Though there may be a powerful belief in the Savior of mankind, there is a critical point that we need to reach in the pursuit of His grace. That grace is only a conditional gift bestowed by the Lord after we do everything that we can for ourselves.
This may be a point of contention to some, nevertheless, it is true. Why is our Father in Heaven going to give us anything that is readily available through the talents and gifts He has already bestowed upon us? He has blessed us with the power to reason, overcome and change the things that we can, and seek after that divine intervention when our own talents and skills are what He expects we utilize in the struggle first.
Like the Caterpillar and the chrysalis we each are required to struggle from our cask of metamorphosis to become the butterfly we were born to become.
The parable of the Talents in the New Testament speaks of the power the bestowal of knowledge and truth can have on those who have the courage to multiply their given talents and bring other blessings back to the Talent giver. His grace is only bestowed when we receive the gifts and do what we can to achieve our very best first, otherwise we lack the wisdom to place any value in the bestowal of the Gift of Grace.
Grace in the sense of the Savior’s role is the ability to make up the difference between the change that we have and the full price of the pearl of great price (that pearl we have been asked not to cast before swine). We receive it after we sell all that we have and still don’t have enough to buy that critical pearl.
This is the power of the Atonement. I know He suffered for us in Gethsemane, died on the cross, rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended to His Father’s presence.
I love Him and His condescension below all things for me. He lives and loves each of us and set up His church to help us increase our talents and achieve the grace that He so desperately desires to bestow on us.
Comments Off
Posted in challenges, happiness, Introductions, Jesus Christ, life, thoughts
When is the last time that I spent the time to write a “letter to God”? I know that he wants to hear from us and is happy to receive our “letters” even when we are just venting or expressing our deepest hatred for His will.
It takes a strong person to be able to vocalize that sentiment in a “letter” to Heavenly Father. He is the only one that truly knows what we can bear and what we can endure. There are difficult challenges ahead in life, but there are more difficult challenges if we put aside the belief in our Dear Father.
When is the last time that I “wrote” a “letter” to God in my prayers? I would hope that I can extend my faith even just enough to see His hand work miracles in the lives of those around me.
People deserve the vision and hope that faith brings, regardless of what it takes to create that faith and the amount of work it takes to receive of His goodness.
Believe to see and all that is for our good will come about. I know this. God lives, loves us and is waiting for us to return to his presence when we are finished with this life. Let us all qualify for His lifting hand by keeping the commandments of His Son Jesus.
God be thanked for His precious Gift, the one and only begotten Son of God – Christ the Lord.
He Lives! I love Him and seek for His validation of my faith and works through the Holy Ghost. It is all true. We can make the way clear before us by looking at the lighthouse on the shores for direction and guidance.
There are many things in life that we wonder about, even question. Where did I come from, why am I here and where am I going? These three questions are always on people’s mind. The need to find this information for ourselves if nearly if not absolutely critical to the sanity we seek. That is true introspection. If we don’t find or accept our own personal answers to these questions we are incomplete and unable to resolve the importance of our own life.
That is not the only thing that we need as an individual. It is inherent to our natures to know who we really are.
How well do we really know ourselves? Is it true to say the we still don’t know everything about ourself? I would have to say yes. There are still parts of ourselves that we cannot face or do not know are a part of us.
Experience has provided us a clear picture of how well people really don’t know themselves. In an effort to gather personal details we have a list of the true and what we want to be true.
Either a person is arrogant toward their own accomplishments or self-defeating. The inherent nature of mankind is to see after power and prestige, honor and praise from their peers. The nature of man is to seek after wealth at any cost, step on others, lie, and take advantage of others when they make mistakes or say something that will benefit us.
Be honest and ask this question of yourself… How often would I return a one dollar bill to the rightful owner if I saw that person drop it? What would happen if you were to find $1000 and you didn’t know who the owner was? Would you turn it in to the police? Would you see the owner of that money? Would you even go to the length of putting out an add in the local paper to have the claimant describe the most likely place the money was lost and contact the police for the actual location?
How would you react if someone didn’t charge you for a meal on a ticket in a restaurant by mistake? Would you point it out to the server or would you actually leave it quiet, after all it was a mistake in your favor? Why tell anyone else if it were not true?
I have heard rumor among my peers and in various conversations that William Shakespeare was actually not a real person but a concocted machination dreamed up out of the minds of the likes of John Wesley or John Wycliffe. The reasoning behind this, as was explained, was to convey or teach the people, the huddled masses, correct principles in a manner that they would understand, to brain wash them or control their media, to teach them the ways of the benevolent and the enlightened.
