A Perfect Morning

I went for a bike ride this morning, rode past an apple orchard and saw 10 deer. Excitedly, I circled around the orchard trying to see if I could find anymore. “What a fun way to start the day!” I thought.

Breathing deeply, I savored the moment of the morning’s cool, crisp air. As I rode away, off to the side of me, I could see a doe and 3 fawns running in my same direction. I tried to follow them as long as I could but of course they were much faster. One of the fawns frolicked as she ran. It was such a beautiful sight! I said a prayer in my heart to thank God for this awesome experience.

The Grandeur of God

I've been thinking about the greatness of our Father in Heaven, how amazing His creations are, our relationship to Him and the miracle of life itself.

As I reflect upon this I can't help but recal what Moses experienced when He talked face to face with God....Moses Chapter 1

"And God spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless?

"And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease."

"he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore."

"And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered."

"And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face thereof." "And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed."

Look at the size of the earth compared to the sun... isn't it amazing how small we are!!!!

"And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine. And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come;"

Isn't this a beautiful picture?! The Milky Way Galaxy has 200 -> 400 billion stars Dwarf galaxies contain around 10 billion stars whereas giant galaxies can contain upwards of a trillion stars.
"...and there is no end to my works, neither to my words."

This image was from the hubble telescope a view in space the size of a fingernail. There are an estimated 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe.

These are not individual stars, these are GALAXIES!! And it's only a sliver of the sky!!

The most amazing thing about all of this is after God showed Moses His glory, the expanse of the universe, His greatness and power..... God said....

"For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

God is our Father, we are His children, His spiritual offspring created in His image. He wants us to be happy, to be one with Him as Christ is, to become like Him.

How completely humbling and wonderful it is to know that I am a daughter of God and to know God sent His Son to atone for me! I will praise Him all my days!

God Bless You, Alicia

Read what a modern-day apostle has to say about the Grandeur of God here.

Some Things I Do Know With Certainty

There are many things I don't know nor do I have the answers to. But there are some things I do know with complete certainty.

I know there is a God. Before we came to earth, we lived with God. He is the Father of our spirit. Everyone who has ever lived or will live on this earth is a spirit son or daughter of God.

I know God is loving, kind, compassionate, merciful, just and true.

I know His work and His glory is to have His children return home to Him. But there are two things that separate us from being able to return to His presence. The first is sin. The second is death. Since we cannot cleanse ourselves from sin anymore than we can raise ourselves from the dead, we needed a Savior. A Savior is someone who does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

I know Jesus Christ was and is that Savior who makes it possible to return to our Father. Through His Atonment we can be cleansed from sin and live beyond the grave. Jesus is God's Son. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever beliveth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

I know Jesus came to redeem us and show us the true character of our Eternal Father. He said, "I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me."- John 5:30

I know that after our Savior's death; Jesus, the Risen Lord, appeared to many that He loved in life and also ministered to the "other sheep" (John 10:16) in ancient America. (We have this record.) God has spoken to prophets anciently and He speaks through living prophets today.

I know God lives, I know Christ is His Son and our Savior, I know we are God's children and that He loves us. I know God wants us to come back home to Him and He has provided a way. I know this with all of my heart and with every fiber of my being.

I have hope in Christ. It is through Him that I am able to return to my Father in Heaven. I am so thankful for the gift of God's Son. I am so thankful for the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ!

May God bless each and everyone of you!
Alicia

Evidence of the Reality of God

My husband and I read this article together last night. I know that God lives and loves us all. We are His children and He loves us more than we could ever comprehend. Evidences of God's existence can be found everywhere, if we only open our eyes!

"Naturalism’s explanations of the origins of life and the miracle of our bodies often appear convoluted when placed side by side with the simple truths of the revealed word and divine scripture.

With its 107 million cells, connected to the brain by over 1 million neurons, the eye is more perfect than any camera ever invented. It caused Charles Darwin to humbly admit, “That the eye with all its inimitable contrivances … could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest sense.”1

The Psalmist wrote, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 53:1). Such a foolish disbeliever ought to look at his hands. Seventy muscles contribute to hand movements. Much of the rest of the body is devoted to optimizing the complex function of the hand. There are no muscles in the fingers. The sole purpose of the forearm, its muscles and bones, is to move and position the hand.

To observe a miracle, look at a baby’s creased hand. Its initial movements are uncontrolled. Shortly after the child’s birth, the hand will be able to grasp, curl, push, lift, sense hot and cold, respond to pain by withdrawing, heal itself, and display great strength and extraordinary sensitivity. These hands will be used thousands of times each day without forethought.

Your miraculous thumb is controlled by nine individual muscles and three major hand nerves. Sir Isaac Newton is reported to have said: “In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.”2

Paul Brand, renowned orthopedic hand surgeon, wrote: “We use our hands for the most wonderful activities: art, music, writing, healing, touching. Some people go to concerts and athletic events to watch the performance; I go to watch hands. For me, a piano performance is a ballet of fingers—a glorious flourish of ligaments and joints, tendons, nerves, and muscles.”3

The infant Son of Man once possessed tiny hands. His hands, too, grew to accomplish their intended purposes. He used them to touch and heal the blind and infirm. His hands threw the money changers out of the temple. His hands reached upward in prayer, outward in blessing, and downward from the cross.

