“What Lack I Yet?”

Charity – the pure love of Christ. I have become too busy to be useful to anyone.

More to come.

I’m back, and am I hungry

Work, life and callings began again on January 4th, and the delightful daily hour of reading and writing disappeared into the grist of daily servitude. I have just read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew5-8) again, with dull eyes  and numb spirit. I feel like such poor soil for the Word to fall into, and it is time to go to work. It is perhaps time for another moral inventory and time to return home; this recurring prodigal business is really getting old, speaking metaphorically, and not physically.

What am I still missing?

Windows of Heaven

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Malachi 3:10-11

  10 Bring ye all the ^atithes into the storehouse, that there may be ^bmeat in mine house, and ^cprove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not ^dopen you the ^ewindows of heaven, and pour you out a ^fblessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

  11 And I will ^arebuke the ^bdevourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

 

This promise is absolutely true. We are currently experiencing its fulfillment. More to come.

Defining Moments

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Today, a germ of an idea, to be thought about and expanded upon.

Everyone has defining moments. Those are the moments where a decison shows your character and basic assumptions in life.

Consider – a marriage proposal, a declaration of faith, a denial, consiously forgiving, accepting a contract, showing up for an appointment or not showing up – any and all of those acts give who you are for others and crystallize in your mind who you are for yourself.

This is not news for many. When Easu accepted a meal instead of his birthright; when Saul of Tarsus became Paul the Apostle; when David looked at Bathsheba, all were defining moments for good or for ill.

What are your defining moments? What barrier did you break through? What tough decision did you make? Did you stay consistent or did you back off?

All of those things give your present.

When will you define your future? 

Repentance, Forgiveness, and Endurance

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Repentance, Forgiveness and Endurance – topics for tmorrow’s Priesthood lesson, most likely conducted by me.

Here are the two talks that are source material: Preserving the Heart’s Mighty Change and Repent…That I May Heal You.

Both profound talks, requiring practice, not just action. From Elder Anderson: “When we sin, we turn away from God. When we repent, we turn back toward God.

The invitation to repent is rarely a voice of chastisement but rather a loving appeal to turn around and to “re-turn” toward God.¹⁴ It is the beckoning of a loving Father and His Only Begotten Son to be more than we are, to reach up to a higher way of life, to change, and to feel the happiness of keeping the commandments. Being disciples of Christ, we rejoice in the blessing of repenting and the joy of being forgiven. They become part of us, shaping the way we think and feel.

Among the tens of thousands listening to this conference, there are many degrees of personal worthiness and righteousness. Yet repentance is a blessing to all of us. We each need to feel the Savior’s arms of mercy through the forgiveness of our sins…

“…

For most, repentance is more a journey than a one-time event. It is not easy. To change is difficult. It requires running into the wind, swimming upstream. Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.”¹⁸ Repentance is turning away from some things, such as dishonesty, pride, anger, and impure thoughts, and turning toward other things, such as kindness, unselfishness, patience, and spirituality. It is “re-turning” toward God.

How do we decide where our repentance should be focused? When a loved one or friend suggests things we need to change, the natural man in us sometimes pops up his head and responds, “Oh, you think I should change? Well, let me tell you about some of your problems.” A better approach is to humbly petition the Lord: “Father, what wouldst Thou have me do?” The answers come. We feel the changes we need to make. The Lord tells us in our mind and in our heart.¹⁹

We then are allowed to choose: will we repent, or will we pull the shades down over our open window into heaven?

Alma warned, “Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point.”²⁰ When we “pull the shades down,” we stop believing that spiritual voice inviting us to change. We pray but we listen less. Our prayers lack that faith that leads to repentance.²¹

^“Repentance becomes part of our daily lives. Our weekly taking of the sacrament is so important—to come meekly, humbly before the Lord, acknowledging our dependence upon Him, asking Him to forgive and to renew us, and promising to always remember Him.

“Sometimes in our repentance, in our daily efforts to become more Christlike, we find ourselves repeatedly struggling with the same difficulties. As if we were climbing a tree-covered mountain, at times we don’t see our progress until we get closer to the top and look back from the high ridges. Don’t be discouraged. If you are striving and working to repent, you are in the process of repenting.

