God Is Our Loving Heavenly Father
As a missionary, I walk around and meet a lot of people. Their beliefs vary, but one in particular has stuck out to me lately. Some people I have talked to don't believe in God, and others don't believe that he even cares about us. I'm here to testify that we do have a Heavenly Father, and he loves us more than any one of us can even comprehend.
In the Bible, Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 7 verses 9-11 it says this:
9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask abread, will he give him a stone?
10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If ye then, abeing evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Our Heavenly Father wants to give us things that will make us happy, I know this because he answers my prayers. I have received countless answers to my prayers and continue to receive them. Often it is in times of trial that I notice his help the most. When I am alone, he is there to comfort me. When I am uncertain, he is there to guide me. But more importantly, when I am happy, he rejoices with me! Pray always to our Heavenly Father and look for his answer, it will come. I promise you this, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Prayer
And all athings, whatsoever ye shall bask in cprayer, believing, ye shall receive (Matt. 21: 22). Throughout the scriptures we see many references saying similar things. If we ask the Lord for something, he will answer us unless we "ask amiss" (James 4: 3). One thing that is important in all of these scriptures is it tells us that we must ask first, then we will receive. It has been my experience that if I am not willing to ask the Lord for help, or ask for knowledge to be given to me, I won't receive it. So why is it that we must ask? If the Lord loves us, as he says he does, wont he give us whatever we need? Occasionally he will, or he will try at least. On many occasions Christ taught the people his gospel. Yet people did not listen. Why is that? Why didn't people want to hear the words of the Savior of the world? They didn't care, because they didn't know how important it was! They didn't know, that without the Gospel of him whom they rejected, they would not be heirs of salvation. How many times do we do that? We don't ask the Lord for help, or knowledge, because it isn't important to us. We, simply put, do not care what the Lord has to offer us. The reason we must ask, is so that we are ready to receive. We show the Lord that we care enough to listen, and then to act on what he gives us. Let us care enough about what the Lord wants for us to ask for it. Let us strive to listen to his teachings and follow them. Let us desire to better ourselves and ask for the Lord's help. If we truly do this, he will answer, he will help, and we will grow in faith, knowledge and happiness. I know the Lord is there and that he does answer our prayers.
Our Families Are Blessed By The Gospel
Families are central to God's plan for us. We are his children and so we are all brothers and sisters. When we love the Lord, we begin to love our families more and more, our heavenly family as well as our families on earth. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments (1 John 5: 1-2).
So how is it that when we "love him that begat," we "[love] him also that is begotten"? What is it about keeping our Lords commandments that brings us closer as sons and daughters of God? How can we make our marriages and families stronger? When we follow Jesus Christ's teachings it means that we acquire traits such as; honesty, unselfishness, loyalty, or "charity, which is the greatest of all" (Moroni 7: 46). When we gain these attributes we help those around us just as Christ did. We learn to love others as Christ did, and when everyone loves like that, we all grow together in unity! How great is the Love of Christ, which I strive for. The occasions that I have felt that love have been the happiest of my life. I know that if we can all learn to love as Christ did, our families will be strengthened as well as our love for our fellow man.
You can learn more about this at http://mormon.org/family/
Video of how the Gospel has blessed Daisy's family
Prophets
What are prophets? What are they supposed to do? Why does the world need them?
The Lord has always called prophets. "As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began" (Luke 1:70). Throughout the Old Testament we read of the lives of many prophets. They are Gods messengers to his children here on earth. Prophets are leaders of the people who desire to follow god. They reveal to us the will of God. We recieve commandments from them, encouragement, and guidance. They perform miracles, see visions, and make prophecies about the future. But the main purposes of a prophet are to build the Lord's Church on the earth and to testify of Christ. To tell the world of his coming, that through him is the only way that man may be saved. Without prophets, we never would have known about Christ, and we would not know the things that we need to to in order to return to live with him and our Heavenly Father.
What makes a prophet? Do men just decide one day that they are going to be one? Christ told his apostles, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you" (John 15: 16). God chooses who his prophets are and calls and ordains them. He gives them authority, or the power to act in his name (the priesthood). This is important because if a prophet is not "called of God," he is not a true prophet. Moses was called to be a prophet when he saw God in the burning bush. He became the leader of the Children of Isreal, and he directed them in the ways the Lord wanted them to go. Whenever the Lord calls a prophet to build His church on the earth it is called a Dispensation.
