LDS Gem Archives, July 2007
Daily Gems - 31 July 2007
Bearing One Another's Burdens
"[We all face] dangers and hardships. . . . [But] there will be 'angels round about you, to bear you up' (D&C 84:88). They will sustain us as we carry our earthly burdens. Often in our lives, those angels are the people around us, the people who love us, those who allow themselves to be instruments in the Lord's hands.
"President Spencer W. Kimball said, 'God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom' ("There is Purpose in Life," New Era, Sept. 1974, 5)."
Topics: Serving Others
Family Gems - 30 July 2007
Families
"The proclamation teaches that 'successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.' In other words, the Lord measures the success of a family by the quality of its relationships. In a home where faith, love, and forgiveness are dominant, members find joy and satisfaction in being together. Ideally the father presides in love and righteousness, provides the necessities of life, and protects the family while the mother is primarily responsible for the nurturing of the children. In contrast, the world often measures family success by the accumulation of worldly things and the size of the estate that is passed on to the children."
Topics: Family
Church History Gems - 30 July 2007
The Doctrine is True
"The foundation of the work laid by the Prophet Joseph Smith was laid in eternal truth. It cannot be overthrown. It is like the house built on the rock. The storms may beat upon it, the rains may descend, the tempests may come, the hearts of men may be stirred up to anger and to persecution against it; but it is as firm as the everlasting hills, because it is built upon the truth. Honesty, virtue, purity of life, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His resurrection, obedience to the commandments of God, are cardinal principles of our belief. We know that the doctrine is true." (Proceedings at the Dedication of the Joseph Smith Memorial Monument: At Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, December 23rd, 1905, 41-42.)
Topics: Restoration, Joseph Smith
Daily Gems - 30 July 2007
The Scriptures
"Everything in the scriptures is applicable to our lives. The scriptures answer our questions, they provide role models and heroes, and they help us understand how to handle challenges and trials. Many times the scriptures you read will be the answer to your prayers."
Topics: Scripture
Daily Gems - 27 July 2007
Going the Extra Mile
"I am grateful for the example of the Good Shepherd, who did not give up until He had His lost sheep safely home; . . . and for the examples of many of you who have gone the extra mile until you have found that which was lost. Your efforts will have an eternal effect on the lives of your quorum members and their posterity for generations to come."
Topics: Serving Others, Melchizedek Priesthood
Church History Gems - 27 July 2007
The Lord's Touchstone
"Surely [the virtues of love and service] were in the heart of Elder Willard Richards. While in Carthage Jail on the afternoon of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, the jailer suggested that they would be safer in the cells. Joseph turned to Elder Richards and asked, 'If we go into the cell will you go with us?'
"Elder Richards' reply was one of love: 'Brother Joseph, you did not ask me to cross the river with you—you did not ask me to come to Carthage—you did not ask me to come to jail with you—and do you think I would forsake you now? But I will tell you what I will do; if you are condemned to be hung for "treason," I will be hung in your stead, and you shall go free' . . . (see B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church, 2:283).
"Elder Richards' test was perhaps greater than most of us will face. . . . But if we were asked to do so, could we lay down our lives for our families? our friends? our neighbors?
"The touchstone of compassion is a measure of our discipleship; it is a measure of our love for God and for one another. Will we leave a mark of pure gold or, like the priest and the Levite, pass by on the other side?"
Topics: Love
Family Gems - 27 July 2007
Missionary Work as Families
"Let us exercise greater faith and work together, members and missionaries, to bring many more souls unto him. Let every family in the Church include as a part of their daily family prayers a plea with the Lord to go before your family members and help them to find someone prepared to receive the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Now is the time for members of the Church to be more bold in reaching out to others, helping them to know the Church is true."
Topics: Proclaim the Gospel
Young Single Adult Gems - 27 July 2007
Beware of the "Slick Package"
"Arguments . . . will come at you in classrooms and hallways, in what you read, and in what you see in popular entertainment. Many in the world deny the need for a Savior. Others deny that there is any right or wrong, and they scoff at the idea of sin or a devil. Still others rely on the mercy of God and ignore His justice. . . .
"Be not deceived. . . . Heed the ancient and modern prophetic warnings against thievery, drunkenness, and all forms of sexual sin. The deceiver seeks to destroy your spirituality by all of these means. . . . Beware of the slick package and the glitz of a good time. What the devil portrays as fun can be spiritually fatal."
Topics: Temptation
Daily Gems - 26 July 2007
Trusting the Lord Completely
" 'By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac' (Hebrews 11:17). Abraham, because of his great faith, was promised posterity greater in number than the stars in the heavens, and that that posterity would come through Isaac. But Abraham immediately complied with the Lord's command. God would keep His promise, but if not in the manner Abraham expected, he still trusted Him completely. Men accomplish marvelous things by trusting in the Lord and keeping His commandments--by exercising faith even when they don't know how the Lord is shaping them."
Topics: Faith
Daily Gems - 25 July 2007
Triumph of Good over Evil
"What a perilous time [the war in heaven] must have been. The Almighty Himself was pitted against the son of the morning. We were there while that was going on. That must have been a desperately difficult struggle, with a grand, triumphal victory. . . .
