What I learned from my Institute lesson... some food for thought

This week I did an institute lesson on coming to know God and how that relationship enables and strenghtens us in our lives. In preparation for teaching this lesson, I really had some profound insights.  We come to know God by feeling of His immense love. He showed the ultimate manifetstation of love by providing a Savior for mankind. We must come to have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father in order for us to develop a Christ-like love for those around us. Christ came to earth to help us cometo understand the nature of God. We can feel the cleansing power of the Atonement each day and become better today than we were yesterday. I love my Heavenly Father and strive to partake of his love daily

  

Feast on these words....They are mon$$$$yyyy.

 

" God is the Supreme and Absolute Being in whom we believe and whom we worship. He is “the Great Parent of the universe,” and He “looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard” - Joseph Smith

 

¤  “ Of the many magnificent purposes served in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, one great aspect of that mission often goes uncelebrated. His followers did not understand it fully at the time, and many in modern Christianity do not grasp it now, but the Savior Himself spoke of it repeatedly and emphatically. It is the grand truth that in all that Jesus came to say and do, including and especially in His atoning suffering and sacrifice, He was showing us who and what God our Eternal Father is like, how completely devoted He is to His children in every age and nation. In word and in deed Jesus was trying to reveal and make personal to us the true nature of His Father, our Father in Heaven.

¤  He did this at least in part because then and now all of us need to know God more fully in order to love Him more deeply and obey Him more completely. As both Old and New Testaments declare, “The first of all the commandments is … thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first [and great] commandment.” 1

¤  Little wonder then that the Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God.” “I want you all to know Him,” he said, “and to be familiar with Him.” 2 We must have “a correct idea of his … perfections, and attributes,” an admiration for “the excellency of [His] character.” 3 Thus the first phrase we utter in the declaration of our faith is, “We believe in God, the Eternal Father.” 4 So, emphatically, did Jesus. Even as He acknowledged His own singular role in the divine plan, the Savior nevertheless insisted on this prayerful preamble: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God.”  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, The Grandeur of God, Nov. 2003 Conference

¤  “The gospel of Jesus Christ makes it possible for families to be united now and in eternity. By living the principles of the gospel, families can experience peace, joy, and a sense of belonging and identity in this life. Through the light of the gospel, families can resolve misunderstandings, contentions, and challenges. Families torn by discord can be healed through repentance, forgiveness, and faith in the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”  Preach my gospel, p. 3

¤  “ All through the life of Jesus Christ he showed his knowledge of the living God and his loyalty and allegiance to God. Jesus Christ loved his Heavenly Father. He even went so far as to say, “My Father and I are one. I came down from heaven to do the will of my Father.” (See John 10:30; John 6:38.)

¤  Knowing God does not solve life’s problems, but gives purpose and strength to master them. Jesus, with his knowledge of his Heavenly Father, still had his problems to meet and to work out.

¤  The answers to knowing God the Eternal Father are found in and through Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6.)

¤  In order to know God the Eternal Father, we must receive that knowledge through through Jesus Christ, who is the mediator between God and man.

¤  Jesus also gave this information, which is often repeated and known well by many; he said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12.)

¤  The light of life is divine light that permeates and radiates in the human soul and brings out the godlike qualities and attributes of godliness. The light of life is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of love. The light of life has within it the glorious promises from God of eternal life in his heavenly kingdom. The light of life will bring divine truth and happiness and peace into a troubled heart. The light of life brings divine light into the problems and troubles of this life and helps to turn life’s problems into steppingstones to eternal progression and to developing a godlike character.”