Bearing the Title of Liberty in our lives.

In Moroni 46:18 we read the lament of Moroni concerning the wickedness in his day:

"Surely God shall not suffer that we, who are despised because we take upon us the name of Christ Shall be trodden down and destroyed, until we bring it upon us by our own transgressions."

In response to the promptings of the spirit to do something, He raised the famous title of liberty:  

19 And when Moroni had said these words, he went forth among the people, waving the rent part of his garment in the air, that all might see the writing which he had written upon the rent part, and crying with a loud voice, saying:

 20 Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.

 21 And it came to pass that when Moroni had proclaimed these words, behold, the people came running together with their armor girded about their loins, rending their garments in token, or as a covenant, that they would not forsake the Lord their God; or, in other words, if they should transgress the commandments of God, or fall into transgression, and be ashamed to take upon them the name of Christ, the Lord should rend them even as they had rent their garments.

The example of Moroni teaches us that when we or our people are under attack we don't always have to continue going about our own lives quietly living what we believe.  We should were possible stand up for what is right and rally the righteous to our cause.  To often the vocal minority is allowed to much voice and attention.

By boldly affirming our belief and faith we are able to help people repent and make a firm decision to stand with God.  I bear my witness that the Church is true that that God loves us.  In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.   

Lessons from the Book of Enos

Enos is one of the shortest books in the book of Mormon.  It contains an account of the prophet Enos and the wrestle he had before God.  The account records that as Enos was hunting beasts in the field that "words which I(Enos) had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.



 4 And my soul hungered; and I keeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens."

Enos then heard the voice of Lord saying that he had received forgiveness for his sins. 

For many, this would have been the end of their supplication to almighty, after all what greater assurance can their be than that we are right with the Lord.

However Enos didn't stop there.  He cried again unto the Lord, this time on behalf of his brethren, that they might also received forgiveness for their sins.

Enos was answered that if his brethren, the Nephities would receive blessing based upon their diligence in keeping the commandments and if they didn't keep the commandments, God would curse them.

Now that Enos had received answers concerning himself and his brethren, surely his supplication to the Almighty would be finished. right?

Wrong

After all this Enos cried out the Lord a third time, this time on behalf of their enemies the Lamanites whom they had been attempting to preach the gospel.

I think it is safe to say anyone of even any degree of faith prayers on behalf of themselves and their families but who prayers on behalf on their enemies.  I know this is something I need to improve upon myself.

Perhaps if we would follow the example of the Prophet Enos, we will receive a greater measure of the spirit and be more Christlike.



In closing, I invite you to pray for your enemies.  I know this can difficult but if we do so, I now the Lord will bless of us with an added measure of His is spirit and we will experience greater peach and joy in our lives.  I closing the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Praying always keep us close to our Heavenly Father

Is is possible to do something so bad and wicked that we complete cut ourselves off from being able to communicate with Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ?

Surely, no unclean thing can live in his presence.  Does that mean the prayers of the unrighteous go unheard by our Heavenly Father?


Satan would have us believe that we are too far gone and estranged from God for Him to be able to communicate with us in prayer.  He would have us believe that we are on our own as this gives Satan more power.

However Nephi in the Book of Mormon provides us greater insight in one of the greatest lie Satan use to ensnare the children of men.

8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

 9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.

2 Nephi 32: 8 & 9

Nephi teaches us that evil spirit(Satan) encourages us to forget prayer.

Consider for a moment "Why would the evil Spirit teach us not to pray?"

Satan knows that Jesus Christ has already beaten him.  In order for him to obtain power to destroy us, he must estrange us from God.  Since the basic definition of sin is nothing more than estrangement from God, Satan carefully attempts to keep us from receiving the ennobling power the spirit.  The more he can persuade us that we are all alone with no where to the turn, the easier he can destroy us.

In light this information, I encourage everyone reading this blog to pray always.  Don't forget about it and take it seriously.  I am not promising that you will feel the spirit all the time or free yourself from challenge.  But by praying always your abilities will be endorsed by our Heavenly Father making this able for his influence to positively impact us.  

For more information from an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ David a Bednar, click the link below:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/pray-always?lang=eng#watch=video

Lesson learned during the race of life.

DISCLAIMER

All the text on this blog is personal testimony. It by no way represents the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or its doctrine. Rather it represents the personal conviction as a member of that Church. I am a firm believer that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds the fullness of God's revealed truth.

To learn more about what I believe and how it blesses my life visit 

www.mormon.org

This week we:

1. Celebrated my daughter birthday at Texas Road House
2. Attended a primary teacher in service training
3.  Completed a challenging test in my designing digital circuit class
4. Completed (...well attempted to complete) a C++ Chess project.
5. And worked mandatory 12 hour overtime shift at work.

In the midst of the chaos driving to start my 12 hour shift I hear George Strait voice came on the radio singing:

"Life’s not the breaths you take

The breathing in and out

That gets you through the day

Ain’t what it’s all about

Ya just might miss the point

Try’n to win the race

Life’s not the breaths you take

But the moments that take your breath away"

To those like me who find the race of life running them, I invite you to slow down and remember what is truly important and what matters most.

The Book or Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ which if you have not read can be heard or read at:
http://scriptures.lds.org/


The first book in the Book of Mormon 1 Nephi, chronicles the life a family that was running their own race so to speak. The Lord was guiding them out of Jerusalem to the land of promise in America about 600 BC. During their journey they experienced serious hardships but they were also miraculously blessed.

There were 3 things that I took way from this weeks study in 1 Nephi:

1. The Lord does not protect the righteous from feeling pain or sorrow. It is interesting that while Nephi was building the ship in the Land Bountiful that the Lord had protected him from his brothers by causing them tremble if they laid their hands upon him. But while they were on the sea the Lord allowed Nephi to be delivered into his brothers hands. From the language used to relate the event of his ordeal at sea, it is clear that he understood that the Lord had allowed him to be beaten and bound by his Brothers so that their wickedness would stand against them.

2. The innocent suffer at the hand of wicked so that God may more fully condemn the wicked.Nephi describes the suffering of not just himself but his parents, his wife and their children during his captivity. Watching your loved ones suffer is in many ways more challenging than facing personal challenges. Nephi murmured not against the Lord and as result was able to get the ship back on the path to the promise land through the Lord.

3. The wicked are susceptible to complacency. Nephi and his family were extremely well provided for in the land Bountiful. The Lord had provide them with literally everything they needed to make their journey to the promised land. It is when we forget to acknowledge the Lord's hand in all things that the Lord's spirit is withdrawn from us and we are lost.

In closing today's post I bear witness that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.  If we follow his example like Nephi did and remember Him in all things, we will be truly blessed.  I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and if we come unto him we will truly blessed.  I type this words in the name of Jesus Christ, 

Amen.   

Coming back from behind

Have you ever watched that old 90 show American Gladiator?  In the final challenge called the eliminator contestants would race through an obstacle course.  If on of the contestants in the previous round had really dominated they would get a head start of sometimes more than 10 seconds on their opponent.

I feel like I am starting 15 seconds behind this week.  Sometimes is seems like there just not enough day to get everything done that you would like to.  This week I must finished a Chess Program in C++, have a daddy-daughter date and mommy-daddy, complete my first digital circuits exam and attend and primary teacher in-service meeting.

I am grateful for the opportunity to be at a stage in my life when I can do some many exciting things but I don't wont to fail.  My rock Brittany has been and continues to be an amazing support.  Sometimes I treat her just like on more action item on my to do list which I know really bothers her.  Clearly I don't see her that way but I get so busy, it gets really hard to do something meaningful for her.  I hope when I finish school I will have the type of career that I can make her feel really special by doing things she never dreamed possible.

I promise I will put up some more content about me and my amazing family next week.  I new to this blog thing but really want to be able to have a way that I and others can chronicle just an important and formative time in my life.

Stay tuned for more!!

   

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Hello World!

It's midnight on a college school night and I have nothing better to do but ramble online.  I have dreamed about this moment for a long time and it is finally here!
 

Welcome to my blog.  Before I get to the meat and potatoes I will answer the following questions I always think about when I find a blog online:

Where did you come from?

A:  I am the slow to finish college student father of 3 (with 1 on the way) that finally figured out that a business degree just doesn't really hold much promise of a career that will pay your bills.  I have held 8 jobs in the last 8 years, was let go 4 times and lost my house.

I finally determined that if you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten.  So I determined to completely change the direction of  my life which leads em to...

Why are you here?

A:  I want to become a software engineer.  If I told you it was just because I was good at math, or that I was passionate in the subject, that would be a lie.  However not because I don't enjoy doing these thing but because I have never done them professional.  

Where are going?

My goal is living the greater Houston area making 65000 year as a software Engineer Intern.  Then I want to spend the rest of my life embracing all that life has the offer in terms of building new things and building my children change the world.

Stay turned for my next post.