"Why were we then happy? I think it was because good had triumphed over evil and the whole human family was on the Lord's side. We turned our backs on the adversary and aligned ourselves with the forces of God, and those forces were victorious."
Topics: War in Heaven
Church History Gems - 25 July 2007
The Duty Every Saint Ought to Render
"Joseph Smith wrote a letter to the Saints, published in the Messenger and Advocate, on the subject of loving one another to be justified before God. He wrote:
" 'Dear Brethren:—It is a duty which every Saint ought to render to his brethren freely—to always love them, and ever succor them. To be justified before God we must love one another: we must overcome evil; we must visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction, and we must keep ourselves unspotted from the world: for such virtues flow from the great fountain of pure religion. Strengthening our faith by adding every good quality that adorns the children of the blessed Jesus, we can pray in the season of prayer; we can love our neighbor as ourselves, and be faithful in tribulation, knowing that the reward of such is greater in the kingdom of heaven. What a consolation! What a joy! Let me live the life of the righteous, and let my reward be like this!' (History of the Church, 2:229).
"These two virtues, love and service, are required of us if we are to be good neighbors and find peace in our lives."
Topics: Righteousness, Love, Serving Others
Young Single Adult Gems - 25 July 2007
The Lord's Glorious Eternal Promises
"Supernal blessings are promised to those who walk in virtue before the Lord and before all men.
"How wonderful are the ways of our Lord. How glorious His promises."
Topics: Virtue
Family Gems - 23 July 2007
Our Family Responsibilities
"The family is the basic unit of society; it is the basic unit of eternity. . . . The family is at the heart of Heavenly Father’s plan . . . [and] mortality is our opportunity to form our own families and to assume the role of parents. . . . There is no more important stewardship than the responsibility we have for God's spirit children who come into our families."
Topics: Family
Church History Gems - 23 July 2007
Laying on of Hands
"It is obvious, from the manner in which Joseph Smith received a knowledge of God and of the principles and ordinances of the gospel, that he himself was receiving direct revelation from heaven. But this is not all that was necessary. . . .
". . . The Lord instructed the priesthood officers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 'to confirm those who are baptized into the church, by the laying on of hands for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, according to the scriptures.' (D&C 20:41.)
"The priesthood and the power of the Holy Ghost is what gives life to the Church and its members:
" '. . . the special office of the Holy Ghost is to enlighten and ennoble the mind, to purify and sanctify the soul, to incite to good works, and to reveal the things of God.' (James E. Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 167.)
"Without this gift, the Church would be as dead and impotent as an electric powerhouse without electricity."
Topics: Love
Young Single Adult Gems - 23 July 2007
Consequences of Choosing the Wrong Road
"If we choose the wrong road, we choose the wrong destination."
Topics: Choice and Accountability
Daily Gems - 23 July 2007
We Are All Pioneers
"It is not enough to study or reenact the accomplishments of our pioneers. We need to identify the great, eternal principles they applied to achieve all they achieved for our benefit and then apply those principles to the challenges of our day. In that way we honor their pioneering efforts, and we also reaffirm our heritage and strengthen its capacity to bless our own posterity and 'those millions of our Heavenly Father's children who have yet to hear and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ' (Our Heritage: A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [1996], 145). We are all pioneers in doing so."
Topics: Adversity
Family Gems - 20 July 2007
Adversary's Attack on the Family
"When evil wants to strike out and disrupt the essence of God's work, it attacks the family. It does so by attempting to disregard the law of chastity, to confuse gender, to desensitize violence, to make crude and blasphemous language the norm, and to make immoral and deviant behavior seem like the rule rather than the exception."
Topics: Family, Choice and Accountability
Church History Gems - 20 July 2007
Sons and Daughters of God
"As to man's relationship to God, Joseph learned from a . . . revelation that the inhabitants of 'the worlds' (including those of us on this earth) 'are begotten sons and daughters unto God.' (D&C 76:24.)
"These fundamental truths concerning God and man's relationship to him were not being taught by the churches of Joseph Smith's day, for the obvious reason that they were neither known nor believed. It is true that they were known and taught and believed by members of the church of Christ in the days of Jesus and his apostles. But in 1830 an understanding of them had long since been lost. It was ignorance of a true knowledge of God and man's relationship to him that spawned the many churches.
"During the 1820s a knowledge of the fundamental principles and ordinances of the gospel was revealed anew from heaven to the boy prophet, Joseph Smith. Many of these principles and ordinances he learned from the Book of Mormon."
Topics: God the Father
Daily Gems - 20 July 2007
Individual Worth of Each Son or Daughter
"Only as we accept the Atonement in our lives and strive to live the gospel can we meet the challenges of life and find peace, joy, and happiness. Coming to understand this great gift is an individual pursuit for each child of God. . . .
"If we could truly understand the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we would realize how precious is one son or daughter of God."
Topics: Individual Worth
Young Single Adult Gems - 20 July 2007
Living with Charity toward All
"We must live as true followers of the Christ, with charity toward all, returning good for evil, teaching by example the ways of the Lord, and accomplishing the vast service He has outlined for us."
Topics: Charity
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