Saturday, January 29, 2011

Sons & Daughters Of God- Tempered Against Evil

 Brothers & Sisters,

There has been such an outpouring of the Spirit in my life the past few weeks, and not one that I should be surprised about. Before that outpouring of the good things, came the testing of resolve against all bad things.

In our lives, we all have this spiritual swing of ups and downs; Should we ever assume it is going to be otherwise, we will continue to live in a state of denial that will prevent much progression. Denial, fear and dismay are feelings someone else wants us to feel, but are not feelings we must feel. They will slip in, here and there- yet if there is anything I have learned as my life has progressed, it is that we have the ability to deny those feelings residence at any level and fiber of our being.

As I watched a recent Mormon Messages Video, "I am a Son of God" - which is the story of Moses as found in the first Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price- I read about and saw a personage who exhibited all those very feelings. Imagine if you will, Moses being able to look upon the very face of Satan. When Satan demands Moses to worship him, can you not help but feel the very DENIAL that Satan continued to be in at that day, many years after his fall? Think about it.

Consider then, Moses sees this, and as Moses disregards the commandment given him by Satan , imagine the visual DISMAY that must have permeated the features visible on the face of the Father of Lies- trying to fool himself, especially when thinking that Moses would resign his will to keep the commandments and fall down and worship him. Elder Jeffrey Holland said it best, when he said, "But Moses wasn't having it. He had just seen the real thing...".

I can only imagine the feeling of right, and justification that must have been native to the heart of Moses, when the last of the events he had to endure with Satan had come and gone. Imagine now, for yourself, that the laws by which Satan are bound, give us, as they did Moses, the upper hand against him. Think of the FEAR that had to be upon the face of the author of that feeling, when he was commanded "...in the name of the Only Begotten, depart hence Satan...".

Sure, Moses was rocked by the fear of the event for a small portion of time, and saw "...the bitterness of Hell..." but, Moses knew and felt even stronger "The Spirit Of God" dwelling within him as he did just as God has commanded him and all men, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God" not having any other Gods before Him.

What a grandeur of moments, and Spiritual glee that can come upon our souls as we read about great stories of the survival of the un-official fifth principle of the Gospel, "Enduring To The End". The scriptures are full of such blessed stories, and all of them I am grateful to God to have in my life.

I know that the scriptures are true, and through careful pondering of them... keeping them close to our hearts, we all can better understand the mysteries, wisdom, and power of God. Such is my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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