Pride--Is it looking up or looking down?

 

... Pride.  The great sermon by Ezra Taft Benson, "Beware of Pride" explains that pride is nothing less than enmity.  In the end, pride is enmity towards God.  It manifests itself, though, in so many different forms.  According to President Benson's talk, pride, looked-at only negatively, can be outright cocky--lifted-up in pride because of some achievement that you have accomplished or status you've obtained, an overabundance in confidence in oneself--looking down on others who haven't achieved such a status.  Or, it can be the pride of looking up and thinking that others are most definitely looking down on you or the position you are in.

I hate money.  I am happy to be as poor as we are...

All I know, is that in trying to work-it-out in my mind, my wife is confused over what I think and what I believe, and now, at least for right now, she is a little irritated with me and what I might think.

I hate that...

JPS 

Do you ask God for everything you need? Being discerning, of course?

So, the question is: should I ask our Heavenly Father for everything you need?  We are commanded to do, just that in Alma 7:23, which reads as follows:

And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated;  full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.

Well, maybe I don’t even know what I should pray for—not even sure what it is that I need...  Luckily, we are told in Romans 8:26 what we should do: “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.“

So, to truly ask in faith, you may be concerned that you may ask for things you ought not to ask.  You don’t want to ask for things for which one should not ask; like I said...

In Luke chapter 18, says, we read:

1 And he spake a parable unto them, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Joseph Smith, speaking of that parable, said, “Weary the Lord till he blesses you”!

Weary the Lord until he blesses you...  Weary the Lord!

JPS

Spiritual experiences more likely in Certain Locations?

Why is it easier to have a significant spiritual experience at certain places—namely, places where other spiritual experiences have taken place?

A. Because we have more faith that it will happen! We know that it’s happened before in the same place...

That leads to the question: why do certain places have spiritual events occur there and are thus likely to have more experiences like said experiences in the future (i.e. Sacred Grove in upstate NY, Indepedence, MO, Adam-Ondi-Ahman, Garden of Gethsemene, etc.)?

In his talk, “Snow White Birds”, Elder Packer recalls what President Harold B. Lee taught him, “Revelation is more readily recognized when you’re in the place needed for the revelation.”

I want to know what you think...

JPS

Bicentennial Year!

Bicentennial year of what?  Well, 200 years ago, in 1820, in the spring of 1820, in fact, Joseph Smith had an opening vision and heavenly manifestation that ushered in the last dispensation before the Savior of the World will return for his second coming!

What?

Well, the prophet, our prophet, your prophet, President Russell M. Nelson closed the October 2019 general conference with an invitation for Latter-day Saints to prepare for the subsequent April 2020 general conference, 200 years since Joseph Smith’s First Vision.

Del Parson’s depiction of the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr. in the Sacred Grove in Manchester, New York, when he received the First Vision.

“The year 2020 will be designated as a bicentennial year. General conference next April will be different from any previous conference,” President Nelson announced at the end of the Sunday afternoon session.

“In the next six months, I hope that every member and every family will prepare for a unique conference that will commemorate the very foundations of the restored gospel.”

In previewing plans for the coming year, President Nelson recounted those “very foundations.”

“In the springtime of the year 2020, it will be exactly 200 years since Joseph Smith experienced the theophany that we know as the First Vision,” he said. “God the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph, a 14-year-old youth. That event marked the onset of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness, precisely as foretold in the Holy Bible.”

He recited the succession of visits from heavenly messengers to Joseph—John the Baptist; the early Apostles Peter, James, and John; Moses; Elias; and Elijah. “Each brought divine authority to bless God’s children on the earth once again,” President Nelson said.

He continued, underscoring latter-day scripture, the restored keys and offices of the priesthood, and the organizations and callings of the Church—“all vital parts of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness.”

Latter-day Saint artist Minerva Teichart's The First Vision (1934) depicts a key moment of the Restoration. Photo courtesy of Brigham Young University Museum of Art.

President Nelson invited Church members to read Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision as recorded in the Pearl of Great Price, noting that next year’s Come, Follow Me course of study is the Book of Mormon.

“You may wish to ponder important questions such as, ‘How would my life be different if my knowledge gained from the Book of Mormon were suddenly taken away?’ or ‘How have the events that followed the First Vision made a difference for me and my loved ones?’”

He suggested incorporating the new Book of Mormon Videos into individual and family study.

“Select your own questions,” President Nelson continued. “Design your own plan. Immerse yourself in the glorious light of the Restoration. As you do, general conference next April will be not only memorable; it will be unforgettable.”

Joseph Smith’s First Vision stained glass in 

the Palmyra New York Temple. 

Photo by Willie Holdman.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/2020-a-bicentennial-year-with-april-conference-different-from-any-previous-conference-president-nelson-says?lang=eng

Two Judgements

It only makes sense, and it’s always been a “given” that we will be judged by Jesus Christ, for He is the judge of all the world (Acts 17:31; Rom. 3:6; 2 Ne. 29:11; Mosiah 3:10; 3 Ne. 27:16).  In the Book of Mormon, chapter 9, verse 15, we read:

And it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel (#1); and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God (#2). 

Didn’t ever see that, did ya?

We will all have judgement passed-on-us by Jesus Christ AND God the Father!

JPS

Why did the Jews kill Jesus Christ?

Why did the Jews kill Jesus?

• 589 BC Nebuchadnezzar II laid siege to Jerusalem 
• Between then and 30 AD (618 years), the Jews were so wicked that they killed their God.
• Looking beyond the mark = learning and studying about your God for your whole life yet not being able to recognize Him when He’s preaching to you and being so offended that He calls himself God, that you condemn him and kill Him.
• Will you recognize your God and have his image in your countenance?  

