It has been said we can evolve into gods (“The Origin of Man” Improvement Era, Nov. 1909, Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder,
Anthon H. Lund, First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).

This isn't true in the sense how the theory of evolution teaches animals evolved from one species to another for Brigham Young said we are the same species as God-Journal of Discourses, 4:217-218 and Tad R. Callister said, “The difference between man and God is significant—but it is one of degree, not kind.” “Our Identity and Our Destiny” Aug. 14, 2012 BYU Devotional. We can’t evolve into gods just like we didn’t evolve from a lower species. The direct and lineal/biological parents of our race/species as both spirits and humans are Heavenly Father and Mother, and they are what we can grow up to become by obeying the same laws they did to reach godhood.

Christ Suffered Irony and Injustice Like No Other

“In quiet, restrained, divine dignity he stood when they cast their spittle in his face. He remained composed. Not an angry word escaped his lips. They slapped his face and beat his body. Yet he stood resolute, unintimidated.” Spencer W. Kimball, “Jesus of Nazareth,” December 1980 Ensign. He who could command legions of angels, was praised by concourses of angels, was above the angels, was made below the angels and was strengthened by an angel-Matthew 26:53; Luke 22:43; Hebrews 1:4; 2:7, 9. He suffered disgrace to give us grace. He whose heart broke on the cross under the weight of our sins binds up our broken hearts and give us changed, new hearts-D&C 138:42; Hymn #172; Ezekiel 18:31; 36:26; Alma 19:33; Mosiah 5:2, 7. 

He descended below all things. He condescended from His throne in the temple in heaven, His heavenly home, to be born on earth-His footstool-in a borrowed manger. He took upon Himself flesh and blood-Mosiah 7:2 so that we could receive His flesh, His name. “the Creator of heaven and earth “and all things that in them are” was, at least in His adult life, homeless” “Are We Not All Beggars?” Jeffrey R Holland, October 2014 General Conference-Matthew 8:20; Luke 9:58 and then after His death He was buried in a borrowed tomb. He condescended a second time to live a sinless life and then descended below all things by taking upon Himself all sin. He who sat on the heavenly throne was sent to the worst world of all His creations-Moses 7:36 among the worst people on that world-2 Nephi 10:3. Through His self-exinanition we are exonerated and can receive exaltation.

The bread of life was hungry. The living waters was thirsty and was given vinegar to drink. Christ was from the tribe of Judah, a direct descendant of David, so without the Roman rule he would have been the king of the Jews. The Jews killed their King, their God, their Law Giver, their Creator and their potential spiritual father; again the irony. Just like only someone who has withstood all of temptation, as did Christ-Alma 7:11; Mosiah 3:7; D&C 20:22, is the only one who knows its power; only someone who is sinless and takes on all sin really understands sin’s effect on the spirit. The rest of us grope about in naivete and ignorance with temptation and are desensitized to the effects of sin. Think of the stark opposition and irony he suffered being the most sensitive to the Spirit, being the most worthy child of God, and then being made the most guilty and therefore the least worthy of the Spirit during the atonement-Stephen E. Robinson, Believing Christ, 118–19. He lived our lives and died for us so we could live like Him and with Him. He descended below all to allow and enable us to become His joint-heir! 

The sinless judge of all was judged by sinful men. The only being heaven owed anything to paid the debt of all and for all. The King of kings, Lord of lords and Son of Righteousness-2 Nephi 26:9; 3 Nephi 25:2; Ether 9:22-took upon Himself the form of a servant-Philippians 2:7 and was made a slave for the slaves of sin. The laws of men unrighteously judged the righteous lawgiver. He who will judge the world “was judged of the world”-1 Nephi 11:32. The anointed healer was left with no aid. Similar to the idea that “though the title king of kings embraces all such things, it reaches far beyond them” Parry and McConkie Guide to Scriptural Symbols; Christ is the highest intelligence, not just the smartest, but “more intelligent than all the other intelligences combined. His intelligence is greater than that of the mass.”(Milton R. Hunter, Pearl of Great Price Commentary, 58 quoted in Kenneth W. Godfrey’s article “The History of Intelligence in Latter-day Saint Thought” in The Pearl of Great Price: Revelations from God, 216); John 3:31; Ephesians 1:21; 4:10; Abraham 3:19; Col. 1:16; 2:10. He suffered more pain than the combined suffering of all of God’s children-Marion G. Romney, Oct 1953 Conference. 

