Strengthened by the Holy Ghost

My testimony of the strength that we can receive when we are filled with the Holy Ghost was renewed today. I did not take very good care of my body this past week, and it all caught up with me this morning. When I woke up I was physically drained.

I am the Sunday School President in my ward and this morning I taught a "Teacher Improvement" class. Though I was physically drained, I was filled with the Spirit and I was able to stand and instruct the teachers with clarity and power. It was a miracle, and we all were edified.

Yesterday one of our Sunday School teachers fell on the ice and got a concussion, so she was not able to teach today. I taught in her stead, and again was blessed by God to be filled with the Holy Ghost and given the strength to stand. Though I was still physically drained, I was able to stand and testify with power of the reality of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Though I had little time to prepare for the lesson, the Lord filled my mouth and gave me the words to speak. Questions and stories were brought to my mind, and the class members responded with their testimonies. I love to bear testimony of my Savior, and I am most grateful that I was given the strength to stand and do so today.

Later today I went by to see the teacher who had the concussion, and you will be glad to know that she is doing much better and is on her way to a full recovery.

While teaching today I shared a quote by Elder Corbridge, and today I feel like I received a renewed testimony of His words:

"Nothing in this life is of greater worth than the supernal gift of the Holy Ghost. It is the source of joy, peace, knowledge, strength, love, and every other good thing. With the Atonement, it is the power by which we may be changed and made strong where we are weak. With the priesthood, it is the power by which marriages and families are sealed together eternally. It is the power by which the Lord makes Himself manifest unto those who believe in Him. Every good thing depends on getting and keeping the power of the Holy Ghost in our lives. Everything depends on that."

-Lawrence E. Corbridge, “The Way,” Ensign, Nov 2008, 34–36

I have not always been worthy to have the Holy Ghost with me, but I can testify of how wonderful life is when I am filled with the Holy Ghost. I am grateful for my Savior for giving me the power to live my life in such a way that it can be filled with the peace and joy of the Holy Ghost.

Nephi Prayed

A conversation with a friend this week taught me a lessons about Nephi and his brothers and how their story applies to me. Nephi and his brothers, Laman and Lemuel, had been commanded by the Lord through His prophet to obtain the brass plates (the scriptures) from a wicked man named Laban who was rich and powerful. After risking their lives and failing their quest twice, Laman and Lemuel became angry with Nephi for wanting to try again and began to beat him up. An angel from God came and commanded them to stop the beating and testified to them that the Lord's promise was still in affect that they would be able to obtain the brass plates. The record then states:

"And after the angel had departed, Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us (1 Nephi 3:31)?"

Though Laman and Lemuel doubted, Nephi's response was quite different:

"And it came to pass that I spake unto my brethren, saying: Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands (1 Nephi 4:1)?"

I can understand where Laman and Lemuel were coming from and I must admit that had I been in their shoes I would have likely said the same thing that they said. I say this because there are many times when the Lord has given me a promise and I have doubted that it would actually happen because of past experiences. For example, I sometimes have doubts that certain aspects of my character can actually be changed, having tried but failed 50 or ten thoughsand times.

But I have to ask myself, as my friend asked me, "What made the difference between Nephi and His brothers?"

Nephi prayed. He truly prayed to His Heavenly Father. Nephi recorded his first prayer when he truly humbled himself before God and put his trust in Him:

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers (1 Nephi 2:16)."

Nephi, like me, sometimes struggled with change, but I admire his faith and trust in the Lord when change did not happen as expected. At one of these times Nephi recorded:

"Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me. And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted (2 Nephi 4:17 - 19)."

When I struggle with doubt, wondering if the future can really be different than my past experience, I can pray like Nephi. I can humble myself before the Lord and put my trust in Him and remember the testimonies of His servants. I'll finish this post with a quote by our prophet:

"The passage of time has not altered the capacity of the Redeemer to change men’s lives—our lives and the lives of those with whom we labor. As He said to the dead Lazarus, so He says today: “Come forth.” Come forth from the despair of doubt. Come forth from the sorrow of sin. Come forth from the death of disbelief. Come forth to a newness of life. Come forth."

-Thomas S. Monson, “To the Rescue,” Ensign, May 2001, 48

The Pure In Heart

The Savior said "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). I have been privileged to have known several people who are pure in heart; I can see light shining from their eyes and countenances; I feel closer to God when I am around them. And they see God everywhere. They see God's influence in their lives everywhere they look. They look for the good in everything and give their gratitude to God. They are quick to point out the tiniest blessings, which in turn fuels their happiness and optimism. They can see God's merciful hand in the midst of adversity. They see the Savior in others and try to treat them accordingly (see Matthew 25:40).

I am grateful to have known these special people, whose hearts have been cleansed and purified by the atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that this blessing promised by Jesus is real and can be obtained by all through His mercy.

To Know God

This morning as I was studying my scriptures I came across the story of the repentance of King Lamoni’s father (see Alma 22). This man had learned the gospel from missionaries and wanted to have its promised blessings for himself. I was touched by the words of His first prayer when he said “I will give away all of my sins to know thee” (Alma 22:18).

