A Foundational Doctrine!

"And there shall be no disputations among you, as there hath hitherto been, neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there hath hitherto been; for verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention, is not of me, but is of the Devil, which is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.  Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away." 

3rd Nephi 5:9, pg. 478. 

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Gospel of The Son of God!

"Behold I have given unto you my Gospel, and this is the Gospel which I have given unto you:  That I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me; and my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, I might draw all men unto me; that as I have been lifted up by men, even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil; and for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father, I will draw all men unto me that they may be judged according to their works.  And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name, shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father, at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.  And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father; and this is the word which he hath given unto the children of men.  And for this cause he fulfilleth the words which he hath given, and he lieth not, but fulfilleth all his words; and no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest, save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.  Now this is the commandment:  Repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.  Verily, verily I say unto you, this is my Gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do, that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do, even that shall ye do; therefore if ye do these things, blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day." 

3rd Nephi 12:3, pg. 508 

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Basic Beliefs

The first thing is:  God is real!! 

The second thing is:  A man can talk to God face to face, as one man talks to another, as one friend talks to another! 
 
But, How do we do that? 

Which brings us to the third thing:  We need to cleanse ourselves from all unrighteousness!  This means that we need to repent of all our sins, and keep the commandments.  We need to get all that filthiness out of us!! 

Fourth:  We need to covenant before God that we will serve Him.  In other words, we need to get baptized with that covenant that we will serve him, at all times, in all things, and in all places, whatsoever we shall find ourselves in!  That He may more abundantly pour out His Spirit upon us!! 

And when He pours out His Spirit more abundantly upon us, we can move to the Fifth step:  We are follow that Holy Spirit and keep serving Him, and keep getting ourselves cleansed, more and more, keep getting the wickedness out of ourselves, deeper and deeper, drawing nearer and nearer to God, Until we find that Great Day when we are baptized, for real, with Fire and the Holy Ghost, and our sins are actually remitted at that time!! 

And of course, we need to still keep going forward after that!! 

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Trust In The Lord With All Thine Heart

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.   
~ Proverbs 3:5 

Our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother have all things planned, long before we have come here to earth, and as we go through our lives here upon the earth, that plan is revealed to us.  The problem is, we are often presented with many options.  Some of those options may come from God, or ourselves, or others, or the devil.  It is up to us to figure out from where the plan/option derives, and to choose which option we will follow, or which combination of option parts we will adopt. 

If we choose to accept the first plan of God, we will get the best outcome.  Because God loves us, He will always present to us the best plan, the plan with the greatest potential eternal outcome.  But, unfortunately, we do not always see how God's plan will achieve the greatest outcome, so we second guess if the plan is really from Him.  There is one way to know for sure though, if the plan is from God, and that is to pray and ask!  The witness of the Holy Ghost will come upon us so strong, that we may feel perfectly confident in following God's plan for us.  It is a good idea to write this answer down, and do not depart from it, just because your mood changes! 

Yet, should we fear, because we cannot see how His plan will work?  Or what if we want to accomplish our own plan, and just wish that our plan was the plan of God?  Unfortunately, we might choose to forget the witness of the Holy Ghost, and may opt out of the Lord's plan.  In this case, the case of following our own hearts, and leaning unto our own understandings, then we might choose an altered course.  But the Lord still loves us, and will keep trying to help us.  So, when we choose to go a different direction, the Lord will still offer unto us a second plan, a back-up plan.  The second plan may not give all the best results as the first plan, but the Lord will always offer us the best plan that we will accept! 

Just because we cannot see how the Lord will work out the best possible result, from His first plan, does not mean that it will not yield the best possible results!  It only means that we are not as wise as He.  Do we really think that we are as wise as our Heavenly Parents who can see all things, past, present, and future???? 

Then when we choose the second plan, and we see all the good results that come of following that back-up plan, we say, "See all the good that comes from this path?  This really was the better plan!"  And we in effect, deny the witness of the Holy Ghost. 

The Lord really does love us, and gives unto us every chance He can to work out the best possible results. 

He does not give up on us, just because we do not choose the best plan, or do not see the miracles that He will accomplish if we trust in him, and not "lean unto our own understanding." 

And then we are always caught up in pride, we must beware of pride.  We think that since the back-up plan worked out, "I was right."  We are always trying to prove ourselves right, justifing our behaviour and choices.  When we justify our behaviour like this, instead of following the Spirit of God, that is when we lose our priesthood.  We need to be awful careful not to justify our behaviour, just because we want to be right, and gratify our vain pride, our vain ambitions, things that we want to accomplish. 

