Tithing – More than a truth!

This weeks lesson in the Old Testamen includes Elijah’s request that a widow who was destitute provide him the first cake from her last handful of meal. That had to be hard for the widow and certainly a sacrifice, but she did as he asked. The cruz of oil never did fail, as Elijah had promised. As I read this story, I was reminded of my own experience with gaining a testimony of paying tithing and paying it willingly and completely.

I was newly divorced and finally able to spend my paycheck the way I felt fit. When my boss handed me my check, it hit me like a brick that I could now pay my tithing. The was something my X had forbidden me to do because it was "our" money. Oh brother! I took a minute to go through my bills and the money I had just been handed. I was lacking the exact amount of money that I would need to pay my tithing. Do I wait until next paycheck? No, I knew that wouldn't be right. It had to be now. I quickly wrote out the check before I changed my mind. 

I know we shouldn't expect an immediate evidence to the promise the Lord has made as it pertains to tithing, but I was blown away at how quickly this one happened. My very next paycheck I was given a bonus that would be more than enough to continue paying tithing and still have rent money. The Lord is good on His promises. We are the weak ones.

In 1977, after my divorce, I was faced with the decision of paying tithing. I had been deprived of this blessing for the nine years I was married because it was "our" money. Oh, how foolish I was to not stand up for the things I believed were true! 

I sat down and carefully went through my responsibilities and the amount of paycheck I was given twice monthly. The amount I made was exactly minus that which it would take to pay a full tithe. What to do??? It really wasn't a difficult decision. I knew what I had to do and paid my tithing with the thought that I'd figure it out. I didn't necessarily "figure it out", but the Lord did. The very next week, I received noticed that I had been given a merit raise—something the company doesn't do often. I feel it was a direct result of paying my tithing. 

 

Alma 41:15 - Judge Righteously

As I was reading from Alma this morning, and also including in my prayer that I be forgiven for my lack of grace last night, this verse hit me with force. I'm constantly asking Heavenly Father to help me be rid of my judging nature. It is wrong, and I know it.

Most of my serious sins happen within the confines of my mind and stay there. On unfortunate rare occasions, those judgments slip through my lips and cause me serious pain. 

Such was the case last night. Maybe we were both tired. Nonetheless, I was annoyed that my opinion on appropriate dress for a nice affair was not valued, and I brought contention into our home. This is something that doesn’t happen much anymore. Like I said, I think we were both tired. Talk about having the Spirit chased instantly out of our house! I had been busy writing music. That came to a screeching halt. I wasn’t in the mood to do Family Search. Things just got cool. I apologized profusely; he did as well and we moved on. It was awkward though. Not only that, but sleep was nearly impossible to attain. All night long I tossed and turned and the song I was working on worked on me. (Funny thing, but the song is "I Believe in Miracles".)

I find it amazing that in my first life—before turning to the Lord and letting Him be my guide, my life was nothing but contention. There was never a peaceful moment. I can’t believe I didn’t have more problems than I did. I also go back to my childhood and see now why the explosiveness in my childhood home was such a negative thing in my own life. You would think I would have been smarter in choosing my first companion just because of that. 

So how do I bring this around to judging righteously? If peace is something I truly desire, (and I do), maybe I need to be more tactful in my comments; in my righteous judgments. I believe firmly that if something is not of eternal consequence, then it is of no consequence at all. Maybe I need to do better at practicing this again. Maybe I need to thoroughly repent and be done with this insidious trait. Ah, but I error in my thinking. This is an imperfect world and we are all imperfect, but trying to do better and be better. Today I will do just that——and try to remember it in the future. 

How do I Receive Inspiration / Revelation

How do I receive inspiration/revelation from God? I believe I am doing most of what this section has suggested, but there is much room for improvement. I fall so short of having the understanding of the scriptures that I should. I try, but it seems I fall flat.