I believe that William Shakespeare was a real individual who tried to help people understand what being human was all about. The different foibles of life and the difficult decisions that we have to face everyday are like, and how to deal with them. After all, isn’t art an expression of current events and the artist’s feelings toward those events? Having diverted on this tangent, I want to explain why…
The play Hamlet portrays a few words of wisdom to the listener, “This above all: to thine own self be true,/And it must follow, as the night the day,/Thou cans’t not be false to any man “. We are warned that we should not be false even to ourselves or we deceive ourselves and provide a lasting diatribe to humanity that we are false and unable to show even the most clear sense of self. We must know who we really are. Christ stated that we should clearly take the beam out of our own eye before trying to take the mote out of the eye of our “brother”. His knowledge of wood and the splintering capabilities of this material are clear. If we go against the grain of what is foundationally true, not interpretatively true (as some will say, it is Ok to use Drugs or smoke on occasion because it is my life), we pay the consequence of our action. It is impossible to lay the burden on someone else, even the one that enticed us to partake, because the decision ultimately lies with us.
True humanity is dealing with reality, the one that we create by our choices, not one that is predestined because God knows all from the beginning to the end. He only knows the results that will come about by the decisions that we make if we remain on any particular path. He is NOT STUPID!!!!! His knowledge of life and the choices we make are so clear to Him because He has been there before.
Just like our parents were teenagers once, they know what types of things turn the heads of the teenage mind and the things that most teenagers think about during those years. This is our youth in eternity. We are sent here to see if we will follow the plan that we supported before we arrived here. The challenge that we have is, are we willing to submit our will to the Will of the Father? Are we willing to say, “Thy will be done, and not mine“. It is not a choice of whether it is our life or not, because it is NOT!!! Rather it is a choice of whether we will keep the commandments that God has laid down for us. He knows the real path; he has run the road and will not ever lead us astray from absolute true (which does exist, by the way, for those that think it doesn’t), but wants us to learn all absolute truths as they are, not as they can be interpreted by man.
We are adolescents in the perspective of eternity, and God is a fully grown adult that knows everything that will result from stupid choices and misguided or rebellious attitudes. We are free to choose His will or not. The agency is expended now comes obedience to that agency or disobedience as an antithesis to the absolute truth that is God and His ultimate plan.
I know that His plan is true and sure. There is nothing that can dissuade me from it. That is a fact of life. I have chosen, like Joshua of Old, …as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Comments Off
Posted in Honesty, Integrity, Obedience, testimony, thoughts
Tagged accountability, agency, attitude, choice, example, Follow, Integrity, Jesus Christ, Obedience, self-assurance, self-denial
A good place to see what is great and wonderful. It is most marvelous to think that the Lord wants the youth to know he is still “cool”.
Enjoy these songs, they really make a difference.
Jeremy
Posted in challenges, children, family, happiness, Jesus Christ, life, mission, Service, testimony, thoughts
God in his infinite wisdom gave us the hope that all things would be restored to their proper form and function. ALL things will be restored and then brought up to date or revealed from the beginning of time.
What is restoration? Well according to the Online Dictionary, restore means:
"To return to live, bring back, repair that which is torn or broken, and bring back into original existence [paraphrased from various definitions found here... "Restore"]"
All of these definitions stand clear and also pertain to the restoration of the Gospel. We lost it, it was torn from our midst, it was broken (priesthood authority was severed). and other things.
The gospel was lost through persecution. The people stoned and killed the prophets. They were crucified, stoned, and murdered one by one, and eventually that power they held was lost for a great time. The dark ages were literally a time without the light of God on the earth. There was little or no progression and development.
The age of enlightenment was the beginning of blind acceptance of a gospel of men, preached to the masses without their knowledge of the truth. Those truths were lost to mankind or corrupted. The rites of the priesthood were twisted to fit the needs and desires of those that preached. Reformation-ists came along and tried to say that the truth was not contained in the Church of the time.
We find peace in knowing that God did not leave us alone. He prepared various families in advance, who were faithful and earnestly seeking for the truth to play a part in the restoration of all things. The blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness were long overdue to the people of earth. We needed His intercession on our behalf to get that done.
In 1820 a young man decidedly studied the words of God, frequented as many meetings as his strength and time would allow him to attend of various religious beliefs and determined in his mind and heart that he would ask God directly, after all God did tell him to do that… "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not and it shall be given him (Epistle of James 1:5)."
