Moroni 10- The Gifts of God are Available to All

I finished the Book of Mormon yesterday! I've read it through many times, but this is the first time I've really seen the last chapter of Moroni as a whole, coherent sermon. I've always been so concerned with feeling that spiritual confirmation of the book's truth that I have thought the spiritual gift section of the chapter is more of a reference section.  Really, the whole chapter is about the gifts that God extends freely to every one of his children.

I always stop at verse three because Moroni uses the word exhort- he really wants us to do something and it catches my attention.

Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them,that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

I think of the pioneers and of many of the people in the Book of Mormon who have seen miracles and feel satisfied I've remembered God's mercy to the children of men. The truth is, I've always felt beyond blessed to live today when we have electricity and soft beds. My washing machine and dishwasher top my gratitude list. I have always felt great pity for the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time I received these things. I ponder at great length how awful it would be to live in the middle of an uncivilized world counting sheep, having no books. cooking my food over a fire, living at the mercy of the elements. I imagine the great fear of starvation and the thirst and sickness billions must have felt throughout their lives. I have dwelt primarily on my blessedness and their utter poverty, hard work, and excruciating sentences to earth life.

This time through, an Ensign article I read made me dig a little deeper into the phrase "remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam."  Lawrence Corbridge spoke at a BYU devotional that was later printed in the February 2015 Ensign. It is titled "The Most Important Things."  He said, "Seek after those things that are monumentally important and equally available to everyone."  I thought to myself, "Do I really believe that God has been merciful to mankind since Adam?" I had to answer that honestly, I just felt really bad for them. If Moroni could exhort us to do anything in his last words, and he chose this, shouldn't it be worth my time? I've been trying to take time to recognize the blessings I have been given. I turn often to tangible events and things. But those things were denied most of humanity until the last 150 years or so. So what could they ever have for which to be grateful?

As I considered that phrase, "things that are monumentally important and equally available to everyone," I came up with a few ideas.
1. The perfect earth- suitable for life and full of unnecessary beauty and lessons
2. The atonement- the ability to repent
3. The ability to choose
4. A body
5. Covenants (eventually)

Some things that are available to most, but not all are:
1. Speech, communication
2. Unity within a group, the sweetness and spice of seeing life from others' perspectives, of feeling love in all it's different forms
3. Family
4. Learning
5. Hard work and it's rewards

Our material blessings can actually cloud our vision and keep us from seeing the fundamental mercy of God. No matter how many comforts we have in life, we need to remember the blessings that are available to all- from the beginning of the world- are the basis of joy.

Elder Corbridge said, to be forgiven of your sins and be endowed with the power of the Holy Ghost. These gifts of the Atonement, along with the gift of eternal life,  are the greatest of all the gifts of God.

He also referenced 2 Nephi 26:33-

I testify that Jesus is the Christ and that He invites “all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him … ; and all are alike unto God"

After seeing things from a different perspective, I could see why Moroni would exhort us, out of all the things he could have begged us, to remember God's mercy throughout the history of the world. We are fundamentally no different from God's other children. God's mercy does not change. And God's mercy is what makes life important and full and joyful.  That is why Moroni spent so much time talking about the Holy Ghost, that we can know the truth if we ask God, and the gifts of the spirit. So next time you count your blessings, ponder these final words of Moroni, a masterful lesson on what really matters in life.

17And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will.

 19 And I would exhort you, my beloved brethren, that ye remember that he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that all these gifts of which I have spoken,which are spiritual, never will be done away, even as long as the world shall stand, only according to the unbelief of the children of men.

And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.

 31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea,and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the    Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled.

 32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all   ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his  grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in   Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

When you count your blessings, do you include God's truest gifts?

Building the Kingdom of God in Families

We were asked to give a talk today because the planned speaker got sick. We were asked late Thursday night, and I was blessed to learn so much as I pondered what to say. Things just fit together when I sat down to organize it.  I had never thought about the kingdom of God in depth!

Building the Kingdom of God in Families

When we were asked to speak on Building the Kingdom of God in families, I realized I had never thought much about what the Kingdom of God meant. When I looked in the Topical Guide and Bible Dictionary, this is what I found.

The Topical Guide had two entries for the Kingdom of God:  The Kingdom of God in Heaven which God  prepares for us, and  the Kingdom of God on Earth which we must work to create.

The Bible Dictionary says:

 These terms are used in various combinations and with varying meanings. Generally speaking, the kingdom of God on the earth is the Church. It is a preparation for the greater kingdom—the celestial or kingdom of heaven. However, kingdom of heaven is sometimes used in scripture to mean that the true church on the earth is the path to heaven and is the kingdom of heaven on earth.

The true church on the earth is the kingdom of heaven on the earth. Isn’t that what we all want- heaven on earth? We can have that in our families when we seek to build the kingdom of God.

As I considered this, I realized that the word kingdom here is really a metaphor. What do we think of when we hear the word kingdom? A king and queen on their thrones leading and guiding their subjects. But what kingdom have we ever seen where the king is available for consult 24/7? What kingdom has offered to every citizen a place in the castle and a seat on an eternal throne? What king is all knowing, everywhere, and perfect?  The word Kingdom as God intends it must mean something for which we have no word and no way of understanding while we are here on the earth. Since we cannot understand the bigger picture or the extent of his mercy and love, he asks us to come to understand it by working to build his kingdom while here.

