True Preparation

 When I was young I received a blessing. I have spoken about this blessing before. In this blessing I was told I would be prepared for Jesus Christ's second coming. 

I live in an area that has a lot of focus on preparation. I connected the second coming of Christ with much tribulation in the world. To me, being prepared meant that I had food storage, wood for fires, maybe medicines, and so forth. For years I thought about how I would become prepared for these tribulations.

I think it is wise to be prepared for tribulations and emergencies. As much as a person can be. But I have learned something over the years, real preparation for the Lord's coming is more than this kind of preparation.

Being prepared for the Lord's second coming is being meek. It's being able to love your enemies.  If you aren't able to love your enemies, how can you exist in the millennial reign of a God who is coming to bring peace to the earth? I have to be meek enough to see and love my enemies. We all must be. That is why the scriptures say that the meek will inherit the earth. 

Having a food storage is good. Being able to love my enemies is much more important. 

Never be Empty-handed

 I've had some very hard things in my life, but I was lucky to be raised in the church. I've made many covenants with God over my life; when I was baptized and when I first entered the temple.

Normally I am a very happy person. I am able to go to bed feeling grief, but I can wake up with hope and optimism. 

Something very damaging recently happened to me. I couldn't recover from it. My soul mourned so deeply.  I carried grief with me every day and every moment. I pretended to be OK, but I wasn't. 

Every night I'd go to bed filled with grief. Every morning I'd wake up with it. My soul was dying inside me. 

I prayed to God. I said, "Father, there is nothing I can do to fix this. I have nothing in my hands to help me. My hands are so empty."

Then I had a voice say to me, "You have your covenants."

Is surprised me. Then it frustrated me. How could my covenants with God do anything for me in that situation? I didn't see a way. I felt a little angry. 

Days went by and I thought about it. I earnestly wondered, how could my covenants help me? I wanted to know. I kept thinking of the Lord. I needed His help. Everyday I was still going to bed with grief. Every morning I was still waking up with it. One morning the grief was heavy upon me. 

As I got ready for work that morning, something began to change inside me. The weight began to lift. Nothing had happened to change it. I hadn't learned anything new. It did not come from me.

Grief gave way to peace. 

I began to understand. Part of my covenant with God is that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will come to me when I am mindful of the Lord. The Spirit can give me peace and comfort.

Everything in my life was the same, but I was different. The darkness of despair was gone. 

I am so grateful for my covenants. Covenants that ask me to be mindful of my God. I know as I am mindful of Him, trying to follow Him, He can work miracles in my life. 

I know God helps all people. Knowing I have committed my life to Him, that I have covenants with the Creator of all things, it is so good. I know if I do my part, He will do His. I never need to be empty-handed. 

 

People Don't Like Our Temples

My church builds temples all over the world. These sacred buildings are often met with  criticism. A lot of people don't want them in their neighborhoods. 

I can understand that. I might feel the same if some other religion built an edifice in my neighborhood. I would try not to.

I want to tell you (without being specific), what I have learned in the temple. I want to tell you why it's important and precious. 

I previously told you about covenant and brotherhood (and sisterhood). I learned these things in the temple. In the temple, I learned that humility is strength, because it is connected to truth. I learned that I must sacrifice worldly things, so that God can reign in my heart. 

When God reigns in my heart, and there is nothing I love more than Him, it opens my heart to truth and understanding. It opens my heart to all my brothers and sisters in this world. 

It helps me to keep Christ's commandment to love my enemies. It binds my heart to people of all nationalities, ethnicities, and creeds. Loving God more than the things of this world, ensures that I can love everyone else so much the better. We all are one family. We are God's fallen family.  

In the temple we reconstruct the fallen family of God. And we learn about how we must be, to have true brotherhood and sisterhood. 

The temple is a symbol of family, of peace, of sacrifice, and of healing. It is meant for everyone, everywhere. It is a place to learn about the ways of our God, and what He created us to be. 

How can peace on earth be achieved in any other way? It cannot. We must learn these things. 

I've been having a hard time. I haven't been posting very much. I will try to keep posting. My body is tired and unwell. I am trying to get better. 

I encourage you to seek out my brothers and sisters in the church. To everyone out there reading this, the world is full of commotion and unkindness, but I know that God loves you. I feel it deeply. Creation feels chaotic, but it is full of purpose. Reach out with your heart, can't you feel Him in everything? Can't you sense the love and purpose? Can you smell the spice? If you can't, pray and keep trying. It's there. He's there. 

