How Do We Find Hope and Joy in Jesus Christ?

   My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Moroni 7-9 in a lesson titled “May Christ Lift Thee Up.” Moroni included these chapters in his book, but they are the words of his father, Mormon. Chapter 7 is a powerful talk that Mormon gave to members of the Church during better times. Whatever the source, Moroni had some notes from his father’s talk on faith, hope, and charity. Chapter’s 8 and 9 are letters that Mormon wrote to Moroni. The lesson was introduced by the following information. 

Before Moroni concluded the record we know today as the Book of Mormon with his own final words, he shared three messages from his father, Mormon: an address to “the peaceable followers of Christ” (Moroni 7:3) and two letters that Mormon had written to Moroni. Perhaps Moroni included these messages in the Book of Mormon because he foresaw similarities between the perils of his day and ours. When these words were written, the Nephite people were turning away from the Savior. Many of them had “lost their love, one towards another” and delighted in “everything save that which is good” (Moroni 9:5, 19). And yet Mormon still found cause for hope, teaching us that hope does not mean ignoring or being naive about the world’s problems. Hope means having faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, whose power is greater and more everlasting than these problems. It means “lay[ing] hold upon every good thing” (Moroni 7:19). It means letting the Atonement of Jesus Christ “and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind” (Moroni 9:25).

As in all lessons, this scripture block taught numerous principles: (1) The light of Christ helps me know truth from error (Moroni 7:12-20), (2) Because of Jesus Christ, I can “lay hold upon every good thing” (Moroni 7:20-48), (3) “Charity is the pure love of Christ” (Moroni 7:44-48), (4) Anger leads to sorrow and suffering (Moroni 9:3-5), and (5) I can have hope in Christ regardless of my circumstances (Moroni 9:25-26).

This essay will discuss the last principle, “I can have hope in Christ regardless of my circumstances” as taught in Moroni 9:25-26. We will first look at the scripture verses.

25 My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.

26 And may the grace of God the Father, whose throne is high in the heavens, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who sitteth on the right hand of his power, until all things shall become subject unto him, be, and abide with you forever. Amen.

After Mormon described the wickedness that he had observed among his people, he told Moroni not to grieve so much that he would be pulled down into depression. He encouraged his son to look to Jesus Christ because He has the power to people up. He also encouraged Moroni to let the attributes of Christ and principles of His gospel “rest in your mind” to give him hope.

In the October 2016 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson spoke on the topic of “Joy and Spiritual Survival.” 

My dear brothers and sisters, today I would like to discuss a principle that is key to our spiritual survival. It is a principle that will only become more important as the tragedies and travesties around us increase….

… Saints can be happy under every circumstance. We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year!

My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.

When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation … and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening – or not happening – in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.” And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!

 

Where Can We Find Hope and Joy?

            My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Moroni 7-9 in a lesson titled “May Christ Lift Thee Up.” Moroni included these chapters in his book, but they are the words of his father, Mormon. Chapter 7 is a powerful talk that Mormon gave to members of the Church during better times. Whatever the source, Moroni had some notes from his father’s talk on faith, hope, and charity. Chapter’s 8 and 9 are letters that Mormon wrote to Moroni. The lesson was introduced by the following information. 

Before Moroni concluded the record we know today as the Book of Mormon with his own final words, he shared three messages from his father, Mormon: an address to “the peaceable followers of Christ” (Moroni 7:3) and two letters that Mormon had written to Moroni. Perhaps Moroni included these messages in the Book of Mormon because he foresaw similarities between the perils of his day and ours. When these words were written, the Nephite people were turning away from the Savior. Many of them had “lost their love, one towards another” and delighted in “everything save that which is good” (Moroni 9:5, 19). And yet Mormon still found cause for hope, teaching us that hope does not mean ignoring or being naive about the world’s problems. Hope means having faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, whose power is greater and more everlasting than these problems. It means “lay[ing] hold upon every good thing” (Moroni 7:19). It means letting the Atonement of Jesus Christ “and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind” (Moroni 9:25).

