Quoty: quotes tagged with 'covenants'

Each of you who really wants to endure to the g...

Each of you who really wants to endure to the glorious end that our Heavenly Father has foreseen should firmly establish some personal priorities. With many interests competing for your loyalty, you need to be careful first to stay safely �on the boat.� No one can serve two masters.�If Satan can get you to love anything�fun, flirtation, fame, or fortune�more than a spouse or the Lord with whom you have made sacred covenants to endure, the adversary begins to triumph. When faced with such temptations, you will find that strength comes from commitments made well in advance. The Lord said, �Settle this in your hearts, that ye will do the things which I shall teach, and command you.��He declared through His prophet Jeremiah, �I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.�

When priorities are proper, the power to endure is increased. And when internalized, those priorities will help keep you from �going overboard.� They will protect you from cheating�in marriage, in the Church, and in life.

If you really want to�be�like the Lord�more than any�thing�or�anyone�else�you will remember that your adoration of Jesus is best shown by your emulation of Him. Then you will not allow any other love to become more important than love for your companion, your family, and your Creator. You will govern yourself not by someone else�s set of rules but by revealed principles of truth.

Author: Elder Russell M. Nelson, Source: http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1997.h...
Saved by mlsscaress in church truth revelation priorities life loyalty protection savior marriage adoration principles covenants commitments interests adversary emulation

We can't fully overcome these habits and impact...

We can't fully overcome these habits and impacted tendencies by ourselves. Our own resolves, our own will, our own effort - all this is necessary but is not sufficent. We need the transforming power of the Savior, born of faith in him and his atoning sacrifice and of entering into a contract with him. In such a contract, made in ordinance work and in private prayer, we covenant, or promise, or witness to take upon ourselves his name and to keep his commandments. He, in turn, promises us to give us his spirit, which, if we are true to our promises, will renew and strengthen and transform us. In this way we combine our power with the power of the Almighty.

Before we renew our covenants in the sacrament, before we promise or resolve to overcome a bad habit and establish a new one, we should sit down first and count the cost.

If we realistically count the costs and then make a deep enough commitment, we, with the Lord's help, can overcome the gravity pull of habits and atmospheric resistance of our environment with all its luring temptations.

Author: Stephen R. Covey, Source: "Spiritual Roots of Human Relations", Deseret Book 1970 - 8th printing, p.93
Saved by mlsscaress in character commitment savior atonement practices covenants cost motives transformation resolve combine reorientation

The sacrament reminds me not just of the covena...

The sacrament reminds me not just of the covenants I made at baptism but also of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Atonement of Christ truly qualifies Him to invite you and me to follow Him into the presence of our Heavenly Father. Recall the invitation from Christ to come unto Him that we read in Matthew. We are all �heavy laden.� We each have cares, concerns, and sins that cause us to be heavy laden. It is through our repentance that we can receive rest. It is through our continued obedience to the commandments that we can receive rest. It is through the atoning sacrifice of the Savior that it is possible for Him to make a promise of rest.
Author: NEIL J. ANDERSON, Source: http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=11907&x=64&y=2
Saved by mlsscaress in obedience jesuschrist sin repentance promise sacrament atonement rest rest covenants qualify follow laden cares concerns continued

Ordinances and covenants help us remember who w...

Ordinances and covenants help us remember who we are. They remind us of our duty to God. The Lord has provided them to help us come unto Him and receive eternal life. When we honor them, He strengthens us.
Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2004. Quoted by Neil J. Anderson, Source: True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference. http://speeches.byu.edu...
Saved by mlsscaress in life strength trust duty honor covenants eternal identity receive ordinance grounding comeuntohim

We are a covenant people. If there is a disting...

We are a covenant people. If there is a distinguishing feature about members of the Church, it is that we make covenants. We need to be known as a covenant-keeping people as well. Making promises is easy, but to follow through and do what we have promised is another matter. That involves staying the course, being constant and steadfast. It means keeping the faith and being faithful to the end despite success or failure, doubt or discouragement. It is drawing near to the Lord with all our hearts. It is doing whatever we promise to do with all our might�even when we might not feel like it.
Author: F. Burton Howard, Source: Commitment, Ensign, May 1996, 27. http://library.lds.org/nxt/g...
Saved by mlsscaress in faith doubt discouragement covenants overcome steadfast constant promises

�He who picks up one end of the stick, picks up...