JPS

Testimony of my Car Accident

I need to bear testimony of my accident and province the fact that all things give glory to God!

Not only share how I was strengthened, but also how I have grown.  I was able to bear testimony to those that I worked with as a school counselor, but I need to do it in any and every place I’m in.

JPS

Agency rules

In 1 Nephi chapter 7, it reads, in verses 6-10:

6 And it came to pass that as we journeyed in the wilderness, behold Laman and Lemuel, and two of the daughters of Ishmael, and the two sons of Ishmael and their families, did rebel against us; yea, against me, Nephi, and Sam, and their father, Ishmael, and his wife, and his three other daughters.

7 And it came to pass in the which rebellion, they were desirous to return unto the land of Jerusalem.

8 And now I, Nephi, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, therefore I spake unto them, saying, yea, even unto Laman and unto Lemuel: Behold ye are mine elder brethren, and how is it that ye are so hard in your hearts, and so blind in your minds, that ye have need that I, your younger brother, should speak unto you, yea, and set an example for you?

9 How is it that ye have not hearkened unto the word of the Lord?

10 How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen an angel of the Lord?

So, the Lord knew that they would continue to choose another path than the Spirit and/or that they needed to be spurred-along in their wickedness, even after He sent an angel to protect Nephi & Sam, and still He sent the angel.  Necessary for them to be able to harden their hearts against and be able to bring-on their cursing and to fulfill the promises that Nephi would receive—the Lord knows who is going to do what, because He’s seen it all—always allowing agency to rule, He’s seen the end from the beginning!

So, how is there agency when God HAS seen the end from the beginning?  Doesn’t that mean that He’s already seen me make my choices, and if so, how does that allow for me choosing something different than that which God has seen?  Seems like it precludes that possibility...

Oh, wait...  I see...  I maintain my agency and it is never violated and yet God sees the outcomes of all of my choices—for everyone in the entire world—like a giant tapestry where each thread is being woven or added to the tapestry to make the most beautiful tapestry ever imagined or created!  God doesn’t see things linearly, as we do—He sees things in an infinitely different dimensions yet harmoniously working together so that they create God’s tapestry (and really, OUR tapestry).  He has seen it happen in real-time and doesn’t just know us so well that He can predict perfectly what we will choose, He has seen us make our decisions and seen the consequences that flow from it (mind-blowingly beyond our comprehension, eh?).

Time.  Time?  Time is an Earthbound concept and invention.  There only is time because we, as humans (and there is no other way for us, as humans, to see life), see events linearly.  We see that 34 a.d. follows 33 a.d. because we know that Jesus Christ dies in the year 33 a.d. came before His resurrected ministry among the Nephites in 34 a.d. and beyond.  Read about it in The Book of Mormon.

God has agency and He perfectly makes every choice perfectly!  If He didn’t, He would cease to be God!  See Alma 42

JPS

It’s a sin...

During the 1980’s I was introduced to the electronic band, The Pet-shop Boys, by their song, “It’s a Sin”.  Today, I woke-up with that song playing in my mind and I was thinking about the meaning of the lyrics.  Here are the lyrics to the song:

The Pet Shop Boys — It’s a Sin

When I look back upon my life
It's always with a sense of shame
I've always been the one to blame
For everything I long to do
No matter when or where or who
Has one thing in common, too

It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a sin
It's a sin
Everything I've ever done
Everything I ever do
Every place I've ever been
Everywhere I'm going to
It's a sin

At school they taught me how to be
So pure in thought and word and deed
They didn't quite succeed
For everything I long to do
No matter when or where or who
Has one thing in common, too

It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a sin
It's a sin
Everything I've ever done
Everything I ever do
Every place I've ever been
Everywhere I'm going to
It's a sin

Father, forgive me, I tried not to do it
Turned over a new leaf, then tore right through it
Whatever you taught me, I didn't believe it
Father, you fought me, 'cause I didn't care
And I still don't understand

So I look back upon my life
Forever with a sense of shame
I've always been the one to blame
For everything I long to do
No matter when or where or who
Has one thing in common, too

It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a sin
It's a sin
Everything I've ever done
Everything I ever do
Every place I've ever been
Everywhere I'm going to - it's a sin
It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a sin
It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a sin

(Confiteor Deo omnipotenti vobis fratres, quia peccavi nimis cogitatione
Verbo, opere et omissione, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa)

Songwriters: Neil Francis Tennant / Christopher Sean Lowe

It's a Sin lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

———————————————

Catholic eh?  Think he was meaning sins of commission or omission?  Definitely both!  But, like Joseph Smith said, most of what we think are sins, aren’t; but we sin in ways that we wouldn’t Even consider sinning!

If you’d like to read a great book that can redefine what you think is sinning (or isn’t sinning...), you should read a book that only talks about “sin” in the 3rd person and only says it, or talks about it once: Bonds that Make Us Free, by C. Terry Warner.  You can buy it on Amazon.

It’s one of the best reads I’ve ever had in my entire life!

JPS

Look and be healed!

Alma 33:20 But, few understood the meaning of those things, and this because of the hardness of their hearts. But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them.

So, you don't look?  It is so simple that it's too simple for you to lift your eyes to gaze upon Christ?  Is it because He is too compassionate?  Too merciful?  Too understanding?  Too perfect?  Are those the reasons why you reject Him and His healing wings?

Do we not go to Christ because we don't believe that He can heal us?  It's actually, the one thing to do all that we can to be healed (physically/spiritually/emotionally) but in the end concede that it is God's will and for our profit and learning to be tried, and another, completely other thing, to not even try because we don't believe!

Alma asks:

O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish?

JPS