Our Advocate

The visiting teaching message for July is "The Divine Mission of Jesus Christ:Advocate". It begins,"Jesus Christ is our Advocate with the Father. The word advocate has Latin roots meaning “one who pleads for another.”¹ The Savior pleads for us, using understanding, justice, and mercy. Knowing this can fill us with love and gratitude for His Atonement."

I've spent a lot of time thinking about what that means, and here are a few of my thoughts:

The Savior has a perfect understanding of each one of us; as we learn in Alma 7:11-13,

“And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and sicknesses of his people.

“And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

“Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.”

Through His Atonement, Jesus Christ became one with each of us; He felt and experienced all of our sins and transgressions, our mistakes and our infirmities and disappointments. He felt the pain and consequences that we experiences because of our own sins but also because of others’ sins against us. He knows exactly who we are and WHY we are who we are—the things that have shaped each one of us.

Because of His Atonement, Jesus Christ has earned the right to be our judge; He knows each case. He has also earned the right to be our advocate—or our adversary. He satisfied the demands of justice  (see 2 Nephi 2:8-9), and He chose “to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men…For he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men” (Moroni 7:27-28).

Having a perfect knowledge of each us, Christ could argue against us; He could point out all of our imperfections and mistakes and sins and say that justice requires us to be permanently cut off from God. Instead, He chooses to be merciful and points out that He is willing to pay the price to satisfy justice and asks the Father to let us repent and be forgiven and ultimately to be allowed back into His presence.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means that Christ is our advocate, and I think I have more questions than answers, but I’ve had a few insights that I’d like to consider more.

What is an advocate and why do we need an advocate? What if Jesus Christ weren’t our advocate? What do we learn about Jesus Christ because He is willing to be our advocate?

The basic definition of advocate is someone who pleads the cause of another person. Jesus Christ pleads our cause…but He’s pleading our cause with Heavenly Father, who is perfect and He would judge us righteously. So, do we need Christ to argue in our behalf or plead our cause? If so, why? What would happen if He weren’t? What if He said, “I’ll atone for them, so justice is fulfilled, but that’s all I’m going to do”?

One thought I’ve had is that this is similar to a passage about prayer from the Bible Dictionary: “Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them.” Heavenly Father desires to give us everything that we need, but sometimes, we have to ask before He gives those blessings to us. We need to do a little bit of work. Similarly, with trying to become like Him and trying to return to Him, we need to do some work and we need to ask…but in some ways, we probably don’t even know how to plead our cause; we don’t know what we need or fully understand the reasons we did something or how we’ve been shaped or influenced by others. Jesus Christ, though, knowing each of us individually and perfectly, knows exactly how to plead our cause.

I think another reason we need Jesus Christ to be our advocate is because we need to know that Someone believes in us and is supporting us; some of the synonyms for “advocate” are friend, supporter, and true believer. Who doesn’t need a friend, supporter, and true believer? Knowing that Jesus Christ believes in us and is supporting us surely sustains us in our lives.

Some of the antonyms and near antonyms of “advocate” are: adversary, antagonist, enemy, rival, belittler, critic, faultfinder. Which of us wants an enemy or a rival competing against us, or someone who belittles, criticizes, and finds our faults? I don’t. And the thing is, Jesus Christ could do that—He could easily point out our faults and since He lived a perfect life, He’d be a rather formidable rival, and we would always falls short in comparison. However, that’s not who He chooses to be. He chooses to be our friend and advocate.

I don’t know how things would play out for us if Christ weren’t our advocate; I do think Heavenly Father would still judge us fairly. However, knowing that Christ not only atoned for us but also continues working on our behalf, advocating for us, helps us to know how much He loves us and how much He truly wants us to accept His Atonement so that we can be saved.

As a final thought, thinking about Christ’s role as our advocate makes me think of the fourth verse of “Reverently and Meekly Now,” a sacrament hymn that is written in the first person, as if Christ Himself were addressing us:

At the throne I intercede;

For thee ever do I plead.

I have loved thee as thy friend,

With a love that cannot end.

Be obedient, I implore,

Prayerful, watchful evermore,

And be constant unto me,

That thy Savior I may be.

Jesus Christ is the Savior and advocate of all who will accept Him as such. He loves us and He is asking us to let Him work in our lives and in our hearts. He’s our advocate with the Father, but I think sometimes He’s also our advocate with ourselves. When we are ready to give up on ourselves and think we just aren’t ever going to be good enough, He reminds us that we are children of God, that He is our Savior, and that together, we CAN do all that Heavenly Father asks us of us.

The Light of the World

What does it mean the Jesus Christ is the Light of the World?

D&C 88:6-13 talks about Christ’s role as both physical and spiritual light:
"He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth…
"He is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made.
"As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made;
"As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made; And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand.
"And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;
"Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—
"The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne."