�He who picks up one end of the stick, picks up the other,� my marvelous mission president taught in his very first message to us. And that is the way it is supposed to be when we join this, the true and living Church of the true and living God. When we join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we board the Good Ship Zion and sail with her wherever she goes until she comes into that millennial port. We stay in the boat, through squalls and stills, through storms and sunburn, because that is the only way to the promised land. This Church is the Lord�s vehicle for crucial doctrines, ordinances, covenants, and keys that are essential to exaltation, and one cannot be fully faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ without striving to be faithful in the Church, which is its earthly institutional manifestation. To new convert and longtime member alike, we declare in the spirit of Nephi�s powerful valedictory exhortation: �Ye have entered in by the gate; � [but] now, � after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; � press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, � and endure to the end, behold, thus � ye shall have eternal life.�

Jesus said, �Without me ye can do nothing.� I testify that that is God�s truth. Christ is everything to us and we are to �abide� in Him permanently, unyieldingly, steadfastly, forever. For the fruit of the gospel to blossom and bless our lives, we must be firmly attached to Him, the Savior of us all, and to this His Church, which bears His holy name. He is the vine that is our true source of strength and the only source of eternal life. In Him we not only will endure but also will prevail and triumph in this holy cause that will never fail us. May we never fail it nor fail Him.
Author: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Source: Abide in Me,� Liahona, May 2004, 30�32. http://www.lds.org/lds...
Saved by mlsscaress in strength endurance conviction covenants steadfast triumph faithful permanent prevail keys pressforward attached

We visit teach because we've made covenants wit...

We visit teach because we've made covenants with the Lord, and they are fulfilled as we share our hearts and souls. We visit teach to extend charity, which is the "highest, noblest, strongest kind of love." Visiting teaching is all about family. As we show charity to those we serve, we become family by affection. We all belong to the Lord's family, and when we serve sisters�and through them their families�we strengthen the family as designed in the heavens.
Author: Bonnie D. Parkin , Source: Address given at the Fall 2003 Open House. http://www.lds.org/...
Saved by mlsscaress in soul heart family charity covenants serve affection visitingteaching sisters belong

The Lord hears and answers prayers. Sometimes w...

The Lord hears and answers prayers. Sometimes we tend to give up too soon when we pray to Him. We need to persist.

As an especial witness of Jesus Christ, called to bear testimony to the nations of the world (see D&C 107:25), I testify that He lives. He is our Savior. He knows you, and He knows me. He knows what is on our minds and in our hearts. He will be our advocate with the Father if we keep the covenants we make as we partake of the sacrament each week.

We can overcome the world if we aim to have balance in our lives. If we seek to have the Spirit with us at all times and be faithful in responding to His promptings, we will be blessed.
Author: Elder Robert F. Orton, Source: �Living a Balanced Life,� Ensign, Feb 2008, 64�68. http://www....
Saved by mlsscaress in persistence aim prayer balance sacrament covenants

It is a great challenge to raise a family in th...

It is a great challenge to raise a family in the darkening mists of our moral environment.

We emphasize that the greatest work you will do will be within the walls of your home (see Harold B. Lee, Ensign, July 1973, p. 98), and that �no other success can compensate for failure in the home� (David O. McKay, Improvement Era, June 1964, p. 445).

The measure of our success as parents, however, will not rest solely on how our children turn out. That judgment would be just only if we could raise our families in a perfectly moral environment, and that now is not possible.

It is not uncommon for responsible parents to lose one of their children, for a time, to influences over which they have no control. They agonize over rebellious sons or daughters. They are puzzled over why they are so helpless when they have tried so hard to do what they should.

It is my conviction that those wicked influences one day will be overruled.

�The Prophet Joseph Smith declared�and he never taught a more comforting doctrine�that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father�s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God.� (Orson F. Whitney, in Conference Report, Apr. 1929, p. 110.)

We cannot overemphasize the value of temple marriage, the binding ties of the sealing ordinance, and the standards of worthiness required of them. When parents keep the covenants they have made at the altar of the temple, their children will be forever bound to them.
Author: Elder Boyd K. Packer, Source: Our Moral Environment,� Ensign, May 1992, 66. http://www.lds.o...
Saved by mlsscaress in faith temple children environment home parents prayer sealing worthiness covenants moral posterity bound wander forever

The temple of God is the greatest university. ...

The temple of God is the greatest university.

The knowledge of the truths of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is the most valuable knowledge you will ever possess.

Go to the temple. The endowment is the eternal curriculum. In it we are taught where we came from and why we are here on earth, and we are given the promise of achieving life eternal in the celestial kingdom if we obey the commandments and covenants.
Author: Elder Robert D. Hales, Source: �Ten Axioms to Guide Your Life,� Liahona, Feb 2007, 34�39: ht...
Saved by mlsscaress in truth commandments temple promise endowment covenants eternal why

Many times we don�t comprehend the meaning of t...

Many times we don�t comprehend the meaning of the ordinances of the temple in their fulness until after we have known affliction or passed through experiences that could have been extremely sad without the knowledge of the plan of salvation.
Author: Elder Octaviano Tenorio , Source: The Power of Godliness Is Manifested in the Temples of God. Oc...
Saved by mlsscaress in strength temple salvation affliction knowledge covenants eternal fulness

Therefore, enduring to the end is not just a ma...

Therefore, enduring to the end is not just a matter of passively tolerating life�s difficult circumstances or �hanging in there.� Ours is an active religion, helping God�s children along the strait and narrow path to develop their full potential during this life and return to Him one day. Viewed from this perspective, enduring to the end is exalting and glorious, not grim and gloomy. This is a joyful religion, one of hope, strength, and deliverance. �Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy� (2 Nephi 2:25).

