Seeking Revelation Leads Us to Unity With God

 A passage I love sharing with others is John 17:20-22.  In John 17, the Savior prayed to the Father (in what we sometimes term the "intercessory prayer), and in verses 20-22 He said this: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one".  It is our Savior's great desire that we, His followers, be one with Him and the Father as they are united.  One of the most important aspects of such unity is submission of our will to that of the Father, modeled by our Redeemer in the Garden of Gethsemane as He said, "not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke 22:42)

Perhaps it seems to be not immediately related at first, but in recent years, President Nelson has put a lot of emphasis on seeking personal revelation.  In the April 2018 general conference, in what I would consider the most profound statement to have been made in the last decade (at least), he said, "in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.  My beloved brothers and sisters, I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation."  (from the talk Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives)  In the general conference that was broadcast less than a month ago, he spoke of the importance of full-time missions work for young people (and the responsibility young men have to serve), and encouraged them to pray about it.  "Pray to know if the Lord would have you serve a mission, and the Holy Ghost will respond to your heart and mind."

He also referred to it as a "decision", because it always is, but encouraged us to pray to know God's will about it.

I remember being encouraged to pray to God about the same thing, and I remember my response.  I don't remember who I was speaking with or what else occurred in that conversation, but the general question was along the lines of "are you going to serve a full-time mission?"  The other person said I should pray about it.  In response, I basically said, "Well, I already know what the answer will be."  I don't think I had as much familiarity with seeking answers to pray at that younger age, but I did recognize that God would give me an answer to my prayer, and in that case I knew what it would be.  But knowing God's will isn't all that we need; the choice remained for me then, and still remains for me now, whether I will choose to do His will.  It is definitely a crucial decision to demonstrate our faith and submissiveness to God through such choices.

As Jesus Christ said, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)  And as King Benjamin taught, "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." (Mosiah 3:19)

Even in merely considering the act of discovering God's will through prayer, I begin making a decision about whether I will follow my own desires or submit to that higher will.  Seeking revelation from God tends to provide us not merely with general knowledge, but especially a knowledge of what we should do.  As we seek and open ourselves to His answers, we find opportunity to follow His will, and thus we make steps toward greater unity with Him and with our Savior, who enables us to repent and become more than we already are.  Earnestly seeking revelation is thus a major part of exaltation.

Last thoughts for now:
I intend for personal revelation to constantly be a part of my life.  There will be times when it will be easier or more difficult in some way for me to do things I know God desires of me, but I know that I can seek God's will through prayer in the name of Christ, and that in doing so I can reform my own will.  I hope to do so often.

A Short Series on the Savior of the World, Jesus Christ

 In a recent dialogue I had online, a woman asked about who Jesus Christ was to me and why He is important to me.  I shared a number of scriptural passages I've identified and then also wrote from my own heart.  In these three posts, I have mostly just copied what I provided to that woman.  I would hope that, for anyone who ever reads them, there will be no question about the center of my faith and my daily worship.

The Few That Are Chosen

There are several ways of making a particular distinction; that is, several different appellations: an elect people, a chosen people, a peculiar people.

Doesn't it seem strange to consider some people as "special"?  In principle, God loves us all, right?  And he's no respecter of persons?  Of course.  (Acts 10:34, Doctrine and Covenants 1:35, 38:16)  Then why and more importantly how are certain peoples distinguished in the eyes of the Lord?

I was reading to my children just now before they went to bed.  Because it's Sunday, we were reading from the scripture story picture books produced by the Church.  We read the story of the Jaredites.  Something struck me as interesting, especially in the abbreviated form.  While the Jaredites started out as a righteous people (or at least they were following a very righteous man--the brother of Jared), after they reach the promised land the next thing that happens is this: they become wicked.  Very wicked.  Wicked to the point of being destroyed (by themselves, in this case, but destroyed all the same).

This isn't really surprising, because there is already precedent.  Those of us with extended hindsight can see the same occurrence happening throughout scripture.  The first instance was with Adam and Eve, two of the most trusted of Heavenly Father's spirit children: a bulk of their children became so wicked that they merited destruction by flood.  Another easily remembered example comes from the people of Isreal after the Exodus.  They looked to a prophet for deliverance, trusted him enough to follow him out of Egypt, and received help from God in the form of many wonders, but then committed such abhorrent sins that they had to wander in the wilderness until that generation had died (40 years).

