Jan. 20, 2017:
Jacob 2: 17-19
17Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance , that they may be rich like unto you.18But before ye seek for riches , seek ye for the kingdom of God.
19And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good— to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.
Jan. 21, 2017:
Psalms 8: 3-9
3When I consider thy heavens , the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;4What is man , that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels , and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
7All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
8The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
9O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
Jan. 22, 2017:
Romans 8: 16-17
16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit , that we are the children of God:17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Music moves me. Each of these scriptures goes with a particular song and each song means something to me. The scripture in Jacob goes with a hymn entitled: Because I have been given much.
My husband and I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at the same time. Then my husband declared he wanted out so for a time he left then because of a series of events he decided to come back. We sang this song in sacrament meeting the day he came back. I felt I had been given much that day. But this song also means a lot to me because when I have a feeling being forgotten or doing without I remember the second verse: "Because I have been sheltered, fed by thy good care, I cannot see another lack and I not share..." Crowell (1964) I have been given much and in our world that is so much more than other places.
The Psalms song is for "How Great Thou Art" On Sunday mornings my mom would turn on the radio and listen to gospel music. This song would come up often. It is also in the LDS Hymn book. Whenever I hear it I feel my mom's presence.
The Romans song is for an LDS hymn called "O My Father." This song has had meaning for different reasons over the years but today we sang it and I could not contain my tears as I felt the spirit. I actually don't sing in choir anymore because at any time the spirit hits I am dissolved into tears. Today was a special Sunday where we had a Stake conference. It is where all the members in a certain geographical boundary meet together. It could be up to a 1000 people. We don't have a building big enough for that so we split between two buildings and the sound is played in one building while the speakers talk in the other. We prepared for this conference by reading one of the speakers previous talks. Our theme was about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and knowing the nature of God. The presenter was Christoffel Golden. The pieces of verses from the song that touched me today were; "Yet ofttimes a secret something whispered, "You're a stranger here, and I felt I had wandered from a more exalted sphere." Elder Golden mentioned in the previous talk that when we die and meet with Heavenly Father we will be pleasantly surprised that He will seem so familiar to us. I feel this is true. I have leaned on my Heavenly Father many times and in my most desperate times I find comfort in feeling as if I am sitting at his feet and with my head in his lap he gently strokes my hair and tells me all will be well. I have felt for many years the line from the song, "Then, at length, when I've completed all you sent me forth to do, with your mutual approbation let me come and dwell with you." I look forward to that day. Many times I do feel a stranger here and cannot wait to leave this earth with all of man's creation to the more orderly world of the Lord's presence.
Whenever I am being stubborn the Lord knows I will listen to music. The music will break down my defenses and I will listen. Rarely am I so stubborn I don't attend church. The Lord knows if he gets me through those doors I am a captured audience and I will eventually break down.
Music is a beautiful language and I am grateful for it.
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