Home » brother (Page 42)
Category Archives: brother
The Details of Human Behavior are Unpredictable
God will hold us responsible for all the wonderful things on Earth that we refuse to enjoy. It is better than we should be servants of a kind master than the slave to our own wild passion. All conservatives are united in the belief that human affairs are extremely complicated and that the details of human behavior are unpredictable: this we may call the complexity thesis. The nature of human beings is intricate; the objects of society are of the greatest possible complexity: and be suitable either to human’s nature to qualify their affairs. Many conservatives have accepted some version of the doctrine of original sin and have taken the view that government is ordained by God as a remedy for human defect. It is heartwarming for us to receive so many good wishes from you all during the past six months and to feel your acceptance. Many of you have reported that you are praying for our President. We feel that spiritual strength and gratefully acknowledge it—both to you and to our Father in Heaven. Most people have agreed that virtue, stability, and civilization depend on the continuity of long-established institutions. Political stability is founded on state, church, and family, whole moral stability rests upon a strong sense of duty, preferably buttressed by religious belief. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
Conservative accounts of the nature of humans may emphasize either our enduring sinfulness or our frailty. The only position conservatives cannot take without ceasing to be conservative is the belief that people are fundamentally good and perhaps ultimately perfectible. Jacob 4.13 reports: The Spirit speaks the truth and does not lie. Wherefore, it speaks of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly for the salvation of our souls. Religion is not a thing apart from life. It is not principles and ordinances or missionary work or leadership as an end in themselves. It is manifested by the kind of people we are, by our relationship with our Heavenly Father and his Son and all the commandments, by the measure in which we qualify for the approval of our own Spirit-guided conscience, and by the way we treat other people. It is a continuing marvel to me how well and with what grace and unselfish goodness so many live this sacred commandment. And is it sad to think that some may, in joyless version of the gospel, miss the special blessing awaiting on the path established by our Savior and leading to the highest joy through Christian service and sacrifice. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
I never trust writers or entertainers who say critics do not bother them. Adversity is all about us and among us. It is an inevitable element of mortality, and many have some share in it ultimately. An explosive device detonates on London Subway, on 15 September 2017, injuring commuters. This is the fifth attack on London in 2017. Authorities confirm in this specific attack 29 people were injured at Parson Green Tube station in Southwest London. Thankfully there were not life-threatening injuries. God and Christ love us with a mature, perfect love. The plan by which they lead requires mortal instruments of their love. We have the great honor to be invited to be such instruments. We need them, but they also need us. In this service, we find the foundation of those blessings that God wants us to enjoy. If you will always be more fair and more kind to others than a few of them may sometimes be to you, you will enjoy every sweet blessing life afford. The sweetness of true Christian service is often experienced in obscurity—in quiet rooms in houses and hospitals and places of confinement, in military barracks, schools, and in other places far from public attention. Usually it is unheralded, but it reflects the standards set by the Savior for those who will inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the World. These are they who serve the hungry and the thirsty and the unclothed and homeless and those who are sick and imprisoned, and who do this after the pattern in the spirit of God. To those who so serve God promised eternal life. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
Do you not supposed that this is all; for after you have done all these things, if you turn away the needy, and unclothed, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, is you have, to those who stand in need—if you do none of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and nothing will come to you because you are hypocrites who do deny the faith. Empathy cuts through our isolation, generating a network of interconnection. Empathy brings our heart out of the cold. Empathy makes compassion possible. However, empathy also needs an empathic boundary, meaning we sometimes need to take a step back so we do not get overly absorbed in or identified with others’ emotional states—standing back just far enough to keep them in clear focus, resonating with what they are feeling without losing ourselves in it. Being empathetic does not mean putting up with other people’s emotional and mental nor physical mess because we feel what they are feeling, but it does make it very difficult to dehumanize them, regardless of how strong a stand we might need to take with them. Empathy helps keep us from getting numb, heady, or overly detached. It begins with and reinforced vulnerability. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
Emotional literacy blends emotional sensitivity, understanding, and savvy. It means knowing what you are feeling while you are feeling it, and being able to both contain and openly express it. That spirit is still operative among the people of the Church. We should not have to talk about our religion to others, our values should come through like the Sun in the Summertime. One of the first steps in developing greater emotional literacy is uncovering whatever shame you might have about your lack of such literacy. We need to cultivate intimacy with our emotions, getting close enough to all of them, to know them and our ways of handling them from the inside. The people whom they served have looked upon them with almost the reverence that they might have bestowed upon the Savior himself. And when they have experiences this purifying blessing—the blessing of service. Each of your emotions is worth getting to know very, very well—its nature, its purpose, its expression, its containment, its value, your history with it, your use of it. Across the World, such individual investment of self in service is happening, following the example and teachings of the Lord, who laid upon the altar his very life for the blessing of others. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
Sometimes hurts to the heart are more damaging than physical blows. Yes, they may take longer to heal, but they will heal more quickly if we avoid bitterness and anger and practice forgiveness. The royal law of love is of sacred significance in the Lord’s program for his people—an element as vital as any other in the gospel. It is inseparable from them and the spirit of them. It is well known to us institutionally; indeed, the Church to which we have the honor to belong is celebrated for knowing and acting upon it on occasions of great need across the Earth. Courage is an essential attribute, for without it other highly valued qualities, like compassion and integrity, would lack the strength and resolve needed to shift into actions. Take pride in what we (and others) have done can be a beautiful part of honoring ourselves and others. The human soul is infinite and not in the least under its own command. Love: an absorbing concentration on some one object, an intense movement to a single point, a gravitation of your whole being around a solitary centre. May we honor that commandment and those who do so well personally to accept God’s invitation to impart to others both temporally and spiritually, according to their needs. That we may do so, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
Star Struck: Be Perfect Like Your Father in Heaven
Stronger thinkers are apt to be great breath-holders, but holding one’s breath against belief is not doubting. As children, many of us are taught that the voice of conscience is the voice of God and, hence completely reliable. It is akin to reason which enables us to distinguish right from wrong. On the romantic comedy Three’s Company, the tall, thin, smart, pretty, and successful nurse called treated a man called Brett Wade in an episode called Star Struck. Brett Wade is tall, handsome, blonde and a charming actor on a soap opera called County Hospital, and ironically, he injured himself and had to go to the hospital and that is how he met Terri. Brett’s manager sees that Terri is a nice girl and thinks she is just what Brett needs as a facelift for his sleazy reputation. Brett is against dating Terri because she is not his type, but his manager tells him that if he does not, then the studio will cancel his contract because they do not want to represent someone with a reputation for being a troubled man. So, Brett takes Terri out on a date and of course she is star struck, then he asks her to marry him, and she agrees. Terri’s roommate Janet is all excited for the wedding, but Jack is suspicious because he knows that Brett has a bad reputation. #RandolphHarris 1 of 9
Every prohibition must conceal a desire. The next night, Brett shows up at Jack’s restaurant called Jack’s Bistro with Shirley, a beautiful blonde, who like furs, expensive jewelry and likes to drink. While eavesdropping, Jack hears Brett telling Shirley that he is going to marry Terri and as soon as his contract is renewed, he is going to rush to Mexico and annul his married to Terri. Jack phone’s Terri and has her come down to the restaurant to see Shirley and Brett, which would expose the plot that Brett is cheating on Terri, but Shirley wanted some hard alcohol and has Brett rush to go get her some from a liquor store. When Terri arrives, Brett is gone, but Shirley is still there. Eventually she gets up and leaves, then Brett comes back and Jack outs him in front of Terri, and he denies everything. As Brett is clowning Shirley behind her back to Terri, Shirley walks back in to the restaurant as she realizes she left her purse on the coat rack. She hears Brett talking trash about her, and then breaks up with him. She is about to give him the diamond ring he gave her back, then asks herself, “What am I, stupid?!” and walks out of the restaurant. Terri then realizes Brett was just using him, and also break up with him. #RandolphHarris 2 of 9
Brett experiences a terrible sense of guilt which is self-evident because he loses both of his girlfriends and his job. Mormon 8.40 reports: Why do you build up your secret abomination to gains and cause that a woman should mourn? Conscience is the inner perception of objections to definite wish impulses that exist in us; but the emphasis is put upon the fact that this rejection does not have to depend on anything else, that it is sure of itself. This becomes even plainer in the cause of a guilty conscience, where we become aware of the inner condemnation of such acts which realized some of our definite wish impulses. When one has been conditioned to respond in certain standard ways which are widely and strongly approved, one tends to find that one can break with such approved behavioral norms only after a genuine struggle and a stiff volitional conflict. In any case, whether we speak of the voice of conscience or the voice of our group or of learned blockage and interference patters, we often find that there are inhibitions to overcome before we can break with the mores of our peers. Jesus Challenges us to strove for excellence in all that we do—to develop our talents and abilities—and above all to live in accordance with his teachings. #RandolphHarris 3 of 9
The pursuit of excellence should be major work of our lives. Many people, however, give little attention to it. Perhaps they feel that it is not possible for anyone to reach perfection in this life, and so they let the immediate pressures dominate their actions like Brett Wade did. While it is true that we cannot attain perfection in a total sense in this life, it is also true that we can attain perfection in many specific areas of activity. Furthermore, if we fail to do what we can and should do in this life, we may deprive ourselves forever of the opportunity to do those things later on and thus lose great eternal blessings. Although God gave us free will and does not infringe upon our freedom of choice, he nevertheless continues to lend us moral support. He gives us, through conscience, a means for distinguishing right from wrong. If we follow the guidance of conscience, we shall do our duty and act rightly. If we act contrary to its deliverances, we shall surely act wrongly. Heaven is not reached at a single bound, we build the ladder by which we rise, from the lowly Earth to the vaulted skies, and we mount to its summit round by round. #RandolphHarris 4 of 9