Christ suffered the punishment of our sins and offers us forgiveness. Christ paid our debt and gives us salvation for free-2 Nephi. 2:4. David J. Stewart said, “Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay." The atoner suffered estrangement-Psalm 22:1; Mark 15:34. The 2nd Comforter was left without comfort. The one who was most loyal suffered betrayal-Luke 22:48. He asked God to forgive those that were crucifying him. The lion was as a lamb to the slaughter-Revelation 5:5-6. The prince of peace suffered violence on both sides of the veil-hence he was in agony, agony in Greek means to be in a competition with an adversary; hence Satan sought to kill Christ-Smith, Words of Joseph Smith, 28; and it was prophesied that Satan would bruise Christ’s heel but Christ would crush Satan’s head-Genesis 3:15. The prince of peace destroyed enmity-Ephesians 2:15-16. He who had life in Himself gave up His life-John 5:26; Luke 23:46. The righteous judge suffered unrighteous judgment. The just suffered for the unjust-1 Peter 3:18. The fountain of all blessings was made a curse for us-Galatians 3:13. He drank the bitter cups of sin-Mosiah 27:29; Alma 36:18, 21 [and death]-D&C 42:47; Hebrews 2:9 without becoming bitter-Neal A. Maxwell “Irony: The Crust on the Bread of Adversity,” Ensign, November 1989. “The very foes who [slayed] Him have access to [His] grace.” Hymn #197, “O Savior, Thou Who Wearest A Crown.” The King of kings wore a crown of thorns. He who clothed the heavens was stripped of His raiment. He who holds the scepter in his hand and breaks the scepters of wicked rulers was scourged with 40 stripes-2 Nephi 24:5; D&C 106:6; Matthew 27:26; Mark 15:15. Through His stripes we are healed-1 Peter 2:24; Isaiah 53:5. The light of the world plumbed the darkest abyss-Mosiah 27:29; Alma 26:3. He who was wrongfully accused is our advocate. He who had life in Himself feared death and was subject to death-John 5:26; Hebrews 2:15; Mosiah 15:7. He who was in agony of mind renews our minds and gives us His mind-1 Corinthians 2:16; Romans 12:2. Truly he comprehends all things and is in all and through all things-D&C 88:6. Some people feel like no one understands them. Christ understands us better than we understand ourselves. The truth is no one understands Christ.

During the atonement Christ's humanity and divinity are most easily seen. His divinity was seen not just in His ability to lay down and take up his life, but in his ability and choice to exinanite Himself. He exinanited himself or emptied himself of all divinity but kept only the portion of divinity that would help him fulfill the task, not make it easier, but increase his ability to suffer. His divinity was seen as he sweat great drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. His divinity was seen as He lived each one of our lives for us. His divinity was seen as he declared who he was to the mob and they all fell to the ground. His humanity was seen as he knelt and pleaded for another way to fulfill the atonement. His humanity was seen as he needed help from an angel in the garden of Gethsemane. His humanity was seen as he needed help carrying the cross. His divinity was seen when, "In quiet, restrained, divine dignity he stood when they cast their spittle in his face. He remained composed. Not an angry word escaped his lips. They slapped his face and beat his body. Yet he stood resolute, unintimidated." 

His humanity was seen as he cried out on the cross asking His Father why he forsook him. His divinity was seen as he healed the ear of the soldier that was part of the mob that came to get him. His divinity was seen as he pleaded with God while on the cross to forgive the Roman soldiers for crucifying him. His divinity was seen as he made sure Mary would be taken care of. His divinity was seen as he offered comfort to the others being crucified with him. No one can comprehend the love it takes to be that selfless, that humble. Oh the power, the love, the devotion, and the example of our Savior. I praise Him for who He is, for what He accomplished on this earth over 2000 years ago, for his forgiveness, His mercy, grace and merits. I love my Savior. Even during the atonement he gave us a perfect example of humility, obedience and doing God's will no matter what. I praise Christ for showing weakness and suffering all temptation but never giving in to temptation, for he never sinned. Christ's humanity taught us the difference between weakness and sin, He taught us how to be weak without sinning. Weakness is not a sin and can be a strength if it we allow it to humble us and bring us closer to God. We are never taller than when we are on our knees.

