How Can We Help The Poor?

There is a lot of homelessness and poverty in every major city in the world. This is a sad reality for many people. Often it is easy to find ways to help the poor during Christmas time and hopefully we can continue on throughout the year.

For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

We do not have the answer to end poverty and perhaps at this time long ago Moses did not either. But even if we do not have the perfect answer, the question itself is worth asking.

What Do We Delight In?

Nephi, an ancient prophet who lived around 550 B.C. wrote these words:

"And also my soul delighteth in the covenants of the Lord which he hath made to our fathers; yea, my soul delighteth in his grace, and in his justice, and power, and mercy in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death. And my soul delighteth in proving unto my people that save Christ should come all men must perish".

The devil tries to make us focus on all the tragedies in the world. He loves our sadness. When we focus on gratitude for the good we see all around us, our list of things we love will have at its top the name, Jesus Christ. All that he did and all that he is, makes our souls delight. God wants us to be happy, so he gave us Jesus Christ.

What Did God's Prophet Say This Month?

“Our responsibility is to rise from mediocrity to competence, from failure to achievement,” “Our task is to become our best selves. One of God’s greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final.”

“Essential to the plan [of salvation] is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Without His atoning sacrifice, all would be lost. It is not enough, however, merely to believe in Him and His mission. We need to work and learn, search and pray, repent and improve. We need to know God’s laws and live them. We need to receive His saving ordinances. Only by so doing will we obtain true, eternal happiness.”

The prophet of God passed away last night and Prophet, God will make another man for His work will go on. How blessed we are to have a God who wants to speak to us today through representatives he sends to the earth. Whether you believe in a prophet or not we would be wise to heed those who God has placed in our lives. "Repent all ye ends of the earth" and "Prepare ye the way of the Lord".

God Loves Us, So He Sent His Son

Christ said of his father "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life". This scripture is probably the best known scripture in the New Testament and contains the greatest message of hope ever delivered to the world. Because God was willing to sacrifice his beloved son, human because of Mary and God because of his father, we all will receive immortality, to live forever, and have the opportunity to gain exaltation, extreme happiness. As we share this testimony of God's love for us and Christ's willingness to sacrifice for us, our love for others will increase and our ability to sacrifice our will for God's will bring us a greater life than what we can make of it on our own.

Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God". These words spoken by Peter to Jesus himself provide the best example of a testimony shared, perhaps in all of history. In 2018 we can find ourselves sharing this same ancient truth with friends and loved ones and discover ways to make an ancient truth relevant in our day, in our lives. #strivetoshare