God's scriptures

In the Helaman chapter 3 of the of The Book of Mormon, the people are beginning to repent and turn to God. A key reason for this is in verse 29. "Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked." This a powerful scripture with lots of great things to learn. The part I want to focus on is the word quick. The scriptures can immediately affect our lives as soon as we begin to study them with humble hearts.

Earlier in the Book of Mormon, Ammon, a great missionary who helped convert thousands of non believers to believe in God, admitted that he would not have had success without the scriptures which are the word of God. For those of you reading this that are unsure if their is a loving Father in Heaven, I invite you to pick up the scriptures and to read them. Ponder the messages that it contains. Remember the scriptures are QUICK and powerful. As soon as you turn to them with questions, you will feel the influence of God in your life. For those who haven't read from the Book of Mormon I invite you to try that out. See if it adds anything to the things that you already believe. I know that the scriptures are true. The Book of Mormon and the Bible are the word of God. I can turn to them anytime and their quick and powerful influence blesses my life. 

Don't lose focus

The scriptures talk a lot about the last days. In fact, they were written for the last days. The Isaiah prophesied "Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" Paul later wrote "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good."

I think we can all see the effects of this in our life. The world is losing many of the values that it once had. These values have not only been lost, but they are under attack. With the tide of the world pushing heavily in the wrong direction, it is important for us to hold our heads high and be an example of the believers. We are here on earth to experience joy. This is done when we live a Christ centered life. The world around us will push us and pull us to draw our hearts away from what matters most. It will tempt us with whatever it can. As we recognize these temptations and continually refocus on what matters most, we will find true happiness amidst the tumult that we are engulfed in.

Writing things down

As we live worthy and are striving to be disciples of Jesus Christ, we want to receive guidance and direction from him. This is hard and difficult. We so often feel like we are on our own. There are many ways to be better in tune and receive guidance from God. The one that I would like to focus on today is writing down the impressions that we receive. 

Richard G. Scott has some great insights on writing down impressions. In one story he shared, during church he felt personal and specific guidance through the Spirit. He quickly wrote it down. Later that night he said, "I thanked Him for the guidance given. I was then impressed to ask, 'Was there yet more to be given?' I received further impressions, and the process of writing down the impressions, pondering, and praying for confirmation was repeated... I had received some of the most precious, specific, personal direction one could obtain in this life. Had I not responded to the first impressions and recorded them, I would not have received the last, most precious guidance."

This story is strong, powerful, and real. God is much closer than we think. If we are listening, he find out that he is communicating with us all of the time. Writing down the inspiration we receive and than acting on it, leads us to receive more precious guidance. The more we listen to what God is telling us, the more he will guide us to be able to better serve those around us.