The Truth of All Things

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

The second paragraph of America’s most famous document begins with these words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident….”  (The Declaration of Independence)  Such are the truths and entitlements of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that apparently require no substantiation or demonstration of validity.  Notwithstanding, much debate and many wars have been fought over the centuries to secure these self-evident, but elusive truths.  Hence, we see that if they are not held close and inviolate, are clearly understood, and taught to future generations, they may slip from our grasp.

The same may be said of the many truths taught by angels, prophets, and other heavenly messengers from the beginning of time.  It would seem that Our Father in Heaven often requires that we accept some truths and live them without always fully understanding them.  Further, it appears that this is a deliberate and purposeful teaching method He has employed.  Requiring us to act in faith and in obedience to His will, without full knowledge, stretches and grows our soul.  Such is a primary purpose of this life.

As we experiment with obedience based on faith, those things which are true are discovered and then find permanent residence in us.  Such a process, as it recurs throughout our life, builds ever greater capacity until at some point, probably beyond this life, we come to a fullness, a point where we will know the truth of all things.  Such is the promise given by Paul that it will come, but not until, “… we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (emphasis added): (Ephesians 4:13).

While we may experience that kind of fullness in an incredibly distant future, we have today and each successive day to learn, bit by bit, the truth of all things.  To do so, we would be wise to be constantly seeking, ever-pursuing, and ever-learning about all things true, both those that are self-evident,  and those just a bit more elusive, but still of eternal importance.  In our search, we would also be prudent to utilize both the scientific method and the divine faith method.  Indeed, the first is but an opinion in search of proof, and the second, a previously validated belief in search of a personal experience.  Both require diligence, obedience to procedural law, and patience and perseverance.  Only with these can we know the truth of all things.

The Truth of All Things

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  2 For men shall …. 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

2 Timothy 3:1,2,7

Oh, to always know what is true

And be enlightened by the Holy Spirit

Being inspired to know what to do

When He speaks and we hear it

He speaks if we have sincere hearts

And ask in true faith with real intent

Receiving the grace that God imparts

If we but listen, obey, and repent

For whatsoever is right, true, and just

Will testify of Christ and His power

Upon which we rely and place our trust

As holiness distils and blessings shower

To know and obey the truth sets us free

To become all that God meant us to be

And allows our discerning eyes to see

Mysteries unlocked by inspiration’s key

The Spirit of Truth reveals all things

If we are worthy to receive inspiration

Light and truth, and peace He brings

Whether we are of high or lowly station

Oh, how pure and sweet the Spirit sings

Like a dove descending on gentle wings

Bringing tidings of joy and sacred things

To seeking souls whether peasants or kings

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

The Atoning Remittance

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.Blogspot.com

Our separation from God creates a distance that is more pronounced at certain times in our lives than others.  Sometimes the quality of our thoughts, emotions, and actions fall so far below Godly standards that His Spirit withdraws and our distance from deity expands.  Left unattended, our behaviors further distance us and may lead into other and more distant and darkened paths – at the end of which a spiritual death awaits, or a permanent separation from God and His righteousness.

Christ’s atoning sacrifice provides the way and the means to close our distance from God that was created by sin. Christ’s atonement offers the fruit of repentance and a restoration of one’s soulful pursuit of righteousness.  Christ’s marvelous and miraculous atoning remittance pays off our debt to sin and its dire consequences. 

East of and not far from the Jordan River is an ancient Middle Eastern land known as Gilead.  There is a tree or bush there from which is extracted a fragrant healing medicine or balm. The prophet Jeremiah, worried about a deficiency in the spiritual health of Israel, referred to this healing ointment when he asked, “Is there no balm in Gilead?”  The only medicine potent enough to heal us from the effects of sin is Christ’s atonement.  The ministry of Christ Jesus in our lives is the only true healing balm.  His tree of atonement continues to bear fruit as we repent and become meek and lowly of heart, and as we experience a loving healing balm that comes into our soul to soothe and remedy our spiritual wounds.

Jesus, in Gethsemane, at Calvary, and throughout His perfect life paid the price for our committed sins.  A “remittance” is a payment sent to someone at a distance.   Our distance from God, created by our sins, is overcome by Christ’s atoning sacrifice.  This act remits our confessed and abandoned sins in full by paying the demands of justice.  It buys for us mercy and reconciles us to God.   Thus, our meditation explores “The Atoning Remittance” made on our behalf by Him who we call - Redeemer.

