Thursday, October 24, 2013
Next week
This next week, I will be working on the question, "How can I be together with my family forever?"
Saturday, October 19, 2013
How Can I Know God's Direction For My Life?
I feel that everyone searches for the direction in this life, and they search for it in a variety of ways. Many people search for things that they think can give guidance. They look for things that apply to them in magazines, movies, blogs, books, games, gangs, groups, etc. The thing that I was asked to focus on is direction for our lives from God. How can we know exactly what God wants us to do and how can we recognize when He talks to us? As a missionary I go around and talk to people about God and Jesus Christ. I find that many people do not know how they can personally know how God speaks to them.
To really begin, I need to set something strait. God gave us the scriptures for us to know His will, to teach us things that can help improve our lives. In the scriptures we find patterns of living that we can apply. But, the scriptures were written thousands our years ago. I have found that on occasion that it is difficult to find an answer in the scriptures. We have to remember that with this time gap it is hard for us to understand the language and the culture. Moses may have gone through many similar things that you and I have but he doesn't always write about it, or if he did, it isn't always clear. You cant find a perfect answer for every problem word by word in the scriptures. For example "My bff Jill wants me to come over to her house on Sunday" well you would use the 10 commandments, Keep the Sabbath Day Holy by going to church. That is an easy one, but what if after that your bff Jill asks "cant you miss one Sunday? Why not?" because Jesus said so! But really why? That is a harder question that you may not know an answer for. This is what I want to talk about. All the answers are in the scriptures, you just need to find them. I want to help you know how.
I want you to do something. Think of a question that you have had. One you have not found an answer to. I am going to help you learn how to find the answer. If we had the answer to every single question, you wouldn't need to learn how but since we don't, lets try it.
Lets begin.
The Light of Christ (Alma 28:14) is also known as the Light of Life (John 1:4). But what is it? It is "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."(John 1:9). It is the very thing that tells us right from wrong (Moroni 7:12-19). This is the light given to us when we are born that gives us life, it leads us to the right and distinguishes it from wrong. It is the "Spirit of Christ." This is called your conscience. God gave us this gift when we entered this life and gave us agency to allow us to follow or to ignore our conscience thoughts. This is the first step to answering a question, rely on your inner thoughts and, if it applies, decide if it is right or wrong. You can know the difference, you have that gift to distinguish right from wrong.
Video:
http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1737858982001
To really begin, I need to set something strait. God gave us the scriptures for us to know His will, to teach us things that can help improve our lives. In the scriptures we find patterns of living that we can apply. But, the scriptures were written thousands our years ago. I have found that on occasion that it is difficult to find an answer in the scriptures. We have to remember that with this time gap it is hard for us to understand the language and the culture. Moses may have gone through many similar things that you and I have but he doesn't always write about it, or if he did, it isn't always clear. You cant find a perfect answer for every problem word by word in the scriptures. For example "My bff Jill wants me to come over to her house on Sunday" well you would use the 10 commandments, Keep the Sabbath Day Holy by going to church. That is an easy one, but what if after that your bff Jill asks "cant you miss one Sunday? Why not?" because Jesus said so! But really why? That is a harder question that you may not know an answer for. This is what I want to talk about. All the answers are in the scriptures, you just need to find them. I want to help you know how.I want you to do something. Think of a question that you have had. One you have not found an answer to. I am going to help you learn how to find the answer. If we had the answer to every single question, you wouldn't need to learn how but since we don't, lets try it.
Lets begin.
The Light of Christ
Video:
http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1737858982001
The Holy Ghost
The Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit that God sends to us to assist us on this earth. This is the comforter that Jesus promised would teach His followers all things and bring to their remembrance all thing that He had taught them (John 14:26). The Holy Ghost is sent by God to tell us truth, but there are two ways in which the Holy Ghost is manifest, the power and the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The power of the Holy Ghost can come upon us before baptism. The power of the Holy Ghost convinces us that Jesus is the Christ and that God is our loving Heavenly Father (2 Nephi 31:18). The Power of the Holy Ghost tells us of truth and lets us know if we can trust something (Moroni 10:5).
