The Shield

"Prayer is the stabilizing weapon we have against Satan. The more constant our prayers, the less opportunity there is for him to find a crack in our armor." Former Football Coach Lavell Edwards, BYU

List

1. Be grateful.
2. Be smart.
3. Be clean.
4. Be true.
5. Be humble.
6. Be prayerful; by Gordon B. Hinckley

Learning from Worship

"The secure anchors of His laws will assure safety and success as you scale the challenges you will face." R. Scott

"Life evermore will know, through thee our friend." Hymn 181

"Our sustaining of prophets is a personal commitment that we will do our utmost to uphold their prophetic priorities." Nelson

Alma 33:23, comfort of the word of God.

What a glorious blessing! For when we want to speak to God, we pray. And when we want Him to speak to us, we search the scriptures; for His words are spoken through His prophets. Robert D. Hales

"We are to live in the world but not be of the world. We must live in the world because, as Jesus taught in a parable, His kingdom is “like leaven,” whose function is to raise the whole mass by its influence." D. Oakes

"The call in every age—and especially our age—is Joshua’s call: “Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”

 " Jeffrey R. Holland

Anchoring

Another great way to remember scripture passages is anchoring one to another. I will use the example of John 1:39..."come and see", then anchor it to Moses 1:39..."to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man". They have common numerical and message similarity.

Stepping-stones

Having fasted, then tempted, Jesus said this to Satan:

4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (New Testament, Matthew 4)

10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (New Testament, Matthew 4)

When we need help, Jesus will be by us assisting with his angels- bearing us up. "As we shun temptation and choose the better way, we will feel the loving arm of the Lord bearing us up, and His Spirit will fill our hearts with peace and joy." (Feb. 2014 Ensign, Shunning Temptation: A Key to Receiving Revelation, By Elder Ian S. Ardern)

"But if they seek prayerfully for help and guidance, they shall be given power over adverse things. Such trials shall not be permitted to stand in the way of their progress, but instead shall act as stepping-stones to greater knowledge", Richard Scott said.

Scripture Memorization

John 1:39

Come and see...

Learned At Church

If you doubt your temple service and think it insignificant, Wilford Woodruff stated that "There will be very few, if any, who will not accept the Gospel. … The fathers of this people will embrace the Gospel." And Elder Bednar said  to the youth, "And I promise you will be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary. As you participate in and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout your lives."

i Like You So Much

I love two scenes from a favorite movie of mine, Meet Joe Black-  the coffee shop and the concluding firework scene. At the firework scene- He said, "you said you liked me", and she said, "no I said I liked you so much". "So what do we do now?", she said. He said, "it will come to us", and  then she saying, "what do we do cause we hardly know each other", he says "we got time". Then a grand firework show begins above them in the sky, as they are walking holding hands toward the party below them.

I like these scenes because their love was fate at their first moment meeting, now together. My wife and I had a fate deal- we met so sudden. And we have shared in the "we have time"  and "it will come to us" part. All couples will.

Fate works mysteriously for each of us, sent from above as a tender mercy somehow, a bright dayspring- unseen forces at work creating the moment, then leading us forward.

Cold Wind

Going beyond the veil for my brother will be a grand reunion. He will receive a full embrace with Mom and Dad. I can only comprehend a portion here in singing the words of this song my parents would sing to each other, Forever and Ever:

Forever and ever, my heart will be true
Sweetheart, for ever, I'll wait for you
We both made a promise that we'd never part
Let's seal it with a kiss forever, my sweetheart

Let bygones be bygones forever
We'll fall in love once again
So let's tell the world of our new love divine
For ever and ever you'll be mine

Then the power of these majestic words, I could hear silently between words of the dedicational prayer of his grave, as the cold wind whistled among the trees onto my face and through me:

10 Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works. 

11 Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in him-

12 And now, beloved, marvel not that I tell you these things; for why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him, as to attain to the knowledge of a resurrection and the world to come-

(Book of Mormon, Jacob 4)

Song

The words of this hymn reach and send my faith and vision to the warmth of my brothers recent embraces and praises above. I can just hear this from the old Monroe Chapel organ- Mom pounding away. These expressions of this hymn we have all felt, inwardly, a yearning to carry us beyond each day knowing of an awaited day with them.

1.	Oh, what songs of the heart
	We shall sing all the day,
	When again we assemble at home,
	When we meet ne’er to part
	With the blest o’er the way,
	There no more from our loved ones to roam!
	When we meet ne’er to part,
	Oh, what songs of the heart
	We shall sing in our beautiful home.
2.	Tho our rapture and bliss
	There’s no song can express,
	We will shout, we will sing o’er and o’er,
	As we greet with a kiss,
	And with joy we caress
	All our loved ones that passed on before;
	As we greet with a kiss,
	In our rapture and bliss,
	All our loved ones that passed on before.
3.	Oh, the visions we’ll see
	In that home of the blest,
	There’s no word, there’s no thought can impart,
	But our rapture will be
	All the soul can attest,
	In the heavenly songs of the heart;
	But our rapture will be
	In the vision we’ll see
	Best expressed in the songs of the heart.
4.	Oh, what songs we’ll employ!
	Oh, what welcome we’ll hear!
	While our transports of love are complete,
	As the heart swells with joy
	In embraces most dear
	When our heavenly parents we meet!
	As the heart swells with joy,
	Oh, what songs we’ll employ,
	When our heavenly parents we meet!

Come and See

One of the first phrases Jesus used was the simple "come and see".  Just three words.  How often do we for self interest neglect and forget to heed it by: not following him, not doing his will, and not remembering him when we should as he is our brother.

" I believe that if we could have the privilege of walking physically with the Savior, that we would feel His arm draped over our shoulder just like that. Like the disciples heading toward Emmaus, our hearts would "burn within us" (Luke 24:32). This is His message: "Come and see" (John 1:39). It is personal, inviting, and embracing in its invitation to walk with His arm around our shoulders."

This I feel is happening with my brother who passed away just yesterday. Many arms around him.

Saying It

A champion needs to say "champion" like they mean it.  My granddaughters say it with vigor and their arms raised. You can really feel something from them.  It can be raised forth like a fountainhead of great importance. Or as a dayspring; 78    Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, and 79    To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Luke 1:

"To give light, to guide our feet into the way of peace"

True Champion

Then a few verses down the true champion said, 36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
1 Samuel 17:36

http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/1-sam/17?lang=eng

Champion

Champion

a champion out of the camp of the Philistines: 1 Sam. 17:4.
Champion

http://www.lds.org/scriptures/tg/champion?lang=eng

A New Year Dive

I am thinking of a new topic. Stop and ponder for a few silent minutes. The thoughts will direct me to  a topic.