The Atoning Remittance

…we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
New Testament   Romans 5:10-11

Spiritual death is the wage of sin

But the atonement brings life

Procuring a place for God within

And power over worldly strife

To partake of atonement’s fruit

That which comes of repentance

And a persistent Godly pursuit

Brings an atoning remittance

Then meekness and lowliness of heart

Brings a healing balm for our wounds

As the Spirit purifies and sets us apart

From our sins festering in captive tombs

Repentance comes by faith in the Lord

Unto the fulfilling the commandments

And the balm of sin’s remission is poured

As we receive the sanctifying Sacraments

Then filled with hope and perfect love

We endure by diligence unto prayer

Worthy to ascend unto God above

And are crowned as His eternal heir

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

A Sanctified Wandering Witness

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.blogspot.com

Although debated for centuries, it is generally accepted that Jesus granted the wish of John, known also as the Beloved, the Revelator, and Apostle, to not taste of death, but minister upon the earth until the end of time.  There is no record of his post-mortal ministry. 

The Bible records several instances where a Godly servant transitioned from mortal to immortal at God’s command.  These appear to include Enoch who, “…walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” (Gen. 5:24; Heb. 11:5); Moses: “No man knoweth of Moses’ sepulchre unto this day.” (Deut. 34:5–6); and Elijah: “…Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” (2 Kgs. 2:11).  When asked by Peter as to the request of John, Jesus says, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.”  (John 21:22) Elsewhere He said, “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” (Matthew 16:28)  Again, Bible scholars debate this matter, but if we take the passage literally, then there were those present (perhaps including John) who, for purposes known only to God, experienced this miraculous transition.

God in His omniscience and power makes those decisions.  One might then speculate that, “If these, why not others?"  However, for our meditation, we will only focus on the biblical account of one who was not “taken up,” but remained here below.  Jesus’s beloved disciple John was granted the wonderful, yet challenging opportunity to be a wandering minister upon the earth until Christ’s second coming.

Oh, to see through his eyes and to hear what his ears have heard through the centuries!  We wonder to whom he has ministered and what interventions he has made into the affairs of men?  Has he been a shaper of history or just an observer?  In our meditative verse, we recognize and honor the calling and extended ministry of John, whom we call  “ A Sanctified Wandering Witness.”

A Sanctified Wandering Witness

22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he (John) tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
John 21:22

The beloved John of old never tasted death

But is a wandering minister on earth to roam

God’s servant who will never breathe a last breath

Who tarries and teaches until Christ calls him home

He ministers to earth’s scattered tribes and nations

To all tongues and people wherever he is assigned

Bringing souls unto Christ and sacred oblations

Christ’s immortal courier serving all mankind

His work is consecrated, sacred, and edifying

An agent of Christ ministering truth and light

Loving, inspiring, purifying and sanctifying

A wandering holy pastor of power and might

Called as a wanderer who continues to roam

Until Christ shall come to rule and reign

Then changed in a twinkling and taken home

John will enter heaven with blessings to claim

We honor John and his holy mission

Ministering Christ’s message to man

As he observes our mortal condition

And helps  fulfill God’s eternal plan

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

Behold Thy Name

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

Whether your name is unique like Shakespeare or common like Smith, you wear it as a badge or emblem.  Its meaning and influence are often carried through generations – an accumulation of daily behaviors handed down through decades of time.  In Western society and culture family names, also called surnames, only achieved prominence in the 1200’s.  According to the National Endowment for the Humanities, “In the early years of the Middle Ages, most people in Europe lived in small farming villages. Everyone knew his neighbors, and there was little need for last names. But as the population expanded and the towns grew, a need arose to find ways to differentiate between two people who shared the same first name.” 

Often surnames derived from one’s occupation such as the surname Shepherd, or a person’s relationship with a parent such as Peterson. Sometimes a name came from a place like London or, as in my case, a woodland or “shaw” frequented by cranes, hence, Craneshaw or later, Crenshaw.

Names also carry meaning in other ways by virtue of reputation handed down from one generation to the next. Thus, we may refer to the such-and-such family as “hard workers,” or negatively as “lazy louts.”  In any case, a family name often becomes a legacy.  Many a parent has said to a son or daughter, “Remember who you are,” or referencing a family history of distinction, “You have a lot to live up to. So don’t dishonor our family name.”

Our meditational verse explores the nature of names and suggests whether it be a noble birthright or burdensome appellation depends on the accumulation of daily deeds and adopted creeds.

 Behold Thy Name

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches….
Proverbs 22:1

A bequeathed birthright is a family name

Bestowed through countless generations

Upon peasants or those of royal acclaim

Across time and oft from distant nations

Like an emblem, seal, or family crest

Dignified and noble – a deferential token

Possessed of integrity and self-possessed

A name honored and respectfully spoken

The reputation of a family name

Is a legacy decided by daily deeds

Whether known for virtue or shame

Depends on one’s conduct and creeds

Bestowing honor on a family name

Keeps it above reproach and blame

Never to dishonor, disgrace, or defame

Nor bring upon it scandal or shame

Surnames are to be revered and treasured

Counted noble by past and future ages

Surnames sifted, weighed, and measured

And esteemed worthy by saints and sages

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

Perfect Love

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

There is a perfect antidote to any fear that may hold us prisoner. It is a form of medicine that comes from the Great Physician, Himself.  It is called “Perfect Love.”  1 John 4:18 says that perfect love casteth out fear….”  The Bible does not elaborate other than to say that “fear hath torment.” 