Another example is that of Lehi's family, though in their case it's more clear that the actions of a few people early on had a significant bad influence on their progeny.  In general, however, we see simply that civilizations often have a trend of becoming wicked even if they have the best starting conditions.  I know of only one exception; the city of Enoch was so righteous (a true Zion) that it was taken into heaven (see Moses 7:23).  Even the Nephites, after having had the wicked sifted out from among them through disaster and having received a visit from the resurrected Christ Himself, only maintained their righteousness for a couple of centuries.

Why does this happen?  Because we are granted the ability to exercise our own moral agency, and to maintain the standards of Zion requires full dedication, which most are not willing to give.  God knows that, given our agency, we will use it in different ways, and we're all going to use it poorly at times.  Individuals, families, and nations will often turn to wickedness.  I suppose that God could at a given moment get a report showing what percent of His children, after their final judgment, merited each kingdom; either way, He knows that some will inherit celestial glory, some will inherit terrestrial glory, some will inherit telestial glory, and some will inherit no glory at all.

While God knows we will sin, He has planned for us to succeed.  The key is that we have been provided with a Savior who has atoned for us all:
  "O how great the holiness‍ of our God! For he knoweth all‍ things, and there is not anything save he knows it.
  And he cometh into the world that he may save‍ all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains‍ of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam.
  And he suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day.
  And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized‍ in his name, having perfect faith‍ in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.
  And if they will not repent and believe in his name, and be baptized in his name, and endure‍ to the end, they must be damned; for the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has spoken it." (2 Nephi 9:20-24)

How do we receive the grace of our Savior?  By making and keeping covenants.  Without them, human nature will lead us to error (or, put differently, "the natural man is an enemy to God"--Mosiah 3:19).  That's the distinguishing factor, and therein lies the "why" of the distinction as not just the "chosen people" or the "elect" but also as the "covenant people" of the Lord.  We are distinguished in that we are supposed to make a demonstrated willful act to show that we will follow the will of God through His plan.  Sure, we are still imperfect after making covenants; some of us will make mistakes and repent, and others will even fail to repent and lose their reward.  Thus, among the covenant people of God there can still be and sometimes are great problems, and we are ever in need of prophets and other leaders to guide, inspire, and encourage us.  But in each case of an "elect" people they have made covenants.  Even in the passage above we see a necessary covenant: baptism.  It is through baptism that we become the covenant people of the Lord, or, in other words, latter-day saints.

Last thoughts for now:
Making and keeping covenants is how we become the chosen people of God as members of His Church, and He has given us these covenants in order to allow us to be sanctified and justified and thus to fulfill His plan.  That's the "why"; that's why some are "chosen" despite the fact that we all invariably misuse our agency to some degree.  The beauty of it (and this is real beauty) is that "he cometh into the world that he may save‍ all men if they will hearken unto his voice".  We all can receive the greatest blessings of God if we are willing, and if we take care to keep our hearts set on the kingdom of God.  It is my goal to have such willingness in my heart.  It is my goal to encourage others to do the same.

Knowing Now That He is Our Savior

Yesterday we finished our last night of the production Savior of the World. I believe my favorite scene was when I, as the apostle John, witnesses Peter explaining an important truth to Thomas, who was distressed from having not personally seen the Savior when so many others around him had. Here is a bit of the dialogue, slightly abbreviated:

Peter: I'm sorry you didn't see Him.

Thomas: What I said about believing--

John: We understand, Thomas. You want to see Him with your own eyes.

Thomas: So I can be a witness!

Peter: You are a witness. Look, Thomas, we did see Him, but that is not enough for any of us.

Thomas: What? Peter: Plenty of people saw Him in life, watched His miracles and heard His teachings, and yet some of them were among those who condemned Him to the cross. To see Him, Thomas--to see Him as He is, for who He is--we must look with our hearts...It isn't by flesh and blood that we know, but by what we feel...And one day, when you do see Him, you will not know any better than you know now that He lives, because you already feel--(pointing to Thomas' heart)--here.

Thomas learns a valuable lesson here. It almost brings tears to my eyes as I consider this beautiful truth. It seems that this dialogue is partially based on words from the final talk given by Elder Bruce R. McConkie: "I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears. But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way."

I think also of Alma 34:34. "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." Now is the time to gain a knowledge of Christ. If we reject Him, or reject that opportunity, what reason do we have to believe that we will be any different later? Perhaps some think that it will be easy to believe in Christ after they have died and seen what is next. However, we will not be so different in the Spirit World from what we are now.

Last thoughts for now:

Now is the time to gain a knowledge of Christ. He is our Savior. He was and is a perfect example and teacher. I know it! To see Him face to face will surely be the most humbling experience of my existence, but I am grateful that I have a testimony from God about my Savior now.