Quotes to go with 2 Nephi 26:30 DM: Godhead
"God's chief way of acting is by
persuasion and patience and long-suffering, not by coercion and stark
confrontation. He acts by gentle solicitation and by sweet enticement. He
always acts with unfailing respect for the freedom and independence that we
possess"(Howard W. Hunter, "The Golden Thread of
Choice," Ensign, Nov. 1989, 18).
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Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Grandeur of God,” Ensign, Nov
2003, 70
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Of the many magnificent purposes served in the life and ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ, one great aspect of that mission often goes
uncelebrated. His followers did not understand it fully at the time, and many
in modern Christianity do not grasp it now, but the Savior Himself spoke of it
repeatedly and emphatically. It is the grand truth that in all that Jesus came to say and do, including and especially in His
atoning suffering and sacrifice, He was showing us who and what God our Eternal
Father is like, how completely devoted He is to His children in every age
and nation. In word and in deed Jesus was trying to reveal and make personal to
us the true nature of His Father, our Father in Heaven.
He did this at least in part because then and now all of us need to know God more fully in
order to love Him more deeply and obey Him more completely. As both Old and
New Testaments declare, “The first of all the commandments is … thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first [and great] commandment” (Mark 12:29–30; see
also Matt. 22:37–38; Deut. 6:5).
Father's familiar face-President Benson
"…Men
and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot
more out of their lives than they can.
He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds,
strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their souls, raise up
friends, and pour out peace. Whoever
will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life.
…Try as you may, you cannot put the Lord in
your debt. For every time you try to do
his will, He simply pours out more blessings upon you. Sometimes the blessings may seem to be a little
slow in coming-perhaps this tests your faith-but come they will, and
abundantly.
…We once knew well our
Elder Brother and His and our Father in Heaven. We rejoiced at the prospects of
earth life that could make it possible for us to have a fulness of joy. We
could hardly wait to demonstrate to our Father and our Brother, the Lord, how
much we loved them and how we would be obedient to them in spite of the earthly
opposition of the evil one.
Now we are here. Our
memories are veiled. We are showing God and ourselves what we can do. Nothing
is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side
than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar His face is to us.
God loves us. He is
watching us. He wants us to succeed. We will know some day that He has not left
one thing undone for the eternal welfare of each of us. If we only knew it,
heavenly hosts are pulling for us-friends in heaven that we cannot now remember
who yearn for our victory. This is our day to show what we can do-what life and
sacrifice we can daily, hourly, instantly make for God. If we give our all, we
will get His all from the greatest of all" (Ezra Taft Benson, "Jesus
Christ-Gifts and Expectations," Ensign, Dec. 1988, 6).