Thus, our meditational verse says that “Fear can be a damning emotion” in that it can hold us prisoner by its persistent, vexing persuasions.  Our experience tells us that there are many kinds of fear.  There is the fear that comes from being hurt or even the threat of being harmed or dying.  There is the fear that is experienced when facing the unknown. 

There is another kind of fear that is referenced in the Bible.  This Biblical fear is akin to reverence, awe, and respect.  Such Biblical fear is what we usually hear in the scriptures when it says we are to “fear God.”  Although there are also instances where, because of our unworthy, errant behavior we should fear the consequences that God has decreed for such behavior. 

To fear the future is to be held captive by the past.  To fear relationships is to be sentenced to isolation. To fear new things is to be held prisoner by only the familiar. To fear God without being motivated to align our behavior with His commandments is to distance ourselves from Him and seek solace in worldly things. 

Hence, the commandment recorded in Matthew 22:37-40, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Such love is the beginning and the basis for a perfect love.  When our love and devotion for God crowds out and pushes out all other competing emotions, we begin to experience perfect love.

 Perfect Love

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

New Testament  1 John 4:18

16  Wo be unto them that shall pervert the ways of the Lord after this manner, for they shall perish except they repent. Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear.

Book of Mormon   Moroni 8:16

Fear can be a damning emotion

Preventing us from moving ahead

Inhibiting our Godly devotion

Fearing not God, but man instead

Thus we are perverted, then diverted

And we perish except we repent

Forsake our sins and be converted

Fully, completely, with real intent

May our fears be not of man

 Let us go forth with boldness

And with authority take a stand

While embracing love’s fullness

For perfect love castes out all fear

Then we are cleansed and purified

And our mortal path is made clear

Toward Christ, clean and sanctified.

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

Covenants of Courage

By Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.Blogspot.com

The former President of the United States, John F. Kennedy wrote a book entitled, Profiles in Courage, wherein he told heroic stories of people who exhibited profound courage under great stress and sometimes impossible odds. Through his stories we learn of the elements required for courage.  General George Patton defined courage this way, “Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.” If true, courage is not absent of fear, but persevering through fear for just a while longer.   Perhaps long enough to allow faith to surface and give us additional courage and strength.

Such was the courage of the ancient prophet Daniel, who entered the “lion’s den” but exited triumphantly from what then could be called “Daniel’s den.” Such was the courage of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, also of Daniel’s day, as they entered the “fiery furnace of affliction” and exited unscathed the “fiery furnace of faith and courage.”  Such was the courage of the Apostle Paul who, after so many imprisonments and beatings could say, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;  (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

Our meditative verse harkens back to a story from ancient America when 2,000 young men stood up against tyranny while their parents stood up for their Godly covenants.  Having covenanted never to take up arms again, they were being attacked by a ferocious enemy.  So, their sons, who were not part of the original covenant, themselves entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of their families. So strong and valiant were they – so focused on their sense of right and responsibility that, while suffering wounds, not one lost their life in battle while prevailing over the enemy.  Thus, we refer to two thousand “Covenants of Courage.”

Covenants of Courage

And because of their oath they had been kept from taking up arms against their brethren….But behold, it came to pass they had many sons, who had not entered into a covenant that they would not take their weapons of war to defend themselves against their enemies; therefore they did assemble themselves together…. And they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, ….and they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.  Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him.

Alma 53:11, 16-17, 20-21

They marched into the battle’s fray

Covenanted soldiers, but not just them

Parents too, alongside in spirit each day

Men of God, walking uprightly before Him

The parents had covenanted not to fight

But not so their sons, who battled for liberty

Offering their lives for freedom and right

“Never in bondage,” their motto and decree

Never before and perhaps never since

Was there an army so brave and strong

With swords and spears, and faith intense

Christ they did serve and to Him belong

They were true at all times and places

And in all they were entrusted to do

God’s light shown bright in their faces

All things could they defeat and subdue

Where is such an army today

It is the army of our righteous youth

Millennial soldiers of Christ who obey

And fight for God’s light and truth

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

Bridled

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

Elsewhere we have written, “Behavior is not just what we do --- our physical actions.  Behavior is also what we think --- our thoughts.  It is also what we feel --- our emotions.”  Behavior then is movement of the body and movement within the body.  This meditation explores the relationship between our body and our spirit and suggests that it is often the paradoxical case that we need certain restraints in order for both body and spirit to grow.

