The Tomb Was Not Empty

This morning my thoughts turned to things being empty.

It began when I had to use a Q-tip to scrape for any remaining foundation in my makeup bottle.

And then simultaneously noticing that it’s also time to buy new facial powder. (First world problems, I know).

And then it made me think about the empty salsa bottle I threw away after dinner last night.

And the newly opened bag of dried mangoes I passed around to my family. . . that came back empty when I placed my hand inside to grab a few.

It also made me think of how I feel when I discover an empty container of milk left in the fridge.

And my thoughts when I walk past an empty, abandoned house.

Then I thought about how we tend to describe the tomb on that Easter morn.

We describe it as empty.

The Empty Tomb.

Except, it wasn’t.

The tomb was NOT empty.

No, empty is not the word the gospel writers used to describe the sepulchre that morning the stone had been rolled back from the door.

Empty would mean that the tomb contained nothing.

But that is not true!

Luke wrote that Peter “beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves” (Luke 24:12) while John emphasized “the napkin, that was about [Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself” (John 20:7).

Doesn’t sound like an empty tomb to me.

Mark wrote that, upon entering, “they saw a young  man  sitting on the right side” (Mark 16:5) who declared, “Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him” (Mark 16:6).

Definitely not empty!

And then when Mary, weeping outside the sepulchre, stooped down to look in, she saw “two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus has lain” (John 20:11-12).

No, Jesus did not leave the tomb empty.

He left the tomb filled.

Filled with testimony of His divine mission.

A rolled stone.

Linen.

Angels.

And a folded napkin.

So that everyone who entered into that tomb would also come out filled.

Filled with the utmost assurance that He was not there because--

He is risen.

Gasping for Air

Today was the first time our family had the privilege of administering the sacrament in our home. It was beautiful, sacred, special experience. I am learning that talking, teaching, and sharing about Christ in our home-centered experiences leads to more intimate, more holy experiences with each other and with the Spirit.

During my sacrament experience today, it was brought to my mind how essential breathing is. In the beginning, "the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7).

By His breath we are living souls. And in our living, breathing is the very essence of our mortal existence.

Interesting, isn't it, that one of the most severe symptoms of COVID-19 is the difficulty to breathe?

The virus the entire global population facing right now is now known as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)?

Severe. Acute. Respiratory. Syndrome.

This is why our prophet is lovingly inviting us to #HearHim--because Christ is the reason we breathe.

He is the reason why deep, meaningful breathing can calm us and bring us peace.

He is the reason why we gasp desperately for air when we're winded or weak or anxious or fearful.

Breathing is not just a blessing. Breathing is essential to our existence.

Christ is not just a blessing. He and His power is essential to our eternal existence.**

"When you reach up for the Lord’s power in your life with the same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours. When the Savior knows you truly want to reach up to Him—when He can feel that the greatest desire of your heart is to draw His power into your life—you will be led by the Holy Ghost to know exactly what you should do.

"When you spiritually stretch beyond anything you have ever done before, then His power will flow into you. And then you will understand the deep meaning of words we sing in the hymn 'The Spirit of God':

The Lord is extending the Saints’ understanding. …

The knowledge and power of God are expanding;

The veil o’er the earth is beginning to burst.

"The gospel of Jesus Christ is filled with His power, which is available to every earnestly seeking daughter or son of God. It is my testimony that when we draw His power into our lives, both He and we will rejoice." - President Russell M. Nelson

I am a witness that His power can be ours when we daily breathe to #HearHim.


(**I have a friend who is a respiratory therapist. She taught me this about breathing: "Breathing is something that happens automatically yet, you can control breathing to some degree. You can't hold your heart like you hold your breath. You can't control your digestive system or easily change your endocrine. Thus, we unconsciously count on Christ and yet, we also control how much we let Him in.")

Becoming New in Christ

This week I listened to THIS TALK by Elder Dale G. Renlund, and it has left me pondering about the sacrament and my covenants.

Elder Renlund quoted President Russell M. Nelson saying:

I made a covenant as I partook of the sacrament that I would be willing to take upon me the name of Jesus Christ and . . . to obey His commandments. Often, I hear the expression that we partake of the sacrament to renew covenants made at baptism. While that’s true, it’s much more than that. I’ve made a new covenant. You have made new covenants (italics added).

Whoa. The sacrament is much. more. than. renewing. covenants.

Much more.

So I have been thinking about that. About Jesus being the New Covenant and how I can make a new covenant with Him each and every week.

Each Sabbath, as I give to Him my offering of my righteous desires coupled with my carnal tendencies, I can become new.

