Planting Roses

Planting roses in our garden of life is having hope through God's point of view of us.  Pull up the weeds and plant roses in the garden of your thoughts and thus your life.  Pulling weeds eliminates non-productive thoughts and mental images that keep you from the vision of things as they really are.  Planting roses is receiving light and knowledge from the heavens which empower you with the Lord's view of things.  Faith helps you see colors in more vivid hues.  God's way is health and happiness.  Your faith empowers you with hope and charity...the three sister virtues.  (These thoughts were from Brother Allred's book, Unlocking the Power of Faith.)

Rhonda Byrne said, "How do I stop my negative thoughts?...a question I have been asked many times; the answer is simple.  You PLANT good thoughts.  The stop part is irrelevant--the negative thoughts are your focus.  The truth is always simple and it is always easy.  ...just plant good thoughts!  Deliberately plant them!  You plant good thoughts by making it a daily practice to appreciate all the things in your day.  Compliment, praise, and give thanks to all things.  What you focus on you attract.  If you spend only one day speaking of good things and saying 'Thank you' at every single opportunity, you will not believe your tomorrow.  Your planted good seeds will transform into a garden of paradise....your life!

President David O. McKay used a metaphor about roses:  "Not a few of us have a thorn in the flesh as did Paul.  Perhaps to some of us a dead leaf of some past act is clinging.  It may be that there is a little dirt in our character, but each one has also a rose in his life, a hawthorn twig, or a lily. And it is a glorious lesson for us to learn: to see the rose and be blind to the thorn; to see the hawthorn twig and be blind to the dead leaf; to see the lily and not the dirt in our fellow's character."  (Conference Report, October 1967, p.8)

We grow in two ways: removing negative weeds and cultivating positive flowers.  I have an earlier post that is also about this same type of metaphor.  It's a beautiful thing to conjure positivity up in your mind as an image of beautiful roses.  How can you not feel good when you see a rose?

Gratitude: The Divine Gift

Gratitude is all-encompassing.

It is a divine gift,
     a commandment,
     a parent virtue,
     a great blessing.

To live with gratitude in our hearts is to touch heaven as
     it invites the Spirit,
     it is becoming,
     it is gracious & honorable,
     generous & noble,
     positive & optimistic.

Gratitude opens our eyes to see what is around us,
     we see our blessings,
     we see His tender mercies,
     we see all that God has done for us,
     we see with an eternal perspective.

Gratitude produces miracles
     keeps us from poverty,
     makes us rich with what we have,
     improves our health,
     enlivens our happiness and well-being.

Gratitude rejoices for that which it has,
     expresses praise,
     lifts us,
     lifts others,
     defeats Satan.

Gratitude brings light by
     chasing out darkness and despair,
     dissolving fear and doubts,
     erasing bitterness and disappointment,
     blocking out negative thoughts and feelings.

Prayer is the key to gratitude.
     humble,
     meek,
     lowly of heart.

Ingratitude is a serious sin,
     it offends the Spirit,
     it is prideful and selfish,
     initiates rebellion, fear & doubt,
     leads us to forget the Lord,
     and keeps us in poverty and misery.

Ingratitude is critical and negative,
     pessimistic and fault-finding,
     complaining and cynical,
     irritable and impatient
     insecure and unhappy.

Gratitude leads us to Jesus Christ,
     it heals us,
     it saves us,
     it cheers us,
     it encourages us,
     it strengthens us.

It is one of the few gifts we can give to Him as we live it.
May our personal lives reflect it,
May it permeate our souls forever more.

(written by me, based on President Thomas S. Monson's Talk "The Divine Gift of Gratitude.")
    

Faith Healing

The book "Unlocking the Power of Faith" is all about pain and healing.  It's really all about the Savior, Jesus Christ, whose life mission was to come and heal us.  None of us are whole living in this fallen state.  And yet there is so much to learn from pain.  Someone gave me this poem:

Pain stayed so long I said to him today,
"I will not have you with me anymore."
I stamped my foot and said, "Be on your way."
And paused there, startled at the look he wore.
"I, who have been your friend", he said to me,
"I, who have been your teacher--all you know
Of understanding love, of sympathy,
And patience, I have taught you.  Shall I go?"
He spoke the truth, this strange unwelcomed guest;
I watched him leave and knew that he was wise.
He left a heart grown tender in my breast.
He left a far, clear vision in my eyes.
I dried my tears, and lifted up a song
Even for one who'd tortured me so long.
-Author Unknown

Brother Allred gives two powerful sources of truth to help heal your pain:
1) Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
2) Faith in your own divine nature

I could write pages on faith and healing.  But it all comes down to the simple concept of trusting in the Lord, for His will to be done concerning us.  He will take us through whatever experiences are necessary to help us earn our salvation.  Faith means trust.

Pain and the healing needed come on many different levels, not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, too.  Pain comes from regret.  Pain comes through sin and error.  Pain comes from heartaches and sorrow.  Pain can be inflicted on us by others when we have done nothing wrong.

