Love Him and Be Purified
Greetings All -
This week's pondering has had me thinking in so many different directions, I am not sure I will be able to cover them all. I will do my best to share a few of my thoughts with you.
Let's just jump right in - D&C 76:115-117
"Which he commanded us we should not write while we were yet in the Spirit, and are not lawful for man to utter;"
"Neither is man capable to make them known, for they are only to be seen and understood by the power of the Holy Spirit, which God bestows on those who love him, and purify themselves before him;"
"To whom he grants this privilege of seeing and knowing for themselves;"
First - I know that I have touched upon this thought several times, but will continue to do so. I am not sure why it amazes me so much. Maybe it is because the more I ponder and think upon these things the more I realize how far I am from being like the men who were granted the chance to see these things. Yet, one of them fell from that standing. Because of this I am also reminded how very fragile our relationship is with God. I can see how easy it is to give in to the natural man instinct tendencies of pride. Sidney thought he was better that most. He let experiences like this one lead him down a path of destruction. He put himself above others and even God, thinking that he could and should do what he saw fit and not what God saw fit.
It does not matter what we know. It does not matter how strong we are. It does not matter how strong our testimonies have become, we will never be out of our Savior's debt. We cannot ignore Him, what He has done for us, nor can we ignore the healing power of His Atoning sacrifice. As we do renew our covenants each week, we must "always remember him". That means every day, every minute, every second of our lives. What we are able to do, what we are able to overcome, what we are able to become is because of Him. Without Him, it is all for nought.
Second - I ponder upon how these men learned this lesson. Referring back to the previous statements, I wonder if they might have taken the Lord literally. When He said, "...while we were yet in the Spirit,..." Did they attempt to write or utter that marvelous things they were able to see and understand after they were "out of the Spirit"? My heart tells me that by this time Joseph had learned this lesson dearly and would not have attempted to do so. He was not perfect, but he had learned from his previous errors.
Yet I do not judge them if they had tried. I can not even imagine what they were given the chance to see and know. It must have been extremely hard not to want to share these things with those who were closest to them. I know that, like Lehi, I would have wanted to share these visions with my family and all those around me, but they could not.
My thoughts go to recent comments that are rumored of President and Sister Nelson. It is said that she has been prompted to leave the room so that President Nelson could receive such instruction. How hard it would be not to inquire and want to know what transpired while she was absent, I cannot imagine. But I know such visions and revelation happen today. I know this because the Spirit has testified to me. Even today in Sunday School as we talked about the vision's of Ezekiel. He was give exact dimensions of the temple long, long ago. But if you remember from most recent General Conference testimony was shared of similar visions of President Hinckley and the Vancouver Temple. It was so clear to him that he too was able to draw a diagram of where and how it would be laid out.
Third - I know I am not there. Even though I often dream of miraculous visions, visitations, and dreams, I know that I have much to change before I am pure enough before Him. My love for Him grows on a daily basis, but I know that far to often I give in to the world around me. I can only strive to be better each than I was the day before. It is not a one and done type thing. It is a journey.
Now that does not mean that this is all I do, but it does mean that there are several things I could do better. Life is to be balanced, but balanced with all things good. I cannot choose which laws, principles, and commandments to live and keep. I must work at them all in faith, even if the world around me does not.
Ok, that is where I will stop. I have been instructed so much this week. I know that the Lord is in my life. He has revealed to me many things this week. His mercy is ever upon me, if I will but seek it. His mercy is there for you as well, just waiting for you to seek it. I invite you to come unto Him. Seek Him. Converse with Him. Humbly submit to Him. I know that if we do, one day all things will be revealed to us. I hope to see them with you.
Our week has been kind of crazy - I know yours has probably been the same.
The Queen has been fighting the yearly battle of "THE COUGH". Do you remember how bad it was last year? Do you remember how crazy she was to get her tonsils removed and then with just a couple of weeks expose her throat to the icy chills of the Windy City? Then the cough came, the pulled rib muscles, and more. Well, that is what we are seeing this week. It has come upon her quickly. By Friday, she was only speaking in a whisper. Everything is so secretive.
The Professor has really enjoyed her week of freedom. No classroom. No homework. She has enjoyed it so much that she jolted out of bed on Tuesday morning and went to teach a 2nd grade class for the day. She quickly learned that 2nd grade is not her calling in life.
We have not seen much from Tall Man or Ehl-Bo this week. We wished Ehl-Bo an exciting birthday this Friday past. We understand that neither of them have been feeling well this weekend and hope that it did not interfere with any of her celebrations.
Puddin and Lady Hawkins have put another rough semester behind them. We are glad that they were able to pull through. We understand that things have been kind of crazy and want them to know that even though they are currently the furthest away from us, they are still close to our hearts.
SnackPack completed his first semester of college life. It has been a roller coaster of learning in many fashions. Now he has to figure out how to handle the next couple of weeks between semesters. Where does he crash? Where does he work? When does he sleep? We are sure he will figure it out.