The fool proclaims in his heart that there is no God, but our eyes, hands, hearts, and souls unhesitatingly testify to the contrary.

One of my brothers is a physician. During medical school he was assigned to study anatomy in companionship with an agnostic. Their education eventually required that the two of them carefully examine and dissect a cadaver. They studied the incredibly complex yet harmonious systems of the body. They noted the body’s power to correct its own deficiencies and to send healing antibodies to the place of injury or infection. They learned of over 150 trillion cells within the body. If set end-to-end, these cells would encircle the earth more than 200 times. Today medical students learn of more than 1 billion miles (1.6 billion km) of DNA in one human body. My brother and his fellow student learned of a brain that continually receives signals from 130 million light receptors in the eyes, 24,000 hearing receptors in the ears, 10,000 taste buds, and hundreds of thousands of receptors in the skin, with specialized commissions to recognize touch, vibration, cold, heat, and pain. My brother and his friend became silent as they contemplated the miracle they were examining. Sensing the moment was right, my brother challenged: “Coincidence is a marvelous thing, isn’t it?” His agnostic classmate responded, “You win.”

This earth departs from its orbit of the sun by only one-ninth of an inch (2.82 mm) every 18 miles (29 km). If, instead, it changed by one-tenth of an inch (2.54 mm) every 18 miles, we would all freeze to death. If it changed by one-eighth of an inch (3.18 mm), we would all be incinerated.4 Did this all happen by accident?

Alma spoke to us, as well as to Korihor, testifying, “Yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator” (Alma 30:44- Book of Mormon).

The doubter requires too much of us when he asks us to believe that the miracles of eyes and hands and DNA and order in the universe all happened by chance. The passage of time, even long intervals of time, is not a “cause” and provides no answers without an intelligent designer.

The evidence of Heavenly Father’s existence is everywhere: in every newborn babe and in every system, part, and parcel of the unending and orderly universe, including our own bodies. He is evidenced in every sunset, work of art, and passage of music, all of which He has provided to gladden the heart and bring beauty to our lives. Richard Swinburne said: “God paints with a big brush from a large paintbox and he has no need to be stingy with the paint he uses to paint a beautiful universe.”5

It is not possible to contemplate the immeasurable vacuum and purposelessness that would exist in our lives if He were not there. We would regret the passing of every day and the passing of every loved one, knowing that neither time nor relationships could be extended. We would approach the autumn and then the winter years of life with crescendoing fear. Every day of our lives we should thank Him that He is there and that this life is not all there is."

1. As quoted in Bert Thompson and Wayne Jackson, The Case for the Existence of God (1996), 33.
2. As quoted in Paul Brand and Phillip Yancey, “The Scars of Easter,” Christianity Today, Apr. 5, 1985, 20.
3. Christianity Today, Apr. 5, 1985, 20.
4. See Bert Thompson and Wayne Jackson, The Case for the Existence of God (1996), 20.
5. Is There a God? (1996), 63.

-By Elder Douglas L. Callister Of the Seventy (From a devotional address given at Brigham Young University–Idaho on November 8, 2005. For the full text, please visit www.byui.edu/devotionalsandspeeches.)

Something to Really Think About

The following is a story about Sir Isaac Newton. I read it some time ago but cannot find the author. Whether this conversation really took place or not.... it's something to think about.

"Sir Isaac Newton, the British scientist, once had a skillful mechanic make him a miniature replica of our solar system, with balls representing the planets geared together by cogs and belts so as to move in harmony when cranked. Later, Newton was visited by a scientist friend who did not believe in God.As Newton sat reading in his study with his mechanism on a large table near him, his friend stepped in. Scientist that he was, he recognized at a glance what was before him. Stepping up to it, he slowly turned the crank, and with undisguised admiration watched the heavenly bodies all move in their relative speed in their individual orbits. Standing off a few feet he exclaimed, 'My! What an exquisite thing this is! Who made it?
'Without looking up from his book, Newton answered, 'Nobody.'
Quickly turning to Newton, the infidel said, 'Evidently you did not understand the question. I asked who made this?'
Looking up now Newton solemnly assured him that nobody made it, but that the aggregation of matter so much admired had just happened to assume the form it was in.
But the astonished infidel replied with some heat, 'You must think I am a fool! Of course somebody made it, and he is a genius, and I'd like to know who he is.
Laying aside his book, Newton arose and laid a hand on his friend's shoulder.'This thing is but a puny imitation of a much grander system whose laws you know, and I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without a designer and maker; yet you profess to believe that the great original from which the design is taken has come into being without either designer or maker! Now tell me by what sort of reasoning do you reach such an incongruous conclusion?' "