Always

Imagine a good baseball coach who teaches a young boy how to swing a bat. While there are hundreds of coaching points that lead to the perfect swing, a wise coach does not overwhelm a boy by asking too much of him too soon; rather, he begins by building upon his students strengths and then builds upon those strengths as fast as the student progresses. He will move along a path of progression with the boy at a pace that does not confuse, frustrate, and lead to failure. Great coaches know how to pace progress; they know exactly when to challenge a student further and when to maintain current focus.

Now imagine being invited by the world's best coach to come unto Him and to be perfected in Him, not just to swing a bat perfectly, but to perfect your whole soul. That is exactly the invitation the Jesus offered to each of us. Moreover he commanded saying, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect." As the Master of truth who cannot lie or deceive, He would not invite, nor would He command such unless He was sufficiently capable to coach, and guide us unto perfection.

As the Master coach He knows how to customize our progression in a manner that we can continually advance, stretch, and grow--without becoming overcome by frustration, failure, and despair. He asks much of us to be sure, and as we heed His voice we grow line upon line and we bring the power and influence of His Spirit from behind the veil into our physical world to help shape and mold us into His perfect image. Each step we take is designed by Him to enable us with greater light, knowledge, and faith until we attain sufficient faith and knowledge to lay hold upon eternal life, the greatest of all God's gifts.

The greatest decision we can make is to accept His invitation to be perfected in Him. We do this by choosing to live so that we can enjoy His perfect influence always. How do we enjoy his fellowship and influence always? In ancient Israel the Law of Sacrifice was introduced to help prepare Israel to enjoy continual fellowship with Jehovah. Then, the law of sacrifice included three types of blood offerings:

• First, a sin offering of an animal was made to atone for a person's uncleanliness or sin. 
• Second, burnt offerings of the flesh of animals were made every morning and evening and the smoke from these offerings ascended continuously to heaven. This continual offering symbolized complete surrender and total devotion to God, paralleling the process of justification and sanctification, or the process of always retaining a remission of our sins. 
• Third, the peace offering indicates that the sacrificer of an animal was at peace with God and could therefore enjoy His fellowship.

The Sin offering preceded the burnt offering, and the burnt offering preceded the peace offering. This order symbolized the atonement, sanctification, and ultimate fellowship with the Lord.

Christ became the last great sacrifice that called for the shedding of the blood of animals. All former blood sacrifices pointed to this last great sacrifice. On the eve before Christ offered Himself as the great sacrifice for mankind He instituted the Lord's Sacrament to replace blood offerings. He then taught that the sacrifice required of us today is not of blood but is an offering of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Let's review the covenants we make during the Sacrament that lead us to enjoy His Spirit and fellowship always which is the prerequisite to becoming perfected in Him:

1. Remember: When He instituted the Sacrament, Jesus broke and passed the bread to His apostles and said, "This is my body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me...." Then He passed the cup for each to drink and said, "This cup is the new testament (a new covenant with Israel) in my blood, which was shed for you" (Luke 22:19-20) The Sacrament is a time to ponder and remember with gratitude the life, teachings, atonement, and perfect ministry of our Lord. The bread is a reminder of His body and the physical suffering He endured for each of us upon the cross. It reminds us that through His mercy and grace we will be resurrected and are given the opportunity for eternal life. The water or wine is a reminder that the Savior shed His blood and suffered intense anguish for us. This began in the Garden of Gethsemane, which suffering led Him to say, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death" (Mattthew 26:38). Submitting to the will of the Father, He suffered more than we can comprehend: Blood came from every pore, so great was His anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of His people. We covenant to remember His sacrifice and our indebtedness to Him. He suffered for our sins, sorrows, and pains, providing remission of our sins if we repent and live the gospel. Remembering Him obligates us to a life of goodness as we serve and bless others. It requires that we live without hatred, enmity, immorality, selfishness, drunkenness, jealousy, dishonesty, and that we ultimately become perfect as He is perfect--attribute for divine attribute. 
2. Witness: As we partake of the Sacrament we witness to God our willingness to live the gospel and to take upon ourselves the name of His Son, even Jesus Christ, to surrender our will to His Son, and to live in such a manner that our thoughts, words, and deeds always reflect our covenant to be like His Son.  
3. Obey: We covenant to always keep the commandments, including what is taught in the gospels, as well as what He asks of us through His Spirit in our daily walk, and it also includes our willingness to live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God. We covenant to obey Him whether it be directly through His voice or through His authorized servants.

Christ commenced his earthly ministry with an ordinance--baptism--and ended His ministry with and ordinance--the Sacrament. Our personal reward for being properly baptized and for partaking of the weekly Sacrament with a sincere heart, with real intent, forsaking our sins, and renewing our covenants with God is the Lord Jesus provides a way whereby we can be forgiven from week to week of our sins and whereby we also discern those things which we need to improve. Simply eating the bread and drinking the water will not bring forgiveness or remission of sins, nor will it qualify us to enjoy the constant companionship of the Lord's Spirit. To maintain this sacred relationship, we must take time to examine our lives and strive with real intent to repent of our sins. As we approach the sacrament prepared and with His divine life ever in mind, we are to come before Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, which is caused by recognition of our dependence upon His power and grace to become perfected in Him. As we remember His tender mercies and the many gifts and blessings received at His hand, our remembrance leads us to love Him purely, which occurs best as we serve the real needs of others. As we do so we become even more purified through His attending Spirit until at last all impurity is overcome.

Summary
Similar to a young boy who needs a good mentor and coach, in order to obtain the ultimate prize of a perfected soul we need our Savior, even Jesus Christ. The weekly Sacrament is the path of spiritual rebirth through Christ that takes away our sins, and the stain of sins, as bit by bit temptations lose their appeal and we become holy as Christ and the Father are holy--attribute for divine attribute. His all-searching eye is upon us and He refines us as silver and gold until at last He can see His perfect image within us. As long as some vestige of sin remains within us and we retain some disposition to do evil we must continue to offer up our continual sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit and continue to recognize our dependence upon Him to guide and prepare us until we lay hold upon sufficient faith and knowledge to part the veil and to take up our abode with Him. Only then does He becomes our Second Comforter and as such He comforts, succors, leads, and finishes our faith by helping us become fully cleansed and made worthy to be introduced to the Father and to become a son or daughter of God's Eternal Family, which is the greatest gift of all. This is the entire meaning of receiving eternal life. We enter and remain on this path by "always" remembering Him.

The Sacrament is a sacred key to this great process, because only through keeping our Sacramental covenants to always remember Him, to always be a witness of Him, and to always obey Him do we qualify to always enjoy His divine and perfecting influence, which is necessary if we are to successfully accept His invitation to be perfected in Him, and if we are to be made ready by Him to pass from faith to a perfect knowledge of Him and His Father. He is indeed, both the author and the finisher of our faith and only through Him  can we come to know the Father, to see His face, and to receive eternal life.

Fasting

How would you like to overcome darkness and sin that binds you, to undo heavy burdens that you carry, to become free of oppression, to break every yoke that is upon you, to receive improved health of body and soul, to have your every prayer answered, to receive continual guidance in things both temporal and spiritual? How would you like God's Spirit and power to go before you, be with you, and also protect you from behind?  Would you like your life to become as a beautiful, watered, fruitful garden? How would you like to have God's grace flow to you continually like a spring of water whose waters fail not (see Isaiah 58:6-11)?

The history of fasting includes receiving the gift to heal or to be healed; it includes examples of overcoming darkness such as alcoholism, addictions, poor character traits, and so forth. Many have overcome bondage and captivity through fasting, and countless people have received answers to prayer and have received direct guidance from heaven while fasting. By praying and fasting often a person can enjoy heaven's guidance and perfect influence always. Fasting is one of the greatest tools God has given man. God promises that even physical health will be greatly improved through fasting.

Isaiah taught his people that God is no respecter of persons and that His promises are for every soul who learns to fast in an acceptable manner before Him. There are many examples in scripture of those who fast acceptably before God; some great blessings have occurred after as little as one or two days of fasting; others have fasted forty days or more. Moses fasted forty days before receiving the ten commandments from God and then commenced another forty day fast immediately after learning of the iniquity of Israel while he was upon the Mount with God. Christ fasted forty days before He commenced His mission. Gandhi fasted for twenty plus days on several occasions as he sought to establish greater freedom for his people from Great Britain. In every culture and every religion there are accounts of individuals who have gained great spiritual insights and power through fasting.

