Thursday, December 29, 2016

LEARNING BY FAITH OR BY STUDY? (1198 Words - Medium)

Since we've been studying the Lectures on Faith as a family, I thought I would take a minute and recap some of the ideas and concepts we've learned and discussed.

As All Have Not Faith

D&C 88:118
“And as all have NOT FAITH, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” (emphasis mine)



This verse from the D&C appears to have the Lord emphasizing the secondary option for those of us who “…have NOT faith.” The point I think the Lord is trying to make is that WHEN WE DO NOT HAVE FAITH we turn to "words of wisdom" and from the "best books".

He is clearly telling us there are 2 different paths you can take to engage in learning -
     1) The higher path - Learning by FAITH, or 
     2) The lower path - learning from one another and the best books, words of wisdom.

Joseph Smith said, “Could you gaze into heaven five minutes, you would know more than you would by reading all that ever was written on the subject” (TPJS, p. 324; cf. HC 6:50, emphasis mine). 
He also said, “the best way to obtain truth and wisdom is not to ask it from books, but to go to God in prayer, and obtain divine teaching” (TPJS, p. 191, emphasis mine).

Question:  So which method would you consider more effective?
      1. Reading books.
      2. Gazing into heaven for five minutes to receive divine teaching.



When it's put into terms like that, it’s pretty clear to me which option would be a much more effective learning as well as produce more joy;  and… in a significantly less amount of time (5 minutes?).

Because of my own lack of FAITH, I have spent over 90% of my life learning by books. From an earthly point of view and measuring stick my “educational degrees” might have some status. But in terms of the heavens, they don't mean crap.  We need to view ourselves in our real situation as did Mormon when he exclaimed, “O how great is the NOTHINGNESS of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth” (Helaman 12:7).

HOW DO YOU VIEW YOURSELF

We must choose how we will view ourselves. If we choose to see through the eyes of the world then Hollywood, science, universities, magazines, fashion gurus, etc. will decide how you measure up. The standard for the world is constantly changing. However, if you are to measure your standing before God, whose standard is the same yesterday, today and forever, we must begin with an examination of faith and what it means to learn by FAITH.

WHAT FAITH IS - AND WHAT IT IS NOT

First let me clarify what I understand FAITH means. Then I will explain my understanding of the process to learning by FAITH. Then it will be up to you to judge with your heart if you agree or not.

The common definition on faith is found in Alma:


Alma 32:21
“And now as I said concerning faith - faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.”

This verse is NOT a definition of FAITH. It tells us WHAT FAITH IS NOT. FAITH is NOT to have a perfect knowledge of things. And… it provides us an INDICATOR of someone who has FAITH. If someone has faith, they will “...hope for things which are not seen, which are true.” This is NOT a definition, it is only an indicator.

Our traditions and repetition has etched in our minds that the above scripture is the definition of FAITH. I am going to share with you my definition of FAITH and then briefly explain why. It will be your responsibility to ask God if it is true. My simple definition of WHAT FAITH IS:

Faith is KNOWING the Mind and Will of the Most High God, then acting on that.

If eternal life is defined by John the Beloved as “…to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ…,” then the more we get to know them, the closer we get to eternal life. So if the final objective is to KNOW God and Jesus, then the beginning of the journey would be to understand His Mind and Will.

At first there will not be a "perfect knowledge", just as Alma 32 says. But eventually ALL things can be revealed. Alma 12:10 says, “…until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.”

If you are not convinced, then best wishes on your search for FAITH. "All truth is circumscribed into one great whole." That great whole is God. God is where all truth comes from. If you have FAITH you will hope for things which are not seen, which are true.

If you agree with me, I’ll ask …what is the definition of Zion? Isn’t it to be ONE heart and ONE mind? Whose heart and whose mind? God’s heart and Gods mind. Christ is one heart and mind with God.  Christ desired that we too will be one with him. Christ prayed to God for us saying, “…I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one” (3 Nephi 19:23).

CONCLUSION

How do we become one with God? It is through learning by faith. The process I have extracted to "learning" by FAITH is as follows (Note: I think this is pretty significant - pay attention carefully please...):

1. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ - Learning the mind and will of Christ and the Father concerning Christ. The Holy Ghost is there to confirm the truth of the mind and will of God. This is the mental effort part - meaning, practice "picturing" (whatever situation) in your mind and ask to conform that "picture" you have to God's mind and will

2. Exercise FAITH - this is the application of Gods mind and will in your life circumstances. We stumble and fall and go back to the drawing board to correct, until we get it right.

