Yielding

By  Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.Blogspot.com

To yield sounds too passive an action

Betraying our sense of self and self-control

But yielding our hearts to God’s satisfaction

Makes sanctifying amendments to our soul

When I think of an unyielding, uncompromising, persevering soul, I think of Winston Churchill.  During May-June of 1940, Mr. Churchill, the recently appointed Prime Minister of England, gave three speeches.  Each one meant to fortify and bolster the British spirit in the face of what appeared to be an imminent invasion.  Noting that in these forthcoming battles he had nothing to offer but “blood, toil, tears, and sweat.”  In another speech he said “We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on the beaches,…in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender...”  The third speech told Britons, “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’”   His unyielding spirit contributed to Allied victories in World War II.

Churchill’s rhetoric echoed Alfred Lord Tennyson’s words a 100 years earlier in his poem Ulysses:

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

We observe that part of our heritage is this trait of unyielding, unbending, and firm resolve especially when fighting for freedom, family and our homeland.  There are, however, differing aspects of this unyielding trait that can be our downfall or our salvation.  First, and unfortunately, we do not always apply that noble trait to resisting sin and things less worthy.  Secondly, there are things – sacred and holy things to which we should yield – must yield.

The Apostle Paul stated it this way, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”  Romans 6:16.  Elsewhere, the scriptures proclaim, “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord….” Mosiah 3:19

Our meditative verse explores this willing surrender to the Divine – this capitulation of our “natural man” so that we might, in all ways, become like Christ.  Thus we see that,

A sanctified heart evolves from Godly yielding

Essential to those on the path to exaltation

Suited in God’s armor of light ever shielding

We arrive saved and perfected at our destination

Yielding

And in the fifty and first year of the reign of the judges there was peace also, save it were the pride which began to enter into the church—not into the church of God, but into the hearts of the people who professed to belong to the church of God—  And they were lifted up in pride, even to the persecution of many of their brethren. Now this was a great evil, which did cause the more humble part of the people to suffer great persecutions, and to wade through much affliction.   Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.

Book of Mormon  Helaman 3:33-35

There is way to purify and sanctify our hearts

By humbly yielding unto God’s solicitation

Empowerment that fasting and prayer imparts

Thus building on faith’s sure foundation

Yet to yield sounds too passive an action

Betraying our sense of self and self-control

But yielding our hearts to God’s satisfaction

Makes sanctifying amendments to our soul

A sanctified heart evolves from Godly yielding

Essential to those on the path to exaltation

Suited in God’s armor of light ever shielding

We arrive saved and perfected at our destination

May we yield our hearts and minds and wills

To God’s work in the ever-present here and now

Hastening our strides and strengthening our skills

Yielding unto God all our sanctified hearts will allow

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

The Murder of Light

By Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.Blogspot.com

Can a person murder light?

Surely not in the final sense

But the attempt is not so slight

And the consequences are immense

 As some of us emerge from the long night of winter and begin to bask in the bright warmth of sunnier days, we reflect on how good it feels to be touched by the radiant warmth and brightness the sun’s light.  Likewise, we walk uncertainly into a darkened room and move forward hesitantly until someone turns on a light.  Light illuminates our way in the world both physically and spiritually.    

We are told in the scriptures that the light of the sun, the moon and the stars are energized by something known as the light of Christ.  We are told further that this light is from everlasting to everlasting (Psalms 90). We learn from another scriptural text that such light is in all and through all things, that it gives life to all things, and has the unifying force of law by which all things are governed. (Doctrine and Covenants 88:6-12)  

Such is the power of the light of Christ which, when followed, will lead harkening spirits to the waters of baptism and then to receive the Holy Ghost.  By its continuing influence we are led to God’s holy temple and there the heavens are figuratively opened to us, and, as we return again and again, we come to know God and His plan for us.  In this manner the temple is a portal of light connecting us with the powers of heaven.

The Holy Ghost is the purveyor of heavenly light and truth.  Therefore, is it any wonder then that God places the denial of the Holy Ghost in such drastic and spiritually felonious terms – noting that our immortal souls are in jeopardy should we do so.    “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men…neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” Matthew 12:31-32

Such is the state of those who commit what is known as the “unpardonable sin.”  Given that the prerequisites are formidable, it may be that those who qualify for this burden will be few.  Today’s meditative verse ponders the terrible consequences of this sin noting that….

The attempted murder of God’s light

Is a felony of spirit - belying forgiveness

Surrendering our light to Satan’s fight

Forfeiting all for which God might bless

Such a crime is not hid from the Lord

For it tears apart and harrows up the soul

Sounding a harsh and discordant chord

As we are judged and sin takes its toll

The Murder of Light

Know ye not, my son, that these things are an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea, most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost?  For behold, if ye deny the Holy Ghost when it once has had place in you, and ye know that ye deny it, behold, this is a sin which is unpardonable; yea, and whosoever murdereth against the light and knowledge of God, it is not easy for him to obtain forgiveness;

Book of Mormon  Alma 39:5-6

Can a person murder light?

