The first and great commandment

I've been thinking about how so often when people criticize religion they say something like, "you have so many 'thou shalt nots'". And when you start listing them that's true - there are all kinds of things we have been told to avoid. But religious or not, if you start to list all of the things that are bad ideas you will come up with a super long list! I think we get caught up in all of the "thou shalt nots" too much though, because Christ told us that there really are only 2 commandments - and neither of them is a "thou shalt not"!

Matthew 22:37-40 reads, "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

If Christ could have his way he wouldn't have had to teach anything else but to love God, love ourselves, and love all we come in contact with at least as much as we love ourselves. If you're struggling with a long list of things you aren't supposed to do, just remember that the "thou shalt nots" are only there because we're just not as good as we could be at "thou shalt LOVE".

-Lisa

Obedience

I have been thinking about scriptural accounts of people following the counsel of the Lord and their leaders. It has got me thinking how things work out for the people that are obedient and it doesn't work out for those who are disobedient. 

For example:

-Daniel prayed even when it was forbidden and the Lord protected him in the Lion's den.
-Jonah ran away from the the Lord's assignment. That didn't work out for him- which he learned from the stomach of a whale. However, once he repented and was willing to be obedient, the Lord blessed him.
-The Israelites who were willing to look to the serpent were healed, those who were unwilling, died.
-Laman and Lemuel wouldn't be obedient to Nephi and Lehi's counsel and because of their disobedience, they were about to be swallowed up in the sea. Fortunately, they repented and the Lord spared them.
-The early saints headed west, as commanded, and they were finally able to live in peace without being persecuted.

I testify that when we are obedient, the Lord blesses us and things work together for our good.

--Jashley

Revelation

I taught a lesson recently in church about revelation. I have been pondering this topic for quite a while. Elder Bednar gave a talk about the different ways revelation can come if you have the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He mentioned some being: visions, dreams, visits from heavenly messengers, and inspiration. He then went on to say how many accounts in the scriptures are of visions, dreams, and heavenly messengers, and said that those do happen. However, they are more of the exception than the rule. He explained that the Lord teaches us line upon line.

Nephi did not know how he would obtain the plates from Laban. He had to try three times, with the first two being failures. The third time, he proceeded all on faith, and it was revealed to him how to obtain them when he stumbled across passed out Laban. How many times in our lives do we get frustrated because we are symbolically on our way back to Jerusalem and the Lord has not revealed to us what we should do? We have to have faith and proceed, doing the best we know how, until the path becomes clear. I dont think Nephi would have handled it very well if he knew from the beginning he would have to kill Laban to save the sacred text.

When I think back on the times I know i have had revelation, the revelation has come after my faith has been tested and before things fall apart. It comes at the perfect time for everything to fall into place and work out for my good.

I believe if we pray for inspiration and opportunities to practice communicating with the Spirit, those opportunities will be granted to us if we watch for them. Our loving Heavenly Father wants to communicate with us, and the more opportunities we allow ourselves to hear those promptings, the more familiar we will become with them. President Monson is a wonderful example of listening to the Spirit and has told many stories of times that he has acted on a prompting and has been so glad he did. May we all strive to have more faith in the Lord's timing and create more opportunities to feel the promptings of the Spirit.

-Jashley