SELF-WILL

 

"The submission of one's will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God's altar. The many other things we 'give', are actually the things He has already given or loaned us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God's will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!

- Neal A. Maxwell, , "Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father" General Conference October 1995

I pleaded with You on bended knee
My problems to resolve.
You sat in silence hoping I would give You
What you yearned the most to own:
My self-will, my hesitance to relinquish control.
In the end I gave it up
And found solace in Thy soul.

Yes, You said,
Now you understand.
I paved the way
In Gethsemane long ago.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Designed by ChinchillaPrints)

UPON A ROCK

 

"Someone once said you can't visually tell the difference between a strand of cobweb and a strand of powerful cable - until stress is put on the strand. Our testimonies are that way, and for most of us, the days of stress for our testimonies have already begun.

"It may not be the death of a loved one. We might not yet have been asked to give up something that is really precious to us, though the time for such a test may well come to us by and by.

"Our current stress is more likely to come in the form of overpowering temptations, which show us that a shallow acceptance of the gospel does not have the power to cope with the full fury of the powers of darkness.

"Perhaps there is a mission call to a place of illness and disappointment, when we had planned on a mission to a place of unbounded opportunity. Or perhaps there are too many questions to which our limited knowledge simply has no answer, and those who claim to know more than we do taunt us with what appears to be a persuasive certainty.

"When those times come, our testimonies must be more than the cobweb strand of a fair-weather faith. They need to be like strands of a cable, powerful enough to resist the shafts of him who would destroy us.

"In our days of stress and trouble, we must be built 'upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God....that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind....and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you....because of the rock upon which ye are built' (Helaman 5:12).

- Bruce C. Hafen, "The Believing Heart, 2nd ed. [1990] 21-22

There is none like Thee
My Saviour and my King,
With power and glory in Thy wings.
Who can compare and who can equal Thee
In Thy unfailing care of me?

Thou art the rock of my salvation
Thy wings my refuge from the fall.
Thou art my role model,

My example, my all.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: In Humility Our Saviour by Jay Bryant Ward)

MASTER CREATOR

 

A long time ago
When you created the heaven
And the earth,
You also appointed my time of birth.

You knew my place in time
And where and how I could grow,
You planned my life for me
Better than I could know.

Now I am here,
I still feel Your hand in mine,
You promised not to leave me
And bring me home in time.


- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: The Great Creator by Gabriel Heaton)

SELF-SACRIFICE

 

“The Saviour said He would no longer accept burnt offerings of animals. The gift or sacrifice He will accept now is a ‘broken heart and a contrite spirit’ (3 Nephi 9:20). You can offer the Lord the gift of your broken or repentant heart and your contrite, or obedient, spirit.

“In reality, it is the gift of yourself – what you are and what you are becoming. Is there something in you or in your life that is impure or unworthy? When you get rid of it, that is a gift to the Saviour. Is there a good habit or quality that is lacking in your life? When you adopt it and make it part of your character, you are giving a gift to the Lord.”

- Elder D. Todd Christofferson, in CR April 2004, Ensign May 2004, p 12

All that is unspoken
And all that is unseen
In the depths of my soul
I long to give.

All that you ask I place
On the altar of sacrifice.
All that I feel
And all that I am
I am willing to give.

I give You my all
Because a heart can give no more.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: For God So Loved the World by Jay Bryant Ward)