Just as we need light to sustain our physical life, we need light to sustain us spiritually as well, and Jesus Christ provides that light for us. A testimony of His role as the Light of the World helps us know that we will never have to remain in darkness. There will be trials and times that seem dark, but we can be assured that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem entitled “The Rainy Day” that speaks of the dark times we sometimes go through, but at the same time, offers reassurance that even in the darkness, there is light.
The Rainy Day
The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
 It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

Just as Longfellow explains that “Behind the clouds is the sun still shining,” we can know that in our lives, the Son, even the Son of God, is always there, with His light shining to illuminate our lives. As Mosiah 16:9 says, “He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened.” Nothing can extinguish His light. As we try to live by His teachings, we can know that, He is “come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on [Him] should not abide in darkness.”

The Divine Mission of Jesus Christ: Savior and Redeemer

The Visiting Teaching message for April is about Jesus Christ's role as our Savior and Redeemer.
Here are just a few thoughts I had as I was putting together a message to share with the women I visit teach.


“Among the most significant of Jesus Christ’s descriptive titles is Redeemer,” said Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “Redeem means to pay off an obligation or a debt. Redeem can also mean to rescue or set free as by paying a ransom. … Each of these meanings suggests different facets of the great Redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ through His Atonement, which includes, in the words of the dictionary, ‘to deliver from sin and its penalties, as by a sacrifice made for the sinner.

What did Jesus Christ rescue us or set us free from?
2 Nephi 9 is one my favorite chapters of scripture. Jacob talks to the Nephites about the plan of salvation. He talks about the fall of Adam, and how, as a result, we are subject to both physical and spiritual death, which he refers to multiple times as “that awful monster, death and hell.” Without our Savior, “this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more” (v.7). Our bodies and spirits would be permanently separated, and “if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more” (v.8). Not only would we be subject to Satan, but “our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.” (v.9)

When we think about that—how not only would we be forever separated from our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ but that we would actually become like Satan, devils who beguile and lie and make people miserable and stir up secret combinations and murder and darkness—I think we can understand better why Jacob spends so much time in 2 Nephi 9 praising the Lord’s greatness, goodness, mercy, wisdom, etc. Instead of being endlessly tormented by our sins and becoming like Satan, we can be saved through our Savior and Redeemer. Indeed, “O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster,” (v. 10).

Light of the World

For March, the visiting teaching message was about Jesus Christ's role as the Light of the World. Although that's a phrase that I've heard all my life, it was interesting and enlightening to ponder what that truly means.

What does it mean the Jesus Christ is the Light of the World?

D&C 88:6-13 talks about Christ’s role as both physical and spiritual light:
"He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth…
"He is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made.
"As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made;
"As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made; And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand.
"And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;
"Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—
"The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne."

Just as we need light to sustain our physical life, we need light to sustain us spiritually as well, and Jesus Christ provides that light for us. A testimony of His role as the Light of the World helps us know that we will never have to remain in darkness. There will be trials and times that seem dark, but we can be assured that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem entitled “The Rainy Day” that speaks of the dark times we sometimes go through, but at the same time, offers reassurance that even in the darkness, there is light.

The Rainy Day
The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
 It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

Just as Longfellow explains that “Behind the clouds is the sun still shining,” we can know that in our lives, the Son, even the Son of God, is always there, with His light shining to illuminate our lives. As Mosiah 16:9 says, “He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened.” Nothing can extinguish His light. As we try to live by His teachings, we can know that, He is “come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on [Him] should not abide in darkness.”

What Jesus Christ Did for Me

I was watching this video earlier this week, and I was struck by the images and by the list of things that Jesus Christ did for us.The video lists off the following.

• He was betrayed,
• denied.
• accused,
• rejected, 
• bound,
• scourged,
• mocked,
• reviled,
• spit on,
• crucified,
• forsaken,
• He did His Father's will
• He atoned,
• healed,
• held His peace,
• forgave,
• He gave His life.
• He is risen.

 Watching that, and thinking about the pain and the suffering and all that He went through, it made me think of how sometimes we'll say about someone, "Oh, he'd do anything for me" as a sign of how much they love us. Well, Jesus Christ truly would do anything for us, and in fact, since we know that "the Son of Man hath descended below them all" (D&C 122:8), we know that not only would He doe anything for us, He already has done EVERYTHING for us.

Primary Program

I'm embarrassed that it's been three months since I've written anything here; it certainly isn't because I don't have any messages to share. It's more a combination of being busy and the timing not being quite right for some of the messages I do want to share. 

Anyway, I do have a message I want to share today...
Each year, in every ward in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Primary kids, ages 3 to 11, present a Primary program during sacrament meeting, where the kids sign songs and do quick little speaking parts . The day of the Primary program is pretty much the most anticipated Sunday of the year...unless you happen to be the person in charge of writing and directing this program, in which case it is the most terrifying Sunday of the year because you're worried that someone's parents will be upset with how it turned out or some kid will trip and fall on his face and break his nose, or the super wiggly kids will bounce on the seats...or who knows what. So, the past couple weeks as we've been practicing for the program, and especially this morning as I knew we were only hours away from putting on this program. Actually, I really, really didn’t want to go to church. I didn’t feel very good and I was pretty nervous about all the million things that could go wrong.

