So, for my calling at church I wrote this for our institute blog. ~Enjoy!:)
Institute this week was SUPERB!!
A few things you might have missed:...
~OBEDIENCE~
All blessings are predicated by obedience.
Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21 says:
"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."
Our Instructor Brother Mitchell counselled us to, .."To look for a blessing we want, and FIND the law for that blessing,..and LIVE it. Find that law by searching the scriptures."..
My personal testimony of obedience is this:
100% obedience brings 100% blessings 100% of the time.
Elder Nelson said it best:
"Spiritual truths cannot be ignored—especially divine commandments. Keeping divine commandments brings blessings, every time! Breaking divine commandments brings a loss of blessings, every time!" —Elder Russell M. Nelson, "Let Your Faith Show," Ensign, May 2014.
Why be 98% obedient (and receive some but not all blessings) when you could be 100% obedient 100% of the time?
President Monson said:
"The lesson he learned is that it is easier to keep the commandments 100 percent of the time than it is 98 percent of the time."—President Thomas S. Monson, "The Three Rs of Choice," Ensign, Nov. 2010.
Our Heavenly Father loves us—deeply, truly LOVES us.
But "Our hearts cannot be drawn out to a God that we do not know."
President Henry B. Eyring:
"Our hearts cannot be drawn out to a God we do not know, and the scriptures and the words of living prophets help us know Him. As we know Him better, we love Him more."—Henry B. Eyring, "Prayer," Ensign, Nov. 2001.
We come to know Him through "diligently seeking to learn of Him."
Uchtdorf:
"Those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually will come to know Him."—President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Waiting on the Road to Damascus," Ensign, May 2011.
One of my favorite scriptures in my youth was (and still is) Matthew 11:29
"...Learn of me and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
Matthew 11:27-30
27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Our Heavenly Father loves us. He loves us and wants us to return to Him—whether we moved one step, two steps, or many countless miles away, He wants us to return to Him.
He loves us. We show our love for Him by demonstrating our obedience to His commands—whether by His voice directly, or indirectly through His servants' voices.
We know He loves us. We know we must be obedient to obtain the blessing.
The choice, the decision to make is commitment—Are we willing to commit to following the Savior or not?
Commitment is not making any mistakes.
Commitment is performing "perfectly"/fully to the best of our abilities.
We all have the capacity to succeed in this life, however if we continue waiting for the "right" time to change, we will miss our window. We will miss our opportunity to CHANGE.
"The Lord loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way"
Much love,
JT
Institute Council President
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