Home » Calling and Election Made Sure » How You Received Your Calling and Election Made Sure » Lost soul is found in Christ (How I was rescued by Christ)
| Lost soul is found in Christ [message #1634] |
Tue, 18 December 2012 20:31  |
Daryl
Messages: 67
Registered: December 2012
Location: Mesa, AZ
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When I consider the characteristics of those who have their calling and election I am stunned. I never realized the depth of humility the called saints live their life. It's no wonder the Lord has made a point to let them know of their calling and election. He needs these humble followers to do His will.
I have always been somewhat of a rebel. If you were to ask my family, they would quickly identify me as a rebel. Not in the worldly sense, just not always willing to do things as upright members of the church do them.
For the past twenty some odd years since I served a mission for the church, I have tried and tried to have a better relationship with the Lord. My mission was great! I had lots wonderful spiritual, faith-building experiences. I have remained faithful in the church with callings and all the normal stuff members do. However, spiritually I was silently suffering.
I was suffering from a terrible addiction. I had talked about it with several bishops. Of course, one more recent trip to the bishop's office, I was told to start attending some meetings and read some book about following twelve steps like they do in AA. I was confused, yet I attended several meetings determined to fix my addiction and lay to rest my horrible self. The more I went to these meetings, I realized this is not what I wanted for myself. I struggled with the guilt of this for years. I was not following the council of my bishop and I just figured I would be damned for it. And I was damned for it. I will be very frank. I did not desire a program established by men to manage my addiction. I knew I would have to confess to myself and others for the rest of my life that I was an addict. No! I wanted real, lifelong healing from this sore which had held me back. I desired the unreasonable and pushed aside a church sponsored program which appeared to me as be a battle of the wills. A path that I knew I could not endure. Great for other people who embraced the program, but simply did not speak the language of this poor, lost soul.
Yes, I was damned and I knew it. At times I just considered taking my life. Yep, this had become a favorite fantasy when the flames of hell licked at my feet. I could just end it all and go early to the place I knew I would end up anyway, telestial glory. I was never very serious about the prospect, just liked to allow this fantasy to temporarily block the intense feeling of being such a huge loser who couldn't seem to get control of life. Damned, going to hell and addiction beset by ugliness. A spiritual abyss with no way to get myself out. And I was right, I never did dig out of that hell. It had become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Out of left field, a close acquaintance spoke some things to me that gave space for a faint idea of change. Of course I had heard about all the other ideas and programs before. But as my friend spoke to me, I noticed a light in her that I had not seen before. A healing had taken place in her. She had also been through the mire. She talked of the Lord healing her from her afflictions. I decided to listen to her story of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. After hearing of her healing, I let her story settle into my heart (like in Alma 32), where I watered it, nurtured it and began to see the fruit of her experience. So I decided to try it for myself.
It was really a pretty simple idea. An idea I had heard about and read about many times over the years. Just give it all to the Savior. I used to cast that thought out of my mind as soon as it came in. This time, I knew of the fruit and I could no longer cast it out as dross like I had before. My friend shared her technique with me. It did not occur to me then, but I would later begin to know why it took a special technique for me to repent. I had been knocking my head against the repentance door for so long, it held no power for me. I needed a new way. A way to distract my mind long enough to allow the Lord to relieve me of my burdens. I realize this sounds strange and peculiar, but it was the only way for the Lord to get my attention long enough for me to give it up. And give it up I did!
As I gave up my burden, the Lord began to speak to me. He spoke to me in my language. I don't mean just the English language. I mean in the language, the thoughts, gifts and knowledge that I needed to hear. He poured out blessings upon me, too wonderful to put to pen. Where I had been stopped up before, revelation began to flow. I never knew of the power of personal revelation until I was truly conversing with the Lord. I could ask Him questions and he would respond by giving me what I needed to know in my personal language.
After a very short time, the Lord began to express his deep, abiding love for me. He began to share knowledge about His interactions with me in the pre-earth life. He told me stories. He gave me visions. I listened intently. I went from having a nice experience with the Savior and Him helping me with my addiction problems to discovering my true spiritual identity.
