Responsibility

Today's scripture mastery tells us of the responsibility that comes with the knowledge of the gospel.  It is found in Doctrine and Covenants 82:3:

 3 For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation.

Along with the marvelous blessings of the gospel comes a great responsibility.  The responsibility is to keep those commandments--and to share the gospel with those around us.  We are to teach our families the gospel, and help them to live it (not by force, but out of love and persuasion).  An example of that responsibility can be found in Doctrine and Covenants 68:25, which says:

 25 And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents.

It would be easy to say to ourselves that "I don't want that greater responsibility--so I will avoid learning about the gospel"  There is danger in that as well.  See what the Lord says about those who are slothful (Doctrine and Covenants 58:29)

 29 But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned.

It is much better to seek out the blessings of God, and live the commandments (and accept the additional responsibility) than it is to be lazy in the gospel, and avoid learning new things, and sharing the good news of the gospel with others.  The Lord tells us to "Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Doctrine and Covenants 4:7)

The reality of Christ

There are many who don't believe in Christ--or many who just believe that he was a great teacher, but was not divine.  However, in our church, we have the knowledge that Christ is what he said he is--the Son of God.  We know that he did what the scriptures say he did.  He is our Redeemer, he is our King.  We know that he died to pay for our sins on the cross, and that he was physically resurrected 3 days later.  He lives now--he knows us, and loves us, and wants us to be happy.

Today's scripture mastery, found in Doctrine and Covenants 76:22-24 is the powerful testimony of Joseph Smith, and Sidney Rigdon regarding the reality of Christ:

 22 And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

 23 For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—

 24 That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.

There are many witnesses of Christ who live on the earth now.  We do not need to rely only on the written word recorded thousands of years ago by ancient prophets about Christ (though their testimony is still valid)  These witnesses today of Christ are also known prophets and apostles.  One of their primary roles is to witness to the world of the reality and existence of the Savior.  These men are just that--men.  They come from all walks of life, and while they are not perfect, they do witness of the one person who ever lived that was/is perfect, Jesus of Nazareth.  There are biographies of each of these 15 men who travel around the world testifying of Christ.  You can read biographies of them, and read about some of the work they do at this url: http://www.lds.org/study/prophets-speak-today/what-are-prophets?lang=eng. These apostles and prophets have written a letter to the entire world, entitled "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles"  Read that letter, and you will have no doubt that they really do testify of the reality of Christ.

The promise of tithing

Sometimes, members of our church jokingly call tithing "fire insurance."  The reason they do is today's scripture mastery, Doctrine and Covenants 64:23:

 23 Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of Man, and verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for the tithing of my people; for he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming.

How is tithing like fire insurance?  Well, we have the promise of Christ that if we pay our tithing, we will not be burned at Christ's second coming.  I believe that one of the reasons for that is that it takes faith (sometimes a LOT of faith) to pay tithing.  Faith (along with repentance) is one of the requirements that we must have in order to return to God's presence after we finish our life here on earth.

We do not need to suffer though here and now if we pay our tithing however.  I have mentioned in a previous post that we are blessed more than we have room to receive the blessings (Malachi 3:10-11) if we faithfully pay our tithing.  I know that is true, as I have often been the recipient of those blessings recieved from paying tithing in my life.  I know that God always keeps his promises.  Take that leap of faith, and pay your tithing--you will be glad you did!

Forgiveness

Today's scripture mastery is, to me, one of the most powerful scriptures I know of.  It is very profound, and not always easy to follow--but essential for us to do anyways. . .

Today's scripture mastery is found in Doctrine and Covenants 64:9-11

 9 Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.

 10 I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.

 11 And ye ought to say in your hearts—let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds.

Because we are not perfect, and we ALL make mistakes, it is vital that we forgive others.  That is not always an easy thing to do--in fact, we learn from the world that we should do the exact opposite of what the Lord wants us to do.  We learn that whatever offense we have received, we must seek revenge, and make the one who offended and hurt us pay.  That is a false doctrine that only brings more pain and misery in this world. . .Don't succumb to those false teachings.

It is much better to follow the example of Christ.  He taught about this very subject in Matthew 5:38-48:

 38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

 40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.

