March 31, 2013

In Ukraine, Easter is considered one of the most important religious holidays and it’s one of the favorite ones, too.  The people not only celebrate the resurrection of Christ but also the  coming of spring.  Easter in Ukraine is May 5^th.   That will be a wonderful time for Easter.  By then the snow will be all melted, the flowers and trees will be blooming and the earth will ready for the most promising celebration of the year.

 

 Easter here is a month away. And the Easter on the Julian calendar is this Sunday. So this will be kind of like our celebration here this past Christmas. Between the two countries, Easter will last a whole month and what a wonderful thing to celebrate for a whole month. So I will start my Easter Celebration on your Easter with an Easter wish to everyone for a wonderful, spiritual, peace-filled Easter. I am including some of my favorite quotes and thoughts about this wonderful and important holiday.

 

I Stand All Amazed

Charles H. Gabriel

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

The Greatest Miracle
Howard W. Hunter

Surely the Resurrection is the center of every Christian's faith; it is the greatest of all the miracles performed by the Savior of the world. Without it, we are indeed left hopeless. 1 Cor. 15:13–15, 17

Go with me back in time to those final scenes in the Holy Land. The end of our Lord's mortal life was near. He had healed the sick, raised the dead, and expounded on the scriptures, including those prophecies of his own death and resurrection. He said to his disciples:

"Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,

"And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again" (Matt. 20:18–19)

In the hours that followed, he sweat drops of blood, was scourged by the very leaders who claimed to be custodians of his law, and was crucified in the company of thieves.

Think of it! When his body was taken from the cross and hastily placed in a borrowed tomb, he, the sinless Son of God, had already taken upon him not only the sins and temptations of every human soul who will repent, but all of our sickness and grief and pain of every kind. He suffered these afflictions as we suffer them, according to the flesh. He suffered them all. He did this to perfect his mercy and his ability to lift us above every earthly trial.

But there remained one more set of chains to be broken before the Atonement could be complete: the bands of death.

When the women came to the tomb, they found it open and empty. The angels had tarried to tell them the greatest news ever to fall on human ears: "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said" (Matt. 28:6)

In the days that followed his resurrection, the Lord appeared unto many. He displayed his five special wounds to them. He walked and talked and ate with them, as if to prove beyond a doubt that a resurrected body is indeed a physical body of tangible flesh and bones.

It is the responsibility and joy of all men and women everywhere to "seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have [testified]" (Ether 12:41) and to have the spiritual witness of his divinity. It is the right and blessing of all who humbly seek, to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness of the Father and his resurrected Son.

As one called and ordained to bear witness of the name of Jesus Christ to the entire world, I testify at this Easter season that he lives. He has a glorified, immortal body of flesh and bones. He is the Only Begotten Son of the Father in the flesh. He is the Savior, the Light and Life of the world.

He Will

W. Jeffrey Marsh

Christ's mercy is the ultimate expression of His love for us. As Isaiah explained, He will teach us, comfort us, give us beauty, anoint us with the oil of joy, and clothe us with the garment of praise (Isaiah 61:3). The Atonement provides eternal life, but it is also a real power that helps us throughout life. It is our immediate help as well as our eternal hope.

The indescribable suffering which caused the Savior to descend below all things was something He willingly submitted to "because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men" (1 Nephi 19:9). Being thus filled with mercy, He now extends that loving-kindness and long-suffering to us.....

            

He will sustain and support us.

He will warn us of impending danger.

He will enlighten us.

He will strengthen and deliver us.

He will shield us.

He will change our nature.

He will give us peace and joy.

He will encircle us in the arms of his mercy.

Bruce R. McConkie – “Nothing in the entire plan of salvation compares in any way in importance with the most transcendent of all events, the atoning sacrifice of our Lord.  It is the most important single thing that has ever occurred in the entire history of created things; it is the rock foundation upon which the gospel and all other things rest.”

Elder Tad Callister – The Atonement is not just a prime teaching of the gospel; it is the heart of the gospel.  It infuses life into every doctrine, every principle, and every ordinance, transforming what might otherwise be a lofty but nonetheless lifeless ideal to a vibrant spiritual truth.  So essential is the Atonement to a purposeful life that on occasion it is referred to as “The gospel.”  While expounding to the Nephites the Savior confirmed this:  “This is the gospel…that I came into the world to do the will of my Father…And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross” (3 Nephi 27:13-14) 

If there had been no Atonement, the rising of every sun would be a reminder that for us it would one day rise no more, that for each of us death would claim its victory, and the grave would have its sting.  Every death would be a tragedy, and every birth but a tragedy in embryo.  The culmination of love between husbands and wives, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters would perish in the grave, to rise no more.  Without the Atonement, futility would replace purpose, hopelessness would be exchanged for hope and misery would be graded for happiness.  If there were no Atonement, Elder Marion G. Romney declared, “The whole purpose for the creation of earth and our living upon it would fail.”  

C. S. Lewis – …….if one takes away the miracles attributed to Buddhism, there would be no loss to the religion.  If all miracles were eliminated from Islam, nothing essential would be altered. But you cannot possibly do that with Christianity, because the Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion that Christ came into human nature, descended into His own universe, and rose again, bringing Nature up with Him.  It is precisely one great miracle.  If you take that away there is nothing specifically Christian left.”

 

James L. Gordon -  “A cathedral without windows, a face without eyes, a field without flowers, an alphabet without vowels, a continent  without rivers, a night without stars, and a sky without a sun – these would not be so sad as a…..soul without Christ. 

One Last Song, a favorite of mine by the Tabernacle Choir. 

Lilies of the Field

"Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow, how they grow."

"Consider the birds in the sky,
How they fly, how they fly.

He clothes the lilies of the field.
He feeds the birds in the sky.
And he will feed those who trust him,
And guide them with His eye."

"Consider the sheep of his fold,
How they follow where he leads.
Though the path may wind across the mountains,
He knows the meadows where they feed."

"He clothes the lilies of the field.
He feeds the birds in the sky,
And he will feed those who trust him,
And guide them with his eye."

"Consider the sweet, tender children
Who must suffer on this earth..."

The pains of all of them he carried
From the day of his birth.
He clothes the lilies of the field,
He feeds the lambs in His fold,
And he will heal those who trust him,
And make their hearts as gold."

Lilies of the Field

Have a wonderful, glorious Easter everyone, and may the comfort that the Atonement and the Resurrection of our Savior brings fill your hearts with joy.