Discipleship

I don't normally post anything that others have written, but this is something that is a gift from God to help me in my quest of becoming a disiple of Jesus Christ. It's what I've been seeking for awhile. My wife sent it to me this morning (she's my angel). I sure hope it inspires others, as it has me, to become disciples of Christ and take the Holy Ghost as their guide.

Doing less – Being more
September 29, 2011 by John M. Pontius

I would like to speak to the brethren for a moment. Being a male, and being endowed with the full range of the weaknesses of guy-ness, I want to issue a call to reach further than we are.

Brethren, for many years, I took a lot of license because I was so busy, both with my profession, with the church – and with family, that I excused myself from the heavy lifting of creating profound righteousness in my own life and soul. I just figured there is only so much a mortal can do, and focused upon those things I could lay my hands, touch and turn with a wrench. I don’t want you to misunderstand – I was very active in the church, working in every way for family and home, and doing a lot of cooking, cleaning and dishes to be a good husband.

It took a tragedy in my life to realize that I was avoiding the most important thing of all. When the tragedy came, I was not prepared to call down constant revelation for the solution, to get immediate answers to my prayers, and to work miracles in my world. I was handicapped spiritually. I had been so busy doing righteous things, that I had failed to become righteous.

It was during this and subsequent crises that I began to spend hours on my knees (precious hours I usually needed for sleep) in deep, mighty, pleading prayer. It was at that time that I began to fast whenever prompted (usually during demanding times at work, when I knew it could only harm my job performance). It was then that I realized I had been “doing” the gospel, and “doing” my family, and “doing” my marriage without much inspiration or feeling. I was using the same determination to do a good job I had learned in the hayfields and corn rows of my youth, to do a good job at my adult life.

Eventually, I gave it up. I realized I could no longer “do” everything and be everything for everyone. I laid down that yoke of perfect “doing” with a broken heart, realizing I had failed, and over a period of years, I learned to take upon myself  Christ’s yoke, through obeying His voice, and to serve Him, instead of myself.

And, guess what – he told me to get up each morning and go to work, just as before. But, this time I went in His name, with his guidance, and it was a joy instead of drudgery. Jesus Christ sent me on my Church assignments, but they were guided now by revelation and power, and I felt the full joy of Christ as I served Him – where I had been serving the church, or my fellowman, or something else before.

I was a better husband, a better daddy, and a better man – but more than that, I was a disciple of Christ. I had learned to quit “doing” my life, and just walk in Christ’s driving grace, and all of these other things, things which I had laid down, things wherein I had failed to fully “do” everything I knew I must – Christ did them with my hands, and they were all done in a way that blessed everyone I touched.

Shortly after that Christ asked me to write a book about that journey – I obeyed, but with a great sense of inadequacy, but it was His work, and the book is still in print 18 years later.

I don’t even claim to have been perfect in anything, only obedient, or as obedient as my ongoing imperfections allow – but it has been enough to make my life a joy, and the things I used to “do”, His voice now leads the way to His glory, not mine.
I find I like it that way.

Brethren, my hope is only this, that we can stop “doing” so much, and “become” in Christ, men of God whose word moves mountains and raises the dead, because I suspect the time is approaching when these things must be – long before we will see them coming and have time to prepare.

If you lack a place to start, here are a few ideas:
-Stop believing you can “do” it all – because sooner or later, you will find you can’t.
-Listen carefully for the Holy Spirit to lead you, and walk with courage in that light.
-Fast every time you are prompted, no matter how hard or inconvenient it may seem.
-Pray a minimum of 20 minutes a day, and longer when prompted. Learn to pray while the Holy Spirit is guiding you. This is the gateway to miracles, angelic visitations and promised blessings.
-Open the scriptures again, and study them, search them, read them by subject, mark them, write in your journal about them, and pray over every concept. Don’t read them sequentially, from beginning to end, let the Holy Spirit show you each day where to read.

Brother John

WICKED!