 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

 42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

 43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

One of the teachings of the gospel that makes this much easier to do is to remember that this life is not all there is. . .Sometimes those that hurt or offend us will seem to not have any consequences in this life.  However, they will be judged by Christ, and all will be made right.  (We will all be judged by Christ--we must all remember that)   If we fail to forgive others, we will be judged harshly as well. 

Besides all that, if we forgive others, we will have a huge burden lifted from us, and life will be much easier to bear.  The burden of holding a grudge is one of those burdens that Christ asks us to cast on him.  He does make our burdens much lighter when we cast our burdens on Him.

Forgive, and be happy here in this life, as well as in the life to come!

Keeping the sabbath day holy

Doctrine and Covenants 59:9-10 is today's scripture mastery:

 9 And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;

 10 For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High;

God has not rescinded the commandment to keep the sabbath day holy.  The original command given to Moses and recorded in Exodus 20:8-11 still stands:

 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

That is why we as a church do attend meetings to worship God, and to learn of Christ on Sundays.  Attending worship services are an excellent way to keep the sabbath day holy.  It is a great place to do as Moroni recorded in the Book of Mormon (Moroni 6:4-6):

4 And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.

 5 And the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls.

 6 And they did meet together oft to partake of bread and wine, in remembrance of the Lord Jesus.

Come and worship with us on any Sunday at a meeting house near you.  Come and worship Christ with us and enjoy the sabbath day.

Repent and be forgiven

In the scriptures, one of the most common themes is that of repentance.  Today's scripture mastery comes from one of the many verses that talk about repentance: Doctrine and Covenants 58:42-43

 42 Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.

 43 By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them.

The key to repentance is much more than just saying "I am sorry"...(though that is definitely a part of repentance.)  With true repentance, we confess our wrongdoing--and then we forsake the sin.  That means that we do not continue to do that sin.

True repentance comes from within.  It comes from a true desire to change our lives for the better.  Often, when caught doing something wrong, we try to "fake it." meaning that we pretend to be sorry for whatever we have done that has hurt or offended someone else, but as soon as nobody is watching, we go right back to whatever we apologized for.  Now, I know that true repentance can be triggered by getting caught--if we truly are sorry for our actions, and really do repent.  If we make a heartfelt apology, and a true restitution to those we have harmed.  The difficult thing for most of us is that last step--not returning to the sin. 

Today's scripture fits in very well with yesterday's scripture mastery.  See my comments on the post titled "Acting on our own."  It is often much easier to repent, if we recognize that we have sinned, without getting caught, or without somebody telling us to repent first.  If we do a self-analysis, and realize that we need to repent, and begin making the changes on our own first, God will often give us much more help in the repentance process--because he can see that our heart is truly in the right place.

Take a good look inside yourself, and choose one of those sins that you haven't wanted to let go--and begin the repentance process.  You will be glad you did!

Acting on our own

We learn from today's scripture mastery that God wants us to do much on our own, and of our own choice.  Doctrine and Covenants 58:26-27 is today's scripture mastery:

 26 For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.

 27 Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

Joseph in the Old Testament is an excellent example of someone who lived the way that makes God happy.  He went through a lot: being sold in to slavery by his brothers, being wrongfully accused of attempted adultery, being forgotten in prison for many years, and finally ending up as the second most powerful man in all of Egypt.  How did this happen?  Well, Joseph was of course faithful to the Lord in all his trials--but even more than that, he didn't sit around and wait for his current master to command him to do something.  He just did what he knew to be right and good. 

Because of Joseph's abilities, he rose from a humble servant to the overseer of Potiphar's house.  He could have done the bare minimum as a slave in Potiphar's house, but he would not have been given so much trust and responsibility (Genesis 39)
He was put in charge of all his fellow prisoners by the keeper of the prison--again, because he showed that he could be trusted.  He could have sat in self pity in his prison cell, and not done anything except eat and sleep.  Had he done that, he probably would have died in prison. . . (Genesis 39)
Because of his trustworthiness, he was able to interpret the dream of the Pharaoh, and gain his trust.  That is amazing that the Pharaoh would elevate a common prisoner from a foreign land to the second most powerful man in the entire kingdom(Genesis 41).  It happened because Joseph was not a slothful nor did he wait for the Lord to come save him from bondage--he made the best of every situation he was in.

