*emailed to Michael's sister from Australia to post online*
What Gods Do
Moses 1:39 “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”
What is God’s work and his glory?
His work is focused on allowing man to live forever with him. He wants to bring us from our low and fallen state to His high estate.
Now, after Jesus was crucified he dwelt among His sheep in Jerusalem. Then he left them to go and teach His sheep in the Americas (John 10:16). There is an account during that time that has always made me wonder. Jesus teaches the Nephites the manner they should pray and then commands them to pray. The people do so and are filled with the Holy Ghost. Then Jesus does the following in 3 Nephi 19: 19-21.
19 And it came to pass that Jesus departed out of the midst of them, and went a little way off from them and bowed himself to the earth, and he said:
20 Father, I thank thee that thou hast given the Holy Ghost unto these whom I have chosen; and it is because of their belief in me that I have chosen them out of the world.
21 Father, I pray thee that thou wilt give the Holy Ghost unto all them that shall believe in their words.
I am always touched by this account. I use to be confused as to why our Savior would have to bow down and pray to His Heavenly Father. I could understand why Jesus would pray before he was crucified, because he did not know everything, he was still learning about Himself and his mission. This is shown when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane. In Matthew 26: 39 he prays for the cup to be taken from him if it was God’s will. He did so, because he did not know the weight of our pains and sins till he actually did it.
What I’m trying to say is that I can see why he’d need to pray to God before completing the atonement, because he had not experience everything and needed the Father. But why would he need to pray after the Atonement was complete?
Moses 1:39 helped me understand what Gods do. By praying Jesus was giving glory to God. He was lifting God up even high. Jesus was also praying for the welfare of the people. He prayed for them to be uplifted to a point that they can receive the Holy Ghost.
What do Gods do? They lift up everyone around them higher and higher. They add joy and glory to others through their love.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Take No Offense
Take No Offense
To be angry and unforgiving is selfishness. To have unconditional love and to forgive is selflessness.
For the life of me I cannot remember when my father told me that being angry is a choice. When somebody wrongs us in any way we have the selfish choice of being reactive and childish or the selfless choice of being proactive and mature. I know for myself that only the selfless choice brings me true joy. Being proactive strengthens my relationships with others and helps me see their deeper needs and fears.
I also know that being selfish only leaves me alone and unhappy. The childish pleasure of reacting does not last, because pleasure does not last, while the joy of growing in love towards others is eternal.
Choose not to be angry.
Who are we the children of? Romans 8: 16 reads, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” We are children of our Heavenly Father. You are a either literally a Son or Daughter of God. Now, often people understand that but ignore what this also means. This means that we are all literally brothers and sister! That man walking down the street is your brother, your brother! Love your siblings…
There are times your brothers and sisters will hurt you. They will do something as small as saying a thoughtless word to deliberately hurting you. Some way or another your brothers and sisters will wound you.
The prophet Nephi was always being mistreated by his older brothers Laman and Lamuel. At one point they had just tied Nephi up and by the power of God he broke the bands that bounded him. His older brothers then became sorrowful for their actions. They pleaded for forgiveness. I love what Nephi did in 1 Nephi 7:21, “And it came to pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done.”
I would hope we could all be like Nephi and frankly forgive our brothers and sisters like Nephi forgave his brothers. Forgive right away and choose not to be angry.
To be angry and unforgiving is selfishness. To have unconditional love and to forgive is selflessness.
For the life of me I cannot remember when my father told me that being angry is a choice. When somebody wrongs us in any way we have the selfish choice of being reactive and childish or the selfless choice of being proactive and mature. I know for myself that only the selfless choice brings me true joy. Being proactive strengthens my relationships with others and helps me see their deeper needs and fears.
I also know that being selfish only leaves me alone and unhappy. The childish pleasure of reacting does not last, because pleasure does not last, while the joy of growing in love towards others is eternal.
Choose not to be angry.
Who are we the children of? Romans 8: 16 reads, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” We are children of our Heavenly Father. You are a either literally a Son or Daughter of God. Now, often people understand that but ignore what this also means. This means that we are all literally brothers and sister! That man walking down the street is your brother, your brother! Love your siblings…
There are times your brothers and sisters will hurt you. They will do something as small as saying a thoughtless word to deliberately hurting you. Some way or another your brothers and sisters will wound you.
The prophet Nephi was always being mistreated by his older brothers Laman and Lamuel. At one point they had just tied Nephi up and by the power of God he broke the bands that bounded him. His older brothers then became sorrowful for their actions. They pleaded for forgiveness. I love what Nephi did in 1 Nephi 7:21, “And it came to pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done.”
I would hope we could all be like Nephi and frankly forgive our brothers and sisters like Nephi forgave his brothers. Forgive right away and choose not to be angry.
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