Post 44 – Reflections

Dear Family and Friends

  Have you ever had one of those days (or weeks), when your whole world is shaken clear down to the very foundation and you wonder how you have messed things up so badly?  If you haven’t please stop right now and give much thanks to your Heavenly Father, for He truly does provide you with all of the blessings in your life😊 And if you have, still give thanks for your trials as well as you blessings, because we can receive many blessings through our trials.

You know, I have recently had some of those days when there seems to be nothing that I do that seems to be right☹ Or even worse yet is to figure out  through someone else, that throughout your life so far you did not do nearly as good as you thought you had done with the things in your life ---especially in the child rearing area.  Well this week has been one of those reminders --- very loud and clear!!!

Which leads me to some questions that I thought about after my prayer for some guidance. And yes, even though I may doubt myself – I have no doubt in my Father in heaven or in His glorious abilities or in His Son, Jesus Christ. I know that They love me. This knowledge has been so wonderful to have for these past years and I am so grateful for this knowledge it has been a huge blessing for me. Their love is there for me when the love of those I love do not reciprocate for one reason or another. I hope that these reflection questions are helpful to some of you as well.  I think they could be good questions to ask ourselves on a regular basis to find our if  we are still heading down the path to our heavenly home.

 

Am I living my life in such a way that the Holy Ghost can dwell with me every day?  Am I making the effort to align my life with God’s commandments in order to be directed by Him? Am I keeping the commandments of God?  Is my receiver properly tuned into heaven’s frequency? Am I obedient? Do I have the Spiritual confidence necessary to pray for and receive specific guidance from the Holy Ghost? Am I worthy to receive heaven’s signal? Are there things that I need to repent of so that I can receive clear communication again?

Are you familiar with the story of when Jesus walks on the water out to the boat where His disciples were?  Jesus had gone upon a mountain to pray after He had fed the five thousand people. His disciples went in a boat to go across the Sea of Galilee. It was night time and the waves came up as a storm came in and the water began to toss their boat about.

It was late into the night when Jesus came to them in the boat. He was walking across the water. When they see Him walking on the water they can’t believe what they are seeing. At first, they were afraid as they thought it might be an evil spirit. Jesus knew their fear and called to them: “It is I; be not afraid.” Peter asks, if can walk on the water? Jesus tells Peter to come to Him. Peter begins walking out to Jesus, I imagine just like you or I might walk across a field to a friend.

Then when the wind blows harder and realizes that he far from where Jesus is, and he looks down at the water and is afraid. He loses sight of Jesus and he begins to sink into the sea. He cries out to Jesus to save him because he is afraid he will drown in the sea.

It is when we take our focus off Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father and let something else take Their place – even for a little while that Satan sneaks those fiery darts of doubt into our minds and hearts. It is then that Satan begins to build a wedge if we do not do something to refocus ourselves back on our Savior and our Father in heaven, it is then that we begin to sink into the mist of darkness, as in Lehi’s dream or vision.

 Whenever we are feeling like we are far away from God we must ask ourselves what we are doing that has caused us to move away from Him, because He is always there with outstretched arms waiting for us to repent, to make a decision to turn our lives around and turn back to Him and our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that He isn’t the one who moves away from us – we are the ones that put the distance between us. So therefore, we are the ones who, like Peter need to refocus ourselves back on our Savior and our Father in heaven and Their teachings -are wee heeding them.

 I had even more questions to ask myself in the quiet of my room. They may be helpful to you as well. Am I asking the Lord to solve my problems for me? Do I ask what I can do to be a part of the solution as the Brother of Jared did when he needed light and air in the boats? Am I seeking more proactive ways of receiving help from the Lord?

Do I commit to act according to the Spirit’s guidance? Have I received previous guidance from the Spirit often enough that I can pray with a calm assurance that I will receive the guidance that I need? Am I following a pattern that I have previously set in my life, and used many times before the storms come?

You know just as Peter needed to have the comfort of knowing that Jesus was there to rescue him, we to have His Comforter here with us – even the Holy Ghost. You know we all have the Spirit of Christ with us in our life to help us know right from wrong, but when we are baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we can receive the Holy Ghost who can be our constant companion if we live worthy of His companionship – by keeping our baptismal covenants and keeping His commandments.