Surely not in the final sense

But the attempt is not so slight

And the consequences are immense

For if the Holy Spirit is denied

Once it has place in our soul

If He is refuted and defied

The unpardonable sin may be our dole

The attempted murder of God’s light

Is a felony of spirit - belying forgiveness

Surrendering our light to Satan’s fight

Forfeiting all for which God might bless

Such a crime is not hid from the Lord

For it tears apart and harrows up the soul

Sounding a harsh and discordant chord

As we are judged and sin takes its toll

Let us rejoice in the light of the Word

And be a true friend of truth and right

May the robe of the righteous around us gird

As we find joy with the pure, the true and contrite

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

A Rent Coat

By Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.blogspot.com

To tear apart or rent one’s clothes

Was an ancient symbol of indignation

One in which the wearer chose

To express extreme consternation

Today, we reflect on an ancient tradition – that of tearing one’s clothes or “renting” them as a physical sign of loss, grief, or indignation.  In Bible-times the list of those renting their clothes is not small, and includes Jacob, Joshua, David, Job, Elias, Mordecai, Paul and Barnabas, to name a few. 

In Book of Mormon days, the most famous incidence was the great General and Prophet, Moroni who, when a perverse and wicked Amalickiah was having success in perverting the people and taking away their liberties, tore his coat as a sign of his great displeasure and grief.  In a dramatic move, he wrote upon the remnant cloth, “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children.”  Then, fastening the banner upon a pole, he called it the “Title of Liberty,” and it became the rallying point that enlisted and led the faithful in the battle against evil forces.

Today we are less demonstrative of our feelings and have other ways to express ourselves.  However, our meditation asks the question, “Do we have a ‘Title of Liberty’ written in the fabric of our hearts?”  “Are we all enlisted in the battle against evil forces?”  “Have we covenanted to be a covenant people?”

Unfortunately, we sometimes find that our desires and commitments fall short of being Godly covenants.  The history of the Bible and the Book of Mormon – story after story – book after book – is a history of God calling His people to enter into a covenant with Him.  Time and again, and usually only after some dramatic and painful experience, would the people consent and make a covenant with God.  Sometimes it would only be a few weeks or months, and sometimes a few years before the covenant came to be viewed as a temporary commitment, and then abandoned altogether.

Hopefully, in these latter-days we are more exact and faithful regarding the covenants we make. We see and feel in the rising generation youth of a noble birthright who are, indeed, carrying aloft their title of liberty.  However, the days are coming when we and they will be challenged as never before.  

Hence, we ask the question:

Is there a Title of Liberty written in our heart

Are we a covenant man or woman of the Lord

May our title of liberty yield the better part

Of God’s blessings and our eternal reward

A Rent Coat

And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.  And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land— ….Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.  And it came to pass that when Moroni had proclaimed these words, behold, the people came running together with their armor girded about their loins, rending their garments in token, or as a covenant, that they would not forsake the Lord their God; or, in other words, if they should transgress the commandments of God, or fall into transgression, and be ashamed to take upon them the name of Christ, the Lord should rend them even as they had rent their garments.

Book of Mormon   Alma 46:12-13; 20-21

To tear apart or rent one’s clothes

Was an ancient symbol of indignation

One in which the wearer chose

To express extreme consternation

Therefore, in anger, Moroni rent his coat

“In memory of our God, religion, and freedom,

And peace, our wives, and our children,” he wrote

And then prayed the blessings of liberty would come

Thus, a flag, the Title of Liberty, was born

A banner of freedom to signal and wave

Hoisted aloft, a flag battered and torn

 In memory of God who is mighty to save

The people too rent their garments in token

Of covenants to sustain their religion and rights

To be rent themselves if the covenant was broken

Or they failed to honor the Lord or His rites

Is there a Title of Liberty written in our heart

Are we a covenant man or woman of the Lord

May our title of liberty yield the better part

Of God’s blessings and our eternal reward

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

The Great Restoration

By Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.Blogspot.com

A great separation comes when life is ended

Spirit and body are separate beyond the veil

Where, as spirits, our penitent time is extended

And more work, learning, and service prevail

It doesn’t take a military strategist to understand the offensive value of “divide and conquer.”  Such military maneuvers have existed from ancient times.  The strategy is not limited to military objectives, but today we find its application also alive and well in the arenas of economic and political warfare.  Influence and subtle subjugation can occur if the whole can be divided into opposing parts – left versus right, haves versus have-nots, Christian versus non-Christian.  In the absence of such divisions and their resulting conflicts and drama, the six-o’clock news hour would be reduced to just a couple of minutes.

