Gifts of the Spirit
Filed under: Becoming Perfected in Christ, Discipleship: Following in the Savior's Footsteps, Finding Truth, Gospel & Doctrine, Growing in Faith, Helping and Teaching Others, Jesus Christ, The Bible, Uncategorized
The Bible and other scriptures promise us we can receive gifts of the Spirit to help us in our spiritual journey, sometimes referred to in churches as a Christian walk. The Bible discusses a variety of gifts Christians can receive from God, through the Holy Ghost: Read more
Are New Year Resolutions Important?
Filed under: Becoming Perfected in Christ, Personal Development
Boyd K. Packer, an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, shared a story about goals in his book, “Memorable Stories With a Message.” A high ranking Mormon leader, he encourages people to set goals, whether at the new year, or any other time.
At a New Year’s Eve party, the host asked the guests to write on a sheet of paper what they hoped to accomplish in the year to come. Each guest did so and sealed and labeled the envelope. The host took the envelopes to his bank and placed them in a bank vault until the following year.
Elder Packer quotes Heber C. Kimball, who said, “I have said often, “you may write blessings for yourselves, and insert every good thing you can think of, and it will all come to pass on your heads if you do right.” Read more
Getting to Know God
Filed under: Developing a Relationship With God
God isn’t just a shadowy figure who created us, made a bunch of rules and then disappeared from our lives. As the creator of our spirits, and someone who knew us before we were born, He loves us and has a deep, personal interest in how we’re doing. He wants us to know Him as well as He knows us. How do you get to know someone you don’t remember meeting in person?
In today’s age of modern technology, this might not seem as complicated as it once was. Most of us feel we know many people we’ve never met. However, in general, we get to know God the same way we get to know everyone we have a close, personal relationship with. We spend quality time together, we talk, we listen, and we try to find out as much as we can about the person. We invest a great deal of time in building our relationships with people in our earthly life we care about, and we must devote at least as much time building our relationships with God and Jesus Christ.
A good first step is to gather some factual knowledge. We have access to scriptures that teach us about God, and we can read them slowly and thoughtfully, not rushing through to meet a schedule, but pondering what they say. We can even start a journal of our thoughts as we read, or begin a notebook in which we record everything we learn about God as we read.
On the official church website, LDS.org there are many articles about both God and Jesus Christ. We can read the thoughts of church leaders and ordinary church members on God and Jesus, and learn their experiences with Them. These allow us to find ways to apply those insights to our own lives, and perhaps to better understand our relationship with God.
Of course, information isn’t enough. It creates a knowledgeable person, but it doesn’t create a personal relationship. To have a personal relationship, you must have communication. This communication comes through prayer, the way God created for us to stay in touch with Him while we’re away. Prayer is not a one-way form of communication. We can talk to God, and through the power of the Holy Ghost, He can also communicate with us, a part of the process often neglected when prayer is discussed.
Here’s a brief overview of how to pray: Begin by respectfully and lovingly addressing God. (Dear Heavenly Father, My beloved Father in Heaven, etc.) Then thank Him for everything you have received from Him. Spend some time in advance thinking this through, so you begin to develop an appreciation of the many blessings you have. Even the hardest life comes with blessings, but we have to pay attention to find them sometimes. Next, if you need something, ask for it. This can include a request to help build your relationship with God. Make sure what you’re asking for is righteous and really needed, and that it’s something you can’t give yourself, unless you’re asking Him to help you with the process of obtaining it. You can also spend time just talking to God about any subject that’s on your mind. It’s peaceful to talk to someone who really understands, and He, unlike your earthly friends, never complains you’re talking too long. Then close in the name of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and finish with the word Amen.
Now the harder part begins. Most people get to this point, and jump up, rushing off to the rest of their day. However, before you close the prayer, sit quietly for a while and just listen. How can God answer you if you don’t wait for His answer? The answer can come to you in several ways. One way, the least common, is through a voice. This is more common in extreme emergencies where the Holy Ghost knows you need to hear Him right away. Another way is for thoughts to enter your mind. The third way, and the more common way, is for you to experience peacefulness in your mind when you’ve made the right decision, and a negative feeling when you’ve made the wrong decision.
This, of course, means you can’t just run to God with a question. You need to think the problem through and try to come up with your own solution. Then you take it to God for confirmation. God is a good parent and good parents never do for their children what their children can do for themselves.
The final step to building a relationship to God is, of course, to do His will. If we’re studying and praying, but then doing anything we want, our relationship with Him is empty and meaningless. “If ye love me, keep my commandments,” Jesus told his disciples. Mormon beliefs help guide its members to a close and personal relationship with God.