As in all lessons, this scripture block taught numerous principles: (1) The light of Christ helps me know truth from error (Moroni 7:12-20), (2) Because of Jesus Christ, I can “lay hold upon every good thing” (Moroni 7:20-48), (3) “Charity is the pure love of Christ” (Moroni 7:44-48), (4) Anger leads to sorrow and suffering (Moroni 9:3-5), and (5) I can have hope in Christ regardless of my circumstances (Moroni 9:25-26).

This essay will discuss the last principle, “I can have hope in Christ regardless of my circumstances” as taught in Moroni 9:25-26. We will first look at the scripture verses.

25 My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.

26 And may the grace of God the Father, whose throne is high in the heavens, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who sitteth on the right hand of his power, until all things shall become subject unto him, be, and abide with you forever. Amen.

After Mormon described the wickedness that he had observed among his people, he told Moroni not to grieve so much that he would be pulled down into depression. He encouraged his son to look to Jesus Christ because He has the power to people up. He also encouraged Moroni to let the attributes of Christ and principles of His gospel “rest in your mind” to give him hope.

In the October 2016 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson spoke on the topic of “Joy and Spiritual Survival.” 

My dear brothers and sisters, today I would like to discuss a principle that is key to our spiritual survival. It is a principle that will only become more important as the tragedies and travesties around us increase….

… Saints can be happy under every circumstance. We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year!

My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.

When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation … and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening – or not happening – in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.” And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!

 

How Do We Gain “A Perfect Brightness of Hope”?

 My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Ether 12-15 in a lesson titled “By Faith All Things Are Fulfilled.” The lesson was introduced by the following information. 

Ether’s prophecies to the Jaredites were “great and marvelous” (Ether 12:5). He “told them of all things, from the beginning of man” (Ether 13:2). He foresaw “the days of Christ” and the latter-day New Jerusalem (Ether 13:4). And he spoke of “hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God” (Ether 12:4). But the Jaredites rejected his words, for the same reason people often reject the prophecies of God’s servants today – “because they [see] them not” (Ether 12:5). It takes faith to believe in promises or warnings about things we can’t see, just as it took faith for Ether to prophesy of “great and marvelous things” to an unbelieving people. It took faith for Moroni to trust that the Lord could take his “weakness in writing” and turn it into strength (see Ether 12:23-27). It’s this kind of faith that makes us “sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God” (Ether 12:4). And it’s this kind of faith by which “all things are fulfilled” (Ether 12:3).

There are at least four important principles in this scripture block. Three of those principles come from Ether 12, one of the most powerful chapters on faith in Jesus Christ in the scriptures. The three principles that I will not be discussing are (1) Faith in Jesus Christ can lead to miracles (Ether 12), (2) Jesus Christ can turn my weakness into strength (Ether 12:23-29), and (3) Rejecting the Lord’s prophets puts me in spiritual danger (Ether 13:13-22; 14-15). I will be discussing the fourth principle, even “Jesus Christ gives us ‘a more excellent hope’” (Ether 12:1-9, 28, 32).

Moroni, who wrote Ether 12, provided profound insights about faith in Ether 12, but he also wrote about “hope for a better world” (Ether 12:2-5). Ether had several reasons for having such hope: (1) he had the Spirit of the Lord with him (verse 2), (2) he knew that all things are fulfilled through faith in Jesus Christ (verse 3), (3) he believed in God (verse 4), and (4) he knew that hope is an anchor that makes the souls of men sure and steadfast, helps them to do good works, and will lead them to glorify God (verse 4).

Moroni also tells us that for which we should hope. In Ether 12:4, he tells us that we should hope “for a better world” at the “right hand of God. In Moroni 7:41, he tells us that we should have hope “to be raised unto life eternal” that will happen “through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection.”

Moroni also mentions “a more excellent hope” in Ether 12:32. Hope comes from faith in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ taught that His Father has many mansions. However, we must have faith, hope, and charity to receive “an inheritance in the place which thou hast prepared” (Ether 12:32).