3. Successful experience - Success is the only thing that has the power to motivate. Inspiration is short lived, but success is what people build their lives around.

4. Conversion - multiple successes in this process guarantees that you will never leave. Those who feast upon the "bread of life" and drink from the "waters of life" will never hunger nor thirst. When the rains fall and the floods rise, their house will be built upon a rock, a sure foundation.

This is "learning" by FAITH. Here is a brief summary of the process to learning by FAITH:

1. FAITH (Mind and Will of God - testimony)

2. Exercise (Practice by Implementation)

3. Success (Understanding through victories - line upon line)

4. Becoming (Conversion)

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

FAITH, MIRACLES, and TIMING

If you have true FAITH does the MIRACLE need to happen immediately in order to prove you have true faith?  Most of us would say, “No”  and you would be right.  But why?  The question needs to be asked and an answer should be thoughtfully given.

What does TIMING have to do with FAITH and MIRACLES?



The scriptures are full of stories showing FAITH and MIRACLES happening. Many of which seem to happen immediately.  But there are also stories, many of which are glossed over, which seem to show that the miracles do happen, but not immediately. 

We live in an age of instant gratification, of immediate, on-demand availability.  For my children who are of the Millennial generation, they have been taught differently than their peers, but the challenge is still real for them.  It creates impatience.  If we sit in the fast-food lane for more than five minutes, we begin to feel anxious and frustrated that the food is taking too long.  Why? 

As a people generally, we are even worse with God, we have no desire to “wait upon the Lord” – we want our request answered and we want it now!  That is NOT FAITH.

In Matthew 17:14-21 and Mark 9:17-29 there are two written accounts of the man who brings his son to Jesus who is possessed by a devil which Jesus’ disciples could not cast out.  After casting out the devil and curing the child, the Savior, in explaining the reason why they could not cast it out, shares some interesting insights:

“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your UNBELIEF: for verily I say unto you, If ye have FAITH as a grain of a mustard seed , ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.  Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by FASTING and PRAYER.”  (Matt. 17:20-21)

He said that it was because of UNBELIEF – which is a combination of lack of real FAITH and possibly mixed with false traditions which affected their ability to have FAITH sufficient to deal with the problem. He also gave them the solution – some problems won’t go away without FASTING and PRAYER.

However, what was astonishing to me in reading the accounts was that the account also says that after Jesus rebuked the devil and caused it to come out “the child was cured from that very hour.” (Matt 17:18)  Wait. What?  He wasn’t cured instantly?  Apparently.

Does that bother you?  Shouldn’t God speak and people be healed instantly?  I mean that certainly happened elsewhere, like when Jesus healed the man’s hand on the Sabbath to the anger of the Pharisee’s who then plotted how they could kill him.  Or the one about the woman who touched Jesus’ garment and was healed instantly.

Why wasn’t this boy healed “immediately”?

What? Did Jesus himself not have FAITH?  The idea is ludicrous.  He had all the FAITH in the world (if not more)!!!  So what was the problem?  It turns out, there is no problem, except in our own thinking about how God needs to respond to our FAITH.

Once we understand this, we can stay in FAITH like Abraham, 

“who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations” and “being not weak in FAITHdoubted not at the promise of God by unbelief; but was STRONG IN FAITH [and here’s a KEY…] giving glory to God…being fully persuaded that what [God] had promised, he was able to also perform.” (Romans 4:18-21)


It was 20 years from the time Abraham received the promise from God’s mouth before God fulfilled the promise of Isaac through Sarah.  20 years!  And we want everything immediately…or we throw a tantrum…or we say, “See God doesn’t answer prayers, or give me what I want.”

Back to the story…the boy was not healed immediately, but within the hour.  Can you have a little patience to “wait upon the Lord” for your miracle?

I have learned that God knows everything we need even before we ask (Matt. 6:8) but He also knows the perfect time to give the response or the miracle or the rescuing so as to build the most FAITH possible within us in Him (who is the “object of our FAITH”).  

Sometimes He saves us before being thrown in the fire [read: BEFORE].  Sometimes He saves us in the fire (Daniel 3) [read: DURING].  And sometimes He lets us go through the fire before saving/delivering us (Alma 14:8-11) [read: AFTER]. 

