Audio January 14, 2014 Acts 21-28 by Diane Adair
Quotes
“The more we study, pray, and ponder the awesome Atonement, the more we are willing to acknowledge that we are in His and the Father’s hands. Let us ponder, therefore, these final things.
When the unimaginable burden began to weigh upon Christ, it confirmed His long-held and intellectually clear understanding as to what He must now do. His working through began, and Jesus declared: “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.” Then, whether in spiritual soliloquy or by way of instruction to those about Him. He observed. “But for this cause came I unto this hour.” …
While bearing our sins, our infirmities, our sicknesses, and bringing to pass the Atonement. Jesus became the perfect Shepherd, making these lines of Paul’s especially relevant and reassuring. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
Indeed, we are in His hands, and what hallowed hands!
The wondrous and glorious Atonement was the central act in all of human history. It was the hinge on which all else that finally matters turned. But it turned upon Jesus’ spiritual submissiveness!
May we now, in our time and turn, be “willing to submit.”
Neal A. Maxwell, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Willing to Submit”, April, 1985, General Conference Address.
“Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can… He will deepen their joys, strengthen their souls, raise up friends and pour out peace.”
President Ezra Taft Benson
Talking about Christ, “He took my face in His hands and He turned my eyes towards His. He healed all my wounds… You can be found and loved. We are all worthy of His love. . . He turned my eyes towards His.”
Jessie Mahas, Olympus 1st Ward, her Mission Farewell Talk, January 12, 2014, leaving to serve a mission in Peru.
“…The miracle of the atonement is not just that we can live after we die but that we can live more abundantly. The miracle of the atonement is not just that we can be cleansed and consoled, but that we can be transformed… The grace of Christ is sufficient to cover our debt, sufficient to transform us, and sufficient to help us as long as that transformation process takes. The Book of Mormon teaches us to rely solely on the merits and mercy and grace of the Holy Messiah… Grace is not the absence of God’s high expectations. Grace is the presence of God’s power…”
Brad Wilcox, “His Grace Is Sufficient,” BYU Devotional, July 12, 2011.
“If you seek truth, meaning, and a way to transform faith into action; if you are looking for a place of belonging; come join with us… if you are tempted to give up; stay yet a little longer. There is room for you here. I plead with all who hear or read these words: come join with us. Come heed the call of the gentle Christ… Come join with us.”
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Come Join With Us,” October, 2013, General Conference Address