God is Good. God is Great.

Lately, I have been struck by several key attributes of God.

1. That God loves me.
2. That God knows me.
3. That God is truly, truly good and He desires to bless me.

As a result of feeling these characteristics in abundance, I have had a heightened feeling of gratitude towards the Lord. Seriously, just thinking about it makes me cry.

Thinking about all of this reminds me of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon. In Mosiah 4:11-12 he states:

11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have ^atasted of his love, and have received a ^bremission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own ^cnothingness, and his ^dgoodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of ^ehumility, ^fcalling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing ^gsteadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the ^alove of God, and always ^bretain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the ^cknowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.

Thinking about God's goodness has caused me, literally, to call on the Lord. It has also caused me to realize that in the grand scheme of things, I am nothing and He makes everything happen. It has caused me to feel of His love with more of a surety. And, as a result, it has made me yearn to be more faithful to Him.

I know that the Lord truly is good. I haven't always felt this way. I have often questioned his wisdom as--in my natural eyes--he has seemed to withheld certain blessings from my life. Now, through a certain string of events, I have seen God's wisdom and His hand in my life. There are so many more unknowns to be faced. However, I know that my experiences as of late has caused me to remember his goodness.

I feel like Alma...

"I remember ^awhat the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me."

God is merciful. God is good, people of the blogging world. He loves us. He wants us to be happy. He has a plan for us. He answers prayers. I hope we can remember that. I hope I can remember that. This is my testimony to you on a beautiful Sunday morning.

Happy Sabbath!