When the Elohim (the Gods) were creating the earth, we read something very interesting.  In five places, in Abraham 4 it says that the Gods ordered [read: commanded] something to happen – like separating the light from darkness, creating the earth, bringing forth life from seeds, etc.  But then it says something very interesting in verses 10, 12, 18, 21, and 25.  It says, “the Gods saw that they were obeyed.”  But an interesting tidbit, in verse 18 it says:
 “And the Gods watched those things which they had ordered UNTIL THEY OBEYED.”

And verse 21 says, “And the Gods saw that they WOULD BE OBEYED…”

Wait. What?!  Doesn’t EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE HAVE TO OBEY God…immediately?  Apparently God respects agency so much, He even allows the elements to choose whether they will obey Him and He gives them time to decide to obey Him. There is NO force, NO coercion from God…ever.

Why? Because it is in His heart to be good, to do good, and to bless His creations.  We just need to get past the lie that He needs to do things on our timeframe.  The matter in question is NOT whether God has FAITH, but do you?  You are in question.

Seek the Blessor in FAITH, not just the blessing…


and the MIRACLE will surely follow at the TIME He sees fit to have it happen.

Monday, December 12, 2016

The Hidden Message In the Names of the Patriarchs

The Hidden Meaning and Message from the Names of Patriarchs

There is a hidden message I believe that we can glean from the names of the Patriarchs from the time of Adam to Noah.

Adam = Man
Seth = Appointed
Enos = Mortal
Cainan = Sorrow
Mahalaleel = The Blessed God
Jared = Shall descend (come down)
Enoch = Dedicated, Consecrated, Teacher
Methuselah = When he is dead, his death shall bring, man with a mission, man with a javelin
Lamech = Despairing, Brought low, Humiliated
Noah = Rest, Comfort

A possible interpretation:

Man (has been) Appointed Mortal Sorrow; (but) The Blessed God Shall Descend Dedicating/Teaching (that) When He is dead, His death shall bring (the) Despairing Rest (or) Comfort



Saturday, July 23, 2016

BEING FOLLOWERS OF THE WAY

Anciently, in the 1st century AD those who followed Jesus Christ were known as "Followers of The Way". It wasn't until about the 2nd Century AD that the world began to call them "Christians". There is a very strong Egyptian theme here as Osiris/Horus was known as the "Opener of the Way" so Yeshua (Jesus) was also known as "the Opener of the Way".

When He tells His disciples in John 14:6

I am the Way ("Hodos" in Greek),
the Truth ("Alethia" in Greek),
and the Life ("Zoe" in Greek)

There is so much more meaning to this cryptic phrase. By understanding what each of these Greek words mean it sheds a little more light on His role in your life:

HODOS
The words "the Way" meant something more than we casually throw it around today. Hodos (the Way) means to have entered into an fellowship or intimate relationship with Him. It meant that you have a true connection with the heavens and are on the path of eternal life through the seven heavens (even though you are stopping through temporarily on this Telestial world). Not anyone who just wanted to "be good" so they could get to heaven was admitted into "the Way". There was a specific standard of action and receiving of certain heavenly ordained ordinances (as well as exercising faith sufficient to overcome the world) before heaven acknowledged you were in "the Way".

Nephi is very clear in 2 Nephi 31 and 32 when he talks about entering the Gate (repentance and baptism by water), the Path (baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost), then are you in the Way (the Path which leads to Eternal Life). Some of us have recently re-entered the Gate, but still have not entered the Path, let alone the Way. You need to pray and find out if you've entered in the Path (received your baptism by fire).

ALETHIA
While the word "Alethia" can be translated "truth" a more appropriate translation is "Discloser" or "Restorer". One of Christ's role is to restore your memory (or truth) of who you are to Him. Part of which includes being given your eternal name (which appears as a New Name to you). In essence, when He says He is the Discloser/Restorer He actually means it.

ZOE
The word "Zoe" isn't just a cute girls name. It also doesn't just mean "life". It has such a deep meaning - yes, it means "life" but there is a difference between CREATED life and CREATIVE life. What Christ is saying is that He has the eternal spark, the ability to CREATE LIFE, even Life Eternal (or Zoe Aeonion - "creative life through the aeons"). He is the only one capable of progressing us through the aeons (sometimes spelled "eons") to where we can become Zoe ourselves.

Sometimes when people ask me, "Well what do we call ourselves now that we're in limbo with our LDS membership, but we definitely believe in the truths restored through Joseph Smith?"  Before, I didn't have a good answer... Now I think my answer going forward is going to be: I am a Follower of the Way.