The Lord began to reveal a work to me. It was something that I had to do. Something akin to building the empire state building with toothpicks. I was floored by the immensity of the request. I listened and followed His request. He told me to learn His ways as defined in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon. He told me I would find answers to my questions there. He also told me I had been given the authority to complete my assignment. So I began this wonderful journey of piecing together how to perform the Lord's will. I have gained incredible gospel knowledge on this path.
After I had been on this journey for a couple months, I realized that my addictions had become less prevalent. They were diminishing. One Saturday, I felt strongly that I needed to go to the temple. I could feel a tangible presence with me all day. I went to the temple that evening and had the most profound experience of my life. He Spirit of the Lord came down upon me and I saw visions and was blessed like I never had been before. So intense was the Spirit, that I knew I could never deny my experience. So vivid were the visions that I knew I could call upon them in my mind the rest of my days. I was truly a new person in Christ. I drove home stunned and with my head in the clouds.
It was a complete transition for me. In just a matter of weeks I went from the depths of spiritual hell on earth, to spiritual enlightenment and bliss. And the key was to give all my sins, sorrow, pain, embarrassment, shame, guilt, suffering, feeling of spiritual abandonment (the list goes on and on). I gave it all to the Lord and He gladly took it from me. I no longer had these sins in my life and the Spirit of God rested upon me and cleaned my soul. I was sanctified before the Lord. I no longer have desire to go to that dark place of that terrible addiction I had suffered from. I had a new hope in Jesus Christ.
I had a long time friend over to my house and I shared some of my experiences. I have been recording all these experiences at the direction of the Spirit. I shared some of the stories about how the Lord told me of my place with Him and of the assignment I had to complete. I shared other profound experiences as well as what happened in the temple. My friend who had been studying the subject for years asked me if I knew what had happened. I looked at my friend in the eye and shared my gratitude that the Savior had literally removing my addictions from me. My friend acknowledged that the Savior had indeed removed this from me and had shared a certain profound knowledge with me. My friend pointed out, from my own records of these experiences, that the Lord had shared the knowledge of my calling and election. It took my friend showing me what I had written about how the Lord had made promises to me that I would be with Him forever more. I had just thought the Lord was trying to boost my confidence. I didn't have enough self-assurance to recognize that I had received my calling and election. In fact, it was not just one time that the Lord had told me. As I went back and reviewed my records, I saw multiple instances of the Lord coming right out and telling me of my eternal place with Him. I was so thick and consumed in everything I had been going through, it took a dear friend to point out the obvious right in front of me. One of the promises I have received in all of this is that the Lord would visit me in person while I am yet in the flesh. A knowledge I hold sacred. Yes, I have a new faith in Jesus Christ. A hope that will never again depart from my soul!
What is especially profound to me is that all this happened when I held no church calling other than home teacher. I just figured the Lord needed me to take a break from all the callings I had served in so I could receive the True Calling of Christ. Yes, I am just ordinary folk with ordinary problems and I would say I don't deserve any of the Lord's special attention or saving blessings, except now I know what I know about myself. I can no longer doubt the Lord's calling and election for me in my own personal language.
I pray that people will take heart and find their own calling and election with the Lord. It is very real. It is the best thing that could ever happen to the children of the Lord. If people could begin to see how important this sacred event is to them in their salvation. If they could just cast off their current beliefs for just one moment and let these words to be planted in their hearts, I know a mighty change would follow. Of this I bear my humble witness.
It it true! It is true! It is true! Amen and Amen and Amen! Hosana to god and the Lamb!
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| Technique for Repentance [message #1635 is a reply to message #1634] |
Tue, 18 December 2012 20:33  |
Daryl
Messages: 67
Registered: December 2012
Location: Mesa, AZ
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Member |
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Technique for Repentance.
No special technique is needed to repent. The Lord accepts all who turn to face him (Helaman 5:36) and call upon his name (D&C 65:4) to change their ways unto him. It really is that simple to repent. Turn and face the Lord, give up your burden (Psalms 55:22) and receive blessings for doing it.
He is most interested in the fruits of our repentance (JST Matthew 3:35). He is most interested when we hear his voice and align our will, our ways, our lives with his. When we attempt to do this, we are repenting. However, we can not repent alone. The Lord is our other part in this process. It is through his grace that our burden is relieved (Moroni 10:32). And he absolutely delights (Psalms 16:3; D&C 76:5) in relieving our burdens from us, thereby glorifying Father (John 14:13). What I am trying to communicate in this writing is how to identify the burden. Then give this burden to the Lord in exchange for blessings. Blessings we need to stay on the path of righteousness and continue communion with him.
