Come, Follow Me - October 14-20; Philippians
When I began to study this weeks assignment, I knew that I needed to share a talk I gave last Easter. It shares some experiences that allowed me to do the things Paul talks about in Philippians chapter 4.
To find JOY in any circumstance in life. So here it is. Thanks for letting me share.
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In the childrens song Gethsemane, I love the chorus, where it says,
“Gethsemane, Jesus Loves me.” Jesus loves me, he loves each one of you.
Everything he did and does is because he loves us and wants us to be with him
and our heavenly parents again. He gave his life and was resurrected because of his
individual love for each one of us. Isn’t that beautiful!
In Matthew 11:28-30 it says,
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest in your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
I wanted to explain some of the words to make it easier to understand, especially for the primary children. When it says YOKE, a yoke is something that you put in between two animals, like a cross piece – something that hooks both of their shoulders together so that they can pull evenly as they walk together.
And also when he talks about – come unto me all ye that are heavy laden, heavy laden to me is all those things that weigh down on us. And that could be anything as simple as being sad, having a hard time at school, not fitting in, being left out, our jealousies or fears, sickness, financial worries, losing a loved one, worrying about family members, stress of life, sin anything like that is something that is “HEAVY on our shoulders” .
President Nelson has taught,
“You come unto Christ to be yoked with Him and with His power, so that your not pulling lifes load alone. You’re pulling lifes load yoked with the Savior and Redeemer of the world, and suddenly your problems, no matter how serious they are, become lighter.”
I LOVE THAT!
So Christ is saying,
“Come unto me, bring me all your sorrows and sicknesses and I will help you carry them, For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
This is because he has already carried everything. He has already atoned for all of our sins, all of our sorrows or anxieties –every little thing that we will experience. And so when we bring it to him AGAIN-- its not that he has to experience it again—his burden is light. But when we choose to YOKE ourselves with him, he takes it from us and helps carry that load.
I love what president Nelson says and I know it to be true.
I would like to share a few personal experiences of when my burdens have been lifted as I have come unto Christ.
I like to call trials or hard times, experiences. When Joseph Smith was in jail, in Liberty, the Lord taught him…that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good.
So I had two identical experiences a decade apart. So ten years apart. And the difference in them, in how I healed and how I allowed the Savior to carry me were complete opposites.
The first time I had the experience, I felt like I had to be strong, That I needed to carry it on my own. Not reach out to anyone, I could do this. I thought I was giving it to the Lord, but as I look back, I realize I was choosing to hold onto the hurt and hold on to things that were heavy, I was not YOKED with my Savior. I was pulling that load by myself. I was trying to heal without fully reaching out to the one who could heal me completely. I also realized that during that time, I was inconsistent with my “essential things”. Those things that draw me closer to my Savior. To me those are prayer, reading my scriptures , reading the words of modern day prophets, going to the temple. I was going maybe 4 times a year to the temple , at that time. ANd this experience did slowly start me on a path to be a little better in the essential things. I did feel peace as I went to the temple, as I read my scriptures and did some of those things… but it was not consistent, nor constant. And I felt little JOY.
Fast Forward 10 years, I was given the same exact experience. At that time I was in a better spot spiritually. I was much more consistent in doing those essential things. I was attending the temple more regularly, I was taking time to learn and study of Christ. I was doing those things daily that I allowed the spirit to be with me. And as I received this experience, I remember distinctly hearing the words, “I will take this if you will let me.” And I have thought about those words a lot. I will take this, IF YOU WILL LET ME. It is always a choice to come unto the Savior and be YOKED with him.
I realize that the first time I wasn’t fully letting the Lord take it. I was kind of wallowing in it and not letting it escape me. And this time, when I heard those words, I said, “YES PLEASE TAKE IT.” Brothers and Sisters that next week was the most joyous I have ever experienced in my entire life. I constantly filled myself with things that brought light. Immersing myself in the Book of Mormon, doing family history and listening to good music. I had a perma -grin on my face. I felt like I was floating on air. I was JOYOUS!
In the worlds eye, I should have been devasted…. But I was feeling pure, exquisite Joy. And that is what happens when we come unto our Savior.
Pres Nelson has said,
“The JOY we feel as little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the FOCUS of our lives.”
And I can bear testimony and add my witness to this truth. Because I had two experiences that were exactly the same, but the results because of where I was focused, were completely different. And what I also recognized was that when I was focused on my Savior, I had so much more to give. I was open to avenues that would help me in my journey of healing.
Where in my first experience, I didn’t feel like I could give anything. There were a lot of tears when I was alone. It was difficult to put a smile on my face, church was difficult for me, and I would often come home in tears. I didn’t feel as if I could share my testimony –I was in survival mode.
I know that my ability to be able to give, was a gift from my Heavenly Father. As I choose to let my Savior take again what he had already taken, I was able to have the strength to look outward.