There are both acceptable and unacceptable ways to fast. Fasting for selfish and self-righteous reasons has always been and will always be unacceptable to God. God neither responds, nor do His promises apply to those who fast in an unacceptable manner. How must a fast be conducted in order to receive the promises spoken of by Isaiah? Consider the following principles that are a part of an acceptable fast. When correctly applied these principles merit and result in God's promises toward the fast:

1. Proper Attitude: It begins with the right attitude of work and obedience. We are never tempted above that which we are able to bear and with each temptation a way is made for our escape, that we may be able to bear it, but we must always do our part. A proper fast can enable you with greater power to overcome your temptations and sins and to lay hold of needed blessings. 
2. Determine Purpose of Fast: It is important to determine and recognize the purpose(s) of your fast. This could range from being released from prison, to overcoming specific sins that beset you, to being enabled to meet your temporal needs, to overcoming oppressive relationships, and so forth. Only you know what you or others need and what desires underlie the purpose of your fasting. As you prepare to fast, determine your specific purpose or purposes for fasting. 
3. Begin Fast with Prayer: The Lord is pleased when we reason with Him and present our needs and desires to Him in prayer. This is not to be confused with a demanding spirit; rather, we are to make a righteous offering that is described in scripture as a broken heart and a contrite spirit. With such a heart and spirit we are to articulate and share the purpose, reason, supportive logic, and need for our prayerful requests. God accepts our perfect offering as we express our desires and purposes to Him in faith and meekness. 
4. Bless Others: Isaiah said: “And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday.” (Isaiah 58:10) God's power and blessings are released more fully to us as we seek to lift the burdens of others. 
5. Seek the Companionship of the Holy Ghost: “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearguard” (Isaiah 58:8). "Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am..." "And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought..., and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not" (Isaiah 58:9). How would you like to become filled with His Spirit, power, and grace--insomuch that your life becomes fruitful with goodness that fails not? 
6. Subdue the Natural Man: There are changes that occur in the body during a fast. After certain energy reserves are depleted, body fat then releases fatty acids that form ketones, which are then used to produce energy in place of the more immediate energy reserves that are exhausted. Ketones have an effect upon our psyche that cause us to overcome hunger and to literally subdue the natural man. As your body enters into this state of fasting, it submits more fully to the spirit and as the spiritual man is victorious, we experience greater sensitivity to the influence of the Holy Ghost. Any person who becomes sensitive and fully responsive to God's Spirit is also prepared to receive His power and grace to become as a watered and fruitful garden or as a spring of water whose waters fail not. Goodness will continually flow from the lives of such individuals. 
7. Use of Time: While fasting, during time you would normally spend preparing food and cleaning up, devote that time to studying scriptures, learning, teaching others, and writing in your journal. Pray and ponder deeply the purpose of your fast and become responsive to God's Spirit.
8. Mighty Prayer: If we want the results spoken of by Isaiah, then we must combine prayer with fasting. Mighty prayer occurs as you ask God to help you remember His many kindnesses towards you. As you pause to ask and to remember His gifts to you, the Holy Ghost will fill your mind and heart with grateful remembrance. As you so remember you will feel pure gratitude, which is a natural expression of pure love toward God. This opens the conduit of the Spirit fully in your prayer and you will experience God's reciprocating pure love through the power of His Spirit. 
9. Bear Pure Testimony: As the Holy Ghost becomes your constant companion, such as occurs when we become humble and meek through fasting, our testimonies of God's goodness are more easily, simply, and purely expressed and should be shared with others. 
10. End Fasting in Prayer: There comes an appropriate time to end a fast. When that time arrives, end your fast in prayer. Reflect upon the purpose of the fast and how that purpose was served. 
11. Covenant to Improvement: As you receive valuable insights from fasting, note each insight in your journal and make appropriate plans and commitments with God regarding those insights. Secure the Holy Ghost as your constant companion by covenanting with "real intent" to follow the guidance you receive during the fast. As you maintain your commitment by following through with your plans, God's Spirit will continue to bless and influence your efforts as you go forward. 
12. Become Like Christ: The spirit of a fast helps lead us to increasingly think and act like Christ, and through regular fasting, repentance, and the continual remission of sins the attributes of the natural man slip away to be replaced by the heart and the mind of Christ. This is what it means, in part, to come to know Christ and God. Christ instructed us to become perfect as His Father in Heaven is perfect. We can talk about Christ, teach about Him, and so forth, but until we become like Him through repentance and through a continual remission of sins, we can never come to truly know Him. Coming to know Him is a gentle process of grace that occurs through the gift of His Spirit that attends our fasting, repentance, and a continual remission or our sins; through this process He helps us to become like Him, attribute for divine attribute. Fasting catalyzes this process as we take the insights received while fasting and immerse ourselves in them more fully. 

To realize the promises of the fast described by Isaiah fast in an acceptable manner before God, as described above. As a principle of power fasting changes lives. When the flesh submits to the spirit we gain the insights, strength, and grace needed to subdue the natural man and to become as Christ. He purges and refines us as silver and gold until His perfect image can be seen within us. That image is best reflected through our kindness and actions toward each other and toward the hungry, the poor, the homeless, the naked, the widow and the fatherless, the stranger that comes into our gates, and to our own families and children in their needs. Therefore, to become as Christ and to obtain the promises of the fast, let our souls be drawn out in fasting and in mighty prayer continually and throughout our lifetimes.

Charity

Do you remember what it is like to have your body vibrate at the speed of love, joy, wonder, and accomplishment, or how you felt and how easily you accomplished things when you knew little to nothing of resentment, criticism, guilt, and fear? Did you know that every thought you create is real substance that goes out into the universe to create your future? What you send out, you will get back, both good and evil, and your environment and situation are merely a looking glass of what you have chosen to attract into your life. It is exciting to contemplate that by shaping and molding our thoughts as we desire, we also shape and mold any future we desire. How important is a future filled with pure love?

Religion and science demonstrate that maintaining love and inner peace is more important than diet, exercise, or sleep when it comes to maintaining good health and longevity. Those who possess a loving and peaceful state naturally outlive those who tend toward worry, restlessness, anger, and other forms of stress. From the gospels we learn that love is not evil, proud, rude, self-seeking, easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs. A person filled with love and peace carries no extra burdens to weigh down the spirit or the body. Moreover, love is light, and darkness flees from light. And, the more love you give to others, the more love comes back to you. Even the darkness of disease often flees a body that is filled to overflowing with light!

From a scientific standpoint, love and peace enable an ideal balance within the autonomic nervous system and within each cell of the body, which leads to longer, healthier, and happier lives. By comparison, chronic stress caused from worry, anger, restlessness, hatred, hopelessness, nervousness, ingratitude, contention, and negative attitude each over-stimulate the fight-or-flight response system. Mental and spiritual disquietude are linked to heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidental death, cirrhosis of the liver, suicide, accelerated aging, and to all degenerative diseases. How can we foster and attain a peaceful and loving state? The short answer you can do today is to go about doing good continually. Let’s look at vital steps you can take toward a long-term solution:

• First, pray to recognize the Lord’s hand in your life and His love for you. As you sincerely ask to know of God’s pure love for you, His Spirit will bring to remembrance your many blessings and your eyes will open to see how He is aiding you in every walk of life, and then you will experience gratitude, which is a pre-requisite for being able to recognize and feel His deep love for you. Ask, pause, reflect, remember, and feel deeply. 
• Second, as you remember and feel the Lord’s love for you, pause to express divine gratitude for each blessing brought to your awareness. Expressing your gratitude is how to return pure love to God. As you so come to know the Lord, you will discover an intimate, sacred relationship built on trust and will come to know that He understands your burdens and will always respond to you with compassion. It is not enough just to know that God loves you; you must pause in gratitude daily to feel His deep love for you.  
• Third, the Lord’s response to us is always filled with love and motivates us to become like Him through repentance and through a continual remission of sins. Through the gift of His Spirit that attends our repentance, He helps us to become like Him, attribute for divine attribute. For example, through repentance we strive to become kind; through His Spirit and grace we transcend mere striving to be kind, to become kindness as He is kindness. With the new gift given, our desire to become like Him increases and we receive more grace (or goodness) for the grace we return to Him through expressing our deep-felt gratitude for the gift of kindness. As God's Spirit invites us to receive other attributes or gifts from Him, the process of striving (repenting) and becoming through grace is renewed again. And as we seek other gifts or characteristics of Christ, we are to immerse our thoughts in that characteristic and convey our feelings to God, self, and others. Righteous feelings generated by obedience toward any godly attribute and expressions of gratitude to God precede the increase of those feelings from the Spirit. As we are obedient and grateful, a magnified portion of the gift or attribute we seek will return to us from the Spirit. By His Spirit, we are taught more perfectly through feeling and thought regarding each gift or attribute we seek. 
• Fourth, as we consecrate the refinement of God-given attributes to Him through loving service to others, we prepare ourselves more fully; and when He does appear to us, we will be like Him. As we magnify any gift or attribute from God we receive a new heart, a pure heart. As we increasingly think and act like Him, the attributes of the natural man will slip away to be replaced by the heart and the mind of Christ. We become like Him as we truly receive Him. (See “Holiness”.) As we become like Him, our attentions turn to the welfare of our fellowman. The way we treat others with patience, kindness, a gentle acceptance and a desire to play a positive role in their lives becomes the indicator of how we are progressing as His disciples. 

Summary

Deep within the center of our beings there is an infinite well of love. As we come to know Christ through a continual remission of sins, the attributes of the natural man will slip away to be replaced by the heart and the mind of Christ. This unlocks the pure and infinite source of love that is within us to flow freely to the surface and to touch all that we see, think, feel, and do. This pure gift of charity is given only to those who seek it, only to those who earnestly pray for it, and only to true disciples of Christ. As we walk this path and overcome ego through loving service, consecration of our refined attributes, and by refusing to compare ourselves to others, we experience true happiness, love, and peace. As we pray daily, study His word, and follow His voice, we remain unencumbered through loving service to others. As His disciples, we restore charity’s circular love as we go about with unfailing compassion, patience, and mercy doing good to the poor, afflicted, and distressed. We love others because He first loved us. This is the reciprocating cycle of charity that never faileth. It is available to anyone who will enable the process described above to see, think, feel, and act as Jesus Christ.