We must be so careful,

Following the back-up plan always seems to end up doing things the hard way.  If only we had followed right from the beginning.  But do not give up hope.  The Lord will never give up on you, will never forsake you.  Just turn your heart back to Him, and He will accept you! 

Trust in the Lord, and watch the miracles happen!! 

May the Lord God of Heaven be blessed forever,
In the name of His son, Yeshua Messiah,
Amen! 

O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever.  I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. --  Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh is arm. 
~ 2 Nephi 3:4 p. 71 

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Little Miracles

I have often posted of the more grandios fruits of walking this path, the path of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  These fruits come because of walking circumspectly before the Lord.  They happen, because of true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! 

This means that faith must be based on correct principles, in order for it to have the desired effect.  If we believe that drinking sand will quench our thirst, we may be dissappointed.  No amount of faith in an incorrect principle will yeild results contrary of the law of God.  In fact, it is not faith at all, because faith is actually aligning with correct principle.  We must also know that what we are doing is actually according to the will of God, so that we can have full confidence in the outcome. 

Today, I would like to tell you about the greater fruits of following the Path of the Saviour.  This is a story that was told to me, and I will try to relate it to you as accurately as I can.  I do know those involved in this event on both sides. 

There was a man who once had a tremendous desire to serve God.  He prayed to God and received a powerful spiritual experience.  This man went forth striving to help others onto the correct path of following the Saviour, but found many were not interested.  They were too busy following the various paths that would lead them to the fulfillment of their worldly desires.  They loved to follow the paths that claimed the name of the Saviour, but were really just compromises with the world. 

Those compromised paths are many, they are the wide path which Christ has warned us against, and yet so many go in thereat.  The path of the Saviour is narrow, it is precise, it is in keeping the commandments of God. 

This man, got discouraged, because he could not get anyone to see and follow the narrow path.  With time, he lost hope.  He began to drown his sorrows in strong drink.  His life went ary. 

Then, as time went on, he met an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, who also walked that narrow path of the Saviour.  Something changed inside him.  The flame of Christ, in this man's heart was re-ignited.  Soon, he was baptized, and started his life anew!  He was instructed and given the priesthood of God.  Then went he forth in great power, the power of God unto the convincing of men!  He spread the Gospel of the Narrow Way to his family, and several others.  Now, there is a striving branch of the Lord's family there.  He left behind the ways of the world, and moved into the ways of Christ!  That joy that he longed for so long ago, is becomming a reality! 

To see someone's heart touched, to see their lives changed, to see peace and love triumph in their lives!!  That is what the Gospel of Messiah is truly about. 

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Are You Willing To Do What It Takes?

Recently, I watched an interview with a world champion athlete.  Even though the athlete spoke on many aspects of his training, there was one aspect that caught the attention of the several commentators.  The athlete was asked a question of advice, for helping those who would aspire to get into better physical condition.  The athlete responded that, before getting out of bed in the morning, one should start the day with 200 crunches, every morning.  Then the athlete went on to talk of other training.  The 200 crunches every morning was just to get the day started; it was not the end of the training for the day! 

Interestingly, many of the people who commented on the interview, responded in shock, and almost horror, to the thought of just a few crunches to get the blood flowing in preparation to start the day.  In how much horror would they respond to the actual daily training regime?  And so the question arises; Are you willing to do what it takes? 

Instead of trying to keep up with the World Champion athletes' current training programmes, perhaps it would be good to start by following their progression, and working up to that level of training.  Those world class athletes started at the beginning and worked their way up to that level, which made it possible for them to operate at the world class level.  They did learn many things along the way, and it would be of benefit to those beginning, to seek their advice.  It is wise to set the foundation first, then with dedication and persistence, pursue the goal. 

Dedication and persistence are really the keys to achieving the goal.  Are we willing to do what it takes to achieve the goal?  It seems, all too often we look for a shortcut.  Some of us are not always willing to put in the work it takes to become a world champion!  I find this is often the case when also applied to the gospel.  Are we willing to put in the work, and do what it takes to become a prophet of God?  Are we willing to do what Jesus said, 'repent from all your sins, keep all the commandments, and pursue the Father with unyeilding dedication and persistence?' 

It is not requisite that we run faster than we have strength, so do not be afraid to progress steadily every day!  It is okay, we do not have to stop progressing.  We are allowed to progress on a daily basis!  Our Heavenly Father will accept this, as we progress in the name of Messiah! 