Ether 12:27
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
It helped me to let go of preconceived notions about repentance. That way, the power of the Lord could be realized by me. In other words, when I repented before, I was so wrapped up in the pain of repentance, that I did not see the value of the gift of repentance for what it is - a truly wonderful experience. For me now, repentance is a wonderfully, sweet experience of communion with the Lord. Most of God's children are not aware of the numerous blessings that come with repentance. Most people think that the blessings of repentance finish with forgiveness. What I am attempting to share is that there is more!
I have learned that repentance is more about asking the Lord to help us to recover from our sins. Repentance is simply turning to face God with the intent to worship him and none other. That means anything that gets in the way of us truly facing God and to be in his presence, needs to be repented of. Now, my view of repentance is one of eagerness and , "I can't wait to repent." Such has been my conversion to this process of repenting.
When we think of repenting, what is the typical thought of how this is done? Please allow me to paint a bleak picture of how many people repent (my former self included). In this case, we will use a rather straight forward sin: Jon is not keeping the sabbath day holy. First Jon acknowledges that there is a blatant sin. Jon recognizes that he shouldn't go out to eat with his family every Sunday after church services. So Jon decides to humble himself before the Lord and repent for his sin of breaking one of the 10 commandments. When no one else is in the room Jon kneels by his bedside, clasps his hands together and offers up his prayer repenting to Heavenly Father. John knows that he has done the wrong thing and is motivated to ask for forgiveness. In fact he is so motivated, he decides to have a mini garden of Gethsemane right there in his bedroom, even attempts to bleed from some of his pores as a token of his recognition that he is showing the Lord he has sinned. He continues to pray for several hours until Jon hears the voice of Lord say in his mind, "I forgive you." John accepts the Lord's forgiveness, thanks the Lord, promises never to break this commandment again. And he is truly forgiven by the Lord for what he has done. John goes on his way happy that the Lord has forgiven him.
Does this sound familiar? Does it ring a bell with you? Does Jon really look at the big picture as to why he is committing the sin in the first place? Does Jon seek further insight as to why he is doing this sin? What is Jon's motivation for repenting? Does Jon think about asking the Lord to remove this temptation? Does Jon ask to be forgiven for the guilt, shame, burden, delight for the sin, laziness, duration the sin continued before repentance, anger, and many, many more issues associated for the sin. Does he ask forgiveness from those he influenced to sin with him? Why is Jon kneeling? Why is no one else around when Jon asks for forgiveness? Why does Jon feel the need to feel such deep sorrow and even attempt to suffer even as Christ suffered? Why does he clasp his hands when he is praying? Why is Jon so intent on proving to the Lord he is sorry for his sins? Why does he need to here the voice of the Lord to know he is forgiven? When he hears the voice, why doesn't he entreat the Lord with questions? Why isn't he asking for further help, insight, blessings, gifts, visions, reconciliation, etc? Since Jon is in the presence of the Lord, why doesn't Jon ask to have this desire removed from him forever. Why doesn't he ask the Lord to replace those sins and other issues he could repent for with strengths? Why is John satisfied with simply hearing that he is forgiven? When the Lord finally answers that proverbial phone to offer forgiveness and Jon hears the voice of the Lord, why does he simply say thanks and hang up on the Lord? I do not ask these questions to suggest anyone of these are wrong, merely to allow the reader time to consider the scene of Jon repenting and why he does it the way he does it.
Brothers and sisters, the Lord is anxious to speak to us. We are friends with him and he desires to converse with us. He wants us to ask him questions. He wants us to be enlightened, not just forgiven. He wants us to gain knowledge, gifts, answers, revelations, visions, etc when we repent and come unto him. It is not just about being forgiven for one particular sin. It is about giving it all, all of the nasty, yucky, down-in-the-dumps awful mire we often find ourselves in spiritually. Give it all to him to forever be gone from our lives. Then he blesses us with the tools, ideas, gifts, visions, knowledge, insight, etc. to give us the fighting chance we deserve to never commit these sins again. By doing this, He literally changes us into his own. Then the Spirit can have effect on our souls for the mighty changes we desire.