As I was praying this morning it occurred to me what "wicked" means. I read in the Doctrine and Covenants the other day: "thou deliveredst up that which was sacred into the hands of a wicked man," (D&C 3:12) This was the Lord telling Joseph Smith where he went wrong in letting Martin Harris have the 116 pages of the Book of Mormon that he had translated. Martin Harris is one of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon -- so how is he a "wicked man?"

From Mr. Harris' point-of-view he was only doing what he needed to do. Here a wealthy man is spending a great deal of his time with this "prophet" translating a "secret" book from "golden plates." His wife is wondering what he's up to, and doesn't believe his story. He needs some proof. Not only that, she's getting upset that he's spending his money on this "prophet" (her money too). He needs something to show her what he's doing. He reads the words of the manuscript and believes them so he assumes she would as well. "All I need is to show her what we're doing..." he begs Joseph. He felt he needed that proof so his wife would allow him to continue doing the work. However, the Lord knew otherwise.

Wickedness is simply doing what I want, instead of what the Lord wants. If I am seeking and doing my will, I am, by definition, wicked. It doesn't matter what that is. If I am feeding the hungry, giving money to the poor, or otherwise serving my fellow-men, but it isn't the will of God, rather my own desires, then I'm still a wicked man.

On the other hand, righteousness is doing the will of God. When I'm doing His righteous will, I'm righteous. A good example is Nephi, a young man who had never taken a life, who was told by the Lord to kill Laban. He didn't want to, it's wrong to kill, it's against the commandment. However, it was the will of God so it was right. Nephi was a righteous man; he said, "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7) He did the will of God in all things.

Martin Harris had to repent before the Lord would let him see the plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. When he had given his own will over to the Lord, he was able to fulfill his mission to testify to the world forever that he had seen the plates, they were real, and Joseph Smith had them. (see the "Testimony of Three Witnesses" in The Book of Mormon)  In turning his will over to the Lord, he became a righteous man.

 

This makes perfect sense, but begs the question, "How do I know when I'm doing the will of God?" "How can I know if whatever I think and say and do is just my own desires?" I must repent. The sacrifice of a "broken heart and a contrite spirit" is to give up my will, and turn to the Lord. To repent of all my sins, means to have turned my will completely over to the Lord, to indeed make Him my Lord.

The beginning steps are simple:

1. Have faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, that He can change my heart, and make me clean. Trust in Him, that His way is better than my own.

2. Repent of all my sins, doing only the will of God, keeping the commandments.

3. Make a covenant to serve God, doing only His will, at all times through baptism by immersion

4. Receive the Holy Ghost, which will tell me what is the will of God so I can become righteous and holy.

The way is narrow, and straight as an arrow. There is no other way -- any missing step prevents righteousness:

4. Without the Gift, or constant companionship of the Holy Ghost I cannot know the will of God and therefore could never be a righteous man.

3. Without baptism by immersion for the remission of sins I could never have the Holy Ghost.

2. Without repentance baptism is of no value because I could never have my sins remitted.

1. Without faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, I cannot repent.

I also have a mission to perform while in this tabernacle of clay; there is something that is uniquely mine to do. I will not be able to do it unless I repent of my sins and receive the Holy Ghost so that I can know the will of the Lord in all things. "All" means "all" and "all" is all "all" means. If I am ever doing my will and not the will of God, then I am still a wicked man. I will follow Jesus when He said, "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." (John 6:38) This is, by definition, righteousness.

Worthiness

One of the interesting traditions in the Church of Jesus Christ is the concept of worthiness. Before any ordinance is performed, priesthood conferred, ordination made, or calling advanced, the person is interviewed by someone in authority to determine if they are worthy. I have always thought this was a mere formality because nobody is ever really worthy, in the sense of deserving, to receive any blessings, callings, or gifts. This makes me wonder about what it means to be worthy.