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke about “A Perfect Brightness of Hope” in the April 2020 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He closed his remarks with the following words: 

I give thanks, my brothers and sisters, for all we have been given in this last and greatest of all dispensations, the dispensation of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The gifts and blessings that flow from that gospel mean everything to me – everything to me – everything – so in an effort to thank my Father in Heaven for them, I have “promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.” May we press forward with love in our hearts, walking in the “brightness of hope” that lights the path of holy anticipation we have been on now for 200 years. I testify that the future is going to be as miracle-filled and bountifully blessed as the past has been. We have every reason to hope for blessings even greater than those we have already received because this is the work of Almighty God, this is the Church of continuing revelation, this is the gospel of Christ’s unlimited grace and benevolence. I bear witness to all of these truths and so much more in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

 

Where Can We Find Hope?

            My Come, Follow Me studies took me to Jeremiah 30-52 and Lamentations 1-5. The lesson was titled “I Will Turn Their Mourning into Joy.” The lesson was introduced by the following information:

 

When the Lord first called Jeremiah to be a prophet, He told him that his mission would be “to root out, and to pull down” (Jeremiah 1:10)—and in Jerusalem, there was plenty of wickedness to root out and pull down. But this was only part of Jeremiah’s mission—he was also called “to build, and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10). What could be built or planted in the desolate ruins left by Israel’s rebellion? Similarly, when sin or adversity have left our lives in ruins, how can we rebuild and plant again? The answer lies in “the Branch of righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:15), the promised Messiah. The Messiah brings “a new covenant” (Jeremiah 31:31)—one that requires more than a superficial commitment or the outward appearance of devotion. His law must be “in [our] inward parts,” written “in [our] hearts.” That is what it really means for the Lord to “be [our] God” and for us to “be [His] people” (Jeremiah 31:33). It’s a lifelong process, and we will still make mistakes and have cause to mourn from time to time. But when we do, we have this promise from the Lord: “I will turn their mourning into joy” (Jeremiah 31:13).

 

            As with all scripture blocks, this one has several principles. The book of Lamentations is a collection of poems that were written after Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. The principle that I wish to discuss today comes from Lamentations 1; 3: “The Lord can relieve the sorrow we experience because of sin.”

            The writer of Lamentations was lamenting over his and his people’s distressed conditions. He expressed his thoughts in a Hebrew poetic form.

 

“In true prophetic vein the elegist puts himself alongside his countrymen and entreats them to return to the Lord and to seek reconciliation with Him. Let them examine themselves in the light of His commandments which they have transgressed, and let the lifting up of their hands to God in heaven be accompanied by the lifting up of their hearts also, i.e. let their prayers for pardon be true and sincere. Let them know too what it feels like to be unpardoned, to be under God’s judgment still (v. 42b), and they will come to appreciate all the more the wonder of His forgiveness.” (Guthrie and Motyer, New Bible Commentary, p. 662.)

 

            The writer understood that it would not be easy to obtain pardon for sin. The rest of chapter 3 indicates that the petitioner will continue to plead for relief despite God’s unwillingness to hear. The writer exhibited a great deal of hope. President M. Russell Ballard spoke of situations that may cause the loss of hope, and then he offered some counsel about where to find hope:

 

Some of us may find our lives laden with frustration, disappointment, and sorrow. Many feel helpless to deal with the chaos that seems to prevail in the world. Others anguish over family members who are being carried downstream in a swift, raging current of weakening values and declining moral standards. … Many have even resigned themselves to accept the wickedness and cruelty of the world as being irreparable. They have given up hope. …

… Some among us may have lost all hope because of sin and transgression. A person can become so deeply immersed in the ways of the world that he sees no way out and loses all hope. My plea to all who have fallen into this trap of the adversary is to never give up! Regardless of how desperate things may seem or how desperate they may yet become, please believe me, you can always have hope. Always (“The Joy of Hope Fulfilled," Ensign, Nov. 1992, 31–32).

Quite simply, our one hope for spiritual safety during these turbulent times is to turn our minds and our hearts to Jesus Christ. … Faith in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, is absolutely essential for us to maintain a balanced perspective through times of trial and difficulty (“The Joy of Hope Fulfilled,” 32).

 

            Those are the words of an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. They can be trusted. The Lord has power to help us overcome all problems through the power of His Atonement.

 

Hope Is More Than a Wish

            Hope is an interesting word that is sometimes misunderstood and often misused. In everyday usage, we often hear “hope” used in uncertainty, such as “I hope that Grandma comes to visit this summer.” Used in this way, hope is more like wishing for something. To hope is more than simply to make a wish as the following scriptures illustrate.