The reason the God calls prophets is that he loves us, his children. He wants us to know of him, and to learn what we need to do so we can return to live with him. Whenever prophets have been called, we see that people begin to listen to them. They are humble and are willing to be directed by the Lord. When people listen to the Lord, he blesses them, "And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you;" (Mosiah 2: 24). When this happens people tend to get prideful, and instead of saying, "Look what the Lord has done for me..." they say, "Look what I have done." There is no better exampe of this than when Moses comes down from the mountain with the commandments from God, and the Children of Isreal were worshipping a golden calf! We see this with every prophet. The people the prophet serves become wicked, and they reject his teachings.
If you were to give a baby a stack of 100 dollar bills what would the baby do with it? Probably slobber on it, eat it, and tear it up. The reason for this is even though we know that money is worth a lot, especially that much money, the baby doesn't. Our response to this dilemma would probably be to take the money away and let the child play with something more appropriate. The Lord does the same thing when people don't treat His prophet, and His gospel how he knows it should be treated, he takes them away. When this happens, His church is no longer on the earth and there comes a condition of Apostasy.
We see this happen many times throught the Old testament. The Lord calls a prophet and a new dispensation begins. The people listen for a period of time, but inevitably they become prideful and rebel. The Lord takes away the Authority to have his church on the earth, or the Priesthood, and Apostasy prevails. But because the Lord does love us, he always calls another prophet when the people are humble and ready once again to listen to him.
I am so grateful for the love the Lord has for us, the love so great the he calls prophets to lead and guide us. I know that he does call prophets, and they do have His Priesthood power. I know this is true, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
For more information about prophets, visit http://mormon.org/
The Life and Ministry of Christ
Why is the New Testament important to us? What does it tell us, and why does it matter what people wrote about 2000 years ago?
The New Testament is one of the greatest messages we have from our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. It gives us hope, knowledge, and direction. It builds the faith of anyone who will read it that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.
The four Gospels tell us of the life and teachings of Christ. These are very important so we can grow closer to Christ through knowing what he was like, and following his example. After the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; we have many books that were written by some of the closest followers of Christ, his Apostles. They detail some of their journeys, their teachings, and the testimonies they have the Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
One of the greatest things that we learn from the New Testament is about Christ's Church. Not buildings, but the people of His church. Probably the most important thing that we learn, is how his church works. In John Christ says to his Apostles, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you..." (John 15: 16). We learn from this that the Lord chooses who the leaders of his church are, and he gives them the authority to act in his name and lead his church.
We also learn of the organization of his church. The officers in Christ's church are told to us in Ephesians:
"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;" (Ephesians 4:11-14)
The reason Christ needed apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers is so his church would have a "unity of the faith." Or in other words, so that everyone was teaching the same things. So Christ's doctrine wasn't replaced by man's ideas. So that every member of his church know's what they need to do to gain salvation.
Who is better qualified to set up an organization of a church than the person who churches are designed to follow, Jesus Christ himself? Without this perfect organization, people become lost. Without authority from Christ, it isn't his church.
I'm so grateful for the teachings of Christ. For the whole Bible, and especially the New Testament. The things that we learn in it are a blessing. I know this is true, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
The Great Apostasy
So if Jesus Christ set up one church, why are there so many today? Where can we find the church that he set up? What happened to the church after the Bible stops recording the history of the church?
While Christ was on the earth he started his church. After he was crucified, his apostles set about building the church and bringing everyone to Christ. It was a great time of enlightenment for the people. They finally had the truth about why they were here on earth, and what they needed to do to be happy during this life. They learned, most importantly, the things they needed to do in order to return to live with their Heavenly Father.
As the church grew, it became more spread out. We read of seven churches (Revelation 1) of Christ, in different parts of the land. Being isolated they began to make small changes in the doctrine of Christ. When the apostles heard of this, they wrote letters to remind the churches the true doctrine of Christ's church and taught them the things they needed to be doing. The people knew who they could trust, because they knew Christ had given his apostles the authority to guide them. They were the "foundation" "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;" (Eph 2 :20)
The members of the church at this time endured great persecution. So great that the apostles began to be martyred, until they were all taken from the people. This authority wasn't able to be passed on to more people. The foundation of the church was gone! As a result the church began to deteriorate and just as a house with no foundation would, Christ's church fell. Despite the faithful members, error crept into the church. As Christ's divine organization was lost, the church lost the truth. This was foretold by many prophets. Amos talks about a "famine... of hearing the words of the lord: " (Amos 8: 11). This famine began and the church was no longer Christ's true church. This time in history is called the Dark Ages.