However, we cannot receive the fullness of the Holy Ghost until we are baptized by someone with the authority of God given by laying on of hands (Deut 34:9). This is the Gift of the Holy Ghost. John the baptist said that he baptizes with water but Christ gives the Holy Ghost, by fire (Matt 3:11).
The Gift of the Holy Ghost comes when it is given to us. We can feel the spirit before this, but it is temporary and it will leave. But when we are given the gift of the Holy Ghost, it can be with us as long as we are worthy.
The Holy Ghost can guide us in what we should do (2 Nephi 32:1-5). He can help us in making decisions and protect us from spiritual and even physical danger by warning us. He speaks to us in a still small voice as he did with Elijah (1 Kings 19:11-12). This voice is there to guide us and to help us, but we can't hear it if the noise of the world has our attention. He is also known as the Comforter who comes when we need comfort (John 14:26).
How can we use the Holy Ghost in knowing God's direction in our lives? The Holy Ghost will come to those who seek truth. The Lord will send the spirit to help us know if something is true and if our decision is right. We can invite the spirit by a prayer of faith and by reading the scriptures and truly searching after the truth.
Why did I tell you all of that? I did so because I like to share what I know to be true. So I know that if you have a sincere question that you need help answering and you sincerely seek after the answer and study it out and then turn to ask God the Eternal Father in the name of Christ for help and ask Him if your answer is true, He will tell you by the Holy Ghost that it is true (Moroni 10:4). But how can we know if God answers? Paul taught the Galatians in Gal 5:22-23 that the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. So to know if God confirms the truth, you will feel these things. Remember the fruits of the spirit. There are many other ways that God answers through the spirit. If you study it out you will find it.
Here are a few more scriptures talking about how the Holy Ghost works.
Rom 15:13, Alma 32:28, 1 Cor 2:9-11, Mosiah 5:2-5, John 14:26-27, John 15:26
So lets break everything down.
To receive an answer to a questions, try the following,
1. Pray and ask God for help and pray that the Spirit will guide you to your answer.
2. Read the scriptures and study everything you can to find the answer. (When we want to talk to God we pray, when we want God to talk to us, read the scriptures)
3. Write down your thoughts and take notes.
4. Pray in thanks and ask God if what you wrote is true and He will speak to you if you sincerely seek and ask Him.
I hope that everything I have said will be of help to you in knowing how you can know what God's direction is for you. It is really hard for me to know exactly how to help in your specific circumstance but I know, whatever the question is, you can find an answer in the scriptures! I know that if you follow the 4 steps, you will get your answer and you will feel the spirit of God speaking to you!
Just remember "Ask, and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matt 7:7) Amen
The Gift of the Holy Ghost comes when it is given to us. We can feel the spirit before this, but it is temporary and it will leave. But when we are given the gift of the Holy Ghost, it can be with us as long as we are worthy.The Holy Ghost can guide us in what we should do (2 Nephi 32:1-5). He can help us in making decisions and protect us from spiritual and even physical danger by warning us. He speaks to us in a still small voice as he did with Elijah (1 Kings 19:11-12). This voice is there to guide us and to help us, but we can't hear it if the noise of the world has our attention. He is also known as the Comforter who comes when we need comfort (John 14:26).
How can we use the Holy Ghost in knowing God's direction in our lives? The Holy Ghost will come to those who seek truth. The Lord will send the spirit to help us know if something is true and if our decision is right. We can invite the spirit by a prayer of faith and by reading the scriptures and truly searching after the truth.
Why did I tell you all of that? I did so because I like to share what I know to be true. So I know that if you have a sincere question that you need help answering and you sincerely seek after the answer and study it out and then turn to ask God the Eternal Father in the name of Christ for help and ask Him if your answer is true, He will tell you by the Holy Ghost that it is true (Moroni 10:4). But how can we know if God answers? Paul taught the Galatians in Gal 5:22-23 that the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. So to know if God confirms the truth, you will feel these things. Remember the fruits of the spirit. There are many other ways that God answers through the spirit. If you study it out you will find it.
Here are a few more scriptures talking about how the Holy Ghost works.
