The voices and pressures of the world are engaging and numerous. But too many voices are deceptive, seductive, and can pull us off the covenant path. To avoid the inevitable heartbreak that follows, I plead with you today to counter the lure of the world by making time for the Lord in your life—each and […]
Sometimes we forget that our Heavenly Father desires that each of us have … joy. Only by yielding to temptation and sin can we be kept from … joy. And yielding is exactly what Satan wants us to do. – Robert D. Hales, “To Act for Ourselves: The Gift and Blessings of Agency,” Ensign (CR) […]
It does not matter what our personal struggles are—whether they are disease or prolonged loneliness or suffering the temptations and tests of the adversary—the Good Shepherd is there. He calls us by name and says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”8 – Hugo Montoya, […]
One of the adversary’s methods to prevent us from progressing is to confuse us about who we really are and what we really desire. We want to spend time with our children, but we also want to engage in our favorite manly hobbies. We want to lose weight, but we also want to enjoy the […]
The many distractions and temptations of life are like “ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). It is the true shepherd who will prepare, protect, and warn the sheep and the flock when these wolves are approaching (see John 10:11–12). As undershepherds who seek to emulate the perfect life of the Good Shepherd, aren’t we shepherds of our own […]
When we ask for revelation about something for which God has already given clear direction, we open ourselves up to misinterpreting our feelings and hearing what we want to hear. A man once told me about his struggles to stabilize his family’s financial situation. He had the idea to embezzle funds as a solution, prayed […]
Bridle is an interesting word. When we ride a horse, we use the bridle to guide it. A good synonym might be to direct, control, or restrain. The Old Testament tells us we shouted for joy when we learned we would have physical bodies.13 The body is not evil—it is beautiful and essential—but some passions, if not […]
When we see temptation round about us, we have the duty of meeting it; of fighting against it and of triumphing over it. If we will meet it nobly and exert ourselves to the fullest, giving every measure of strength that we have to the great work, then there will come to our lives the […]
Peter admonished the young men to be careful about the sins of the world. Evil things tempt them. Now is the time when our young men are tempted. They always have been. Some have resisted and some have not, but those who have resisted have succeeded and are happy. It is the happiest life. The […]
As a reassurance to us, let us read from the New Testament: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye […]