WIth His stripes

The past two weeks, I've decided to try to focus on the Savior more each day. During the sacrament prayers, I promise that I am willing to always remember Him, but I've noticed that this is often easier said than done. So, I made a commitment to let virtue garnish my thoughts more frequently. And when I say virtue, I mean the Savior. . . afterall, isn't He the supreme example of virtue? If you look at the story of the woman with the issue of blood who touches teh Savior's robe, the Savior says, "I perceive virtue has gone out of me". When you look at the footnote, it indicates that another way to say "virtue" is power. Virtue. . . the power of Jesus Christ to heal our wounds, strengthen our spirits and purify our hearts. I determined that I would spend less time in idle thought, and more time thinking of Him. To do this, I chose a scripture to memorize.

"He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes, we are healed."

Even now, as I type this scripture, the spirit fills my heart and testifies to my soul that it is true. The Savior truly did give His ALL for me. . . He gave His life. He understands my trials. He comprehends my sorrows. He was wounded, bruised, beaten and killed for my sins. And He truly does know how to heal every hurt and forgive every transgression and sin. He is all powerful. . . and that means He can heal EVERYTHING. . . in His time. . . and when I've learned whatever He has for me to learn.

The peace this knowledge gives me is immeasurable. The joy and amazement I feel in further recognizing the depth of His love for me is immense. I'm so grateful. Truly focusing on the Savior and remembering Him more frequently (still working on the "always" part) has saved me from temptation, calmed stressful storms of the soul, and given me expanded perspective. What a beautiful gift. I have truly experienced the promised blessing of having the Spirit with me as I've focused on the Savior. Peace and joy.