"My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee"

https://youtu.be/_gWXIn6Et7c

I love this song. It touches my heart and fills me with hope and love. 

See 3 Nephi 22, Isaiah 54,  D&C 121:33, D&C 122::8-9, 3 Nephi 17:24, 2 Timothy 1:6-7, 3 Nephi 10:4-6, D&C 6:16 

Lyrics for My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee by Rob Gardner

For a little while

Have I forsaken thee

But with great mercies will I gather thee

In a little wrath I hid my face from thee

For a moment

But with everlasting kindness will I gather thee

And with mercy will I take thee 'neath my wings

For the mountains shall depart

And the hills shall be removed

And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea

But know, my child

My kindness shall not depart from thee

Though thine afflictions seem

At times too great to bear

I know thine every thought and every care

And though the very jaws

Of hell gape after thee I am with thee

And with everlasting mercy will I succor thee

And with healing will I take thee 'neath my wings

Though the mountains shall depart

And the hills shall be removed

And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea

Know, my child

My kindness shall not depart from thee

How long can rolling waters

Remain impure?

What pow'r shall stay the hand of God?

The Son of Man hath descended below all things

Art thou greater than He?

So hold on thy way

For I shall be with thee

And mine angels shall encircle thee

Doubt not what thou knowest

Fear not man, for he

Cannot hurt thee

And with everlasting kindness will I succor thee

And with mercy will I take thee 'neath my wings

For the mountains shall depart

And the hills shall be removed

And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea

But know, my child

My kindness shall not depart from thee

 

Why we need Law

James L. Ferrell explains why Law is necessary.

God, like my friend the judge, might wish that he could waive the law in the case of those whom he loves, but to do so would frustrate the whole plan of happiness. Why? Because to waive the consequences of law would be to render law meaningless. What’s wrong with that? one might respond, hopefully. If we got rid of law, wouldn’t we get rid of our problems? And wouldn’t that make life so much easier and more enjoyable? To which I would answer: “No, the law is a gift to us. Getting rid of it would mean that you and I would be doomed to an eternal hell.” 

Why is that? 

Think about it. Even if God could waive the law without frustrating the plan of happiness, that would solve only the first of our problems—the problem of needing to be justified or forgiven of our sins. Waiving the law would not sanctify our hearts, and we therefore would still be separated from God. It turns out that laws or commandments are necessary in order for us to become sanctified. Here’s why: We can overcome the desire for sinfulness only by being allowed to choose sinfulness. Where there is no choice to sin, there also can be no choice not to, and therefore no opportunity to overcome the desire for it. It was the establishment of the law that “created” the possibility of sin in the first place, for without the presence of the “right,” there would be nothing that could be considered “wrong.” “If . . . there is no law,” Lehi taught, “there is no sin. [And if] there is no sin, [then there can be] no righteousness.” (2 Nephi 2:13, See also Alma 42:13, 17–18)
("Falling to Heaven: The Surprising Path to Happiness", James L. Ferrell,  Chapter 8: The Big Picture, p. 52)

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"It would not have been asked of you"

Elder Holland had a dream/vision where he was rebuked for treating his son badly. What a touching message to me. ("Within the Clasp of Your Arms", Jeffrey R. Holland, Apr 1983)

How to Transform and Sanctify Beings With Impure Hearts

I love how James L. Ferrell puts justification and sanctification, and justice and mercy in perspective.

Why do we need to turn to Christ? And how, exactly, does the gospel invite us to turn to him? 

To address these questions, we need to understand both our current condition and our eternal possibilities. What is our current condition? As we discussed in the last chapter, our condition is that we are separated from God. To use a metaphor from the last chapter, he is Light and we are not, and we are therefore inescapably apart from him. But what does this really mean? 

Here, another analogy might help us. A good friend of mine spent many years as a judge. He presided over hundreds of drug cases. All were more or less just cases to him until, one day, he lifted his head to see his neighbor standing before him. Things were suddenly entirely more personal. And yet, there was a law, and that law had been broken. He might have liked to set his neighbor free, but what kind of justice would that be if he didn’t do the same for all the others? But if he did the same for all the others as well, what would become of the notion of justice? Or mercy, for that matter? If none are guilty, then mercy is rendered meaningless as well. 