God Has the Bigger Picture: A Mormon Message of Comfort in Troubled Times
by Karen R. Merkley
(This is Part I of a reproduction of a fireside presentation to Mormon Youth on October 21, 2001.)
We lifted my eight-year old daughter, Talia and held her up over the retaining wall in the back yard where she glimpsed the world from a few feet higher than her usual vantage point, observing a creamsicle-colored full moon and the twinkling of many lights of a nearby development. In retelling her experience, she remarked, “Wow, Mom! I gasped! I didn’t know it could look like that. I just wanted to stay there for an hour—! I felt her spirit capture the joy of “things as they really are” from a loftier perspective.
Perspective gives us patience, purpose, and a place for our emotions—even transforming them. Let’s increase ours together–look up, step back a few feet. What might life events look like from God’s view?
Take a peek with me into the divine geometry of nature. All things, say Nephi and Alma, typify (that is, teach or denote) something about God. Now here is a stunning reality.
This image is called a fractal; it’s part of what is known as the Mandelbrot series—Mandelbrot is the name of the scientist who discovered it. It’s a design that has been generated on the computer through an equation. We won’t get into mathematical technicalities here, but for now, observe what happens as we magnify just the small rectangular portion marked on the image. Read more
Joy
Filed under: Developing a Relationship With God, Growing in Faith
What is the purpose of life? We’re here to gain a body and a family, to learn, to be tested, to develop faith, and ultimately to return to our Heavenly Father. However, the Book of Mormon also offers another interesting perspective on the purpose of our time here on earth:
Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. (2 Nephi 2:25)
This is a very interesting thought. We are that we might have joy. Notice the scripture doesn’t say we will have joy, only that we can have it. In a life that has trials and sorrows, how do we obtain that joy God wants us to have?
It’s important to recognize that joy, happiness, and pleasure are not always the same thing. Pleasure suggests something worldly and fleeting. We might find pleasure in a walk in the park, but then go home and start arguing. Some people find momentary pleasure in sin, but this can never bring true joy.
We are often happy when things are going well in our lives. We may be happy the day our child wins an award for best student, dinner turned out perfectly, and we got a raise at work. All of this, however, is momentary and depends on things going well.
While God certainly has no objection to our happiness, what He really wants for us is to find true joy. Joy is deep inside, and is present even in sorrow and trials. We can experience joy even when someone we love has died, we’re coping with unemployment, or a child is causing us heartache.
Joy is based on knowing God is our Father and loves us with all His heart. It comes from knowing who we are—children of God—and letting that knowledge fill our lives and guide our choices. It comes from trusting God even when we see no way out of our current sadness or trial. It is the result of knowing that the trials of life are temporary and that someday we’ll live again with God in a perfect world.
A person grieving over the death of a loved one may not be happy at that moment, but she can be joyful, knowing the person has returned to Heavenly Father and is now living a wonderful life. She can be joyful because she knows family and love don’t end at death, and so there will be a time when they can be together again. She can experience all this joy in a quiet way even as the tears fall. She knows why she is sad and that it will someday end. It’s a joy based on faith.
Parents are often devastated when a child who was properly raised makes terrible choices and turns his back on the values of the family. This is a time for genuine sorrow and fear, and yet a parent, although very sad and frightened, can have a quiet joy resonating in the background because she knows she isn’t coping with this alone. God is waiting to offer her comfort and hope, and furthermore, He hasn’t abandoned her child, who is also His child. While He can’t take away the child’s God-given agency, the right to choose for himself, God can be standing by to place small promptings into the child’s heart, based on the faith of the parents. When the child is ready to listen, God will be ready to step in and help the child return to his foundations.
Joy is all about faith. When we trust God and really believe He is kind, loving, present in our lives, and ready to help, we can have a gentle joy that brings us through our greatest trials. We will still cry, still sometimes be afraid, and still experience trials, but we’ll always know we can turn to God to strengthen us as we’re going through them. Joy is all about knowing we’re never facing anything alone. We’re always in the care of a loving Heavenly Father.
God Gives Us Personal Direction
Today, with a church membership approaching 13 million members and more than half of those living outside the United States, one is fortunate to be in the same venue where the prophet is speaking, much less have a private conversation with him. But that doesn’t mean that church members cannot receive specific direction for their lives when needed. The Lord guides His children primarily in three ways:
First, He has given every baptized member of the church the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The Gift of the Holy Ghost entitles the recipient to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost provided they are living worthily. The Holy Ghost knows all things. He can guide us not only the way we should go, but also warn us against taking a path that might be dangerous.
