You Should Not Have Feared Man More Than God

 D&C 3:7 For, behold, you should not have ^afeared man more than God. Although men set at naught the counsels of God, and ^bdespise his words—

 8 Yet you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and ^asupported you against all the fiery ^bdarts of the ^cadversary; and he would have been with you in every time of ^dtrouble.

This scripture hits home with me.  I'm a white personality, meaning I'm concerned with pleasing people and having people like me.  Even strangers who I will never see again should think that I'm a good and smart person.  I envy those who don't care what anyone else thinks.

But that should not be my primary concern.  First I should think about what the Lord thinks.  I so empathize with the prophet Joseph in this trial because I could see myself doing the same thing.  Martin Harris was pressuring Joseph to let him show the 116 pages of manuscript to his wife and a few other people.  We all know the story of how they were lost or stolen.

This was a time of great suffering for Joseph, but also great growth.  We now know that the Lord had already prepared a greater record to replace that which was withdrawn.  So it seems to me that the purpose of this trial was to teach Joseph this very lesson.  If he would fear God first before man, the Lord would support him and protect him against the adversary.  He would be with him in every time of trouble.

I'm sure there were many times when that lesson was tested in the years before Joseph's death, but he never again slipped up, never faltered.  He always trusted the Lord first and stood strong against the influence of men.  It was a hard and painful lesson for him, but such an important one!

I'm so grateful for his example and his life.   I pray that I may always be as strong.

The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn to Their Fathers

D&C 2:2  And ^ahe shall plant in the hearts of the children the ^bpromises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.

One of the things I pray about pretty regularly is my gratitude for parents and grandparents and great-grandparents who sacrificed so that I could be handed the Gospel on a silver platter.  To be raised in the Gospel is a great blessing.  To grow up with the teachings and have a testimony, to have righteous parents who set an example is such a wonderful thing.  And thinking about my ancestors who recognized the truth of the Gospel and accepted it, leaving behind everything to cross oceans and the plains in difficult conditions just fills me with gratitude and joy.

But my earlier ancestors didn't have the benefit of the Gospel, and as I studied this verse in the D&C, I realized that my heart has been turned to only some of my fathers.  I'm interested in learning more about researching and doing family history, but haven't really got into it.  Is the time right that now I should devote more of my time to researching my ancestors?  I don't know.  Maybe.  Carma is going to be teaching a Sunday School class in family history.  Maybe that will get us both started.

 

Each Life That Touches Ours for Good

It's not exactly scripture, but that was the theme of my devotional thought that I gave yesterday at the OFSP Center.  Our turn to give the thought comes around about once a month, and I decided rather than choose a subject and hymn to go along with it, to choose the hymn first and then the thought.  So I chose Each Life That Touches Ours for Good.  Here is approximately what I said.

We are all blessed to rub shoulders with other people, and some of those really lift and strengthen us.  Elder Thuesen last Thursday was telling me about his association with Elder Bednar years ago.  Elder Thuesen was privileged to be a counselor when Elder Bednar was a bishop.  He told me what a learning experience it was and said, "Some people are just better than the rest of us.  If you want to do better, if you want to be better, associate with better people."

I've thought about that a lot.  I don't know any general authorities.  But I do know some people who are better than I am.  And it's such a privilege to rub shoulders with those people and learn from them.  We've been meeting with Arringtons weekly for at least 30 years, discussing the Gospel in depth.  I feel like I've been tutored in my ideas and opinions through those years.

We have the blessing of rubbing shoulders with great people as we serve missions and serve in the temple.  Those people touch our lives for good.  We need to learn from them and savor those relationships.

I used the example of Scorchi and Tom's get-together with the family Tom brought into the Gospel 44 years ago.  There are now 62 people who are members of the church in that family, and several generations have served missions and done family history research, so many, many more lives have been touched.

My concluding thought was that WE need to be those great people that others want to rub shoulders with, so that we can inspire and influence and lift those around us.  I want us all to be giddy at being in the Celestial Kingdom together, as I quoted from Alicia Arce in yesterday's Mahubble blog.

For worthy friends whose lives proclaim
Devotion to the Savior's name
Who bless our days with peace and love,
We praise Thy goodness, Lord, above.