I was thinking the other day about showing gratitude to God. Why do we do it? Why should we do it?
Well I caught myself doing it because I've been told to. Thats not bad, at least I'm showing it. But I don't think I'm feeling it. We can show our gratitude to god in many different ways. The best way is in the book of mormon when king Benjemin says "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your god." But if we truly want to be serving God with grattitude, then we need to change our attitude. In Moroni chapter 7 of the book of mormon, Moroni explains how we must have the real intent of our heart as we serve god.
"For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing.
For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness
For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God."
So if we want to serve god by serving others we must have the right attitude. Now here is the thought that helped me out most.
Look at what God has done. His purpose as found in the scriptures is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" and so he does it by creating a world and all that is in it. He creates all things both in the heavens and on earth. Why? for us. Well we have heard this time and time again in our lives, but have you ever asked yourself "what's in it for God?". What God gets out of it is simply the joy that comes from seeing us succeed. He wants us to succeed. He never wants us to fail. So if God gave us all things just to see us succeed and draw closer to him, then it makes it easier for us to understand that we need to show him our love. Thats what he looks forward to. He wants us to love him, and for us to know that he loves us. He wants us to help others to be happy, because it is through us that he can do the most good in others lives. I love God and know he Loves every single person out there.
December 2, 2009
November 25, 2009
Faith and Assurances
Faith and Assurance.
Have you ever had a time in your life when nothing seemed to go right? I think its natural that the first thing we tell God is how to change everything to the way we want it. And wouldn't it make you feel so much better to have God answer you and say "Alright, I'll do it your way". We all know this isn't going to happen, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" saith the Lord.
Well why is this? Since God is all knowing we must cope with the fact that God knows best! In the Book of Mormon King Benjamin explains this important fact to his people.
"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend"
God has seen a lot more then we have, I'm pretty sure he knows exactly whats best for us. This can anger some people though. We don't always get the instant gratification that we want! There are those who hate God for not allowing things to work out the way they wanted it. Even for those of great faith, its often hard to find comfort in the trials of daily life.
There is a way to find comfort, There is a way to cope with hardships in our life. We can recieve a direct answer from God. Every person is entitled to direct revelation from God. Lets look at the example of a group of young warriors out of the Book of Mormon.
A Group called the Lamanites have been harrassing the believers of Christ for quite some time now. And the sons of the "people of ammon" were fighting back for their freedom, and liberty, and for their families. There was one large problem though. In Alma chapter 58 we find that the sons of the people of Ammon were in bad shape. The Lamanites had them vastly outnumbered. The sons of ammon recieved very little provisions and were "about to perish for the want of food" while the lamanites received great strength from day to day. They were scared. There seemed to be no way out. So they prayed. Now the way they went about finding hope and assurance in such poor circumstances is amazing. We can all learn so much from their example.
They began by a simple prayer
"therefore we did pour out our souls to god in prayer that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our lands, and our possessions, for the support of our people."
Notice they prayed that they would be strenthend so they could endure the hardships. not that the hardships would necisarily leave them.
After their prayer, we learn more about the way god answers our prayers.
Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls and did grant unto us great Faith and did cause us that We should hope for our deliverance In him.
God answered by a feeling that everything would be alright. They understood that God knows best and accepted his assurances. Because they did this it spoke peace to their souls. I feel the most important line was that "we should hope for our deliverance in him". This is true faith. Its faith in the lord jesus christ. Its fath that through him salvation is possible. They had faith in an assurance from God. They had so much faith IN HIM, that they knew eventually everything would work out alright. They didn't know how, they didn't know when, but they knew that God knew. That was enough for them. We too can apply this in our own lives. We can pray and get an assurance that everything will work out. Or and assurance about the truthfulness about something. When we recieve an assurance, we should not ever cast it out by unbelief. You will know when God assures you. You must be willing to accept that God knows best. Then that assurance will have power behind it. And assurance from god only has as much power as you have faith in him.
Lets look at what this assurance from god, and faith on their part did for them.
and we did take courage with our small force which we had received and were fixed with a determination to conquer our enemies, and to maintain our lands, and our possessions, and our wives, and our children, and the cause of our liberty.
You also can be blessed with courage and determination to face any challenge in life. The love of God is real. He lives. God does and will assure us. There really is actual strength that comes of those assurances as they are accepted by faith.
Have you ever had a time in your life when nothing seemed to go right? I think its natural that the first thing we tell God is how to change everything to the way we want it. And wouldn't it make you feel so much better to have God answer you and say "Alright, I'll do it your way". We all know this isn't going to happen, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways" saith the Lord.
Well why is this? Since God is all knowing we must cope with the fact that God knows best! In the Book of Mormon King Benjamin explains this important fact to his people.
"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend"
God has seen a lot more then we have, I'm pretty sure he knows exactly whats best for us. This can anger some people though. We don't always get the instant gratification that we want! There are those who hate God for not allowing things to work out the way they wanted it. Even for those of great faith, its often hard to find comfort in the trials of daily life.
There is a way to find comfort, There is a way to cope with hardships in our life. We can recieve a direct answer from God. Every person is entitled to direct revelation from God. Lets look at the example of a group of young warriors out of the Book of Mormon.
