Come boldly

This is a Shaina-scripture-study notes post. I always appreciate insights into what others do during their daily scripture time, so I thought I’d share my latest. I do not always come away with paragraphs of insights. In fact usually, I read a little, get interrupted, and then try again tomorrow.

All week I have been doing just that, with extra interruptions. 

One morning I prayed over my scriptures “I don’t know how long I’m going to be here, but please help me to make it count!” and right when I ended my prayer, the telltale stomp of kids’ feet came for me before I even read a word. Half an hour later, I opened my scriptures app and prayed again “I’m back! Help it to last this time!” and I was finally able to squeeze in ten or fifteen minutes of thoughtful study. Normally I stick with the Book of Mormon and General Conference talks because quality over quantity is my mantra with personal time right now. But over the past week, I have been exploring the new Gospel Topics section of the LDS Gospel Library app. It makes actually STUDYING the scriptures so much easier for your average swamped-busy-parent.

The new Gospel Topics study list is amazing! It feels like cheating to have all of those references organized so neatly, but I am taking advantage of it anyways. In conjunction with my memorization of The Living Christ, I began with the topic “Atonement of Jesus Christ” last week, and got distracted partway through by one of the scripture references listed: Hebrews 4:14-16. Verse 16 really caught my eye and led me over to study grace.

Hebrews 4:14-16

14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

First I read all of the footnotes in these three verses. Then I went back and read the entire chapter. Next I read the whole chapter plus all of the footnotes. Studying the scriptures on a smartphone is so sleek, fast, and easy! After carefully considering the words in Hebrews chapter 4, I came up with a few conclusions of my own from these three verses:

• Jesus Christ is no longer on the earth, so it is important for those of us who follow him to “hold fast our profession” aka, stay true and faithful to his teachings, and share his gospel and his love.
• During his mortal life, Jesus felt temptation just like us, but he was able to face them without sinning. He knows what REAL LIFE feels like. What a massive feat to overcome the endless daily setbacks and frustrations–big and small–without succumbing to any kind of negative reaction or sin! Basically, he understands what it’s like because he’s been there. He is approachable.
• Since Jesus Christ has atoned for our sins and has experienced temptations without committing sin himself, we can feel secure in his loving understanding of our situation when we come unto His throne of grace. We can come unto him with confidence and receive not only mercy and forgiveness, but also spiritual healing and powerful divine assistance to continue onward!

As I broke down these three verses on my own, I noticed what a well-crafted progression it is, from the main big idea to the meat of the matter: follow Jesus Christ’s example, remember that he loves you and understands your situation firsthand, and come unto him with confidence for help anytime. What a simple, effective pattern.

Next I moved on to study grace in the nifty new Gospel Topics section of the LDS Gospel Library app. My favorite parts: “Grace is the help or strength given through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ…The word grace, as used in the scriptures, refers primarily to enabling power and spiritual healing offered through the mercy and love of Jesus Christ…To receive this enabling power, we must obey the gospel of Jesus Christ…and try to follow [his] teachings for the rest of our lives.”

So, replacing grace with those helpful explanatory words, verse 16 could say:

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of Christ’s enabling power and spiritual healing, that we may obtain mercy, and find love and strength through His atonement to help in time of need.”

I would punctuate it differently, but for comparison purposes I stuck with the King James version.

Why boldly? I kept asking myself. Boldly means “in a confident and courageous way, showing a willingness to take risks.” I am not a bold person in general. It takes me a whole lot of mental preparation to kick any feeble flame of courage into gear. I approach most new situations with caution and reserve. But maybe that’s my answer:

•  Coming unto the throne of grace should be such a regular occurrence that it is no longer a new unfamiliar situation. Even a naturally timid person like me can feel courageous and even bold in a familiar situation.
• Mental preparation is vital when accessing the enabling power and strength given through God’s grace.
•   It is never a risk to come unto Christ.
•  Approaching God with confidence implies regular repentance.
• Boldness is not required or necessary in every situation.
• The knowledge that God loves each of us unconditionally can also give us confidence to request his help. Unconditional love provides a safe space to work in.

This is where I am right now in my study. I have started reading the list of references from prophets and church leaders under grace. There is SO MUCH MORE material–the list just keeps scrolling! This study has really only just begun.

“God loves us deeply, perfectly, and everlastingly. I cannot even begin to estimate ‘the breadth, and length, and depth, and height [of] the love of Christ.’ A powerful expression of that love is what the scriptures often call the grace of God–the divine assistance and endowment of strength by which we grow from the flawed and limited beings we are now into exalted beings of ‘truth and light’.” –Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

Grace helps us learn, grow, and progress.

Grace is a powerful expression of God’s love.

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

I am so thankful for grace and the pure love behind it.

SOURCES, cited Shaina-style as usual:

·        The Living Christ: the Testimony of the Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, on lds.org.

·        The New Testament: Hebrews 4:14-16

·        Gospel Topics: Grace, in the LDS Gospel Library app, also available on lds.org.

·        “The Gift of Grace” by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, April 2015 General Conference

My family is about as bold as they come:

Exhibit A: Rose is the boldest of us all.

Exhibit B: Jay, shooting a water gun at my face when I was wearing clothing. Grampa Dan and Grama Leslie got a small above-ground pool this year for grandkids to swim in, and it has been a hit! I just don’t want to get a jet of pool water in my face.

Exhibit C: Amber, standing on top of our house’s funky old, GLASS underground greenhouse of uncertain sturdiness with a one story DROP beneath her feet. We did our best to scold-scare her sufficiently that so far she has not repeated this feat.

Reverse piggy back ride at bedtime: the only way to capture Amber after 5pm. 

Jay joined the summer swim team this week, somehow managing to pass the swim test (across the short side of the pool. After practice the first night (Monday, June 4th), he said “I did breast stroke and the free-for-all” (freestyle–haha). He is impressing us all with his optimism. On night three he said “Everyone else passed me lots of times, but it was still fun.” The boy loves water. I love how his enthusiasm is not dampened by skill differentials. I also love those wee hips squinched into the speedo-jammer-suit. Nine year old boys may be the best inventions ever.

MUD. Sunday dress. Ambyyy!

Took this one while I was trying to type this post. Amber was stretching my lips and cheeks in a most distracting way. I finally got her some yogurt and a crumpet and she retreated.

Yesterday’s post-errands temple walk nearly became a swim. Par for the course with my wild Amby-animal. I definitely broke into a sweat following this speedy flighty child around in the warm sunshine, and we were only there for 12 minutes!

We walk a fine line between irreverence and full-body appreciation of the temple’s many beauties.

Every time we go to the temple, we take a selfie. When Amber is a grownup, she will have nearly one picture per month of her early childhood with her mom at the temple. Mostly these temple selfies all look the same, but I love collecting them. We were there.