Instructions about the Holy Ghost

Choice 2: John 14-16- The Savior's Instructions about the Holy Ghost

The role of the Holy Ghost:

• Teach us the mysteries of heaven
• Testify of Christ
• Protect us from evil influences
• Protect us from physical dangers
• Comfort us when we are sad
• Guide us when we are lost
• Cleanse us of sorrow and guilt
• Correct us when we are doing things wrong
• Allows us to receive personal revelation
• Help us share the gospel with others

John 14:15-17- The Holy Ghost is the Comforter and the Spirit is truth


John 14:26-27- The Holy Ghost teaches truth, and helps you remember things of God. The Spirit brings peace and comfort during times of trial


John 15:26-27- The Holy Ghost is sent to testify of Jesus Christ so we can bear witness of the Savior as well


John 16:7-8- The Holy Ghost is sent to be a messenger of the Lord. The Spirit is here to correct us and chastise us so we can repent of our sins.


John16:13-14- The Spirit of the Lord is here to guide us in truth and righteousness. The Spirit glorifies God.


After Christ left the earth the disciples were given the Holy Ghost to allow them to perform miracles and teach the gospel. They were able to learn from the Spirit on what to say and do to testify of Christ. They were able to be used in the hands of the Lord because they followed the promptings of the Spirit.


Having the Spirit in my life is everything to me. When I lose the Spirit, my life feels empty and lonely. When I don't have the Spirit guiding me I feel vulnerable to the temptations of Satan, I am depressed and I lose hope. I love that I get to work to have the Spirit in my life. I know when I read the scriptures daily and say my prayers the Spirit can guide me even more through my life.

The New Commandment

The New Commandment

                                                                                     

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye  love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

How do we love one another?

 serve 

teach

offer rides

listen

hug

laugh

clean

have patience

say kind words

mow their yard

cook dinners

babysit

I think when we find ways to serve others we are acting as God's hands to touch people's lives. When we love one another we help others feel God's love for them through our actions. I think praying to be an instrument in God's hand everyday we will be giving opportunities for God to bless us and others.

If we see someone being teased for the way they are dressed, we should find good things to say about them and help the others see the person in a new light. I think by saying good things about someone while they are being picked on will help the bullies change without being ridiculed themselves.

When we see a new person at church we should never assume they have friends and they don't fellowship from you. We should always go up to them and welcome them to church and ask if they need any help or directions to a class. We can also offer to sit with them and begin to ask them about themselves.

When we serve others we are putting our own desires and comforts aside to make sure others feel loved and wanted.

Prepare Now for the Coming of Christ

Prepare For The Lord and The Second Coming



Signs of the Times

• False prophet and people trying to deceive the followers of Christ
• Wars ans rumor of wars
• Earthquakes
• Famines
• kingdoms rise against kingdoms
• families will turn against each other

Take Heed:

• You will be delivered up and beaten and persecuted for what you believe
• Watch and pray for we don't what time He will come
• Remember the scriptures

Christ has come before and He has promised that He will come again, it is our responsibility to gather our preparation for His arrival. We have to prepare now and not procrastinate our days with addictions, games and depression. We need to take advantage of the time given to us here on earth. No one can gather your oil  for you, you have to gather your own oil for your lights for when Christ comes to welcome those followers back into His presence.You can deny it all you want but it is happening soon or later.

The Widow's Mite

Choice 5: Mark 12:41-44 “ The Widows Mites”

The significance of the widows gift was that she was willing to give all she had to show her devotion to the Lord.  She did not give very much in comparison to the wealthier people. When the Lord noticed how much she gave, he gathered his disciples around to teach them how a real follower of Christ should act. The widow not only gave when she could not afford it but she gave all she had.

As members of Christ’s church we need to be willing to give all of ourselves to the will of the Lord. The widow was living the way the Savior taught by living a law of sacrifice. The rich men were giving a portion of what they had with no burden or worries of the future. This widow gave in faith that she would be provided for and her needs would be taken care of by the Lord. We have to be willing to sacrifice!

Here are some ways that as members of the church can donate all our living:

·         Be strong enough to stand for truth and righteousness

·         Give service even if it is not convenient

·         Give more fast offering

·         Keeping all the commandments and counsels from the prophets

Parables that teach Eternal Truths

Luke 16:19-31 - " The rich man and Lazarus"                                                                                

 This parable is about service, love and charity. While the rich man was alive he did not help anyone and he had no compassion on Lazarus. Lazarus was suffering and hungry and the rich man did not give him anything to eat. Both of these men died and Lazarus was comforted in the arms of the Abraham and the rich man was tormented because of the decisions he made in his life.
I think one noble thing the rich man did was thinking about his brothers still on earth that needed to be warned of what was to come.
He wanted to appear to them and warn them, Abraham said that his plan would not work. If they wouldn't listen to the prophets they won't listen to a resurrected being either.

