Words of Mormon 1:7 And I do this for a awise bpurpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord cknoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he dworketh in me to do according to his ewill.
In reading this section, the words resounded with me: I do not know all things. Actually, this a gross understatement, not for Mormon, but for me. I know so much less than all things. But hopefully, that won't stop the Lord. He knows all things, and if I am worthy and humble and teachable and sensitive to His Spirit, He can work with me to do things that are according to His will. He will whisper, and I need to learn to recognize the "workings of the Spirit" that can be in me.
Mormon didn't know the reason for putting the small plates of Nephi where he put them, any more than Nephi knew why he was commanded to create two sets of plates. But they were both obedient to the workings of the Spirit, and we know that, according to the history of the Church, this peculiar combination of commandments blessed Joseph Smith after the manuscript was lost.
The Lord may ask me to do things which I do not understand, which make no sense. I just hope that I can listen and trust and "lean not to my own understanding" and allow Him to work through me.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Why Isn't This Working?
I've observed that sometimes we receive our errand from the Lord and attempt to carry it out, only to be thwarted and frustrated in our attempts. Nephi and his brothers were sent back to Jerusalem to get the plates of Laban, but their first two tries were not unsuccessful, but resulted in their being pursued by Laban's servants. They wondered, if they were commanded to do something, why the Lord wasn't making it easier for them to do it?
I think that happens so often in our lives. We know we had inspiration when we started out to do this thing, or maybe the Lord has given us a new calling. If it's His will, why are things so difficult?
I can think of two possibilities. One is that the Lord is testing us, trying our determination, making sure we really want to do this thing. He is teaching us patience and perseverance in the face of trials. He wants to know if we really want this thing, and allows us to prove to Him as well as ourselves that we are willing to do whatever it takes.
The other possibility is that sometimes we attempt to do the Lord's will in our own way, rather than in His way. The first two attempts made by the brothers to get the plates were not the results of consulting with the Lord on the matter, but consulting with one another, using their own ideas. Only when Nephi went into the city by himself did he allow himself to be led by the Lord. In a contest between our own brilliant and well thought-out plans and the Lord's direction, our plans will always come up short, and yet we persist in trying those first rather than relying on the Lord. Sometimes He wants us to use our ideas and our initiative as He did with the brother of Jared, but I think He will tell us when it's one of those times.
I think that happens so often in our lives. We know we had inspiration when we started out to do this thing, or maybe the Lord has given us a new calling. If it's His will, why are things so difficult?
I can think of two possibilities. One is that the Lord is testing us, trying our determination, making sure we really want to do this thing. He is teaching us patience and perseverance in the face of trials. He wants to know if we really want this thing, and allows us to prove to Him as well as ourselves that we are willing to do whatever it takes.
The other possibility is that sometimes we attempt to do the Lord's will in our own way, rather than in His way. The first two attempts made by the brothers to get the plates were not the results of consulting with the Lord on the matter, but consulting with one another, using their own ideas. Only when Nephi went into the city by himself did he allow himself to be led by the Lord. In a contest between our own brilliant and well thought-out plans and the Lord's direction, our plans will always come up short, and yet we persist in trying those first rather than relying on the Lord. Sometimes He wants us to use our ideas and our initiative as He did with the brother of Jared, but I think He will tell us when it's one of those times.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
My New Mantra
John 8:29 touched my heart, and I need to memorize it. Jesus says, ...the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
If I could get to the point that I could always say within myself, "I do always those things that please Him", I would be very happy. I know He would bless me with His Spirit, and I would know that He had not left me alone. It's very similar to the sacrament prayer. If I do always remember Him, He will give me His Spirit to be with me.
Every day, every hour, I need to think about these words and see if I can still say them honestly: I do always those things that please Him.
If I could get to the point that I could always say within myself, "I do always those things that please Him", I would be very happy. I know He would bless me with His Spirit, and I would know that He had not left me alone. It's very similar to the sacrament prayer. If I do always remember Him, He will give me His Spirit to be with me.
Every day, every hour, I need to think about these words and see if I can still say them honestly: I do always those things that please Him.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Keep Going
I've been thinking lately about maintenance. By that, I mean keeping the momentum, not sliding backward. It first came up in reference to exercise. Carma and Vic and I go to the gym and are trying to get fit. I try to push myself to make progress each time, but as I watch some weight loss TV shows, I can see that I could do much more, work much harder. Whereas I work out for less than an hour, they work for 3 or 4 hours a day. Sometimes they cry from the exertion and pain. As I thought about it, I told Carma that I'm going to stop feeling guilty if I don't ache the next day from sore muscles. I do push hard, but I'm not really trying to lose weight. Neither am I trying to become muscle-bound. I'm simply trying to keep from losing muscle mass in my old age. I want to be healthy, vibrant and strong, with no wheelchair looming in my future. In a word, I'm trying to maintain.