Matthew 6 talks about the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven. The Lord’s prayer says,

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

 11 Give us this day our daily bread.

 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. 

In the same chapter, Christ continues to explain how his earthly Kingdom and his heavenly kingdom relate to us:

19 ¶Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

From the very beginning, Satan has wanted to claim the earth as his Kingdom.  One of the tricks he uses is to confuse us and convince us our purpose in life is to build our own kingdoms.  He wants us to think we can be in complete control of our own lives. We need to build our own castles, attract our own fawning subjects, amass huge amounts of wealth, wear the finest clothes, and live in the lap of luxury.  Doesn’t that sound like the definition of kingdom we usually see?  But God tells us that if we will seek his kingdom instead of our own, he will take care of us.  And I can testify of that. Continuing in Matthew 6:28

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

What hard things to learn! What do you mean don’t worry about what we’ll eat or drink or wear? That’s all our bodies are programmed to think about! What morning don’t we ask “Wherewithal shall I be clothed?”  For this reason, the Lord sends us to earth in families: to teach us how to build his kingdom instead of our own with an eye towards being united in His eternal kingdom which he has prepared for us.

When I met Joseph, one of my favorite things about him was that he put others before himself and I knew he had great desires to serve God.  I knew that he would choose God first.  We made goals together to build God’s kingdom by starting a family.  Well, I quickly became aware that things didn’t often go as I’d planned. Before we got married, you think I’d have learned that, but I actually thought I was pretty good at relationships and compromising and I knew I was really patient.  Depending on someone else and compromising to do what he wanted for the day wasn’t easy.  We had different ideas on lots of things. I would get easily discouraged and ornery.  As his birthday neared and we’d been married a year, I prayed to know what meaningful thing I could get him for his birthday. My answer came: He would like you to smile more.  He’s a pretty upbeat guy, and I didn’t think he appreciated having an ornery wife.  As I studied and pondered how to smile more, I received this acronym:

S-Stop

M-Meditate

I-Initiate a new action

L- Laugh- do something to laugh

E- Evaluate. How did it work. Do I still feel ornery?  If it didn’t work, start over again. Try a different action.

Having kids didn’t make “seeking God’s kingdom” or the happiness of others any easier. Now I didn’t sleep at night and someone followed me around undoing the work I did on MY kingdom!  I’m so thankful that the Lord gives us repentance and prayer. With a lot of both, I am learning to lean on the Lord more. I am also learning to trust that when I work at something, the Lord is building right alongside me.  I love this quote by C.S. Lewis:

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

That is what we are building when we build the kingdom of God- it is not for our glory, but in glorifying him, we become glorified. One time just a few years ago, Joseph and I went to a class about maintaining your marriage while parenting. It ended up that we were the only people who showed up. The teacher asked us about what challenges we faced and here was our answer:

We have three kids, I’m pregnant, he’s unemployed, we’re starting a new company, he’s the scout master, I’m in the primary presidency, and let’s see. . . We’re remodeling our house- only a toilet in the bathroom. 

We sounded so pathetic on paper.

 I don’t even remember what advice the teacher gave us, but we laughed hysterically about it on the drive home and we slept well that night because we knew in our hearts that we were building the kingdom of God.

  
After 11 years of parenting, there are a few key things Joseph and I have learned:

1.       Pray, Read your Scriptures, and have family night.

2.      Repent as quickly as possible. It saves a lot of hurt and maintains trust in our family.

3.      Use the programs of the church to teach our kids. As my daughter, Elsie, began school this year, she was not at all excited. She had a pretty bad attitude about it. I felt inspired to write a note and give her a copy of For the Strength of Youth. I asked her to read the part on Education. She shared some of the things she liked later, and she’s even taught a FHE lesson about it since.  I also have a strong testimony of scouting and the change it can make in boys.

4.      Plan time for the most important things first- the things of God actually give you clarity of vision to solve other problems more quickly.

5.      Don’t turn down opportunities to serve because of the kids. The service will be 100 times stronger teacher than our words will ever be.

6.      Make routine the most important things.  As an example that works for our family but is just an application, not a doctrine: Our Sunday Schedule- Interviews and tithing, Family History, Service, and work on church programs together.

I know as we work on family history or share stories, my kids are strengthened by the sense of belonging to something much bigger. They gain a vision of the kingdom of God. I have also felt that they have angels to attend them. I am not the only one teaching my kids.

7.      Invite others to be a part of your joy- if they decline, don’t be offended. Show them you still love them for who they are- not because you wanted to change them.

Remember the question, “Wherewithal shall we be clothed?”  Here is the Lord’s answer to the house of Israel in the last days:

Isaiah 49 or 1 Nephi 21:18

18 Lift up thine eyes round about and behold; all these gather themselves together, and they shall come to thee. And as I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on even as a bride.

What will we wear? In God’s kingdom we will be adorned with the people we influence in this life.

The Kingdom of God is not physical in nature. It consists of people- people God wants us to touch and influence.  When we build the kingdom of God, we build people and they, in turn, build us.. When the Kingdom of God on the earth and the Kingdom of God in heaven unite, we will find ourselves bound to all of them.