This is a quote that I posted over a week ago and I feel it applies so well to this topic. Imagine for a moment that you were the boy Joseph, how would you feel as you gazed into the faces of God the Father, and His son, Jesus Christ? How would your perspective of everything change?
Let me tell you about my daughter, Ashlyn, and how her perspective changed as she spent time with God.
Previous to this miracle, we had been praying to know what to do to help Ashlyn be happier. This was our little girl who in her baby blessing, I had felt inspired to bless her with charity. She is the sweetest girl and our little mommy, but somewhere along the way she changed and without too much detail, she became mean and very cranky.
On Sep 10, 2017 I woke up and shared with my wife a dream I had that night. This was my second night in a row to have a dream of the last days. I had no idea that my 11 yr old daughter, Ashlyn, was there on our recliner just listening to my dream. Shortly after I shared my dream, Ashlyn asked me, how do we become more righteous. I shared with her the primary answers and went on to another discussion.
As I was making breakfast, Ashlyn asked me if I wanted to hear the dream that she had had that night. Expecting to hear the typical crazy kid dream I have heard a thousand times before, I said sure.
She then began to share with me in great deal a dream she had of the last days. I was so shocked and impressed with the dream she shared and the courage and obedience she demonstrated in her dream. She then asked me again how she could be more righteous, like really righteous, and I realized she had a notebook and pen in hand and was ready to take notes. Her dream had depicted different groups of girls and their characters and desires and what had happened to them, and she was there asking her dad how to ensure she would not end up like those girls who are less than righteous. She wanted to know how to have safety and protection in her life through living righteously.
She then asked if we could start waking up at 5:30 in the morning and study the Gospel like we had done in the past. Yesterday, I had already planned on getting back to that anyway and so I told her, yes.
The next morning we got up together, and sure enough, when we sat down, she had her notebook and pen in hand again, and asked the same question.
Just a quick sidenote: I usually prepare several picture quotes at a time and then wait for the right time to post them. I had prepared this particular quote over a week ago and had not felt good about posting it until yesterday, when after I woke up I felt that I needed to post it today, and so I did.
Back to my daughter; I was about to expound upon the primary answers, when the spirit told me to share with her the quote I had posted yesterday (sadly, I had forgot which one I had posted). So, I pulled up my blog and read the first line, and I was simply in awe, it was truly THE ANSWER TO HER QUESTION. “The key to spiritual growth is obedience to the voice of the Holy Spirit.”
Background image by: K S https://flic.kr/p/HhEnmx Original posting: http://spiritualcrusade.blogspot.com/2017/09/key-to-spiritual-growth-is-obedience-to.html
“The key to spiritual growth is obedience to the voice of the Holy Spirit. This message needs to be blazoned in the sky in letters a thousand feet tall. We consistently underestimate how great a role obedience plays in our spiritual progression. Spiritually, nothing is possible without it, and everything – absolutely everything – is possible with it.” John Pontius Following the Light of Christ into His Presence
I then started to explain the quote, and she said that she tries to listen but doesn’t know how to tell if it is her thoughts or the spirit. The spirit stepped in again and told me to have her listen to chapter 11 of Journey to the Veil, by John Pontius which was about the the voices in her head. We started to listen to that together, and a few minutes later I heard myself telling her to take my phone and listen to it on her own and prepare a presentation from her notes. She took over 4 pages of notes over an hour and a half, I was so impressed. She came and gave her presentation to me and I gave her some ideas to add to what she had. It was nearly 20 mins of content and she later presented it to many of my children and my wife.
This experience gave her a fire that I have not seen in any of my children before and she was literally an angel child for several weeks since this miracle. We would wake up and study and during the day, I would catch her teaching the other children how to hear the voice of Christ in their minds.
I look back and see the hand of the Lord, as He literally guided every step of this miracle. I have so much gratitude to my Savior for guiding me in my journey that I was able to hear the promptings of the spirit, so that my daughter could have this miracle.
She still goes through many tough times, but now often she can tell when she is getting cranky and asks me to wake up the next morning and study the Gospel again.
Words can’t express my gratitude to my Savior for this miracle and for putting John Pontius in my life. Through his books and teachings, I have gained so many insights and had the process of listening to the voice of Christ in my mind, made clear and powerful. Also, I thank my Lord for helping my Ashlyn in ways that I could not do on my own.
I simply love these two quotes from Joseph Smith.
“The Holy Ghost is a revelator.” And, “No man can receive the Holy Ghost without receiving Revelations.”
“This is the grand privilege of every latter-day Saints… That it is our right to have the manifestations of the spirit every day of our lives.” Russell M Nelson quoting Pres. Lorenzo Snow
I simply love how he said that it was “our right to have the manifestations of the spirit every day of our lives.” Revelation is not served for just Apostles and leaders of the Church, it is our right, the question is, will you put your life in order and accept that right?
One of my favorite scriptures is found in 3 Nephi and here is a man that takes the above quote to heart.
