I’ve had several concerned comments over the past few weeks wondering why it’s been so long since posting a new blog post. I’m not quite sure why it has been so long. I have started several over the past few months but just haven’t felt right about any of them. I’m hoping today will be different.
I’ve learned so much about the gospel over the past few months. My belief system seems to change a little bit every day. Things I used to think were “gospel truths” I have come to believe are simply part of the LDS culture and tradition. Things I never would have believed even a few months ago I see may indeed be true. I’m trying to separate the truth from many of these traditions in my mind.
On the other hand, many other things have been solidified in my heart and mind. That Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Redeemer of the world is one of these. That Joseph Smith restored the truth back to the earth is another, and that the Book of Mormon is an authentic record, and contains the fullness of the gospel is another. I’ve come to know that the Savior Himself is interested in each of us individually to come to us and help us on our journey back to the Father.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about three different scriptures. Mosiah 3:19 “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”
What does it mean to put off the natural man?
Or perhaps Moroni 10:32 “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
What does it mean to deny yourselves of all ungodliness?
And finally, Doctrine and Covenants 121:45 “Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
How do we let virtue garnish our thoughts?
I’ve recently began to realize that as Latter-Day-Saints we have been “duped” into believing that all we need to be are good “telestial” people. We just simply need to stay away from the “bad parts” of worldliness. We have come to believe that as long as we are among the “best” of the telestialites that we will be assured a place in the Celestial Kingdom. I believe this is utterly false.
We talk of and look forward to the Millennium; the thousand year period of peace on the earth when Christ will reign personally. The wicked will be destroyed and we will enjoy a paradisiacal state… much like the Garden of Eden. The Millennium will be a terrestrial world, filled with terrestrial people… not simply good telestial people. If we are not worthy to endure Christ’s presence now, what makes us think we will be able to then? Is it possible to enjoy Christ’s presence now… in this life??? Isn’t this what we are “supposed” to be learning from living the gospel? Isn’t this what the temple endowment teaches us… to cast Satan out of our lives and to enter the presence of the Savior?
How do we do this? The scriptures are clear… Let virtue garnish your thoughts… deny yourselves of all ungodliness… put off the natural man… and many others like it. We need to repent and be very different than we currently are. We need to call upon the Savior and trust him. As we call upon him, and submit ourselves to him, He will purify our hearts.
The scriptures are very plain at what will happen at the second coming. There will be three types of people; those that are righteous and called up to meet him (these are they who submitted themselves to the Savior willingly and repented prior to his coming), those who are good people that remain upon the earth (these are they who will be called to repentance by hardship… earthquakes, calamities, famines, whirlwinds, wars, etc.), and finally the wicked that will be destroyed. I want to be among the first group!
I am cutting and pasting the following from the blog of Brother John Pontius, one of my favorite authors and speakers. His blog is a treasure and can be found at http://unblogmysoul.wordpress.com Please enjoy we he has to say on this topic.
One truth I consistently forget is that the latter-day tribulations are much, much more than a descent into chaos and war. I have a tendency to look at those approaching times and think about food storage, economic chaos, foreign invasion, no utilities and bands of hungry people. What I should be thinking about is that the earth is being changed into a Millennial state, and we are being changed with it.
The earth is presently in a Telestial state. We are all familiar with the trials and heartache of the Telestial state. During the millennium, Zion and eventually everyone and everything upon the earth will be Terrestrial. In that glorious state, our bodies will not be subject to pain, hunger, disease or aging. All of nature will produce without coercion to bless the sons and daughters of Adam. There will be no government but Jesus Christ, and peace will rule for 1000 years. This is the Millennial-Terrestial state.
All change is painful. There is a birthing process of change that cannot be avoided. The greatest change will be ruled by the fact that nothing Telestial can remain on the earth by the time the Millennial-Terrestrial day has begun. This includes people, buildings, literature, traditions, infrastructure, religion, landscape and everything else. If it is not Terrestrial, or if it is not capable of making the change into Terrestrial – it must be destroyed. Or, perhaps better stated, it will not survive the change, and will no longer exist. Even a Telestial philosophy, mindset or idea must perish. This means that wherever the idea persists, it must be altered or the holder of the idea cannot enter the Terrestrial day.