Keep going. Look for Him, as I do. He is truly the beauty of holiness, and you are meant to be as He is. And if you can, seek out a temple, and (if it is able to have one) sit in its garden. God bless you. 

Do Not Trust Princes

 A prince is anyone who is in a position of power or would be. 

"Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help." Psalm 146:3

I am not saying that there are not good princes. Some princes can be very good. But our trust should always be in God. God is the source of all truth. What greater help can we receive than from Him?

Many princes are not good, but like to appear so. One predominant feature of a prince is the pointing of fingers. They find people or groups of people from whom the sources of all our troubles start. Then they promise to be the one who can solve that problem by dealing with those people. 

Maybe what they say has some truth in it. But it won't be all the truth. There is a greater truth. If you only trust the words of a prince, you will not be able to know the real truth. You will not be able to have God help you really understand.

A prince like this could be a Hate Maker. If your prince makes you hate some other group of people, you need to reconsider. 

How can the world have peace if we hate our enemies? 

How can we really understand the full truth of a person, or a group of people, if we are ready to hate and toss them aside? I promise you, when we do that, there is so much opportunity lost, and so much treasure lost. Peace is lost. Brotherhood and Sisterhood, are lost. 

Don't trust in the strength of men and not God.

"Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trusts in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!" Isaiah 31:1

"Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited." Jeremiah 17:5-6

Trust God and become a person of understanding. This is what will give your land and people more strength. It will make you a tree of life.

"For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged." Proverbs 28:2

"Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8

It is a hard thing to do. We are natural. We trust what our eyes can see. But there are things our eyes cannot see. We cannot see into a person's heart. But the Lord can. I believe this is why He commands us to love our enemies. It is why we must trust Him above all else. If we cannot, we disregard the truth that is in every human soul. It will lead to our destruction. 

"Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God. Her princes within her a roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones til the morrow. Her prophets are a light and treacherous persons; her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law." Zephaniah 3:1-4

Trust the Lord. 

It is good to be subject to your leaders. It is good to pray for them. If you get to vote for leaders, it is good to pick the best ones you can. I know that sometimes there are extraordinary things that can happen in a society.

In our Articles of Faith, it states:

"We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law." Articles of Faith 1:12 The Pearl of Great Price

Humility, pt. 2

God is humble and is a God of truth. 

"[Jesus Christ] humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Philippians 2:8

"[Jesus Christ is] the light of truth; which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ." Doctrine and Covenants 88:6-7

In a previous video about truth, I spoke about how God revealed that our spirits are spirits of truth, and how the commandments of God are truth, and connect us to truth. Scripture states that eventually, by keeping God's commandments, our spirits wake up - are revived -  in truth. 

In part one of these posts on humility, this is only possible if we are humble. By being humble, we can make covenants, keep the commandments, perform our sacrifices of righteousness, and become able to receive truth. 

"Verily I say to you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe the covenants by sacrifice - yes, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command - they are accepted of me." Doctrine and Covenants 97:8

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart[.]" Psalms 51:17

"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." Isaiah 57:15 

A final thought. God is truth. We are His children, children of truth, but fallen. He sent the Lord to revive us in Him, in truth, to be His children again. 

Why would we want anything less than truth? Truth is what is. There is no shadow. No falsehood. No doubt. Truth is a force beyond reckoning. You cannot succeed against it. We may think that we can live deceitfully in this life, but the truth will come for us. You cannot escape it. If you live against it, you are destroying yourself. We must be humble to learn to live in the truth.

Humility pt. 1

We learn that one of the results of following Christ and keeping His commandments and covenants is becoming humble. 

He told us to seek Him, and that He was meek and lowly in spirit. We know that it was through His humble obedience to God the Father that He was able to perform the atonement, taking on the sins of all mankind. His humility made the atonement possible. 

The atonement is endless and eternal. It is the most powerful force in all creation. It is a creation that teaches, that trains, that turns agency to what is right and good. It doesn’t just make men and women, it turns men and women good with fully intact personal agency.

Humility is a source of great power. Our priesthood teaches that humility is needful before we can receive truth. The thing about receiving truth, we don't receive it and see that we are better than those around us. 

We learn that we are all God's children. Equal. With the same eternal value and potential. Humility is bound to truth. That truth opens us up to love for all. Christ helps us to truly see those around us. We learn to love our neighbors and our enemies. 

This is how we find brotherhood. This is how we find Zion. The pure in heart. 

There is so much power in this. This is what it means by becoming One. 

It comes from humility. 

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