Now My Joy is Full

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Now My Joy is Full

• www.kevinhinckley.com

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Before I leave

• 3 Nephi 17
• 1 Behold, now it came to pass that when
  Jesus had spoken these words he looked round
  about again on the multitude, and he said unto
  them Behold, my time is at hand (to show myself
  to the other tribes of Israel).
• 2 I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot
  understand all my words which I am commanded of
  the Father to speak unto you at this time.
• 3 Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder
  upon the things which I have said, and ask of the
  Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and
  prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come
  unto you again.

What (and how) does he want us to ponder?
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Interesting Sequence
Ministering Angels

• they brought their little children and set them
  down upon the ground round about him,
• and Jesus stood in the midst
• And he commanded the multitude that they should
  kneel down upon the ground.
• And when he had said these words, he himself
  also knelt upon the earth and behold he prayed
  unto the Father
• And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes
  towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open,
  and they saw angels descending out of heaven as
  it were in the midst of fire and they came down
  and encircled those little ones about

The People
The Children
The Savior
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The Reaction?

• 18 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made
  an end of praying unto the Father, he arose but
  so great was the joy of the multitude that they
  were overcome.
• 19 And it came to pass that Jesus spake unto
  them, and bade them arise.
• 20 And they arose from the earth, and he said
  unto them Blessed are ye because of your faith.
  And now behold, my joy is full.
• 21 And when he had said these words, he wept,

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Question

• To what extent is His eternal joy dependent on
  us?
• Conversely, to what extent is OUR eternal joy
  dependent on others?

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Catherine Thomas

• Rendering comfort, relief, and healing knowledge
  belong to eternity. The whole host of heaven
  serves the cause of the healing and exaltation of
  God's children. Such simple virtues will continue
  into the eternities.
• Whatever Christ models for us is designed to
  endure in us. Whatever he teaches us he himself
  practices. Jesus, even though master of all, is
  servant of all. (Matt. 2027.)
• Studies in Scripture, Vol. 8 Alma 30 to
  Moroni, 172- 181

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Elder Bruce Hafen

• He wepthe who had descended below all things,
  the Man of Sorrows, he who bore all our griefs.
  The height of his infinite capacity for joy is
  the inverse, mirror image of the depth of his
  capacity to bear our burdens.
• So it is with the enlarged caverns of feeling
  within our own hearts as the sorrows of our
  lives carve and stretch those caverns, they
  expand our soul's capacity for joy.
• Then, when the Man of Sorrows turns our bitter
  tastes to sweet, our joyand hiswill fill the
  widened chambers of our hearts with what the
  scriptures call "fulness."
• That is when we have accepted his Atonement and
  love with such completeness that his purpose for
  us is fully satisfied. Then will we know that we
  were made for this.
• Then will we know where, and why, and to whom, we
  belong.
• Belonging Heart The Atonement and Relationships
  with God and Family, 315

Sorrow Loss Pain
Joy Love Charity
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To Gain Fullness

• At BYU one often hears some student who is
  chafing against the standards say, "Teach us
  the principles, and then let us govern
  ourselves,"
• a misquoting of the Prophet that really means,
  "Put the rules in a pamphlet and stop enforcing
  them."
• For such as these, rules are a blessing from God.
  Without all three prerequisites (correct
  understanding of the principles, the guidance of
  the Holy Ghost, and the desire to obey)
  principle-based living will fail.
• The danger of teaching the law of love is that
  invariably some spiritually immature persons will
  pit love against obedience. That will not work.
  We can keep the commandments through principles,
  like the law of love, or keep them through
  individual rulesbut we can't keep the command to
  love God by breaking his commandments
• Stephen Robinson, Believing Christ Footnotes,
  Chapter Six

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Elder Neal Maxwell

• During the last month or so, my mind has turned
  to a colleague of many years ago at the
  University of Utah. Dr. Reed Merrill was a
  distinguished educational psychologist he had
  been inactive in the Church and inattentive to
  spiritual things, though a good person.
• Then, in the early 1980s he was stirred
  spiritually by the Lord. I could see it when he
  came to visit me twice. He wrote two powerful
  letters regarding the comparative emptiness of
  his secular discipline with the fullness of the
  gospel of Jesus Christ. These observations meant
  a lot because they came from a man of
  unquestioned intellect and integrity. Other
  catalytic things were happening, unbeknownst to
  me, including his daughter's service on a
  mission, to say nothing of a wonderful wife.
• Reed called me sometime before his daughter's
  sealing, asking if I would perform her sealing. I
  said, "I would be delighted." I think I had an
  intervening trip overseas, but asked, "Reed, will
  you be there?"
• With his typical integrity, he said, "Neal, you
  know me well enough to know I won't be there
  unless I am fully worthy to be there." When the
  morning came for the sealing in the Salt Lake
  Temple, I waited with particular anticipation.
• Then Reed came down the corridor of the temple.
  We embraced, and he said, "Neal, I made it!" He
  had come home! Subsequently, he taught in his
  high priests group and in various classes. It was
  a spiritual renaissance in his life, a marvelous
  thing to see. How wonderful it is when anybody
  comes home!
• Yesterday, when I reviewed my handwritten notes
  used ten years ago at Reed's funeral, they
  included words of gratitude for what I called,
  even back then, "the intersections of our
  lives"--Reed's and mine. The most important thing
  to be said about Reed Merrill when he departed
  from this life was that he exited "in spiritual
  crescendo."
• Such things bring joy! Brim with Joy,
  BYU Devotional, Jan 1996