Home » Calling and Election Made Sure » How You Received Your Calling and Election Made Sure » My Experiences with the Lord (Experiences in and out of the church)
| My Experiences with the Lord [message #3832] |
Tue, 28 April 2020 14:56  |
john144
Messages: 10
Registered: April 2020
Location: Austin, TX
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Junior Member |
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I have had a lot of experiences with the Lord over my life, and although I didn't realize it at the time, looking back, He has been very involved with my development.
I was raised in a part-member family. My dad wasn't a member. My mom was inactive. I used to walk a mile up the hill to the bishop's house so I could read all the church books. Couldn't get enough. He also had a Swedish book. I learned the language of my ancestors before I ever got my call to Sweden, so in a way, I was able to choose my field of labor. When I was a priest, I baptized my dad. On the day that I was married in the temple, our family got sealed together, then my wife and I got married, then she and I were sealed by proxy for my dad's parents.
When I was set apart for my mission, Elder LeGrand Richards said something in his prayer that he never said to any of the other elders. He asked the Lord to bless me in the eternal worlds for all my sacrifices, and said to the Lord, referring to me, "this try true servant". This is what I have always tried to be all my life.
At BYU, our bishop who had received his second comforter told us what we would need to see the Lord. I did everything he said, and shortly afterward, I saw the Lord in a dream. Later in life, when I was divorced, excommunicated, and my life hit rock bottom, I pledged myself to the Lord and his service, asking nothing in return, but only to be led by Him and Him alone.
Within 6 months, I was asked to help organize a home fellowship, that eventually became another Restoration church. We started receiving revelation. We were instructed to organize the Priesthood. When I was set apart in the presidency, I was told to prepare to make my calling and election sure and promised that I would receive the second comforter. Within this organization, I was eventually called to be an Apostle, and Presiding Patriarch. I knew nothing of the duties of either office, but I have longed in my heart to be a Special Witness of the Lord. I prayed for revelation from the Lord for both those callings, and he gave me many revelations and guidance for how to teach, bless, and witness. Looking back, I realized that is was the Lord, himself, who called and anointed me to those callings. We received a revelation to dedicate a small tabernacle-like structure for use as a temple to conduct ordinances in. I dedicated it, and during our dedication service, a couple of us saw angels. Learning about these callings led to a study of the New Testament apostles, and to a study of the ancient patriarchs. I learned a lot about both, through revelation.
Once, when conducting the True Order of Prayer, I saw the Lord standing in our midst. And, when I was ordained Patriarch, we performed the ordinance in our tabernacle, and I saw three ancient patriarchs in attendance.
The church eventually dissolved, but I am grateful for the the opportunity to learn and serve. I now fully understand the problem with institutional churches. From day one, though I didn't realize it at the time, the Lord was giving me revelation for how to bring myself, along with our members into the Presence of the Lord. But, they wanted none of it. They only wanted a mirror image of the LDS church, only one that would also allow them to indulge in their favorite sins, whatever they might be.
I didn't give up. By continued studying and receiving revelation, trying to figure out if Zion was ever to come, how we could do it. I studied and prayed, but I knew I couldn't do it alone. There had to be others, but I didn't know of any others. I am so happy, now to find others with the same goals and the same drive. I had almost given up.
I used to live in the Southern California desert and would take daily walks through the desert and mountains. Once, I was hiking up through some mountains, and I saw what looked like a little stone altar that somebody had built. My thoughts went to the idea of altars, and covenants, and while my mind was mulling over what it meant to have eternal life, the Lord casually spoke to me: "By the way, you do know you have eternal life, don't you?"
The Lord has spoken to me a lot over the years. I record all the revelations in a journal, and there are well over 300 pages.
Recently, in the past year, I have become very interested in having a second comforter experience. I found out that I had previously received the gift of charity, and the second comforter, but I wanted to be sure, so I requested it again. I guess the Lord doesn't always do things in the order we think they should happen. I have had several experiences with the Lord, where I was taken to his presence. Previous to this happening, I told him I wanted to be his servant and testify of Him to the world, and he asked me "What would you like to say about me?" I told him, and he said "Write down the testimony you would like to bear to the world, and I will make sure that every word you say is true." I did write it down, and I confirmed it with the Lord. And, true to his word, over a series of many experiences, over a series of months, every word of that testimony has been fulfilled.
But, you know what? I have always had a problem of having to "go somewhere" to enter the Lord's presence. That presumes that I am not there, now. He once told me: "You don't have to go to my presence because you have never left." It seems more like having a conscious recognition that you are always in His presence, rather than thinking you have to "go" somewhere, or thinking that you are separated. He is so close to me. Closer than close. I can't describe it. I am in him and he is in me, yet we are two different people. I can't describe it, but I know it is love, and I know that this how I want to relate to every other person.