We know that the earth will “abide the day” of this transition and will become the new home of Zion, and the Terrestrial state will cover her face. We are also informed that the earth will become the new Celestial Kingdom after the millennium. (D&C 88:17-19, 25-26)
This means that everything Telestial must be wiped off of her face. No trace or evidence of it can remain. Even the hills that were thrown up in the Telestial day must be leveled, and the valleys that fell must be raised. Everything man has built that does not exactly conform to the Terrestrial inspiration must be wiped away. Every philosophy, every religion, every principle, government, or thinking that is not equal to the Terrestrial standard must be consumed by fire.
Our only hope of “abiding the day” is not in our food storage and other physical hedges against the tide of change. It is only in our ability to use the Gospel and priesthood ordinances to change by Christ’s Grace into the Terrestrial state prior to the earth doing it. We will discuss how to do this fully in subsequent UnBlogs.
If you can lay hold upon this concept, it will literally save your life and ease your transition into the Millennial day. (D&C 88:82-85) If someone is already Terrestrial, having laid aside everything Telestial of your own free will, by your inspired discipleship, allowing Christ to make the changes in your heart, mind, and home, then when the birthing process of the Millennium begins, we will not be subject to the necessary cleansing of the earth as “she” changes. We will still feel the ground shake, and watch the trauma of so much cleansing around us, but we will not fear, and we will not be moved, but will stand in holy places. Those places will be made holy by our presence – because we, ourselves are holy. The Holy Spirit will guide us (D&C 45:56-59), and we will be a source of strength and peace to those around us as the changes occur.
If we are capable of making this change, but just choose not to, then in my opinion, the tribulations will be a great shaking and awakening of our souls. Those who awaken after the shaking begins will experience the fear and horror of those times, but in the end they will join the Terrestrial evolution and come to Zion. This is not to say that all of them will physically survive. Some will be in the clouds of heaven coming with Christ, not physically upon the earth in Zion. There will be a large mortality rate among this group who decides to change after the testimony of earthquakes, floods and fires begin. (D&C 88:89-91) But, happy day, happy day, all is well.
Those who cannot change, whose hearts are set so much upon the things of the world that they cannot evolve into the purity of the Terrestrial world, these will ultimately not evolve, and must be wiped off before the Earth can achieve its Millennial glory.
This is the reason for the tribulations – not to punish us, not to wreak vengeance – it is to cleanse the earth so that Christ can come and make His abode in Zion. If we are to remain on the earth, then we must change in synch with the earth, so that when “she” is glorified, we will be glorified with her and be welcome in the Millennial day.
May the Lord bless each of us every day! With much love,
Scott
I’ve learned so much about the gospel over the past few months. My belief system seems to change a little bit every day. Things I used to think were “gospel truths” I have come to believe are simply part of the LDS culture and tradition. Things I never would have believed even a few months ago I see may indeed be true. I’m trying to separate the truth from many of these traditions in my mind.
On the other hand, many other things have been solidified in my heart and mind. That Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Redeemer of the world is one of these. That Joseph Smith restored the truth back to the earth is another, and that the Book of Mormon is an authentic record, and contains the fullness of the gospel is another. I’ve come to know that the Savior Himself is interested in each of us individually to come to us and help us on our journey back to the Father.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about three different scriptures. Mosiah 3:19 “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”
What does it mean to put off the natural man?
Or perhaps Moroni 10:32 “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
What does it mean to deny yourselves of all ungodliness?
And finally, Doctrine and Covenants 121:45 “Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
How do we let virtue garnish our thoughts?
I’ve recently began to realize that as Latter-Day-Saints we have been “duped” into believing that all we need to be are good “telestial” people. We just simply need to stay away from the “bad parts” of worldliness. We have come to believe that as long as we are among the “best” of the telestialites that we will be assured a place in the Celestial Kingdom. I believe this is utterly false.
We talk of and look forward to the Millennium; the thousand year period of peace on the earth when Christ will reign personally. The wicked will be destroyed and we will enjoy a paradisiacal state… much like the Garden of Eden. The Millennium will be a terrestrial world, filled with terrestrial people… not simply good telestial people. If we are not worthy to endure Christ’s presence now, what makes us think we will be able to then? Is it possible to enjoy Christ’s presence now… in this life??? Isn’t this what we are “supposed” to be learning from living the gospel? Isn’t this what the temple endowment teaches us… to cast Satan out of our lives and to enter the presence of the Savior?
How do we do this? The scriptures are clear… Let virtue garnish your thoughts… deny yourselves of all ungodliness… put off the natural man… and many others like it. We need to repent and be very different than we currently are. We need to call upon the Savior and trust him. As we call upon him, and submit ourselves to him, He will purify our hearts.