In such a vivacious time this young man became enamored with knowing which had a fullness of the truth and to which he should join. His answer was to ask God who was the fountain of all knowledge. This determination of a 14 year old boy showed great courage, because not many young men today would go to such lengths to know the truth, but rather would exert just as much power to hide the truth at any cost.
In any case, the Lord saw fit to clarify once and for all the biggest debate among the world religions. Who is God and how does Christ fit into the picture.
Joseph Smith Jr. prayed to learn which church to join and to know where truth lay. In this one event came the most sublime and blessed event in modern human history, God the Father AND His only begotten Son in the Flesh, Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph. God spoke to Joseph calling him by name and introduced Jesus Christ personally to the world once again. Joseph Smith Jr. though a boy received the ultimate witness of the divinity and distinction that God has and is.
God is the father of our spirits, the spirits of all men who have lived on the earth. Because we are His children, we are all brothers and sisters one to another (spiritually). He is our Father, there is no distinction between us and the 4th world countries of this earth. We are created in His image, we resemble him to an extent. He begat Jesus Christ in Spirit before he came to this earth as Jehovah, God of the Israelites, and as Jesus Christ in the Flesh. That is how Jesus Christ is the only begotten of the Father, not in spirit, but in Flesh! We are his brothers and sisters in spirit. We all hail from a royal line, God the Eternal Father.
This was reaffirmed by Jesus to his disciples, "And this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God AND Jesus Christ whom thou has sent (emphasis added)." He is not referring to himself in both words here, for that would confuse, and that was not his purpose, but rather he is saying that He and His Father are two people; distinct in their reality, but united in bringing mankind unto salvation and "life eternal."
Whether the world chooses to believe this or not is up to them, but it does not diminish the fact that it is true. Why would the Savior pray to himself and ask for his own blessings. He did not do these miracles to glorify himself, but to glorify the father. Jesus asked his Father only to glorify him with the glory that he had before he came to earth, because he had been perfect in life, and only to give the ultimate glory to God anyway.
I know these things to be true. The reflect that all things have been restored to earth exactly as they were when Jesus setup his church on the earth during his own personal ministry. We now have access to all the blessings and rites that were part of the ancient church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His kingdom on the earth and it contains the fullness of the truth, restored to us through a prophet, the only functioning church with a prophet and 12 apostles found on the earth.
Such is the power to act in His name. It is just and true. In His Holy Name, even Jesus Christ, AMEN.
Posted in Introductions
When that time comes to incorporate changes in our life because we have determined to change or better something about ourselves, it behooves us to look deeper into our hearts.
In the effort to modify our personal lives, we must also remember that our changes must not interfere with the progression of those that we lead. It is a good thing to resolve to do something good, as long as we don’t jeopardize the lives and testimonies of those around us. Talking about the Millennium today brought something back to mind that involves us all. The time is today to prepare to meet God (to quote a good Book of Mormon Prophet).
The Millennium is a time for pure service for the living and the dead, for all who are left after the cleansing of the earth. There will be no temptation, no pain, no war, no suffering and no wickedness. There will be nothing to distract us from the work that God prepared for us. The true purpose of the millennium is this: Serve in the Temple and Serve in the Mission Field.
The millennium is not a time to perfect the saints. That time will be passed. If for some reason we feel that we are not in a condition to be among those who are serving we had best move to the front of the class when it comes to repentance and faith. It is not enough any more to just be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is not enough for us to do just the little things anymore, yet those things are still important. It is time for us to begin dedicating more time to advancement of the Kingdom of the Lord.
The Lord to Peter, "… when thou are converted, strengthen thy brethren…." We must prepare to meet God now. Our time is running out, though only the Father knows the time. It has also been stated in church historical records that the work will move forward when we as members take the kingdom on our shoulders and move forward. The world will see a great wave of righteousness and value centered change come over it. The millennium will come when we elect to usher it in.
Our is the responsibility to bear the ministry of the priesthood and preach the gospel to all nations of the earth in preparation for the Lord’s Second Coming. We will cut short the wickedness of this life by righteous living. Many opportunities will be provided for all of us to share our testimonies and begin the transition from a teaching and training church to a serving and loving church. It is now time to move forward with the greatest opportunity of all, bringing the Lord’s love forward to all mankind. We cannot do this fully or with clarity as we become bogged in our own personal interests that we forget the Father’s work.
We get carried away in the moment and forget the most important thing, just as Mary and Joseph during the time of the Passover feast and Christ’s personal growth when he understood his calling fully. We like the parents may be days ahead of the real journey because we think someone else is going to take care of what has been entrusted to us.