“As we improve, we see life more clearly and feel the Holy Ghost working more strongly within us.”

Here is some from Elder Renlund: “Through the Atonement of Christ and by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel, we undergo this ultimate operation, this spiritual change of heart. As a result of our transgressions, our spiritual hearts have become diseased and hardened, making us subject to spiritual death and separation from our Heavenly Father. The Lord explained the operation that we all need: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”³

“Just as with heart transplant patients, however, this mighty change of our spiritual hearts is just the beginning. Repentance, baptism, and confirmation are necessary but not sufficient. Indeed, equal, if not greater, care must be taken with a spiritually changed heart than with a physically transplanted heart if we are to endure to the end.  Only by doing so can we be held guiltless at the time of judgment.⁴

“Enduring to the end can be challenging because the tendency of the natural man is to reject the spiritually changed heart and allow it to harden. No wonder the Lord cautioned to “even let those who are sanctified take heed.”⁵

“The lives of the people who were converted by the preaching of the sons of Mosiah offer some insights as to how one avoids rejecting the mightily changed spiritual heart. Of them, we read that “as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, . . . and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away.”⁶

“How did they successfully endure to the end? We know that they were “distinguished for their zeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end.”⁷

“Their zeal towards God likely reflects an eagerness to please God and worship Him with fervor and passion. Their zeal towards men suggests an ardent interest in helping and serving others. Being perfectly upright and honest in all things suggests that they held their covenants firmly and did not rationalize their commitments to God or man. We further know that they taught their children the gospel in their homes. We know that they buried their weapons of war, distancing themselves from temptations.

“They must have frequently assessed the condition of their spiritually changed hearts. They did not simply assume that all was well. By figuratively examining their changed hearts, they could identify any early hardening or rejection and treat it.”

So – repentance requires recognition, restitution as far as it is possible, foregiveness and endurance, which comes of diligence.

My three questions for the brethren tomorrow are:

1) Of what do we have to repent individualy?

2) Of what do we have to repent as a quorum?

3) What activity, or practice, do we put in place of the past behavior?

Ask for experience or sharing.

I know that these three words point to true and correct principles, because I have begun to work them, for my own benefit, and to bless others. The practices are necessary in order to have real peace of mind.

AMEN.

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Ask, seek and desire

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Happy Christmas Eve! We just received a great bit of news!!!!

It has to do with my wife, a goal set and dwelt on since last June, prayer and opportunity.

My wife said not to tell anyone yet, so don’t expect an answer from me right now. Just contemplate the following verses:

1. Matt. 7: 7

   7 ¶ ^aAsk, and it shall be ^bgiven you; ^cseek, and ye shall find; ^dknock, and it shall be opened unto you:

1. Luke 11: 9

   9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

1. 3 Ne. 14: 7

   7 ^aAsk, and it shall be given unto you; ^bseek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

1. D&C 88: 63

   63 ^aDraw ^bnear unto me and I will draw near unto you; ^cseek me diligently and ye shall ^dfind me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Thanks and Glory to God!

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Have got to quit Beating Myself Up

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Just re-read yesterday’s post. No one made me my own judge -that was brutal!

God loves us all, and we have agency. I actually have no idea what He thinks of my judgements – but I’ll bet that His are a lot better than mine!

if you’re interested, here are a slew of scriptures on the topic of judgement.

Eyes are now bleary, time to rest.

More of What Jesus Said: Beatitudes 1

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Read it all here: Matthew 5

Here’s about as much as I can handle tonight:

Confession Ball – taking my own temperature. My hand has been injured, my car is demolished, my self-esteem is struggling and my Christmas tree has no presents under it. I’m probably not going to like the outcome much, but, well, my hand went up for instruction, repentance and growth.

3 ^aBlessed are the ^bpoor in spirit: for theirs is the ^ckingdom of heaven.   I’m too vain. And what does poor in spirit mean? I think this means those who are repenting, who come to the Lord. There’s a chance.