Postscript: Imagine what will happen within our circles of influence as each of us cherish, watch over, and love one another as we want to be loved! Each utopia that has existed upon this earth, where man lived to the age of a tree or was translated, occurred through the process described above. Wherever a critical mass of disciples of Christ truly walk this path, Zion or Utopia is there established, and this is the only process by which it is established. It is not a stretch of the imagination to desire, seek, and receive the pure gift of charity, or to receive the other perfect attributes of Christ. By so doing you will enjoy greater health, happiness, and longevity. You will also help to establish the long-awaited Zion and will enjoy a spirit of peace and love throughout your lifetime. Most gloriously, by so doing you will qualify to meet the fountain of infinite pure love and to see His face, whilst you live!

Eternal Life

When by faith we heed and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we render the veil to bring God's Spirit and power from behind the veil into our physical world. This is the process for enabling God's perfecting influence to help shape important outcomes and events in our lives.

For example, in faith the young shepherd boy David acted with God's power to slay the bear and the lion while protecting his father's flocks. This experience led to certain knowledge, that when one acts under God's influence and power, all things are possible. This knowledge led to greater faith and when David later was moved upon by God's Spirit to confront Goliath, he acted with certitude and in faithful obedience to that spirit. By so doing he rendered the veil yet again to enable God's power and divine influence to shape a victorious outcome for Israel.

Similarly, each time we exercise faith to act upon God's Spirit in our lives we achieve at least two outcomes. First, we render the veil to bring God's Spirit and power into our physical world to shape important events and outcomes. Second, increased knowledge is always a by-product of acting faithfully upon revelation. Thus, as the Lords Spirit leads us along, He helps us grow line upon line in the knowledge we need to become redeemed.

Every saint must attain a fullness of knowledge if they are to be redeemed, and the path required to attain this knowledge is the same for saints of each dispensation. It is marked by faithful obedience to God's Spirit. Faith acted upon today is always rewarded by increased knowledge that leads to even greater faith tomorrow. It is a step-by-step process that yields sufficient faith and knowledge necessary to lay hold upon salvation.

Whenever we fail to heed the Lord's voice or to keep His commandments, our faith grows dormant and and the Lord ceases to reveal Himself further to us until we repent, forsake our sins, and covenant with "real intent" to follow Him. Our journey in added faith and knowledge renews only as "real intent" to follow Him renews. As we follow Him with renewed faith our knowledge continues to grow, line upon line, until one day we lay hold upon sufficient faith and knowledge that the veil is parted and we are permited to see His face and to take up our abode with Him.

The path to the Father and to become an eternal member of God's Family is through Jesus alone. As we exercise the faith necessary to see and know Jesus, and to take up our abode with Him, He then finishes our faith, introduces us to the Father, and by so doing becomes the author and finisher of our faith.

Why do we need a Second Comforter to finish our faith? As we take up our abode with Christ it is for one purpose; it is to provide the succor and comfort we will need as we face a critical test of faith. As our Second Comforter, Christ prepares and succors us to help enable us to pass this customized and ultimate test that qualifies us to be made clean every wit and to be introduced by Jesus to the Father.

Each step of faith we take in life is greater than the previous; therefore, every step is as if we are starting all over again. We experience doubts and fears and must find our way through them as we have done previously in order that we may act in faith, render the veil, and gain further light and knowledge.

The path doesn't ever become easier; rather, each step is designed to help us grow further in faith and knowledge. We therefore must remember, as we seek to overcome doubts and fears, that as we act with certitude all Goliaths become mere illusions. Why? Because every time we act in faith and obedience to God's Spirit, we render the veil and bring his Spirit and power into our physical world. As we do so, whatsoever the Lord asks of us becomes possible to us, until we lay hold upon eternal life.

Courage

Jesus said, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus whom thou hast sent." As any soul approaches and calls upon the Lord with "real intent" to follow Him, the Lord's voice comes to him and teaches what he or she must do. Jesus leads His sheep from grace to grace, as they obey His Spirit. This is the path to truly know God and Christ and to eternal life.

As we follow Jesus and act according to His voice the faith we exercise leads to knowledge; line upon line we come to know Him through obedience. As we prove an unceasing intent to follow Jesus, we earn higher levels of trust. Our communications then change in nature from seemingly insubstantial feelings to hearing his voice from time to time, and then to enjoying two-way dialogue with Him; as we continue in faith we earn more trust and receive angelic messengers and ministrations from celestial beings to help us even further along the path.

Each step of the path of redemption is as the first; when we hear His voice, whether through insubstantial feelings, or in our hearts and minds, or through angels and celestial beings we must overcome our doubts and fears yet again, and through faith continue to follow Him. By so doing we lay hold upon greater light and knowledge, and we earn greater trust until at last we lay hold upon sufficient faith and knowledge that we can no longer be held within the veil; Christ then reveals Himself to us and we see His face and take up our abode with Him. Christ then becomes our Second Comforter to finish our faith and prepare us to be introduced to the Father. Each step we take in this pathway is marked by greater faith that yields greater knowledge, light, and truth--through obedience.

To know God and see His face, we must have courage to look neither to the left hand nor to the right hand as we do all things to become as Christ; rather, we must look to Him alone. As we do so, He will not leave us alone, fail us, or ever forsake us. Rather, He will go with us and before us and His promises will not fail; and, as we turn neither to the right nor to the left, but continually do as His voice commands, we will prosper no matter where He may lead us.

We must not cleave unto anything that is unholy, for if we turn to the left or right of the Path of Holiness, God dispossesses and curses us. We are to be of strong faith, for God hath not given us the spirit of fear: but of power, and love, and of a sound mind. As we associate with others of the covenant, their faithfulness will encourage us, and similarly, our faithfulness will encourage them. And as we are true to what God asks of us and entrusts to us, our trust increases in God and leads to sufficient courage to go on in so great a cause and to go forward and not backward along the Path of Holiness; thus we go on to victory, which is to know (be as) our Lord, to see his face, and to receive eternal life.

Those who take Christ's name upon themselves encounter opposition from time to time. Similarly, Jesus was despised and rejected of the world. What are Christians then to do? They are to find opportunity in opposition to better serve God. For example, Alma was discovered and converted during opposition that drew attention to Abinadi and afforded Abinadi an opportunity to present truth to those whose attention was directed toward him, as was Alma's. Abinadi remained focused upon the welfare of others and upon teaching the "King's Priests" according to God's Spirit, rather than becoming distracted by the attacks of his accusers. Conversion only occurs through God's Spirit and power. As Alma was taught according to God's Spirit, God's power and Spirit rested upon him and converted him.

Should we always seek to convert others amidst opposition? When Lehonti came off his "high ground" to meet with Amalichiah he died for his troubles. Christians must remember that their time and lives are sacred. Seeking to convert unholy swine, who will only turn and rend you, when God's Spirit has not asked you to do so, or when His Spirit is not present, leads to no good. Christians are never to turn from the right or the left of what God tasks them to do, but are to always remain on high ground, which is the customized path God gives to each and every Christian--through His Spirit.

Rather than leave the high ground when God does not ask one to do so, Christians should follow the example of the Jewish prophet Nehemiah, who while rebuilding the protective city wall of Jerusalem, refused to meet his accusers on the open plains. He turned neither to the right, nor to the left of the task God had given him; rather, he chose to value his time, his life, and the work he was engaged in over the solicitations of false and unholy men.

And this is the promise to every soul who will forsake sin to walk the Path of Holiness: "For behold, again I say unto you, that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show you all things what ye should do and will bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveith, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

If you would know God and Jesus and have eternal life, then forsake every sin, come unto the Lord; call upon His name; obey His commandments, heed His voice, and accept and do all which He tasks you to do--turning neither to the left, nor to the right. Press forward in faith filled with Christian Courage until at last you see His face and know that He is!

Gratitude

Because of my joyful youth on the farm, I have a special appreciation for the words of Timothy Dexter, “An ungrateful man is like a hog under a tree eating acorns, but never looking up to see where they come from.” Do you pause to look upward and to remember, or do you forget as swine or even as one of the nine lepers who remembered not to give praise and thanks for great and even miraculous blessings?

“And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.“ While some never forget the gracious hands, which have preserved them in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened them, others vainly imagine that their blessings were produced by their own superior wisdom and virtue.

Intoxicated with unbroken success, we can become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, to proud to pray to the God who made us. Let us never be guilty of failing to praise and acknowledge God when we accomplish some useful purpose, or become instrumental in some part in helping others. Rather, let us in all things acknowledge our gratitude to our kind, merciful, and wise Creator who extends to us blessings of life, breath, and opportunity.

Gratitude is to the soul, as the gentle air is refreshing to the body; simple beauties do not escape its notice. Grateful souls that pause to look up bask in the stars by night and sing praises as the sun rises at dawn; such souls trace beautiful landscapes of sunsets into minds and hearts, simply because they pause to remember to look upward and to behold!

A man from East met a man from West. Asked East, “Please sir, describe to me the grandeur of the Grand Canyons—of the great Seven Wonders of the World; I am traveling far to see them.” Replies West, “I cannot, for I have never seen the Grand Canyon, though it be but a few miles from where I live.” West then asks East, “Tell me I pray thee, how does Lady Liberty inspire thee?” “I travel far to see her.” East replies, “I’ve lived in Manhattan for much of my life, yet have never seen her.” East and West parted, none the wiser… The apostle Paul said, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Surely the greater wealth then is contentment with what one has.