Then the same word came to mind with my housekeeping. I've had a sudden burst of housecleaning energy. Housecleaning has always been a burden for me, been low in my priorities, with the logical result that my house was usually a mess. Even in the last few years with no kids around, it was rarely really clean -- just not total chaos.
I can't say what really spurred this change, but I think it started with a chance cleaning of all my cabinet fronts in the kitchen. I hadn't intended to scrub all the cabinet doors, just to wipe off a drip. But once I got started, the next door needed washing too, and before I knew it they were all clean. Then I found a website where parents can assign children chores, and the kids go there and mark off what they've done to earn rewards. So I assigned myself some morning and evening chores, keeping it simple, and would go in and mark them as done and feel a great deal of satisfaction. I only started with 2 or 3 chores night and morning and was amazed at the fact that wiping of all the kitchen counters and cleaning out the sink night and morning kept the kitchen quite clean. Soon I added a system I worked out a few years ago for cleaning the whole house by zones over the course of a month, which system I spent a lot of time working out, but never really stayed with it. Well, this time I've stayed with it for over a month, quite religiously, to the point that I'm now back to the same zone I started with. Which leads me to maintaining.
A month ago I did some in-depth cleaning in the kitchen. But this time around, I mostly just need to do wipe-downs of the same areas to keep them clean, rather than the deep scrubbing that was required the first time around. I'm learning to maintain the progress I've made.
But in spiritual matters, I need to do more than maintain. In Ether 2:7 the Lord says: And the Lord would not suffer that they should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness, but he would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people.
The Lord doesn't want us to get part way to the promised land and then camp out in the wilderness, even if it's a lovely wilderness. He doesn't want us to tread water. Treading water isn't drowning, as I was when I wasn't exercising at all, or rarely cleaning. It's maintaining. It's neither moving forward or backward. But in order to reach the promised land, we need to push and push and progress and improve and draw nearer to our Savior every day. Then we can reach the promised land, which is choice above all other lands, which the Lord has preserved for us if we're a righteous people.
Then the same word came to mind with my housekeeping. I've had a sudden burst of housecleaning energy. Housecleaning has always been a burden for me, been low in my priorities, with the logical result that my house was usually a mess. Even in the last few years with no kids around, it was rarely really clean -- just not total chaos.
I can't say what really spurred this change, but I think it started with a chance cleaning of all my cabinet fronts in the kitchen. I hadn't intended to scrub all the cabinet doors, just to wipe off a drip. But once I got started, the next door needed washing too, and before I knew it they were all clean. Then I found a website where parents can assign children chores, and the kids go there and mark off what they've done to earn rewards. So I assigned myself some morning and evening chores, keeping it simple, and would go in and mark them as done and feel a great deal of satisfaction. I only started with 2 or 3 chores night and morning and was amazed at the fact that wiping of all the kitchen counters and cleaning out the sink night and morning kept the kitchen quite clean. Soon I added a system I worked out a few years ago for cleaning the whole house by zones over the course of a month, which system I spent a lot of time working out, but never really stayed with it. Well, this time I've stayed with it for over a month, quite religiously, to the point that I'm now back to the same zone I started with. Which leads me to maintaining.
A month ago I did some in-depth cleaning in the kitchen. But this time around, I mostly just need to do wipe-downs of the same areas to keep them clean, rather than the deep scrubbing that was required the first time around. I'm learning to maintain the progress I've made.
But in spiritual matters, I need to do more than maintain. In Ether 2:7 the Lord says: And the Lord would not suffer that they should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness, but he would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people.
The Lord doesn't want us to get part way to the promised land and then camp out in the wilderness, even if it's a lovely wilderness. He doesn't want us to tread water. Treading water isn't drowning, as I was when I wasn't exercising at all, or rarely cleaning. It's maintaining. It's neither moving forward or backward. But in order to reach the promised land, we need to push and push and progress and improve and draw nearer to our Savior every day. Then we can reach the promised land, which is choice above all other lands, which the Lord has preserved for us if we're a righteous people.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Blessings
3 Nephi 20:26 The Father having raised me up unto you first, and sent me to abless you in bturning away every one of you from his iniquities;
Sometimes we get pre-conceived notions of what blessings look like. We visualize STUFF as being what we would like as blessings. Nice homes, or good food or clothes, cars. Money would also be acceptable. Sometimes we remember to notice our good health or happy families and think that they could be blessings.
One of the last things on our list of things we think of to ask for or be grateful for is the blessing of being taught and trained, tutored and instructed, disciplined so that we can become the people God would have us be. It's obvious when we think as parents that in order for our children to be happy, they must be taught. We toilet train our children for their good, as well as our convenience. We discipline them when they have accidents. We teach our children to get along with those around them. If they hit and fight, we give them "time out" so that they can learn the lessons we're teaching. If we fail to teach our children the vital lessons of life, they will lead lives of frustration, pain and unhappiness.