But that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions (Alma 34:41).

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3).

Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abound in good works, being led to glorify God (Ether 12:4)

            These references tell us that hope is more than a wish. It is a firm, sure, and unwavering trust that we will gain a place in the kingdom of God. Hope is connected to faith and charity. As our faith increases, so does our hope, and as our hope increases, so does our charity. We must first learn about God and have faith in Him. As our faith increases, we began to hope that our faith is not in vain.

When we have hope, we trust God’s promises. We have a quiet assurance that if we do “the works of righteousness,” we “shall receive [our] reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world (Doctrine and Covenants 59:23). Mormon taught that such hope comes only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ: “What is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise” (Moroni 7:41). (See True to the Faith, A Gospel Reference (p. 85).

            Anthony Sweat spoke about faith, hope, and charity at a recent Time Out for Women (TOFW) event held in Anchorage, Alaska. He said that “hope” is the big sister of “faith” and is centered in the promises of Jesus Christ. Hope has several powers: (1) Cleansing power, (2) Healing power, (3) Restoring power, (4) Identifying power, (5) Strengthening power, and (6) Transforming power. He emphasized that the first letter of each of these powers spells CHRIST. The gift of hope is our personal assurances of Christ’s promises in our lives.

            The opposite of faith is fear, and the opposite of hope is doubt. In order to exercise faith and develop hope, we must put our trust in the Savior, even Jesus Christ. Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke at Brigham Young University in 1995 and said the following.

A more excellent hope is mightier than a wistful wish. Hope, fortified by faith and charity, forges a force as strong as steel. Hope becomes an anchor to the soul. To this anchor, the faithful can cling, securely tethered to the Lord. Satan, on the other hand, would have us cast away that anchor and drift with the ebb tide of despair. If we will cling to the anchor of hope, it will be our safeguard forever. As declared in scripture: “Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast.” [Ether 12:4]

The Lord of hope invites all people to come unto him. Steps toward him begin with faith, repentance, and baptism. Mormon explained that “the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and … the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, … until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.” [Moroni 8:26] That destiny can only be realized when we “have faith unto repentance.” [Alma 34:15]

Insufficient hope often means insufficient repentance….

            In order to avoid doubt and despair, we must place our hope in Jesus Christ. As we do so, we will be filled with joy and peace. As we gain security in our hope, we then have charity or the ability to love others as God loves them.

Cleansing Power of the Atonement

                We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ because of who He is and the mission He performed.  If He had not performed His atoning sacrifice, He would have been just one of many little babies born into the world.  His mission on earth was to provide a way for you and me and all mankind to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father and to be with Him and our loved ones for all eternity.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the reason why we celebrate His birth at Christmas.

                I have been pondering the cleansing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  People often lose hope because they feel that they are beyond the point of repentance and that they can never be forgiven.  These people do not understand the meaning of why Jesus Christ suffered in Gethsemane and on the cross.  When we lose hope, it is as though we are disavowing the power of the Savior and His suffering in behalf of all of us.  He suffered for all of us, but He also suffered for me and you as individuals.

                President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a master teacher and story teller.  He wrote and illustrated a small book entitled A Christmas Parable [1993] which is one of my favorite Christmas stories.  It is the story of a farmer and his wife and their own Christmas miracle.  As you may know, a parable is “a brief, simple story told to illustrate or teach a moral or spiritual truth,” and this Christmas parable fulfills that description.

                It was Christmastime and money was short.  The farmer had experienced three bad years on his farm, and he realized that he would lose his farm if there was another bad year.  He usually enjoyed Christmas, but this year “Christmas bothered him.  And it bothered him that Christmas bothered him.  Christmas was home and family and fireplaces and happy times with presents and good meals and memories of better times. Christmas symbolized things that mattered most to him.”

                The farmer and his wife tried to encourage each other even though they were both worried and losing hope.  The farmer fell into bed exhausted and was soon in deep sleep.  He dreamed that he was working on some of his equipment when his wife called him to supper.  He stopped at the sink to wash but the dirt would not come off of him.  He scrubbed harder but more dirt appeared.  He noticed that dirt and stains from years past were on his hands and arms and even on his face, and he also noticed faint odors from his work on the farm.  He looked at the stains and remembered when each one was put there.  He wondered why the stains were there and why he could not wash them off.  The farmer was grateful to awaken and find that he had only been dreaming, but he could not forget the dream.