Gratitude is one of the deepest and purest expressions of faith; it is one way we fulfill the command to acknowledge God in all things. By comparison, ingratitude renders every gift we receive profitless to us, as the Grand Canyon was to West and Lady Liberty to East. Ingratitude can be overcome by learning to look up and to see. Thankful and heartfelt expressions are universally accepted and understood from culture to culture. As with any muscle, the blessings of gratitude ebb and flow by diligent efforts to recognize, remember, and express gratitude and thanks.

They are happiest who live in thanksgiving. To sacred holy writers a thankful state is described as the secret to opening wide heavens gates. It enables the faith in us to be made clean every wit. The ability to feel gratitude for God’s goodness, mercy, and forgiveness is the seed to the very faith that moves mountains and raises the dead.

Gratitude expressed to God brings a calming peace to our souls; it brings a peace that helps us to overcome the pain of adversity and failure. It is recognition for what we have now, without reference to past or future. When we express gratitude, not only for the good things in life, but for opposition and adversity, we recognize that all that occurs to us is gauged for our best good and eternal growth. We put our lives in God’s hands, trusting Him completely, and feeling and expressing our true gratitude through our faith towards Him.

Do you adequately remember? My mother, who was raised without running water and who had to leave the warmth of the house in wintertime to sit upon a cold outhouse seat, is forever grateful for indoor plumbing. A generation later, most fail to adequately remember to be grateful for what to often become entitlements to us.

How grateful are we when we receive a new suit or dress? Do we remember our gratitude for long, or do we too easily shift from what we have received to what we want but do not yet have? When Israel too easily forgot her blessings—flocks, herds, lands, and lives were often lost. Great difficulty restores memory to most, but we are far better off to choose to remember, rather than to be reminded in such a manner.

How do we remember? Jesus taught that the Holy Ghost shall teach us all things and will bring all things to our remembrance, whatsoever we have previously received or learned. As we exercise faith in our sweet hour of prayer--to remember, whether our circumstances are favorable or unfavorable, the Holy Ghost restores God’s sweet kindnesses and tender mercies to our remembrance. As we so pause and reflect, we can experience a flood of memories, as well as healing and enriching gratitude. We begin to see the Lord’s hand in our life at every turn, and our faith in Him grows upon a sold foundation.

Remembrance is the seed of gratitude, and gratitude is the seed of generosity. Gratitude for the remission of sins is the seed of charity, the pure love of Christ, which bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all saints shall dwell with God.” Oh then, remember!

The requirements for receiving prosperity are to obey God’s commandments and to live in a state of thankful remembrance and gratitude. Let us remember and write in our hearts—our songs of praise and gratitude. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord, for he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of the earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more…

Let us become as the noble ancient ones who wept for their great blessings and with loud voices shouted for joy… Praise the Lord with singing, with dancing, with your harps, and with your trumpets, and with your instrument of ten strings; and with a prayer of praise. For surely the Lord looketh from heaven to behold the sons of men; and as a righteous man marrieth a virgin and looks after and cares for her, so will the Lord be a bridegroom to those who praise him and keep His commandments. And they who remember Him in all things shall be called the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord: and shall become a city not forsaken, even Zion.

Health, peace, prosperity, and redemption is the banquet reserved for the Grateful!

Priestcraft

The Lord speaking to our day said that His entire vineyard has become corrupt and that even the very elect do err because of priestcrafts. What is priestcraft that causes even the very elect to err? How does it gain influence? How far do the tentacles of priestcraft reach, and how do they affect the current thoughts and beliefs? What can we do about known priestcrafts that have gained power over our lives and how can we shield ourselves effectively from the errors that creep slowly but surely into our counsels and decisions? Some would argue that such a negative topic isn't worthy of discussion; yet, when the Lord warns us of the very source of corruption that reaches "all" of us, we are wise to pause and learn.

Priestcraft is defined as "Setting oneself up (or setting up an entity) as a light unto the world, for the purpose of getting monetary gain." In other words, a person or entity sets themselves up to be recognized as the authority on a particular subject(s). They do not recognize God as the true authority on the subject, nor do they point others to God as being above all, omniscient, and the true master of the subject, one who does not and cannot lie and who does not make mistakes or vary in His thoughts and counsels regarding a particular subject. Rather than successfully pointing people to the true source of all light and truth, those who practice priestcraft set themselves up as an "Authoritative Light" for the purpose of getting monetary gain. They do not recognize God's authority but rather they jealously guard their "authoritative money-making status."

When a nation becomes full of priestcraft, as our nation is today, truth's influence on any subject becomes corrupted and weakened. Why? Because if truth is not convenient, or if it is not expedient, or in unprofitable, then liberating truth is sacrificed for high-level, profit-making schemes. Just as Babylon anciently rewrote scripture and history falsely in a manner that even now influences our thoughts, politics, and economy, so today's priestcrafts also corrupt our society within the realm they operate, and the Lord's vineyard is also affected and even corrupted to a degree.

To step out of the forrest to see us for what we have become is to recognize a nation who has too often forgotten God for profit. If we as a people will choose to be God's people and to live God's laws we have the resources to be the freest and happiest people on the face of the earth and a nation that could bless the entire earth. Only few societies have ever achieved this utopia and each has had to first overcome priestcrafts.

As they have done so, one of the first things they overcome is the need for money. Rather, they receive and give God's gifts freely, as an entire society, each lending their own gifts and talents to make a more beautiful and happy community. This is the life God intends and purposes for man and is the life that will be enjoyed by those who honor Him and who patiently call upon the Lord and recognize His hand in all things.

Consider Some Common Examples of Priestcrafts
My father was an incredible physician; he used the best knowledge he had; he studied daily to add to that knowledge, and often while working with a patient, he would excuse himself to his office to supplicate the Lord in behalf of his patient. He did not consider himself or the profession in which he worked as the supreme authority in health matters. He was merely a public servant doing his level best to help others. To best serve the public, he stayed current with science, he used good deductive reasoning, and he recognized his limitations and his need for divine help. Many physicians I have had the privilege to know are similar in this regard. Yet, most would agree that their freedom to make sound decisions is often limited by the dictates of the AMA.

The AMA, who granted my father and other physicians legal status to practice medicine, has set itself up as the authoritative light in all health matters. They jealously guard their "legal status" as the "authoritative light" and do not teach physicians how to successfully turn their patients to God in matters of health. Rather, as the medical institution progresses in its abilities to offer profitable solutions, they often overlook and even dismiss the simplest and purest solutions. Unfortunately, even though this truth is well-documented, profitable solutions continue to be peddled over God's simpler and freer solutions.

In any emergency room today, you will note computers and medical software that dictate the protocols that may be used for any given symptom. When I contemplated pursing medicine, my father warned that the utopia he enjoyed as a physician no longer exists. Dad was able to deliver babies, perform myriad surgeries, set bones, reattach severed body parts, and essentially use his divine gives to help mend bodies. Now even physicians are limited to very narrow focuses and are not allowed the freedoms my father once enjoyed.

Once a saddle-bronc rider was carted into my dad's clinic. His pelvis was split in two from having landed on the saddle horn while breaking a horse. No protocols existed for such and injury and Dad retired to his office in prayer to discuss the matter with God. He then called the local beam plant and asked for a very large C-clamp. With the C-clamp he pushed the pelvis back together. After an x-ray and a few more adjustments and another x-ray, the bones proved to be in place so that optimum healing could take place. Dad then casted the entire pelvis area including the C-Clamp. Six weeks later the cowboy was as good as new. Those were the days when docs could turn to God instead of the AMA.

This is merely an example of how priestcrafts not only set themselves up to get gain, but conspire in ways until it becomes impossible for an individual to follow God's counsels over the dictates of those who have assumed authority. The problem is that priestcrafts are so rampant, we don't even recognize them for what they are anymore; rather, we just think it is the way it is and must be, which of course is hogwash. The further we have driven God out of our conversations, the more priestcraft has taken over in nearly every area of our lives. In nearly every instance, legislation protects the economic viability of those practicing priestcrafts, rather than protect your freedom and rights as an individual.

Waste management, energy management, pest management, and nearly every aspect of our lives has been corrupted through priestcrafts, by those who seek to get gain and power over others. From Food Safty Acts that strip your rights to purchase the heirloom quality seeds you want in order to grow the foods you desire, to every facet of freedom, priestcrafts are enjoying an unprecedented heyday. Today, all an entity must do to become enriched is lobby and pay legislators to grant and legalize "authoritative" status. We've become so conditioned to this reality that most can no longer even see this has happened to us and so we accept it as normal and okay. We used to be one nation under God; today we are one nation under the AMA, or one nation under Monsanto, or one nation under the food industry, the dairy industry, and so forth, each who is protected through legislation to force us to do things their way.

True Americans vs. Those Who Practice Priestcrafts
Anyone who teaches truth and points others to God as the supreme authority and master of that truth, while at the same time doing their level best for the student, is a good and correct teacher. While teaching their level best, any rationale teacher will recognize their utter foolishness compared to God and the need for God's perfecting knowledge and influence on a subject. That's what makes great doctors such as my father and great teachers who are not controlled by the state, the feds, the unions, and so forth. This article veers a little toward politics, yet priestcraft is the art of wielding politics for personal gain.

