What does it mean to be "justified?"

While I was on my mission I came across several scriptures in the New Testament that mentioned being "justified." I had no idea what it meant to be justified. I thought that it probably had something to do with being supported like justified in your actions, or justified with your answer, but I just wasn't really sure. I wrote home to my dad about this topic and began to search the scriptures on my own. What I found was an amazing set of doctrines that link in perfectly with the Gospel. It is Justification, Purification, and Sanctification.
The first place I went to was the dictionary where one of the definitions of justification says "To cause to be free of the guilt or penalty of sin, and to be reconciled to God." In my journal I have written, "Faith is required in order to be justified, and we have access to the Peace that God offers through faith. Grace = Peace, Grace = Diving love and protection, Peace = Calm, tranquility. So we have access to grace and peace, or God's love, protection, and tranquility through faith in Jesus Christ, and then comes a hope of the glory of God. Hebrews 5:9 says "being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." Being cleared of blame or guilt by the blood of Jesus Christ, we will escape the wrath of God, His punishment to those who break His commandments, as required by the law of Justice." Justification is a divine verdict at the bar of judgement of not guilty, but not only are we found not guilty, but because Christ shares his absolute and infinite perfection with us, we are also found to be fully righteous. Whereas He formerly condemns, He now vindicates (which means cleared from suspicion, wrongdoing, hint of wrongness.) Although as sinners we once lived under God's wrath, as believers we now live under God's blessing. Titus 3:7 "That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life...not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." We are saved not by our own works, but by the Grace of Christ. And how does He do it? He tells us, let me break down the last part of that scripture. "He saved us, by the washing (cleansing with water) of regeneration (being spiritually reborn) and renewing (to become new, or restore to a former sound condition) of the Holy Ghost. What does that sound like? The basic Gospel of Christ. Faith, repentence, baptism by immersion, and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We are saved, justified, and made heirs by the power of the Atonement when we submit ourselves to Him, and follow His Gospel, which has now been restored to the earth in all its fulness.

Eternal Truths

For FHE tonight we read an amazing talk! It was given by Elder Neal A. Maxwell in 1979. Whenever I stumble across a great talk like this (thanks Matt for sending the link our way) it makes me wonder what other talks are out there that I am missing out on. You can click here for the link to this talk. I would highly recommend reading it. It is also amazing that even though this talk was given almost 30 years ago, it still totally applies today. Right now Devin is learning in law school how to "shepardize" a case - which basically means validating it and making sure that the law from the case still applies and that is hasn't been overturned by a later court, etc. Isn't it nice to know that we don't have to do that with the Gospel? The church is true. The doctrines we are taught are eternal. It is nice to know that we will always have a reliable place to turn for wisdom, counsel, comfort, or whatever else we may need. Unlike man-made law that changes as the opinions of men and society change, God's laws are the same and has never changed, nor ever will. No matter what else is going on in this world the church is constant. For that I am truly grateful.

Anyway, on to what I thought was so profound. I don't even think it needs an introduction. Just read what he said.

"When, in situations of stress, we wonder if there is any more in us to give, we can be comforted to know that God, who knows our capacities perfectly, placed us here to succeed. No one was foreordained to fail or to be wicked.

When we have been weighed and found wanting, let us remember that we were measured before and were found equal to our tasks; and therefore, let us continue but with a more determined discipleship.

When we feel overwhelmed, let us recall the assurance that God will not overprogram us; he will not press upon us more than we can bear (see D&C 50:40).

God bless you and keep you, my special friends, to the end that you will carry out each and every assignment given to you so very long ago. You have been measured and found adequate for the challenges that will face you as citizens of the kingdom of God; of that you should have a deep inner assurance. Be true to that trust, as all of us must."

I was just so comforted in knowing that no matter how crazy we think our lives are or how hard the trials or callings or responsiblities or whatever that we are facing seem, we can do it. I have always heard quoted that "Heavenly Father will not tempt you above that which ye are able to bear" but for some reason the way that Elder Maxwell said this just struck a different cord inside of me. It really made sense. Heavenly Father knows us. We are His children. He knows how we are going to respond, He knows our likes and dislikes, He knows our challenges, but most importantly, He knows us, and He loves us. He did not put us on this earth to fail. He wants us to succeed and He is going to help us and comfort us through the tough times. Maybe now that I am a mother I can better understand the love that Heavenly Father has for us. There is no way that I would set Amy up to fail. While I would not ask her to do things knowing that she could not do them, I wouldn't deliberately make things too easy for her either. I love her and am going to do whatever I can to see her succeed. We grow through our trials, our challenges stretch us. Our Heavenly Father is exactly the same way. And it is so comforting to know that. Sometimes we just need a gentle reminder of the truths we already know.

Comfort

I have lately been thinking about the "comfort those who stand in need of comfort, mourn with those that mourn" scripture. Sometimes that is hard to do. You don't know what to say or do to help them and not make them feel worse. I have a friend who just went through a miscarriage. I tried to think of things and when all was said and done, the best thing was just to talk. And I wonder why they don't end that scripture with the best medicine: "Rejoice with those who rejoice." We would talk about things that made us laugh. Our kids, the craziness of being a mother, insomnia and the things we do when we can't sleep, etc. I think that has helped (I hope). But that phrase just keeps running through my mind. "Rejoice with those who rejoice."