Our Father also has things He would teach us. So He gives us prophets and scriptures with words of instruction. Then when we forget His lessons, He gives us uncomfortable experiences to remind us of the lessons. If we open our hearts to His teachings and bend our will to His, we can have peace and joy in our lives. But if we insist in doing things our own way, we will suffer heartache, grief and pain.
That the Lord would turn us away from our iniquities is definitely a blessing to be grateful for.
Sometimes we get pre-conceived notions of what blessings look like. We visualize STUFF as being what we would like as blessings. Nice homes, or good food or clothes, cars. Money would also be acceptable. Sometimes we remember to notice our good health or happy families and think that they could be blessings.
One of the last things on our list of things we think of to ask for or be grateful for is the blessing of being taught and trained, tutored and instructed, disciplined so that we can become the people God would have us be. It's obvious when we think as parents that in order for our children to be happy, they must be taught. We toilet train our children for their good, as well as our convenience. We discipline them when they have accidents. We teach our children to get along with those around them. If they hit and fight, we give them "time out" so that they can learn the lessons we're teaching. If we fail to teach our children the vital lessons of life, they will lead lives of frustration, pain and unhappiness.
Our Father also has things He would teach us. So He gives us prophets and scriptures with words of instruction. Then when we forget His lessons, He gives us uncomfortable experiences to remind us of the lessons. If we open our hearts to His teachings and bend our will to His, we can have peace and joy in our lives. But if we insist in doing things our own way, we will suffer heartache, grief and pain.
That the Lord would turn us away from our iniquities is definitely a blessing to be grateful for.
Love Your Enemies
I am trying to understand the section in the Sermon on the Mount that talks about loving your enemies. I think it starts with the verse that says "resist not evil". That seems puzzling. Does it mean that we go along with evil? I'm sure that's not it. It's more like "don't assume a battle stance". It has more to do with the person than the evil itself. I'm not saying this very well because my thoughts are still fuzzy. But when we look at the instructions, a pattern emerges. He tells us to turn the other cheek; let him have our cloak; go the second mile; give to him that asks. Then there's this impossible instruction: love your aenemies, bless them that curse you, do bgood to them that hate you, and cpray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you;
Can anyone actually do these things? This was surely one of the most shocking and surprising of the Savior's teachings. The Telestial man doesn't love his enemies. He may feel fully justified in seeking revenge. The Terrestrial man may try to forgive his enemies and just avoid them. But Jesus wasn't asking us to only be better than the natural man. He was teaching us a higher law. He wants us to love our enemies. To pray for them. To do good to them. To be Celestial.
Can anyone actually do these things? This was surely one of the most shocking and surprising of the Savior's teachings. The Telestial man doesn't love his enemies. He may feel fully justified in seeking revenge. The Terrestrial man may try to forgive his enemies and just avoid them. But Jesus wasn't asking us to only be better than the natural man. He was teaching us a higher law. He wants us to love our enemies. To pray for them. To do good to them. To be Celestial.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Our Leaders
The Savior has been teaching and instructing the twelve who he called to be the leaders over the Nephites. Now He turns to the people and says:
dBlessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have echosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants;
Here we have instructions to the people as well as to the leaders. We are told to give heed to their words. We do this by paying attention when they speak and pondering how to incorporate their teachings into our lives. Our local leaders deserve our attention as well as the General Authorities. Our Stake Conference is coming up this weekend. It would be good if I would take a notebook and jot down things that touch my heart as they speak, then go home later and ponder on what things I need to change.
Also, we love General Conference, and look forward to receiving the Conference issue of the Ensign. But we need to spend time with each talk, studying, pondering, applying those things we learn. What use is it having living prophets if we don't know what they're saying to us and make changes where the Spirit tells they're needed?
The other instructions here are for the leaders. They are not called to be puffed up or to get glory or to "boss" people around. They are called to "minister" to us and to be our "servants". The Savior gave the example when He washed the disciples' feet. Anyone who holds a leadership position needs to pray constantly that they can bless those they serve and understand their needs and help succor them.
dBlessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have echosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants;
Here we have instructions to the people as well as to the leaders. We are told to give heed to their words. We do this by paying attention when they speak and pondering how to incorporate their teachings into our lives. Our local leaders deserve our attention as well as the General Authorities. Our Stake Conference is coming up this weekend. It would be good if I would take a notebook and jot down things that touch my heart as they speak, then go home later and ponder on what things I need to change.
Also, we love General Conference, and look forward to receiving the Conference issue of the Ensign. But we need to spend time with each talk, studying, pondering, applying those things we learn. What use is it having living prophets if we don't know what they're saying to us and make changes where the Spirit tells they're needed?
The other instructions here are for the leaders. They are not called to be puffed up or to get glory or to "boss" people around. They are called to "minister" to us and to be our "servants". The Savior gave the example when He washed the disciples' feet. Anyone who holds a leadership position needs to pray constantly that they can bless those they serve and understand their needs and help succor them.
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