I Must Strip Myself of Pride to Follow the Strait and Narrow Way
We often hear living the gospel compared to following the “strait and narrow path” (1 Nephi 8:20; 2 Nephi 31:18-19; 2 Nephi 33:9) It is my testimony that the “strait and narrow path” is Christ Himself, in the same way that He is the Word made...
God Will Not Give Up on You
God wants to gift you with a degree of love that only He can give. He will not rest until He has found you, no matter how lost a lamb you think you are (or try to be.) No matter what, He is going to gift you with love and patience and long-suffering and kindness—over...
God Is Irrationally Kind
Recently I was reading the parable of the workers who come late to the field and yet the Lord pays them the same as those who came earlier. (See Matthew 20.) As I read, I saw how similar to the story of the prodigal son (in Luke 15) this story of the laborers in the...
Recovery Isn’t Something You Do
It’s something you allow to happen. It’s a spiritual experience. It wells up from the inside of you. It doesn’t come from any effort that you apply to yourself, or apply yourself to. You have to allow success to happen. God wants to bless you with it...
With the Faith of a Prodigal
Today, I can say and truly mean it (and not take it back quite so fast), “Thy will, O Lord, not mine be done” (Jacob 7:14). Why? Because today I trust Him. Why? Because today I know Him. I have ceased to be like the good son in the Master’s parable, working in my...
Peaks and Valleys, Ebbs and Flows
If you were in an intensive care unit, would you want the electrocardiogram to suddenly start producing a straight line? Of course not! As long as that line is going up and down, it means you’re alive. Let the line go straight, with no valleys and no peaks, or in...
Celebrating Abstinence
Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer. (D&C 59:14) Fasting is not meant to be a negative experience. It is more than just refraining from eating. Fasting is as much about attitude as about action. It refocuses our...
Abstinence Increases as We Share Our Experience, Strength and Hope with Others
My abstinence has changed a lot over the years. What and how and when I eat now is nothing compared to what and how and when I ate 25 years ago. If I had met my current self then, I would have been so impressed with me. The kind of abstinence I have now would have...
The Atonement in the Here and Now
We think of childbirth as an event—a one-time something that happens on a particular day at a particular time. Nowadays, it’s often an event we can schedule ahead and put in our planner. We don’t have to wait for it to happen on its own. We can book a room and induce...
Some People Have to Die to Get Sober
Recently, I watched the movie, “17 Miracles” that depicted the Saints coming across the plains to Utah. I was deeply moved by the many sacrifices they made, even the loss of their own lives in some cases. We are quick to feel sorrow for those who died...
The “Common Dilemma” of LDS People
And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent. (Mosiah 3:17) As members of the LDS church we are all...
The Good in All Things
This morning, I had been laying in bed awake since 2:10 a.m. After about 30 minutes I decided to accept the reality of sleeplessness as a gift—a chance to experience some deep solitude. As I pondered on this, the voice of the Lord came into my mind and I perceived...
Nothing Without God
In 1 Nephi 20:1-8, Nephi quotes from Isaiah 48. This is a long one so I’m not going to repost it here. You’re going to have to look this one up in your own set of scriptures or click the link to read it online. Go ahead. I’ll wait… Done? Okay. The Lord tells...