When taken worthily and with real intent, the sacrament is The Way I become a new creature in Christ.

This means that in partaking of the sacrament, the things of the world slowly--ever so imperceptibly slow-- start to become less and less important to me, and the things of God--the very things of eternity--start to become more and more important to me.

The sacrament not only helps me to become more like Him, it is my cry to Him that I need Him to give me the ability to live His doctrine--especially the "endure to the end" part--with Christ-like determination.

And He does.

He gives me what I need.

What an amazing covenant I have made.

Small and Simple Things

This evening I had the opportunity to participate in our Relief Society Christmas Program entitled, Women Who Knew Christ. I was asked to play the part of the mother of Mary. As I practiced my part, there was a phrase from Luke 1:35 that jumped out at me:

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Had I read correctly? Did the angel just refer to the Son of God as a holy thing? And right then Alma 37:6-7 was brought to my remembrance:

Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

Yep. The very Son of God was born by and in and to small and simple circumstances.

Compared to how a king would have been received.

Compared to how birthing accommodations are today.

Compared to what can be announced to the world in real time on social media.

Yet, in His small and simple way, He continues to confound the wise and brings about the salvation to many souls.

I share my witness with King Benjamin that "there is no other name give nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent."

How is it that I Seek Him?

In Luke 2:49, young Jesus responds to Mary and Joseph when they find Him in the temple and question His whereabouts, "How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?" To which Luke writes, "And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them."

This has got me to thinking, Jesus did not ask. "Where have you sought me?" or "When have you  sought me?" or "Why have you sought me?" His question was "How is it that ye sought me?"

How is it?

In the 1828 Dictionary, the word how is defined as "by what means, in what state, or in what manner." Which begs the question, HOW is it that I seek Him?

Do I seek Him only when I need His help?

Do I seek Him only when I need fast, temporary relief?

Do I seek Him looking for easy answers to my profound questions because I don't want to wait?

Do I seek Him on my time, with no regard to all He is and all He does and all He offers?

Or,

Do I seek Him with real intent?

Do I seek Him with the desire to know? With the desire to follow Him the whole. entire. way. The long, eternal way.

Do I seek Him because I, too, want to go about His Father's business, no matter what the cost?

Do I seek Him willingly because I want to do His will and not mine, for His work and His glory?

"How is it," He asks, "that ye seek Me?"

Hitting Rock Bottom

Today I visited a boys' juvenile detention center for Sabbath worship services.

Missionaries teach a Sunday School class in three rotations.

The boys who attend Sunday meetings do so voluntarily.

The Sunday School lesson focused on Jesus Christ being our Teacher, our Healer, our Forgiver, our Advocate, our Savior.

In all of the groups, the instructor missionary asked, "What does it mean that Jesus is our rock?"

Several answers from several boys in all groups . But one answer stood out to me.

"It's like when we hit rock bottom---Jesus will be there."

What a beautiful way to think about that!

He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light

Earlier this month I woke up with a terrible, awful 10+ headache. Nothing I did took away the pain--not sleep, not darkness, not medication, not even prayer. On top of it all, I still had all my "mom" responsibilities I had to do, which included judging a science fair at the junior high, chauffeuring the children from school to home to work, helping with homework, and attending a junior high basketball game. Even though I tried very hard to be positive and happy, the excruciating pain wouldn't leave me. My head throbbed all day long.

At about 4:30, as I was sitting on the bleachers waiting for the basketball game to begin, squinting my eyes in an attempt to protect myself from the noise and the lights and the commotion, I received a distinct impression. The impression told me that my headache was going to go away. In a matter of a few moments, I could literally feel the tremendous pain that had tortured my head all day gradually dissipate. In a matter of five or so minutes, my headache was gone. My headache was COMPLETELY gone!

So, in my head, I began a little conversation with this impression I had. This impression that told me that I was going to witness my headache leave.

Me: "Why?" Why did it take so long for the pain to go away? I was in so much pain. All day. Why now? Why not sooner when I could have been so much more productive?"

Impression: "Because I wanted you to know that when everything is said and done, it is Me who Heals. It is not the darkness or the sleep or the medication. It is not time or circumstance. It is Me because I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light. I am the Healer. And it is I in Whom you must have faith."

That afternoon, in the middle of a noisy, crowded gymnasium, I learned, through the Spirit that each of us, at different times in our lives, have things that hang over us, burden us, weary us, even torture us. Many times, we feel like that weight is carried for a long time. A longer time than what we desire. Or what we think we are capable of enduring. And in those times, God, in His infinite mercy, places many things and needed people in our way who will and can help us come unto Him.