If it is revelation I want, I must:

1. Cease to be angry, hurt, or defensive [sigh] I try hard. Most of the time, I feel like I do fine. My motto I recite to myself and anyone who will listen is: "Don't ruin what is becuase of what isn't". I stand by this quote. Even when things are gloriously great, if we seek to improve them in a worldly way, these emotions can sneak in.
2. Loud, inappropriate laughter is offensive to the Spirit. I've had to learn to laugh. It wasn't something that came naturally to me. But inappropriate laughter, unfortunately, comes too easily.
3. Care and quiet speach. Is that another way of saying soft spoken? Well then, I've got that one. 
4. Good health habits, i.e. clean foods, enough sleep, exercise. This is a constant effort to adjust and readjust as I get older. I know this one is a truth. 
5. Don't get distracted. Ugh! This one is harder for me. Multi-tasking is a distraction. I have always felt mastering this skill has been a virtue. I can now see where it isn't. I'm trying ever so hard to overcome it by being present in a conversation or in the moment. It is a "left-hand" movement, but I'm improving.
6. Record instantly meaningful dreams or any inspiration I get. There's always room for improvement.

Elder Richard Scott's talk was a great reminder of this skillset. His bullet points:

• Inspiration carefully recorded shows God that His communications are sacred to us. Recording will also enhance our ability to recall revelation.
• One must be ever mentally and physically clean and have purity of intent so that the Lord can inspire.
• Humility is a fertile soil where spirituality grows and produces the fruit of inspiration to know what to do.
• Our Heavenly Father did not put us on earth to fail but to succeed gloriously.
• Two indicators that a feeling or prompting comes from God are that it produces peace in your heart and a quiet, warm feeling.
• Should choices be wrong, they can be rectified through repentance. When its conditions are fully met, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, our Savior, provides a release from the demands of justice for the errors made. It is wondrously simple and so incomparably beautiful.
• Communication with our Father in Heaven is not a trivial matter. It is a sacred privilege. It is based upon eternal, unchanging principles. We receive help from our Father in Heaven in response to our faith, obedience, and the proper use of agency.

Alma 38 - To Be Born of God

How are we born of God? Alma is talking with his son, Shiblon on this very topic. Alma had gone through a refiner’s fire that lasted three days. He saw an angel and had been rebuked. He's sharing this information with his righteous son.

 

We can know these things for ourselves as surely as anyone when we are born of God. It is a process.

 

What exactly is the process?

• Verse 2: steadiness and your faithfulness unto God as well as enduring to the end. There is no need to stray and have an angel call us to repentance. We can know through our good works as the spirit testifies to us of our goodness.
• Verse 7: stop the work of destruction - stop fighting the truth if this is one of our weaknesses.
• Verse 8: Cry out to Jesus for a remission of your sins, AKA repent
• Verse 9: there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ.
• Verse 10: Be temperate in all things. I nearly missed this one. What is temperate? It is the ability to master oneself. When I look at the Topical Guide, it mentions wine, but it also mentions all physical excess. Hmmmm
• Verse 11: Here is that P word again - PRIDE. Do not boast of your own accomplishments.
• Verse 12: bridle all your passions - Again, temperance. What does it mean to bridle? The dictionary says: Bring something under control.
• Verse 14: acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times. - Pray sincerely.

 

Shiblon was a good guy - a missionary for the Lord. Alma was giving him a father's blessing, with a warning and guidance. This chapter is one that could be shared with all our worthy missionaries.

 

Obedience is Better Than Sacrifice

1 Samuel 15-16

We are being taught a very important thing in the verses that tell us of Saul’s rise and fall. He starts out as a righteous king doing the Lord’s work. When he starts experiencing success, his focus shifts to himself. 

In 1 Samuel 15:12 he “sat him up a place”. My attention was drawn to the true purpose of this place. He created a monument to himself so the people would see his greatness! It wasn’t the Lord he was giving credit for their success. Where is Saul’s heart? Is he being obedient to God?

And then Saul lies and tries to justify his actions. He plays the blame game. V24 He recognizes he disobedience because he was seeking the approval of the people. Good coaches and good leaders take the blame when things go wrong; they give credit to the Lord and the team when they go well.

Chapter 16 – v9, the Lord looks on the heart. God chooses His leaders because of their goodness. God chooses people fully in line with His teachings — 100%. 

My take away from this morning’s study: We must align ourselves to the will of God. He knows the end from the beginning and He has a work for us to do. We can choose to be part of that work or fall to our demise as did Saul. Even though annihilating an entire city seems like a pretty drastic order to me, it was saving some of the animals to sacrifice to the Lord that was the problem. I can imagine what they were thinking: “Why should we destroy these perfectly good animals. They aren’t the problem; it’s the people!” Do the words “Exactness and Honor” come to mind? They should. It should be something we think of every day. Are my thoughts and actions in line with the Lord’s will. Is it His work I’m doing? Am I taking the credit for the success? Think on this. “Obey is better than sacrifice.”

Scriptures Are My Lifeline!

 This morning I read Alma 32—one of my favorite chapters of scripture in all the standard works.

I remember with clarity sometime after General Conference and I was pondering on the feast we had just had, as I was making my bed. All of a sudden, I stopped in my tracks. When they were telling us to read the scriptures daily (I don’t remember who said it, of course), who did I think they were talking to? I had read the Book of Mormon. I hadn’t done much reading outside since I had turned my life around. It was at that very moment that I knew the Lord was speaking to me and I needed to repent and come up with a plan. This was sometime after 1980, and I have not stopped reading daily since. I have noticed on days when I’ve had to “shake up” the order of things that my attitude and ability to cope with the stresses of life decreases. I have noticed the habit of reading daily has changed my ministering , and that I consciously seek to help others. I have noticed that when I get lax in my study of the scriptures and the words of the prophets, that I become selfish and less easy to live with. I have noticed my tolerance for others decreases. I have noticed that my love for mankind increases when I am faithfully reading and searching to be closer to my Heavenly Father.

Does Alma’s counsel make sense to me? Absolutely! My scriptures are my lifeline. Generally, it is the first thing I do in each day after I have prayed for guidance in my day. Yes, scriptures are my lifeline!

Scriptures and Blessings

Judges 2:10-11 Isn’t it interesting that when you “know not” the Lord nor his works, that the next step is that you begin evil in the sight of the Lord? Parents, I hope you’re getting the message. The time to teach your children is from birth to launch. They are agents unto themselves and will do their own deciding, but it is critical that they are taught about the Lord and all His doings. 

Then we say, “We’re not doing bad things; just not teaching good things.” Well, are you really? You’re following after the ways of the world when you embrace their practices, i.e. tatoos, piercings, inappropriate language befitting a son or daughter of God, watching their entertainment rather than choosing to serve those around you and learn of Christ. That is, in a sense, worship. 

I read through Judges 4 this morning. It sounds like a mass of confusion and war among the people. If someone were to write the history of our world today, would they be focusing on the different gangs. It’s quite confusing to me to try and make sense. Suffice it to say, sometimes the Lord is pleased and blesses the people. At other times he is angry and his wrath is shown.

Then I read from the Book of Mormon in Alma 21-22. King Lamoni is back at his home and Aaron, one of Mosiah’s sons is on scene answering King Lamoni’s questions. This is a fascinating story to me. Remember King Lamoni was ready to give up half of his kingdom when Ammon was about to slay him. Ammon withdrew his sword and all he asked for saving Lamoni’s life was that his brothers (Aaron included) be released from prison and that King Lamoni’s son would give his part of the kingdom to his son, Lamoni, to rule as he wished. That wasn’t a lot and King Lamoni pondered Ammon’s mercy for days.

He later wanted to know from Aaron the mysteries that were not answered in his own mind. This is fascinating to me. Quite a contrast; but is it really? When I was returning to the Covenant path, I had lots of questions. Most of them were Sunday School questions and easily answered. I had forgotten all that I was taught as a child in my parents’ home and in my classes. I hadn’t really forgotten, but I had suppressed these teachings. I was “golden” much like King Lamoni. I just needed to read these things from the Book of Mormon and the leaders of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I was a dry sponge. I couldn’t learn fast enough. 

And that brings me to this question, which is pretty simple: What did the scriptures look like that Aaron was quoting from? Certainly not a Quad like I have—not even a bound book. So, I began to ponder where these scriptures came from. As I followed the footnotes, Lehi had the records of the first five books of Moses that came from Laban. These records cited the genealogy of his people. Stay with me here. Lehi’s family were wandering in the wilderness, etc. for quite some time. What was Lehi doing when he wasn’t “on the road” so to speak? He didn’t have the distractions of the world we have today. His sons were the ones hunting for food, so he wasn’t even all that involved in food. Is it a stretch to think that he may have been duplicating these records for his children? If so, what was he writing on and with what? Nephi made it clear that he took ore and made plates of brass to record his history. Did he know how to do this because he’d watched his father do a similar thing in the process of duplicating the records? This is such silliness on my part, but I wonder about the day-to-day experiences in nearly everything I read. Don’t worry; it’s across the board. When I watch an action movie and the stars never sleep or take a meal, I wonder about that one too.

Well, suffice it to say, I took a detour today which brings me to this one “take away”: I’m grateful beyond belief for the sacrifices made by many to bring the scriptures into my life. It wasn’t until I started reading the Book of Mormon that my testimony began to grow. This was the missing link in my youth. Where were my scriptures? I know my dad read in the evening from his scriptures. It seemed like a nightly ritual, but that may not have been the case. If Mom read the scriptures, it was after we went to bed. I know she had a testimony of them. I was given scriptures as a wedding present from my parents. Did I appreciate them? Not even! But they were the ones I turned to when I became “thirsty” for knowledge.

Back to the parents: Are you spending time in the scriptures with your children? Are you studying Come Follow Me daily? Are you bearing testimony to the blessing the scriptures are in your life? Do you even realize how blessed you are to have them, and recognize the blood that has been spilled to preserve them? We are so blessed in our day and need to pass this gratitude of blessing onto our children. In today’s world with so many distractions, that is a tall order. They are so attracted with their devices and the things of the world that an ancient book with writings isn’t an attraction at all. It is up to you—and to all of us, to repeat these faith-promoting stories like that of King Lamoni, to our children and grandchildren.

 

 As I was reading Judges 4:14 this morning: “. . . is not the Lord gone out before thee?” I also read the references suggested by Come Follow Me manual, i.e. D&C 84:87-88 which led me to this note in my scriptures:          

Can there be any doubt that when we are acting in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we are on His errand. He will be on our right, left, etc.!!! What a blessing. I have felt this numerous times as I've served in various callings - and sometimes even when ministering. I will never forget the day I was so encumbered with my own "list" and a neighbor was really sick. I called her with the intent to cheer her up. At the end of my call I asked what I could do to help her. Why did I say that? Did I really want to help, or just make myself feel better for asking? Her biggest concern was her family’s laundry. No problem! I took it on — the laundry for a family of six! Where in the world was I going to get the time. All of a sudden, my "list" (which included preparing for a meeting where I was the one introducing a theme for our Girls Camp, became secondary to the Lord's task— that of helping a friend. I had that laundry clean, folded and back to her in time to make it to my meeting. That night, the Lord put into my mouth the words that were important to Him. It was a faith-building experience I will NEVER forget! Rosemary Lind repeated often: Give the Lord an hour and he’ll give you two back. This was certainly the case that day.

Deborah prophesied that the Lord was with the Israelites and they had won, even before they had overtaken the Midianites. There is much I don’t understand about the Old Testament, but this message was not lost on me. The Lord will fight our battles. We just have to get out there and do His bidding.

D&C 84:88 – And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

Amen to that! I’ve seen it happen enough times that I believe it. Every time I visit a friend, especially when my day is full anyway, I manage to see the Lord make the way. A truth I will not dispute!