I have found that the divide and conquer strategy finds its most potent and effective application in the battlefield of the soul.  Joined together with a body sometime around birth, our spirit comes from God to inhabit and both to teach and be taught by the body provided by our parents.  It is a somewhat tenuous connection subject to immediate separation by illness or accident.  And like current cyber-warfare, body and spirit are under constant threat of intrusions from spirit-hackers intent on planting malware in our mainframe.

These unseen but very-much-felt forces are at work seeking to separate – to divide and conquer both body and spirit.  They are evil, demonic forces that seek to place wedges between body and spirit – seeking to entice the body to overcome its spirit-tenant.  It is a battle fought on the battlefield of life – and the war started long before we arrived here on earth. 

Our armament in this battle involves the weaponry of light and truth.  Our success is guaranteed as long as we maintain our arsenal of principles, stay on high ground, and adopt both defensive and offensive postures.  Our short-term and long-term goal is to maintain the power of the Holy Spirit over both our spirit and body – even unto and beyond death.

When death comes, we will temporarily be deprived of that powerful connective force known as the soul.  Yet we will continue to work, to learn, and to serve others while we await the great restoration of body and spirit.

Our meditation speaks of this great restoration and key principles associated with the sacred ordinance of the resurrection available to all -

Such is the fate of both decent and depraved

As measured by one’s grasp of the Iron Rod

May we be restored to happiness and be saved

And crowned with virtue in the Kingdom of God

The Great Restoration

Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life…. until the time which is appointed of God that the dead shall come forth, and be reunited, both soul and body, and be brought to stand before God, and be judged according to their works…. And now, my son, this is the restoration of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets. 

Book of Mormon    Alma 40:11, 21, 24

A great separation comes when life is ended

Spirit and body are separate beyond the veil

Where, as spirits, our penitent time is extended

And more work, learning, and service prevail

Then comes the great day of restoration

When all things to their perfect frame

Are restored to their rightful station

And justice and mercy make their claim

The spirit shall to the body be restored

Body and spirit become an eternal soul

An Atoning gift to all by Christ the Lord

And a vital step toward our eternal goal

If sin we sought and evil we desired

That wicked nature will justly be restored

If goodness we pursued and truth acquired

Then a fullness of joy we’ll find in the Lord

Such is the fate of both decent and depraved

As measured by one’s grasp of the Iron Rod

May we be restored to happiness and be saved

And crowned with virtue in the Kingdom of God

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

Exactness

By Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationInLight.Blogspot.com

Is exactness found in our spiritual lives,

Or casualness in our Godly performances?

Is Christ the source from which our faith derives?

Is obedience joyful labor or painful conformances?

Our meditation ponders the concept contained in the word exactness as it is found in both our secular and spiritual lives. Our reflection is prompted by a story from an ancient text that tells of a legion of 2000 young warriors who chose to fight for liberty and their families in the face of overwhelming odds.  These stripling warriors were invincible, we are told, because they had been taught the principles of invincibility by their mothers and, no doubt, their fathers.  These principles included unshakable faith in God, profound resolve, fearlessness, courage, and obedience with exactness.

As we look about us today, in public and private discourse, and in so called civil society, we ask where to find such exactness.  We long for days-gone-by when handshakes sealed inviolable contracts, a person’s word was their bond, and honesty and honor above all was sacred.  As society becomes more and more secular we must strive ever harder to hold on to the sacred.  The history of the Old and New Testaments are an ongoing saga of God trying to make his children a covenant-driven people – covenanted with exactness.

Covenants in both the secular and sacred sense suggest performance with exactness by those who are a party to the covenant.  As we seek the sacred in our lives, we too make covenants with God to do and be better – more like Him and His Son, Jesus the Christ.  These covenants have the sole purpose of building God-like character in us.  Therefore, we pray:

May we act with precision and exactness

Walking in the low valley - strict in the plain road

There to be filled with joy and gladness

And beyond heaven’s gate - find our final abode

Exactness

Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them….Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually.

Book of Mormon   Alma 57:21, 27

God’s stripling warriors observe and obey

To perform every word and act of command

With exactness and care, without delay

 Godly, faithful, and diligent to a man

By faith anything can be done

For hearts are resolute and stout

With faith, all battles can be won

Said their mothers - leaving no doubt

Is exactness found in our spiritual lives,

Or casualness in our Godly performances?

Is Christ the source from which our faith derives?

Is obedience joyful labor or painful conformances?

Those who perform God’s work with exactness

Learn the divinely inspired pattern of work

Where efforts require precision and faithfulness

And duties and callings we dare not shirk

May we act with precision and exactness

Walking in the low valley - strict in the plain road

There to be filled with joy and gladness

And beyond heaven’s gate - find our final abode

Larry Doyle Crenshaw