So I think I'm beginning to understand grace and works now. Our works are just us opening the gift of grace. Our works are when our will lines up with God's, but we can't do anything good on our own, for all good things come from God-Moroni 7:13. Even the ability to use our will or moral agency is a gift. God doesn't just forgive us and cleanse us, he changes us, strengthens us and even changes our desires-Alma 19:33. Once we fell and sinned we couldn't save ourselves, hence we needed a mediator. David J. Stewart said, “Jesus paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay” hence salvation is free-2 Nephi 2:4. Christ paid the price and fulfilled the punishment; hence again we can't pay anything back to God, for the gift has to be pure and the giver has to be sinless to merit anything. We don't obey or repent out of payment or punishment, but as a gesture of our willingness to receive Christ's atoning blood. Christ is the only being that heaven owes anything to. We can't earn blessings or gifts, we can only use our will to choose to use the gift of moral agency in a moral way. Since our will is the only thing we can give God that isn't His already, again everything beyond our will is a gift from God, unearned, unpaid for by us, but gratefully received through our willingness to obey and our willingness to be perfected in Christ. After all we can do=our will, we are saved by grace=moral agency, changed desires, power to obey and changed heart, changed mind, expanded soul, changed into a new creature, the ability to qualify to receive any and all blessings including immortality and ultimately eternal life-2 Nephi 10:24; 25:23. It makes sense to me because apart from being an intelligence and having a will all the good we have, all the good we do and the good we are comes from God. Christ taught it beautifully in John 15:1-5 where he said he is the vine and we are the branches. The branches can’t do anything good on their own, they only produce fruit by receiving what is given to them through the vine. We don't do anything good on our own, only through and because of Christ hence 2 Nephi 2:8 states we can dwell in God's presence through Christ's merits, mercy and grace. Another good example Christ taught was that we are yoked to Him through ordinances and covenants-Matthew 11:29-30. We are yoked with Christ as we exchange our sins for his perfect attributes. Not only is it an uneven exchange, it's an undeserved and unearned exchange. Being yoked then to Christ our journey back to God is never done on our own, it is done through, because of and with Christ. Ordinances are received through Christ’s authority and covenants are fulfilled through God’s help. We receive baptism and are given the Holy Ghost to enable us to fulfill those covenants. Finally 1 Nephi 3:7 states God prepares the way for us to fulfill commandments. Nephi and his brothers failed the first two times when they left it up to chance and bribery-the philosophies of men. Nephi succeeded at getting the brass plates when he followed the Spirit. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, His ways are not our ways, luckily, because our ways lead to death and misery. His ways lead to eternal life and true happiness.

We all know words are powerful. The written word is what separates us from the rest of creation. Words can reveal or conceal information. They can evoke the whole spectrum of emotions. They lead to further discussion, debate or ridicule. What we say is very important as Christ stated, "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man"-Matthew 15:11. And so He commanded us to, "let your words tend to edifying one another"-D&C 136:24. The word of God is more powerful than men's words. Not just because men's words are not eternal and God's are, but because God's words are living entities with amazing properties. Joseph Fielding McConkie stated, “Words too are living things, created in the image and likeness of those who breathed into them the breath of life...That there is a power innate to the word itself is illustrated in the revelation which states, “For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (D&C 84:45).” Gospel Symbolism, 13. The word of God is a living thing. 
 Another example of this is how Christ is the Word-John 1:1. Christ is the source of the words and power of God, Christ is the power by which all things are created. Creation is made by, of and for Christ-D&C 93:10. Since all things were created by and of Christ and all things have life because of Christ why would His words be any different?
Another way the word of God is depicted as being alive is that it breaks the heart-Jeremiah 23:9. A way to convey how active or lively the word of God is God compares it to a sword that cuts the joints and marrow or soul and spirit-D&C 11:2; Hebrews 4:12; Acts 7:54. Alonzo Gaskill elaborates on the symbol of the sword, "The symbolism of the sword as the word of God is enshrined in the word Sword, i.e. se-word or is-word [meaning] "the fire or light of the word." The Anglo-Saxon for a sword was seax [which meant] "the fire of the great fire." Similarly the Italian spada resolves into sepada [which translates] the fire of the shining father, and the German sabel into "fire of bel."...Swords also symbolize discernment, and that which separates." The Savior and the Serpent. 
We also know, “The Spirit of God speaking to the spirit of man has power to impart truth with greater effect and understanding than the truth can be imparted by personal contact even with heavenly beings. Through the Holy Ghost the truth is woven into the very fibre and sinews of the body so that it cannot be forgotten.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:48). “As you dedicate yourself to living the gospel with greater purpose than ever before and search the scriptures, treasuring them up in your heart, the same Holy Ghost, who revealed these words to apostles and prophets anciently, will testify to you of their truthfulness. In essence, the Holy Ghost will reveal them anew to you. When this happens, the words that you read are no longer only the words of Nephi or Paul or Alma, but they become your words.” David M. McConkie, "Teaching with the Power and Authority of God" November 2013 Ensign. This may be how the Spirit weaves the word of God into the fibers of our spirits-by dividing the heart, like a needle thread with fabric goes in and around the other fibers the word of God cuts through and is woven into who we are expanding us at the same time like a blanket expanding with the added fabric!
May we be more diligent in feasting upon the words of Christ-2 Nephi 31:20 so that our spirits will expand-Alma 5:9; 32:34 until we measure up to "the stature of the fulness of Christ"-Ephesians 4:13.

