"We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but...against spiritual wickedness in high places."

 

  Every single one of us whether we be black, white, grey, or purple. Rich, poor, or something in the middle. Tall, short, skinny, fat, weak, or strong. Every single human being goes to war every single day! Not against an actual physical being, but agains someone who knows us, probably, better than we know ourselves. The great thing is that our Heavenly Father has given us instruction to protect ourselves from any harm that may befall us. 

    

     Ephesians 6:11-18 

        11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

        12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the  rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

        13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

        14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 

        15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

        16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the

wicked. 

        17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

        18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

 

  We can come off conqueror with whatever temptation, or evil thing that may come across our paths each day. If we take heed to this scripture, and put on our whole Armour of God, by reading our scriptures, keeping the commandments, and having faith that our Heavenly Father will protect us from all the evils of the world, we will be able to "stand against the wiles of the devil." 

 

"As a hen gathers her Chicks"

  Chickens are very funny animals I think. I mean have you ever watched them strut around. Ha ha ha ha! I also believe that chickens are one of the most useful animals. Without them we wouldn't have chicken nuggets, grilled chicken sandwiches or eggs (to bake with.) Chickens, or hen's more specifically, are also very protective of there young.

  When ever danger is near a mother hen scoops up her chicks and  sits on them, shielding them from whatever bad that might happen. Instead of allowing her chicks to be exposed to possible danger she hides them so that she can will take the brunt of whatever lies in store.

   In 3Nephi 10:6 this is when Christ is speaking to the inhabitants in America, after he has just destroyed to wicked from the land, and right before he descends from heaven. He says "O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart." I really love this scripture because Christ is telling us that no matter what, he will always gather us to him if we have faith in him and, repent. He will be, to us, as the hen to her chicks, shielding us from dangers.
  Christ took upon himself all the sin in the world. He is already reaching out to gather us, we just need to go and accept his embrace.

fishin IN the LILLY pads.

 

 Throughout my life, and all throughout my mission I have saught for opportunities to strengthen my faith in my Heavenly Father and my savior Jesus Christ.  It took one summer day, a faith filled companion and a lake full of lilly pads to teach me what it truely ment to have faith. 

  It was a Monday afternoon in the middle of September. My companion, Sister Smith, and I had been wanting to go fishing for quite some time when the opportunity arouse on a preparation day. There were some members in our last area who had a private lake on their property and they had aggreed to let us use their lake, and their rickety old dock for our fishing needs. 

  My companion and I are both from Utah. Both of us had done plenty of fishing in Utah, but we had never experienced what it was like to fish in lilly pads. A member from the Church in Allegan lent us a few poles and a fully loaded tackle box to take fishing. He had also given  us some pointers on how to try and avoid getting caught in the lilly pads. "Cast directly out in front of the dock, there you should be able to avoid the masses of lilly pads." he said. So my companion and I haveing full confidence in our fishing abilities, and the advice that we received, bated up our hooks, threw a few weights on the end and casted out.

  The first few casts were an utter failure, our line's kept getting stuck in the lilly pads. Time and time again we just didn't have the strength to get our lines our far enough to avoid the lilly pads. Probably on about our 5th or 6th cast both of our hooks had gotten so stuck that no matter what we did they wouldn't come loose. We sat tugging and tugging, pulling and pulling but to no avail. Our hooks were stuck. The only option I could think of was to just cut the line, but because we were using borrowed tackle we were afraid to do so.

  We both sat weighing our options when my faith filled companion starts praying outloud. I kinda sat back doubting, thinking in my mind 'there is no way that her praying is going to work.' after all we had just been trying with all of our might for the past 15-20 mins to get these lines loose. As soon as my companion said Amen, I told her "there is no way that is going to work." Instead of letting me discourage her she gave her line one final tug, and the line came loose, hook and all. I just sat there with probably a look of utter amazement on my face. I was speechless. She turned to me and said "you need to repent." So I silently in my head said a quite prayer repenting, and then asking my Father in Heaven to do the same for me. I ended my prayer and gave my line a few more tugs. Then eventually my line was free.

  I think this experience has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life, who would have thought that a lilly pad, and a stuck fishing line would do that for me. I'm grateful for a companion who had enough faith to pray, and ask for help when she needed it. As small as the request was she exercised her faith, and our Heavenly Father because he loves her answered her prayer, I know he will do the same for all of us we just need to exercise the faith we have in him, that through him anything is possible!