the end of the spiritual gifts discussion, the concept of the “body of Christ” is discussed.  I Cor 12:27: “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”  The “body of Christ” is the church, or rather, its members.  When it says “members in particular,” it is referring to how each of us has a unique spiritual gift, and each serves a purpose in the church.  In fact, each person has a responsibility to use their gifts to benefit the other members.  1 Cor 13:2: states “And though I have the gift of prophesy, and understanding all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”

Spiritual gifts and power are nothing without the Love of Christ.  We are to use our gifts to be charitable and benefit each other, fulfilling our part as a member of the body of Christ.

Paul goes on to discuss this, specifically in relation to prophesy.  1 Cor 14:4:” He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifyeth himself, but he that prophesieth edifyeth the church.”  Latter day prophets speak in our tongue – simply, in a way we can understand, so that we can be edified.  Paul presents this as an example of using our spiritual gifts to benefit the body of Christ.  Again, tying it back to how we should follow the example of prophets and live Christ-like lives.

To sum up all of these thoughts, 1 Cor 12:31+33 states: “For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be comforted… for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.”  Paul wants us to follow the prophets, benefit each other with our gifts, and be comforted as we understand the Gospel.  This is what Christ wants for us as well.

I Love finding themes in my reading. J

Paul's Tips for Happiness

It is absolutely wonderful how easy it is to see principles and helpful scriptures when I am actually looking for answers.  In my reading of 1 Thessalonians yesterday, I found a theme of helpful and comforting reminders.  In this book, Paul is writing to Athens and teaching them.  The things he presents are very good advice.  One that caught my interest is 1 Thes 2:12: “That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.”  Paul is reminding his audience to be worthy of God’s presence.  When we are doing all we can and should in our lives, His help is more prevalent and recognizable.  This is an excellent concept to me, because it tells me that if I want to seek more of His help and influence than I can currently see – I need to make sure I am doing all I can to live worthily of His presence and influence.

A second little reminder I found is in verse 20 of the same chapter: “For ye are our glory and joy.”  The people Paul teaches are very important to him, and in reading this I thought “Prophets today feel this way about us, as do Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.”  Reading this and having that thought come to me was very comforting.  They care about us, and they will do all they can to look out for us.  All we need to do is seek that help.

The last scripture I want to mention is in 1 Thes 4:16-18: “for the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven… then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together when them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the  Lord… comfort one another with these words.”  This is referring to the second coming, and how those who are worthy will be taken up to be with Christ.  (Fun Fact: We learned in class that this is intriguingly referred to as “The Rapture” – which has the Greek root “rapio” meaning abduction or kidnapping.)  However, we can also think of it in context of our own personal “coming to Christ” – I had a similar thought process when I was reading a scripture block in Acts.  The phrase that came to mind as I read these verses was “Be alive in Christ.”  When we come to Him, He will help us live as He would have us, and WE WILL BE HAPPIER.

I Love the scriptures.  I am amazed that He helps me find meaning in even the verses that are hardest to understand. 

Why We Feel It.

I'm at it again, weekly scripture study entries! I didn't do this last semester, because it wasn't an assignment for my REL121 class.  This semester, it is an assignment again, and I have realized that I get so much more out of my scripture study when I am looking for something I could write about.  I see more than just black words on a white page this way.  I really should make these entries a habit, even when it's not an assignment.  Without further ado, here is my first weekly entry of the semester:

My thoughts today are based on a conglomeration of scriptures in Acts 1 and 2.  Let’s set the stage a little bit.  This is during Christ’s 40 day ministry after His resurrection.  We don’t know much about this ministry, and it was a rather brief time for Him to be back.  Because it was so brief, though, He spent it teaching His apostles what to do after He was no longer there, because he wanted His gospel to keep spreading and His church to remain established on the earth.  

I found a verse in the beginning of this ministry to be significant, because it tells a very important concept that Christ taught His apostles during this time of instruction.  The verse states: “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

The important concept talked about is the Spirit.  The apostles are to be given this, and its bestowal comes with a responsibility.  The Holy Ghost provides a witness of Christ to them, and they will need to use that witness to be witnesses of Christ themselves, to others.

This is all well and good, but why do there need to be appointed apostles and ministers?  Why teach?  The next chunk of verses I want to talk about gives one very important reason.  This just goes to show that Christ wants us to understand, because he clarifies and answers questions we may have as we study, sometimes even in the next few verses we read.  Acts 2:20-21 states “The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and terrible day of the Lord come: and it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The thought that struck me when I read this was “they teach to prepare people for the coming of Christ – like John the Baptist did.”  
Alright, awesome.  But I'm not a general authority or anything, so how does this apply to me?  Why do I have access to the Spirit?  I got to thinking about this, and realized two things.  One was pretty obvious: I can use the witness I have gained to witness to others and bless their lives, just like the leaders of the church can.

The second thing I realized was more profound to me: the Spirit is given so we can teach, not only others but ourselves.  The Spirit is there so leaders can prepare the people for the coming of Christ, and it is given to us so we can prepare ourselves to meet Christ personally in our lives; so we can be ready to come unto Him.  The power and revelation from the Holy Ghost is the way we gain knowledge on spiritual topics, the kind of knowledge that will bring us to Christ.  It is the kind of knowledge that is more than the texts we read from the canon or otherwise, knowledge that is personal and applies to us and our lives right now.

I know the content and realization in this journal entry have come from just that – the Spirit helping me teach myself.  I am very grateful for this ability and opportunity.  I find more meaning in my study and in my life every day because of it.

Thanks for reading. :)