Mormon Direction

We all know of what God said about faith and what diminishes it. The most common thing is sin, or to be wicked, to abide in Satan’s rule or influence and so forth, but what many people do not realize is there are other things that also diminishes faith, such as the act of remaining in fear or fear based thoughts, choices and actions. Allow me to explain.

Everyone has shortcomings, personal faults that affect their life. God gave us shortcomings so that we may be made humble by them (Ether 12:27), but also by them, through faith and enduring, God can help us make these weaknesses into a strength when these shortcomings or faults are overcome in the right way (2 Nephi 3:13 / 2 Corinthians 12:10 / Hebrews 11:34).

What many do not realize is that by these inward personal faults, a person can easily diminish his or her faith instead of increasing it and this is all by their own doing, in how they use free will and choice and the manner of beliefs they carry and choose to live. This speaks of two sides, the good and the bad.

When a person chooses to overcome their shortcomings or personal faults, this is the good side, but only if they choose the help of the Holy Spirit and that person allows the Spirit to humble them. Then that person’s faith is increased, made deeper and more rooted and he or she gains an inner spiritual strength that withstands negative spiritual influences. This is a process that takes time if a person perseveres, abides in the Spirit, journals, prays, repents, remains obedient, that person will overcome their fault, made stronger and faith surer.

When a person chooses not to overcome their shortcomings or personal faults, ignores the Holy Spirit, whether or not they pray, chooses to forsake humbleness as part of the process, gives in to their faults or justifies them in any way to keep them, ignore them or both, that person’s faith is diminished, and the scriptures say so.

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Everyone deals with shortcomings about their self-esteem or self-image. How they perform at work, at home, in relationships, in their personal or public performances, whether they feel worthy or unworthy. At one time or another, if not repeatedly, everyone has some issue with their self-esteem, but in this struggle, has there been any concern about self-esteem versus faith?

When it comes to faith, it is a matter where each person must take account of themselves and evaluate the nature and degree of their self-esteem and then see how this affects their faith.

Faith is the expression and act of love, devotion and obedience to God and for him. It is the trust in his will and trust that he will help and bless. Faith is also the expression of oneself to God, the who and what we are. In this expression of oneself comes the value of oneself. This personal value is the gift that we, as sons and daughters of God, give to God.

IN the scriptures God speaks about the value of how we give a gift where he said, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” (1 Cor 2.9:7). Gods speaks of the value of the heart and mind in things that we give to him and to others. Giving our faith grudgingly, is not faith at all. To exercise the commandments of God because you believe you have to, what value is this to God and his kingdom?

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While I was visiting another Christian church, the pastor opened the pulpit to any person in the congregation to step up to speak for a few minutes. One elderly man stepped up and said that he was impressed with a question as to how we can return to God like Enoch in the Bible. He commented to the question saying, “I did not know how, I guess sin now blocks the way“. It was interesting to hear this, but the fellow Christian could not determine, by the Bible, as to how or why God took Enoch up into heaven without mortal death. This fellows Bible was no different than mine, but his only answer as to why translation does not occur was because of sin.

For some reason this spurred an interest in me, to reflect on the account of Enoch in the Bible and study the question. For some reason, for me, it became important to review the reasons why Enoch was raised.

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( Always a bad apple somewhere)

Remember the Mountain Meadows Massacre in 1857, where some Church members killed many innocent souls? Now, jump to these current days, where on occasion there is a member who committed serious crimes.

These events can be discouraging to members, to see some foolish or outright wrongs committed by a small few and how it reflects on the Church as a whole. These wrongs and foolish actions, when found by ex-members and Anti-Mormons, play up the bad image upon all good members and the Church. It is wrong by them to do this, unethical and even unfair, but because they desire to discredit, they will make any opportunity they can.

Many members know this already, so this not news, why then is this entry important? The importance is for those members who are questioning their faith and membership in the Church because of these events that have happened, who make the interpretation that something is wrong with the Church.

When I view these unsavoury events, I keep in mind a fact that some members seem to ignore. This fact is that God’s true Church invites all people to his salvation. Everyone is to be given this opportunity to accept the restored gospel and this acceptance is one of faith and belief. The problem that occurs are people who join this Church with questionable characteristics and ethics and make no effort to change them. These are people from the world, the converts, who were born and raised in worldly ideas. We all know the tendency of the world to love corruption so people (converts) who join the Church carry this corruption within them.

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 One day you are doing something that you know is not right, but you have a strong desire to do it. As you do this thing, you “feel” in the chest area a lowering of sorts, a diminishing as if things are being lowered within you. This is compared to the “good” feeling you had in general, when having kept the commandments and you were obedient. It is that good feeling that is lowered and heads downward. Despite what you feel, you continue with the thing you desired and soon, the higher feeling of goodness no longer resides in you. Depending on how long you continue, you feel more worldly or “darkened” and a kind of “lost” feeling begins to take place within you. 

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Have you experienced at sometime a person does something or says something, that you feel his or her sincerity? From that sincerity is assurance, a sense of stability and from this, a sense of peace, that all is now fine or resolved?

Have you experienced sometime when someone says something whose outward words appear as sincere or his/her actions by appearance are OK or good, but you do not feel the sincerity? Instead you feel instability, a sense of warning or caution and from this, no sense of peace?

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The “Judas Syndrome”, as I named it, refers to the act of betrayal to the faith of God and perpetuating lies or falsehoods against the Lord and his followers. The act of betrayal occurs within the faithful group as Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ.

This syndrome is quite prevalent today. Anti-Mormon’s use the errors or apostate acts by certain members to declare the doctrine of this Church as false or declare this Church and it’s members as evil.

How easily the Anti-Mormon’s forget the story of Judas, an apostle chosen by Jesus himself, brought into the fold of God. Judas betrayed Jesus by taking a bribe to turn Jesus over to the Romans. This story and example of Judas is what we see today. How some members have betrayed their faith in God to partake of sin. Of course Satan wants this. By leading some members to fall to sin, he knows that the ignorance of others will use that as an example against the Church and spread rumours and lies. This is why God called Satan as the “father of all lies”.  

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To have the ability to sense or feel sin is an important skill in maintaining faith and a single mind to the Lord. The ability to feel sin has nothing to do with seeking sin, it has to do with the ability to discern sin when all logic seems to fail or fall short.

To feel sin is to detect sin or sinful things by their nature and presence. To be able to feel and perceive jointly.

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