“Be Strong and of Good Courage” ~ Part One

 Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening, 

this post should take three minutes to five minutes to read from start to finish.

This post focuses on BYU (Brigham Young University) Devotional in June 2008, and it is called "Be Strong and of Good Courage" by Elder Donald L. Staheli. This post is part one, and I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the Devotional.

Elder Staheli has mentioned the following; "... The Lord’s hand has truly been in our lives. But with these blessings have come tests and challenges just as most of you periodically experience and will continue to experience in the years ahead.

This is a special time in your life when choices are made and patterns and habits are formed that will have a major impact on who you will become. ... Some of you know exactly what you want to do with your life. Others are still pondering and discovering opportunities for the future. 

In either case, it is essential to your future success and happiness that you keep your minds and your hearts open to the promptings of the Spirit. As you live to be worthy of those spiritual promptings, the Lord has promised that He will be with you.

... As you acknowledge that the Lord “will not fail thee,” as long as you are obedient to His teachings, then I would ask, Are you happy with the present conduct of your life? What changes or course corrections should you make in order to take full advantage of your daily opportunities for learning and personal spiritual growth?

Now is the time to set the course for what you want to be five or 10 years or even 50 years from now. During our few minutes together today, it would be my prayer that something might be said or felt that will help you crystallize your thoughts as to who you are and what you have the potential to become.

It has been said that one of the greatest tragedies of our time is that so many people live so far below their potential. ... President Gordon B. Hinckley continually counsels, “Do your best.” And then he has added: “But I want to emphasize that it be the very best. 

"Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision."
- Winston S. Churchill.

We are too prone to be satisfied with mediocre performance. We are capable of doing so much better” (“Standing Strong and Immovable,” World Leadership Training Meeting, 10 January 2004 [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2004], 21).

The late Elder Neal A. Maxwell said it another way: “The Lord loves each of us too much to merely let us go on being what we now are, for he knows what we have the possibility to become!” (“In Him All Things Hold Together,” BYU 1990–91 Devotional and Fireside Speeches [Provo: BYU, 1991], 107).

... As you further refine your plans for the future, you will not only find success in a temporal sense but you will be moving toward achieving a relationship with your Father in Heaven and Savior that prepares you for an eternal relationship in the celestial kingdom.

First and foremost in your pursuit is the development and nurturing of a strong personal testimony. 

I assume that each of you has a basic testimony of the gospel. Some periodically struggle. Many are strong as you have returned from missions or have focused on prayer and study that have brought you to an undeniable testimony of the truth. ... Hopefully you feel that your testimony is vibrant and growing stronger each day. 

... I would suspect that many of you are being challenged by the “things of the world” with which you periodically deal. I am referring to the daily bombardment of worldly messages and enticements from the media of TV, movies, and the Internet that tend to tempt or distract you from keeping your testimony strong and staying completely true to gospel principles and covenants. Certain kinds of peer pressures can also be challenging.

... Just claiming to know the gospel is true is not always enough. ... I cannot think of a greater loss to anyone than the loss of the promptings of the Spirit. Our testimonies grow through faith, prayer, scripture study, and obedience to the commandments. The daily exercise and nurturing of these principles is key to a strong and resilient testimony and commitment to gospel principles. Let me comment on each of these principles.

President Gordon B. Hinckley speaks often about our need for faith. ... President Gordon B. Hinckley frequently encourages us to have “the kind of faith that moves one to get on his knees and plead with the Lord and then get on his feet and go to work” (“God Shall Give unto You Knowledge by His Holy Spirit,” Speeches of the Year, 1973 [Provo: BYU, 1974], 109; see also TGBH, 186).

... As we follow his counsel, our testimonies and our commitments to make right choices will grow. When I reflect on my youth and the initial development of my testimony, I realize nothing had a greater impact on its development than the faith of my mother and father and their daily application of that faith in their prayers. 

The Lord responded to their faith and prayers, and as children we witnessed the hand of the Lord in our family. We came to know the meaning of what Moroni meant when he said: “I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6).

The faith of our family was tried time and again. And, periodically, special spiritual experiences too tender to tell followed. I bear testimony that the Lord does hear and answer prayers - prayers from the hearts of His faithful children. When your lives become crowded with other activities, it is easy to periodically skip a prayer or to use an abbreviated version of your prayers. 

Don’t shortchange the Lord on your prayers. Nothing you will do during any day of your life will be more important to your temporal success or your eternal progress than consistent, humble, sincere prayers offered at least morning and night of every day."

Stay Tuned until next time.