thoughts & events
Repentance
12/31/2025
As we sincerely repent, Jesus Christ doesn’t take just one sin. He always takes away all of our sins. As I repent of impure thoughts as my battlefront today to someday live all the commandments, Jesus Christ takes all my sins to himself. The atonement doesn’t cover one sin at a time. It always covers removing all our sins. Have you ever seen a scriptural example of Jesus Christ saying, “You sin is forgiven”? It is always, “Your sins are forgiven”. It always all of them.
It’s our attitude about sin. When it is our desire to remove all disobedience from our lives, one at a time, Christ removes all our sins along with the one that is today’s battlefront. When we decide that some sins are OK to leave untouched, the redemption of Christ becomes invalid for us and we will be punished for all our sins.
Gratitude
6/27/2025
Gratitude begins with being thankful for your relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. To be able to feel their love and mercy, no matter what else is going on in your life. It is to know that Jesus has extended His atonement to you. The other things may come and go. We can be grateful for them when they come, but our sense of gratitude cannot be based on the things we receive.
The experience that Job went through may have been necessary for him to recognize this. He was blessed in all he did. He was prosperous. I am sure he was grateful for his blessings. And within days, all was taken away. His first reaction was to regret being born, given that his life was to come to this. In this, he was looking at the things he had once been blessed with, but now no longer had. But in the humbling circumstances, he regained his gratitude to God despite having nothing. His relationship with God then improved, and he was then blessed with the presence of God.
So it is with us. Our sense of gratitude should be based on the relationship we have with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. For the hope of eternal life, they offer. These things will always be. The temporal things may come and go. But we must remember that God always loves us, and the direction He guides us is for our eternal good.
Why did Jesus Christ need baptism?
12/31/2025
I have wrestled for decades over this question. Why did Heavenly Father’s perfect Child require baptism? I claim no revelation here but these conclusions feel right to me.
First, baptism is required for entrance into the kingdom of God. This is true for a perfect Child as well as for imperfect children. To return to live with Heavenly Father we must be citizens of the kingdom of God. And baptism is how you enter citizenship.
Baptism is to doorway to remission of sins. We are baptized to make a withdrawal from the atonement of Christ. But He was baptized to make the deposit in our behalf.
The Ten Virgins
9/5/2025
I have been thinking about the parable of the ten virgins. All ten virgins brought oil for their lamps. The foolish virgins just didn’t bring enough oil because the wait was longer than they expected. The wise virgins brought extra oil that lasted through the night until the bridegroom came. The Lord is warning us that we need to put extra oil in our spiritual lamps. We do this through daily habits of study, prayer, and repentance. Our daily efforts to make today a little better than yesterday give us our spiritual oil. This will give us the faith to last until He returns to us, or more importantly until we return to Him. Our spiritual oil will give us peace no matter what is going on around us.
You did your best
12/18/2024
One of the greatest challenges in my life has come during the past few years, as I have physically deteriorated much younger and faster than I expected. There are so many things that I know how to do but can no longer physically do. This and several other recent stressors caused my bipolar disorder to become unstable a few weeks ago. I locked onto a mental voice telling me my life was a failure and was of no value. I began a downward spiral that was finally stopped by a priesthood blessing from great friends. But I still was not at peace. I was up early one morning, trying to find the peace I once knew. I began by studying the scriptures and then general conference. I ended with prayer. After my prayer, I stopped briefly to listen. A manifestation of God’s love was poured over me. It completely enveloped me and surrounded me with peace. I was reminded of our Savior’s enormous sacrifice to get me safely home. I was told that my soul is of great worth to Him. I was then taught that it is not my place to be my own judge or determine my own value. Only Jesus Christ is qualified to do so. I am required to forgive all offenses. Even my own. I must learn to serve and accept life under the conditions life has given me, not the ones I think I should have.
If there is a voice telling you that you are unloved or without value, it is a false voice. It is a lie. We are loved. Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will do whatever we allow to guide us back home to Them.
The story of Kathy & Ron Goodlad
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