Success is pretty much a matter of attitude, knowledge, and skill. Inherent ability is important, but that alone is not enough. Extraordinary people think optimistically. They dream the impossible dreams; they reach for the unreachable stars; and their achievements at times are unbelievable. This indomitable spirit also characterizes many people who have physical limitations because of war injuries, unfortunate accidents, or for other reasons have to face life against what seems to be impossible odds. There are people who strive diligently to do their best in all they do and then try to make their best better. Aaliyah Haughton participated in many outstanding presentations over the years and millions of the people who have listened to her sin know that the unreachable star of perfection has been reached in her perhaps as well as it can be here in mortality. God blessed her for her dedicated, committed service. With respect to spiritual matters, we can be perfect in this life in being honest in our dealings with others; having personal and family prayers; abstaining from the use of alcohol, tobaccos, and drugs; holding family home evenings; and in reading the scriptures daily. We can if we really want to. #RandolphHarris 5 of 9
Our conscience is prescriptions reminding us of the moral views which have been taken by other members of our peer group. No one is perfect, but everyone should be striving for perfection. If we should stumble or fall as we travel life’s journey, it is important to remember many problems that we confront as so complex that we frankly have very little idea, and certainly no confirmed judgment or deliverance of conscience, as to which alternative is most worthy of being chosen. Many people are spending more money, enjoying more freedom, and driving more cars than ever before, but are also unhappy. Some of them have never know the satisfaction of doing their best at work, the joy of excelling in the class, the wonderful feeling of completing a job, any job, and looking back on it and know that they have done their best. In many such cases, where getting adequate knowledge in time available before a decision must be reached is impossible, we know in advance that we would be only too happy to do what is right if we could identify, with some reasonable degree of probability, the right alternative. A situation of this wort must frequently arise for people who cannot pass the decision on to someone. I dare you to look up at the stars, not down at the mud, and set your sights on them that, up to now, you thought were unattainable. #RandolphHarris 6 of 9
There is plenty of room at the top, but no room for anyone to sit down. Who knows? You may be surprised at what you can achieve with sincere effort. Every valid moral principle must hold universally so that you will act on the maxim or principle of your action to be a universal law, binding on the will of every rational being. The Church is engaged in the greatest work in all the World—saving the souls of our Father’s children. That is really profound when someone is trying to teach you the love of God and show you how to life right so you can go to Heaven. The World is so full of others trying to hurt and take advantage of anyone they can by any means necessary. Exodus 10.17 reports: Pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague (sin) away. The wages of sin are death. That means the more we sin, the closer we get to forfaiting our eternal life with God. It is important that as children of God, each one of us knows his or her duties and be dedicated and committed in carrying them out in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord. It is important that we marshal our resources and get them working together in a correlated way so that, as a family and community, we can reach our full potential in helping the Lord bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of human beings. Our goal is perfection for all of God’s children who listen, accept, and live the gospel. #RandolphHarris 7 of 9
Assuming that a being cannot suffer means that one need not give that creature any consideration when it comes to how that being is treated. And that is wrong, and can lead to a great deal of suffering being inflicted. 2 Thessalonians 6 reports: God is just, he will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. Do not keep silent. Remind God of his promises again and again. Then eventually you will see what God said come true in your life. Nephi 1.13 reports: And it came to pass that there was no contention among all the people, in all the land; but there were mighty miracles wrought among the disciples of Jesus. Keep moving forward, being your best, honoring God, being determined and persistent, and God will bless you. Ezra 8.22 reports: The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him. The eye of the spirit cannot be dimmed, neither can it be limited in its ability to see. Our eyes are the vision of our indwelling Lord; they are the windows of our inner spirit and are always open to the vision of truth. We are free from all illusions of weariness. Our whole being responds to the thought of life. We are alive with the great vitality of the spirit. We are alive with the spirit. #RandolphHarris 8 of 9
Emotions are important sources of moral decision-making. Conscience is squarely within the rational faculty, specially part of our practical reason since it is connected to the will as well as the other emotions. The conscience cannot be lost to any person no matter how morally corrupt they become, but it can be mistaken since the very general principles may be misapplied through ignorance or faulty reasoning. The misapplication explains, to a certain extent, how conscience, oriented to good, can be involved in the performance of evil actions. However, human beings have a general drive to do good. Conscience is an implementation of a human being’s desire for good. Because we naturally have a desire for the good, we also desire the means to that goal. God will take the scars of your life and turn them into stars, and give you beauty for ashes, and will pay you back double for anything you lost. Make up your mind to endure to the end and live a good life, knowing your health will be restored, and you will get new opportunities and new perspectives. Even though it is painful for a time, it is not the end. An eternal life of love and happiness is in front of you. Believe that. May we be successful in this, our greatest responsibility, is my humble prayer, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. #RandolphHarris 9 of 9
Envision What a Happy Ending Might Look Like
Dreams are the bright creatures of poem and legend, who sport on Earth in the night season, and melt away in the first bream of the Sun, which lights grim care and stern reality on their daily pilgrimage through the World. Human beings can achieve goodness and fulfill their nature when they act according to reason. A person who lives his or her life according to reason is a good and happy person. How necessary and important it is that we all continually strive to improve ourselves and prepare for the day when a call might come to serve in a new or more responsible position! The whole purpose of our existence in mortality is to build the kingdom of God and to prove ourselves worthy to go back to into God’s presence. To act and live according to reason is what is objectively good for every human being. However, this does not suppose that every human being knowingly desires a life lived according to reason. Wishing what is ultimately good is to desire union with God, and only those who exercise their specifying potentiality—reason—can do so. Part of what it is to suffer is to prevent someone from being what he or she ought to be, that is, to prevent him or her from flourishing. On the other hand, to cause someone to suffer is to prevent him or her from fulfilling his or her desires. Therefore, suffering is bad because it undermines or destroys what the sufferer cares about, his or her own flourishing, his or her desires, or both. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
Fate is just even to rival storytellers, and balance matters. In this brief time, away from our Heavenly home and parents is a time when we are given agency for the purpose of being tried and tested in every way. There will be some days when we are stressed and sad, and we will face some hard tests. It is important to learn from them and grow from them. These experiences will teach us to be stronger. God cares and loves you very, very much. The experience of pain and heartaches, sorrows, and tribulations give us all experience; we can also make them work for our own good. Difficulties are just God’s errands. If we are sent upon them, it is an evidence of his confidence in us. Therefore, let us be glad, be happy, for it is a way of being wise. God loves you and he is ever willing to help you at all times. Just call on God through fervent prayers. God never fails; he is there, he is listening, and he cares very deeply about you. With daily prayer, scripture study, and our feet firmly planted on the road to the celestial kingdom, we have a perfect brightness of hope. God loves with a great love the people whose heart is bursting with a passion for the extraordinary. When you face situations that seem impossible, we should pray. When we ask, God releases favor. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
I remember how I seemed to float, then, down the melancholy glory of that track upon the sea, away into the World of dreams. There is a secret way of the soul which all may know, it is the way of peace and love. This secret way leads into places of joy and into the house of God. It is the way of the spirit and all may enter who will. Plant your feet firmly on the path to the celestial kingdom. Lift up your heart and let your soul rejoice, and never give up. When you ask God, angels go to work and strongholds are broken. When you ask, God beings to turn things around in your favor, and you will see the greatness of God. As love enters, fear vanishes. God will fill us with love that no fear can enter our thoughts and perfect intelligence guards and governs our every act. Our soul will rejoice at the realization of life, and we cannot be depressed because God has claimed us as his own. The light of God has come and the day of salvation is near. We need those who bring gladness into our lives. We need those who give encouragement and reflect optimism. Sincere yet simple words of praise can lift souls and bring gladness. Encouragement can be quick and simple, but it is a voice of gladness that is needed by everyone. Some things in life are precious like freedom and liberty and are very important. Many have had their lives changed permanently fighting for our freedom, but their voices of gladness overshadow the prevailing interruption and sacrifices they have made for all of us. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
You have no right to dispose of your future destiny whilst there is the least probable chance you may be reclaimed. God never made a promise that was too good to be true. Hope springs eternal for those who have the vision to trust in and to live by God’s inspired principles. Thank God for noble souls who can and do weather life’s storms with sincere voices of gladness which overshadow the present and make the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ real and strengthening. Have a faith that God can see. Put actions behind what you believe. Demonstrate your faith. You may not see how your dream could ever work out, but as you take steps in faith, you will see God open new doors. You will have the strength to do what you could not do. You will see God’s favor in unusual ways. The voices of gladness from the scriptures remind us that we do not have to walk through life alone. We do not have to run around like savages jumping on each other’s bones. Christ came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. 2 Nephi 25.23 reports: For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. Therefore, know that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