I think the moral of this story is to teach us to prepare now. We need to give of ourselves in this life so we can have comfort and peace in the next life.
I think if we can give of our money, time and love in this life we will only have joy and peace when we stand before God at the judgement day.

Luke 17:11-19- "The Ten Lepers"

God heals many people and He blesses people everyday.  Some of these people see that it is God healing them and others don't see God's hand in their lives even though they are receiving blessings everyday. I think for us to be made whole like this leper that gave praise we need to thank God everyday for the blessings He gives us.

Luke 18:9-16- "The Pharisee and the publican"

If we become self-righteous and judge others for what they are not doing right we start to damn ourselves. If we think we are better then others because we keep more of the commandments we are only digging a hole for ourselves.
I suffer with this because I expect too much from other Latter-day Saints, I expect everyone to be obedient and it makes me upset seeing people break the honor code. I know I am not perfect and I should not judge people, but this is something I need to work on everyday.

Being a disciple of Jesus Christ

Drop your nets and follow Christ

What does it take to be a disciple of Jesus Christ?

• Faith 
• Diligence
• Not making excuses to follow God
• Willing to give up your sins and comforts
• Loving God more than anyone or anything
• Loving others and having charity in our heart and  actions
• Strength to choose the right no matter what
• Courage to testify of Christ
• Humility - having the desire to learn from God, through revelation and the scriptures
• Virtue- having clean hands and a clean mind
• Willing to repent of your sins daily and striving to become better every passing day
• Willing to give up worldly possessions, status and money
• Willing to give your life for God

 Following Christ is not always easy but it is worth it. God is aware of everything I do and He blesses me so much more than I deserve. This is long list and sometimes I want to focus on a couple things at a time. This week I have to chose to work on my humility. I need to be more humble and open for personal revelation through the Spirit. I want to learn more from the scriptures and I want to feel God's presence in my everyday life. I know when I am prideful He struggles to communicate with me. I want an open signal from God and I know I have to do my part.

Being a true disciple of Christ we must give up all of ourselves to serve Him. We must serve with all our heart mind and strength, only then will we see the miracles come into our lives. We must drop our nets and follow Him.

Become as little Children

Choice 3: Matthew 18:1–14. “Become as Little Children”  What are the attributes of a child?

Children are young and fragile. They are easily taught, they observe everything around them. Children strive to have the love and approval of their parents. They want to be comforted and loved by their parents. Children love talking and being with their parents. Children just want to be noticed and loved by their parents.

Heavenly Father is our parent and we should feel this way towards Him and Jesus Christ.

Matthew 18:3-4 states " ... Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Realizing we are God's little children, we can understand our role in this life.We should strive to seek His approval and love. We should feel bad when we break His rules. We need to realize also that we don't know everything and we need His knowledge and wisdom to teach us and guide us. As children of Heavenly Father we should never want to leave His side. I know He is sad when we disobey Him or don't talk to Him. He loves us and wants us to have a close relationship with Him. We should love our Heavenly Father so much that we would be sad if He left us alone.
Being converted means to change they way you live your life. Change your heart, change your mind to think of spiritual things, and changing your actions to be in line with God's will. Without this you can not live in Heavenly Father's presence.

Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-18- 17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are ^alittle children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you; 18 And ye cannot ^abear all things now; nevertheless, be of good^bcheer, for I will ^clead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the ^driches of ^eeternity are yours.

I don't have children yet but when I do I am going to do everything I can to protect, teach and guide them in their lives. I want them to be happy and safe, spiritually and physically. I will love them and always help them achieve their righteous goals.This is what Heavenly Father wants for us as well. He wants us to be humble so He can teach and guide us in this life.

Walking on the Sea

 Matthew 14:22-33

When they first saw Christ walking on the water they thought He was a Ghost and were terrified. Immediately Christ reassured them that it was Him,their Savior.

  When Peter was comforted he asked Christ to allow him to walk on the water towards Him. Peter wanted to show Christ that he had faith in Him. Peter had faith and stepped out of the boat and walked on the water. Peter's faith was strong as long as he kept his eyes on Christ. The moment Peter looked away he began to fear because of the storm around him. When he saw the waves and winds all around he started to doubt, that is when he began to sink into the water. 

Peter cried out to the Lord for help and Christ did not hesitate, He immediately saved his friend from drowning in the deep water. 