Lust or Love?

     Next time you look at the news, watch a t.v. show, a movie or view any other type of media, count how many times you see something sexually enticing, provacative or down right pornographic. Today's media is after one thing: money. The way they get it is playing on our base carnal instinct to be attracted to violence and sex. It's actually linked to our amygdala=the part of the brain stimulated by violence and sex. So the media plays on this knowledge against its viewers, and often beyond our perception or recognition. The sex portrayed in the media 9 times out of 10 is some type of fornication or adultery, or both. We are very influenced by what we watch. Studies have been done to show a link between viewing violence and acting more violent afterwards. This may not seem like a big deal to most people, but take a naturally violent person and have them view a violent movie or play a violent video game and they will be more likely to act violently. I seriously believe that these acts of serious violence in the past few years we have seen around the world are linked to the amount of violence those people allowed themselves to view to whatever degree. It wasn't just that they were psycho. I believe viewing pornographic or leud material of any kind at any degree will have a similar effect on us. The more you view something the more you think about it, so naturally it increases your likelihood of acting on those thoughts. The world's definition of love and true love are two totally different things. The world's definition of love 99% of the time is more lust than love.
     What is the difference between lust and love? The basic definition of lust is a self centered focus to fulfill self gratification. Love is selflessness or sacrificing yourself for the benefit of another. All of our problems in society today deal with a lack of love to one degree or another. Specifically speaking about lust vs. love we definitely need to understand the difference and stop believing the lies the media tell us.
     The world's philosophy says "do what makes you feel good." Lust fits quite nicely into that statement. Lust has no quams with abusing others or taking advantage of others in any degree or way as long as one's "needs" are met. And yes those "needs" are really just wants. We need connection and love. Marital relations fulfills that when done selflessly by both husband and wife. Yes we can, but shouldn't, even lust after our own spouse (D&C 42:23). The following scenario has happened to more couples than we probably realize. There was a couple on the first night of their honeymoon. The new bride was very tired and just wanted to sleep. The husband wanted to consummate the marriage and took that desire to the extreme in a seriously negative way and forced himself on his wife raping her. Yes this probably happens more than we think. And yes, it proves we can indeed end up lusting even after our own spouse. This is a serious problem.
     The problem is we don't understand the symbolism of marital relations. It has a symbol and a sacred purpose. Its purpose is to renew marital covenants to sacrifice yourself to your spouse when you get married; hence in multiple religions couples kneel across an altar and hold hands to symbolize that sacrifice and promise. Hence sex is a physical action depicting just that: taking the most sacred and powerful part of you and controling it in such a way to fulfill your spouses needs for love and connection. The point most people miss is that if both husband and wife are doing it right then both will enjoy the moment the most. This isn't meant to stop us from enjoying sex, it is meant to enhance our ability to enjoy it. Satan would have us believe that we are just animals destined to follow our instincts and just fornicate and commit adultery just because we can't control our sexual impulses. I beg to differ. We are children of God and it's up to us to control our actions by controlling our thoughts. If we have inappropriate thoughts, just replace them with good ones. Let's stop acting like we have no choices and have to succomb to our base instincts and continue acting like mindless animals that can't control ourselves. We are far more than that and it is time we started acting like it. It's up to us to get rid of pornography, fornication and adultery or else we will be punished severely for our actions. Sex is a power to create life, and we are stewards of that power fumbling along trying to use it the way God would want us to. We can and should do so much better.