Let us remember that acts of kindness with pure motives and righteous purposes can be and are encouraged to be done in quietness, gentle voices, and in privacy. We can program ourselves to build, encourage, and give strength. Moroni 7.47 reports: Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endures forever; and who is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him or her. God’s spirit and power will comfort us as we extend ourselves in help and love to those who need us. However, God’s commandment that as we love him, we must respect ourselves, suggests we must not accept disrespect from others. It is not charity to bow down in despair and helplessness. That kind of suffering should be ended, and that is very difficult to do alone. If we help individuals to relieve pain, or loneliness, or injustice in our own communities, God promises that a compassion would enter our hearts, and through the Holy Ghost sanctification could take place within our souls, and we will become more like our Savior. I pray in all humility that our faith in God may move us to such action and that we may thus know, by the Holy Spirit, the meaning of charity, so that we can exercise it in our lives. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
What secret of happiness is greater than to follow your illusions? Experience is a great teacher, except when it is not. What we make of experience—and whether it serves us or harms us—depends on the knowledge we build out of it. And make no mistake: we are all master knowledge builders, able to turn the most random events into meaningful knowledge about the World and how to operate it. Much of this knowledge is called experiential knowledge, and it lies outside our awareness, where it is difficult to see or assess. Father in Heaven, thank you for bring to completion the good work you began in us. You promised to complete our incompletions. So, thank you Lord that the fulfillment of our dreams is on the way, even the secret petitions of our hearts. You spoke the Worlds into existence, and you have us in the palm of your hands. I believe that you will make sure we complete what you put us here to do. As we move forward in faith, the foundation of greatness is being laid, which will allow us to go beyond our barriers and become everything God created us to be, and everything he intended for us to have will come to fruition. In Jesus name, Amen. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
Corruption is the Enemy of Development
No program should set out to create failure or humiliate participants. The divide-and-conquer method might have been contrived in the religious and political realms, sharpened on the battlefield, and perfected in the dating game, but this technique can also be used to the individual’s advantage it is meant to harm. The divide-and-conquer may seem fruitless in modern times because the problems it creates become much more complicated as the input grows. There will always be resistance. Though power may tend to corrupt, there will always be those who believe in righteousness. Also, self-control and self-mastery leads to self-governance, and the realization that we do not necessarily need membership in a group we cannot trust. We do not need a chain of obedience or a corrupt hierarchical system. We only need leaders: preferably self-leadership that leads by healthy example. When we are isolated, we are better able to focus on our areas needing development. Our flexibility and resilience depends on the meaning we make out of a disappointing experience, and the strength of the relationships that shape, even transform, that experiences. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
One reason many leaders never make it to the top is because they never fail, leaving them at a loss when they do. It is not failure alone, but the ability to put failure to good use that creates endurance and success. When a person is able to make good things out of bad experiences, this allows one to transcend or recast painful experiences—or at least endure them with good humor. Good leaders develop good attitudes and lead to speak to people’s hearts, and not only will that individual, but also their audience will emerge from their caves of doom and gloom, like one awakened from sleep, to the World in which we live again. A collective force of free individuals living with the mindset that cosmic laws based on health, wellness, and survival are the keys to well-being. The goal is to not only ease one’s own pain, but to heal wounded feelings and mitigate the disappointment of others. This will allow us to find a common ground and cultivate a society of compassion and fraternity, as we withstand adversity, and persevere and develop relational sensibilities. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
It is important to actually get to know people and expose individuals to ideas that challenge their current ways of seeing. This will develop the ability to read people and situations with greater acuity; and help them reframe how they see difficult experiences. Sometimes a walk through a dark forest (do not try this) is exactly what we need to lead us to the light and refresh and recharge. Our feelings are a joint venture—a product of our interactions and the way we frame them, given our repertories. When we question our current way of seeing things, it also frees us to work together to map and alter the pattern. Maybe, even if it is risky, taking a new path is what we need because it will allow us to see something else, something that will illuminate our vision. The Anatomy Framework will turn our attention away from labeling people and toward what they are doing, how they feel, and how they interact. This will make it easier to make new sense of old situations in which we will caught. When we tether new actions to new ways of seeing, we will integrate new behaviors more quickly, and these behaviors will feel more natural to us and less artificial to others. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
We can be negative and look for the ugly in life and the faults and failings of those around us, or we can develop optimistic attitudes and see the beautiful in life and the good, the strong, the decent, and the virtuous in people, which brings joy and happiness. It is a matter of attitude. Many of us have an even greater interest in the creation of beautiful people—the type of radiant beauty that comes from righteous living and acceptance of God. I have observed many people who have a beauty and spiritual glow. The Lord has told us that we can be beautiful. 1 Corinthians 3.16 reports: Know you that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you. Love yourself. It is more important to stay optimistic because beauty comes from the inside out. Peace is the beauty of life. Beauty is Sunshine. The togetherness of a family. Beauty is the advancement of humanity, the victory of a just cause, the triumph of truth. The doorway of your heart is the place where loves resides for you are the temple of the living God (2 Corinthians 6.16). A solid foundation is the most important part of a building or of a person. We are to be the light to others, to control our anger, and reconcile bad feelings with others. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. As we live with the principles of God in our hearts, we are building a rock-solid foundation upon which our lives can safely be constructed. The Lord, the great Master Architect, have given us perfect plans and specifications to guide us in the building of our lives. These are the sacred scriptures. They contain the words of the Lord and should frequently be read and considered. By seeking the Lord through prayer and through his holy scriptures, we learn to look for the beautiful and to develop great attitudes. We achieve guidance in the building of our foundations and our lives. Beauty is when you can appreciate yourself. When you love yourself and others, that is when you are the most beautiful. As we live righteous and unselfish rights, the Spirit of the Lord enters our souls and then radiates from us. We become beautiful, even as a holy temple is beautiful because we are happy with ourselves. Happiness is the greatest beauty secret. 2Nephi 4.16 reports: Behold, my soul delights in the things of the Lord, and my heart ponders continually upon the things which I have seen and heard. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
Greed gives births to many ills—Crime and Corruption. The cancerous spread of corruption has been a matter of great concern to all people. Power is primarily being sought for amassing wealth, perks, and privileges. People’s welfare has become a thing of secondary importance on the agenda. Political ethics, values, ideology, policy issues, have been forgotten. Shockingly, the struggles for power has created divisions in government, businesses, and families. There is an iron rule in economics, it is Stein’s Law. If something cannot go on forever, it will stop. While divide-and-conquer seems like a great idea, the longer it goes on and the more people that get involved, the obvious it becomes, and it makes the corruption harder to hide. One may kill mosquitoes in a room by spraying insecticides, but many more will come inside from the breeding ground, the hole needs to be plugged. The breeding ground of corruption deserves to be cultured and the cause has to be located and removed. You cannot go on investigating corruption month after month, and year in and year out. There has got to be a point where the Government is able to say: “We have enough information.” #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
A Faint Echo of the Invitation from the Savior
Love is how we stay alive. Many of us are alive today because we felt a faint echo from God saying, “Come follow me.” The only power that exists is inside ourselves. The soul must already exist before the birth of the body because we seem to know things that were not available to us. However, it is immortality we crave. Imagine the psychological impact of being immortal. If we could be engineered by a combination of cybernetic enhancements, genetic engineering, and other scientific modification so that as humans, we would not die from aging, and it would be very hard to kill us. That would take a lot of stress off of people and we would be able to live longer to acquire money and have the freedom to really enjoy life without current limitations. Immortality has been one of humankind’s major concerns, and it has been traditionally confined to religious traditions. Many cultures believe in immortality, but many of them think that the body eventually dies and the immaterial soul (that is an incorporeal existence) has an astral body that will go on living in another realm, where we do not need money. Some believe after this life, we will enjoy all of the blessings of eternal and we have been given glimpses of what our family in Heaven will be like. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
Nevertheless, many people love life on Earth, they love the families and friends that they have now and the places they live, they love their bodies and never want to leave Earth. However, Earth is a learning experience for us, a place for us to grow and show love to others, and it is believed that after we do depart Earth, we will be reunited with our families and friends and live in places where we love. The Son of God is our Redeemer and will deliver us from death. Heaven is the home of God, the angels, and the spirits of the righteous after death; it is the place or state of existence of the blessed after the mortal life. Isaiah 65.17 reports: Behold, I will create new Heavens and a new Earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. (That means we will have no memory of pain and suffering, but we will see our loved ones.) God has promised that in Heaven nothing—even the memory of this World’s sin and pain—will cast a shadow over the joy he has in store for us there. In this current World, even the memory of what someone did to us years ago can still cause us pain, but that will not be true in Heaven because our focus will not be on the past, but on Christ and what he means to us. God has come to fulfill the promises of the Prophets. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Life can be challenging at times, and today I was at home watching a TV show from the 1960s, called Bewitched. And it aired for eight years, all the way into the 1970s. Bewitched was about a beautiful witch called Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) and she falls in love with a mortal guy called Darrin. It is a romantic comedy and it is pretty funny. The show was created to take the muggings in New York City off the minds of people and make them feel safe. However, after watching a few reruns of the show, I noticed that the husband Darrin was played by two different guys. The first Darrin was Dick York, but Mr. York has a secret that he did not tell the show’s producers when he was cast. He had severely injured his back doing a movie a few years before. The injury caused constant and excruciating pain. After a few years on the TV show Bewitched, everyone started to notice that Mr. York was suffering because it became routine to have scenes and plots contrived and written in which Darrin (Dick York) was sitting down, lying down, or reclining (usually sitting at his office desk at work, or in bed, or on the couch at home) as much as possible. However, because the nature of the show required physical comedy, situations would arise that would even put strain on someone in good physical condition. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