Using the definition of "worthy" to mean, "meritorious," "deserving," or "virtuous," I don't think anyone is ever worthy of salvation, or any blessing. Jesus Christ has paid the price so how could anyone merit anything? I have felt the problem that on my own I can never be worthy of any gift from God in the sense of deserving. I cannot earn the gift of the Holy Ghost. I cannot earn gifts of the Spirit or a place in Heaven, it's impossible. Therefore, I could never be deserving of even the least blessing. This would make all blessings from God arbitrary. For this reason, the sense of being worthy to receive a blessing was an enigma to me.

However, another meaning in the Scriptures of the word "worthy" is "ready," or "prepared." These words are often used interchangeably. When I am worthy to receive knowledge, wisdom, or some gift it means I have the proper preparation to receive it. When I am worthy to go to the Temple, it means I'm prepared. Worthy for baptism means ready for baptism. The interview by the bishop or other authority is only an opportunity to review my preparation or readiness to move on to the next step on the path to Eternal Life. For me, this concept of "readiness" sheds a whole new light on the issue of worthiness.

Commandments are blessings

In the Doctrine and Covenants we read: "There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated --

And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (D&C 130:20-21)

I think the key words here are "all" and "any." I cannot receive any blessing without keeping the law -- all blessings must be received by obeying the law upon which it is based. In other words, there are no arbitrary blessings from God. He doesn't randomly hand out blessings to those he believes are trying. If I don't keep the law, I will not get the blessing. If I keep the law, I will get the blessing. Thus, being worthy of a blessing is simply keeping the law that governs it. It's the law, then, that prepares me to receive a blessing, making me worthy to receive it.

This being true, a knowledge of the laws is the key to all blessings. When I desire a blessing, and pray to God for Him to bless me, I will be given the knowledge I need. However, in order to receive it, I must keep the law. "For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing." (Moroni 7:22) Every good thing comes from Christ. Angels are sent to minister to men, meaning to teach them about Christ, and how they can receive every blessing from God. Thus, knowledge is essential to receiving any blessing because ignorance cannot help me to be blessed. This is why "It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance." (D&C 131:6)

Receiving blessings

Moroni tells us about the ordinance of baptism in the ancient Church in America. "And now I speak concerning baptism. Behold, elders, priests, and teachers were baptized; and they were not baptized save they brought forth fruit meet that they were worthy of it." The next part tells us what makes them worthy: "Neither did they receive any unto baptism save they came forth with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and witnessed unto the church that they truly repented of all their sins. And none were received unto baptism save they took upon them the name of Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end." (Moroni 6:1-3)

This goes right along with the third commandment: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." (Exodus 20:7) Baptism is taking upon ourselves the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. If we are not prepared to make that commitment to "serve Him to the end" by repenting of all our sins then we should not take His name at all because it is not helpful -- it is vain, or useless -- we will not be cleansed, forgiven, or become guiltless.

Worthiness is knowledge

Being worthy to receive gifts from God, then, is as simple as learning and keeping the law that governs it. For example, if I want to be cleansed from all sin I need to repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost. If I want to "open the windows of Heaven" then I need to keep the law of tithing and offerings. I have often heard those who are called to some position of authority in the Church state in front of the congregation that they are not worthy to hold an office or perform a calling, but they are willing to do what they can. The law of being worthy to do the work of the Lord is desire. In the D&C we read: "if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work." (D&C 4:3) That's all it takes! The keeping of the law makes me "worthy," or prepares me to receive the gift.

The ministering of angels is so important because angels, or servants of God, teach people the laws so we can receive blessings from God. The Scriptures also take on greater meaning and importance when we realize that the laws of God are contained in them that allow us to know how to receive blessings. By keeping the commandments of God we prepare ourselves to receive the gifts He has waiting for us. This is how we make ourselves worthy. Worthiness is as simple as repenting and obeying a well-defined law. We know we are worthy to receive any blessing from God when we are able to keep the commandment that governs the blessing.