mormondirection.com

The scriptures say that we are to provide a sacrifice to heavenly Father and this can be done in many ways, such as what was said in Romans 12: 1 or Ephesians 5: 2.

The word of God speaks of self-sacrifice, one where we are to subjugate ourselves to the ways of God and to put aside the ways of the world. Some of these “self-sacrifices” refer to placing ourselves into a humbled state, a contrite spiritual state which subjects ourselves to his Spirit (Psalms 51:17), which is also seen  in one of the most well known scriptural verses, “..he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it ( Matt. 10:39).”

It is clear that God is telling us to forsake mortal tendencies of life and embark onto a spiritual path and way, but how many really do this as they claim faith in God and his Spirit?

Indulgence or sacrifice?

The battle between being spiritual, the offering of oneself to God, or submitting ourselves to indulgences of the flesh and of the world. How easy it is for anyone of us to loose ourselves in indulgences, big and small and not even think of what we are really doing. Simple things, coffee, chocolate, junk food, cakes, or even drink (speaking generally), this is to name a few.

Think about it. When you fast for two meals, do you not desire to drink and eat? To have that treat, that potato chip, cup of hot chocolate or that slice of pizza?  That is an example of the human nature, that of the natural man or woman, the carnal mind and heart, wanting things of the flesh and the world, but when you refuse those desires to continue the fast, then you are spiritual, submitting oneself as a sacrifice to heavenly Father.

Now let us seriously consider as to whether the everyday thing is an indulgence or sacrifice. What things are you doing in your life that would be counted as an indulgence? Having need to eat that chocolate every day, or have that tea every morning, or that need for something that is gained from the world or from the flesh, the pleasures.

It is so easy to get into ideas of “self-pampering”, or “I deserve this” or “treat myself”, etc. These philosophies are taught by many “self-help” gurus that claim this is increasing personal power. How easy the corruption of God’s principles and practices can occur so subtlety and quickly because they appeal to the very thing we all have, that is the “ego” which is where pride resides.

God knew that unless we act in “self-sacrifice” we would be caught up by the world and the flesh, locked into the carnal mind and end up with a heart  of stone, spiritually speaking. Self-sacrifice assists us to humble ourselves and develop a contrite spirit, not to submit ourselves to indulgences, but to submit ourselves to the Spirit, which are spiritual things.

The important thing is to learn when things are not an indulgence and when they are. Making excuses to indulgence, even justify it as “free will or choice” is a selfish act because it serves no one but yourself. Athletes know the importance of self-sacrifice when it comes to performance. True they do it to perform better, it is for themselves, but the manner which it is done is the same. They do not indulgence in things that will hamper their “discipline”.

When God said that our bodies must be like a temple, that means we are to develop and maintain our physical nature unto God. Keep healthy, exercise and every so often, subjugate the body to a fast and to spiritual ways and things. Overcoming the things of the flesh is what opens us up to the Spirit, because by subjugating the flesh and the natural man or woman within, putting aside indulgences and excuses to indulge, shifts the body mind and soul into a spiritual focus and all good spiritual focuses are of God, which invites the Spirit. As athletes do this to perform, we can do the same, spiritually speaking for our faith unto God.

So what would it be for your faith, indulgence of sacrifice?

It is unfortunate that so many preachers and teachers of the scriptures exist today, where almost all of them are false, having none of God within them and none of God’s Spirit with them, teaching doctrines favoured by men. Test the spirits of those who speak is crucial to protecting faith. There is no justification to allow false teachings to take hold within your mind and heart, not for any reason, because false teachings are sinful. False teachings are contrived by the carnal mind and the carnal mind will always be an enmity to God. False teachings or false doctrines are not of faith,  and this means that anything not of faith is sin. This is how serious false doctrines and teachings are to true faith.

When faced with the countless preachers and teachers out there that profess belief systems and doctrines, how can you ensure that your faith is protected and not infected by these falsehoods? The answer is to test the spirit of those words.