Secondly, He has given worthy men the Priesthood, the authority to act and bless others in His name. Priesthood holders can not only bless the sick, as Christ blessed the sick, they can give blessings of comfort and direction in times of need. Typically a blessing is sought out by a close relative: a husband, father, or brother. If a relative is not able to give the blessing, families can seek out the assistance of priesthood holders in their ward (congregation). They place their hands on the head of the individual in need of a blessing and through the power of Christ utter words of divine counsel and reassurance.
In the Bible it records the blessings of fathers to their sons, to pass on the birthright, as well as give counsel and direction to those who would be responsible for protecting and maintaining the family. Today in a somewhat similar fashion, worthy members of the church may receive what is known as a Patriarchal blessing. In this blessing they receive counsel and direction regarding their individual life’s mission. They also learn through which lineage of the twelve tribes of Israel they inherit their spiritual birthright. The Lord made certain promises to Abraham which are still valid for all his righteous descendants. Through a Patriarchal blessing church members learn through which tribe of Israel they receive these promised blessings. Patriarchal blessings are administered through one ordained specially to administer them, and unlike regular priesthood blessings which may be sought at any time of need, are only given once in a person’s life.
We can receive divine revelation specific to our individual needs. As long as we are doing our best to live our lives in accordance with God’s commandments, He is eager and willing to speak directly to us through His appointed channels.
Restoration and Resurrection
Have you ever thought to yourself: My life will be so much better and therefore I’ll behave so much sweeter as soon as (fill in the blank) happens? I’m sure we all have at times. As we all eventually find out, that perfect tomorrow never arrives, and we will always only have today with its present challenges.
There is an important principle of the Gospel known as restoration. It’s as simple as this—we get what we put out. Happiness is one example. Sometimes we imagine in our minds circumstances that will make us happy, and we wait until those circumstances come together to be happy. Really, though, if you want to be happy, you need to create happiness for others. Then you will find you can’t help experiencing it yourself.
Restoration is not just a principle for this life, but it extends to the next. Dallin H. Oaks, current Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormons), said the following regarding resurrection and restoration:
The assurance of resurrection also gives us a powerful incentive to keep the commandments of God during our mortal lives. Resurrection is much more than merely reuniting a spirit to a body held captive by the grave. We know from the Book of Mormon that the resurrection is a restoration that brings back “carnal for carnal” and “good for that which is good” (Alma 41:13; see also Alma 41:2–4 and Hel. 14:31). The prophet Amulek taught, “That same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world” (Alma 34:34). As a result, when persons leave this life and go on to the next, “they who are righteous shall be righteous still” (2 Ne. 9:16), and “whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life … will rise with us in the resurrection” (D&C 130:18). (“Resurrection,” Ensign, May 2000, 14)
Thanks to our elder brother Jesus Christ, every person who has ever lived on the earth will have the privilege of being resurrected. That means they will come back to life in their perfect form, free from disease and from the possibility of dying. However, the way we’ll feel about ourselves and those around us will not magically transform the same way our bodies will. We will have the same tendencies toward happiness or misery, selfishness or selflessness. As Elder Oaks pointed out, knowing that should help us want to get a handle on those attitudes that prevent us from experiencing joy now, as we will find the process of dying and coming back to life won’t simply make them disappear.
So practice living today the way you know you want yourself and your children to live forever. That doesn’t mean beat yourself up when you fall short. Our Father in Heaven knew we’d make mistakes, and He sent His Son Jesus Christ to atone for our sins so we could recover from our mistakes and move on and be better. But the next time you catch yourself thinking you’ll behave better as soon as (fill in the blank) occurs, remember that you could be thinking the same thing well into eternity, and that’s a very long time! We can and must begin the process of change now.
A Good Citizen
To live in America is an awesome blessing and opportunity. I always look forward to each year when we celebrate the birth of this country. At that time I like to reflect back on all the memorable moments of the year. We have so much for which we can be grateful. This country was found on the principles of God The Father.
I feel honored to be a citizen of this great country. It is a land of many opportunities and accomplishments. We have had many setbacks and downfalls, but through it all she still tops the rest. We each have a great responsible to this country we reside in.
As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons).
We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law and the leaders. (Twelfth Article of Faith)
Obeying the law means we will have good intention rooted in our hearts to do our part to make our country a great place. In honoring our country we look upon it as something important to us. We sustain our country when we refrain from saying or doing anything, which will weaken or make our country ineffective.
Have you ever thought about what condition our society would be in if we didn’t have leaders or rules? We would use our free agency to make our own rules, responding at whim to any and all situations as we would choose. However,this would cause our country as a whole to suffer.
We believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments; and that sedition and rebellion are unbecoming every.(Doctrine & Covenants 134:5)
Our responsibility as citizens is to strive to make our country strong and worthy of God’s blessings. Working to make our homes strong and good will make good people, good people will make a great nation. It is important that we teach our children to love this country and to respect the leaders in authority. When we make this a part of our lives we will be rewarded for all our efforts.
President Harold B. Lee taught: “When one sets himself up to make his own rules and presumes to know no law but his own, he is but echoing the plan of Satan.”(Conference Report,July 1972)
Our righteous behavior will make all the difference in how great this nation will become and be. Let’s not give Satan any entrance into our lives, and we do this by striving to be good law abiding citizens. This is my prayer.
Where Will We Go When We Die?
Not everyone who believes in life after death finds it a rosy proposition. Hamlet called it the “undiscovered country,” about which our uncertainty “makes us rather bear those ills we have/Than fly to others that we know not of”(III.i.81-84). Fortunately, since Hamlet’s time (or rather Shakespeare’s), the Lord has revealed much about what happens to us after we die. Death does have a specific destination, and we can take comfort in knowing that God’s arms of mercy can reach us even beyond the grave.
Spirit Paradise
Those who have been baptized members of Christ’s church and who have lived up to those covenants will be received into a place known as spirit paradise to await their day of resurrection. This is not heaven in the traditional sense where righteous men and women receive their final rewards and dwell eternally in the presence of God. It is, however, a delightful place. An ancient American prophet named Alma taught the following about spirit paradise:
And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow. (Alma 40:12)
Spirit Prison
In contrast to spirit paradise, Alma explained that those who chose wickedness while alive would have a far different experience in what could be called spirit prison:
Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection. (Alma 40:14)
Spirit prison is also the destination of those souls who did not willfully rebel against God, but who never had the chance to embrace His Gospel because they never had it preached to them. Part of what makes spirit prison so awful for the wicked, described by Alma, is knowing they will have to account for their evil deeds in life. This same feeling of terror, however, will not necessarily be experienced by those who were merely ignorant of Jesus Christ and never had a chance for baptism. All the same, spirit prison will not be a desirable final dwelling place. There is, thankfully, a way out.
Joseph F. Smith, the sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly referred to as Mormons), had a vision revealing to him where Christ went from the moment He died on the cross until He was resurrected. Jesus Christ spent those three days organizing righteous spirits to go and preach the Gospel to those that were in spirit prison. President Smith recorded:
And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel. Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets. (D&C 138:31-32)
God desires to give us every opportunity to return to His presence. We need not fear death, knowing that God is in charge, and all who die will have a fair opportunity to embrace His Gospel in its fullness.
Sting of Death Swallowed Up in Christ
I once knew a woman in a nursing home who, though strong in her Christian beliefs, dreaded death because she questioned what kind of reception a person as flawed as herself could expect. As her friend, I wanted to reassure her that she need not be afraid. My assurance came from what I’ve learned as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormons.)
The Bible indicates that death is joyful for the righteous and fearful for the wicked. Revelation 14:13 tells us that death becomes a time of rest for those who “die in the Lord,” and that they shall be blessed. On the other hand, the sting of death is sin, wrote Paul, “[b]ut thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:55-57) Sin not only makes death painful, but it can hasten it. “When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity,” recorded Ezekiel, “he shall even die therby.” (Ezekiel 33:18)
Christ erases the “sting” of death in two ways. First, He made it possible that we might all be resurrected. An ancient American king known as King Benjamin taught his people that if “Christ had not risen from the dead…there could have been no resurrection. But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.” (Mosiah 16:7-8) This is primarily the sting of separation from those we love. It is comforting to know we may see our loved ones again.
Secondly, Christ made it possible for us to repent of our sins. Ancient American prophets have taught the awfulness of failing to repent while in this life. The prophet Nephi taught:
Wherefore, if ye have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgment-seat of God; and no unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore, ye must be cast off forever.(1 Nephi 10: 21)
In a similar vein, his brother Jacob warned:
But wo unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state! (2 Nephi 9: 27)
Those who knowingly sin against God’s commandments in life can expect death will be an unpleasant experience. They will not be able to hide their sins from God, nor escape the negative consequences of their choices. In contrast, in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, God explained that “those that die in [Him] shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them” (D&C42:46).
The Lord loves us and desires we find happiness even in death, but He cannot reward evil behavior. Only those who willingly rebel against His law will find death to be a tragedy, because it will bring them closer to the time when they will have to account for their wickedness in life. God has, however, provided an opportunity for those who die without knowing his commandments to learn and accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ before receiving final judgment. In the end, we will receive whichever kind of end we have chosen based on the lives we’ve lived and our desires to serve God.