Of course, I went to church, and was pretty nervous still. We had the opening hymn for the day, and the prayer, and the sacrament, and as I was sitting there partaking of the sacrament, stressing out about the Primary program, the thought came to me that there are things that are way more important than the Primary program--like the sacrament where we reflect on the atoning sacrifice of our Savior and all that He has done for us. That was definitely a good reminder for me and helped me focus better and not stress out so much.

After that, we got all the kids settled into their places on the stand, and as soon as the first few kids got up to say their parts, I realized it was all going to be okay. And it was way more than okay--the kids did a super job and I was very impressed with them. They sang the songs so well and spoke so clearly. Since I was facing them, I could see their faces and as I was looking at them, it hit me why we go through all the effort and stress and worrying to do something like this—because whether they know it or not, those kids were feeling the Spirit. I could just see it in their faces as they were singing, that they were feeling it, that the Spirit was teaching them that the things they were singing about and talking about were true. And that’s what made all the stress (like having 6 kids move in after I had the program written and having to add parts for all of them!) worth it, because it’s worth anything for them to be able to feel the Spirit and to have their testimonies grow. It was just awesome to see that. It wasn’t about making the parents happy or putting on a good program or anything; it was about giving the kids the opportunity to share the things that they believe so that the Spirit could testify to them of the truthfulness of those things. And as an added bonus, the adults got to feel the Spirit to and to rejoice in how blessed we are to have a Savior and to be taught by His little children today.

God's Sense of Humor

Perhaps that post title seems strange, but let me explain how this came about. One of the oft-quoted scriptures in my life is, "we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" (2 Nephi 25:23). I've been thinking a lot about grace, and and how to qualify for grace, and how to let God be God in my life. I think I have high expectations for myself--I mean, I'm smart and capable and determined, so I should be able to do lots of things, right? I feel like I should try my hardest--and then at that point, I can turn to God and ask for help, when I feel that I've done all that I possibly can...except, the problem for me tends to be that I always feel like there always is something more I should do, so it makes it hard for me to feel like I ever deserve grace. I've been realizing lately how wrong this is--yes, I do believe that God expects us to do our best, but He will also help us to do our best, and will grant us grace even as we're trying (and sometimes failing). Anyway, recognizing that I need to think differently about this, and essentially, let God love me instead of feeling like I have to do everything, I've been trying to think more about the character of God and what I know about Him through my personal experiences with Him--not just something that I've read or been but something that I know from my own interaction with Him. I started a list, where I could write down some ideas and experiences, and the very first thing that I had to write down was that He has a sense of humor. Maybe that seems weird, but I really think it's true. A couple examples: Bright and early one Saturday morning, I wanted to go to the temple; the problem was that I was tired, and they seat you in these nice comfortable chairs, and I was afraid I'd fall asleep, which I didn't want to do. So, I prayed earnestly for help not to fall asleep, and when it came time to participate in an endowment session, I went with the group to the assigned room...and it turned out that there was one seat too few, so the temple workers pulled out a folding chair, set it in the aisle, and directed me to it. Let me assure you, I didn't fall asleep. The chair wasn't as comfy, but I was also afraid that if I did doze off, I'd end up falling off the chair and everyone would know! So, let me tell you, I was wide awake, and when I said a silent, "That's not quite what I meant," I felt a chuckle in response (which is not to say that I think God was laughing at me, but I really felt like He was in fact laughing and we shared a funny moment.) Just a few days ago, I was thinking about our struggles with infertility and how they have dragged on and on and on...and on. Being that it was close to Pioneer Day (which is in fact, today), a day when the Latter-day Saints honor the early pioneers of the church who sacrificed so much to be members of the church, who were driven out of their homes multiple times and eventually settled in the Rocky Mountains to try to find safety, I had pioneers on the brain, I guess. The thought that I had was, "It didn't take the pioneers as long to cross the plains as it's taken us to be able to have children," (which is kind of a selfish thought, I know. I'm not particularly proud of it.),and immediately a very droll response came: "Some of them had to stay in Winter Quarters." I was instantly corrected--since many, many of the Saints did in fact have to stay in Winter Quarters, a settlement in Nebraska where they stayed when it became obvious they were not going to make it across the plains in one summer. And while it was a serious answer, the way that it came--this dry, one-sentence answer really did have a drollness to it that was both effective in conveying the correction but also not making me feel like a horrible person for having a whiny moment. I don't know, maybe it's one of those you-had-to-be-there moments, but I have had enough of those moments with God to really feel strongly that He has a sense of humor, and I like that about Him. :)