                The farmer was a good man who loved his wife and children, but he went to Church only on special occasions even though he was a baptized member.  His wife insisted that he had to go to Church this day because he needed it.  He could not resist his wife’s counsel and went with his family.  “He sat uncomfortably with [his wife] in the Gospel Doctrine class.  The struggling teacher had only modest teaching ability.  The lesson was on baptism, but he was not interested in that.  His mind was on the disturbing dream of the night before.”

                The teacher read a scripture, and two of the words “hit him with great force.”  Those two words were “washed clean.”  “And after they have paid the penalty of their transgressions, and are washed clean, [they] shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:59).

                The unskilled teacher defined baptism as “an ordinance to wash away our sins.”  Then another scripture was read:  Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness” (Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Alma 7:14).

                Another scripture was read:  “Then Peter said …, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38).

                Some of the words in the scriptures – washed, sins, baptism, cleanse from all unrighteousness, and gift – made the farmer feel that the lesson was about Christmas.  He felt something that day, the same feeling that he felt at Christmas.

As he went about his week, he kept thinking about his dream and the lesson.  A few days later he read the message on a Christmas card:  “Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:  for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus:  for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21).

                “For the first time he understood!  He knew what that meant.

                “He was a man with little-boy feelings about Christmas.  The birth of the Christ had always been more or less present for him in that season.  But now the symbols of Christmas which he loved had real meaning.  Gifts form the wise men now represented something, as did the tree and the star.  But now, the promise of redemption had entered the scene.  He had lost nothing from the appealing traditions of Christmas; in fact, they now had greater meaning.

                “He understood!  For the first time he understood what the gift was!

                “The problems of life were not lessened by his new understanding, but there was a new power working within him.  The problems remained, but the troubled heart did not.  He had new kinds of conversations with his wife….

                “After the reunion, for the first time he told his wife of the dream.  They talked into the night of what it meant.  Now he understood that, just as he could wash up for supper, there was a way to become spiritually clean.  Because of the first Christmas and what followed it, he could get clean and he could stay clean.

                “They talked of another reunion awaiting them beyond the veil. To enter there one must be clean, spiritually clean.  He listened as his wife explained the Atonement and the Resurrection.  He understood!  For the first time, he understood!  Because of that first Christmas, they would live eternally.  They could enter in and be together there – a family.  This was the gift!”

                This is a wonderful story, which I read every year at Christmas time.  It is fiction, but it comes true in the lives of many different people in many different places and many different times. 

Bishop Richard C. Edgley, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, related an experience where he saw the same miracle take place in the life of a young man.  He explained that he was on assignment to speak in a stake conference and to interview a prospective missionary while he was there.  He read some of the background as to why this young man needed to be interviewed by a General Authority, and his heart ached with the realization that the young man had committed serious transgressions.

                Bishop Edgley went into the stake president’s office for the interview and was approached by a “handsome young man with a wonderful countenance” when he was expecting “a very troubled young man.”  He asked the young man in private, “Why am I interviewing you?”

                “He recounted his past.  When he was through, he began to explain the steps and the personal suffering he had gone through.  He talked about the Atonement – the infinite power of the Atonement.  He bore his testimony and expressed his love for the Savior. And then he said, `I believe the Savior’s personal suffering in Gethsemane and His sacrifice upon the cross were powerful enough to rescue even a man like me.’” 

Bishop Edgley approved the young man to serve as a missionary.  He understood “the young man’s hope was based not only upon a knowledge and testimony of the Atonement but also upon a personalization of this gift.  He understood that it was for him personally!  He knew the power of the Atonement and the hope it gives when all might seem lost or hopeless.”   (See Ensign, April 2012, p 80.)

I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ was performed for each of us as individuals.  I know that it was broad enough and deep enough to encompass all of us.  I also know that it will be inactive until we activate it in our individual lives by turning to our Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ and living as He would have us live.  I know that He loves us and stands with outstretched arms waiting for us to come to Him.  I love Him and have hope that I will be worthy return to His presence with my family.