Enduring to the end is a process filling every minute of our life, every hour, every day, from sunrise to sunrise. It is accomplished through personal discipline following the commandments of God.

The restored gospel of Jesus Christ is a way of life. It is not for Sunday only. It is not something we can do only as a habit or a tradition if we expect to harvest all of its promised blessings. �Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap� (Galatians 6:7).

Enduring to the end implies �patient continuance in well doing� (Romans 2:7), striving to keep the commandments (see 2 Nephi 31:10), and doing the works of righteousness (see D&C 59:23). It requires sacrifice and hard work. To endure to the end, we need to trust our Father in Heaven and make wise choices, including paying our tithes and offerings, honoring our temple covenants, and serving the Lord and one another willingly and faithfully in our Church callings and responsibilities. It means strength of character, selflessness, and humility; it means integrity and honesty to the Lord and our fellowmen. It means making our homes strong places of defense and a refuge against worldly evils; it means loving and honoring our spouses and children.

By doing our best to endure to the end, a beautiful refinement will come into our lives. We will learn to �do good to them that hate [us], and pray for them which despitefully use [us]� (Matthew 5:44). The blessings that come to us from enduring to the end in this life are real and very significant, and for the life to come they are beyond our comprehension.
Author: Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf , Source: Have We Not Reason to Rejoice? October 2007 General Conference...
Saved by mlsscaress in sacrifice potential trust integrity character service joy home refinement reap sow perspective covenants refuge hardwork enduring active

Those who are sealed in holy temples and who fa...

Those who are sealed in holy temples and who faithfully keep their covenants will receive God�s glory, which �shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever� (D&C 132:19).

Sometimes, in our earthly impatience, we may lose sight of the Lord�s precious promises and disconnect our obedience from the fulfillment of these promises. The Lord has declared:

�Who am I, saith the Lord, that have promised and have not fulfilled?

�I command and men obey not; I revoke and they receive not the blessing.

�Then they say in their hearts: This is not the work of the Lord, for his promises are not fulfilled. But wo unto such, for their reward lurketh beneath, and not from above� (D&C 58:31�33).
Author: Elder Spencer J. Condie - Of the Seventy, Source: Claim the Exceeding Great and Precious Promises. October 2007 ...
Saved by mlsscaress in obedience patience covenants promises fulfillment

Joseph was affirming the fact that heaven is co...

Joseph was affirming the fact that heaven is constructed out of a web of human relationships that extend in every direction. By the time his work was done, he had laid the groundwork for men to be sealed to their wives across the eternities; for parents to be sealed to their children and their children�s children and to their parents and their parents� parents across infinite generations; and for friends to be bound to friends in a great assembly and Church of the Firstborn. Parley Pratt singled out this dimension to Joseph�s teachings as a supreme contribution:

'It was Joseph Smith who taught me how to prize the endearing relationships of father and mother, husband and wife; of brother and sister, son and daughter.

It was from him that I learned that the wife of my bosom might be secured to me for time and all eternity; and that the refined sympathies and affections which endeared us to each other emanated from the fountain of divine eternal love. . . .

I had loved before, but I knew not why. But now I loved�with a pureness�an intensity of elevated, exalted feeling, which would lift my soul from the transitory things of this grovelling sphere and expand it as the ocean.'

The privileged status of personal relationships was not just incidental to the Restoration; it was a primary focus. As Joseph wrote, �It was my endeavor to so organize the Church, that the brethren might eventually be independent of every incumbrance beneath the celestial kingdom, by bonds and covenants of mutual friendship, and mutual love.�When he later stated, with striking brevity, �Friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of �Mormonism,�� he was saying something about the deepest underpinnings of Mormon theology. Joseph rejoiced in his relationships to God, family, and friends, and he articulated a system that both revealed their eternal dimension and�this is key�provided the principles, ordinances, and knowledge to render them eternal.
Author: Terryl Givens, Source: �Lightning Out of Heaven�: Joseph Smith and the Forging of Com...
Saved by mlsscaress in love friendship covenants eternal restoration relationships bonds mormontheology

My beloved young friends, I know of no other wa...

My beloved young friends, I know of no other way for you to succeed or to be happy or to be safe. I know of no other way for you to be able to carry your burdens or find what Jacob called "that happiness which is prepared for the saints" (2 Nephi 9:43). That is why we make solemn covenants based on Christ's atoning sacrifice, and that is why we take upon us his name. In as many ways as possible, both figuratively and literally, we try to take upon us his identity. We seek out his teachings and retell his miracles. We send latter-day witnesses, including prophets, apostles, and missionaries, around the world to declare his message. We call ourselves his children, and we testify that he is the only source of eternal life. We plead for him to swing open the gates of heaven in our behalf and trust everlastingly that he will, based upon our faithfulness.
Author: Jeffrey R. Holland, Source: Come Unto Me, fireside address 7 March 1997: http://speeches.b...
Saved by mlsscaress in testify faith happy miracles seek covenants identity safe burdens