On one occasion, Darrin (Dick York) was hanging fifteen feet in the air and the technicians were shining a light in his eyes during the setup for the shot. All the flickering made him feel weird and he started feeling weak and dizzy. Mr. York asked to be lowered from the platform he was on. When he reached the ground, his body felt weak and unstable. And the shaky actor collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. And Mr. York decided to quit the show. Then another young man named Dick Sargant was hired to replace Dick York as Darrin. Although the two guys look similar, Darrin number two was not as friendly and the ratings for the show fell significantly. And while Dick York was at home suffering and having financial problems he found out that job offers had been coming in for him, but his listing with the union was somehow messed up and no one notified him. And so, examples like Dick York are why people seek immortality in the physical World. They sometimes get injured and those injuries are so bad that it limits what they can do and they even have to quit their jobs. Revelation 21.4 reports: God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death nor mourning nor crying nor pain. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
Heaven will be a powerful spiritual experience. Heaven is a real place and will be filled with real people, which is why the Bible sometimes compares Heaven to a mansion with many rooms and sometimes to an enormous city teeming with people. Heaven is an eternal city. A river, clear as crystal, will flow from the throne of God down the middle of the city. On each side of the river there will be a tree of life, yielding twelve kinds of fruit every month. The streets will be pure gold, like transparent glass. The walls of the city will be adorned with every kind of jewel, emerald, onyx, amethyst, topaz, and diamonds. There will be no need for a Sun and a Moon, and no need for a temple nor church. The presence of the Lord will be it light. The Lord’s promise of eternal life is real. What happened in our past does not matter, as long as we repent and have faith and become obedient to the Lord. We are to nurture our faith, with a hungering for the word of God in the scriptures, and the obedience to the truth we have received. Feasting on the word of God, heartfelt prayer, and obedience to the Lord’s commandments must be applied evenly and continually for your testimony to grow and prosper. And we will have experience in our current lives that will profoundly touch us with gratitude, awe, and confidence in the future. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
Humans have always benefited from obedience to true principle. We can be assured of reaching worthy objectives in life by understanding and consistently following correct principles rooted in revealed truth. The Divine Laws are the great cosmic principles that govern the functioning of the Universe; they are at the base of all Creation. They also govern the functions of conscience, and motivate human experimentations. When we know and apply these laws, we become receptive to our Creator and to our spiritual, divine dimension. We then evolve consciously and all the mysteries of the Universe can be revealed to us. We must gain learning, but we must apply it wisely. Otherwise, we have politics without principle, industry without mortality, knowledge without wisdom, science without humanity. One of the divine laws is power of obedience to law. We must obey human laws and the laws of God, as we have freedom to act and mastery of our actions. When we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated. We also have the power to love and be kind to others. Worship strengthens our power to God. We must carefully and prayerfully protect the spiritual power line that links us to the Savior, and we will become more like him. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all people. Seek after things that are virtuous, lovely, of good report, and praiseworthy. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
Another thing we need is the love and companionship of our family and friends. This too must be earned by compliance with or obedience to certain rules of behavior. We should be kind and considerate and choose friends who love the Lord. We must be worthy of them by leading good, clean livings, and obeying the commandments of God. It is important to be thoughtful and find occupations that make us happy. It should make us happy just to know that we have the freedom to choose what we want to do to earn a living. When it comes to selecting a career, choose something that one will enjoy doing, and then do the very best one can to be honest, honorable, and upright in one’s dealings and in the services one gives. As long as we seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, know that all these other things we will be blessed with. Work diligently. Be at the right place at the right time. Maintain a degree of humbleness. Also, develop an inner driver and a competitive desire to excel rather than just get along. And foster common sense. Through obedience to these business guidelines, we will have success and happiness. We must ponder Divine Laws and reach into the very essence of what we are and what we may become. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
Two Bodies and One Soul
If I say there is caviar in the mountains, you just bring the crackers. True love is two bodies and one soul. As we exercise our faith in the Savior, he will lift us up and carry us through all of our trials and, ultimately, save us in the celestial kingdom. It is undeniable that love plays an enormous and unavoidable role in our several cultures; we find it discussed in song, film, and novels—humorously or seriously; it is a constant theme of maturing life and a vibrant them for youth. Some people even believe that love is a genetic urge that dictates our behavior and others think of love as an intensely spiritual affair that in its highest permits us to touch divinity. Goodness is what all desire. Now it is clear that a thing is desirable only in so far as it is perfect, for all desire their own perfection. The goodness of a thing is tied fundamentally to its fulfillment of its nature. A thing is perfect insofar as it is fully developed and its specifying potentialities have been actualized. To love something is in part to desire for the goodness of the thing loved. The ultimate proper object of love is God, who is the highest good absolutely. God’s goodness is also revealed in every human person, given that every human being is made in the image of God. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
God loves human beings by helping them to maximize their capacity for reason, which is to love the good and act in accordance with it. However, the ultimate good is God, so the nature of human beings is fulfilled by loving and obeying God. The necessary condition for union with God is the state of freely willing only what accords with God’s will. If this is the case, God cannot ensure that all his human beings will be saved in the end and we do not want to be in their path when their feet are put to the coals. As part of our Heavenly Father’s plan, he allowed sorrow to be woven into our mortal experience. While it seems that painful trials fall unevenly on us, we can be assured that to one degree or another, we all suffer and struggle. It is our prayer that the Holy Spirit will guide us to a greater understanding why this must be so. Everyone is acquainted with some measure of loneliness, despair, grief, pain, or sorrow. Without an eye of faith and understanding of eternal truth, we often find that the misery and suffering experienced in mortality can obscure or eclipse the eternal joy of knowing that the great plan of our Farther in Heaven really is the eternal plan of happiness. There is no other way to receive a fullness of joy. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
God invites us to respond with faith to our own unique afflictions in order that we may reap blessings and gain knowledge that can be learned in no other way. We have to lean to endure to the end and to tolerate the hard work and many physical and emotional challenges. Sometimes our minds will scream at us to stop and quit, but we have to endure to the end. Nothing will beat the satisfaction from knowing that you did not give up. The Lord has the power to intervene to relieve the suffering, heal the sick, and raise the dead. Genuine beings, actual or possible, are distinguished from imaginary entities by their possessions of essential being (esse essentiae). This essential being is not a rudimentary mode of existence. It is best described as an intrinsic possibility or intelligibility which pertains to definable essences as reflections of the divine ideas. It is to be contrasted with the intrinsic impossibility and incoherence of res secundum opinionem. Actual beings are distinguished from merely possible beings by their possession of existential beings (esse existentiae). This existential being is not a principle or act within actually existing things. The difference between essential and existential being is to be found not in things themselves but in the relation of essences to God. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
Essential being consists in being thought by God, while existential being consists in actually depending on God as a creative Cause. Apart from the fact that each actual being, as a product of divine creativity, is individually related to God, individual things, in which specific essences are multiplied, required no explanation of their individuality. Individuation involves no addition, whether of matter or act of existence, to the intelligible essence. In analyzing the individual as such it is sufficient to say that it is internally undivided and is not identical in existence—that is, in its relation to the Creator—with any other individual. The transition from essential to existential being, or the act of divine freedom. Individual beings come into existence not from intrinsic necessity but because God freely wills to create. Divine will equally requires divine intellect. The human soul is immortal not by nature, but by divine grace. There is a tendency on the part of some to ignore, criticize, or rebel because they cannot accept the human delivery system. Some will not accept Jesus Christs as the Savior because they are waiting for a Prince of Peace to come who is not quite as human as Jesus of Nazareth. People speak of a caste society in America, which we do not have, but did you know Jesus was the son of a carpenter? And some people assumed no good could come of him. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
Lack of trust in the Savior is evidence of weakness of people who are unwilling to accept the human qualities of those who care called and raised up to give direction and counsel. We, too, should not be deceived by doubter who would use the same tactics by planting thorns to destroy the harvest. How can we avoid failure of faith? By not allowing our spiritual foundation to be withered away by winds and storms of unbelievers. 2 Nephi 2.6-9 reports: Wherefore, redemption comes in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth. Behold, he offered 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. Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the Earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who laid down his life according to the flesh, and takes its again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise. Wherefore, he is the first product of God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of humans; and they that believe in him shall be saved. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