Many inspired men knew that something was wrong with the church. They helped bring this knowledge to the people. This period of time is known to us as The Reformation. Many people began to pick up the pieces that they could find that Christ talked about. But in doing this they would miss some of the important parts of Christ's Gospel. During this time people would "wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." (Amos 8: 12).
The fulness of Christ's Gospel wasn't on the earth. Instead of a reformation of the church, we needed a restoration by someone called of god.
The Lord promised us that he would restore his church to the earth again. John said, "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people" (Revelation 14:6). I can promise you that this has taken place. We once again have the "everlasting gospel" on the earth today. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
The Restoration
I mentioned in my last post that the Lord promised us that even though there would be an apostasy, he promises a restoration in the "Dispensation of the Fullness of Times."(Ephesians 1:10) In the year 1820 this happened.
At the age of 14 a young boy named Joseph Smith lived at a time of "unusual excitement on the subject of religion" (Joseph Smith History). There were many faiths who contended with one another over converts. During this time of confusion, Joseph Smith wondered which of all the churches was right. He wondered which was the "one Lord, one faith, one baptism," that Paul talks about in Eph 4: 5.
Because of the difference in opinion, Joseph couldn't decide which church to join. He says, "the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible" (JSH). In his search for the truth he came across the scripture in James 1: 5 that says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." This scripture "seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of [his] heart.[He] reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, [He] did; for how to act [He] did not know..."
Joseph determined that he must ask God which church is true. So one spring morning, he went to a grove of trees and knelt down and prayed. In an answer to his prayer he received a vision from God and Jesus Christ! He says, "I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"
His prayer was answered an he was told that while each church had truth in them, none of them had the whole truth. After centuries of being lost, the Lord's gospel would once again be revealed to his children. He was also told how he would be the Lord's servant in this work, he had been called by God to be a prophet. He was given the authority to restore Christ's church to the earth today.
This event has a great importance for the world! Christ's church is back! We have a prophet on the earth speaking the Lord's will to us today! I know this is true and you can as well!
You Can Know This Is True!
There are many who claim to be a prophet. Christ even told us in the Bible that false prophets would come. He said, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matt 7: 15). With this warning, how are we to know what to believe? Christ gives us the answer later on in this chapter, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
One of the fruits that we have from Joseph Smith, so we can know that he was a true prophet, is the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is an ancient record of the dealings of God with the people in the America's. It is a history that begins in Jerusalem about 600 B.C. A prophet named Lehi is commanded by God to leave Jerusalem and he would be led to a promised land. They leave, cross the ocean, and eventually come to the land promised to them. Time passes, people listen to and learn of God. Many also reject the teachings of Christ. Prophets were called of God to teach the people and guide them to salvation. These prophets all testified that the Son of God would come and suffer the sins of all mankind. They also promised these people that Christ would show himself to him and visit them.
While Christ was on the earth he told the people in Jerusalem, "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." (John 10: 16) After his resurrection Christ came to these people in America, he taught them his gospel, he established his church among them. They had peace and prosperity for hundreds of years.
Eventually the people began to reject Christ's teachings again. They became wicked and killed Christ's followers. One last prophet named Moroni had the records of these people, written on gold plates. He buried these plates with the promise from God that they would be revealed to the world in the future.
Joseph Smith was shown by an angel where these plates were buried. He was able to translate them by the gift and power of God. It became evidence that God had called Joseph to be a prophet, to restore Christ's church on the earth today, and to lead all of God's children!
There is a promise in the Book of Mormon. Moroni tells us, "And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost" (Moroni 10:4).
I can promise you the same, if you want to know if Joseph Smith is a true prophet, pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. You will receive the answer that it is. I know it is true. Our loving God has reached out to us once again. He leads us with a prophet that he has chosen. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is his church on the earth today!