The scriptures are very plain at what will happen at the second coming. There will be three types of people; those that are righteous and called up to meet him (these are they who submitted themselves to the Savior willingly and repented prior to his coming), those who are good people that remain upon the earth (these are they who will be called to repentance by hardship… earthquakes, calamities, famines, whirlwinds, wars, etc.), and finally the wicked that will be destroyed. I want to be among the first group!
I am cutting and pasting the following from the blog of Brother John Pontius, one of my favorite authors and speakers. His blog is a treasure and can be found at http://unblogmysoul.wordpress.com Please enjoy we he has to say on this topic.
One truth I consistently forget is that the latter-day tribulations are much, much more than a descent into chaos and war. I have a tendency to look at those approaching times and think about food storage, economic chaos, foreign invasion, no utilities and bands of hungry people. What I should be thinking about is that the earth is being changed into a Millennial state, and we are being changed with it.
The earth is presently in a Telestial state. We are all familiar with the trials and heartache of the Telestial state. During the millennium, Zion and eventually everyone and everything upon the earth will be Terrestrial. In that glorious state, our bodies will not be subject to pain, hunger, disease or aging. All of nature will produce without coercion to bless the sons and daughters of Adam. There will be no government but Jesus Christ, and peace will rule for 1000 years. This is the Millennial-Terrestial state.
All change is painful. There is a birthing process of change that cannot be avoided. The greatest change will be ruled by the fact that nothing Telestial can remain on the earth by the time the Millennial-Terrestrial day has begun. This includes people, buildings, literature, traditions, infrastructure, religion, landscape and everything else. If it is not Terrestrial, or if it is not capable of making the change into Terrestrial – it must be destroyed. Or, perhaps better stated, it will not survive the change, and will no longer exist. Even a Telestial philosophy, mindset or idea must perish. This means that wherever the idea persists, it must be altered or the holder of the idea cannot enter the Terrestrial day.
We know that the earth will “abide the day” of this transition and will become the new home of Zion, and the Terrestrial state will cover her face. We are also informed that the earth will become the new Celestial Kingdom after the millennium. (D&C 88:17-19, 25-26)
This means that everything Telestial must be wiped off of her face. No trace or evidence of it can remain. Even the hills that were thrown up in the Telestial day must be leveled, and the valleys that fell must be raised. Everything man has built that does not exactly conform to the Terrestrial inspiration must be wiped away. Every philosophy, every religion, every principle, government, or thinking that is not equal to the Terrestrial standard must be consumed by fire.
Our only hope of “abiding the day” is not in our food storage and other physical hedges against the tide of change. It is only in our ability to use the Gospel and priesthood ordinances to change by Christ’s Grace into the Terrestrial state prior to the earth doing it. We will discuss how to do this fully in subsequent UnBlogs.
If you can lay hold upon this concept, it will literally save your life and ease your transition into the Millennial day. (D&C 88:82-85) If someone is already Terrestrial, having laid aside everything Telestial of your own free will, by your inspired discipleship, allowing Christ to make the changes in your heart, mind, and home, then when the birthing process of the Millennium begins, we will not be subject to the necessary cleansing of the earth as “she” changes. We will still feel the ground shake, and watch the trauma of so much cleansing around us, but we will not fear, and we will not be moved, but will stand in holy places. Those places will be made holy by our presence – because we, ourselves are holy. The Holy Spirit will guide us (D&C 45:56-59), and we will be a source of strength and peace to those around us as the changes occur.
If we are capable of making this change, but just choose not to, then in my opinion, the tribulations will be a great shaking and awakening of our souls. Those who awaken after the shaking begins will experience the fear and horror of those times, but in the end they will join the Terrestrial evolution and come to Zion. This is not to say that all of them will physically survive. Some will be in the clouds of heaven coming with Christ, not physically upon the earth in Zion. There will be a large mortality rate among this group who decides to change after the testimony of earthquakes, floods and fires begin. (D&C 88:89-91) But, happy day, happy day, all is well.
Those who cannot change, whose hearts are set so much upon the things of the world that they cannot evolve into the purity of the Terrestrial world, these will ultimately not evolve, and must be wiped off before the Earth can achieve its Millennial glory.
This is the reason for the tribulations – not to punish us, not to wreak vengeance – it is to cleanse the earth so that Christ can come and make His abode in Zion. If we are to remain on the earth, then we must change in synch with the earth, so that when “she” is glorified, we will be glorified with her and be welcome in the Millennial day.
May the Lord bless each of us every day! With much love,
Scott
