This week I started to work on my Becoming Project - A Christlike Attribute
I have chosen to study Obedience by studying the April 2018 General Conference Talks and noting principles and doctrines, and anything I should be doing or being obedient to.
The Bible Dictionary says "In a spiritual sense, obedience is doing God’s will." General Conference is where we can hear the Lord's word and will through His prophets, and so I will be studying the talks in detail to look for where I can be more obedient and know what I should be obedient to.
Personal Journal – Week 1
I enjoyed learning more about scripture
study skills, and I went back to this week’s readings to apply the
“substitution” skill to a couple of scriptures that impressed me. By doing this
I felt a more personal application to the scripture.
In Moses 1:20, I chose to substitute my
name to say, “Echo began to fear exceeding; and as she began to
fear…Nevertheless, calling upon God, she received strength.”
I could feel times when I have feared and
when the Lord has rescued from feeling completely distraught and comforted me
by the peacefulness of His spirit.
In Moses 5: 12, 14-15, I substituted the
scripture “Grant and Echo blessed the name of God, and they made all things
known unto their sons and their daughter.”
It was interesting to ponder how
substituting our names not only made it sound personal it helped me understand
my responsibility as a parent and how important it is to be grateful for the
blessings our Heavenly Father gives us. We are not alone in this life. My
husband and I have adult children who still need us and we need the Lord’s help
to live good examples.
Our First parents,
Adam and Eve, left their example of teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to
their children. They “made all things known unto their sons and their
daughters.” They shared their testimonies of the gospel, and their experiences.
I thought about how important this principle is, and how we need to share our
testimonies with our children. Although I didn’t hear my mom bear her
testimony, I knew she had a testimony, however, I know the spirit testifies to
my children and others when I share my testimony formally and informally.
Family and friends need to know our struggles, and to feel of our surety in the
faith we have in our Savior. Our children need to see us pray, and
resolve our challenges by praying, fasting, reading the scriptures, attending
the temple, and serving. Our children gain strength by our examples and
testimony in Christ.
In verse 14, I learned
the Lord reaches out to us through the power of the Holy Ghost, and we can
repent and turn towards our God for correction, and strength. Verse 15 teaches
that our faith in Christ, and our repentance is necessary to keep the Holy
Ghost as our constant companion, and guide. Faith in Christ and repentance is
the formula for our discipleship.
Scripture:
Moses 1:20
And it came to pass
that Moses began to fear exceedingly; and as he began to fear, he saw the
bitterness of hell. Nevertheless, calling upon God, he
received strength, and he commanded, saying: Depart from me, Satan, for
this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory
Scripture: Moses 5:12, 14 - 15
12 And Adam and Eve
blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and
their daughters.
14 And the Lord God
called upon men by the Holy Ghost everywhere and commanded them that they
should repent;
15 And as many as
believed in the Son, and repented of their sins, should be saved; and as many
as believed not and repented not, should be damned; and the words went forth
out of the mouth of God in a firm decree; wherefore they must be fulfilled.
Finding Principles - Week 1
Finding
Principles Genesis 1-3; Moses 1-4
1. Scripture: Moses 1:11
But now mine own eyes
have beheld God; but not my natural, but
my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not
have beheld; for I should have withered and died in
his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face,
for I was transfigured before him.
Principle: This scripture teaches me that in order
to see spiritually we need to use our spiritual eyes. The Holy Ghost allows us
to see what our Heavenly Father desires us to see and for us to learn things of
the spirit. We need to prepare to learn spiritually by putting off the natural
man, and be obedient by following the covenant path.
2. Scripture: Moses 2:27
And I, God, created
man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him;
male and female created I them.
Principle: We are created in the image of our
Heavenly Father, and we are His literal son’s and daughter’s. I pondered the
word image and looked it up in the dictionary. Dictionary.com defines image as
“a
representation of the external form of a person or thing in art.” We are
created in God’s image and we are to become like Him internally as well as our
physical bodies. As we follow our Savior, Jesus Christ, and use His Atonement
we change inside and develop Christ-like characteristics.
Finding
Principles Genesis 4-11; Moses 5-7
1. Scripture: Moses 5:5-6
5 And he gave unto
them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should
offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam
was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.”
6 And after many days
an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices
unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.”
Principle: Three words impress me about this
scripture, commandments, sacrifice, and obedience. The Lord did not just cast
off Adam and Eve, He gave them a pattern to follow that they would be able to
have joy and return to His presence. It takes sacrifice from worldly things to
be obedient. There comes a point where you can feel the blessings of being
obedience. We make sacrifices to show obedience, love and trust in our Savior
and His plan. Adam exemplifies how when we may not have a full understanding of
the why’s we stay on the covenant path. We trust in our Heavenly Father and
follow the Savior and His prophet.
2. Scripture: Moses 5:10-11
10 And in that day
Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the
families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my
transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again
in the flesh I shall see God.
11 And Eve, his wife,
heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression
we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and
the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the
obedient.
Principle: In verse 10, I am impressed with the
hope Adam has in Heavenly Father’s plan, and the joy he feels. Likewise in
verse 11, Eve expresses joy and thankfulness and both of them see the positive
rather than looking at the future with regret. They choose gratitude, and to
have hope in the Saviour’s Atonement and hope to be reunited with Heavenly
Father together. I thought of a quote from the conference talk, The Infinite
Power of Hope given by President Uchtdorf in October 2008
“Hope is a gift of the
Spirit. It is a hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the power
of His Resurrection, we shall be raised unto life eternal and this because of
our faith in the Savior. This kind of hope is both a principle of promise as
well as a commandment, and, as with all commandments, we have the
responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and overcome the
temptation to lose hope. Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of
happiness leads to peace, mercy, rejoicing, and gladness. The hope of salvation
is like a protective helmet; it is the foundation of our faith and an anchor to
our souls.”
Hope is an essential
part of living the gospel of Jesus Christ. We go through challenges, crisis,
and dark times and Adam and Eve give us the example of how to manage through
these particularly difficult earthly experiences. They knew tragedy, and chose
to have hope in Christ. It has been 2 years since my mother who was terminally
ill passed away. It has been hope in Christ, and His Plan of Salvation that has
sustained me. I have hope through the Atonement of Christ, and know I will be
able to see my parents again. The Savior's plan is a plan for families. To heal
us all, and reunite us together.
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