As followers in Christ we want to show our faith in Jesus Christ but sometimes obstacles distract us and cause us to sink into despair and doubt. This is when we need to call out for Christ help. I know He will always be there to help us and save us. I think we can all learn from Peter's experience. We have to remember that no matter what is around us, we have to keep our eye single to the glory of God.

Doctrine and Covenants 88:67 states that if we have an eye single to the glory of God we will be filled with the Spirit (light). When we have this light we have no desire to do evil (darkness)and evil can not be found in us. Having this "light" we will be able to understand all things even the mysteries of heaven.

Parables of Jesus Christ

Matthew 13: 24-48 The Lord Often Taught with Parables

One of the teaching methods that Christ used was telling stories and using parables to teach heavenly principles.  Receiving knowledge of the spirit is a gift from God and not everyone is prepared to accept this gift. The requirements for understanding these stories is having a humble heart and being in tuned with the Holy Ghost. The bible dictionary explains why Jesus taught in this way " It was to veil the meaning. The parable conveys to the hearer religious truth exactly in proportion to his faith and intelligence; to the dull and uninspired it is a mere story, “seeing they see not,” while to the instructed and spiritual it reveals the mysteries or secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Thus it is that the parable exhibits the condition of all true knowledge. Only he who seeks finds."

Parable of the Tares

 24 ¶Another p put he forth unto them, saying, The^bkingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good ^cseedin his field:

 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed ^atares among the wheat, and went his way.

 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.30 Let both grow together until the ^aharvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together ^bfirst the tares, and bind them in bundles to ^cburn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

I feel this parable has to do with living in a world of good and evil. We have to stay strong until the day of harvest. We have to keep the commandments so we will not be separated into the tares and be burned in the fire. This is teaching people to separate themselves before the judgment day and not be confused with the evil in the world.

Parable of the Mustard Seed

   The mustard is so small but grows into such a big tree. I think this is a parable that can be taken in 2 different ways. It can be applied to our personal faith in the Jesus Christ and the Gospel as a whole. Our faith starts off small and it doesn't take much faith to believe in Jesus Christ. If you give Christ just a small chance to make a change in your life He can perform miracles. All you need is a tiny seed of faith and great miracles can happen through the power of the Atonement.
  The other way this parable can be understood is that the church started off so small and has grown very quickly over the past 180 years. The church now covers the world and is growing every year. The work of the Lord can not be stopped and that is evident through the growth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.


Parable of the Net

47 ¶Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and ^agathered of every kind: 48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. 49 So shall it be at the ^aend of the world: ^bthe angels shall come forth, and ^csever the wicked from among the ^djust...

               I relate this paprable to missionary work. Thousands of missionaries are sent out all over the world  to gather the elect into the Gospel. Thousands of people join the church every year. Unfortunately, not everyone stays faithful to the covenants they have made and they fall away. I feel this parable is talking about all the people that are gathered by missionaries and only a few are faithful and only endure to the end. I also feel it is speaking of the judgement day of the Lord. We have to be  prepared and faithful so we can be chosen to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for eternity.

Pearl of Great Price

This parable is about a merchant that found a pearl of great price. This merchant instantly knew the worth of this pearl and gathered all he owned to buy this pearl. I think this is a beautiful parable. The pearl of great price represents eternal life, we as latter-day Saints should know the worth of having eternal life. Are we willing to give up all we have to in order to receive this gift from God? Are we willing to give up all our sins to have the gift of the Holy Ghost? If  not , I don't thing we see or understand  the worth of eternal life and salvation. What are you willing to give up for the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

The Sermon on the Mount

The sermon the mount were teachings that Jesus Christ wanted to clarify and explain to those that were willing to follow Him. At this time people were keeping the commandments and living by the law of Moses. Jesus Christ came to the people with new commandments, new laws to live by. When He gave this sermon He spoke in parables, He did this so that those with a willing and open heart could understand the teachings from Heaven. Those that did not understand these new commandments were not yet ready in their hearts to receive guidance from Heavenly Father. The Chapter that I am going to mention is Matthew 5.

                                                                               



  He starts off by defining who will be blessed and what they will be blessed with. Those who are poor in spirit shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. He using the worldly words such as "poor" and "kingdom". The natural man thinks of temporal things such as money so Jesus Christ uses words that we will understand with our natural mind but we have to  listen with our spirits. Those that are poor in spirit will become rich. Being lowly of heart and beggars of forgiveness and mercy is what kind of poor I think Jesus is referring to.


