May 10 2016 Nehemiah by Diane Adair

 

 

Scriptures
Nehemiah

Quotes

“…the best and most clear indication that we are progressing spiritually and coming unto Christ is the way we treat other people.” Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, May, 1992, p. 20.

The great fact is that the Lord’s spirit is here. His presence permeates the universe.  The presence of our God in the universe is the great truth in the plan of salvation… paraphrased from Neal A. Maxwell.

 Quoted passages about scriptures from “Letters to a Young Mormon,” by Adam S. Miller.

“I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”
Nelson Mandella

 “The Savior has suffered not just for our iniquities, but also for the inequality, the unfairness, the pain, the anguish, and the emotional distress that so frequently besets us. There is no physical pain, there is no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity of weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first.  You and I, in a moment of weakness, will cry out, ‘no one understands, no one knows.” No human being perhaps knows, but the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and understood our feelings even before we did.  And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and He can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life.  He can reach out, touch, succor, and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying on only our own power.” Elder David Bednar.

 “Thank you for the five years of changing my concept of deity, as rather than a CPA recording all my misdeeds, to a loving Deity who wants me back home.” Lois London, Olympus 4th Ward

 Testimony of Sam Pond, recently returned missionary.

 “The Lord will provide sustenance and support if we are willing to open the door and receive His hand of divine assistance… Imagine the wounds in His hands, His weathered hands, yes, even His hands of torn flesh and physical sacrifice, give our hands greater power and direction.  It is the wonderful Christ who leads us through moments of difficulty.  It is He who bears us up when we need more air to breathe or direction to follow or even more courage to continue.  If we will keep the commandments of God and walk hand and hand with Him in His paths, we will go forward with faith and never feel alone.” Craig Zwick, Ensign, November, 2003, p. 34-36.

 “God be thanked for the matchless gift of His Divine Son.”

May 3 2016 Ezra by Nancy Baird

Scriptures
Ezra

Quotes

“It is indeed a remarkable fact that sufferings and hardships do not, as a rule, abate the love of life; they seem on the contrary, usually to give it a keener zest; and the sovereign source of melancholy is repletion. Need and struggle are what excite and inspire.  Our hour of triumph is what brings the void.”   William James, The Will to Believe, 47.

“As members of the Lord’s church, we need to lift our vision beyond personal prejudices. We need to discover the supreme truth that indeed our Father is no respecter of persons. Sometimes we unduly offend brothers and sisters of other nations by assigning exclusiveness to one nationality of people over another.

Let me cite, as an example of exclusiveness, the present problem in the Middle East—the conflict between the Arabs and the Jews. We do not need to apologize nor mitigate any of the prophecies concerning the Holy Land. We believe them and declare them to be true. But this does not give us justification to dogmatically pronounce that others of our Father’s children are not children of promise.”    President Howard W. Hunter, “All Are Alike Unto God,” speech at BYU, 1979, quoted by Dr. Nafez Nazzal at the BYU Jerusalem Center, in 1995.

“Mr. Mayor, many years ago when I was a young boy in Tonga, my father and mother and my brothers and sisters sold our home, we sold fruits and vegetables, and we sold everything we could to have enough money to travel to Hamilton, New Zealand, to be sealed as an eternal family in the temple. You need this temple. This temple will bless your city. This temple will bless your community. it will bless the people.”
Vai Sikahema, quoted by Dean Davies, BYU Magazine, Spring 2016, 23-25. Speaking about trying to get the Philadelphia Temple built.

I think that Ezra, knew that below the surface of the pages of scripture, (these Old Testament words we have been studying for two years,) is a great, deep chasm of intelligence and truth. A bottomless ocean of light.