Abound in Good Works

In Alma 7:22-24, Alma2 taught the people in Gideon to:

1. Remember your Duty to God
2. Walk blameless before God
3. Be humble
4. Be submissive and gentle
5. Be easy to be entreated (taught)
6. Be patient and long-suffering
7. Be temperate in all things
8. Be diligent in keeping the commandments of God
9. Pray for spiritual and temporal things
10. Exercise faith-hope-charity
11. Returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things you do receive

As we sincerely strive to live by these principles, may we pray mightily for strength and desire to succeed at it. As we pray, return thanks to Heavenly Father for the things that He actually does bless us with. Remember that Thanksgiving Day is everyday and act accordingly.

Trust God

2 Nephi 4:34

"O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever."

Look to Him--Trust Him

To trust is to place confidence in someone. Nephi trusted in the Lord and was blessed tremendously. He promises to continue to trust in the Lord because God and the Lord are constant. They will always  be dependable. You can always count on them to carry you through thick and thin, through peaks and valleys, through wins and losses, through life and death, through happy time and sad moments, through pain and sorrow, through good and bad times. In other words, there will never be a time when God will fail you. He loves you and all human kind.

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:5)

Trust in Him who knoweth all things, for there isn't anything save He knows it. Don't rely upon your own feeble knowledge and understanding, but turn your burdens and issues over to Him for divine assistance, grace; for He is full of grace and truth. Strive to work hard with your own knowledge and understand and ability and resources, but turn the solution over to Him for "He is mighty to save."

Turn to God in every time of need-which is always, every moment. Really do this. Look to Him and counsel with Him in all your endeavors. "Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings and He will direct thee for good"(Alma 37:37). 

Don't worry. Let Him work for you. Be on His team. He always wins. Just turn unto Him.

Look to Him--Trust Him

Faith Fulfills

2 Nephi 1:10

"...having power given them to do all things by faith.."

Faith fulfills. Faith is power. Faith is mental exertion. Faith is assurance. Faith means having no doubt whatsoever, faith that Christ can do it. Faith means faith in Christ that he can and will do whatsoever is expedient for the Father's will to be done and to bring glory to Him.

Faith and patience go hand-in-hand. Persistence demonstrates faith. If you continue or persist, then you are demonstrating faith, faith in Christ and His power to do.

Faith and Self-Talk
"Faith cometh by hearing" (Romans 10:17). Self-talk establishes faith because you hear yourself talking to yourself. Continued Self-Talk increases faith, if the Self-Talk is positive and righteous. Self-Talk can be destructive if the words are negative and detrimental to your wellbeing. Righteous Self-Talk is inspired of God and is the light of Christ; whereas, negative or destructive Self-Talk is prompted by Satan and his evil spirit, and it is darkness.

Self-Talk is a powerful tool to plant the seed of faith, and continued Self-Talk nourishes that seed until your faith is strong, doubting nothing. This is when you can move mountains (issues, challenges, circumstances, sickness). Self-Talk creates vision and imagination. Self-Talk connects you to the sub-conscience mind or ultimate intelligence, the power of God unto light and life.

Joseph Smith sees Brigham Young

"I saw (in vision) Brigham Young standing in a strange land, in the far south and west, in a desert place, upon a rock in the midst of about a dozen men of color, who appeared hostile. He was preaching to them in their own tongue, and the angel of God standing above his head, with a drawn sword in his hand, protecting him, but he did not see it." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 108) Cross reference with Helaman 16:2.

What is the most important commandment?

“The most important of all the commandments of God is that one that you are having the most difficulty keeping today.”

President Harold B. Lee