Now imagine doing that every single day of your life. You do it for big sins and for little sins, all sins. You do it when you get angry. When you are depressed. When you are lustful. When you covet. When you want to run to Mc Donalds and get a Big Mac after church services. Anytime you are out of perfect alignment with the Lord, you go through the process of righting yourself with the Lord.
Overwhelmed with this prospect? Sound like a lot of work? It is if you do it on your own. There is nothing wrong with asking for help with this. And I mean help right down to, "Repeat after me, I'm sorry Lord... Please forgive me for..." Just how humble are you willing to make yourself?
Here is the technique I use on a daily basis:
Sit in chair and write (or type)
Write all the things bothering me right then (stress, burdens, illness, fatigue, etc. etc.)
Write all the sins bothering me right then
Write all the pain, confusion, errors, mistakes, anything that would cause you to be out of alignment with the Lord
Write down all the blessings you need to replace these issues with.
Ask for evil to be removed from your presence - (cast out the devils influence and all unclean spirits)
Begin prayer while sitting or kneeling in a position so you can write
Say whatever comes to mind, gratitude, don't forget your gratitude
Share with the Lord what the burden is, read from a list if it helps
Tell the Lord how these things afflict and are a burden (not complaining, just humble manner of explaining)
Describe the affliction in as much detail as possible
Offer your problems and ask the Lord to take them from you
Ask the Lord to replace these problems with blessings, strengths, knowledge, Godly attributes, etc. Allow the Lord to benefit your humility and efforts. Again, read from a list if it helps you.
Invite the Lord to be there with you in your life
You have now repented, believe, visualize, comprehend that the Lord has taken your issues, blessed you in spite of them and now desires to be present in your life as your dear friend (because he is!)
Now, invite the Lord to converse with you. Listen to what comes to your mind. Write it down.
Receiving revelation
One time at a college graduation ceremony, Hugh Nibly stood before the graduating class and began his address by saying, "I stand before you today dressed in the false robes of the priesthood." He is right. One very important part of those false robes is the tassel. The tassel is moved from left to right as the students graduate. The tassel is a symbol of the communication between God and man. In a grand exclamation of defiance, Academia has severed that tassel.
For our purposes, the tassel represents two parts of the mind. One part operates to solve logical situations (the lower or temporal part). Like how do I drive from the market to the library. Your logical mind calculates a way to make that happen. When revelation is received, the logical mind is put in secondary mode. The part of the mind that receives revelation is the part that believes in god (celestial part). One needs to tap into that side of the mind for the revelation to flow. The moment the logical side is activated, the revelation is stopped. As you become better at this, you learn how to "toggle" the mind back and forth to receive the words and then to scribe your revelation. It's ok to stop the revelation to write. Some people speak into a microphone and later put it to paper. There have been times I have excused myself to use the restroom or change rooms, etc. I resume right where I left off. This may sound quaint, but it is very real. After you have received revelation several times, you will get the hang of it.
The Lord will reveal many important things to you when you are in revelation. Many things you were not initially inquiring about. Just go with it. The Lord is trying to communicate his will to you. Do not be surprised if your head feels like it is about to explode with all the stuff you get. At first, it is mentally exhausting. You are fresh at exercising this new part of your mind. It is very exciting. The Lord will reveal certain truths to you. You may find the Lord is so very eager to share with you, gifts, visions, revelation and much more. It is a grand experience.
You are on earth time which is linear. That means time is ever pressing forward. The Lord's time is everpresent. That means the Lord is not affected by time like we are. I used to feel guilty taking time away from the Lord while in a vision. I was eager to end the vision because I felt like the Lord had more pressing issues than to spend it with me. I don't know how it works, but he can do everything he needs to and still talk to all his sheep. It's ok to take your time with the Lord. I used to try to be courteous with the Lord and tell him when closing our conversing, "Thank you for your time." Now I chuckle at the thought. Now I just thank him for saving me. The Lord understands that gratitude.
I hope others can share in their experiences with conversing with the Lord through the veil using this or other techniques. Most important, the Lord wants us to communicate with him. He truly wants us to draw near unto him by conversing. Please understand that we all need to repent daily. Allow this wonderful blessing to be part of your everyday life. Allow the Lord to work miracles for you.
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