But in the end, in the very end, it is only in and through Jesus Christ that we are healed. He IS the Way, the Truth, and the Light!

I know that He lives and that He loves us. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World.

Book of Mormon Reading: Moroni 7

I marveled today at these phrases of Christ, which are all found entirely in Moroni 7. These phrases talk, speak, rejoice, and testify of Him.

What was even more amazing to me was when I placed them in a list, in order, I realized, these phrases follow the chiasmus rule (oh me, of little chiasmus knowledge).

Peaceable followers of Christ

     Spirit of Christ

          Believe in Christ

               Power and gift of Christ

                    Light of Christ

                         Child of Christ

                              Coming of Christ

                                   Good cometh of Christ

                         Faith in Christ

                    Word of Christ

               Atonement of Christ

          Jesus is the Christ

     Pure love of Christ

True followers of His Son, Jesus Christ

Book of Mormon Reading: Ether 12-15

The entire story of the Jaredites is a lesson to me of what happens when a people forget their God.

Here are the final numbers in the final days of the Jaredites:

Team Coriatumr and Team Shiz spend four years (4 years!) gathering together their team, their army, their support. Then, the battle begins:

Day 1-2: Fighting and death all the day long; mourning and howling all the night long.

Day 3: Team Coriantumr writes a note to Team Shiz, "Please, let's not do this anymore. Take my kingdom. Spare our lives." Team Shiz, "Not on your life."

Day 4 - 6: Fight on. Die on. Sleep on swords.

Day 6: More fighting. More bloodshed. More deaths. End of day Team Coriantumr: 52. Team Shiz: 69. (And another night of sleeping on swords).

Day 7: More fighting. More bloodshed. Deaths. Eating and sleeping to prepare for death on the  morrow.  End of day: Team Coriantumr: 29. Team Shiz: 32
(P.S. That's a reduction of 58% of Coriantumr's army and a 46% reduction of Shiz's army in ONE day!)

Day 8: Both armies fight for three hours. Faint because of the loss of blood. Rest up and, with remaining strength, the army of Shiz pursue the remaining of the army of Coriantumr. Into the night.

Day 9: Shiz's men overcome Coriantumr's men, leaving only Coriantumr and Shiz. Coriantumr prevails.

End of the Jaredite civilization.

Contrast that to the building up of God's kingdom:

Suppose for a moment you are a member of a team. The coach beckons you from the bench and says: “You are to enter this contest. I not only want you to win; you shall win. But the going will be tough. The score at this moment is 1,143,000,000 to six, and you are to play on the team with the six points!”

That large number was the approximate population of the earth in the year 1830 when the restored church of Jesus Christ was officially organized with six members. The setting was remote and rural. By standards of the world, its leaders were deemed to be unlearned. Their followers seemed so ordinary. But with them, the work was begun. . . .

If any tasks ever deserved the label impossible, those would seem to qualify. But, in fact, our Lord had spoken: “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”

I want to be numbered with those who do not forget who is Lord, their God.

Book of Mormon Reading: Ether 6-11

In my reading today, this particular title of the Savior stood out to me: "Son of Righteousness." (Which, by the way, is found only three times in the scriptures and only in the Book of Mormon).

One way I pondered this titles is that Righteousness is the very personification of our Heavenly Father. One definition of righteousness is "it includes all we call justice, honesty, and virtue, with holy affections; in short, it is true religion."

Thus understanding the true nature of the Godhead is understanding true religion.

Another way I have pondered this title, "Son of Righteousness," is that through obedience to my covenants and by applying the atoning blood of Christ, I, too, can become a daughter of Righteousness. That is why I chose to come to earth--to prove that I want to live His life (which is eternal life) and be with Him forever.

Book of Mormon Reading: Ether 3-5

Exercising faith in Jesus Christ requires a degree (I would say a high degree) of sanctification. And in that sanctification in Him, the Lord promises (and I know His promises are sure), "then will [He] manifest unto [us] the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are" (Ether 4:7).

Wow.

Just wow!

Book of Mormon Reading: 3 Nephi 8-10

"He is coming! He is coming!"

I am sure that is what was in the minds of the faithful and those less wicked who remained after three hours of quaking earth and lightenings and thunderings and winds and storms. And after three days and nights of complete darkness.

A complete opposition to what had happened when the sign was given of the Savior's birth.

Complete. Darkness.

This has made me think that without Christ, there could be no light.

Or rather, without Christ, there would be no light.

But Christ is.

And there is light.

Even in the beginning, "God said, let there be light, and there was light."

Because Christ was in the beginning, with the Father, from before the foundations of the world.