This nation has been lifted up above all nations on earth; yet, if we do not root out and overcome priestcraft we will surely fall. As prophesied by the ancients concerning our day.

Summary

It is difficult to put our lives into context amid the errors that influence all of us and the way we think. As Babylon wrongly influenced the entire world, our present history in which we now live dominates our thoughts, perceptions, interpretations of the Lord's word, and our daily decisions. It is almost impossible to disconnect from these immediate influences in order to become self-correcting and to overcome error, even for humble seekers of Christ.

We are born into the current flow that molds and shapes us. It is rare when any person awakens and acts independent of the contemporary "current and flow." Yet, there has never been a Saint in any dispensation who has been redeemed and seen God's face, without having first recognized and made independent decisions that removed him or her from the "popular flow" in order to flow perfectly with God rather than man. Christ Himself recognized that the authorized and rightly ordained "Priestly Class" of his day had parted from pure doctrine and saving truths.

As the ancient "priestly class" we too often succumb to preaching vain, false, and foolish social doctrines and hold them up to be God's pure saving doctrines when they have no such power, regardless of popularity. We must wake up to our present history and to the "current and flow" that shapes us today. And, as we awaken, we may find we are often at direct odds with the prevailing culture and even the hierarchy of our day. Be warned that anyone who so awakens can look to the Savior for an example of the path he or she must follow. As occurred to Jesus, we too may discover there is little tolerance for anyone whose views differ from today's "accepted views." What then can we do if we desire to help preserve our nation?

Become aware of priestcraft and how it affects your every thoughts. Do you think of Zion; do you seek to build Zion; can you even conceive of a society that uses no monetary exchange, or does such a concept seem utterly unrealistic to you? You were born in a time when no one you know has ever lived in or even properly conceived what Zion truly is. To conceive it, we must first become perfect, which we cannot do until we awaken to priestcrafts and then reject and shun them from our lives. As other saints of all ages, we too must separate ourselves from that which corrupts and influences improperly.

Redemption

Some believe that receiving the Fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ means to be baptized and to receive other saving ordinances and to follow God's prophets. While each of these is required to receive of the Fullness of the Gospel, they are not the Fullness. The fullness is to walk the path of redemption in order that we might come to know and receive Jesus Christ intimately as both the author and finisher of our faith. We must pass from an initial belief and faith in Christ to come to Know Him personally.

Knowledge of the Lord begins with the covenants we make at baptism. As we remember the sacrifice of body and blood Christ made for us, and keep His Commandments, and follow Him, we qualify to be taught more perfectly by His Spirit. Through the Lord’s Spirit we come to know Him through faith, until we finally see His face, know that He is, and He then becomes the finisher of our faith, by introducing us to the Father.

Why is mere belief in Christ insufficient and why must we come to know Christ and the Father and what is this path of redemption that enables us to do just this? Let’s consider the important process that enables individuals to receive Christ as their Second Comforter and to be succored by Christ until ready to be introduced to the Father.

What follows is the process for asking questions and receiving answers directly from God; more importantly, it is the process for moving God’s power and influence from behind the veil into your physical world to shape and impact your life. It is the process for submitting your will to God's will with perfect faith in Him in order to grow unto salvation.

The process is true and faithful to any soul who will apply it, turning neither from the left hand, nor to the right hand, but going forward precisely as the Lord commands. The process begins by forsaking sins and continues with the other principles included below. This entire process is repetitive and circular. It enables a person to grow line upon line unto salvation and eternal life. Let us begin with the first step in the process:

1. Forsake Sin: The ability to easily receive God’s perfecting influence is conditioned upon cleanliness and obedience to His commandments and to revelations given to you. Cleanliness and obedience prepare us to call upon God, and to recognize, hear, and heed His voice. If we would enjoy His influence freely, we must forsake all sin, come unto Him, call upon His name, and keep His commandments. We must be worthy to easily and freely receive His perfecting influence. Uncleanliness greatly inhibits our ability to hear, receive, and act upon His voice.

2. Come Unto the Lord: What does it mean to come unto the Lord? Have you ever seen a child demand something of a loving parent? A wise parent does not respond to demands that will not serve the best interests of the child. By comparison, when a child recognizes a need and humbly approaches the parent, ready to learn, the child is then in an attitude where he/she can receive the parent's wisdom and help. If a child is determined to do things their own way, even the wisest parent is helpless to make a difference for the child until the child becomes teachable. Wise and loving parent stand ready to help a child the moment that child is ready to receive help. The phrase, “Come Unto the Lord” suggest that we prepare ourselves to be teachable and to be ready to learn from the Lord. Our intent to act upon His counsels must be real.

3. Call Upon His Name: After coming unto the Lord in such a manner, we then call upon His name in prayer and discuss, reason with, and learn from Him. There are many ways the Lord speaks to us. These range from insubstantial but real feelings and impressions, to having pure intelligence come into our minds and hearts, to hearing His voice in our minds and hearts, to being able to carry on two-way conversations with Him, to receiving visits from angels and celestial beings who are sent to teach us, to parting the veil, seeing His face, and speaking to the Lord as one man speaks with another man. The greater and more direct the revelation received, the greater responsibility we have to act upon it. By receiving revelation, without “real intent” to follow it, we bring condemnation upon ourselves and our progression ceases until we repent.

4. Receive Revelation: The universal pattern to learn truth is: Desire to know; Believe the Lord can make it known to you; ponder or think deeply and prayerfully about that which you desire and, Fast and pray over many days. Finally, you must inquire before the Lord will reveal Himself to you. Time taken with God in prayer enables you to overcome disbelief. What do you want to know, and do you believe God will tell you? As you accept become obedient to His voice, what specific help can He offer you? Belief must extend beyond hope to an assurance or certitude God will answer your prayers and provide the help you need. God hath not revealed anything to prophets, but what He will make known unto you, and even the least person may know all things as fast as he or she is able to bear them. When you ask for any blessing, be prepared to receive God’s Spirit and to act upon His voice to you.

5. Decide and Plan: As you receive revelation from God concerning those things you ask Him, begin to make decisions and plans based upon the initial inspiration received. Pay attention to your feelings as you make decisions to go forward. Do you feel uplifted and joyful with attending feelings of excitement and high adventure, or do you feel burdened and confused. Right decisions regarding how to act upon the inspirations you receive will bring peace, anticipation, excitement, and happiness, while poor decisions lead to confusion, a lack of peace, and to feeling weighed down. As you recognize right decisions, pause to imagine, see, and feel how the outcome of such decisions will shape and alter your world. See it, believe in it and as you receive God’s Spirit, impressions, visits, and visions, record them in your journal. Then, create “to-do” plans as the foundation for immediate and future action. Ask for whatsoever you need to support right decisions and right plans and move forward.

6. Act: After learning new truth and making right decisions and plans, you must act upon revelations received, or your ability to move forward will weaken and your faith will grow dormant. Be up and about and anxiously engaged in bringing your inspired plans to fruition. I received specific revelation on a Sunday; I created my plans and on Monday morning I acted with certitude and great assurance regarding those plans. I knew with certitude that all I had to do was act according to the pattern God had given me and His promises to me would be fulfilled…, and they were.

7. Share: An essential part of grounding truth within you is to share truth learned with others. Some will believe you; others will doubt you but will seek to know if what you say is true, and others yet will oppose you, criticize you, and think you foolish. This can be painful, but is intended to cause you to reflect more deeply and to learn more fully the truths you must master. Some close friends observed the apparent changes in my health that came to me as a result of following a pattern of eating God revealed to me. After sharing my experience with them, they went home and did the same thing. The mother and three of her diabetic children became free of diabetes, after determining to do as I had been inspired to do. This strengthened my faith. Since then I have seen this pattern repeated with all who covenant with God in like manner concerning their diet. Whatever it is you are commanded to do, do it, experience the blessings, and share them with others--under the following condition.

As you receive revelation from God, God alone should determine what you impart and share with others—always trust Him. Sharing the sacred with the unprepared causes damage to you and to the unprepared and turns off the conduit of revelation in your life—until you repent. Christ taught “give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under there feet, and turn again and rend you.” Remember, that it is through repentance alone one is made worthy of what is holy. The sacred is not for unrepentant dogs and will never belong to unclean, unrepentant, and unholy “swine” that are unwilling to do what is needed to qualify for the Lord’s presence.

8. Opposition: Some mocked me for what I had done; this caused me to reflect and to more fully recognize the reality of the revelation regarding diet I had received and the reality of its benefits to me, both spiritually and physically. Whenever you approach heaven and succeed in receiving revelation, you must also experience opposition. For example, Moses was transfigured and beheld God’s Glory, but then Satan came to confuse and deceive him. Through this experience Moses recognized that Satan had no glory and learned to discern between God’s glory and pretended glory. Opposition causes us to ponder and search more deeply; it is the catalyst that enables us to understand the full range of truth being taught to us and to embrace each personal revelation on any subject more fully. Recognize opposition for its important role in helping to achieve saving knowledge—by causing you to think, ponder, pray, and to learn more deeply and fully.

