Alleluia

First thing is first: I am now the proud owner of a lovely new domain name! You can now visit my blog via www.whatmattersmostblog.com. If you enter in the old URL, you will still be redirected, but I think this address will be easier to find me at and easier to share with others. Oh, and I'm still working out the bugs, so make sure you include the "www." I'm trying to fix it so that it isn't necessary, but for now it is.
Domain names are complicated stuff, I tell you. I've already chatted with experts online, and I still can't fix the problem. But everything else is working, so I'll take it! A stubborn www. could be worse. :)

Alma 26:16:
Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.


Make everything you do about praising God.
Make everything you are about praising God.

When you do good for others, make it about God.
When others see your good works, they should be praising God, not you!

God gave us everything. He is the reason you exist, the reason you feel joy. He is the reason for everything that's beautiful in life. Remember to thank Him for it!

Praise Him in all things. Praise Him at morning and at night. During joy or during pain. Show Him that you are grateful for what you have, even if you feel like you don't have much.

I promise that praising God at all times will make you a happier, more grateful, and more lovely person. Praising God will keep you humble and will help you to remember whom to go to when you need help.
Praising God will become a habit, and soon enough, it will be second nature to you. And it will not be hard for you to praise Him when times get tough.

There is a being greater than you. Greater than me. There is a God greater than the whole earth, even greater than any wonderful thing you could ever dream up.
There is a God above, I know it. He is capable of anything. He can help you turn sorrow into joy and regret into peace. He can help you feel fulfilled and loved. He can perform miracles, and He can help you to do the same.

Do not take Him for granted. Do not forget Him. Show Him what He means to you by remembering to praise Him in all things. And try as hard as you can to emulate Him and radiate His love so that others will lift up their praises as well.


I absolutely adore this song, and I love the way it is presented in this video. And it gets even better at 6:45.



Yes, if there are words for Him, I simply don't have them.
I could never say the smallest part of what I feel.

But this I know: He is mine. He is yours. He is omnipotent, and He is perfect.

And I will praise Him in all things.



Haley

choose GOD

Sometimes it is hard to feel worthy.
A lot of times, actually.

We go through the motions, we try to do the right thing, we feel guilt over our mistakes, we repent. And yet, we never feel good enough. We always are stuck wondering, "is it enough??" "Am I on good terms with God?" "If I died now, would I go to the Celestial Kingdom?"

"In the end, after all the mistakes I've made, would God really choose me?"

This, my friends, is where we go wrong in our reasoning. Understand this: God will always choose you. Always. In reality, it is He who is hoping to be chosen by us.

It is He who is hoping that we will choose to be close to Him and choose to desire heaven. He wants you in heaven! And if you show Him that you desire heaven, that, in the end, you are willing to choose Him, Celestial glory will be yours one day! Even in spite of your mistakes!



I'll let Brad Wilcox explain:
"In the past I had a picture in my mind of what the final judgment would be like, and it went something like this: Jesus standing there with a clipboard and Brad standing on the other side of the room nervously looking at Jesus.

Jesus checks His clipboard and says, "Oh, shoot, Brad. You missed it by two points."

Brad begs Jesus, "Please check the essay question one more time! There have to be two points you can squeeze out of that essay." That's how I always saw it.

But the older I get, and the more I understand this wonderful plan of redemption, the more I realize that in the final judgment it will not be the unrepentant sinner begging Jesus, "Let me stay." No, he will probably just be saying, "Get me out of here!" Knowing Christ's character, I believe that if anyone is going to be begging on that occasion, it would probably be Jesus begging the unrepentant sinner, "Please, choose to stay. Please, use my Atonement - not just to be cleansed but to be changed so that you WANT to stay."

You guys, Christ's grace is sufficient. We are never going to be perfect, we won't even be close. But heaven is not just something you spend your life trying to earn. It is something you spend your life preparing for.

Choose God. Choose Him in everything you do. Draw close to Him, stay by Him. Work to please Him, and understand that when you let Him down (because you will, we all do), you can be saved by grace. You can be changed by grace, and the changes you undergo when you strive to be close to God are ones that prepare you for heaven better than anything else.

The Afterlife isn't about scorekeeping. It isn't about guilt or punishment.
It's about choosing God and being happy with your choice. Brad Wilcox also said, "Heaven will not be heaven for those who have not chosen to be heavenly."

Do you think the unrepentant sinners will want to dwell with God after they die? No! They would feel more comfortable and more happy elsewhere.

If heaven is what you want - if God is whom you choose - then heaven is what you will get.



God will always choose you. He will always want you near Him.
Choose the same. Choose heaven. Choose GOD.


Haley


P.S. Read this article about our liberal (what - liberal??) theology. I really enjoyed it. Salvation is for everyone!

sonder

I think sonder is a sort of urban dictionary type of word... not a Merriam Webster's kind of word, you know what I mean?

But still I love it. I love the idea of it.

Because, in a way, even the people who only think of others still live in their own world. What I mean by that is that you can't truly know the thoughts of another. No matter how much time you spend with them, you will still never know how complex their life is. What it's like to be them.


We, as humankind, live so strangely surrounded by others and yet alone at the same time.


I don't doubt that our God can keep up with the lives of everyone, but I have no idea how He does it.

And people can try to be one thing. Everyone tries to keep some things about themselves hidden when talking to everyday people. Still, I think the coolest moments are when you see little glimpses of who someone really is on the inside. Sometimes it comes by spending a lot of time with someone, sometimes you just happen to witness little inner doubts/thoughts flash in their eyes.

And when you try putting yourself in another's position, you see that everyone tries. Everyone has insecurities. Things they're good at and things they're bad at.

I really hope that acceptance can be something that I am good at.

And think a little before you get mad at or start disliking someone from something they did.

Because I think people are sometimes more justified in their actions than you'd realize.

Sometimes I do/say things that would totally not make sense to a random passerby, but whoever I'm with understands perfectly.
For example, last week I had to wander around Walmart and take pictures of different packages for a commercial art class I'm in. And I probably looked a little weird taking pictures of gross looking Valentine's candy, but I had reason to do it, you know?

Am I making sense at all?

I think... people are just people. They deserve love and most definitely respect, but they shouldn't scare you.

I just love reading the description of sonder. It's crazy to think about. That there are people in the world that don't even know I exist, yet I'm living a deep, complex, stressful, happy, crazy life with dozens of layers to it.

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
-Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)


People are so cool.
Creation is so cool.

You're His

Okay, this will most likely be pretty short, but I wanted to share with you this video...




"I now stand very aware of how it all came to be."


Okay. I'm obviously not a father. Nor will I ever be one.


But this is an incredible video with a powerful message and powerful music.


Trying to imagine the love and wonders of our Father is something that I really enjoy, but it at the same time overwhelms me.

I am so grateful for a Father who loves and who focuses everything He does on us.

He's close. He's oh, so close.

He's marvelous and good and fair.



And you're His.