While some are struggle with an “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” attitude, they may be missing the truth, the way, and the ultimate harvest. Jesus was not accepted as the Only Begotten Son of God because thousands preferred to recognize him as “Just the child of Mary.” If our spiritual foundation is strong, we will welcome continuing revelation, change, and direction. We will develop the ability to accept releases, callings, and new challenges with enthusiasm. We will be too busy to be offended. We will be too big to be hurt. We will accept people for wat they are and what they can do and become. Change will not only drive our roots deeper, but it will also cause them to grown into new and fertile soil. That way we will be more receptive of knowledge and God. Our horizons will expand. Our Father in Heaven knows what we need. Change can be difficult. Change can be fearful. However, change in the right direction is a growing process. Each new assignment, each new experience in the gospel framework, if fulfilled to the best of one’s ability, adds new strengths. Sometimes when we are asked to be obedient, we do not know why, except the Lord has commanded. By keeping the damned from harming the innocent, God prevents (restrains) them from doing further evil, and thus prevents their further deterioration of being. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
To act and life according to reason is what is objectively good for every human being. By being in a place with like-minded people in which they can never wish and attain what is objectively good for them, the damned could never be happy in the sense that they cannot live according to the objective good, to the will of God. The evil which the damned endure in Hell constitutes suffering for them because it goes contrary to (or undermines) human flourishing. In Hell, they can never be what they ought to be, they can never increase their being, and the qualities which constitute their flourishing are absent. So, let us not forfeit the harvest. If we forfeit the harvest, we lose the satisfaction of accomplishing difficult tasks and serving better. Most of all, we forfeit the gift of eternal growth and progress. May we accept this human condition and do or best to live godly. We must continue to make marvelous contributions toward enlightenment and stay faithful in our efforts. To continue in righteousness takes personal courage and strength of commitment. God is omnipotent and the human mind is given a consciousness. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
She Went with Her Date to Get Some Coffee
We are all different. Each of us has been given talents as well as challenges. Some of us may have physical or mental limitations; others may be lonely or come from homes that do not teach gospel principles. Every physical and psychological problem is well worth the effort of investigation for its own sake, but for other reasons as well. Dr. Sigmund Freud would have thought Goldie Locks with a nymphomaniac because she liked to sleep in a different bed every night, but Dr. Freud thought all problems were related to the sex and childhood disorders. Much like the information on labels of paintings can affect, half unconsciously, our estimate of them, the same is possible when we label people without truly understanding or talking to them. Like the labels on paintings, the outward appearances of some people is often misleading. Some disabilities are more obvious than others. Many are immediately apparent, especially if someone relies on a wheel chair or cane. However, others—known as invisible disabilities are not. People who live with invisible injuries that are not mental, often times cannot take a pill and functional normally and they face particular challenges in the workplace and in their communities. Some people have debilitating fatigue and pain. #RandolphHarris 1 of 13
Desire disorders, like most intimacy problems, must be defined in relation to a person’s age, gender, partner, expectations, and sexual history. It is not at all unusual for a person to briefly lose sexual desire. Typically, erotic feelings return when anger towards a partner fades, or fatigue, illness, and similar temporary problems end. Some people do not merely lack sexual desire; they are repelled by sex and seek to avoid it. A person who suffers from sexual aversion feels fear, or disgust about engaging in the sex. Often, the afflicted person still has some erotic feelings. For example, he or she may still masturbate or have sexual fantasies. Nevertheless, the prospect of having the sex with another person causes panic or revulsion. Sexual desire disorders are common. Possible physical causes include afflictions, fatigue, hormonal difficulties, and side effects of medicines. Desire disorders are also associated with psychological factors such as depression, fearing loss of control over sexual urges, strict religious beliefs, fear of pregnancy, marital conflict, fear of closeness, and simple loss of attraction to one’s partner. It is also not uncommon to find that people with desire disorders were sexually mistreated as children. #RandolphHarris 2 of 13
Because Heavenly Father loves each of us, he has provided us with a source of comfort and strength—the scriptures. While growing up, I was blessed to come from a home where scriptures were an important part of our lives. I have gone to many Church activities and heard friends and family bear testimony of the power of the scripture. It gave me a desire to gain personal testimony of the power and truthfulness of the scriptures, and I am still in the process of building my faith and learning to see the blessings in my life. I know some of you say that there are bad people in the church, and there are, but imagine how bad they would be if they did not go to church. Then I have seen good people stop going to church and become the biggest sinners in the World, committing sins even against their own family for profit, while smiling in their face and acting like they do not know why an individual is going through Hell, but quick to tell that person he or she is bearing a generational curse. Some people have physical disabilities that you cannot see and they do not want to admit that, and it can be frustrating. They look normal, but there are things they should be able to do, and cannot. So, harassing them and making life hard on them can be more destructive than you even care to realize. #RandolphHarris 3 of 13
When you have physical limitations, it also limits the types of jobs you can do and for how long. Many people pray for help. Moroni 7.33: Christ reported if you will have faith in me, you shall have the power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me. What a wonderful promise. If we are to put our faith in the Lord, he will help us. Just take one day at a time and do your best. Some of us may face challenges every day, but daily scripture study will remind us to have faith in our Heavenly Father and focus on him, magnify God in our lives and not our problems and life will improve. What we tend to focus on, we magnify. I do not want to focus on my problems every day and only magnify them and make them worse. I want to focus on God and see the promises in the scriptures fulfilled in my life. No matter where you live or what kind of family you come from, Heavenly Father loves you and will be there to help and strengthen you whenever you need him. There is a power in goodness that is often learned in families. There is a void when it is lacking. We have to develop greater reverence for the sanctity of life, and realize all people are not the same. #RandolphHarris 4 of 13
We need to stand tall and be firmly fixed in perpetuating Christlike virtues. Who does not have need of assurance in times of uncertainty and testing? Who is so self-confident that there is never a want for stabilizing influence in life? A fundamental purpose of Earth’s life purpose is growth and attainment. The level of importance people place on the sex is unbelievable! How are you supposed to get to know a person if all you are thinking about is what is in between their legs or in the place where the Sun does not shine? The reality of sex is that some people have it, some people do not, and life does not revolve around avoiding it or chasing it. There is no such thing as a normal sex life, even though many people consider sex a normal part of life. And it probably does not deserve the amount of attention it gets. Most of the push for people to have the sex is pressure that we get from the outside World. However, the sex can be damaging to our culture and self-esteem. Have you noticed since the 1990s, the style of dancing has changed, people used to dance face to face, but not their face is looking at the back of someone’s head when they dance. #RandolphHarris 5 of 13
Not only that, but as homosexuals became more accepted in the community, more and more people became obsessed with butts and anal penetration. There are songs glorifying butt. Whereas, in the past, people used to talk about other features of a person like their intelligence, their pillow soft lips, their dreamy eyes, cute nose. You know, parts we can visibly see. Also, it is important to have someone who can carry a conversation and actually wants to see you. And, the butt problem is not all to blame on homosexuals because many men are just looking for more traction and that is what most obsession is about. However, companionship is the most important part of a relationship, you want to be with one person, someone you really like and can build a house with. Companionship is that state of being friends, but it goes deeper than even a friendship. It is a closeness or familiarity, a true fellowship among two people, who for whatever reasons, have truly connected. Strong couples are able to be good companions, sharing their day to day lives, personal histories, and interest together. They give verbal and physical affection like hugs, compliments, provide emotional support, and are able to help each other through tough times. It is also important to have someone to validate you. #RandolphHarris 6 of 13
Also, people who are not in relationships need to have their requirements for companionship met in other ways. It is important for them to have strong bonds with their friends and family, people who know them well, and are able to understand them. We all need to know that we have an important place in someone’s life. And, some people have different needs for amount of control in a relationship, or have specific requests to feel balanced and comfortable in. Gratefully, for people who do not have support systems, and even those who do, in his perfect love, God has provided a way for us to resolve challenges while growing in strength and capacity. The sustaining power of faith in times of uncertainty and testing is a God given way that we may find peace, joy, and purpose in life. Faith is like high energy particles that cannot be seen. When we generate more of these particles, through trust in God no matter how challenging the circumstance, that energy travels in waves. It is part of the electromagnetic spectrum called radiant energy. And when we increase of faith in God, we are picking up on more of his radiant energy, which should counteract much of the negative energy that we have been receiving. #RandolphHarris 7 of 13
Radiant energy is the energy of electromagnetic waves. It is a form of energy that can travel through space. For example, we receive the heat from the Sun, which is located 92.96 miles from Earth. As you may know, when there is a solar flare, which is basically the Sun emitting more energy, the Earth tends to get hotter, and it can disrupt communication devices on Earth. So, think of an increase of your faith in God like a solar flare, you are attracting more radiant energy from God, and those electromagnetic waves are blocking out things that may be bad for you and drawing more things to you that may be good. It will take time, but you will start noticing that people are nicer to you, they are more protective of you, they want to talk to you, and eventually they will have new and exciting opportunities from God to offer you. When you change your energy, the type of energy you attract will also change. You notice that many suburban housewives are always happy and smiling when they go out and public and how people seem to worship them? Well, that is because of the energy they are putting out. And in the suburbs people talk and word gets around, so you want to be painted in the best light and have people like you. It does not mean being fake, it just means putting out good radiant energy of electromagnetic waves. #RandolphHarris 8 of 13