9. Christ-like Conduct: How we react to opposition determines whether or not we are ready to receive more light, truth, and increased faith. The Savior taught in the Sermon on the Mount that we are to pray in behalf of our enemies. The natural man shuns enemies or opposition. If we desire further revelation and help from God, then we must conduct ourselves as Christ toward those who oppose us. Love them and pray earnestly for the best possible outcomes in their lives. It is difficult when those we love criticize and think us to be deluded. However, many times, as we pray for our enemies, the very people whom we earnestly pray for come to embrace truth. One of God’s prophets prayed and taught sinful people of his day for more than 300 years. Through his patient, loving, and righteous influence they became translated. By comparison, when we are not a type of Christ toward enemies (anyone who opposes us), our hearts harden and we close heaven’s conduit in our lives until we repent. As you become a type of Christ and conduct yourself rightly toward opposition, you pass the test, secure faith, and are consequently entrusted with more light, truth, knowledge, and greater faith.

10. Repeat Pattern: God wants to bring us back into His presence; we do that by attaining sufficient knowledge through faith to part the veil and enter His presence. Inspirations received enable us to receive added faith and knowledge as we act upon those revelations. No matter how many revelations we receive; or how faithfully we act upon them, or even how Christ-like our conduct remains amidst opposition, the next step of personal growth is as if we are learning to walk all over again. It is designed by God to stretch us and to increase our faith further and to help us grow further in knowledge. As we encounter new doubts, as we will, the pathway through them is the same. We begin by calling upon the Lord with a desire to believe; we make right plans and decisions, we act in faith, and we pray for the Lord’s choicest blessings to be upon those who oppose us.

11. Earn, Establish, and Maintain Trust: Often when we receive revelations from God we initially receive seemingly insubstantial communications, but as we are faithful to the process described above, revelations change in nature according to the trust we earn with God. They progress from insubstantial but real impressions, to hearing God speak in our mind and heart, to conversing with Him, to receiving visits from angels and from celestial beings, to parting the veil to enter Christ’s presence and to receive Him as our Second Comforter. While the beginning of the path is humble by comparison, continuing in the pathway enables us to converse through the veil with the Lord. This redemptive process is the same for Saints in all dispensations and whether we seek revelation to enable greater health or for other matters, this is the ordained process for rending the veil to receive a fullness of truth in any matter under heaven.

12. Trials and Crossroads: Trials are given to us even when we seek faithfully to heed God’s voice in our lives. We must persist through our trials, even when we have no idea how we will fulfill God’s commands and expectations. Trials and opposition lead us to a broken heart and a contrite spirit. When you reach a crossroad and you are unsure what the next step is or which way to turn, remember that God answers prayers as we offer them with broken hearts and contrite spirits and with a “real intent” to follow Him. Often, while in such a spirit, we receive more than we anticipate, just as those who have heard His voice or who have been taken to a high mountain and shown marvelous things. As we increase in our ability to deal rightly with information given to us by God, He becomes more liberal in sharing information with us—however, He refrains from providing more than we can handle. Revelation given can bless, but can also work to condemn us if we are unwilling or unready to respond. For example, do not ask for improved health or any other blessing without “real intent” to heed His counsels to you.

A client had been obese for over 20 years; because of repeated failures to maintain her ideal body weight, she struggled to believe God’s dietary pattern would work for her. She came to understand that living in a manner to enjoy her best health is actually a part of a covenant she made with God as a young Christian girl. As we earnestly strive to keep our covenants with God, no matter what they are, God has promised that He will help us keep those covenants. She learned to recognize when she was struggling to eat according to God’s ordained eating pattern. She called them her crossroads and learned that if she would pause at her crossroads, share her struggles with God and ask humbly and earnestly for His help, He would strengthen and teach her. She came home from a long day at work and cried because she didn’t have the strength to make a good dinner for her family. She wasn’t even sure if she had any healthy food in the house. She recognized she was at a crossroads and asked God for help. She felt prompted to look in her refrigerator and pantry. She saw some healthful food choices; then an inspired idea came to her for combining those food choices into a healthful and tasty meal. She related to me that it took her just five minutes to make dinner and to get it on the table for her family. After dinner, each of her children told her it was the best dinner she had ever made. Persist and ask for God’s help in the crossroads! Anything of deep importance to you is of deep importance to God. Do not trivialize what is important to you. Christ taught his apostles to pray for that which they desired and it would be given. He also taught them that even their desires would be given to them from the Holy Ghost. Therefore, if you are striving earnestly to do good in your life, trust your desires and the inspirations you receive concerning them. The spirit of joy and high adventure that comes from pursuing righteous desires is a sign that your desires are of the Spirit.

13. Heed All Revelation: Revelations come in many forms; learn to recognize, revere, and respect every revelation. For example, through a dream the wise men were warned and the infant Jesus was saved from King Herod. It was Joseph’s dream that brought young Jesus back from Egypt and that warned Joseph to flee Judea to Galilee for the safety of Jesus. As we accept, heed, and act rightly upon God’s communications with us—in their myriad forms—He shares more instruction with us. To the extent we don’t act with faith, we are not accepting revelation and will receive no more revelation until we repent.

14. Certitude: As our faith is tested with each new revelation, and we learn to respond to God’s revelations without hesitation, God always helps us to accomplish what He asks of us. This leads us to gain greater confidence before Him. For example, David grew in faith as a young shepherd while defending his father’s flocks against a lion and a bear. He learned these threats were nothing when he acted with God’s strength. Because of his seasoned faith in the Almighty, when he faced Goliath, he was certain of the outcome before entering the conflict. Similarly, as you accept and respond to God’s Spirit in faith, your faith will grow by degree and you will be made ready for each new step of growth you will need to make. My client learned that now was the time for her to attain the Lord’s promised blessings of health. She, like young David, was called upon to bring God’s power from behind the veil to enable her to slay her Goliath. God’s power is brought from heaven to assist you, only as you act upon revelations received. As you approach your own Goliath as David approached his Goliath, do so with certitude. Until you confront present challenges in such a manner, you are not ready to proceed further, or to receive more light and truth. We must take the feelings, the dreams, the impressions, and the insubstantial communications from God and bring them into our physical world in which we live and act. We part the veil by applying spiritual commandments from God in heaven—here on earth. Our challenges grow in proportion to the faith we attain. It is by attaining added faith during each step of the redemptive process that we lay hold upon sufficient faith to part the veil and bring God’s power into our lives with today’s challenges. This is the heart of the process that enabled Saints from each millennium to lay hold upon sufficient faith to take up their abode with Christ while in the flesh. As you enable the process with any matter under heaven, it is the same process.

15. Endure: Trials, setbacks, and temporary failure do not mean the Lord has abandoned you. Be tenacious as you do according to the Lord’s Spirit. God never forgets a promise and as you record His promises to you in your journal, and as you persist, you will attain confidence in the promised outcomes. As we remain faithful, no seeming Goliath will prevent ultimate success. Through persistent and tenacious endurance, we become further enabled to develop into the person(s) God wants us to become.

When you choose to endure and move ahead in the face of failure, you reap dividends. Whether you are 200 pounds over weight, or are suffering from disease, or are facing a business or marriage challenge, you must look Goliath in the face and say, “He is God’s problem, not mine.” My problem is to persist in faith—without hesitation and to overcome any doubts I may come to face. Pause, as needed, to ask for help. There is an outcome of increased growth and faith associated with every commandment we keep. Attaining the faith sufficient to take up one’s abode with Christ requires enduring and overcoming apparent imminent failure. Even Christ, while on the cross, endured the temptation of apparent imminent failure before His ultimate triumph, a triumph that enables man to overcome death and to return to God.

In moments where all seems lost, hold to the promises made to you by a perfect God who cannot and does not lie. Remember that even though the heavens and earth shall pass away, His promises to you will not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled. His promises are as the nail in a sure place, and secure you to Him. The path to heaven passes through hell. Just as Christ received angels to minister to Him, after “the tempter came to him,” so too can you. Remember, the higher you reach toward heaven, the lower you will also experience, until the opposed extremes enable you to discern all that exists between the extremes of heaven and hell. Required faith to part the veil cannot be obtained by any other means. We must choose between apparent failure of our faith and best efforts, and persistence if we are to rend the veil. “The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out.” “Thy mind, O man! If thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God.” (DHC3:295; TPJS, p. 137) Both Heaven and Hell court us in our journey. These extremes alone enable us with a fullness of knowledge.

The challenges we face are customized for each of us; it doesn’t matter what our Goliath’s are; they each serve to help us grow properly. Even the experience of reaching for God’s promised blessings of health may only be attained perfectly through this process. God is uninhibited by the present stage in your life, and if you will allow Him to do so, He will use your present stage to help you prepare for the next one. Until you can endure discouragement, you are not ready to receive Him. Rising above discouragement and apparent failure is a part of the process of redemption and everyone who will be saved must pass through it. Great highs are paired with great lows. Ultimately, you must be wise enough to learn all there is to learn between the top “high” brackets and the “low” bottom brackets. You must believe that God wants you to succeed in your obedience to Him and that no creativity or effort should be spared in accomplishing the assignment. Be creative, resilient, persist and face your daily challenges with faith. This is the process that has enabled all prophets and saints to take up their abode with Christ. This process will help you do likewise.

