Faith in the Unbelievable and Agency

 I was thinking about some of the beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this morning. This included the three Nephites and John the Beloved being changed so that they don't taste of death. It seems so ridiculous to the logical mind. I've also heard or read us as members being ridiculed for believing this. However, later, I was listening to some of the new hymns and one of them referred to being there when the Savior rose from the tomb. The thought crossed my mind that if I can believe in the resurrection of the risen Lord (logically impossible), it shouldn't be so hard for me to believe that He and His Father have the power to change mortal bodies to be immortal. In fact, that is what we believe regarding an actual physical resurrection.  I simply need to have faith that God can make the impossible possible. I feel like the Holy Ghost was addressing the concern I had been thinking about and I feel better about it now. 

A similar experience happened a long time ago for me regarding polygamy. I really have no problem with it now because I know that God is a God of truth and wants the best interest of His children. He would never force us to spend eternity with someone we didn't choose to spend it with. He always honors agency. I also remember hearing President Nelson say the following and feeling like it was the Lord confirming these feelings from the Holy Ghost. "His plan of eternal progression is not complicated, and it honors your agency. You are free to choose who you will be—and with whom you will be—in the world to come!"

Boat Builder

 Great BYU Devotional on becoming a better boat builder.

1. Let the Lord Lead You

2. Use Tools to Amplify Your Strength

3. Seek Balance

4. Ask Good Questions

5. Search for Solutions in the Scriptures

6. Commend Yourself to the Lord

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/chris-mattson/six-ways-to-be-a-better-boat-builder/

Elder Holland - Faith

 Observation number one regarding this account is that when facing the challenge of faith, the father asserts his strength first and only then acknowledges his limitation. His initial declaration is affirmative and without hesitation: “Lord, I believe.” I would say to all who wish for more faith, remember this man! In moments of fear or doubt or troubling times, hold the ground you have already won, even if that ground is limited. In the growth we all have to experience in mortality, the spiritual equivalent of this boy’s affliction or this parent’s desperation is going to come to all of us. When those moments come and issues surface, the resolution of which is not immediately forthcoming, hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes. It was of this very incident, this specific miracle, that Jesus said, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”⁶ The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know.

The second observation is a variation of the first. When problems come and questions arise, do not start your quest for faith by saying how much you do not have, leading as it were with your “unbelief.” That is like trying to stuff a turkey through the beak! Let me be clear on this point: I am not asking you to pretend to faith you do not have. I am asking you to be true to the faith you do have. Sometimes we act as if an honest declaration of doubt is a higher manifestation of moral courage than is an honest declaration of faith. It is not! 

Story of Amanda Smith by President James E. Faust: The Shield of Faith

 Faith intensifies and magnifies our gifts and abilities. There is no greater source of knowledge than the inspiration that comes from the Godhead, who have all understanding and knowledge of that which has been, is now, and will be in the future.

At Haun’s Mill, a heroic pioneer woman, Amanda Smith, learned by faith how to do something beyond her abilities and the scientific knowledge of her time. On that terrible day in 1838, as the firing ceased and the mobsters left, she returned to the mill and saw her eldest son, Willard, carrying his seven-year-old brother, Alma. She cried, “Oh! my Alma is dead!”

“No, mother,” he said, “I think Alma is not dead. But father and brother Sardius are [dead]!” But there was no time for tears now. Alma’s entire hipbone was shot away. Amanda later recalled:

“Flesh, hip bone, joint and all had been ploughed out. … We laid little Alma on a bed in our tent and I examined the wound. It was a ghastly sight. I knew not what to do. … Yet was I there, all that long, dreadful night, with my dead and my wounded, and none but God as our physician and help. ‘Oh my Heavenly Father,’ I cried, ‘what shall I do? Thou seest my poor wounded boy and knowest my inexperience. Oh, Heavenly Father, direct me what to do!’ And then I was directed as by a voice speaking to me.

“… Our fire was still smouldering. … I was directed to take … ashes and make a lye and put a cloth saturated with it right into the wound. … Again and again I saturated the cloth and put it into the hole … , and each time mashed flesh and splinters of bone came away with the cloth; and the wound became as white as chicken’s flesh.

“Having done as directed I again prayed to the Lord and was again instructed as distinctly as though a physician had been standing by speaking to me. Near by was a slippery-elm tree. From this I was told to make a … poultice and fill the wound with it. … The poultice was made, and the wound, which took fully a quarter of a yard of linen to cover, … was properly dressed. …

“I removed the wounded boy to a house … and dressed his hip; the Lord directing me as before. I was reminded that in my husband’s trunk there was a bottle of balsam. This I poured into the wound, greatly soothing Alma’s pain.

“‘Alma my child,’ I said, ‘you believe that the Lord made your hip?’

“‘Yes, mother.’

“‘Well, the Lord can make something there in the place of your hip, don’t you believe he can, Alma?’

“‘Do you think that the Lord can, mother?’ inquired the child, in his simplicity.