4 Blessed are they that ^amourn: for they shall be ^bcomforted. Been there, done that, sometimes it hits me. Even Asperger’s afflicted can feel that, just not at the right time.

5 Blessed are the ^ameek: for they shall inherit the ^bearth.

6 Blessed are they which do ^ahunger and thirst after ^brighteousness: for they shall be filled. I hunger after the fruits of righteousness – I hate consequences. I wish I did more for the love of it than for the avoidance of unlikeable f outcomes.

7 Blessed are the ^amerciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Should we be merciful to ourselves? When does mercy become resignstion and/or sloppiness? This bears more research.

8 Blessed are the ^apure in ^bheart: for they shall ^csee God. Babies only? I have met few, if any truly pure in heart. Then again, who made me judge?

9 Blessed are the ^apeacemakers: for they shall be called the ^bchildren of God. I gave in rather than fight. I was the fool. Did I get that wrong, or is there a special place in Heaven for these?

10 Blessed are they which are ^apersecuted for ^brighteousness’ sake: for ^ctheirs is the kingdom of heaven. Was I righteous, or self-righteous? There’s a difference.

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall ^arevile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of ^bevil against you falsely, ^cfor my sake. So, how about those people who said they’re not coming to MY conference? It wasn’t MY conference. It was my assignment, but certainly not MY conference. Thanks, Gayle F. – “Think thick – think Jim.” Did she think she was funny or was she flirting? What a relief! Anyway, you’re forgiven.

12 ^aRejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your ^breward in heaven: for so ^cpersecuted they the prophets which were before you. Hoo-rah for Israel!

13 ¶ Ye are the ^asalt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Doesn’t mean language, does it? Do we sublimate our will, or our personality? or is there a difference? This will take some thought.

14 Ye are the ^alight of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Wow. I like that, but…

15 Neither do men light a ^acandle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your ^alight so shine before men, that they may see your good ^bworks, and ^cglorify your Father which is in heaven. Works, and credit God. My vanity! How stuck and how useless!

17 ¶ Think not that I am come to ^adestroy the ^blaw, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the ^alaw, till all be ^bfulfilled.

19 Whosoever therefore shall ^abreak one of these least commandments, ^band shall ^cteach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and ^dteach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. At least, he makes it…?

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“From Small Things”

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Today, I am teaching the lesson from the Joseph Smith Manual, secifically, Lesson 44, “The Restoration of All Things: The Dispensation of the Fulness of Times.”

The lesson dwells a great deal on keys and gathering. D&C 27:13 pulls much together, as in,”gather all in one…”

I did searches in the Topical Guide on Keys, Gospel, and Dispensation. In each case, there are some Bible verses mentioned followed by many scriptures from modern revelation.

That says to me that, at the time of the writing of the books in the Bible, those concepts were somewhat understood, and could be alluded to without a lot of explanation. Much of the understanding was lost, hence, the much revelation in our day, especially if all things are being restored, as is the testimony of faithful LDS.

Cosider this: When I lived in Los Angeles, CA, the phrase, “How about those Dodgers?” elicited a grin of understanding from listeners, since the Dodgers were in the news a lot and were considered important to Angelinos. Now that I live in New York, when I utter the same phrase, the reaction is more of a “huh?” accompanied by a quizzical look. The Dodgers are not big news around here. On the other hand, when you talk about the Yankees, much happy conversation follows.

And this happens in a world where ALL news can be called local because of the ‘net and television.

It is my experience that the Lord relies on us to use wisely and appropriately such knowedge as we posess, and that, through the Spirit, He reveals things that we do not or could not know otherwise. I have experienced that in my own life in managing my own callings and family relations. It is perfectly consistent that He would do the same. Thus, some items of passing mention in the Bible may be substantially amplified for our understanding and use in our day.

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On Hiatus – 1/16/09

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My right hand is in a splint – one of those Jonah moments.

I found out that my air bags work just fine.

And, before I engage in more exquisite discourse, I need to read some more – just read. So – I am still studying – I am just taking some time off from writing about it.

To see other stuff I’m working on, go to Thirteenth Article or LDS Business Network

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