The gospel gives us that comfort through rejoicing. Another phrase that I love from the hymn "We thank thee, O God for a prophet" is "rejoice in His glorious gospel, and bask in its life giving light." What great imagery! I haven't had a trial like a miscarriage before, but I hope that there will be a way for me to rejoice like my neighbor in the little things, and especially in the gospel. Hopefully we can all rejoice together for the wonderful truths like the Plan of Salvation and the fact that our families will be together forever!

Making it to the Celestial Kingdom

About a month ago, we had a combined Young Men/Young Women activity that was a large object lesson on the three kingdoms. After the fun was over, we gathered together and I summed up the experience with a short talk. Here are some of my notes from that night:

Kingdoms
Celestial Kingdom

• Dwell in presence of God and Christ
• Don’t receive it in one attempt. “It is the result of a lifetime of righteousness and constancy of purpose”
• Must exercise faith in Christ
• Must receive ordinances of salvation and keep associated covenants: Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, Melchizedek Priesthood ordination for men, Temple endowment, Marriage sealing
• Must keep commandments
• Must repent
• Must Endure Faithfully
• Given to all who would have received it if they didn’t have the opportunity in this life
• Given to all children who die before age of accountability (eight)
• Comparable to Glory of the sun

Terrestial Kingdom

• Can have presence of Christ but not the Father
• Honorable people who were deceived by craftiness of men
• Members of the church who were not valiant
• Those who rejected the opportunity to receive the gospel in mortality but later received it in the postmortal spirit world
• Comparable to Glory of the moon

Telestial Kingdom

• Did not receive the gospel or a testimony of Jesus
• Redeemed from spirit prison (hell)
• Comparable to Glory of the stars
  

Utilize the atonement: You can do it! You can gain Eternal Life

• "...be assured that eternal life is within your reach. The Lord wants you to return to Him, and He will never require anything of you that you cannot fulfill. All His commandments are calculated to promote your happiness." (True to the Faith, page 53)
• The Atonement reconciles us to the Father, we are made perfect through Jesus (DC 76: 62 and 69)
• The Savior invites all of us to receive eternal life
• We ALL sin; we ALL need the Atonement
• Repent Now—for most of us that will mean daily
• Elder Eyring said in General Conference (Do Not Delay: http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=c63a6a4430c0c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1 ): “All of us have faced deadlines. Fear can grip us when we realize that there may not be enough time left to finish what we promised we would do. The thought comes, “Why didn’t I start earlier?””
  
  "That temptation to delay comes from our enemy, Lucifer. He knows that we can never be truly happy unless we have hope in this life and then realization, in the next, of eternal life. It is the greatest of all the gifts of God. It is to live in families forever with our Heavenly Father and with Jesus Christ and to have eternal increase. Satan wants us to be miserable as he is. And he knows that we can only have that true happiness if we are washed clean through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, by deep and continuing repentance, and the making and keeping of sacred covenants offered only through God’s authorized servants."
  
  "And so Satan tempts with procrastination throughout our days of probation. Any choice to delay repentance gives him the chance to steal happiness from one of the spirit children of our Heavenly Father."
• President Kimball said:
  “One of the most serious human defects in all ages is procrastination,” and then he defined it: “an unwillingness to accept personal responsibility now”
• Elder Eyring also said:
  "...know that we are not the helpless victims of our circumstances. The world tries to tell us that the opposite is true: imperfections in our parents or our faulty genetic inheritance are presented to us as absolving us of personal responsibility. But difficult as circumstances may be, they do not relieve us of accountability for our actions or our inactions. Nephi was right. God gives no commandments to the children of men save He prepares a way for them to obey. However difficult our circumstances, we can repent."
  
  "Similarly, the world might be willing to excuse our bad behavior because those around us behave badly. It is not true that the behavior of others removes our responsibility for our own. God’s standards for our behavior are unchanged whether or not others choose to rise to them."
  
  "The truth is that today is always a better day to repent than any tomorrow. First, sin has its debilitating effects on us. The very faith we need to repent is weakened by delay. The choice to continue in sin diminishes our faith and lessens our right to claim the Holy Ghost as our companion and comforter."
  
  "...even should we be forgiven at some later time, the Lord cannot restore the good effects our repentance today might have had on those we love and are to serve."
• Alma 34: For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors…Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world
• Story from Elder Eyring:
  " I knew a man once who could have thought that and given up. When he was 12 he was ordained a deacon. Some of his friends tempted him to begin to smoke. He began to feel uncomfortable in church. He left his little town, not finishing high school, to begin a life following construction jobs across the United States. He was a heavy-equipment operator. He married. They had children. The marriage ended in a bitter divorce. He lost his children. He lost an eye in an accident. He lived alone in boardinghouses. He lost everything he owned except what he could carry in a trunk.
  