The Law of Attraction and the Power of our Thoughts

     It's been about a year since my last post. Today I'd like to talk about The Secret everyone knows about by now. It's not really a secret, it's pretty basic and actually is found in a book of scripture well known to Mormons, The Doctrine and Covenants. It is the law of attraction taught in D&C 88:40, "For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things." It is very similar to the law of the harvest, the law of the boomerang or karma, whatever you want to call it. The law of the harvest says what you do comes back to you. The law of attraction is more than what The Secret teaches. It's not just that we attract to us what we think about, but that we attract to us the same kind of people that we are. Like marriage, when I was single I was worried, too much at times, about the ladies I chose to date, instead of the man I was becoming and therefore the women I was attracting. We need to be more careful with our thoughts. This idea reminds me of the book As a Man Thinketh. Another quote it reminds of was by one of the prophets of the restoration that said something along the lines of, our thoughts turn to actions, our actions turn to habits, habits define our character, and character determines our destiny. We determine our destiny. Just like President Thomas S. Monson, current prophet, said, "The future is as bright as your faith" (April 2009 "Be of Good Cheer").
     To stress the point of how important our thoughts are, anciently Egyptians thought if they stopped thinking about the universe it would cease to exist. Scientists have discovered there are particles that exist only when we think about them. Of course when we study history, and especially our recent history, we see the power of the mind in all the inventions and discoveries men and women have accomplished.
     I'd like to end this post with something a bit controversial, and I know many people won't agree with my opinion, but who cares. I feel that our society has become way to lax with what is acceptable behavior. The current philosophy is "do what makes you happy." This philosophy is flawed in so many ways. In our politically correct stupidity we have sacrificed morals for tolerance, even apathy and in some cases anarchy. I believe in being tolerant, but ever since the 60's we have thrown out many morals. Pornography is a plague that has swept the world over, gays and lesbians are being more and more accepted as part of mainstream society, and drugs and premarital sex are rampant. Although we have progressed in many ways, there is still plenty of slavery in America and all over the world, there is still way too much racism and hate crimes, etc. We are on a very slippery slope and must change our mind set if we want to really progress and be better prepared to meet our Maker. I am a sinner like all of us are, and don't presume to make eternal judgments on anyone, gays or lesbians included. As David A. Bednar, one of the current 12 apostles has said, there are no gays or lesbians, just people that struggle with same gender attraction. The problem is not the struggle with same gender attraction but the real problem is identifying who you are with the body and not with your eternal spirit. Christ and Nephi didn't identify themselves with their bodies. They identified themselves with their spirits (2 Nephi 4:17, 27; 3 Nephi 1:14). The body is good, but it is susceptible to evil. Without the spirit the body is dead (James 2:26). We must not let the body control the spirit but the let the spirit lead. The body is the clothing of the spirit (D&C 138:43; Job 10:11). Just because we have bad tendencies, or inappropriate thoughts or feelings, doesn't mean we have to succumb to them. We need to stop believing the lies that Satan and our bodies tell us, acting like animals that have to obey every impulse or thought we get. The argument that "I was born this way," no matter what that pertains to (being gay/lesbian, wanting to steal, drink, smoke, etc.)  robs us of our agency and is a cop out Satan uses to lead us to not overcome what we can overcome because we are children of God after all.
     In the end we must realize that what we choose to think about for long periods of time becomes our destiny eventually. We are free to choose what thoughts and feelings we focus on and what actions we take. Scientists have proven we can rewire the brain through our thought processes. That's what psychologists do with their patients. We can do it on our own if we just choose to focus on good things and keep doing it until the negative thoughts no longer plague us. I know that with God's help and our good desires we can overcome anything that stops us from reaching our divine potential. If you don't have good desires, just pray to God and ask Him to change them (Alma 19:33; Mosiah 5:2). Let's stop acting like animals, just following our base instincts, and live above the mediocrity, and live up to our potential.