We Need Never Feel Alone

Transcription

1 We Need Never Feel Alone That they may always have His Spirit to be with them (D&C 20: 77) As women, we have an innate desire to surround ourselves with loved ones; family, friends, fellow church members and neighbors. And yet, at times in our lives, we find ourselves feeling lonely, friendless and even abandoned. The Lord has given us the gift of the Holy Ghost to help us rise above the despair we feel. We are promised that we can have the Holy Ghost to be with us always. Elder Boyd K. Packer taught, You never need to feel or be alone: I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you (John 14:16, 18). 1 Elder Dallin H. Oaks reminds us that weekly, we can renew our baptismal covenants through worthily partaking of the sacrament. If we do so, we will have the constant companionship of the Spirit (see D&C 121:46). The Savior, speaking to the Nephites promised, He that eateth this bread eateth of my body to his soul; and he that drinketh of this wine drinketh of my blood to his soul; and his soul shall never hunger nor thirst, but shall be filled. Now, when the multitude had all eaten and drunk, behold, they were filled with the Spirit. (3 Nephi 20:8-9). Elder Oaks proclaims, To have the continuous companionship of the Holy Ghost is the most precious possession we can have in mortality. 2 How do we qualify to have his Spirit with us always? By turning our thoughts and lives to our Savior. Becoming in tune with the Spirit is attainable by everyone and is a matter of choice. Remember that we do not have to be perfect. The Spirit is the refining process that will lead us to perfection as we seek, invite, listen and act upon the promptings we receive. {1} Seek the Holy Ghost s influence by preparing our homes and our souls, physically and spiritually. 1

2 (a) Our Homes - The Lord counsels us, Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God (D&C 88: 119) As we live within our means and try to be good stewards of what the Lord has blessed us with, our homes will be peaceful and be a place where the Spirit can dwell. (b) Our Souls We must keep our bodies and our minds clean. Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly (D&C 121:45). Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? (1 Cor. 6:19) Choose the media you view wisely. Elder M. Russell Ballard has taught, Opposite from its harmful and permissive side, media offers much that is positive and productive. Television offers history channels, discovery channels, education channels. One can still find movies and TV comedies and dramas that entertain and uplift and accurately depict the consequences of right and wrong. The Internet can be a fabulous tool of information and communication, and there is an unlimited supply of good music in the world. Thus our biggest challenge is to choose wisely what we listen to and what we watch. 3 Keep the Word of Wisdom (see D&C 89). Keeping our bodies healthy, helps our Spirits to be in tune with the Lord. Further defining the Word of Wisdom, President Heber J. Grant said, The Lord does not want you to use any drug that creates an appetite for itself. 4 {2} Daily invite the Holy Ghost through prayer to be your constant companion. We can also fast, on occasion, to ask for His Spirit to be with us. Elder Don R. Clarke, of the Seventy counsels, Do we really want to be instruments in God s hands? If so, our desire will permeate our prayers and be the focus of our fasts. In their pursuit to help their Lamanite brothers, the sons of Mosiah also learned the importance of fasting and prayer: They fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, their brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth. (Alma 17:9). 5 2

3 {3} Listen and Act upon the Promptings of the Holy Ghost as you receive them. (a) Go and Do! I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them. (1 Nephi 3:7) The Lord will prepare the way as we act upon the promptings we receive. (b) Don t over think inspiration when it comes. If you feel impressed to do something that s good, do it! Elder Boyd K. Packer teaches, You may learn by trial and error and say: I knew I shouldn t have done that. I knew I shouldn t have! How did you know? Because you knew. You were being prompted. Or you will say regretfully, I knew I should have done that and didn t. How will you know? You are being worked upon by the Spirit. Promptings may come as sudden strokes of ideas. 6 The Spirit s promptings are peaceful and often come to our hearts as feelings and our minds as thoughts. The more we act upon the promptings of the Holy Ghost, the more we will recognize them and be able to follow them. If we want to be an accomplished musician, we must practice. Likewise, we need to continually cultivate the gift of the Holy Ghost in our lives. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin advises us, As with all gifts, this gift must be received and accepted to be enjoyed. When priesthood hands were laid upon your head to confirm you a member of the Church, you heard the words, Receive the Holy Ghost. This did not mean that the Holy Ghost unconditionally became your constant companion. Scriptures warn us that the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man (See Moses 8:17). When we are confirmed, we are given the right to the companionship of the Holy Ghost, but it is a right that we must continue to earn through obedience and worthiness. We cannot take this gift for granted. 7 3