When we finally realize it, the time will be very late and we will have to pass through many days of affliction (worry) because of our endowment (in the case of Mary and Joseph, the Son of God. In ours, our testimony and dedication to the truths and covenants of the gospel.).
What kind of a legacy are we leaving for those that follow? How do we treat those around us, and how do we treat ourselves? Do we speak the truth inside or do we whisper outside the truth.
Keep the faith by doing the commandments. It is great to know the gospel was restored for us today. Hopefully we can make a difference in the lives of many and make sure there is a blessed spirit about us.
The Church is True and we have living prophets today that lead and guide us. Their words will help us do the things the Lord has asked us to do.
In Christ’s name, AMEN.
Comments Off
Posted in Introductions
A time for family, friends, and remembering the Gift of God to us. The Word of God came down to us in the form of a man to carry out the superfluous act that none of us had the ability or capacity to do by ourselves. We have no ability to raise ourselves to God personally, we can approach Him in prayer, but cannot enter His presence until the Son brings us to Him and introduces us as a sanctified individual.
Like the Children of Israel at the base of the Mount, we are asked to purify ourselves and prepare to enter the presence of the Lord. His is the way to eternal life and salvation. This was Jehovah, the God of the Israelites, the Great I AM. His law was given to an unprepared people, who, in their desire to worship something (having just left 400 years of bondage in Egypt), built a golden image and began to have a laciviuos party at its base.
Moses, having entered the mount to speak with the Lord received the law of life. This law was a law of spiritual rites and faith. He arrived and encountered them in their frivilous behavior, and literally tossed the book at them. The law was lost to their unrighteousness, and Moses returned into the mount to receive the law of outward ordinances and letter-living law.
This law had to be fulfilled, so in the Meridian of time the Lord of all came among men as a tiny babe born of a virgin mother and an immortal father to us, the children of men. We received this gift in fanfare and absolute truism. He came down to affect the plan of the Eternal God, His Father and our Father. The God of all and Father of our Spirits gave His only Begotten Son to us for as a ransom for sin. It was to reject the effects of the original sin of Adam and Eve from because of their disobedence in partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and take upon him the powers of Death and Hell alone to save mankind.
In this proper power of life and light he preached the original gospel given to Moses the first time coming down to the people from off the mount. In great effort and in some incomprehensible way He (Jehovah in the Flesh, Jesus the Christ) took away the pains of all mankind and suffered both body and spirit that took our pains away, and gave us the opportunity to reach eternal life. Our immortality made sure through His sacrifice, every human being that has ever lived, lives or which ever will live on this earth will have that great gift through Him.
Our eternity in our own hands, judged by our obedience to His commandments and according to the willingness that we have to keep the ordinances (rites) of His church. I so testify that these things are true and faithful, in His name, Jesus Christ, AMEN.
Christmas is the celebration of this great Gift from God’s own bosom and sent to us for a ransom because of sin. We love Him because He first loved us and continues to reach out for us still.
The first Gift of the First Christmas
Comments Off
Posted in death, happiness, Introductions, Jesus Christ, mission, religion, testimony, thoughts
Today in a conversation with a friend. we found ourselves talking about Faith. When there is a knowledge of things there is no faith. I stated something that we have in the Bible Dictionary about faith. It is a principle of action and of power.
It is really interesting to see what faith really does for us. The first time we ride a bike, or go to school, we do it with an idea that all will be well, however, what we forget when we have done that thing is we no longer have faith in it, we have knowledge (I apologize for the run on sentences, I have limited time to do this).
Faith is the power by which the universe was created. The power by which the earth took form out of darkness and void was done by faith. Moses brought the children of Israel through the dead sea on dry ground.
My friend asked me if he could quote me on this and use it in his church sundayschool lesson and to help minister to a friend who is beginning to ask the “life” questions… Who am I?, Where did I come from?, What is the purpose of life?. The same questions that every human being asks him/herself. It is not unlike our first days away at college, the though goes through our head, “What am I doing and what have I gotten myself into?”
We cannot have a knowledge of anything without the trial of our faith, in other words we need to use it, make the effort and then learn from the experience. That is how we put faith into action. Without it nothing can be done that is done.
Hope these words are as good for you as they were for my friend. I know that faith is a difficult principle to grasp as it is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen which are true (Hebrews Chapter 11).
I know that Jesus is Messiah. We needed his intercession on our behalf, because, even if we are of the chosen nation (Judah) we still must approach in faith before we can receive the witness or the knowledge of the truth. He loves us and He paid a dear price for our progress. We only need do as He has done to experience what He experienced.
Jeremy
Comments Off
Posted in Introductions