So what problem confronted this neighbor? Two, actually. The first was that he had violated the law in a serious way, and these violations required punishment. In this case, the facts were such that the man needed to go to jail. And his friend was the one who needed to send him there. There is no escape from such personal consequence for violations of the laws of this world. The only way that a violator of such a law can be justified and set free again is for him to pay whatever consequence is associated with the transgression. 

But this man had a second problem, even graver than the first. My friend has told me of the dismal repeat-offender statistics for drug users. After jail terms have been served, justifying their release, the overwhelming majority of offenders nationwide end up before yet another judge for the same or worse offenses and suffer the same consequence as before—over and over and over again. The first problem in such cases is that there has been a violation of the law, but the bigger problem is that the weaknesses and desires that led to those violations in the first place have not been overcome. Although their time served in prison had justified them in the eyes of the law for past offenses, it failed to sanctify them from the weaknesses and desires that had led them to commit those offenses and that would yet induce them to transgress in the future. 

These twin principles of justification and sanctification play a central role in our own situations relative to God. We, too, have two problems. The first is that we have violated the laws of God—our hands, the scriptures say, are “unclean.” The second problem is that our hearts are impure—that is, we still desire things that are not holy. Why is this a problem? Because anything that is unholy cannot be with God. We “must needs be sanctified from all unrighteousness,” the scriptures say, “that [we] may be prepared for [his] glory.” “For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.” In other words, unless and until our hearts and desires and wills are sanctified as the Lord’s, we will never be able to be with and see the Father as he really is, in the fulness of his glory. Which is to say that the only way to overcome the problem of never being able to catch up to light is to be made light ourselves. 

The problem of life—the problem that the whole plan of salvation and redemption was conceived to solve—is how to transform and sanctify beings whose impure hearts, desires, and wills cannot abide the glory of God into beings whose hearts, desires, and wills can abide that glory. We are, as it were, the repeat drug offender. We must not only be justified or forgiven for past sins but must also be sanctified from any desire for sin. How else could God entrust us with his power?

("Falling to Heaven: The Surprising Path to Happiness", James L. Ferrell p.49)?

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Do you think I care for you so little?

I have been thinking of a recent episode of Doctor Who. This is where the Doctor shows how much he cares for Clara. She had betrayed him and he returns the favor by going to a very dangerous place to help her.



Clara: You're going to help me?
Doctor: Well why wouldn't I help you?
C: Because if what I just did. I just..
D: You betrayed me... You betrayed my trust. You betrayed our friendship. You betrayed everything that I ever stood for. You let me down! ...
C: Then why are you helping me? ...
D: Why?    Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?
("Dark Water", Doctor Who (2005) S8e11)

I thought of my relationship with God. He loves me. The darkest, most secret parts. He knows me and as long as I continue to have faith in Him. Faith enough to follow His example. To continue to renew my covenants with him and incrementally strive towards Him. He in His infinite power reaches for me and lifts me to where He is. His light shines on me to warm and encourage me so that I, in his light, become like Him.

Not Getting What You Deserve

TOFW presenter Robert Millet shares his thoughts on grace, mercy, and their combined enabling power.

Les Miserable

I watched the new Les Miserable movie tonight.  It was wonderfully acted. Such raw emotion and tragedy. The personification of mercy and justice.  Here are some great quotes from the book.

“To love or have loved, that is enough. Ask nothing further. There is no other pearl to be found in the dark folds of life."

“Let us study things that are no more. It is necessary to understand them, if only to avoid them.”

“He who despairs is wrong.”

“As for methods of prayer, all are good, as long as they are sincere.”


 

"Immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you"

"Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you." Alma 34:31

This is the scripture that came to my mind as I read the talk by Vaughn J. Featherstone in Oct 1980, "Forgive Them, I Pray Thee".  I just found it from the comment of R. Gary in this post by Clean Cut.

The Lord is merciful.  He requires our heart.  He is mighty to save.

Mercy Claimeth All Which Is Her Own

By Jonathon Linton (View Full Image)

Another link

I saw this painting in the General Conference Center a couple of weeks ago. Then twice the next week I remembered it.

Alma 42:24 "For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands, and also mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved."

Update Dec 29, 2012
I saw Les Miserable this week.  My mind went to this picture this morning.


There is such a paradox between justice and mercy.  Yet they are balanced in God's plan.  Both Les Miserable and the scriptures show that the existence of justice makes necessary the existence of mercy and forgiveness.

"And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil. And the law is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is justified; or, by the law men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable forever.
 Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.
 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered" 2 Nephi 2:5-7

"if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery." 2 Nephi 2:13