Let us remember that it is our spirits who come to earth to obtain a body ---- it is not our body that comes to earth to obtain a spirit.  It is the spirit, given of God the Father that should govern our behaviors in communion with the body. One without the other leaves the other either dead or encumbered, at the least.  The spirit governs successfully only when it brings the body under its subjection. Conversely, the body, and its parts and passions, is enriched when our spirit has the opportunity to enlighten and enrich it.  One is able to love with a purer and more powerful passion when the spirit is unencumbered by bodily passions dulled by unrestrained indulgence.

In the Bible the Apostle Paul speaks to this subject.   “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.  (Romans 7:18-23) This passage, while a little awkward in its English language construction, clearly suggests that our thoughts and our feelings can lead us into wrongdoing.

Now let us be clear.  Just having a momentary improper thought or feeling is quite a different thing than creating a welcoming, encouraging, nurturing place for base and unworthy thoughts and feelings to dwell within us.  Most of the time we can remove bad thoughts by our own mental and spiritual efforts.  However, for some, who have made improper thoughts and feelings welcomed guests, prayer and the help of family and trusted Church leaders and counselors may be needed. 

Now allow me to insert a disclaimer here.  There are those who suffer from specific mental and emotional disorders for whom intrusive thoughts and feelings are not sin, but from faulty biological processes in the brain or from past episodes of abuse.  For such people, counseling and not repentance, is generally the prescription.

When our brain becomes filled with impure and improper thoughts, there is no room for the warm, loving, peaceful feelings to come forth from the spirit.  This is what is meant by the scripture that says, “For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.” (James 3:2-4)

Our meditative verse encourages us to bridle ourselves in temporal things that we may experience spiritual things.  In doing so we achieve a greater fullness in both body and spirit.

Bridled

12 Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love;
Book of Mormon   Alma 38:12

To bridle all my passions

That love may fill my soul

Challenges a popular perception

That passion is our principal goal

Passion unrestrained from the beginning

Has been the downfall of mankind

One way or another, this form of sinning

Weakens agency and puts me in Satan’s bind

When I am overwhelmed with improper passion

There’s no room for refined or purer emotions

Passions that fire the soul become an imposition 
If only lustful desire is the focus of my devotions

There’s space for only one within my soul

Room for pure love or unfettered passion

As only one can conquer and take control

For neither can coexist or endure cohabitation

I would be self-mastered in all things

Self-possessed but not to overbearance

Loving virtue and feeling the power it brings

Leading my bridled soul to a holy inheritance

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

Charity

Larry D. Crenshaw

    One of the cardinal virtues to be cultivated by those who claim kinship with Christ is charity.  The classic Biblical statement on charity is found in 1 Corinthians 13 where a list of charitable standards is set for us.  Above all the attributes of godliness and perfection, charity is the one most devoutly to be desired. Charity is more than love, it is everlasting love, perfect love. It is love so centered in righteousness that the possessor has no aim or desire except for the eternal welfare of his own soul and for the souls of those around him or her.

Peter, in his first Epistle, said "charity shall cover the multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8). A more accurate translation is, "charity preventeth a multitude of sins," because our sins are never “covered up” from God. A number of conditions must be met to claim the attribute of charity.  One who possesses this trait of character must attain to the following standards: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;  7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) Charity thus applied, will prevent a multitude of sins. 

When applied to the love of Christ, charity is characterized as selfless and self-sacrificing (1 Cor. 13:5), emanating from a pure heart, a good conscience, and faith unfeigned (1 Tim. 1:5). Thus, more than an act, charity is an attitude, a state of heart and mind (1 Cor. 13:4 7). It follows, but surpasses in importance, faith and hope (1 Cor. 13:13).  Indeed, the greatest of these is charity.  This may have been what Jesus was trying to teach Peter in John 21:15, 17, wherein he asks Peter three times if he "loves" him, and, to Peter's affirmative answers, responds, "Feed my sheep" and "Feed my lambs," teaching that the true love of Christ always goes out to others. Charity is intended to be an integral part of one's nature.  Indeed, the greatest of Christlike character traits is charity.

Charity

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Charity is the pure love of Christ, Our Savior

Enduring, hoping and believing all things

An eternal attribute of divine behavior

Rejoicing in truth that the gospel brings

Charity suffers long and seeks not her own

But seeks those meek and good-hearted

In whom faith is sown and grown

Where it flowers and love is imparted

Without charity we are less than naught

Void of Godly wisdom, truth and hope

Denying the blood by which we are bought

Bound by cords of telestial rope

Wherefore, cleave unto charity day by day

Possessing its power and being possessed

As it lights the straight and narrow way

To a life everlasting and heaven blest

Larry Doyle Crenshaw