When His disciples were caught in the storm Jesus was asleep on the ship. He was tired after a hard, probably long day of walking, and helping, and heling, and teaching the multitude. Even though a great storm raged all about Him and His disciples He slept peacefully on. Though Jesus slept His disciples they were afraid their boat would be swallowed up by the sea. They were deeply afraid of what might happen to them. They went and woke Him, crying out: “Master, Master, we perish.”

The disciples knew who to turn to for the help that they needed when the storm came and so must we -- each one of us must know whom to call on when we are in times of peace or in our calm waters, as well as when our storms rage all about us.  We must have enough experience when our waters are calm in calling on the Holy Ghost and listening to, and responding to and acting upon what direction He gives us so that we know without a doubt whom we should call on and hear over the raging storm even during a tempest, a terrible storm

Have I learned to seek my own direction in personal matters from the Lord? Have I really learned how to receive personal revelation? I often have days where I question myself – especially where my children are concerned. Did I teach them well enough so that they would know whom to go to on a daily basis and which voice they should listen to.

Did I teach them to pray to give thanks to God for all of their blessings? Did I teach them to pray to God for what they are in need of? Have I taught them that they are loved, not only by their father and I, but their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?  Did I reach them at all during our rather unique family home evenings? When I read the scriptures to them or when we watched the scripture stories together, did I emphasize the gospel teachings?

Do they know that their Heavenly Father loved them so much that He gave His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die to pay for their sins and for the sins of every other person who has ever lived or who will ever live upon this earth? Do they know that Jesus willingly gave His life for each of them so that they would not have to suffer even as He did? Do they know how to hear the voice of the Holy Ghost to receive direction in their lives?  Do they remember what their baptismal covenants are and are they keeping them?

For us to even begin to be spiritually self-reliant, as I have spoken of before, we need to be able to hear the voice of the Holy Ghost so well during our times of clam waters that when the storm come at us in tremendous proportions we will still be able to recognize the voice of God when He is speaking to us through the Holy Ghost – even His Spirit?

In Alma 37:37 Alma gives us this advice: ‘Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye shall  do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.’

I have struggled an awful lot to listen to the Spirit of the Lord because of having joined the church as an adult it has taken me a long while to figure things our for myself. Maybe that is why I feel like I have failed so miserably. I second guess myself too much and wonder if it is me or if it is the Lord I hear.

I have learned that the Lord speaks to each of us differently at different times and I have felt His love around me as I have been lonely and needing to know that I was loved by someone. I have also experienced the Lord’s voice in a dream when I needed to know what to do regarding my health. I have had the feeling that I have known the will of the Lord through fasting and prayer to know if we should move or not. I knew without a doubt that we should make the move – but I did not want to move. I did not want to give up the security that I had worked so hard to establish and a job I had worked at for 20 years – but I moved my family, because I knew that was the Lord’s will for us as a family at that time.

In thinking seriously about it, I guess I do know when the Holy Ghost is speaking to me!! 😊  Let’s review – the Lord speaks to us through the Holy Ghost: through a still small voice (or even what seems like a loud one) – in a dream, through a strong feeling deep in our hearts, through thought of action in our mind. At least these have been my experiences, throughout the years since I became a member of His Church. Yours may be very different from mine and that’s okay.

Heavenly Father has given us this wonderful gift of first, the Spirit of Christ, and then after being baptized into His Church upon this earth, we have a great opportunity to receive the Holy Ghost and to have Him with us always, if we are worthy and stay worthy to keep Him with us.  

When we are living worthy to have the Holy Ghost as our daily companion, is sometimes called ‘living by the Spirit’  and maybe I am doing better than I have felt lately because I feel such peace within my whole being – a sense of clam throughout this journey with cancer and the trials of being a parent, a grandparent, and a pre-school teacher, sister, and the other roles we play in this life. – you know, just normal everyday life.

In Galatians 5:22 it says: ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

I was remembering the story of the Tree of Life, when Lehi describes the people coming along the path to the tree and he sees those who are holding tightly to the iron rod. And when the mists of darkness come upon them they are holding tightly to the rod when others lose their grip and fall by the wayside—they lost their way in the darkness, but those who held on firmly to the rod of iron made it safely to the tree and partook of the fruit of the tree.