  One night, as he prepared to move yet again, he decided to lighten the load of that trunk. Beneath the junk of years, he found a book. He never knew how it got there. It was the Book of Mormon. He read it through, and the Spirit told him it was true. He knew then that all those years ago he had walked away from the true Church of Jesus Christ and from the happiness which could have been his.
  
  Later, he was my more-than-70-year-old district missionary companion. I asked the people we were teaching, as I testified of the power of the Savior’s Atonement, to look at him. He had been washed clean and given a new heart, and I knew they would see that in his face. I told the people that what they saw was evidence that the Atonement of Jesus Christ could wash away all the corrosive effects of sin.
  
  That was the only time he ever rebuked me. He told me in the darkness outside the trailer where we had been teaching that I should have told the people that while God was able to give him a new heart, He had not been able to give him back his wife and his children and what he might have done for them. But he had not looked back in sorrow and regret for what might have been. He moved forward, lifted by faith, to what yet might be."

Is it a Fast Sunday or a Slow Sunday?

That's the question I get from my kids every once in a while. I love it, but to me the church part of it goes way too fast. I LOVE going to church. It is so wonderful to "rejoice in his glorious gospel, and bask in it's life giving light". (We thank thee O God, for a prophet). I love hearing the testimonies of others and feel so uplifted after a testimony meeting. I love it when others are moved to tears because of the spirit which in turn moves me to tears!
Today there were 4 baby blessings and each one was different and wonderful. I love hearing the dad's priesthood power being bestowed on their children. I was thinking back to my three kids blessings and what wonderful days they were! I'm so thankful for all of the blessings that enrich our lives because of the priesthood.
I did not get to bear my testimony today, but I thought I'd take the chance on this blog. (Thanks again Devin for the idea!)
I know that the Lord loves families. He blesses us in so many ways to be able to have the greatest happiness by being able to stay together with our family forever. I love being able to serve in the Primary. I love the little children. They teach me so much. There's a scripture in 3 Nephi 26:16 that says, "the multitude gathered themselves together, and they both saw and heard these children; yea, even babes did open their mouthsand utter marvelous things; and the things which they did utter were forbidden that there should not any man write them." I believe that! There have been times when I am dumbfounded when my kids understand a spiritual concept better than I do! They are so close to the spirit. I hope that I can always learn from a child. My greatest blessing in life has come in being a mother. I cherish the opportunity everyday (I hope!) to learn and teach together. I am so grateful for Joseph Smith and his courage to carry out his great mission on this earth. I am thankful for Jesus and his willingness to listen to my prayers. I hope that I am as willing to listen to the answers, and act with courage on them. I love the gospel, and rejoice in the teaching of hope that it brings to me. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Demanding = Sanctifying

This morning while I was filling in for our absent Elder's Quorum President at a PEC meeting, the Executive Secretary shared a really good spiritual thought/message. It was by Elder Bruce C. Hafen of the 70. I wish I had the exact quote, but I'll paraphrase: "The most demanding experiences of our lives have the potential to be the most sanctifying." He (the Exec. Sec.) has been through two years of medical school and explained that they have been extremely demanding (he has 3 small children). He expressed remorse that at the beginning of med school, he knew it would certainly be demanding, but he didn't really think of it as a potentially sanctifying experience.

It was a great message and it hit home for me. I've heard from EVERYBODY that law school (especially the first year) is very demanding. I'm glad that I am going in with that right mindset now after hearing that thought this morning. It makes perfect sense too, that demanding experiences can be sanctifying ones as well. A 2 year mission is demanding, staying on top of your church and spiritual duties (callings, scripture study, home teaching, FHE, service, etc) is demanding, being a parent will undoubtedly be demanding, but all of these things can be sanctifying as well. Going through the emotional and physical sufferings in Gethsemane and on the cross were almost unbearably demanding for our Savior. But through the Atonement, we can be sanctified. Is it any wonder that meeting the requirements for eternal life will be demanding? Let us not think of them as demanding, rather, that these things can and should be sanctifying.

Small and Simple Means

I love being able to teach, whether it's Relief Society or Singing Time for Primary. I love being able to ponder the lesson. I have found enlightenment come at different times, but as long as I am thinking about the subject, inspiration follows. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but I kept thinking about things coming "by small and simple means" and I think it applies to metaphors used in lessons, or how to create a visual aid for singing time. I had a primary president always say when we presented an idea that we were inspired. I had never thought about that before, but now it hardly leaves my mind when I try to gather ideas. They are put together so well because I was inspired.
The latest inspiration was my fireworks. Each toilet paper roll was going to be a firework, but I didn't know how to make the firework "pop" and fun for the kids. I don't know how the answer came, but it made perfect sense to me. I drew a circle from construction paper, cut wedges around, and poked a hole in the middle with pipe cleaners. I folded the paper up to fit into the roll and stuck a paper with the song into the tube. Now when the kids get up to choose a song, they pull the fuse (pipecleaner) and the song "pops" out. I know it's very simple and not a big deal, but I did feel inspired, and I'm so excited to share that with the primary kids.