16. Part the Veil Daily: As you act in faith according to the Lord’s Spirit, your physical world will alter dramatically through your faithful actions. As you implement the process described above, pay strict heed to the revelations and impressions you will receive. Act upon them immediately to enable greater faith and to prevent your faith from growing dormant. As you do so, you will do like David and will move aside the veil by bringing spiritual inspirations and power from heaven into your physical world, and God will quicken you to show you how to do what you’ve been asked to do. Record each such instance. The same redemptive principles you will learn from this process are the principles by which mountains are moved, seas are parted, and the dead are raised. As you master this process, nothing shall be impossible to you. As the Lord commands, you will be able to move the power of the Spirit from behind the veil into your physical world—through obedience. This pattern and process represents a shadow and type and a description of the process you are to enable each day of your lifetime. It is the formula every saint from every dispensation has employed to know God and to see His face. It teaches how faith, repentance (striving and forsaking sin), baptism (covenant making), and the Holy Ghost (God’s reciprocal covenant to us) work within us to bring the commandments of God from heaven into our physical world to render the veil and to shape our world. Only through covenants can we part the veil. As you keep your covenants, God keeps his, and His Spirit moves from heaven, through the veil to you; then, as you act upon inspiration received, God’s power and influence works to shape your world.

17. Today’s Stage for Growth: How do we know we are doing the right thing today? As you pray for that which you desire most, know that the Holy Ghost fills any clean vessel with the precise desires that are right for them today. As you strive to serve God, His Spirit will influence your desires and as you embrace them, you will find yourself on the right stage for today’s most important growth. Accept and move forward with those desires. Remember, the universal pattern for bringing heaven’s help from behind the veil into you life: Desire to know; Believe the Lord can make it known to you; ponder or think deeply and prayerfully about that which you desire and, Fast and pray over many days. Finally, you must ask before the Lord will reveal Himself to you; then, you must act upon the revelations you receive. What do you want to know, and do you believe God will tell you? Belief must extend beyond hope to a certitude God will answer your prayers. As your bowels are filled with charity and as virtue garnishes your thoughts unceasingly, you will enjoy great confidence that God will answer your prayers and the doctrines of the priesthood, or in other words God's pure knowledge, will distill upon your soul as the dews from heaven. Study and employ the universal pattern—as described above. It is the universal pattern that has been employed by everyone who comes to know God and who is redeemed from their fallen state in this lifetime. You are meant to become redeemed today, not at some point way off into the eternities. As you free yourself from sin and come unto the Lord with real intent and you call upon his name and discuss your concerns with him, his promises are sure that he will answer you. As you do his will today, tomorrow and so on, be heeding his will daily, you will come to see his face.

Too often we can become overly confused about what we should do today. Jesus taught that sufficient is the day... He was teaching us to keep things simple and to not go beyond the mark--to trust Him and call upon Him daily, to keep a prayer in our hearts at all times and to keep His Spirit with us always. Only in the present can we act according to the Lord’s voice to render the veil and to bring His power and influence into our physical world today, to help shape and mold the events of our lives and to endow us with more light and truth. We must trust His sweet and peaceful spirit and keep it with us always. As we do so, the Master will lead us just right and and will raise us up unto eternal life, just as a farmer raises up calves in a stall. It is senseless to attempt to get so far ahead of ourselves that we seek to micromanage a life that needs to be led peacefully and hourly, according to the Lord’s Spirit.


Proper Framework

Keep the following things in mind as you reflect upon the process for walking the path of redemption to receive the Fullness of the Gospel.

• Learn to keep sacred things to self unless the Spirit asks you to share and testify of the truth to others. Earn trust by sharing only what He asks you to share with whom He asks you to share it. 
• Light is received according to how swiftly it can be received. Ask, receive, trust, act, and continue to allow light to grow brighter until it is perfect. More light is received only as we tend faithfully to light already received. 
• Feeling comes before seeing, touching, or hearing. There is no veil to our feelings and we must act upon them rightfully, if we would rend the veil. 
• Focus on one hard thing at a time—whatever most hinders you most today or is directed to you by the Spirit. 
• Ask God concerning your desires with Sincere and Real intent. Ask for help to know when He is answering prayers. Unless we ask, He doesn’t give. 
• Believe in and develop faith in Christ, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, keep the commandments, and renew baptismal covenants weekly and as well as other sacred covenants that are designed help to achieve another level of faith, preparation, and cleanliness. Disassociate with the world and associate with heaven. The adoption rites of baptism and temple ordinances help restore us to God’s family or to become an heir and a member of God’s family. He visits only members of His family—not strangers and foreigners. 
• Study the scriptures to better understand the path of redemption and how to receive the Second Comforter. Scriptures help to enable a firm hope in God’s promises. 
• Become familiar with what He wants you to do and then do it. Trust and do as He says. 
• All of Christ’s intelligence came through obedience and submission to God and not through philosophy or the scientific method. He walked this path perfectly and can lead us to success upon the same path. 
• Leave sins of the past and allow Him to guide and succor. 
• Do not judge God as He elevates you to higher than you are now. Quiet fears, be still, and know that He is God. 
• Worship God alone and not His messengers. Listen and learn from His messengers, but worship and follow God alone if you desire to walk the path of redemption. 
• Believing on God’s words results in receiving manifestations of the spirit. 
• Acting upon his words results in greater faith, light, truth, and knowledge. 
• Do today what we already know is expected of us if we want to receive more light and truth. The miracle of Lazarus was restricted to bringing him back to life, not to the opening of the tomb or the unwrapping of the burial cloth. Reading the scriptures and solemn thought is akin to unwrapping the burial cloths. Do what is expected and find many answers and receive much revelation while searching the scriptures. 
• Repent of iniquity or serious transgressions. 
• Meet familial and church responsibilities before expecting to travel very far along the path of the Second Comforter. When balance is off we are more likely to fall aside rather than move in the right path. 
• Enjoy redemptive process within my dominion. Great experiences in scriptures involved obscure and private lives; Lehi was a family man; Nephi had to flee is brothers; Abraham presided over his family and servants, perhaps the size of a Relief Society. One’s personal dominion is sufficient to walk the redemptive path. 
• As you approach God on His terms and in the manner he established you will see Him. 
• There is no veil to feelings; learning is good, to the extent you are able to feel through the veil concerning all things. 
• We are tried until our hearts are broken and our spirits are contrite, and in our extremities we come to know God even better. 
• Exercise patience, humility and meekness while in the path. 
• The closer you come to God, the more you become a foreigner and stranger to others. 
• Do not deny the power of God (receive personal revelation and gifts). Qualify to know the mysteries of God by doing the following: forsake sin, come unto Him, call on His name; obey His voice; and keep His commandments (D&C 93:1). To the extent you do not receive God’s power and gifts, you deny the power thereof. 
• Humble self and be teachable and open to higher things. Call upon God to come. Live every principle He teaches me. Accept all true principles. Rely on no man to bring you to God, but upon a personal relationship with the Holy Ghost, the Savior, and with God. 

For those who have eyes to see, this pattern teaches how to receive revelation and communication from the Father and how to grow in hope, belief, faith, knowledge, charity, and in one’s relationship with God, until the faith and knowledge he or she possesses can no longer be kept within the veil.

May the Lord Bless and Be With You Always!

Mustard Seed

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed; which when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: and yet it grows, and waxes into a great tree; that fowls of the air lodge in the branches of it. If ye have the faith of a mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain; remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; or unto this sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey you; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. (Matt 13:31, 17:20, Mark 4:31, Luke 13:19 and 17:6)

Imagine that nothing is impossible to you. You can heal the sick, cause the lame to walk, give sight to the blind, succeed in business, family, love, and so forth. Now let's discuss the faith of a mustard seed and seek to understand more fully what it means to have the kind of faith where truly, nothing (that God asks of us) is impossible to us.

Now imagine for a moment that you are an intelligence who is assigned by God to a mustard seed. It is your job to grow from a mustard seed into a mustard tree. You look over the pattern for growth given within the DNA of the seed and say, "You expect me to grow from that tiny little seed into that great big thing? God says to you, "If you act faithfully according to the pattern I have established in the DNA, it shall come to pass, bit by bit, and you will progress eternally through your obedience.

Well, you think to yourself, "God cannot lie; you know also that he has the power to keep his promises and that He is good, merciful, kind, and just and that he has been from everlasting and will so be to everlasting without variableness or changing. You also know that God is omniscient and cannot make a mistake in the pattern for growth that he has provided for you within the DNA. His designs and creations are perfect. You determine to use your agency to act voluntarily and to accept your assignment to be the intelligence that is assigned to the organized matter that is known as a mustard seed. You are assured eternal progression by accepting this assignment. You know that because of God's perfect love for you, he exercises perfect judgment over you and your welfare and has not and will not ever ask anything of you that isn't for your eternal best interest.

After assuring yourself regarding the characteristics, attributes, and perfections of God you determine to exercise faith in God's commandment to multiply within the element you are assigned (the mustard seed) and you begin to act upon the organized matter within the seed, according to the pattern set forth by God within the DNA of the seed. Hence you begin to divide and multiply the seed until bit-by-bit it grows into a great tree and fowls of the air lodge in your branches singing their songs of joy, building nests, and raising their families. As you grow into a tree, certain real needs must be met in order for you to continue to multiply and grow. You have faith that God will provide the sunshine, the earth, and the water to enable you to do your task, and He does and you do. Through your experience growing from a seed into a mustard seed, you grow further in light and truth and you progress eternally according to God's perfect and loving plan for you.

