Copyright © 2000
I give you a priceless gift, the knowledge that the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. The gospel principles, when lived, will bring you back to your Heavenly Father. In the meanwhile, you can have the incredible opportunity, that of help from on high. You, can have a direct link to God through the Holy Ghost. He can give you true direction for your life, that of your family, and for those that your leaders or boss put you over.
In a world of shades of truth, black can be white and the white in some cases can be black. How can you know what it is for you at any instance? It is through exercising your gift of the Holy Ghost. You must study out the matter in your mind, make a decision, then ask God in prayer, if your decision was correct. If it is true, then you will know in your heart and mind that it is so by feeling or peace you get. If it is not then you will have no such feeling, but instead you will have a stupor of thought or a brain fog. Your thinking will not be clear. Ask the Lord to guide you to the correct decision and start the process again.
Once you know that something is true, then you must put it into action. There have been times in my life in which I have done just that. The Lord, in His wisdom, wanted to test my resolve to follow through. For a time everything went wrong, because I followed His direction, but within a month miraculous events took place. Where there had been a dead end street, He created opportunities which had not been previously there or were out of my perspective. He did this because I trusted in Him and followed through. I held my tongue when all seemed doomed and continued to ask for help. I asked to know what to do.
Your time will come also. When you know that what you are doing is right, continue to do it. If it is difficult, keep praying for help, and keep trying. You are not alone in your struggles, but you must struggle to become a strong and capable son or daughter of God. Believe in Him and you will succeed!
If you have strayed from gospel principles, repent. Do not procrastinate. Christ is not procrastinating His arrival, for you. You must be ready, for He will soon come. You must make the cut. Those that will be eliminated will be the liars, thieves, and murders. Most of you will have no problem with the latter item, but I am concerned with the thoughts of your heart on the two preceding items.
If in your heart, you want to steal, even though you choose not to, you are in danger! Even though you only commit it in your heart, you are still a thief and not worthy of your Heavenly Father's kingdom. So that a man thinkth so he is!
If you find that this is the case for you, you must get these thoughts and feelings out of your mind and your heart. There is only one way to do this. This takes place in the steps of repentance.
Sorrow: You need to be truly sorry for your unsavory thoughts and/or actions.
Pray: Go to your Father in Heaven and ask Him to help you repent.
Restitution: If you have lied, stolen something, or have broken the commandments you must make restitution. The Lord will help you to understand what you must do to make restitution to those you have wronged. It may be that all is needed is a broken heart and a contrite spirit. One that is willing to submit to the commandments and commands of the Lord.
Repent: Do everything in your power to never do it again. Pray for the Lord to take away the yearnings to do wrong. The Lord has done this for many people in the past - some of the Book of Mormon and at this present day - me. Afterwards, these people had no desire to do wrong, but to do good continually. I pray that this is how you will be!
As long as you are trying to do your best, to do what you should be, the Lord nor yourself can expect more from you. When the day comes that you are to leave this earthly existence, you will not have to be totally perfected to make it back to Heavenly Father, only striving for perfection. When you do this, this allows Jesus to make up the difference, by His gift of forgiveness through the atonement. Perfection is something that even God is daily striving for throughout eternity. There will always be something that you can perfect in yourself.
For those of you that find it hard to tell the truth beware. The Lord will not allow such people to be around Him during the Millennium nor in His kingdom. Truth can sometimes be a hard thing to say, but it must be done.
Truth that is said to punish or hurt another is uncalled for. To know the difference ask the Lord for help. There has been many times that I knew that I must say something to someone, but knew that it was hurtful. I practiced different ways to say it in my mind, but nothing seemed right. I choose not to say any of those things at that time. Instead, I asked the Lord to help me to find a way of saying it that the person would hear what I was saying and it would help the person to better for hearing it. It was only when I laid the matter into the Lord's hands that the perfect, loving way was given me and the perfect time in which to say it. It was perfectly wonderful to behold.
There was an instance that I had offended a sister, unknowingly. When I found out how this sister felt, I went with a prayer in my heart to ask her forgiveness and tried to explain what was in my heart. I expressed my love for that sister. She rebuked me and said she wanted nothing to do with me. I left the church an hour later, with a heavy heart and prayed to the Lord that she would understand that I loved her and didn't want to hurt her.
I was just about out to my car when she ran out after me. She had tears in her eyes and told me that she had had a black heart towards what I had said because the things I had said had taken on a much deeper significance for her. It was an item that she knew she needed to work on and didn't want to do so at that time. She stated that she knew that I loved her and that she love me too. She asked me to forgive her. We held each other and cried. The Lord was surely with us and had blessed our relationship.
I am not saying that the Lord will soften other's hearts for your benefit, or that He will bring about such a might change in such a short amount of time. I am saying that if you do not do all that is your power to make things right, you will be held accountable. Pray for wisdom! If in the end, there seems nothing more you can do with the situation, turn it over to the Lord so you can be finished with it emotionally. If you allow hatred for another to fester in your heart you will reap poor health and be significantly diminished in your ability to communicate with your God. You cannot afford this!
Be true to your God. Be true to the teaching of the gospel. Above all, be true to yourself and your true nature as sons and daughters of God, then act accordingly.
I leave you my love and this testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ.....Amen
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