3 Nephi 7:15-18 15 And it came to pass that Nephi–having been visited by angels and also the voice of the Lord, therefore having seen angels, and being eye-witness, and having had power given unto him that he might know concerning the ministry of Christ, and also being eye-witness to their quick return from righteousness unto their wickedness and abominations; 16 Therefore, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds–went forth among them in that same year, and began to testify, boldly, repentance and remission of sins through faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. 17 And he did minister many things unto them; and all of them cannot be written, and a part of them would not suffice, therefore they are not written in this book. And Nephi did minister with power and with great authority. •18 And it came to pass that they were angry with him, even because he had greater power than they, for it were not possible that they could disbelieve his words, for so great was his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ that angels did minister unto him daily.
President Nelson continues:
One of the things the Spirit has repeatedly impressed upon my mind since my new calling as President of the Church is how willing the Lord is to reveal His mind and will. The privilege of receiving revelation is one of the greatest gifts of God to His children.
How powerful is that. The God of the universe give personal access to Him on a daily basis. For me, it is so humbling and inspiring to tap into it that line of communication.
As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, I prayed daily for revelation and gave thanks to the Lord every time He spoke to my heart and mind. Imagine the miracle of it! Whatever our Church calling, we can pray to our Heavenly Father and receive guidance and direction, be warned about dangers and distractions, and be enabled to accomplish things we simply could not do on our own.If we will truly receive the Holy Ghost and learn to discern and understand His promptings, we will be guided in matters large and small.
Like with my daughter, I could not have done that on my own. I just am so thankful I was able to hear and obey the promptings of the Spirit guiding and directing me to be able to facilitate her learning and Growth.
Speaking of the Holy Spirit (in terms of the Light of Christ) he said, “I believe sometimes that as Latter-day Saints we are like fish who discover water last. We are so immersed in the element that we are unaware of its presence.”
The Light of Christ is all around us all the time and it is the vehicle or means whereby the Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ, our God the Father communicate mostly with us, and yet we hardly are even aware of its presence.
Covey also said, “President McKay taught that to all members of the Church who are in the line of their duty the Holy Ghost normally speaks through their consciences. The Lord may choose many ways to speak, but it seems that the still, small voice, the enlightened conscience, or heart within a person would be the natural one for him to choose.”
We need to recognize that when we are prompted or urged by our conscience (Light of Christ) to do or not to do something, we need understand that Christ is speaking to us, and we need to obey.
Sometimes I feel that we are waiting for that big revelation, that grand insight or conduit from heaven to open up before our eyes. My sister tragically lost her son about 4-5 years ago, and was feeling that she deserved more. She has two friends, who are not even members of the Church, who have seen their deceased children in dreams. She called me about 6 months ago, confessing that this was shaking her testimony and she was struggling with this. We had a good discussion but these next 3 scriptures could have really helped her. Last week I called her and shared them with her and she was really glad. She had come to this same conclusion a few days earlier at a Relief Society activity or something, so my call was another testimony to her that this is the message she needed to hear.
The first scripture is found in John 20:29. This is when Thomas would not believe until he saw for himself.
Do we not want to be blessed? We have the testimony of the Holy Ghost that speaks to our heart and our mind through the Light of Christ (our conscience) and we need not search for nor feel less worthy when we don’t have great manifestations. This next verse is powerful.
Seriously, “What greater witness can you have than from God?” When the spirit speaks to our hearts and minds, we know that it is from God. Angels are great, but which is greater, angels or God?
Doctrine and Covenants 8:2-3 2 Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. 3 Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation; behold, this is the spirit by which Moses brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground. https://www.lds.org/languages/eng/content/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/8
There you have it, Moses performed one of the grandest miracles known to man and it was brought about not by an angel, but by God speaking to him through the Light of Christ. The difference is that Moses had learned to recognize and obey the word of God put into his heart and mind.
Bruce R. McConkie “The Spirit of the Holy Ghost could be compared to a radio transmitter; you and I, to the radio receivers. The radio waves would be the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
On another occasion he said the following:
Bruce R. McConkie: We can read about visions and revelations in the records of the past, we can study the inspired writings of people who had the fullness of the gospel in their day, but we cannot comprehend what is involved until we see and hear and experience for ourselves.
And so it is with the revelations and visions of eternity. They are around us all the time. This Tabernacle is full of the same things which are recorded in the scriptures and much more. The vision of the degrees of glory is being broadcast before us, but we do not hear or see or experience because we have not tuned our souls to the wave band on which the Holy Ghost is broadcasting.
Wow, the revelations and visions of eternity are being broadcast, all we have to do is to “tune our souls to the wave band on which the Holy Ghost is broadcasting.”
Enjoy some powerful quotes from our prophet below:
I urge you to stretch beyond your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation, for the Lord has promised that “if thou shalt [seek], thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal.”
Oh, there is so much more that your Father in Heaven wants you to know. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “To those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, it is clear that the Father and the Son are giving away the secrets of the universe!”
Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination of increased purity, exact obedience, earnest seeking, daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon, and regular time committed to temple and family history work.
If we are to have any hope of sifting through the myriad of voices and the philosophies of men that attack truth, we must learn to receive revelation.
But in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.
My beloved brothers and sisters, I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation. Let this Easter Sunday be a defining moment in your life. Choose to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the Spirit more frequently and more clearly.
With Moroni, I exhort you on this Easter Sabbath to “come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift,”15 beginning with the gift of the Holy Ghost, which gift can and will change your life.
We are followers of Jesus Christ. The most important truth the Holy Ghost will ever witness to you is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He lives! He is our Advocate with the Father, our Exemplar, and our Redeemer.
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