Rom 15:13, Alma 32:28, 1 Cor 2:9-11, Mosiah 5:2-5, John 14:26-27, John 15:26
So lets break everything down.
To receive an answer to a questions, try the following,
1. Pray and ask God for help and pray that the Spirit will guide you to your answer.
2. Read the scriptures and study everything you can to find the answer. (When we want to talk to God we pray, when we want God to talk to us, read the scriptures)
3. Write down your thoughts and take notes.
4. Pray in thanks and ask God if what you wrote is true and He will speak to you if you sincerely seek and ask Him.
I hope that everything I have said will be of help to you in knowing how you can know what God's direction is for you. It is really hard for me to know exactly how to help in your specific circumstance but I know, whatever the question is, you can find an answer in the scriptures! I know that if you follow the 4 steps, you will get your answer and you will feel the spirit of God speaking to you!
Just remember "Ask, and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matt 7:7) Amen
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Next Week!
Hello! Next week I will be answering "How we can know God's direction for our life?" This is a great question and I hope I can help answer it. Thanks Darla Bryce.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Saturday, October 5, 2013
What Happens After We Die?
Death is the final step to this life, but is death really the end? Do we go anywhere else, or do we just rot in the ground? I hope like always that I can help shed some light on the shadows of life after death. I hope that you can feel the spirit testify of the truth.
If we continue the analogy made in previous posts then you may notice we have done 2 Acts of the play in which we are in. Pre-earth life is Act 1. This was when we lived with God in heaven and He taught us His plan for us. We learned about life on earth and what that entailed. Act 2 is where we are now, life on earth. We are here to prepare to meet God! We are tested to prove what we can do and to improve ourselves!
Now let us discuss Act 3. Life after death and what happens after we leave our earthly life.
To start off, what is death? Death is the separation of the spirit and the body. The body dies when the spirit leaves. But where does the spirit go when we die? We return to God (Eccl 12:7).
When we die, we go to what is called the "Spirit World". The Spirit World is divided into 2 parts, Spirit Paradise, and Spirit Prison. Many Christians in the world today may recognize these as Heaven and Hell. The Prophet Alma explains these two places to his son Corianton. He explains that Heaven is a place that the righteous go and its where they can be happy and can be free from care and sorrow (Alma 40:12). He also explains that Hell is the place where the wicked and unrepentant will go and suffer for their sins. They shall be in a state of fear and sorrow (Alma 40:13-14). These are the places that we go after death but that is not the last place we go! There is more to it! Alma states that those are places that we go between death and the resurrection (Alma 40:11)!
The time will come when we are all resurrected! What does it mean to be resurrected? It means that your spirit returns to the body and they become perfect (Alma 40:23). Remember that the difference between resurrection and the story of Lazarus. Lazarus was brought back to mortal life. Where as true resurrection is you become perfect. But why are we able to be resurrected? When Jesus Christ broke the bands of death, he was resurrected and therefore led the way for us to become perfect like our Father is perfect!
Soon after, the day of judgment will come. We will stand before Christ and be judged according to that which we did, how well we followed God's commandments, and by the person we have become. When we think of judgment, we usually think of Christ standing behind a desk pointing His finger at you and condemning you to a endless hell! But this isn't necessarily true! Heavenly Father has more for us than heaven and hell. We will be sent to one of three different Kingdoms of Glory.
"41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:"
(1 Cor 15:41-42)
There is the Glory of the Sun, the brightest and the highest kingdom, which is where God lives. The Glory of the Moon, the second brightest. And then the Glory of the Stars, the third brightest and lowest kingdom. Each Kingdom is different than the rest and each is tailored to how we act and what our commitment to Christ and God was. Remember tho that each is a Glory! Each is filled with happiness.
One question I asked myself was if there are people who never have the opportunity to even hear about Christ, what will happen to them? Where will they go?
I found an answer to my question in 1 Peter 4:6.
"For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit."
So if there is a man in the Amazon and he never hears the name Jesus Christ, or even learns about God, he will be taught the gospel when he dies so that he can equal to those who have heard. He will have the opportunity to accept Christ as his savior and be judged as men on earth.
