Come unto Him

Last Sunday, in our 5^th Sunday lesson our Bishop gave us a challenge to prepare ourselves for General Conference by reading Matt 5-7. As I sat and listened to his counsel, my mind returned to January 1999, when I taught a RS lesson from these very chapters in Matthew.

When I taught this lesson particular lesson, my testimony, my desire to know my Savior intimately was just a tiny bud. As the years have passed, my testimony, my desire is still there but has deepened quite substantially and the knowledge that I have that the My Redeemer Lives does not come without a price. This price has not been without many trials and struggles. I often think back to that day, standing in front of these women, who at the time I felt knew more, bearing witness that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and Savior.

So at this time, I would like to share with you what I have learned over the past week as I have prepared for these next two days. I pray that we may all know "Through the witness of the Holy Ghost,…that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God"(Joseph F. Smith) and that our leaders are testifying to us, His plan and purpose for us, His sons and daughters.

As we take counsel from the scriptures, John 6:35 states: "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."

Yet, we are promised in Matthew 5:6 that as we cometh to Him hungering and thirsting we will be blessed: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled."

What will we be filled with? In 3 Nephi 12:6 we find that as we hunger and thirst after righteousness we will be filled with the Holy Ghost: "And blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be with the Holy Ghost."

My awe-ha moments are

Matthew 5:4—mourning with those that mourn is all encompassing. What I mean by that, it doesn't just include those that are mourning over the death of loved one—it includes mourning with those who are struggling in their own trials and cannot seem to find the desired peace. Yet as we mourn with them, pray for them they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."

Matthew 6:19-21, 33—where are our treasures? I have been thinking a lot about treasures. For our Enrichment Night (which I did not go too) the speaker spoke about treasures. We all have them, but these treasures are those things that we need to define as Good, Better, Best. It has been prophesied that in the Latter-days we would be filled with so many GOOD things to do (ie: cleaning, blogging/facebook, school, work, callings, sports, and the list could go on and on) that we forget our BEST treasures. We all need to decide what are our BEST TREASURES. Everyones treasures will be different. We all have common desires yet we desire different things but it all boils down to what are our treasures and where are our hearts. So what is we need to do? We first seek the kingdom of God and then everything will fall into place. The Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:33 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Footnote: JST-Matt 6:38 "Wherefore seek ye not the things of this world but seek ye first to build up the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness…"

Now what? We were challenged to read Matthew 5-7 the Sermon on the Mount.

What is the promise? Read, strive to improve my [your] life, watch General Conference and the Lord will tell me and you what we need to change. But first I [you] need to seek Him out

Matthew 7:7

"Ask, and it shall be given you, seek ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you:"