We learn that the faith of a mustard seed is based upon a belief in God's characteristics, attributes, and perfections (see Faith). God doesn't lie, doesn't ask us to do something we should not do; all he asks of us is designed for our best growth, or eternal progress. We therefore can do as His Spirit commands us--with nothing doubting. We can press forward in faith with the assurance that God is mightier than all the earth and that we need only to put out best foot forward, one in front of the other--whether we are commanded to heal the sick, move a mountain, raise the dead, magnify a stewardship, visit a neighbor to extend kindness, or even to converse with the Lord through the veil. And we know that with anything He asks of us, we have a right to come to know what the pattern is that we must follow in order to accomplish the thing He asks of us. As we move forward in faith, He reveals the sacred and divine pattern of operation that makes impossible things possible.

With the faith of a mustard seed we trust implicitly in God and act according to the pattern and commandments He gives unto us through His Spirit and through his authorized servants. We know also that just as the lilies of the field toil not and spin not, our lives will be adorned beautifully as we follow God's Spirit in perfect obedience to fulfill the measure of our creation.

Just as the mustard seed's true needs are supplied by God, if we lack not faith, everything we need to complete our missions on this earth will be provided to us as we need it and as we act in faith according to divine patterns. Therefore, we are to take no thought for tomorrow, but are to act in accordance with God's commands today. We must discover the pattern by which we are to act and then act with complete certitude and assurance that our growth will be exactly according to God's perfect designs for us.

The faith of a mustard seed is perfect faith in God in every aspect of our lives. As we act in accordance with God's will and established patterns for us, we can ask and we will receive, and knock and it will be open to us. We can go forward with perfect faith knowing that God in whom we trust is mightier than all the earth and will support us faithfully.

Holiness

Man’s purpose is not only to learn the nature and kind of being God is, as discussed in the article on faith, but is then, by faithful conformity to His laws and ordinances, to progress to that high state of exaltation wherein man becomes perfect as the Father is perfect. Christ is the example of perfect faith to which we look, because through faith He became a just and holy being made perfect, possessing all the characteristics, attributes, and perfections of God. What then are the laws that govern holiness, or in other words, the path we must trod in order to acquire each characteristic, attribute, and perfection of our God? Is this not Christ’s invitation to all men? Yes!

The laws of holiness include obedience, sacrifice, gospel, chastity, and consecration. Perfection of any characteristic or attribute of Christ comes by understanding and then by applying these laws unto the perfection of the desired characteristic or attribute. For example, if you desire to become perfectly kind, as Christ is kind, the laws of holiness offer the solution to realize perfect kindness. If you apply those laws toward acquiring the attribute of perfect kindness, then you will not just strive to be kind, but will become kindness, as Christ is kindness.

Let us observe how we develop holiness or attain any perfect attribute of Christ, be it kindness, mercy, or another attribute:

1.    Obedience: Jesus taught that only through obedience to a principle do we release blessings associated with that principle unto ourselves. Obedience then, helps us to attain a measure of belief and faith in the “goodness” of a principle.

2.    Sacrifice: to experience the blessings of obedience toward a law or principle, we are required to sacrifice everything that acts in opposition to it. The law of sacrifice also suggests the Lord requires us, from time to time, to offer other sacrifices which are designed to enable us to attain faith that can be obtained in no other way. For example, Abraham’s offering his son was a supreme sacrifice that enabled him to attain sufficient faith to lay hold upon Eternal Life.

3.    Gospel (faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost): Through obedience and sacrifice we obtain a measure of faith in a principle; then, we can apply the Law of the Gospel to perfect that principle within us. Examine how this process works.

• Faith: As we place our faith in the Savior to become like Him in a particular trait (mercy, kindness, and so forth), we then begin to strive to be like Him in that thing—knowing that through His atonement we can become as He is.  
• Repentance: this is the striving process; as we link our repentance or earnest strivings to faith in Christ’s atonement, God sends His Spirit and enables His power within us. This is an ongoing process until we become perfect in that thing.
• Baptism: our baptism represents a covenant we make to God to become like Jesus and to obey God’s commandments and to follow his Spirit. When we make this important covenant (at baptism and during the partaking of the sacrament) to truly be like Jesus—to be merciful, kind, and so forth—we invoke in our behalf a powerful reciprocal covenant from God. For example, when we covenant to become perfectly kind as Jesus is kind and we earnestly strive to do so (repentance), God then pours forth his Spirit to us.
• Holy Ghost: the gift of the Holy Ghost is God’s reciprocal covenant to us wherein He has promised that as we place faith in his Son and strive to acquire any of his Son’s attributes, God will then send his Spirit to teach us more perfectly until we attain that thing. We will not be left alone to overcome the darkness within us. Rather, as we continue to strive to forsake our sins, and to continually call upon the Lord (placing faith in the Savior), and Keep God’s Commandments (follow his Spirit), then the trait we are striving for will become perfected within us. After this occurs the Holy Ghost will ratify to our soul that the attribute of Christ we were striving for is now a part of us. It has become us. If we were striving to become perfectly merciful or kind, as Christ is merciful and kind, then through the full application of the law of the Gospel, we too become perfectly merciful and kind. We no longer strive, but simply are that thing. We repeat this process to attain each of Christ’s characteristics, attributes, and perfections. This is the meaning of becoming holy. As we strive to become so, we preserve the Spirit of the Lord unto ourselves.

4.     Chastity: this is a literal law as well as shadow and type. We each have been given the gift to procreate, a gift that is bound by the Law of Chastity. If you break the law of chastity, then you adulterate your sacred gift of procreation. This gift to procreate and the law of chastity are a shadow in type in that they teach us that all of God’s gifts are to be used only within the bounds or laws in which he has authorized them to be used. Any exception to this rule results in the adulteration of a perfect gift. For example, if you were to receive the gift of perfect kindness through the exercise of obedience, sacrifice, and the law of the gospel, perfect kindness would then be a gift to you as much so as the gift to procreate. You would then be at liberty to create more kindness in the world—so long as you do not exceed the bounds God has attached to the gift of kindness. For example, if you were to use kindness to obtain illegal or unlawful gain from another, this would be an adulteration of the gift. Each characteristic and attribute of Christ that you attain to is a pure gift from God. You are then to create more of this gift in the world, but you are to do so—within the bounds the Lord has set.

5.     Consecration: once you receive any perfect gift from God, such as kindness, and you begin to create more kindness in the world through your service to others, you then become a light that attracts others to you. As this occurs, you are to share with them the source from whence your light comes and to turn others fully to Christ. As you turn others fully to Christ—who alone is the author and finisher of their faith and salvation—you fulfill the Law of Consecration, to consecrate your gifts, to the building of the Lord’s Kingdom and toward the establishment of of the pure utopian city, even Zion, wherein their are no rich or poor and where everyone’s gifts and talents are counted as sacred blessings and gifts of Zion.

Pursuing the path of Holiness is the only means by which we can preserve the Spirit of the Almighty unto ourselves. For as we keep the laws of holiness—obedience, sacrifice, gospel, chastity, and consecration—we also keep sacred covenants with God. He, in turn, keeps His covenant with us, to send His Spirit to strengthen us, comfort us, guide us, and to teach us more perfectly the things of the Kingdom. Through His Spirit we are then made perfect.  As we increasingly think and act like Jesus, the attributes of the natural man slip away and are replaced by the heart and the mind of Christ. This is to know Christ--to become as He is.

And as we earnestly strive to become like Him, if we remain clean and continue to obey His voice and His commandments, along the way we will attain sufficient faith and earn sufficient trust that we will be enabled to part the veil and to converse with the Lord Jesus Christ—who will then enable us to finish our faith. This blessing does not require our perfection, but proof that we are fully on the path and will never depart from it. After we enter His presence, as the finisher of our faith, the Savior may require an extraordinary sacrifice, as he did with Abraham, which will be designed to enable us with sufficient faith to lay hold upon Eternal life, and to then be invited or introduced by the Savior into the presence of the Father. Anyone who is so introduced is then ordained with great power and becomes an eternal member of the family of God. This is what it means to see God’s face and to receive eternal life.

Summary

Faith is the primary cause of action among all intelligent beings. We are excited to action with the assurance or hope for a desired outcome. As a principle of action, faith excites us toward the attainment of temporal or physical needs such as food, water, shelter, an avocation, and to the attainment of knowledge and intelligence.

Faith is also a principle of power. Through God’s word the worlds were framed and created. Because of God’s characteristics, attributes, and perfections, He has gained the trust, respect, and obedience of the organized intelligences and they will do as He asks with an assurance or faith that their obedience leads to their eternal progression. Through faith in Christ we can invoke God’s power in our lives today, as have countless saints and prophets who have lived on this earth.

Moreover, we can become independent in our faith and power, as Christ and the Father are independent in their faith—through the laws of holiness. To become as the Father and the Son, is to be saved or exalted; it is eternal life. The surest thing we can do to insure Eternal Life is to get and keep the Spirit of the Lord! With His Spirit, we gracefully move down the path of redemption, without having to over-think things. To receive His Spirit we must forsake sin, call upon the name of the Lord, and obey the Lord’s Spirit and commandments. By so doing we will see Christ’s face and enter into His presence where He will be the Second Comforter to us and will be the finisher of our faith and salvation, unto the receiving of Eternal Life.

Compiled from three primary sources: Lectures on Faith (by Joseph Smith Jr.), Meaning of the Atonement (by Cleon Skousen), and What Grandfather Taught About the Law of Holiness (by David Alma Christensen).