Can you be sifted as wheat by Satan?

During my reading this week I came across a passage in the Gospel according to Luke chapter 22 verses 31-32 which reads: " 31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren" (KJV 1318). This passage reminded me of a time that when I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint and Elder David A. Bednar, a living Apostle, came to my mission for a question and answer seminar. One of the missionaries in my mission said "I have a testimony of The Church and Jesus Christ. There is nothing that can change my testimony." To which Elder Bednar responded:
"I fear for your testimony. What you don't realize is you just threw down the gauntlet at Satan and he will try to find a way to crush your testimony. There is no such thing as having enough testimony. Our testimony grows, diminishes, or plateaus everyday. It is up to you and your actions which of these happens." No matter how strong we think we are there is opposition in all things and Satan is going to try his hardest to take us down. I hope all who read this take into account that you can be sifted as wheat, but with the Savior you can be strong enough to overcome Satan. 

Do all you can to follow the Savior

As I was reading the scriptures this week I came across a well known story that I have read in my youth. It is the story of a man that had many possessions who came to Jesus to ask how to obtain eternal life. One of the recordings of this instance is found in Matthew chapter 19 verses 16-22 which reads: "16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions." (KLV 1221) When I  read this scripture before I always assumed that the man left sad and didn't follow Jesus Christ, but as I read it this week I noticed that it doesn't mention that he didn't sell his possessions. Just that "he went away sorrowful". Sometimes in our life we know the right thing to do, but we have our "favorite sins" that we don't necessarily want to do any with and we compromise our favorite sin because of all the good that we are doing. We allow our mind to convince ourselves that it's not that bad or that the good we do cancels out the bad. No matter how much good we do there is always something we can do to improve. When the man asked Jesus what he needed to do to gain eternal life Jesus already knew that the man followed the commandments. Jesus knew what the man needed to do, but the man needed to hear that there is always more we can do as we strive to be like Jesus Christ. We may not be perfect, but with the help of Jesus there is always room for improvement.   

Let your light so shine

When you walk around everyday do you ever have a feeling that you are being watched? I was reading in the gospel according to Luke and I came across a scripture that made me ponder about this. It is found in Luke chapter 8 verse 16 which reads "16 ¶No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light." (KJV 1289). This scripture cause me to think about the fact that no matter where I go outside there are people around. While I am acting like myself am I showing the light within me? Or am I allowing the Natural Man to blow the flame out? (Mosiah 3:19) When we are out in the real world we are constantly showing an example to the people around us. Who knows how far your example can go. Maybe someone seeing a good deed that you do helps the candle light in their soul and they are reminded that they can do good in this world. So next time you go outside think about how your light can effect others.

Does God really care about us?

As I was reading in the book of Matthew this week, a scripture in chapter 4 stuck out to me. In this chapter Jesus goes into the wilderness to fast. While He is in the wilderness, the devil approaches Jesus and tries to tempt Him. Whether it be to use His power or satisfy His hunger, the devil used many methods to tempt Jesus. One of the methods that stood out to me is recorded in Matthew chapter 4 verse 6 which reads" 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone" (KJV pg. 1191). Which is the devil pretty much telling Jesus that if He stubbed His toe, God would send down His angels due to His concern for Jesus. So I applied this to my life and pondered about the love God has for me. He cares about the smallest problems in my life. Sure, He doesn't have to send His angels down to help with problems (such as stubbing my toe), but I know that He cares and loves me. Speaking of God sending down His angels, Angels don't have to be mystical creatures that have wings and fly down from heaven. We have angels all around us. We can be angels in the lives of others. Sometimes we are used as God's instruments in the lives of others because of the abilities or talents that we have. How can you be someone's angel today?