Believe in God

"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." (Mosiah 4:9)

Where does our trust lie?  In whom do we believe?  How can we show more fully our willingness to obey God?  Why does it always seem so hard?

When we are first asked to accomplish a seemingly hard task, our natural instinct is to run away.  To duck our heads so we won't face the brutal opposition.  Jonah was afraid enough that he boarded a ship in a desperate attempt to flee from the presence of the Lord.  Many times we try to flee from the Lord as well.  We may wake up late and convince ourselves that it is too late to go out now, that we'll be able to get to it next time.  Or we may receive an invitation to go somewhere else when we know that the Lord would have us do his work.  Whatever the case may be, it is up to us to muster up the Faith to do hard things.

"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things." (2 Nephi 2:11)  Without opposition we would not survive.  If the gravitational force of the Earth was not here, then we would all just float out into the deep dark vacuum of space.  But thankfully, we have gravity to keep us all here with those we love.  Thus, opposition is an important principle.  If so, then overcoming opposition is even more important!  Let us build our Faith in God that he has all power and that "the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."  (1 Nephi 3:7) 

He knows each of us personally.  He knows our weaknesses, and He knows how we can overcome them.  "He will take upon him their infirmities, . . . That he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." (Alma 7:12)  "Come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation." (Omni 1:26)

What is a "RESTORATION"?

 Restoration, a word used quite a bit among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that has the potential to confuse a lot of people.  Some hear the word and may think of old antique furniture, or an old colonial home, or if you're a gear head like me, you may think about a car.  All of these are good comparisons to the idea of The Restoration.  Since I have no idea how to restore furniture, and even less of an idea about colonial houses,  we'll roll with the idea of the car, how about a 1953 Diamond T?

In order for a Restoration to happen, you first have to have an original object.  This is an example of what my truck would have looked like back in the day of 1953.  We will compare this to the original church that Jesus Christ set up when he was on the Earth.  "He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;"  (Ephesians 4:11)  He set up an organization that would help bring everyone in unity, an organization "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets:"  (Ephesians 2:20)

But as we all know, over time things tend to get roughed up a lot.  Dents and dings form in the body, and if they are not taken care of then rust can come along and start to make a big mess of things.  Equipment breaks, and pieces go missing.  Sadly, the same happened to the Church of Jesus Christ.  "I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record.  And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world.  And after he was slain I saw the multitudes of the earth, that they were gathered together to fight against the apostles of the Lamb."  (1 Nephi 11:32-34)  The church was in disarray.  The apostles were killed off, and soon there was no priesthood authority on the earth to guide and lead the church by revelation.  Soon, when once there was one church, there were many churches teaching different doctrines.

The time and setting eventually came along and our loving Heavenly Father was able to reach out in love to his children.  In the early 1800's God the Father and his son Jesus Christ came to a boy named Joseph Smith in answer to his earnest prayer.  They called Joseph to be a prophet, and through him they would restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Soon you see that old clunker out in the driveway as more than a paperweight, but you see a potential for something amazing! 

Of course you can't just wake up one morning and know exactly how to restore a vehicle, let alone the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Three years after the visitation of God the Father and Jesus Christ, Joseph was visited by a heavenly being by the name of Moroni.  He was directed by Moroni to a hill where a record of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas was deposited.  Joseph received instruction from Moroni for four years before he could take the record and translate it into The Book of Mormon.  Other key events that made it possible for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be restored were;  restoration of the priesthood (both Aaronic and Melchizedek), the coming forth of The Book of Mormon, and the final organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 6, 1830.

Piece by piece the restoration happens.  The final product is the same as the original, but now it is alive and working!  The Gospel works.  I know the the original church that Christ established when he was here in the flesh is back on the earth.  If you have any questions or for more information visit http://www.mormon.org/.

 

Christ Set the Terms

Jesus Christ.  When we think of him what runs through our minds?  Words that run through my mind are advocate (1 John 2:1), savior (1 Nephi 13:40), mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), and redeemer (Alma 5:15).  Wow, what a list!  This is not all, the list of the attributes and importance of Jesus Christ is endless.

We are commanded to have these perfect attributes, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5:48)  How is this possible?  How can we go back to Father?  Thomas had this same question.  Lets see what his answer was.  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)  So by the perfect life that Christ led, his suffering in the Garden and on the Cross, and then by his resurrection (all of this constitutes the Atonement) then we can be made clean!

So what's the catch?  Well, because Christ has now become our mediator with the Father, he sets the terms of the Deal.  Christ asks each of us to believe in him, or have faith (John 10:36-38), to give up our sins and to follow him, or repent (Alma 39:9), to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, (3 Nephi 11:33-35; 19:9-13), and finally to endure to the end, (Matt. 10:22).  These are the terms that we must fill.  The concept of a mediator is explained very well by the video this link goes to.

http://lds.org/media-library/video/book-of-mormon-presentations?lang=eng&query=video+mediator#2010-06-05-the-mediator


This is the doctrine of Christ.  He is our Savior, and I know that we can have eternal happiness with our Father in Heaven and our families if we live what Christ has taught us!!