Lessons Learned from A Great Book

 I recently finished reading Divine Signatures by Gerald Lund.  Highly recommended.  It has helped me feel the Lord's love for me and notice the small but still miraculous and wonderful things The Lord does for me.  His tender mercies. "But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance” (1 Ne. 1:20).

In chapter eleven, Elder Lund first quotes Elder Maxwell who said, "The thermostat on the furnace of affliction will not have been set too high for us - though clearly we may think so at the time. Our God is a refining God who has been tempering soul-steel for a very long time. He knows when the right edge has been put up on our excellence and also when there is more in us than we have yet given. "   Then through the rest of the chapter, Lund shares insights into Matthew 11:28-30.  I was touched by two parts.  
First, he lists a number of verses containing Christ's descriptions of Himself.  3 Nephi 9:18, D & C 38:3, D&C 68:6, D&C 93:26, D&C 110:4, John 6:35, John 10:9, John 10:11, John 11:25, John 14:6.  He writes, "Those titles denote power, knowledge, truth, patience, caring, sustenance, order, strength, peace, comfort, life, nurturing, direction and protection.  That is why He can promise that He will give us rest."

Then in that same chapter he writes some of the functions of the Holy Ghost "He enlightens, instructs, warns, comforts, directs, guides, edifices, increases our capacity to do something, confirms, encourages, solves, answers, testifies, gives us the gifts of the Spirit, gives us the fruits of the Spirit, helps us discern between good and evil and right and wrong, brings flashes of pure intelligence, increases understanding and wisdom, brings a burning of the bosom or a stupor of thought, comforts us in sorrow, brings us peace, and is the source of all testimony.  As Elder Bruce R. McConkie put it, 'These are by no means all of the gifts.  In the fullest sense, they are infinite in number and endless in their manifestations.'"

Then Elder Lund writes, "How often do we remember to thank God for this incredible gift that can lift and lighten our burdens and make the yoke of life so much easier?"

I need to do better at this.  Such a powerful book!