Casteth Out

Think of a world without light.  How could we survive?  Think off all of the things light does.  It helps plants grow, gives us nutrients, helps us see, comforts us (mainly because we're all scared of the dark), gives warmth, and so many other things.  The uses for light are almost innumerable.  Of all the differences in the uses of light, there is one thing that remains constant.

The Apostle John explains this constant characteristic of light in John 1:5, which reads, "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."  The imagery that this scripture portrays is so awesome.  Wherever there is light, darkness cannot be.  In reality, darkness is merely just lack of light.  The minute light enters the picture, darkness is instantly vanquished.  No matter how hard the darkness tries to stay in the room, the light will run it away.

As we keep the Light of Christ in our hearts and in our minds, there will be no room for darkness or evil.  That is the best cure to feeling dull.  Brighten the light inside and cast out the darkness.  The more we fuel the light, the stronger it will be.  The stronger it is, the harder it will be for Satan to try to put out our light.  May we keep the Light of Christ burning brightly in our hearts.

Half of my Heart

As you can guess from some of my past blogs, I am a huge music fan.  I always have a song playing in my head and continue to add more songs to my "mental playlist."  The song Half of my Heart, by John Mayer featuring Taylor Swift, has been a recent addition.  The song is about a man who can't seem to put his whole heart into anything.  The lyrics go:

Half of my heart's got a real good imagination
Half of my heart's got you
Half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you that
Half of my heart won't do

The heart is an interesting topic.  It's important to always keep our hearts in the right place, and to put our whole heart into things that we do.  When Christ was asked what the greatest commandment was, he responded with, "...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," (Matt. 22:37, emphasis added).  All of our heart is required.  If we go through life putting only half of our heart on the altar, we won't make it.

John Mayer put it well: "Half of [our] heart won't do."  In this life, there are dozens of decoys and distractions that drag us down the half hearted highway.  We must not let them get in the way of the strait and narrow path set by the Savior.  His way is the only way.  May we all more fully give our hearts to the Lord.  When we do, we will find ourselves on the whole hearted path to heaven.

No Service, No Cell, No Problem

The world today has so many forms of communication.  We depend on them.  The better the technology, the faster we can communicate.  As the years have gone by, we've evolved from the Pony Express, to mailmen, to emails, to texting, and everything in between.  Through all of these changes, there is one type of communication that has been constant since the beginning of time.  That communication is prayer. 

The unique thing about this type of communication is that we don't need a cell phone signal to use it, we don't have to pay a monthly bill to maintain it, and we don't have to wait for the signal to get through.  It is all at an instant.  Prayer is something that is so simple, yet so powerful.  Often times it is underestimated.  Here's a personal story involving prayer that happened a couple of days ago. 

I lost my planner and couldn't find it for the life of me.  I had looked everywhere for it, or so I thought.  The planner was gone and was no where to be found.  I decided to pray and ask Heavenly Father to guide me to where it is.  Once I finished my prayer, I waited a couple seconds and thought really hard about where it could be.  Still nothing.  The second I stood up to start looking again, a thought came to mind as to where my planner might be, and what do you know, there it was. 

John 14:26 reads, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."  I know that because I said a prayer, I remembered where I had last put my planner.  Heavenly Father wants to hear from us and really does answer every prayer.  The more we pray, the better we can know what our Heavenly Father has in store for us in this life.  Prayer is the key.