I met a few couples, and they do not say much, but they are always nice and smile and say hi when I see them and that makes me feel good. That is the type of community I grew up in. A place where you treat everyone with respect, and you do not have to get deeply involved with people, but respect them, out of the love of God, so you can attract that same energy back to you. These people are well balanced and consistent, and they care about their reputations and would never do anything to hurt anyone on purpose. Therefore, trust in God and in his willingness to provide help when needed, no matter how challenging the circumstance. Obey his commandments and live to demonstrate that he can trust you. Be sensitive to the quiet prompting of the Spirit. Act courageously on that prompting. Be patient and understanding when God lets you struggle to grow and answers will come one wave at a time over an extended period. Motivating faith is centered in trust in the Lord and in his willingness to answer your needs. For the Lord does bless and prosper those who put their trust in him. The consistent, willing exercise of faith increases your confidence and ability to employ the power of faith. God loves everyone, we are all his children. 2 Nephi 2.29 reports: And choose not eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which gives the spirit of the Devil power to captivate, to bring down to Hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom. #RandolphHarris 9 of 13
The most important thing to God is to save our souls for everlasting life. The consistent, willing exercise of faith increases your confidence and ability to employ the power of faith. Electrical energy, a flow of charged particles along a conductor or the flow of ins across a membrane is much like God sending energy through your body and brain to fortify your soul. Faith is energy which is hoped for and not seen; therefore, do not dispute faith because you cannot see it. You may not know how you are going to make it, you may not know where your next blessing is coming from, but do not say it is impossible that you can press on because after the trial of faith, the blessings that come your way will be so amazing that you will receive that confirming evidence of Spirit. And those feelings will fortify your faith. As you repeat that pattern, your faith will become stronger. The Lord knows your needs. When you ask honestly and with real intent, he will prompt you to do that which will increase your ability to act in faith. With consistent practice, faith will become a vibrant, powerful, uplifting, inspiring force in your life. As you walk to the boundary of your understanding, exercising faith, you will be led to find solutions you would not obtain otherwise. I testify that I know that is true. #RandolphHarris 10 of 13
Another thing is we may not always get what we want, but God will respond with what in his eternal plan is best for you. Faith is not just about instant gratification, it is an energy that will act as a conduit to get us through life, help continue to practice divine laws, and help us to go out and earn the things we want. You cannot just walk in Walmart and come out with a cart of goods and services without paying for them. You have to do something to earn that money so you can go and buy what you want. Our faith in God gives us understanding and strength. Some vital decisions many have experiences, come through sustaining through the grueling, anguish, and struggle that precedes a confirming answer. And, those experiences are edifying. It is comforting to know that God will never try you more than you can manage with his help. God uses your faith to mold your character. And there are people out there living the high life, who wished they could have held back and been isolated because some of the afflictions that are suffering with. This is not where you will always be in life. Strong moral character results from consistent correct choices in the trials and testing of life. You can use your faith to guide you. What you think and do will determine what you are and what you will become. #RandolphHarris 11 of 13
We have to have courage to make the right decisions. This is done through contemplation and prayer, and exercising faith to willingly make choices consistent with the teachings of God. Such choices are made with trust in the electronic energy of God. Worthy character will strengthen your capacity to obediently respond to the direction of the Spirit. Righteous character is what you are becoming. It is more important that what you own, where you live. Right character enables you in times of trial and testing to make difficult, extremely important decisions correctly even when they seem overpowering. Neither Satan nor any other power can weaken or destroy your growing character. Only you can do that through disobedience. So, behaving is important. The more character is fortified, the more enabled you are to exercise the power of faith that will help you successfully grow so you can complete your purpose on Earth. A mother recently expressed to me that her daughter was killed on the way home from work, but because of her daughters love and support, the mother was able to continue living. That is so important because that woman gave up her career and free time make her daughter a success. Sometimes we are not living for ourselves, but we are here to support others. The power of the Lord will bless us. #RandolphHarris 12 of 13
And I also lost someone who means the World to me, but much like that woman’s daughter, I feel in my heart and soul that our loved ones are still alive on this planet. And I truly believe that and we will see them again. That is my testimony of faith. And you may have had people pretend to be your loved one, but you could tell by their actions it was not them. We know our loved ones so well and that if they were here, and could come to us that they would. The Father in Heaven loves you no matter what your circumstance, no matter what winds of trial, turmoil, or tribulation whip you like a hurricane. God and his guidance through the Holy Spirit will sustain you in an increasingly more challenging World. However, I want you to believe that your loved one is not lost, like I know mine is not, and we will someday see them again. Keep your sustained power of faith. Help others understand how faith in God and his teachings can bless their lives. I know there has been something that you have believed in your life with a strong conviction and it has come to be, use that same faith and know whatever it is you are missing, if you have the faith, one day you will find it and know it is right. #RandolphHarris 13 of 13
One Who Falls in Love May go Unnoticed
The greatest thing that can be known in the human experience is the ability to love and be loved. One who falls in love may go unnoticed by the casual observer, but the act of being in love can be examined by what events or conditions led to the agent’s believing he or she was in love: this may include the theory that being in love is an overtly strong reaction to a set of highly beneficial conditions in the behavior or presence of another. Some may consider love to be an expression of a state of affairs towards a beloved, which may be communicated through language (words, poetry, music) or behavior (bringing flowers, giving up a kidney, diving into the proverbial burning building), but which is a reflection of an internal, emotional state, rather than an exhibition of physical responses to stimuli. Others may claim love is a spiritual response, the recognition of a soul that completes one’s own soul, or complements or augments it. The divinity of the love of God consists and confirms itself in the fact that in himself and all his works God is gracious, merciful, and patient, and at the same time holy, righteous, and wise. No matter how seemingly magnificent and grand anything else in human life may appear to be, it is but a shallow substitute at best for the knowing and experiencing of love. #RandolphHarris 1 of 10
As one passes through life, so many types of experiences are given priority position in the human mind. Some of these areas are indeed important, in terms of human life experience, but none is as important as love. As with so many things in life to which people may be accustomed, loves true value is never fully understood or comprehended by most until such time as a particular expression of love is lost. Our son has a small toy robot. It can walk and perform other simple function. Should it fall, it can, with some difficulty, right itself. It performs its programmed function mechanically, without feeling. Yet, it has no capacity to grow or to alter its destined course. It responds immediately to any external force that satisfies its needs, and ceases to function when its internal spring is spent. Satan would have all of the children of Father in Heaven behave like robots. If humans are to enter into a genuinely personal relationship with one’s Maker, one must first experience some degree of freedom and autonomy. For only a relatively independent being can enter into a relationship of love and trust with one’s Creator, and man’s fall is seen as a fall into this independence. It is thus analogous to the phase of disobedience which signals a young child’s assertion of his or her own individuality in relation to one’s parents. #RandolphHarris 2 of 10
If God had created a World in which natural law were continuously adjusted for the avoidance of all pain, the more heroic human virtues would never be evoked. You notice how when a great disaster hits the Earth, people come together and are loving, and supportive, and giving? When the 2010 Earthquake hit Haiti, this person told me it is because the people are bad and it was punishment, but you noticed that Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma are major cataclysms happening in the United States of America, and these violent conditions, hardly fit for human nor beast, beset our country in a lethal fashion, not once, but twice in just a week, and more are expected. If you notice, many of these storms follow the Transatlantic slave trade’s path. We are just blessed they are happening now, when it is hot. On January 12, 1888, the temperatures in the Great Plains, from South Dakota down to Texas, suddenly plummeted, the winds began to howl, and the snow started to fall. Hundreds of children were trapped in their one-room schoolhouses, giving the storm its name: The Schoolhouse Blizzard. Many of those who tried to make back to the house never did and were among the 235 who perished. Some people were buried under snowdrifts and not found until Spring. #RandolphHarris 3 of 10
Bad as that storm was, it was not the worst storm of ’88. The so-called Great White Hurricane hit the Eastern Coast of the United States of America on March 12, 1888 and lasted for three days. Fifty inches of white powder, fresh snow, fell in Massachusetts, and there were drifts as high as 50 feet in places from Maryland to Canada. Two hundred ships went down, and more than 100 seaman were among the 400 people who were ultimately killed in the storm. New York City, where another 200 of that total died, was the apex of the disaster. Fire damage in cities hit by the storm totaled over $609,477,272.73 because wagons and horses were unable to leave the firehouses. The Great White Hurricane is still, 130 years after the fact, considered the worst blizzard in United States history. The World is alive and always changing. We cannot really control the climate no matter how many electric cars we produce or gas taxes we pass. Not only that, but using a leaf blower for a year produces as much pollution as a car driving 1,000,000 miles, and they are very loud and disturb the peace. We cannot control the Earth, but we can control ourselves. “Because the children of God are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God has given,” reports 2 Nephi 26. #RandolphHarris 4 of 10
Because there is suffering in the World, people have a chance to develop and display qualities such as courage, fortitude, loyalty, honesty, and the caring and protective aspects of love. The plan of the Lord created people to be independent spirits. The spirit is created by God and matured in the premortal existence, tabernacle in a body of flesh and bones. A mother and father participate with God in this sacred experience. These parents loved, guide, and inspire the growing child. With proper understanding of an obedience to the teachings of the Savior, the child learns, and by practice of the truth, is converted into a self-reliant, loving, serving son or daughter of God, whose potential for growth and accomplishment is limitless; whose destiny, if he or she is fully obedient, is to return to the presence of God to partake of his glory and to share in his exalted work. Such an individual can have great happiness in this life as well. The eternal happiness of human beings in society with one another and in communion with God is symbolized by the Kingdom of Heaven. The final fulfilment of God’s purpose for his creatures in his Heavenly Kingdom constitutes a good so great and enduring that it justifies all the pains which have been experiences just to reach it. #RandolphHarris 5 of 10