In Mosiah 4:20 King Benjamin says in verse 20,
“Believe in God, believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all things which the Lord comprehend.”
I love that! I love that because I noticed the second time because I was doing those things that our prophets and leaders have asked us to do—it brought the spirit into my life and it brought me closer to Christ. I BELIEVED and because I believed and let HIM take it, HE did. In the eyes of the world, it is difficult to comprehend why I could experience JOY amidst such a trial. But I DID!
And the JOY that came into my life was definitely a gift.
In 2 Nephi 10:23 Jacob is speaking and he says,
“Therefore cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves --- to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.”
We choose when we allow the Savior’s atoning sacrifice to work in our lives.
Alma the youngers story is a great example of this. Alma the younger persecuted those who were members of the church. He was against the church. And he, along with the sons of Mosiah, went and secretly tried to destroy the church. His father Alma and others fasted and prayed that their hearts might be softened and change and the Lord answered that prayer, when an angel appeared in a cloud and spoke with a voice of thunder. Now thunder can be kind of scary. I have been in thunderstorms when it shakes the windows. Well this shook the ground. And it shocked them and they knew it was from God. Alma was so shocked he could not move. He could not speak. They had to carry him to his father, Alma. And Alma, his father, when he saw him in that state, he rejoiced, because he knew that Heavenly Father was working on his son and had answered his prayers.
But during these few days whenAlma, his father and the people were fasting and praying for Alma the younger, he was in extreme suffering for the pains of his sins. He was in immense pain and sorrow, because at that time, he had not come unto Christ , he was not YOKED with His Savior. And during that immense pain, he remembered that His father had taught him about a Savior that would come and atone for the sins of all. And at that moment when he thought that, he cried out, “O Jesus thou son of god, have mercy on me.” And the minute he said that the pain was gone, the minute he said that he felt joy and that is the power of Jesus Christ, the power of even speaking His name. The power of coming to him. He will take what he has already taken for us, over and over and over and that is a beautiful gift.
He knows how to comfort and succor because he has experienced everything.
In John 16:33, it says, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Another experience I wanted to share that helped me come unto Christ was that the Lord can help us overcome our weaknesses.
We are promised in Ether 12:27, that if we come unto Christ and are humble and teachable , his grace is sufficient that He will make our weaknesses strengths.
I know this is true, when I am in a weakness, whether it’s in a family relationship, in a calling, or when I just don’t know what to do, that’s when I am humble and that is when I put on that YOKE with my Savior and allow Him to teach me and strengthen me and make that weakness a strength.
One experience I had with a daughter, I wanted to share because it illustrates this.
One day I was in the car with one of my daughters and we were having a tense discussion. For a little while in high school, this daughter and I kind of butt heads. I don’t even remember what our discussion was about, but I remember asking her why she treated me the way she did. And she said, “it’s because you do this”. I don’t remember what she said, but I replied, “no I don’t.” and then continued driving, and immediately the thought came, “YES YOU DO?” And I began an internal dialogue, and said “I DO”-- “YES YOU DO THAT.” And I like, “OHH, okay but I can change that…I can change me…I can do anything through Jesus Christ who strengthens me.”
So I worked on me. And what was interesting was working on myself, coming unto my Savior, changed that relationship. It wasn’t anything she did. I changed..because I sought the Lords help in knowing what I needed to change.
What is so wonderful about the Saviors Atoning Sacrifice is that he so lovingly shows us where we are, even if its uncomfortable. And when we yoke ourselves with him he is able to make those weaknesses a strength.
In the Doctrine and Covenants, section 88 verse 63 the Lord PROMISES
“Draw Near Unto me and I will draw near unto you; Seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask and ye shall receive; knock and it shall be opened unto you.” We have to act to come unto him. His hand is always outstretched, all we have to do is reach for it.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ gives us an eternal perspective. These experiences that I had, I was able to give and heal and become whom my Heavenly Father needs me to become –because of my eternal perspective. When we are in a wordly perspective we are limited to our healing and when we can be of good cheer when trials come.
It is my testimony that the most important thing we can be doing right now, TODAY, brothers and sisters is coming unto Christ. We need to Come and Follow Him. That invitation Come, Follow ME – He is not expecting us to be perfect, and we are going to have hard days. My spiritual growth goes up and down ----I do really really good and then I don’t –I do really really good and then I don’t. But that is just part of this beautiful life. We are going to have ups and downs. And we are going to find out what works and what doesn’t. But as we come unto our Savior as we take the opportunity to come unto him and say,
“I need thee every hour most gracious LORD, I need thee , oh I need thee, every hour, sometimes every minute, I need thee.
Oh bless me now my Savior, I come unto thee.”
As we come unto Christ, I promise you, He will be there! Always and Forever, no matter where we are in our life.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen