Which way do you face? A life-changing question.

For whatever reason, this blog post cannot wait till morning.

I am writing this post because I didn’t understand the atonement very well, and honestly I still don’t… because all its glory and truth and understanding comes with much inquiry, much pondering, and line upon line. But here is a little line that was given to me that I hope will help someone else understand and take full advantage of the greatest gift that you will ever receive.

Do you ever wonder why you keep repenting over the same things? Or failing to do the things you should be doing? Why can’t I just kick that addiction? That weakness? Do you keep asking Him to give you strength and to change you so you can stop having to be embarrassed that you are kneeling again over the same issue? Is it hard to even want to kneel because you have asked for His forgiveness so many times you lost count?

I am very familiar with these thoughts, and I’m sure you are too. It’s easy to sell ourselves short and think we will never become like our Savior till sometime after we die. I hope what I say next will change your understanding of your capability to become like your Savior in THIS life and to live this life joyfully, no matter your hardship, and walk hand in hand with your Savior.

I have wanted to know how to stop just repenting, and how I could actually be changed into a Spiritual being instead of a carnal being… meaning that my spirit will reign master over the carnal nature and desires of my body. In discussing and pondering I had a moment where I realized that the answer to my desires lies within the question, “Which way do I face?”

Imagine this… You are standing in your little world… On your left is the world. The world includes all things devised by Satan to distract you and to destroy you, and they are many. The world is bright and exciting and enticing and so colorful that it is hard to take your eyes off it. But look to your right hand and you will see your Savior with His arms outstretched with a burning desire to give you every key to become like Him and just wishing you would face Him long enough for Him to show you how to unlock the change you desire.

Here is what we tend to do…

We face left and live IN the world and OF the world because it is all those things I mentioned above that continues to blind us to most things of a spiritual nature and keeps us oblivious to who we truly are as spiritual beings. The world is so all encompassing that we rarely remember that we are spiritual beings having a mortal experience. We have forgotten all when the veil was put over our eyes the moment we entered these wonderful and hard but essential mortal bodies.

I imagined myself in my little world and it was hard for me to admit it… I am facing the world.

If you are like me, the only time you turn to face you Savior is to repent or when you need something. We momentarily take our eyes off the world, burdened with guilt or shame or in sheer exhaustion. We turn to Him to seek relief through repentance or to just be lifted from the burdens the world places on our shoulders from trying to hold up our own little world in all its heaviness. We face Him just long enough to be relieved of that sin of commission (bad things we do) or omission (things we should be doing and don’t), or to be able to stand for another day.

Then what do we do?

When the relief is felt it is a very short turn right back to the world where we feel most familiar at this point… until we need His saving grace again.

Here is the question...

Do you REALLY want to be like your Savior? Do you want to be literally changed? To become new?... To have no more desire to do evil but to do good continually?

Then here is the key….  Which way do you face?

If we do not turn toward our Savior and stay facing Him that change we desire will never come. We will be fighting our battles mostly on our own because we are choosing to do it that way. He will lift us and help us as much as He can, but He cannot fully help or change us until we have done more than just ask with partial effort on our part. However, it is more likely that instead of choosing to do it this way, we are unknowingly doing it this way. Time has tested and the results are in… we cannot change on our own. It will never happen because of our own sheer grit and self-discipline. If we could there would be no need for a Savior. We must believe (faith) that He can change us, then we must ask that He will change us if we do our part, and then we must start walking (action)… steadily… in His direction. He needs us to seek, to knock, and to be diligent. He needs us to not be a fair weather friend. He needs us to be His disciple. He needs us to be diligently "obedient to every word that proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God", which includes our scriptures, our prophets, and our very own personal revelation. He needs to be in our every day; our every moment, on our mind and in our heart. He needs us to live IN the world and not OF it by asking us to literally turn our back on the world and leave it there, which means giving up many things of the world to receive many greater gifts of the Spirit that will surpass what the world offers. He needs you. He loves you and wants to give it ALL to you. If you will just face Him and lay the rest on the alter of sacrifice… He will make it all worth it.

If you will do this, and commit over and over and over again, imperfect yet unwavering, to face your Savior and fade out the world, you will live life joyful, even if it is still just as hard or gets even harder. "My yoke is easy; my burden is light." 

I can bare testimony of this principle because I am imperfectly putting it to the test and have begun to taste of its richness and it works and turning completely to Him is the ONLY way that we can be changed to become like our Savior. I can honestly say that my Savior and this gospel isn’t just a part of my life… It IS my life... and I am looking forward to receiving that next line upon line so I can become more like Him. 

Which way do you face?

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

To Not Forget The Savior when Christmas is Over

Believers in Christ have watched for the Savior throughout the History of this world.  They watched for the sign of His birth. They watched for the sign of his death. In my heart I don’t think those who REALLY watched for him just allowed those moments to sneak upon them. I think they really prepared, in ways that many of us are unfamiliar with. They were patient, obedient and faithful… and when he arrived it was not a moment of feeling unprepared. I think they were able to rejoice… because they had known him before and this was a reunion. What a glorious moment that must have been for them.

In this moment we find ourselves watching for Him again. We are familiar with some of the prophecies we read about in the scriptures and are watching for the signs. We are witnessing the gospel spread to every corner of the earth. We are just beginning to see the trials and great calamities, and persecution against the church. I am not going to speak further of the hard things that we will face, other than I encourage you to continue to make the necessary physical preparations that we have been instructed to make by our prophets and apostles. We might associate the second coming with fear, but we forget that it will also be glorious for those who are found to be righteous and faithful and obedient. One of the glorious events that must happen before the Savior comes is the building of the great City Zion, the New Jerusalem; a City like unto the City of Enoch, where Christ himself will come to live among us, due to the righteous state of those who will be allowed to enter there.

That time is not quite yet, so we return to our lives and wait for his glorious return… but oh how glorious, we know not. And prepared, we are not. I reached a moment 2 years ago where I gained a great desire, and I am beginning to get an idea of just how glorious it will be. Since then I have made a transition. I am not just waiting for the second coming of my Savior… I am ANXIOUSLY taking great lengths to prepare myself for that moment. The more I prepare, the more excited I become. Because of my preparations that will continue until the moment he arrives, I will not be surprised in that moment because I will have KNOWN him long before He actually gets here. And it will be a reunion.

This Christmas Season has been wonderful. We have felt the light of Christ in our hearts and have been warmed by the abundance of love and extra compassion we feel during this beautiful time of year. When sadly it is over, and the time comes that you take down your beautiful Christmas tree and the decorations that bring this glorious season into full life… make extra sure that you don’t pack him away in those boxes and put him in storage.

I want to talk on how we can do this.

The gospel should not be just a wonderful PART of our lives; it should BE our lives. This gospel IS Jesus Christ, so Christ should be the center of our lives.

I am reading the Book of Mormon again and highlighting every reference to our Savior. Do you know what I have found? Nephi and Lehi, and Jacob, and Enos, and the Alma’s, and King Benjamin, and Mormon and Moroni, and all our other wonderful heroes in the Book of Mormon made Christ their lives. They walked and talked with him in their every day life. Do you think they did because they were more special, or more talented, or more loved by God than you or I? Were they born extraordinary? These wonderful and remarkable individuals were simply extraordinarily obedient. They sought after Christ diligently, and they found Him. They knew him, because they had a true and earnest desire to seek his will in all things. God is no respecter of persons, and offers this to any who desire it and who will seek and knock… You and I can do that. It is possible to glorify him all the daylong. Then… you will begin to know Him. You will begin to step into HIS realm instead of occasionally inviting him into ours.

           

To apply this you must first understand that this will be not easy. It will never be easy. The fact and truth is that we forget about him. This is a fallen world and demands that we must work by the sweat of our brow. We must work to provide, we have to sleep and eat, we must take care of our families, and we must fulfill our callings and other obligations. And that doesn’t include the important unimportant things Satan sneaks into our lives. Life is full of things to be busy with.

You must DECIDE that you want Him in your life…

This is where you begin applying the greatest gift He has given you. The atonement. If we could only begin to truly understand that gift. There are two portions to this gift. The first atoned for our sins, allowing us to repent and become clean. We are all familiar with this process. But our Savior never intended us to keep working on the same sins and weaknesses over and over again until WE overcome them. So that is why he gave us the second portion of his gift, the one we don’t understand as well. This is the enabling power, the ability to overcome those sins and put them behind you. This is the portion that heals and empowers you to become. This portion has become most dear to me as I am learning everyday how to better apply it in my life. It truly is a key to becoming more like the Saints we are asked to be, it is the key to becoming more like Him. If you would like to know more about this amazing part of the atonement Elder Bednar gives a wonderful talk called The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality in the April 2012 General Conference. I highly recommend it. It helps put the sacrament into a better perspective each week.

We covenant to always remember Him and to take his name upon us. Ask him to be in your countenance so that you can bear witness of him at all times, no matter where you are because he will be IN you.

            To always remember Him is to have him an active presence in your home. We have wonderful parents and grandparents in this room. But we can do more as parents. To quote Tad R. Callister in our most recent conference please make sure that your children are not receiving your second hand efforts after you have given your best effort to work, your calling, or other endeavors. Take an active role in their spiritual needs. This is the most valuable gift you could ever give to protect them. Please don’t leave it up to Primary and our youth program to teach them how to combat Satan in his attack on our children, for he has no mercy. Make great effort that they grow up not just knowing OF Jesus Christ. Please make sure they KNOW him. Then when they get to the age where they must enter the battle without you, they will walk out your door with the full armor of God. And they will faithfully go into battle knowing without a doubt that their mothers knew it.

How do WE truly come to know the Savior? By doing more than we are now. I am not talking about increasing the amount of callings you have, or how much time you are spending in your callings, I am talking about the private time that you give to your Savior in your personal studies, your personal commitments to him, and showing him that you desire to do his will in all things.

Let’s not be afraid of being too righteous; for that is the fear of men. Those we read about in the scriptures glorified God continually, and were not ashamed to praise him and share his word. And they were not afraid to seek out greater righteousness. Nephi’s father, Lehi, was a prophet. Nephi respected and followed his father as a prophet, but that did not stop him from seeking out great revelation for himself. He saw and experienced the same things his father had and more. He desired greater light and knowledge. He wanted the greater portion and his own access to the Lord and was highly favored of the Lord because of it.

My dear brothers and sisters…  the time for preparation is RIGHT NOW. Christ is coming. And before He can come Zion must be built. He needs His people worthy and ready at that time to build it and reside there; people who have risen above the mark and have prepared themselves early on. If you haven’t already felt it around you, I want you to know that Zion has already begun… it has begun in the hearts of people and they are changing. I feel it growing in my heart and others that I love. Christ cannot be present with us today in our current state… so we have work to do. I think this is the message the Savior wants me to give you today, is that we must start preparing right now because this remarkable process of change does not happen overnight and time is growing short. So I ask you…  Do you want to be there? Do you want this to be a reunion to see your Savior come to dwell among his people? If you desire this, you will begin your journey to Zion in this very moment by accepting the gift of this season and truly plant Him in your heart where he will wrought a mighty change in you that will change you forever and leave you with a desire to no more commit sin. You will begin to be a Nephi who walks and talks with God and KNOWS him. You will be prepared to be in His presence. He is truly the best gift you could ever unwrap this Christmas Season.

I bare testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ. He is our Savior and Redeemer. He is our advocate with the Father and there is no other way home than by Him. I know that He desires you and I to begin a greater preparation, right now, to live in his presence.

I leave these things to be pondered in your heart, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Celestial Athletes

I have just begun to review General Conference, beginning with the General Relief Society Meeting, and came upon a gem in the first talk by Linda K. Burton. She makes a correlation between the dedication and consistent preparation of a world-class athlete and someone (you) who are seeking to qualify for exaltation in the celestial kingdom.

Having an athletic background I have a small idea of the amount of long hours and energy and thought that goes into the success of these world-class Olympic athletes that we watch in awe as they compete. My small understanding of all that effort being compared to what my own dedication to achieving celestial exaltation SHOULD be puts a greater amount of urgency to hasten my own celestial athletic training. Let’s not be lulled into thinking that we are doing enough just because we are doing the minimum requirements, that all is well in Zion. If you want to reach Zion, to be a Zion-like person within yourself, you will need to find a greater and more consistent dedication.

I have found a very wonderful first step to this training: Obedience to the voice of the Lord. Doing your best to be obedient to ALL he has and will ask of you. You can find these opportunities to be obedient in the scriptures and in conference talks past and present, and through your own personal revelation and guidance from the Lord directly to you and for you and for your specific situation. This first step is learning to hear and then obey the voice of revelation in your own soul.

I would like to quote a wonderful man named John Pontius… “When you read the scriptures and survey the lives of the noble and great ones of previous gospel dispensations, you are not reading the lives of the extraordinarily talented. You are reading the lives of the extraordinarily obedient. They started with no greater advantage, genius, or strength than most of us.”

Your potential just multiplied exponentially... You can be a Nephi, an Alma, a Moroni! And then you can become like our Savior!

Your athletic training begins now.

With all the love I possess,    Lacey

Introduction: Putting on the Robes of Godliness

A robe is a garment that one puts on. The robe I speak of is visible to the eye and it is worn proudly. I speak not of a robe such as a bathrobe, but of Godly Robes; Royal robes. To put on this robe that I speak of is to wear it in public and in private.  This robe is who you are not just in public, but also in private. This is your testimony, your lifestyle, and it is shared with all. This robe is a choice that you make to live what you believe, at all times, in all things, and in all places. Not just when it is convenient, or when you are approaching General Conference or some other large church event. This is a robe that you dawn that does not come off. It is who you are and forever will be once it is put on. It is your imperfect but unwavering diligence and obedience to the Lord your God; To be his follower, to be his disciple, to be HIS in whatever he needs of you. These are truly robes of royalty. They are not easy robes, or convenient robes. They are embroidered with trial, patience, and long-suffering. These robes are the taking on of the will of the father, that you might be more fully changed to become like Him, like your Savior, like the God you can become.

I glory in my God. I have unwavering confidence in His ability to make me much more than I am. I am more than imperfect, and can never hope to become perfect on my own. If that were possible to become perfect on my own, then there would be no need for a Savior. Because of Jesus Christ, we can be perfect after all we can do. When I say ‘after all we can do’ I do not mean trying a little bit, or some of the time. This is truly dedicating your life to your Savior. There is a more excellent way to live. A higher road that will qualify us to be made perfect through our Savior after all we can do.

My purpose for this blog is to be bold, to prick your hearts and awaken your souls to look up from your busy lives and decide who you are being busy for. There is a lot of fluff in this world, and most of us are drowning in it. Look up, and reach for his hand. He has been waiting for you to realize he has been reaching for a very long time for you to look up and shed the cares of this world, and put on a greater care, that of His mission for you. He has one for you, and he needs you to wake up, look up, and follow him.

D&C 88: 74-86

74 And I give unto you, who are the first laborers in this last kingdom, a commandment that you assemble yourselves together, and organize yourselves, and prepare yourselves, and sanctify yourselves; yea, purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean;

 75 That I may testify unto your Father, and your God, and my God, that you are clean from the blood of this wicked generation; that I may fulfil this promise, this great and last promise, which I have made unto you, when I will.

 76 Also, I give unto you a commandment that ye shall continue in prayer and fasting from this time forth.

 77 And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom.

 78 Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;

 79 Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—

 80 That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you.

 81 Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor.

 82 Therefore, they are left without excuse, and their sins are upon their own heads.

 83 He that seeketh me early shall find me, and shall not be forsaken.

 84 Therefore, tarry ye, and labor diligently, that you may be perfected in your ministry to go forth among the Gentiles for the last time, as many as the mouth of the Lord shall name, to bind up the law and seal up the testimony, and to prepare the saints for the hour of judgment which is to come;

 85 That their souls may escape the wrath of God, the desolation of abomination which awaits the wicked, both in this world and in the world to come. Verily, I say unto you, let those who are not the first elders continue in the vineyard until the mouth of the Lord shall call them, for their time is not yet come; their garments are not clean from the blood of this generation.

 86 Abide ye in the liberty wherewith ye are made free; entangle not yourselves in sin, but let your hands be clean, until the Lord comes.

The time is growing short. Do not procrastinate. He that seeketh, shall find.