March week 5- Linds

Ponderize: Don't be a "blind guide that strains at a gnat and swallows a camel." Matt 23:24

Mon 3/28

Matthew 22:36-40 what is the greatest commandment in the law? To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Why does the Savior make the distinction of loving him with heart, soul, and mind? What is the significance of those three aspects of love and why does He choose to use that description?
And With All Thy Mind (John W. Welch) BYU Speech

Heart=feelings. If you want to be close someone, you have to share positive and negative things with each other just like you would with the Savior. 

Mind= way of thinking, perception of things

1. It is possible to get near to God with intelligence (should not abandon critical thinking or seeking learning as long as we put God first) 

2. It is commanded to love God with your mind- we should approach it like one 

3. With ALL thy mind- "The gospel is not a cafeteria plan. We can’t just pick and choose the parts we like." Minds must bend as well as knees 

"Forget your best idea.” Clinging to it will often block the flow of even greater creativity and more expansive inspiration."-- you sometimes have to give up aspects of yourself, ideas 

4. Many ways to love- appreciate and recognize his beauty in all things/creations; magnifying our callings by problem solving and using our mental talents to serve others; remember people's names; making a mental practice out of scripture study (asking questions, actually studying); asking good questions and skillful analysis of the gospel and our lives; 
5. with all thy MIND- ask for His help in intellectual/professional pursuits; God inspires us but only after we study it out in our mind first; 
6. It is first commandment
7. It is possible to break this commandment- we break this commandment when we make rationalizations, cyclical negative thinking, when we let negative thoughts govern our lives and take over. "We must feel godly sorrow for our mental sins. Like Zeezrom, we must suffer spiritual migraines over our intellectual mistakes. In many ways, their effects on ourselves an on others are the hardest to undo, but through the Atonement, the human intellect can be transformed into an instrument for loving God."-- really interesting concept. When I have negative thoughts and allow them to take over, I am not using my mind to love God. My love for God is also manifest in my ability to control thoughts, overcome doubts and fears, and to not listen to the ideas of the world or Satan.

Tues 3/29 

Mark 12:33 to love God and your neighbor is "more than whole burnt offerings and sacrifices"- this shows how complete this commandment is (and hard to achieve). To offer myself, will, selfish desires is and will feel painful or difficult at times but that is the way it is supposed to be. Don't give up and ask for His help. 

Matthew 23:24 "blind guides that strain at a gnat and swallow a camel"; Pharisees omit the weightier things of the Gospel like becoming a kind person. How often do I pick apart others or myself for small things while omitting the bigger things of the Gospel, like developing Christlike attributes? Satan wants us to do this. We are all like the Pharisees because we all sin in some way and so are all hypocrites! The difference is in recognizing and focusing on our weakness and turning to the Lord to repent. Am I actively doing this? 

Matthew 23:26 clean the inside before you clean the outside-cleansing comes from the inside-out, not from the outside-in. Do I care about what the appearance of things are? Do I strive to make things good from the inside-out? Am I honest and open with the world about my shortcomings and mistakes? Or do I seek to cover them up? Not that you need to publicize/broadcast mistakes, but you do need to let them humble you. 

Wed 3/30
Mark 12:44 widow's mite- "For all the did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had even all her living" God does not care how much we cast in, He cares how much of ourselves we are sacrificing. Am I sacrificing of my abundance or of myself? How do I sacrifice more of my living?
Matthew 24:25 there will be many false prophets, false Christs that shall "deceive the very elect", "wars and rumors of wards, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet"
v. 8"For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and these shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows."
Mark 13:33 "take heed and be prepared" (Luke 21: 36) "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that y e may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." -->another reason to be consistent in daily habits. They keep us worthy and change who we are so that when He comes again, we will be found worthy.
JSM 1:10 "the love of many shall wax cold" Interesting that our own ability to be loving and warm is a sign that we are following Christ. Nurture and feed our own ability and desire to love. Confront temptations to not love and to be "cold" because they are not from Heavenly Father.

Thurs 3/31

Matthew 25:1-13 ten Virgins- all brought their lamps but only some were full. Importance of always being ready (daily spiritual habits) 

D&C 45:57 how do we fill our lamps? What qualities dos the virgins fulfill? 

1. Wise 

2. Received the truth 

3. Have taken the HOly spirit to be their guide

4. Not been deceived 

Matthew 25:14-21 stewardship- God wants to see if we use our talents/gifts/everything He has given us to build up the kingdom and multiple our talents- this is an expectation; He expects us to use our agency and o

Matthew 25:29 we are expected to do more with out abundance 

Matthew 25:24 really interesting that the man with one talent presumably had little motivation to do anything with his talent because he was comparing to other people and that comparison led him to a false judgement of God- that he was "a hard man". This led him to be bitter and to fear. I never realized that these are the results of comparing to others! When we compare, we not only make false judgements about ourselves and others, but also about God and His mercy. This is really detrimental because it keeps us from doing anything with what we already Have been given!! I see this in my own life quite a bit actually. How can I decrease the opportunity for comparison? What are my weaknesses in this area and how can I combat them? (Family- focus on doing something for others instead of expecting them to do something to me)

Matthew 25:31-46 "inasmuch as Ye do it not unto the least of these my brothers, Ye do it not unto me." How treatment of the "least of these" is how we treat the Savior. What else can I do to visit the sick and afflicted? To be more outward-focused? To be kinder to the homeless and to those around me? I should put some granola bars in my car and give them to people?

Fri 4/1

Russel M Nelson "A Plea to my Sisters" 

-Be a woman that can make important things happen by my faith. What can I do to show and strengthen my faith? 

Sat 4/2

GC

Sun 4/4

 GC