When this message is explained to some people they answer "I will just live my life the way I want until I go to the spirit world, then I will repent."
A warning is given to them in the scriptures.
"32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for 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 34:32-34)
Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance! You will be judged according to that which you know and the things you are given. If you know something is wrong, repent. If you arn't sure if its wrong, as God.
I hope that this will help answer any questions about God's plan for us. I hope if you have questions that you will ask me, or you can go to Mormon.org and request Jesus Christ representatives to come and visit and tell you more. As always do not take my word for any of this, pray and ask God if it is true and you will know!
I leave this message with you in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior,
Amen
If we continue the analogy made in previous posts then you may notice we have done 2 Acts of the play in which we are in. Pre-earth life is Act 1. This was when we lived with God in heaven and He taught us His plan for us. We learned about life on earth and what that entailed. Act 2 is where we are now, life on earth. We are here to prepare to meet God! We are tested to prove what we can do and to improve ourselves!
Now let us discuss Act 3. Life after death and what happens after we leave our earthly life.
To start off, what is death? Death is the separation of the spirit and the body. The body dies when the spirit leaves. But where does the spirit go when we die? We return to God (Eccl 12:7).
When we die, we go to what is called the "Spirit World". The Spirit World is divided into 2 parts, Spirit Paradise, and Spirit Prison. Many Christians in the world today may recognize these as Heaven and Hell. The Prophet Alma explains these two places to his son Corianton. He explains that Heaven is a place that the righteous go and its where they can be happy and can be free from care and sorrow (Alma 40:12). He also explains that Hell is the place where the wicked and unrepentant will go and suffer for their sins. They shall be in a state of fear and sorrow (Alma 40:13-14). These are the places that we go after death but that is not the last place we go! There is more to it! Alma states that those are places that we go between death and the resurrection (Alma 40:11)!
The time will come when we are all resurrected! What does it mean to be resurrected? It means that your spirit returns to the body and they become perfect (Alma 40:23). Remember that the difference between resurrection and the story of Lazarus. Lazarus was brought back to mortal life. Where as true resurrection is you become perfect. But why are we able to be resurrected? When Jesus Christ broke the bands of death, he was resurrected and therefore led the way for us to become perfect like our Father is perfect!
Soon after, the day of judgment will come. We will stand before Christ and be judged according to that which we did, how well we followed God's commandments, and by the person we have become. When we think of judgment, we usually think of Christ standing behind a desk pointing His finger at you and condemning you to a endless hell! But this isn't necessarily true! Heavenly Father has more for us than heaven and hell. We will be sent to one of three different Kingdoms of Glory.
"41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:"
(1 Cor 15:41-42)
There is the Glory of the Sun, the brightest and the highest kingdom, which is where God lives. The Glory of the Moon, the second brightest. And then the Glory of the Stars, the third brightest and lowest kingdom. Each Kingdom is different than the rest and each is tailored to how we act and what our commitment to Christ and God was. Remember tho that each is a Glory! Each is filled with happiness.
One question I asked myself was if there are people who never have the opportunity to even hear about Christ, what will happen to them? Where will they go?
I found an answer to my question in 1 Peter 4:6.
"For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit."
So if there is a man in the Amazon and he never hears the name Jesus Christ, or even learns about God, he will be taught the gospel when he dies so that he can equal to those who have heard. He will have the opportunity to accept Christ as his savior and be judged as men on earth.
When this message is explained to some people they answer "I will just live my life the way I want until I go to the spirit world, then I will repent."
A warning is given to them in the scriptures.
"32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for 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 34:32-34)
Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance! You will be judged according to that which you know and the things you are given. If you know something is wrong, repent. If you arn't sure if its wrong, as God.
I hope that this will help answer any questions about God's plan for us. I hope if you have questions that you will ask me, or you can go to Mormon.org and request Jesus Christ representatives to come and visit and tell you more. As always do not take my word for any of this, pray and ask God if it is true and you will know!
I leave this message with you in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior,
Amen
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Questions
Does anyone have a question about any posts? Check out the Q&A or comment on the post itself. This week we will talk about Where do we go after death?
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