"For what glory is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults ye shall take it patiently; but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God."  (1 Peter 2:20)

"It is in the balance of God's grace and your own properly focused thoughts that you will experience miracles in your life."  -Garth Allred

Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave a talk found in the Ensign 5/10 pg 47.  He made the following remarks concerning faith and healing:
*Healing requires the power of faith.
*Healing must be the Lord's will.
*The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)
*We must do all we can, using the resources available to us medically, as well as a priesthood blessing.
*When a blessing is sealed and anointed it opens the windows of heaven for the Lord to pour forth the blessing He wills for the afflicted person.
*Faith is essential for healing by the powers of heaven.  We claim our blessings through our faith.
*Faith means trust.

I came across a scripture that has helped me a great deal to keep my faith and trust in God strong:

"...if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly...even all this can ye do, if ye will."  Alma 33:21, 23

As we use our faith, our faith increases.  However, there will be times when we will sink, as did Peter, as he walked to the Savior over the boisterously fierce ocean swells.  What mortal, in their weakness, does not take their eyes off the Savior, if even for a moment, distracted by the trials and adversities of life?  But Peter, aware he was sinking, cried out, "Master, I perish!"  And immediately the Savior reached out and took his hand and lifted him up. 

"Lord, increase my faith." (Luke 17:5)

"If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."  (Mark 9:23)

"Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief."  (Mark 9:24)

"Faith is a force powerful beyond our comprehension."  -Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

"Have faith, and doubt not....it shall be done."  (Matthew 21:21)

"I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not."  (Luke 22:32)

"Everything has been accomplished by faith.  Faith, to be faith, must center around something that is not known."  -President Boyd K. Packer

The Lord can make ways where there appears to be no way.  Have faith.  Expect miracles.

"You are more powerful than you have dreamed.  You have the power within you, when properly directed, to reach out and tap the wonderful healing powers of heaven."  -Garth Allred

Unlocking The POWER of Faith!

Though I have neglected this blog for a while, I have not neglected the pursuit of study on the basic context of this blog, which is to Believe in Yourself, and of the power of thoughts in our life and how they affect our feelings and our actions.

The book "The Secret" was but a small introduction to a powerful new way of living for me.  While that book opened my eyes in a different way to the precepts of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how it can empower your life by living by His teachings, I had yet to read one of the best books ever to give me the principles and concepts to help me live in the POSITIVE realm of this life.  And this book was written by one of my own faith, so everything in the book was pure truth for me.

The book is entitled "Unlocking the Powers of Faith" by Garth Allred.  First printing was in 1993 so I'm pretty sure it's out of print, but I found a nice used copy--now well used and loved--online last August.

I found out about this book by reading an article by Darla Isackson on Meredian Magazine called "Warning: Both Over and Under Reacting Can Be Dangerous to Your Spiritual Health."  I tried to find the link to the article, but was unable to.  I read this in July 2009.  It came about the time the Lord began to lead me on a spiritual journey of healing....healing both physically, mentally, and emotionally.  Today I am still on that journey and learning a lot every day as I continue to study and search and ponder on it.

I was surprised to find just how much this article described me.  I was surprised to learn that I was pretty good at both ends of the over-reacting and under-reacting.  The Lord's mission has been to help me learn to find the balance between these two things in my life.

Jesus Christ is so merciful.  He can find us even in the darkest dungeon of despair and self-pity, and if we let Him, He will lift us out of it and into His light.  His light is filled with truth.  That dark place is full of Satan's lies and deceits.  Why is it so much easier to live on the negative side of life with all it's lies than in the marvelous light of truth?  I guess because we are mortal.

Even though it took over a year later, I did not forget the book that was referenced in that article, and in August of 2010 I had the strongest impressions ever that I needed to get a copy of that book.  I spent about 4 months reading the book and studying it and writing down those statments in the book that most applied to me.  Now I try to read daily from those things that I wrote and I continue to need those words and to live by those words.  While I have made huge strides in positivity, I am not without stumbling or times of regression.

The preface to this book says, in part:
You will learn to develop faith in Jesus Christ to be healed from pain, loneliness, confusion and sorrow--whether emotional, spiritual, or physical--the important healing truths that can strengthen your faith and help you tap your own deep reservoirs of power which will empower you with greater peace and freedom from pain.

And this scripture:
"Behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom He hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."
1 Nephi 1:20

Then Brother Allred says:
This book is my gift to you to help you stop hurting and start healing and begin experiencing the power that comes through healing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in your own divine nature....You are much more powerful than you have dreamed.  You have a divine nature about you that is wonderful, marvelous, and Godlike.  You have the power within you, when properly directed, to reach out and tap the wonderful healing powers of the heavens.  May the Lord bless you in this challenging and rewarding quest.

Can you see the light of truth in his words?  Is this not what God our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ want us to know...to believe?  That light, that truth is Christ's light and truth.

"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 L.I.F.E.

L ight

I s

F or

E ternity

"Come, follow me" to eternal life.
Luke 18:22