THE SPIRIT OF CONTENTION

New Year's Eve, 2015

I read 3 Nephi chapter 11 this morning and in verse 29 it reads, "For verily, verily, I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirrith  up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another."

Christ came to bring us the spirit of love, the spirit of healing, and the spirit of peace.  This theme carries over when we look at the difference we feel inside when God lovingly uses the Holy Spirit to nudge us when we need to leave a bad habit or pathway which is destructive to us and how we feel when the advisary is speaking to us.  ( For example, when we realize we are being judgmental of friends or neighbors. )  God makes us aware of our need to change and improve, then guides us in our efforts with encouragement and support.  Whereas Satan will whisper to us, "You're not good enough, you're not nice enough, you will never measure up, so just give up now.  Besides, you are justified in your attitude toward your neighbors who can be jerks!"

When those kinds of negative and destructive thoughts come into our minds, we need to recognize their source.  We need to ask Heavenly Father to help us feel of His love, and ask to know of His true desires for the ways He can help us change and become more like the Savior. God will never tear us down or try to make us feel worthless.  His desire is to help us see that we have divine DNA and divine potential.

SIMPLE TRUTHS

12-28-2015.  I was reading Elder Rasband's testimony at the last General Conference when he had just been called as an Apostle. His testimony was simple and sweet. He reminded us that "The Lord said 'Love one another as I have loved you' . I am confident that there is no choice, sin, or mistake that you or anyone else can make that will change His love for you or them."  What a a wonderful reminder of His great love for us and His desire for us to make choices which will result in joy and peace in our lives.

7-31-2014. In the midst of the terrible wars going on in the world, particularly the bombing between Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, I am extraordinarily blessed to be living in America.  I don't have to spend my days fretting with fear that my children and grandchildren might be killed by bombs day in and day out. I cannot even imagine the daily experiences of these women around the world. How easy it can be to take our peace and safety for granted.

CHANGING THINGS UP

Well, I haven't posted anything on here for a long time. In church today, one of the speakers spoke of how he had felt prompted to figure out a way to share his ponderings of the scriptures with his children.  He ultimately decided to start a regular blog and his family could choose to read his ideas and feelings if they wanted to, or not if they didn't wish to.  That got me thinking about how over the past 18 months or so I have been much better at regularly doing just that in a written journal.  So my New Year's resolution is to try to transfer some of those journal entries onto my blog and then add to them with new ideas.  I had always thought I would just keep journaling my feelings and notions until I die and then maybe my family would want to read those journals.  I hadn't considered what a big endeavor that would be for them.  Much easier to look at "Mary Ponders" regularly for short samples.  Although my first desire is to share my spiritual feelings with my family, I am leaving this as an open blog for any of my friends or relatives who may be curious.

(July 30, 2014)    Always nice to have a new journal.  I have challenged my Sunday school students (ages 12 and 13) to follow President Eyeing's advice to take the time to jot down one or two things each day which you are grateful for, or ways you have seen God's hand in our life that day.
     Kim came over to mow the lawn today and Finn came down to the nearby tennis courts to watch me play.  It felt good to have him there and he came with me to run some errands later on.  I felt a special close bond with him

today and it was a sweet experience.