Many of our strongest beliefs are either based on or confirmed by our own experience. There is no species of reasoning more common, more useful, and even necessary to human life, than that which is derived from the testimony of people, and the reports of eye witnesses and spectators’. However, testimony varies in its reliability and so needs to be used critically. Mortal life is a proving ground, and our proving grounds vary. Some of us are born with physical limitations; others are lonely or do not enjoy good health. Some are challenged by economic conditions, the lack of good parental example, or a myriad of other things that test our mettle. While much of the pain and sorrow we endure is the result of our own stubborn acts of disobedience, many of the things that appear to be obstacles in our path are used by a loving Creator for our own personal growth. Life never was intended to be easy. Rather, it is a period of growth. It is interwoven with difficulties, challenges, and burdens. We are immersed in a white squall of persistent, Worldly pressures that could destroy our happiness. Yet, these very forces, if squarely faced, provide opportunity for tremendous personal growth and development and redevelopment. #RandolphHarris 6 of 10
If God’s primary purpose for humans was to evoke in them a free and uncompelled love and trust in relation to himself, would this purpose be frustrated by his creating people so that they could not do other than make this response? The conquering of adversity produces strength of character, forges self-confidence, engenders self-respect, and assures success in righteous endeavor. Some of us at one time or another let the pressures of life or the false teaching of humans cloud our vision, but when we see with clarity, the difference between the plan of God and that of Satan is unmistakable. Satan would convert divinely independent spirits into creatures bound by habit, restricted by appetite, and enslaved by transgression. He would persuade us to improperly use the divine gift of free agency. Through subtle, tempting influence, he encourages us to gratify desire for personal power and influence or to succumb to appetite. He progresssively binds those that follow carnal desire. Unless they repent, they are effectively converted into robots who no longer exercise control over their eternal destiny. In contrast, God is a loving, patient, understanding Father deeply interested in our personal well-being, anxious for our happiness, and totally committed to our eternal progression. #RandolphHarris 7 of 10
Our happiness on Earth, as well as our eternal salvation, requires many correct decisions, no one of which is difficult to make. Together they forge a character resistant to the eroding influences that surround us. Noble character is a great beauty and priceless worth. Yet, it can be broken in a moment through transgression. When protected by self-control, righteous character will endure for eternity. As we read and ponder the scriptures, with deep faith, we must earnestly seek our Father in prayer, and peace will envelop our beings. With sincere repentance and obedience to the commandments of God, coupled with genuine concern for and service to other, fear will be purged from our hearts. We are conditioned to understand it is our divine right to learn to be at peace and be happy, and know that life is rewarding, productive, and meaningful. We are individuals not a robot enslaved by adversity, nor need we be as we wisely use our free agency to follow the teachings of the Savior. Divine love can surpass and be of far greater importance than all other experiences of love because it is the eternal love which one can have throughout childhood and into antiquated age or latter years of life. It is the ultimate source or essence from which all other forms of love in human experience come forth. #RandolphHarris 8 of 10
Do not fear the challenges of life, but approach them patiently, with faith in God. Good can come from trouble, Trauma can enliven the heart and enrich the soul. God’s love can fill the human soul with peace when one’s life may seem to be in helpless turmoil. God’s love is powerful, as it can heal the emotions, and the physical body by exerting the presence of divine love through the mortal or human side of the mind. This divine love has the authority that affects the mind and chemistry of the body, and through such an effect, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual healing is experienced. With all the love in my heart, I extend an invitation to all to obtain a fulness of an understanding of the plan of happiness and exaltation provided by the Savior. In every living person, there is another kind of knowledge, an unreasoning one, but which gives a possibility of living—faith. Faith is the force of life. Believing in God and seeking to live his law provides the power to successfully overcome the testing challenges brings us. We can overcome personal challenges we encounter an actually find joy in living. We can solve any problem by putting our lives in harmony with God and being kind to each other. With the help of the Lord, there are no problems, only challenges. Faith in God develops a personal love for him, which is reciprocated through his blessings to us in times of need. #RandolphHarris 9 of 10
God will reward your faith with power not only to endure, but also to overcome hardships, disappointment, trials, and struggles of daily living. Through diligently striving to live the law of God and with faith in him, we will not be diverted from our eternal course either by the ways or the praise of the World. May each of us develop faith in God sufficient to fight the battles of life victoriously with the strength of God, with his miraculous strength; and mighty power. We will then find the happiness we so much desire in our lives. The Spirit of the Lord has been with us. We have every reason to be grateful. We have been refreshed in our testimonies and strengthened in our faith. All of us will be the stronger as we implement in our lives and in our homes the things we have learned. We thank God for his mercies and blessings. His power and wisdom has brought his people more fully into the knowledge and favor of the intelligent people of the Earth. Our business is to work righteousness in the Earth, to seek for development of a knowledge of God’s will and of God’s ways, and of his great and glorious truths which he has revealed through the scriptures. We shall lower our voices of criticism and negativism; that we look for good in the World, and that we will be honest with our employers in giving our time and talents and deal honestly with everyone we meet. God will wash away your pain, take away your tears, and wait alone for you. God will listen to you talking because he wants you to believe and have faith and change what is coming through. #RandolphHarris 10 of 10
We are Perfect the Way God Made Us
All life is sacred. Human life is especially so. Sacred means worthy of veneration and respect. By designating something as sacred, the Lord signals that it is of higher value and priority than others things. Sacred things are to be treated with more care, given greater deference, and regarded with deeper reverence. Sacred ranks high in the hierarchy of Heavenly values. God sends light and knowledge from Heaven and he invites us to receive and treat it as sacred. “Protecting human life is of utmost importance to God. He takes this so seriously and personally because he made humanity reflect him. We are his Earthly representatives, made in his image. To murder another person is to mount an attack on the One who created him or her,” reports Genesis 9.8-10. Moral reciprocity—doing to others as one would have them do to oneself and giving an equal return for benefits received—is closely linked to impartiality, for to be impartial between oneself and someone else would mean doing nothing to profit at his or her expense. We believe in being honest, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all people. Traits of virtue, broadly practiced, can loosen and derail Satan’s firm and insidious grip on the hearts, minds, and spirits of mortal humans. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
How does this spoiling of God’s initially good creation come about? Evil has entered into the Universe through the culpable violations of free creatures, angels, and people. Their sin consisted, not in choosing positive evil (for there is no positive evil to choose), but in turning away from the higher good, namely God, to a lower good. For when the will abandons what is above itself, and turns to what is lower, it becomes evil—not because that is evil to which it turns, but because the turning itself is wicked. Natural evils, such as disease, are divinely ordained consequences of the primeval fall of humanity, and thus all traces of evils are directly or indirectly linked to a wicked misuse of creaturely freedom. God is the highest, richest, and most intensely real being, is the supreme good, and everything that he has brought into existence is ipso facto good. For this reason, the corruption which we call evil can never be complete; for if a thing becomes so vitiated in nature that it ceases to exist, the evil which is parasitic upon it must also crease to exist. The Divine Mind is like an infallible calculating machine, surveys all possible combinations and selects the best, to which it then gives existence. We are perfect the way God made us and all here to learn our own nature, which will determine where we spend eternity. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
The sacred cannot be selectively surrendered. As we seek answers from God, we feel the still, small voice whisper to our spirits. These feelings—these impressions—are so natural and so subtle that we may overlook them or attribute them to reason. Those who choose to abandon even one sacred thing will have their minds darkened. There is a generally recognized right to be left alone. An invasion of privacy occurs when someone unjustifiably intrudes on this right. If your privacy has been invaded by intrusion, misappropriation, public disclosure of private facts, or false light, an individual may have suffered physically and emotionally, or otherwise and may wish to bring a civil lawsuit to recover from this harm. The harm to one’s intertest in privacy depends on which form of privacy invasion an individual suffered. If private facts were publicly disclosed, one would be entitled to economic compensation for the harm that came from the disclosure, such as harm to your reputation and standing in the community. Mental or emotional distress that one has suffered from is also recoverable. And, if the invasion caused one to incur any special damages (specific quantifiable damages, such as medical expenses one has incurred) an individual may also recover those. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
Daily reflecting upon and recording the impressions that come from God help us recognize our personal encounters with the divine and preserve them for ourselves and our posterity. Confidentiality is a respected part of the medical code of ethics. Doctors understand that people need to feel comfortable talking about private and revealing private information, they need a safe place to talk about anything they would like, without fear of that information leaving the room. They take your privacy very seriously. Laws are also in place to protect your privacy. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) contains a privacy rules that creates national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and personal health information. The right to control other’s access to one’s personal World, whether psychologically or physically can be attained by physical barriers or by communicating boundaries verbally. Privacy is important to not only a person’s psyche, but also the sense of self-worth. No one wants to live in a community where the government and media has violated their privacy and spread around rumors and sensitive information, and every time you meet someone, they feel like that know you, but actually have no idea who you are. They only know things that they have heard about you, which they may take as facts. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