Testing the spirit is not solely by comparing word for word in the Bible, as so many other Christians profess to do. This is not the way Paul the Apostle taught. He made it clear that the letter of the word killeth, only the spirit gives life. This says that to compare the letter of the word for the letter of the word will get nothing in return but darkness and misunderstanding, but to compare the spirit of the word, which words are spirit and they are life, will get truth. This means to learn and exercise spiritual discernment, just as Paul the Apostle teaches. When a person learns the gospel by the revelation of Jesus Christ, he will learn the spiritual meaning and application. Then and only then can a person test the spirits because then it is comparing spiritual with spiritual.

When a person is able to compare rightly, then he/she is “rightly dividing the word“, which gives the power to  test the spirits of others and their words, to spiritually discern if they speak God’s word or not. If not, what is said is rejected or treated as “of the world”.

Until that time that you learn to rightly divide the word and spiritually discern, keep one’s faith a distance from preachers, teachers or presenters (famous or not). Staying at a spiritual distance until you work out with God what is true. Never give any person’s words justification, such as “they are just giving provoking thought, or trying to progress, or they are just beginners in a beginner church, etc. Such justifications in your heart and mind weaken faith because sin is justified and God cannot accept sin in any degree. A good Christian, a good Saint speaks respectfully to false speakers, but at no time accepts falsehoods or false doctrines and stands strong in the faith, which can only occur when living the true doctrines of the gospel.

(Note, the words in italics are words matching scriptural passages in the King James Bible)

I was alerted to this video by a friend who received it by e-mail. I located it on YouTube entitled, “How would you introduce Christ to a room full of people???“. As I watched it, I found the timing of this interesting since I posted a blog article about this very thing – “ God’s Work, Always in Faith“.  I spoke of how God does his work and anything he promotes will never be to appease or please the vanity of people, or even use such things to promote himself, his gospel, his salvation and be assured that any fanfare that appears in the name of Jesus Christ is not of him neither can it be for him.

This video portrayed the exact thing I was speaking about in the recent article about God’s work. I ask you to watch this video, it is a short one. The performance is by Steve Harvey, a actor and comedian who stood on stage to speak about Jesus Christ. Look at this video before you read on.

(more…)

There is no work that God does that is not by or for faith. Any work that is by popularity, or by fame or by popular acceptance is not the work of God but is the work of man. God requires faith and to have this faith, the gospel, its truths, faith must be present. Anything other than that is not of God and not of his gospel, which is the basis of calling something another gospel.

God does not gain faith through popularity, exciting things, fanfare, celebrities, neither does he entice anyone toward him through or by any of those things. For God to use those things means that God is a god of fanfare, or popularity, celebrity show or any of these kind of things.

The first commandment should have made that clear to people, but sad to say that people are still believing that all those things are part of God’s Church, gospel or his doctrines. I speak in a general application to the communities of Christians, not specifically to this Church.

(more…)

 There has been an uproar about prophets ever since Joseph Smith became one. Many times I wondered why people would resist a prophet so much. It seems this is a repeat of what occurred within the scriptures, that a prophet of God is rejected and scorned. What I have noticed is that a prophet that speaks in the name of God, for God, for salvation and redemption, having no interest in self-profit is shunned, while a prophet that appeases the interests of the world and people is praised. This exact pattern exists in the Bible as well as in the Book of Mormon. Still, it seems incomprehensible that people would not accept and not see a true prophet of God.

I believe that this involves the power of free choice which each one of us possess. I refer to the power that each of us have and exercise when either accepting Joseph Smith as the prophet of God or not. There must be a reason or cause that leads people to have such a difficult time with accepting the reality of a prophet and why people do not humble themselves and act in faith, asking God? Why they are so resistant to the idea of submitting themselves. What I have realized, at this point, that it is easier for people to not bother seeking the truth on the matter. Why is this?

(more…)

…and a spiritual mind is one made by faith, not just belief.

Our weakness is found in the things of the carnal mind, the temporal desires that, at times, seem to overwhelm our spiritual focus and faith. It is through this one weakness, the state of mind and heart created by the carnal mind that Satan gets some of his best work done. This is where temptations and carnal desires are felt and experienced. Is it any wonder that the word of God clearly states that the carnal mind is an “enmity” to him?

(more…)