                  He speaks of those that hunger for righteousness, he says they will be filled. If people want to have Jesus Christ in their lives and they strive to follow Him, he is going to teach them and guide them. One that brings comfort to those that are persecuted and killed for Christ's sake, they will inherit the kingdom of heaven. Those that fight for Christ know that they are fighting for the right and they can not lose.                                                                  
  A light set on a hill can not be hid. If we have the knowledge of the Savior we need to get out there and share it. We need to be missionaries and share the blessings of the Gospel with the whole world. This is now a commandment give by Jesus Christ. He is telling us to do what He is doing by opening our mouths and being good example and sharing through service and actions.
                  He also addresses the topics of adultery and marriage. he gives new commandments on how we should treat our spouses. One of my favorite is about when someone hurts you that you are not suppose to hurt them back but to turn the other cheek. This is something very difficult but Jesus Christ wants everyone to be prepared to enter into the kingdom of God. These commandments will help us become more perfected and ready to enter His presence.

The Baptism of Jesus

I think this picture is a beautiful depiction of how powerful the moment was when the Savior came out of the water fulfilling all righteousness. He became the most perfect obedient person that has ever lived. In this moment it was recorded that there was separation from God , Jesus and the Holy Ghost. This is a doctrine that has been misunderstood through time.




Why was John hesitant to baptize the Savior?
        John did not feel worthy to baptize Jesus Christ. John understood how perfect and holy the Savior was and he knew that Jesus had never sinned before.
What it is taught here about the Holy Ghost?
        The Holy Ghost came to testify of God and His purposes. The Holy Ghost was present to show that this was the work of the Father and that Heavenly Father was very pleased with Christ.
The 3 reasons Christ was baptized: It is a commandment from Heavenly father and , the only way you can enter heaven is by going through the gates of baptism. The Lord was baptized to set an example for us to live our lives and to be baptized.
What evidence is giving that shows that Jesus Christ , the Holy Ghost and Father in Heaven are all different beings?
Jesus Christ was on earth, the dove came as the Holy Ghost and they could hear God's voice.

This is a wonderful time in history that shows the importance of being baptized by the proper authority and the proper way, by immersion. This represents death and a new live. A new life with the comfort of the Spirit.

The Birth of John the Baptist

 

The account of John’s birth is recorded in Luke 1. I have always loved this story from the first time I read it. Zacharias and Elizabeth were good people. They were faithful followers of God and His commandments and Zacharias worked in the temple diligently. Elizabeth was barren but they desperately wanted children. I imagine they prayed everyday to have a child. Even though they had not been able to bare children they were still faithful in the gospel, they never blamed God for their trials.

            While Zacharias was working in the temple the angel Gabriel appeared to him, Gabriel had to comfort him because Zacharias was terrified from being in his presence. Gabriel comforted him by telling him that his prayers were heard. What great comfort that would be, to have an angel from heaven tell you that God has been listening to you. The angel tells Zacharias he is going to have a son and his desires would be fulfilled. Gabriel told Zacharias that he not only would have a son but that his son is going to prepare the way for the Lord. He told him that his name would be John. John was preordained to turn the hearts of fathers to their sons. He was to teach the gospel to people and bring them into the waters of baptism. John was preordained to baptize the Savior of the world.

            When Zacharias heard these things he did not believe them, he doubted what Gabriel was telling him. He doubted because his wife was too old to bare children, his faith was weak. He lacked the faith that God could perform such a miracle. When he expressed his doubts to Gabriel, he was struck dumb until the birth of his new son. I think this is the most perfect punishment. I think Zacharias needed to take time and think about his faith in God and not speak so soon. He was too worried about earthly problems instead of rejoicing in the miracle that was happening right before his eyes.

 Mary came to visit Elizabeth and when they met, the little baby John leaped for joy within her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. Elizabeth called Mary “the mother of my Lord” She received a conformation from God that Mary truly was carrying the son of God. This was a beautiful moment and I am grateful that it was recorded in the scriptures.

After 8 days of the baby being born it was time to circumcise and name him. When they came to name him they wanted to name him Zacharias because it is tradition and custom to keep the name in the family. When Elizabeth told them no, his name is John they did not accept that and they turned to Zacharias and had him write down what the baby’s name would be. Zacharias wrote down that the baby’s name would be John.  At that moment Zacharias could speak again and he praised God and prophesied of his son’s mission to prepare the way of the Lord. That moment when Zacharias could speak again was a beautiful miracle in itself, not only did they have a baby, but Zacharias’s faith was strengthened in the Lord."John the Baptist said that while he baptized with water, Jesus baptized 'with the Holy Ghost' (John 1:33). Nothing in this life is of greater worth than the supernal gift of the Holy Ghost." -Lawrence E. Corbridge