Light and knowledge from Heaven is sacred. It is sacred because Heaven is its source. It can be deeply disturbing when you meet people for the first time and they are talking about things you shared in confidential messages, and you know they would have no access to unless they are hacking into your personal messages. Sometimes the media will stoop to levels you cannot believe and work like witches over a cauldron to create a story. In 2013, police arrested six journalists because of phone hacking and suspicion of corruption charges that caused the News of the World newspaper empire to close. The reporters were accused of phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of stories. Scotland Yard investigators found evidence of a further suspected conspiracy—above and beyond the scope of the original phone hacking probe that led to the paper’s demise. The journalist intercepted viocemails (answering machines messages on a mobile device). The board reach of the scandal became even more evident when Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, announced his resignation. There was ongoing speculation and accusations relating to the Metropolitan Police and with the News International at a senior level and in particular in relation to Mr. Neil Wallis, who was editor of News of the World, until 2009. He was also arrested as part of the scandal. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
The news media swooped down on innocent people like a plague of crows and felt that they were above the law as they violated privacy laws. It was even revealed that Milly Dowler, a teen murdered in 2002, allegedly had her voicemail hacked and messages deleted by a reporter from the newsroom. The owner of the news agencies went on record and apologized. There was also a connection to September 11, 2001, as allegations surfaced that reporters tried to tap the phone of 9/11 victims in search of yet more sensational headlines. “Many, many innocent men, women, and children their private tears bought and sold by News International for commercial gain,” reported Gordon Brown the former British Prime Minister. As a result, the government established a judicial inquiry to look at criminal activity, media ethics, and media ownership. The media is very helpful at being a voice of the community, and getting justice for some people, but they can also be a very dangerous criminal organization and ruin the lives of people by targeting them in an effort to profit from “Breaking News.” No matter which way you turn, you get it right between where the Sun does not shine because so many people are morally adrift in a secular white squall. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
Salvation is free. The sacred cannot be selectively surrendered. Money is not the root of all evil, it was new in Biblical days, they did not know much about it. Those who choose to abandon even one sacred thing will have their minds sulked in darkness as if they are in the bowels of the Devil. And unless they repent, the light they have will be taken from them by a theft in the night, allowing Satan to take root in their souls. Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. Studying history is important because it allows us to understand our past, which in turn allows to understand our present. If we want to know how and why our World is the way it is, we have to look to history for answers. History does not repeat itself, people do. If we study the successes and failures of the past, we may, ideally, be able to learn from our mistakes and avoid repeating them in the future. Studying history can provide us with insight into our cultures of origin as well as cultures with which we might be less familiar, thereby increasing cross-cultural awareness and understanding. People know good from evil and the law is given to them. God is light, and people that receive the light, and continue in that light grow brighter and bright until the perfect day. May the Lord bless us to ever and always recognize, remember, and hold sacred that which we have received from above. As we do, we will have the power to endure the trials an overcome the challenges of our day. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
The Windows of Heaven Illuminate the Soul
Eternal life is the belief that people can return to live in God’s presence and continue as families. The World is God (the only substance) under his attributes of thought and extension. The windows of Heaven allow spiritual illumination and perspective is poured out through the windows of Heaven and into our lives as we honor God. Everything follows from his essence by a logical necessity. Things could not have been produced by God in any other manner or order than that in which they were produced. All things must have followed of necessity from a given nature of God, and they were determined for existence or action in a certain way by the necessity of the divine nature. “And this the Lord did pour out his blessings upon this land, which was choice above all other lands; and he commanded that whoso should possess the land should possess it unto the Lord, or they should be destroyed when they were ripened in iniquity; for upon such, says the Lord: I will pour out the fulness of my wrath,” reports Ether 9.20. God has given life and then sustained it. He described a fact which is true for every human being: unforgiven sin will bring us unending torment. And he described the gift we all have been offered: those whose faith in Jesus Christ leads them to repentance and forgiveness will live in never-ending happiness. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
A grateful person is rich in contentment. An ungrateful person suffers in the poverty of endless discontentment. The full Christian doctrine does not restrict God’s creative act to an initial moment in the cosmic process. All things owe their being continuously to his power. He is a first cause in the order of existence, not of time, for he himself is supratemporal. What is to be said about time and its relation to eternity derives from the fact that eternity is also before time. This expresses the fact that eternity is the element which embraces time on all sides. Eternity faithfully accompanies time on high, just as on a journey we are accompanied from one horizon to another by the vault of Heaven which begins and ends beyond every horizon. Or to be more precise it consists in the fact that eternity does not will to be without time, but causes itself to be accompanied by time. God is as we are. God endures in his pure and perpetual duration as we have our confused and fleeting duration. It is not that God merely was and will be. This is also true, and everything depends on whether eternity is understood as the divine perfectum and futurum, and our past and future as surrounded by God’s eternity. God’s eternity is time. Time itself is in eternity. Its whole extension from beginning to end, each single part of it, every epoch. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
We have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if we have known of his goodness we are able to influence our audience. If we can remember and so remain grateful, we will retain a remission of our sins through all the losses and the gains of life. When we taste God’s love, and have received a remission of our sins, which causes such exceedingly great joy in our souls, even so we should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and our own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards us, unworthy creatures, and humble ourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel. “For it comes to pass that whoso build it up and seek to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it brings to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the Devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same lair who beguiled our first parents, even that same lair who beguiled our first parents, even that same lair who has caused humans to commit murder from the beginning; who has hardened the hearts of people that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning,” reports Ether 8.25. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
Nationalism is based on the divine election of a people and a land for the proclamation to all humankind of those demands that God makes of all people, but for the special representation of which God has chosen one nation, whose suffering derives from its unfaithfulness to its mission. How can you and I remember, always, the goodness of God, that we can retain a remission of our sins? The Holy Ghost brings back memories of what God has taught us. And one of the ways God teaches us is with his blessings; and so, if we choose to exercise faith, the Holy Ghost will bring God’s kindness to our remembrance. You could test that in prayer today. You could follow the command to thank the Lord, your God, in all things. For, one of the greatest sins which some are guilty of is the sin of ingratitude. Presumably, most of us have not thought of that as a great sin. There is a great tendency for us in our prayers and in our pleadings with the Lord to ask for additional blessings. However, sometimes we need to devote more of our prayers to expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving for blessings already received. We enjoy so much. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
God provided the human soul with infinite worth, and the ethical ideal of the kingdom of God. If you exercise faith, and with the gift of the Holy Ghost, you will find that memories of other blessings will flood into your mind. If you begin to express gratitude for each of them, your prayer may take a little longer than usual. Remembrance will come. And so will gratitude. The Holy Ghost has helped with that since the beginning of time. “Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the World not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is take from them in me, that is has no power over them,” reports Moroni 8.8. Ask yourself how did God bless you today? If you do that long enough and with faith, you will find yourself remembering blessings. And sometimes, you will have gifts brought to your mind which you failed to notice during the day, but which you will then know were a touch of God’s hand in your life. God is still on the throne and he has promotion and increase already lined up for you. His favor surrounds you like a shield. Goodness and mercy are following you. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
Eyes and ears of faith are needed to recognize the spiritual gift of enhanced discernment that can empower us to identify opportunities that other people may overlook. There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect. We should be thankful and express appreciation for all favors received—and surely we receive many. The chief objects of our gratitude, however, should be, and are, God, our Heavenly Father, and his son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer. To the Lord Jesus we own an undying debt of gratitude, for he bought us with a great price. It is impossible for us, weak mortals as we are, to fully comprehend and appreciate the sufferings he endured on the cross that he might gain for us the victory over death. Jesus is the Christ, he atoned for our sins, and he is the keys which unlock the doors of eternal life. Remembrance is the foundation of gratitude which is the foundation generosity. Gratitude for the remission of sins is the seed of charity, the pure love of Christ. And so, God has made possible for you and me this blessing, a change in our very natures. God will comfort and will our hearts with hope and perfect love, which love endures by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
The blessing of greater personal determination is a virtue for purposefully fulfilling life. Cultivating happiness, courage, humanity, and altruism provide a strong foundation for those bound to a cause that is considered worthwhile, even against tremendous odds. Sometimes we may wonder why no one is helping us with situations we are enduring, but the blessings that comes to us through the Heavenly windows may be greater capacity to act and change our own circumstances rather than expecting our circumstances to be changed by someone or something else. We must pray earnestly that God will strengthen and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies. And God will deliver us and give peace to our souls. Assurance, peace, faith, and hope are precisely the blessings we need to press forward and prevail physically and spiritually. God will give us physical and mental stamina. Along with an enlarged perspective and increased patience and grace. God will bestow upon us conviction and confidence as we strive to achieve worthy goals. And when we plead for relief from physical, mental, and spiritual difficulties, God will increase our resolve and resilience. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
Randolph Harris II International Institute 