Love you all.
This week's pondering has had me thinking in so many different directions, I am not sure I will be able to cover them all. I will do my best to share a few of my thoughts with you.
Let's just jump right in - D&C 76:115-117
"Which he commanded us we should not write while we were yet in the Spirit, and are not lawful for man to utter;"
"Neither is man capable to make them known, for they are only to be seen and understood by the power of the Holy Spirit, which God bestows on those who love him, and purify themselves before him;"
"To whom he grants this privilege of seeing and knowing for themselves;"
First - I know that I have touched upon this thought several times, but will continue to do so. I am not sure why it amazes me so much. Maybe it is because the more I ponder and think upon these things the more I realize how far I am from being like the men who were granted the chance to see these things. Yet, one of them fell from that standing. Because of this I am also reminded how very fragile our relationship is with God. I can see how easy it is to give in to the natural man instinct tendencies of pride. Sidney thought he was better that most. He let experiences like this one lead him down a path of destruction. He put himself above others and even God, thinking that he could and should do what he saw fit and not what God saw fit.
It does not matter what we know. It does not matter how strong we are. It does not matter how strong our testimonies have become, we will never be out of our Savior's debt. We cannot ignore Him, what He has done for us, nor can we ignore the healing power of His Atoning sacrifice. As we do renew our covenants each week, we must "always remember him". That means every day, every minute, every second of our lives. What we are able to do, what we are able to overcome, what we are able to become is because of Him. Without Him, it is all for nought.
Second - I ponder upon how these men learned this lesson. Referring back to the previous statements, I wonder if they might have taken the Lord literally. When He said, "...while we were yet in the Spirit,..." Did they attempt to write or utter that marvelous things they were able to see and understand after they were "out of the Spirit"? My heart tells me that by this time Joseph had learned this lesson dearly and would not have attempted to do so. He was not perfect, but he had learned from his previous errors.
Yet I do not judge them if they had tried. I can not even imagine what they were given the chance to see and know. It must have been extremely hard not to want to share these things with those who were closest to them. I know that, like Lehi, I would have wanted to share these visions with my family and all those around me, but they could not.
My thoughts go to recent comments that are rumored of President and Sister Nelson. It is said that she has been prompted to leave the room so that President Nelson could receive such instruction. How hard it would be not to inquire and want to know what transpired while she was absent, I cannot imagine. But I know such visions and revelation happen today. I know this because the Spirit has testified to me. Even today in Sunday School as we talked about the vision's of Ezekiel. He was give exact dimensions of the temple long, long ago. But if you remember from most recent General Conference testimony was shared of similar visions of President Hinckley and the Vancouver Temple. It was so clear to him that he too was able to draw a diagram of where and how it would be laid out.
Third - I know I am not there. Even though I often dream of miraculous visions, visitations, and dreams, I know that I have much to change before I am pure enough before Him. My love for Him grows on a daily basis, but I know that far to often I give in to the world around me. I can only strive to be better each than I was the day before. It is not a one and done type thing. It is a journey.
Now that does not mean that this is all I do, but it does mean that there are several things I could do better. Life is to be balanced, but balanced with all things good. I cannot choose which laws, principles, and commandments to live and keep. I must work at them all in faith, even if the world around me does not.
Ok, that is where I will stop. I have been instructed so much this week. I know that the Lord is in my life. He has revealed to me many things this week. His mercy is ever upon me, if I will but seek it. His mercy is there for you as well, just waiting for you to seek it. I invite you to come unto Him. Seek Him. Converse with Him. Humbly submit to Him. I know that if we do, one day all things will be revealed to us. I hope to see them with you.
Our week has been kind of crazy - I know yours has probably been the same.
The Queen has been fighting the yearly battle of "THE COUGH". Do you remember how bad it was last year? Do you remember how crazy she was to get her tonsils removed and then with just a couple of weeks expose her throat to the icy chills of the Windy City? Then the cough came, the pulled rib muscles, and more. Well, that is what we are seeing this week. It has come upon her quickly. By Friday, she was only speaking in a whisper. Everything is so secretive.
The Professor has really enjoyed her week of freedom. No classroom. No homework. She has enjoyed it so much that she jolted out of bed on Tuesday morning and went to teach a 2nd grade class for the day. She quickly learned that 2nd grade is not her calling in life.
We have not seen much from Tall Man or Ehl-Bo this week. We wished Ehl-Bo an exciting birthday this Friday past. We understand that neither of them have been feeling well this weekend and hope that it did not interfere with any of her celebrations.
Puddin and Lady Hawkins have put another rough semester behind them. We are glad that they were able to pull through. We understand that things have been kind of crazy and want them to know that even though they are currently the furthest away from us, they are still close to our hearts.
SnackPack completed his first semester of college life. It has been a roller coaster of learning in many fashions. Now he has to figure out how to handle the next couple of weeks between semesters. Where does he crash? Where does he work? When does he sleep? We are sure he will figure it out.
Love you all.
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