Day one hundred seventeen
This morning I heard the song "Outcast" on the radio. It is a song about being considered an outcast because of your beliefs in Christ and the fact that you aren't afraid to show it. It was fitting that this is the first song that I heard, since the seminary lesson today was on preaching the gospel. I said my prayer with this thought in my head, "Do people think of me as an outcast because of my beliefs and actions" and then "Do I care what they think?" I thanked the Lord for the gospel in my life and for the opportunities I have to teach and share it. I asked Him to please let me share my enthusiasm with the youth in a way that would let them know how much I love the gospel and invite the Spirit to fill them with enthusiasm too!
Exodus 7-11
The Prophet Joseph Smith once said, “The nearer a person approaches the Lord, a greater power will be manifested by the adversary to prevent the accomplishment of His purposes.”
I have found this to be true. During the spiritually high moments in my life I have felt both greater peace and joy, but also greater pressure of temptations and enticings. Also, when I have to make important decisions that have long term, eternal consequences, I have found that Satan is always there trying to throw in his two cents. We know that Satan is relentless in his work, and if he thinks that you are getting too close to overcoming him, he throws everything he has at you. He is very good at what he does and it can be difficult to know if the Spirit is talking to you or Satan. So how do we discern the good from the evil?
Know The Enemy
In the previous post we discussed the techniques that Satan uses to pull us away from God, so I will not repeat them in this post.
Am I Living Righteously?
Understand that "when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (D&C 130:20-21). President Faust suggests the following:
"All who come unto Christ by obedience to the covenants and ordinances of the gospel can thwart Satan’s efforts. The humble followers of the divine Master need not be deceived by the devil if they will be honest and true to their fellow men and women, go to the house of the Lord, receive the sacrament worthily, observe the Sabbath day, pay their tithes and offerings, offer contrite prayers, engage in the Lord’s work, and follow those who preside over them."
Receiving promptings is a blessing, if we are not living our lives righteously, yet we feel we are receiving promptings, we are being mislead.
This morning I heard the song "Outcast" on the radio. It is a song about being considered an outcast because of your beliefs in Christ and the fact that you aren't afraid to show it. It was fitting that this is the first song that I heard, since the seminary lesson today was on preaching the gospel. I said my prayer with this thought in my head, "Do people think of me as an outcast because of my beliefs and actions" and then "Do I care what they think?" I thanked the Lord for the gospel in my life and for the opportunities I have to teach and share it. I asked Him to please let me share my enthusiasm with the youth in a way that would let them know how much I love the gospel and invite the Spirit to fill them with enthusiasm too!
Exodus 7-11
The Prophet Joseph Smith once said, “The nearer a person approaches the Lord, a greater power will be manifested by the adversary to prevent the accomplishment of His purposes.”
I have found this to be true. During the spiritually high moments in my life I have felt both greater peace and joy, but also greater pressure of temptations and enticings. Also, when I have to make important decisions that have long term, eternal consequences, I have found that Satan is always there trying to throw in his two cents. We know that Satan is relentless in his work, and if he thinks that you are getting too close to overcoming him, he throws everything he has at you. He is very good at what he does and it can be difficult to know if the Spirit is talking to you or Satan. So how do we discern the good from the evil?
Know The Enemy
In the previous post we discussed the techniques that Satan uses to pull us away from God, so I will not repeat them in this post.
Am I Living Righteously?
Understand that "when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (D&C 130:20-21). President Faust suggests the following:
"All who come unto Christ by obedience to the covenants and ordinances of the gospel can thwart Satan’s efforts. The humble followers of the divine Master need not be deceived by the devil if they will be honest and true to their fellow men and women, go to the house of the Lord, receive the sacrament worthily, observe the Sabbath day, pay their tithes and offerings, offer contrite prayers, engage in the Lord’s work, and follow those who preside over them."
Receiving promptings is a blessing, if we are not living our lives righteously, yet we feel we are receiving promptings, we are being mislead.