If we ask, Heavenly Father will give us the information we need. 
If we seek to understand that knowledge, and what Heavenly Father wants us to do with it, He will reveal it to us. 
If we knock, actually apply that knowledge, become it, then Heavenly Father will open to us the result! 
You can know if you have it correct, because it will yeild the correct result. 

The question still remains: 

Are we willing to do what it takes to get the same result that the prophets before us obtained? 

If so, then give up ALL your sins, and keep ALL the commandments, and pursue God with ALL your Heart, Might, Mind, and Strength!! 

May God bless you on your journey! 

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War Is Coming!

War is coming! 

Turn your hearts back to the Lord God, keep His commandments, walk in His ways!  Follow His Son! 

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Building Faith!

"And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.  And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he souw ought.  And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.  After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up:  and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.  And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town." 
~ Mark 8:22-26 

She was an elderly woman, who had lived with neuropathy pain for about 15 years!  Her condition continued to deteriorate, until she had the most difficult time walking, and moving around.  Near the end of it, she spent most of her time in a chair or bed.  Her legs seemed to be constantly swollen to about 3-4 times their normal size!  Her lower legs were mostly a black and purple colour, like they were horribly bruised. 

She had been raised with the knowledge of Christ, with the belief that miracles could happen.  The problem was, that her beliefs were that the healing had to come in the fashion with which she was accustomed or taught in her religion.  This was a stumbling stone for her faith.  Instead of her faith being in Yeshua, the Holy Son of God, it was in the customs and traditions of the religion she was taught.  But, as she listened to the teachings about Christ, her heart began to take courage.  She soon asked for a blessing.  We laid our hands upon her head, and pronounced a blessing upon her.  She felt better, but her legs still hurt. 

As time went on, we taught more and more about the Saviour.  Her faith continued to increase, and once again she asked for a blessing.  This actually occurred several times, with her faith in the Saviour increasing each time.  Then one time, one of us put our hands upon her head, and the other placed hands upon her feet, and, as we spoke the words of the Saviour, the elderly grandmother could feel the power of God flow through her legs.  She began to really believe!  As she felt the power of God within her, she could feel it working in her legs, and she loved it!  It was amazing for her to actually feel the power of her Saviour working within her, healing her legs.  Her faith exploded with joy and hope!  She learned that her Saviour loved her, that he thinks that she is worth it.  Those great and terrible stumbling blocks were vanishing before the brilliance of the Son, before the tremendous love of the Saviour. 

One more blessing, and the pain was all gone.  15 years of neuopathy pain, wiped out by the love of the Saviour! 

Today, this grandmother loves to tell the doctors and everyone she meets that the Lord is real!  That the healing power and love of God is real. 

Sometimes, people need to go slow.  Often, there are stumbling blocks that are in the way.  Sometimes, it takes a few steps for their faith to increase.  It is our job to help them, to encourage them, to 'help their unbelief.'  Do not give up, just because a blessing does not take hold the first time.  Learn the will of the Father about it, humble yourself to His will, and perform the task that He asks of you.  It will work!  May the glory be to the Father, always and forever!! 

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Arise! Take Up Thy Bed And Walk.

'Arise, Take up thy bed and walk!' 

This phrase has often captured my imagination.  I have had a facination with it, as well as a dread of it.  How many times have I been asked to administer to someone, and had the thought to just take them by the hand, and in the name of Jesus Christ, raise them up?  Well, it happened again. 

We had traveled to a new place to teach people, whom a friend had seen in vision.  While there, word arrived that a woman in a wheelchair had asked for healing.  We went to see her, and spoke to her of her faith in Jesus.  She had such beautiful faith!  We asked her, that if Jesus was here, would she believe that He could heal her.  Tears came to her eyes, and she answered in the affirmative.  The thought to take her by the hand, and, in His holy name, raise her up, had already been coming.  But, due to concern about whether it would work, or if she had enough faith, or what would everyone think if it did not work, or really, just a complete lack of faith on my part...  Ugh!  Will this nonsense, of a lack of faith, ever go away???? 

We put our hands upon her head, and blessed her.  Our friend reached out, took the woman by the hand and lifted her up.  SHE STOOD!  Right there, in front of everyone, she stood!  It was beautiful to see.  And very humbling.  The woman expressed how she felt the power shoot down through to her feet as she received the blessing.  She gave thanks to the Lord!  And so did I.  What an amazing blessing! 

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