I recently came across a paragraph that is simple and beautiful truth.  Here it is:

“Jesus died over two thousand years ago.  Nobody has ever referred to Him as the late Jesus. Not even the heathens.  Nowhere in history.  Nowhere has He ever been referred to in the past tense!  That’s because He is the Living God.” [J.P. Erby]

Isn’t that a great truth to ponder?!  Jesus Christ, born in the flesh in the Meridian of Time; focused on going about his Father’s business; offering himself up to reconcile us to the Father; dying on a cross and rising from the grave, is the Living Christ.

I love to ponder over truths, incorporating new ideas, thoughts, and revelation in order to figure out how to utilize the newest “I see!” moment into my daily life. Sometimes, that’s easy. Other times, not so much.

But this one? It’s a cinch.  Although I could enumerate hundreds of ways, I’ll post just a few ways this grants me joy and can make every single day a better one:

  1. He is with me, and knows how I  feel.  Jesus is present with me. I’m not left alone to trudge through a difficult time.
  2. He is with me, and knows how I feel.  He joys in my joy and smiles with me when I’m full of sunshine. It somehow makes the joy more full.
  3. He is with me, and knows how I feel.  Through Him, I can access our Father and grow more and more into Who I Am.
  4. He is with me, and knows how I feel.  What a security! In the most real sense, Jesus Christ loves me and really does want to help me Home.

I know that this is simple stuff. But the gospel is like an onion. We peel truths, one layer at a time, to uncover and discover deeper, sweeter meanings in the things we already know to be so.  How interesting to realize that no one refers to Jesus Christ as the “late“ Jesus. It’s one of those little things that make, somehow, a big difference in my level of hope, happiness, and gratitude.

Sometimes, we see God in the smallest beauties or miracles. The birth of an animal, rain drops or snow flakes, a phone call that comes when we really, really need it, a moment of quiet that helps us regain our equilibrium, or the markings of a perfect flower.  His love is evident in all these things. Better yet, Jehovah sees the miracle in us. “He lives to bless [us] with his love and to plead for [us] above!” [“I Know That My Redeemer Lives”, Hymnal, number 136.] It is a simple, profound surety that He is as alive for me in 2012, as He was when He walked the earth among men, as a Teacher and a healer, as well as the One who marked the path for a more excellent way.

Today, I wanted to share this one little truth with you so that, with pondering over it and letting it go into you and through you, your day can be a better one. He is with us and knows how we feel. He is the Living Christ. 

 

Vickey Pahnke Taylor is a wife, mom, and grandmother who joined the LDS Church as a teenager. She has worked for many years to share her testimony of Jesus Christ with other folks. Her propensity for being the queen of embarrassing moments notwithstanding, she sums up her journey thus far like this: “It’s a Wonderful Life.” She has taught Church youth & family programs for 25 years, has written books, hundreds of columns, & created hundreds of songs all with the intent of growing goodness and pointing people to Christ. Her latest venture is to create a website to focus on, bring attention to, & grow the goodness in this world. Please visit her website at www.goodnessmatters.com