#LightTheWorld

Book of Mormon Reading: Alma 5-6

This past Sunday, our family discussion was based on parables of the Savior. Each family member was to read, then share and teach one parable found in the New Testament. My seven year old wanted to share and teach the allegory of the good shepherd.

So before we shared together as a family, she and I read it together and I had her teach to me what she knew and I shared a few things with her.

When we all gathered back together, here's essentially what she shared:

The good shepherd is Jesus. We are sheep. He lets us in the door. The door is the way back to him. And He holds open the door because He died for us.

Today, I read about the good shepherd in Alma 5. What impressed me the most is that even after He has already paid the price for me, for my sins, for my transgressions, for my afflictions, for my infirmities, He. Still. Calls. After. Me.

Still.

He calls, in His own name, which is the name of Christ. (Alma 5:38).

Do I know my name in Christ?

Book of Mormon Reading: Mosiah 4-7

Because I chose to be baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I willingly enter into a covenant which makes me a daughter of Christ.

Thus, I am a daughter of God.

And I am a daughter of Christ.

In this context, I am born again.

Born again because I have willingly accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior by taking upon me His name and having covenanted to keep His commandments.

At all times.

In all things.

And in all places.

I'm not always perfect at it. But I am trying to do better one day at a time.

Book of Mormon Reading: Mosiah 3

My reading in Mosiah 3 today reminded me of the Christmas story: angel, glad tidings, great joy, rejoice, Mary, Jesus Christ.

It also reminded me of God's great plan of happiness: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; the Fall of Adam; the Atonement of Jesus Christ; resurrection; judgment.

And Mosiah 3 has helped me to better understand that God's word has always meant to be shared.

Because, "there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent" (Mosiah 3:17).

Book of Mormon Reading: Mosiah 1-2

There's a good reason that we believe that the Bible is the word of God as far as it is translated correctly (Article of Faith 1:8).

Some years ago, a family member of mine bought a Book of Mormon study guide book to help her along the way in understanding the Book of Mormon better. Along the way, she found herself upset at reading these words from King Benjamin:

And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you (Mosiah 2:22).

The word require bothered her a lot. I mean a lot! Because somehow, in the translation of her studies, require meant to "to demand," and how dare, she thought, that the Lord demand her to keep His commandments?

Interestingly, the meaning of the word require has changed over the years. In its beginnings, require came from the Old French word requerre which means to "seek, procure; beg, ask, petition;" the "re" part meaning repeatedly.

And while I do see God making strict His commands, I also see Him with His arms stretched out still.

Beckoning.

Calling.

Asking.

All He seeks of me is to keep His commandments, because His commandments keep me on the covenant path.

And the covenant path is what leads to His life. Even eternal life.

Book of Mormon Reading: Jacob 6-Words of Mormon

The story of Jacob and Sherem is instructive.

It teaches me that it is inevitable (because of an opposition in all things), that my faith in Jesus Christ, wherever it is currently on the spectrum of low to high, will be tried just as equally by the adversary, in hopes to shake me from my faith.

Like that one leaf, stuck up on on the branch, holding on for dear life while 26 kindergartners shake the trunk of the tree. . . .

Or riding that bucking bronco at the state fair . . .

Or praying for an answer to a question that hasn't come in weeks or months or years.

Jacob has taught me to see that there are people in my life who have had and are having their faith tried. I may not see it. I may not know it because they choose to remain strong and unshakable in the face of opposition.

Like He did for Jacob, God is pouring out His Spirit into their souls so that the power of the Holy Ghost is made manifest in their lives.

Book of Mormon Reading: 2 Nephi 27-29

Satan teaches in rage, with carnal security, in building flattery, through anger, and by cheating so he can grasp me with his awful chains.

Chains of spiritual death and hell.

Yet, in the midst of affliction, adversity, and chaos, God teaches me in peace.

He gives to me a little here; a little there.

He asks me to hear His counsel; to learn His wisdom.

So He can offer me more.

More of His word and more of His peace.

Book of Mormon Reading: 2 Nephi 26

Be convinced . . .that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God; And that He manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men according to their faith.

manifest: plain, open, clearly visible to the eye or obvious to the understanding; apparent; not obscure or difficult to be seen or understood.

Because I choose to believe Him, He does manifest Himself to me.

Plainly.

Through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Book of Mormon Reading: 2 Nephi 24-25

Redemption is about Grace.

God's grace.

Because without His grace, no matter what I do, no matter what I don't do, no matter how well (or badly) I live my life, I cannot be saved.

I cannot save myself.

It is by His grace that I am saved.