Just as Joseph was able to "bring to pass much righteousness" (saving the entire kingdom from famine, as well as many others, including his own family), we too can bring to pass much righteousness if we always seek to do the right, without waiting for somebody to tell us what to do.

There is a saying that "The Lord helps those who help themselves."  That is, I believe, a true statement. (i.e. it means that God blesses those who actively do His will, and don't wait to be commanded in all things) If we actively do things that are righteous (i.e. we keep His commandments), and we seek to improve ourselves and others' then we will be blessed by God.  He opens doors for us that would otherwise remain closed.  He gives us insight that is hidden from others.  He blesses the lives of millions of people through our actions.  This quality to act without being commanded is called initiative.  Let us take initiative and do good works as we have seen Christ do.  Let us bless the lives of those around us, of our own free will and choice!

The Song of the Heart and Self Mastery

Doctrine and Covenants 25:12 teaches us about the importance of good music:

12 For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.

This verse comes from a revelation to Emma Smith, the wife to the prophet Joseph Smith.  She was asked to compile the first hymn book for the use of the church.  We learn that the Lord enjoys a good song, and counts it as a prayer to him.

Good music is very powerful.  It can go beyond just brightening our day.  It can be a protection to us.  There is a classic talk given by President Boyd K Packer of the quorum of the 12 apostles.  In it he teaches us the power of music.  This is an excerpt from his talk titled "Inspiring Music--Worthy Thoughts":

I had been told a hundred times or more as I grew up that thoughts must be controlled. But no one told me how.

I want to tell you young people about one way you can learn to control your thoughts, and it has to do with music.

The mind is like a stage. Except when we are asleep the curtain is always up. There is always some act being performed on that stage. It may be a comedy, a tragedy, interesting or dull, good or bad; but always there is some act playing on the stage of the mind.

Have you noticed that without any real intent on your part, in the middle of almost any performance, a shady little thought may creep in from the wings and attract your attention? These delinquent thoughts will try to upstage everybody.

If you permit them to go on, all thoughts of any virtue will leave the stage. You will be left, because you consented to it, to the influence of unrighteous thoughts.

If you yield to them, they will enact for you on the stage of your mind anything to the limits of your toleration. They may enact a theme of bitterness, jealousy, or hatred. It may be vulgar, immoral, even depraved.

When they have the stage, if you let them, they will devise the most clever persuasions to hold your attention. They can make it interesting all right, even convince you that it is innocent—for they are but thoughts.

What do you do at a time like that, when the stage of your mind is commandeered by the imps of unclean thinking?—whether they be the gray ones that seem almost clean or the filthy ones which leave no room for doubt.

If you can control your thoughts, you can overcome habits, even degrading personal habits. If you can learn to master them you will have a happy life.

This is what I would teach you. Choose from among the sacred music of the Church a favorite hymn, one with words that are uplifting and music that is reverent, one that makes you feel something akin to inspiration. Remember President Lee’s counsel; perhaps “I Am A Child of God” would do. Go over it in your mind carefully. Memorize it. Even though you have had no musical training, you can think through a hymn.

Now, use this hymn as the place for your thoughts to go. Make it your emergency channel. Whenever you find these shady actors have slipped from the sidelines of your thinking onto the stage of your mind, put on this record, as it were.

As the music begins and as the words form in your thoughts, the unworthy ones will slip shamefully away. It will change the whole mood on the stage of your mind. Because it is uplifting and clean, the baser thoughts will disappear. For while virtue, by choice, will not associate with filth, evil cannot tolerate the presence of light.

In due time you will find yourself, on occasion, humming the music inwardly. As you retrace your thoughts, you discover some influence from the world about you encouraged an unworthy thought to move on stage in your mind, and the music almost automatically began.

“Music,” said Gladstone, “is one of the most forceful instruments for governing the mind and spirit of man.”

There are many excellent Hymns that can be used to inspire, uplift, and even protect us.  See http://www.lds.org/churchmusic/  for some excellent examples.  Choose your favorite one, and use it as President Packer suggested.  Think it/sing it in your mind when those thoughts come in to your mind that should not be there, and they will go away.