4 How can we know when we have the Spirit with us? When you have the Spirit: 1. You feel happy, calm, and clearminded. 2. You feel generous. 3. Nobody can offend you. 4. You wouldn t mind everybody seeing what you re doing. 5. You are eager to be with people and want to make them happy. 6. You are glad when others succeed. 7. You are glad to attend your meetings and participate in church activities. 8. You feel like praying. 9. You wish you could keep all the Lord s commandments. 10. You feel in control you don t overeat or sleep too much; you don t feel uncontrollably drawn to sensational entertainment, lose your temper, or feel uncontrollable passions or desires. 11. You think about the Savior often and lovingly; you want to know him better. 12. You feel confident and are glad to be alive. When you don t have the Spirit: 1. You feel unhappy, depressed, confused, and frustrated. 2. You feel possessive, self-centered, or resentful of demands made on you. 3. You are easily offended. 4. You become secretive and evasive. 5. You avoid people, especially members of your family; and you are critical of family members and Church authorities. 6. You envy or resent the successes of others. 7. You don t want to go to church, go home teaching, or take the sacrament. You wish you had another church job or no job at all. 8. You don t want to pray. 9. You find the commandments bothersome, restricting, or senseless. 10. You feel emotions and appetites so strongly that you fear you cannot control them hate, jealousy, anger, lust, hunger, fatigue. 11. You hardly ever think of the Savior; he seems irrelevant to your life, or worse, part of a confusing system that seems to work against you. 12. You get discouraged easily and 8 wonder if life is really worth it. 4

5 We can have the Savior s image in our countenance when we have the Holy Ghost with us. And now behold, I ask of you, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? (Alma 5: 14) We can become an ambassador for the Lord and the world can see the light in our faces. Elder James E. Faust recalled a meeting that was held about 17 years ago in Jerusalem. (The meeting) was regarding the lease for the land on which the Brigham Young University s Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies was later built. Before this lease could be signed, President Ezra Taft Benson and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, then president of Brigham Young University, agreed with the Israeli government on behalf of the Church and the university not to proselyte in Israel. After the lease had been signed, one of our friends insightfully remarked, Oh, we know that you are not going to proselyte, but what are you going to do about the light that is in their eyes? He was referring to our students who were studying in Israel. 9 We must cherish the gift of the Holy Ghost. Too often, we can become so busy with good things that we fail to recognize the best choices. The Holy Ghost can help decipher what the best choices are. 10 We need to not become complacent or casual about this precious gift that we ve been given. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin advises, I fear that some members of the Lord s Church live far beneath our privileges with regard to the gift of the Holy Ghost. Some are distracted by the things of the world that block out the influence of the Holy Ghost, preventing them from recognizing spiritual promptings. This is a noisy and busy world that we live in. Remember that being busy is not necessarily being spiritual. If we are not careful, the things of this world can crowd out the things of the Spirit. 11 We testify that our Savior did not leave us comfortless. He sent us the Holy Ghost to bless our lives. As we seek, invite, listen and act upon the promptings that we receive, we can enjoy this precious possession, the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Sister Barb Bennett and Sister Cheryl Bishop 5

6 1 Boyd K. Packer, The Gift of the Holy Ghost: What Every Member Should Know, Ensign, Aug 2006, The Gift of the Holy Ghost; What Every Member should know 2 Dallin H. Oaks, The Aaronic Priesthood and the Sacrament, Ensign, Nov 1998, 37. The Aaronic Priesthood and the Sacrament 3 Elder M. Russell Ballard, "Let Our Voices Be Heard," Ensign, Nov. 2003, Let Our Voices Be Heard 4 Chapter 21: Observing the Word of Wisdom, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Heber J. Grant, 189. Observing the Word of Wisdom 5 Elder Don R. Clarke, Becoming Instruments in the Hands of God, Ensign, Nov 2006, Becoming Instruments in the Hands of God 6 Boyd K. Packer, The Gift of the Holy Ghost: What Every Member Should Know, Ensign, Aug 2006, The Gift of the Holy Ghost; What Every Member should know 7 Joseph B. Wirthlin, The Unspeakable Gift, Liahona, May 2003, The Unspeakable Gift 8 Don Norton, I Have a Question, Ensign, Aug. 1978, I have a question 9 Elder James E. Faust, The Light in Their Eyes, Ensign, Nov 2005, 20. The Light in Their Eyes 10 See Dallin H. Oaks, Good, Better, Best, Liahona, Nov 2007, Good, Better, Best 11 Joseph B. Wirthlin, The Unspeakable Gift, Liahona, May 2003, The Unspeakable Gift 6