DESIRING CHRIST (1318 Words - Med)

And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it...  1 Nephi 19:9


Note: Messages like the one in this blog is NOT for those of you who love God more than the things of this world.  It's for those of us who choose the material over the spiritual, the body over the spirit.

We Have Abandoned God:  We need to recognize this.  So many of us want the fruits of spirituality and closeness to God but are unwilling to pay the price or do the work necessary to cultivate a relationship.  As a culture, we are (or have become) so focused on the here and now and the immediacy of paying bills, seeking to get-rich-quick, being people pleasers, compromising our standards, spending hours a day on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pintrest (yeah...you know, even when you're on the toilet...oops! I said it! oh no!) that we have our eyes and hearts diverted from the REAL SOURCE OF JOY AND HAPPINESS.  We think that by going to Church or Mass on Sunday, spending 5 or 10 minutes reading our scriptures, saying a 30 second prayer before we hit the pillow is sufficient to know the God of the Universe.

The missing element here is TIME.  TIME is the commodity of ALL relationships - even one with God.  If we won't MAKE TIME then how can we expect to have a closeness?  This is a true principle with people here on this material world, but even more so with God.  But because you haven't seen Him you think He's not there.  Read the above scripture again.  He knew we would consider Him "a thing of naught (nothing or not important)".  (1 Nephi 19:9)

Does that mean we are DAMNED?  Yep, but it's not by Him.   We damn ourselves by allowing our hearts and minds to focus on the things of this world rather than the heavens (or "unseen" worlds).  We have become materialistic, full of vanity, desirous of popularity, riches and power so much that we have become as base as the animals which only fulfill their base instincts.  He is continually reaching out and pleading for us to actually pay attention to Him.

Desire God:  How do we start to rise above such baseness and depravity?  It starts with desire. DESIRE GOD.  Seek to cultivate the feelings of desire and love for that Holy Being, the Source of your very existence and breath.

Once you have even the inkling of desire and love for God, you can begin to replace the darkness in your life with light.  How do you do that?  You REPENT.

Repentance Does NOT Mean What We Think:  Most of us have this idea that in order to repent we just have to say "Sorry" over and over again.  Some of us mistakenly think it means that we punish and beat ourselves up for the sins and transgressions we have committed.  We have gotten this idea stuck in our heads from institutions which have tried to put us under their control - that if we'll go and see this Bishop or that priest and pay them some money that they can then absolve us from our sins.

Such is false doctrine.  It is helpful to understand the word "repent" from the original Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament).  In Hebrew the word is "Teshuvah", "tshuvah" or תשובה‎‎ - it literally means "return" - return to what?  It implies that you have left God and He is calling you to come home. To return and face Him.  Is that embarrassing?  Sure.  But He is not there standing to condemn you for your stupidity and unrighteousness.  He is standing there waiting to receive you as a father or mother to a son or daughter who has been away and wants to come home.

To get a little more color on the word "repent" let's look at the word in Greek, which is what the oldest extant text in both the OT and NT was written in.  The word is "metanoia" μετάνοια and literally means "change of mind".  To the Greeks the "mind" was the "inner man".  So it means to change the inner man - to stop desiring the things of this world and begin to desire God with your inner man.

This is the true doctrine of repentance.  Turn and face God.  Change your inner man.  Give Him the best (and worst) of you.  Don't try to control your sin life.  Destroy it.  You do that not by fighting fire with fire.  You get rid of darkness by replacing it with light.  Seek to study and learn His word.  His word (Christ) is the thing that can transform and change you.  


Make Time:  Time is the commodity of every good relationship.  I know there is the thought in each one of us - I don't have time.  Maybe it means changing some of your habits.  For instance, me and my wife realized that Facebook ("FB")  was becoming a huge distraction.  We realized that when we decided to try and FB "fast" - meaning we were going to go without FB for a month.  Within the first few days we realized we were addicts.  It was so hard not turning it on.  I mean even when you're sitting on the toilet it can give your mind something to think about, right?

My point is that if you want a healthy relationship - with a spouse, a child, a loved one - you can't think "Oh, I'll do 'quality' versus 'quantity'."  The QUANTITY IS THE QUALITY when it comes to people.  Those who have tried to take the quality versus quantity approach find their relationships in the end to be shallow and hollow shells of the substantive thing they really want - to be close to that person.

Just like you did when started dating your spouse, you made TONS of time, MAKE TIME for God.  Those with the healthiest marriages still make TONS of time available for their spouse...without resentment.  Show Him that He means something by the amount of time your willing to give Him.

And yes, I'm letting you know that 15 minutes a day does not cut it.  You will find yourself not being invited to the wedding feast.  Or like those who said, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you evildoers." (Matt. 7:22-23, NIV)

He calls those who use His name for good, but don't KNOW Him "evildoers" or "workers of evil".  Why?  Because that it what it means to use His name "in vain".  It does not mean to say "goddamit".  It means that those who profess to know Him, but truly don't, are using His name in vain.  Some of the worst people in the world are the religious ones.  They pretend to follow Him by doing all of these outward acts of piety but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Conclusion:  In order to exercise true faith in God unto life and salvation, you have to have a "correct idea of His character, perfections, and attributes" (Lectures on Faith 3:4) then you have to have "An actual knowledge that the course of life which [you are] pursuing, is according to his will. (LoF 3:5)

It all starts with desiring Him.  Throughout the day, cry unto Him. Ask Him to come to you.  Ask Him to let you go to Him.  Pray for the desire to love Him above anyone and anything else.

Get to know Him. Spend the time. Pay the price. Do the work.  The the Love of the Universe will come and comfort you.