“And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
“And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
“And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
“And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
“And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
“And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
“There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
“And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” (Luke 17:11–19.)
Every day I am surrounded by an abundance of blessings that I far too often take for granted. I live in a beautiful small town surrounded by people who love me. I have the blessing of the gospel to buffet me from the storms of life. I have knowledge of a Savior who died for me and reclaimed his life for my sake.
Today we celebrated my Aunt Kristi's 50th birthday. Only three days ago, my dad celebrated his own half mark birthday. 50 years! That is simply incredible. None of us remember (because we weren't there) the time when to live to 50 was a matter of great surprise. Many people didn't live that long. Now we live in such a manner with medicine and other pleasures that keep us alive until we are practically 100 years old. What a blessing!
Today our stake had a stake wide Family History day. The talks were of Family History and we were each instructed to spend this evening with our families talking of our ancestors. The experiences they survived that we could be here in this valley having the gospel in our homes are amazing. Blessings, if you will, to our generation.
Spiderman's aunt told him, "With great power comes great responsibility." May I rephrase that? With great blessings come great responsibilities. Those responsibilities include gratitude, action and service.
Gratitude: When someone gives you something, like a gift, you say thank you. You feel gratitude and extend it. What difference is there from a birthday gift received to a gift given by God? Like the leper that returned to the King of the Jews to thank him, when we are given great (or even small) blessings, or response should be one of gratitude.
Action: When healed by the Savior, the nine lepers went...somewhere. We don't know where they went. All we know is that they did not come back to Jesus. Only one did that. Because of his action in coming back, because of his gratitude, Jesus blessed him.
Service: We are granted tender mercies from the Lord because he loves us and wishes for us to be happy. After receiving blessings, we should then have an increased desire to serve and see to the needs of God's other children. Then, like the example of Elisha and the dying woman with her cruse of oil and hand full of meal, life goes full round and we receive additional blessings as compensation for that service.
I hope that I am always the one who returns to my Lord with an "Attitude of Gratitude."
I am so excited that in less than six months (!) I will have the awesome responsibility and opportunity to share the gospel. It is the responsibility of the tribe of Ephraim for the gathering of Israel. We have been greatly blessed to have the gospel. Now that we have been so blessed, God expects us to share that blessing and act on it. Some days I can't imagine how lucky I am that I was born into this gospel. I have grown up with a knowledge of Jesus Christ and what he has done for me, the sacrifices he made for my sake, because of his love. I have been blessed with the knowledge that a loving God sent his Only Begotten Son to do what no one else could have done. I feel the weight of responsibility heavy on my shoulders, as well as the opportunity, to share what I know to people who were not so blessed. I can't wait to go, to share this amazing gift that I have been given. Six months!? ... I think I can do that! :)
Gratitude. Action. Service. Be the one.
“And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
“And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
“And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
“And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
“And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
“There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
“And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” (Luke 17:11–19.)
Every day I am surrounded by an abundance of blessings that I far too often take for granted. I live in a beautiful small town surrounded by people who love me. I have the blessing of the gospel to buffet me from the storms of life. I have knowledge of a Savior who died for me and reclaimed his life for my sake.
Today we celebrated my Aunt Kristi's 50th birthday. Only three days ago, my dad celebrated his own half mark birthday. 50 years! That is simply incredible. None of us remember (because we weren't there) the time when to live to 50 was a matter of great surprise. Many people didn't live that long. Now we live in such a manner with medicine and other pleasures that keep us alive until we are practically 100 years old. What a blessing!
Today our stake had a stake wide Family History day. The talks were of Family History and we were each instructed to spend this evening with our families talking of our ancestors. The experiences they survived that we could be here in this valley having the gospel in our homes are amazing. Blessings, if you will, to our generation.
Spiderman's aunt told him, "With great power comes great responsibility." May I rephrase that? With great blessings come great responsibilities. Those responsibilities include gratitude, action and service.
Gratitude: When someone gives you something, like a gift, you say thank you. You feel gratitude and extend it. What difference is there from a birthday gift received to a gift given by God? Like the leper that returned to the King of the Jews to thank him, when we are given great (or even small) blessings, or response should be one of gratitude.
Action: When healed by the Savior, the nine lepers went...somewhere. We don't know where they went. All we know is that they did not come back to Jesus. Only one did that. Because of his action in coming back, because of his gratitude, Jesus blessed him.
Service: We are granted tender mercies from the Lord because he loves us and wishes for us to be happy. After receiving blessings, we should then have an increased desire to serve and see to the needs of God's other children. Then, like the example of Elisha and the dying woman with her cruse of oil and hand full of meal, life goes full round and we receive additional blessings as compensation for that service.
I hope that I am always the one who returns to my Lord with an "Attitude of Gratitude."
I am so excited that in less than six months (!) I will have the awesome responsibility and opportunity to share the gospel. It is the responsibility of the tribe of Ephraim for the gathering of Israel. We have been greatly blessed to have the gospel. Now that we have been so blessed, God expects us to share that blessing and act on it. Some days I can't imagine how lucky I am that I was born into this gospel. I have grown up with a knowledge of Jesus Christ and what he has done for me, the sacrifices he made for my sake, because of his love. I have been blessed with the knowledge that a loving God sent his Only Begotten Son to do what no one else could have done. I feel the weight of responsibility heavy on my shoulders, as well as the opportunity, to share what I know to people who were not so blessed. I can't wait to go, to share this amazing gift that I have been given. Six months!? ... I think I can do that! :)
Gratitude. Action. Service. Be the one.
Comments