“‘Yes, my son,’ I replied, ‘he has showed it all to me in a vision.’

“Then I laid him comfortably on his face, and said: ‘Now you lay like that, and don’t move, and the Lord will make you another hip.’

“So Alma laid on his face for five weeks, until he was entirely recovered—a flexible gristle having grown in place of the missing joint and socket, which remains to this day a marvel to physicians. …

“It is now nearly forty years ago, but Alma has never been the least crippled during his life, and he has traveled quite a long period of the time as a missionary of the gospel and [is] a living miracle of the power of God.”¹²

Finish the Course, Keep the Faith by Lawrence E. Corbridge

 

Stand Forever - Lawrence E. Corbridge

 

Stand Forever

 

Insight from Follow Him Podcasts

Follow Him Podcast: We are Responsible for our Own Learning with Steve Harper

36:26

Relentlessly seek the truth

I don't want to believe things that aren't true

I'm responsible 

Elder Corbridge's Talk - Primary Questions

It makes me think of Abraham 1:2 where Abraham sought after the blessings of the Fathers. 

Part 2

30:40 getting the recipe right

32:30 Once we've received confirmation of truth, we are under responsibility to covenant 

The Holy Ghost brings all things to our remembrance is also reminding us of past experiences with God.

Made me think of quote by Sister McConkie that Elder Christofferson quoted, "Most often it is the sacrifices we make to keep our covenants that sanctify us and make us holy."

Follow Him Podcast: Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah Part 1 • Dr. Joshua Matson

“The simple-hearted folk of Ephraim” description (1:02 or so) is delightful. “I have found that it is the small everyday deed of ordinary folks that keeps the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” J.R.R. Tolkien

Receiving and Recognizing the Holy Ghost by James Porter

 

Remember Lot's Wife

 https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/jeffrey-r-holland/remember-lots-wife/

Be Your Best Self

People aren’t always what they appear to be, Sometimes we ourselves aren’t. I think that’s where the power of God can help us be our true selves. The natural man in us wants to impress others or present a certain image to people of status. I’ve found that the more I feel God’s sanctification and love, the more I simply want to be what He wants me to be.

Look for the Positive/How to Address Critics

 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/1986/02/the-continuing-search-for-truth?lang=eng

 Moroni

 To Learn and Teach More Effectively by Elder Richard G. Scott

 Armour of Light

Toward Greater Spirituality: Ten Important Steps

 Elder Kim B. Clark

I learned that we needed to ask ourselves two questions. I believe these are the questions whose answers will lead us to do what we need to do to prepare for what lies ahead. Here they are:

1. What am I doing that I should stop doing?

2. What am I not doing that I should start doing?

August Relief Society Lesson

Dear Sisters, 

President Eyring’s powerful talk, Prayers of Faith, gives us key instruction and counsel regarding our role in this, “the prophesied last dispensation”.  He is clear, simple and bold:

·      As part of our preparation for His coming, He will lift each of us so we may rise to spiritual challenges and opportunities unlike any seen in the history of this world.

·      The work which has to be accomplished in the last days is one of vast importance, and will call into action the energy, skill, talent, and ability of the Saints.

·      We as a people will become more united amid increasing conflict. We will be gathered in the spiritual strength of groups and families filled with gospel light.

·      Even an unbelieving world will recognize The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and realize the power of God upon it. 

·      Faithful and brave disciples will fearlessly, humbly, and openly take upon them the name of Christ in their everyday lives.

·      The enemy of the Restoration will try to stop us from praying.  

·      Joseph Smith used prayers of faith to obtain continuous revelation. As we face today’s challenges and those yet to come, we too will need to practice the same pattern.

·      A feeling of light will stay with us even as the world around us becomes darker.

Here are two poignant short videos that express how we, like faithful women who have come before us can call upon the power of God in our lives and lives of those we love:

A Mother's Hope

Joy D. Jones Unexpected Hardships

 As we face challenges that may seem insurmountable, we can pray with faith then act with courage.  The Lord has a work for us to do and we can have confidence that He will bless us with power and abilities beyond our own.   

Much love!

Ruth Grey

Elder Bednar:  Recall how the Israelites came to the river Jordan and were promised the waters would part, and they would be able to cross over on dry ground. Interestingly, the waters did not part as the children of Israel stood on the banks of the river waiting for something to happen; rather, the soles of their feet were wet before the water parted. The faith of the Israelites was manifested in the fact that they walked into the water before it parted. They walked into the river Jordan with a future-facing assurance of things hoped for. As the Israelites moved forward, the water parted, and as they crossed over on dry land, they looked back and beheld the evidence of things not seen. In this episode, faith as assurance led to action and produced the evidence of things not seen that were true.

Like the Israelites, we may in faith be asked to do things that may not make sense in our modern world.  We may be up to our knees in that water, maybe up to our waists waiting to see the power of God come to our deliverance. 

Weakness to Strength

Ether 12

25 Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words.

26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their aweakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.