1 Nephi 8:23-24

23 And it came to pass that there arose a mist of darkness; yea, even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost.

24 And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.

Then in 1 Nephi 12:17 it explains what the mists of darkness are: And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost.

 In thinking again about those following along the path to the iron rod I found more questions: Am I only following behind in other’s footsteps? Am I putting thought and effort into the path that I am taking in this life and into the next life? Am I becoming spiritually self-reliant? Am I spiritually self-reliant at this time? What do I need to do to become more spiritually self-reliant? When the storms of deception and the mists of falsehood arise without warning will I be prepared to hear the Holy Ghost to give me the guidance that my Father in heaven wants me to hear?

Do I have enough faith and am I doing enough to receive Nephi’s powerful promise found in 1 Nephi 15:24 And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.

So we need to make sure that we are not just following those in front of us along the path.

‘“Following the feet of the people in front of you on the path is not enough. We cannot just do and think what others are doing and thinking; we must lie a guided life. We must each have our own hand on the iron rod. Then we may go to the Lord with humble confidence, knowing that He “shall lead [us[ by the hand, and give [us] answer to our prayers.”’

Doctrine and Covenants 112:10 Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.

 And still more questions for me – for each of us to ponder: Do I always remember the Savior and keep His commandments?  Do I remember His sacrifice and His rising from the tomb as a resurrected being do I choose to open my heart to receive the ministrations of the Spirit over my lifetime – or the part I have left? Because you are never too old to make changes in your life!! Am I choosing to be humble before God?

Do I choose to ask of God in faith believing the God will answer my prayers? Do I obey the inspiration I receive – even when it is hard or difficult? Do I pray with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do I obey exactly – do I move quickly when inspired? – do I prepare when inspired to do so? – do I wait with patience for further inspiration when it doesn’t come right away?” do I pray to know the needs and hearts of others and how to help them for the Lord?

Do I pray, ask for inspiration, receive direction, and then act on the direction that I receive? Do I realize when I receive direction from the Spirit? What can I do to recognize more fully when the Spirit is communicating with me? Do my concerns for others open my heart to receive inspiration? Have I qualified for the Holy Ghost as a nearly constant companion? Have I qualified for the gift of charity, which is the pure love of Christ? Do I follow it or act on those directions immediately? Or do I pass it off as something I don’t have time to do today, or I will get to that later?

John 14:14-21

14 if ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

15 If ye love me keep my commandments.

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dewlleth with you, and shall be in you.

18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will manifest myself to him.

Heavenly Father is aware of you and of me, He is aware of your feelings and of mine. He is aware of your spiritual and temporal needs, as well as mine and of those of everyone else around you. He will never force us to take His name upon us – it is up to each of us to ask Him to come into our lives.

Revelation 3:20-22

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man [woman, or child] hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him,[or her] and will sup with him, [or her] and he [or she] with me.

21 To him [or her] that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

22 He [or she] that hath an ear, let him [or her] hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

You know you try hard to do your very best for each of your children as you are raising them, and when they are growing up you can usually see the good that you have taught them as it shows in their lives. Sometimes you wonder how you could have possible raised them all in the same household as they all make such different choices for their lives, which in turn makes choices for their children as well.

Is it ever too late to change or turn your life around? I tell you NO!!! You most certainly can make good changes in your life and turn yourself around at any point in your life --- you can be forgiven! Well, I have really been rambling in this post – you all have a wonderful week, keep smiling, hold your head up, and if you need to – ask yourself all of my questions, answer them truthfully and do whatever it takes to get yourself focused on God and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

In this very volatile world that we are living in we all need our Savior, we really do. Until my next post – know this, that it’s never too late to turn your life around to Christ😊 Remember also, that your Heavenly Father is always blessing you. Sometimes you may need to stop and think about those blessings in your life and express to Him your gratitude for them – and get in the habit of doing it often. If you make it a practice to write down the way the Lord has blessed you each day or week, you can review your journal when you are having a hard time during your difficult times.