The Holy Ghost
Some thoughts from President Faust's talk The Forces That Will Save You:
Some thoughts from President Faust's talk The Forces That Will Save You:
"Satan has had great success with this gullible generation. As a consequence, he and his angels have victimized literally hosts of people. There is, however, an ample shield against the power of Lucifer and his hosts. This protection lies in the spirit of discernment through the gift of the Holy Ghost. This gift comes undeviatingly by personal revelation to those who strive to obey the commandments of the Lord and to follow the counsel of the living prophets. This personal revelation will surely come to all whose eyes are single to the glory of God, for it is promised that their bodies will be “filled with light, and there shall be no darkness” in them" (D&C 88:67).
The gift of discernment is essential. Through this gift we are allowed to recognize that if something comes from God, it will have the potential to draw those involved toward the Lord. If it is a counterfeit from Satan or his evil spirits, it will have the potential to lead away from embracing the full gospel (Moroni 7:12-13). For those who are spiritually in tune there is an uncomfortable feeling given by the Holy Ghost that signals that something does not come from God.
Evaluate your Thoughts
We are told in Doctrine and Covenants 8:2: "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" (D&C 8:2) and in 1 Kings 19:12 that the promptings come as"a still small voice."
Sometimes we have thoughts that suggest that we are different or that because of our circumstances we are exempt from certain things the Lord asks us to do. We must be careful with such thoughts. "One way that Satan attempts to overcome us with such feelings is by telling us lies about our worth and about God’s feelings toward us. These lies may originate as simple thoughts that, repeated many times in our minds, can develop into entrenched habits of belief. These falsehoods are then reinforced by the media, things other people say, or even by misinterpretation of the scriptures." (Truths and Lies By Jennifer Nuckols, Ensign, Oct 2009). This is one of Satan's favorite ways to persuade us to his way of thinking.
Evaluate your Desires
Does the desire behind your request affect the prompting? We are told, "He that hath clean hands and a pure heart shall receive the Lord’s blessings" (PS 24:3-5). Elder Dallin H Oaks gave a talk at the latest conference titled Desire in which he stated: "Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming... To achieve our eternal destiny, we will desire and work for the qualities required to become an eternal being." Ask yourself, is the prompting I'm receiving bringing me closer to this goal?
Evaluate your Feelings
No one can tell you exactly what you will feel when the Spirit is acting on you. Some speak of a burning in the breast, others of a calm, peaceful feeling. The sensation has been described in many different ways. You will have to learn from experience how the promptings of the Spirit affect you. Here are some thoughts to consider:
When we are struggling with recognizing the source of our promptings it often leads to frustration,confusion and doubt. The confusion we experience may not be bad in and of itself. Feelings of confusion and doubt can have a positive effect in our lives if we allow them to serve as a starting place rather than as a stopping place. (But I’m Uncomfortable by Darwin Thomas and Charles Beckert, Jan 1975).
A starting point to what?
Go back and follow the advice given to Oliver Cowdery in Doctrine and Covenants 9:7–9, about receiving inspiration:
“Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.
“But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.
“But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong.”
Take a long, hard, careful look at the way those promptings you’re receiving will steer you. Are they in agreement with the scriptures and the teachings of the Church? Will they bring you closer to Heavenly Father? Will they help you to help your friends or family? Or is there some potential for harm, physical, spiritual, or otherwise, involved?
This whole train of thought started with my desire to understand how the magicians of Pharaoh were able to duplicate the miracles God performed through Moses and Aaron. I learned that Satan was behind such things and I wanted to know how I was supposed to recognize the good from the evil. I am not an expert at discerning good from evil. In fact, I am fighting the battle daily like most people do.
My studying has helped me to understand just how good Satan is at his job and why discerning his work can be so difficult. It has helped me to understand why the Egyptians and even some of the Israelites would fall for his counterfeit miracles. It has also made me realize how much I need to rely on the Lord for guidance and how important it is that I continue to build my relationship with Him. I am not meant to fight Satan alone and the Lord has made sure of this by giving me the gift of the Holy Ghost, which gives me a feeling of confidence, because I know that God's power is superior to Satan's!
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