I pondered his words of coming to know God through repentance. It makes sense because the best way to know someone is to be like them, to walk the path they walk. The end goal of repentance is for us to be changed to be and act more like God—to be loving, merciful, patient, wise, happy, peaceful, and so on. I found various scriptures which teach that a key to truly knowing God is repentance and becoming more like Him.

When King Benjamin’s people repented they personally knew who God was because they had experienced His attributes of goodness, power, wisdom, patience, longsuffering, and love (see Mosiah 4:6, 11).

When Alma taught his son the importance of the scriptures to help others repent: “These records and their words brought them unto repentance; that is, they brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer” (Alma 37:9).

“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3).

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1 John 4:7).

“Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8).

While pondering these scriptures, I thought on my own experiences with repentance. As the Lord has helped me to change I have come to know Him better. The happiest times of my life have been when I have repented. The times when the Lord has helped me to overcome sins and weaknesses impossible on my own, are the times when I couldn’t stop smiling. There have been special times when I have been able to stand transparent before the Lord, having joy from knowing that He finds my life acceptable. Thinking back on those experiences gives me renewed desire to further repent of my sins.

Through the experiences I have had with repentance, the testimony of Elder Richard G. Scott has become my own: “I cannot comprehend [my Savior’s] power, his majesty, his perfections. But I do understand something of his love, his compassion, his mercy. There is no burden he cannot lift. There is no heart he cannot purify and fill with joy. There is no life he cannot cleanse and restore when one is obedient to his teachings” (Richard G. Scott, “True Friends That Lift,” Ensign, Nov 1988, 76).

I look forward to the day prophesied of in Jeremiah 31:34, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

I know that these miracles—the miracle of forgiveness and the miracle of knowing the Lord—can happen to all of us because of Jesus Christ.

My Story

About a month ago I read the blog post a gentleman wrote entitled "Feasting on Intellectual Mammon Vs Feasting on the Words of Christ" and it reminded me of a major change that the Lord brought about in me which helped lead to the conversion of my heart. I wrote the following as a comment:

Looking back on my own life, I can see how for many years my philosophy for salvation relied on knowledge. I would read D&C 130:18-19 (”Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.”) and mistakenly think that my knowledge of the gospel would save me. I can see now how the devil succeeded in fueling my pride by encouraging me to put my trust in myself and my knowledge for salvation instead of in the Lord Jesus Christ. I can see how this attitude also weakened my testimony, by believing that having a testimony of the gospel in my mind was good enough without seeking to have that testimony written on my heart. I believe had I stayed in this mindset that I would have eventually gone less active from church activity, because I wouldn’t be getting anything out of church.

Thankfully the Lord gave me some big wake up calls and He began to teach me what it meant to truly have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. He gave me the vision of what it means to be a true follower of Jesus Christ, to take upon myself His attributes; to seek to develop the kind of love He has for others (Moroni 7:48). He has taught me that it is His grace that I need to draw on to sustain any real growth (Jacob 4:7). Most importantly, the Lord has taught me to center my life and my testimony on Him and to have faith and repentance be the focus of my gospel study (Mosiah 18:20). He has taught me that His gospel is more than four steps that are so often rattled off while reciting the 4th article of faith. He taught me that the gospel of Jesus Christ is to live a life of faith, a life of repentance, a live of making and keeping covenants, a life filled with and lead by the Holy Ghost.

I don’t go to church anymore to learn things. I now go to church to become something-a person more like my Savior. I can see now that D&C 130:18-19 is talking about making the gospel a part of me, the core of who I am inside, even the knowledge of the gospel written on my heart. I can see how putting my trust in my Savior, instead of myself, has brought me much closer to Him.

A Life of Faith

Recently I have been looking at blogs published by other members of my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What I have seen has made me sad. There have been very few who have written of their experiences of how Jesus Christ has changed their life, choosing instead to criticize or focus on points of doctrine that have little to do with actually living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we all need a reminder of the bedrock principles that provide the framework for living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I like what Preach My Gospel (a book containing official church doctrine taught by missionaries all over the world) says on how to be saved:

"By faithfully following the gospel path of faith, repentance, making and keeping covenants, and receiving the Holy Ghost, we can qualify for eternal life."
-Preach My Gospel p. 69

In my own words, to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to live a life of faith, a life of repentance, a life regulated and empowered by covenants made with God, and a life filled with and led by the Holy Ghost. This pattern of leading will result in being cleansed from sin and born again, accompanied by feelings of peace and joy.

Living the Gospel of Jesus Christ has brought great joy and peace into my life, and has empowered me to acquire godly attributes, such as kindness and patience. Like the apostle Paul, it is my testimony that "By the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10). I know that all growth is a gift from the Lord as well as the joy that comes with it. By living Christ's gospel, I have experienced the miracle of forgiveness. Because of His Gospel I know of the peace and the comfort which can come during hard experiences. I also know "that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent" (Mosiah 3:17).

Having a desire to share my faith with those who do not know Jesus Christ or that His Gospel has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith, I am starting this blog to share my experiences with living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to have this blog be an introduction to or a reminder of what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about; how we can be transformed and cleansed by the power of Christ, and live in a state of joy and peace in this life regardless of what physically happens to us. Please comment and share your own experiences of the joy that comes through living the Gospel and following our Savior.