A Group called the Lamanites have been harrassing the believers of Christ for quite some time now. And the sons of the "people of ammon" were fighting back for their freedom, and liberty, and for their families. There was one large problem though. In Alma chapter 58 we find that the sons of the people of Ammon were in bad shape. The Lamanites had them vastly outnumbered. The sons of ammon recieved very little provisions and were "about to perish for the want of food" while the lamanites received great strength from day to day. They were scared. There seemed to be no way out. So they prayed. Now the way they went about finding hope and assurance in such poor circumstances is amazing. We can all learn so much from their example.
They began by a simple prayer
"therefore we did pour out our souls to god in prayer that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our lands, and our possessions, for the support of our people."
Notice they prayed that they would be strenthend so they could endure the hardships. not that the hardships would necisarily leave them.
After their prayer, we learn more about the way god answers our prayers.
Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls and did grant unto us great Faith and did cause us that We should hope for our deliverance In him.
God answered by a feeling that everything would be alright. They understood that God knows best and accepted his assurances. Because they did this it spoke peace to their souls. I feel the most important line was that "we should hope for our deliverance in him". This is true faith. Its faith in the lord jesus christ. Its fath that through him salvation is possible. They had faith in an assurance from God. They had so much faith IN HIM, that they knew eventually everything would work out alright. They didn't know how, they didn't know when, but they knew that God knew. That was enough for them. We too can apply this in our own lives. We can pray and get an assurance that everything will work out. Or and assurance about the truthfulness about something. When we recieve an assurance, we should not ever cast it out by unbelief. You will know when God assures you. You must be willing to accept that God knows best. Then that assurance will have power behind it. And assurance from god only has as much power as you have faith in him.
Lets look at what this assurance from god, and faith on their part did for them.
and we did take courage with our small force which we had received and were fixed with a determination to conquer our enemies, and to maintain our lands, and our possessions, and our wives, and our children, and the cause of our liberty.
You also can be blessed with courage and determination to face any challenge in life. The love of God is real. He lives. God does and will assure us. There really is actual strength that comes of those assurances as they are accepted by faith.
November 19, 2009
Blessings
The Gospel of Jesus Christ Blesses Families and Individuals.
I thought it to be appropriate to start off my blog by discussing the blessings that come from god to all mankind. As many of you know, Mormons don't have the corner on blessings. Every Individual on this earth is son or daughter of a loving heavenly father. He wants what is best for each of us. The ultimate blessing was the coming of christ to the earth. He suffered for all mankind. He provided a path to return to God. It is only through Christ that anyone can live with God again.
If we open our eyes to realize what a blessing from god is, then we can begin to count our blessings daily. Something may seem to have happened scientifically, but who made the science that brought about a blessing from God. A child may be healed from a deadly illness because of a doctor’s expertise. A house might be warmed by a heating device. Whatever it is, it can be linked to God. It was God who provided the Enlightenment needed to bring good to all mankind. What we may look at as man-made, is really provided by God. We are all the tools of God for him to bring blessings to others. I often ask myself if I am allowing God to use me as his tool. Am I doing my best? What can I do to be an even better tool? Am I gaining the highest education I can personally achieve? Am I searching the scriptures and seeking for gods will in my life? Do I know what god wants me to do?
We can't know the answer to each of these questions all at once. It’s a life-long process, but we can be a blessing to someone today. And we can acknowledge blessings that come from God in everyday life.
My blessing of the day is that I was blessed with understanding to understand a concept I learned in school. God has provided a way for me to obtain knowledge. How great God is.
This blog entry was just a basic introduction. I hope to delve into the scriptures and share insight that may help in the world we live in today. I hope those who read this find something that applies to them, that can inspire each of us to be a little better every day.
I thought it to be appropriate to start off my blog by discussing the blessings that come from god to all mankind. As many of you know, Mormons don't have the corner on blessings. Every Individual on this earth is son or daughter of a loving heavenly father. He wants what is best for each of us. The ultimate blessing was the coming of christ to the earth. He suffered for all mankind. He provided a path to return to God. It is only through Christ that anyone can live with God again.
If we open our eyes to realize what a blessing from god is, then we can begin to count our blessings daily. Something may seem to have happened scientifically, but who made the science that brought about a blessing from God. A child may be healed from a deadly illness because of a doctor’s expertise. A house might be warmed by a heating device. Whatever it is, it can be linked to God. It was God who provided the Enlightenment needed to bring good to all mankind. What we may look at as man-made, is really provided by God. We are all the tools of God for him to bring blessings to others. I often ask myself if I am allowing God to use me as his tool. Am I doing my best? What can I do to be an even better tool? Am I gaining the highest education I can personally achieve? Am I searching the scriptures and seeking for gods will in my life? Do I know what god wants me to do?
We can't know the answer to each of these questions all at once. It’s a life-long process, but we can be a blessing to someone today. And we can acknowledge blessings that come from God in everyday life.
My blessing of the day is that I was blessed with understanding to understand a concept I learned in school. God has provided a way for me to obtain knowledge. How great God is.
This blog entry was just a basic introduction. I hope to delve into the scriptures and share insight that may help in the world we live in today. I hope those who read this find something that applies to them, that can inspire each of us to be a little better every day.
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