I always like to be sure and verify everything with him. A couple of weeks ago, I was prompted to ask Father to again receive the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. He told me to sit quietly in a chair and I would receive it. For the next half hour, I received it. I received the witness of fire from heaven, angels, and the presence of the Father and the Son. About halfway through the experience, I heard a voice telling me. "This is a new beginning for you, John. From now on, things will be different." And they have. For the sake of time, I am leaving out more details of this experience. I asked for a confirmation, and I received multiple confirmations throughout the day.
About this same time, I asked the Lord if my calling and election were made sure. He said, "Of course they are. I'm surprised that you even had to ask." I had to ask because I just wanted to make sure. I don't like to testify to something or promise something that I am not absolutely sure about. And, I don't enter into promises lightly. If I ever get discouraged by Satan, and I am left hanging by a thread. That thread I hang on to is the fact that I made a promise. and that may be the only thing that keeps me going.
My problem is the Lord tells me stuff about me, and I tend to doubt it because I think it is just my ego. However, the Lord has placed me in a couple of situations where I had to admit that I had the gift of healing and that I had the sealing power, and had to use both of them. I have since vowed that never again would I be ashamed of what the Lord has told me. "He that receiveth my servants, receiveth me." If you can't receive and accept yourself as the Lord's servant, then you don't have enough faith and aren't fit to be his servant.
Recently, I was praying when an angel came and interrupted my prayer. He told me his name, not his real name, but a name he goes by. I also knew that he was still in mortality, and so he must have come in the Spirit on one of those "rescue missions". He said that the Lord requested that he bring me into His Presence, and asked my permission to do so. I agreed immediately, and next thing I knew, we were both kneeling before Him, and the Lord had placed one hand on each of our heads and was giving us a blessing, calling us "my two sons". He than asked me what I wanted to see. I didn't want to see anything, but just be there with him. Nevertheless, he said that the servant who brought me there could show me anything I wanted. I made a small request, then quickly returned to His presence.
I love the Lord. I want to serve Him in any way I can. I have asked Him what my calling is. He said: "Don't worry, you'll figure it out." He has slowly and gradually unfolded it to me. He told Joseph Smith "If ye have desires, ye are called to the work." My desires are to do a greater work than I have yet done. I desire to be his voice and his witness to the world, to help gather Israel, and to assist my fellow servants. I just want to praise the Lord, and if this is not bragging, praise and uphold my fellow servants. There is a special place in heaven where all these servants and their witnesses are memorialized -- and especially so, those who sealed their testimony with their own blood. The priesthood is a fellowship between us and the Lord, but it is also a fellowship between his servants. I sense this very keenly.
The Lord is my Friend, my companion, my teacher, my co-worker, the lover of my soul. He trusts me and I trust Him. I know that He lives, and I want to make Him as real for everybody else as He is for me. In His name. Amen.
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| Re: My Experiences with the Lord [message #3839 is a reply to message #3833] |
Sat, 09 May 2020 09:48  |
john144
Messages: 10
Registered: April 2020
Location: Austin, TX
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Junior Member |
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I just finished reading "The Unspeakable Gift of the Holy Ghost".
This is me.
"We often judge and disqualify ourselves or others in one way or another. Because of this, it is often more difficult to obtain forgiveness from ourselves than it is to obtain from God. Rest assured, if we have the Holy Ghost, then we are worthy of it and clean of our sins. We can know this because the Holy Ghost does not dwell in unholy temples.
"Know that if you have the spirit, you are worthy because the Holy Ghost does not swell in unholy temples"
"Rather than arguing with God about your worthiness and trying to prove God wrong, believe that if God finds you worthy by granting you his spirit, then you are worthy."
I have received so much, and either discounted my worthiness, did not understand what I received, or lacked the faith to believe that I had received. It really is harder to forgive yourself than obtain forgiveness from the Lord. It really is easier to hear the word of the Lord speaking through the Holy Ghost, than it is to exercise the faith to act on that word.
I kept finding myself going through the article saying to myself: "I knew that, or the Lord showed me that, but I didn't believe it."
For example, the article says: "We must believe that WE ARE Prophets before we can receive the prophecy, etc..." The Lord has been saying to me: "BE who you are, and you will KNOW who you are."
This whole article has been a powerful second witness to me, and a wake-up call to listen to the Lord more intently. I am thankful and amazed that the Lord is still willing to work with me, despite the fact that I often take what I am told too lightly.
Even the part of the article where it talks about experimenting with faith and exercising faith and asking the Lord to teach you how to do various things. I have been getting the impression since my baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, that the Lord is eager and anxious to show me things. It's like I've passed the test of faith, and now it's time to put that faith to work and receive actual knowledge. But, the Lord isn't waiting for me to ask him. He has been putting me in situations where it's "sink or swim". I have to exercise the gifts of the Spirit in order to solve a particular problem.
So, thanks to whoever wrote that article, and to anybody else thinking to skip the article because they think already know all about the Holy Ghost, my advice would be to read it, and make a list of the things it teaches you, and things that maybe you know you should do, but aren't doing.
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