Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening,
this post should take four minutes to seven minutes to read from start to finish.
This post focuses on April 2006 General Conference talk, and it is called "An Outpouring of Blessings" by Sister Julie B Beck. I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the talk.
Sister Beck has mentioned the following; "... I am grateful for the outpouring of blessings that has come to each of us through the priesthood of God. By the power of the priesthood, this world and everything in it, including each of us, were created. ... As sons and daughters of God, we each have unique responsibilities and roles, and through the blessings of the priesthood, we are all given equal partnership, gifts, and blessings.
... The blessings of the priesthood, which “are available to men and women alike,” are woven in and through and around their lives. Each of them is blessed by sacred ordinances, and each of them can enjoy the blessings of spiritual gifts by virtue of the priesthood. All faithful members of the Lord’s Church are equally blessed by priesthood ordinances.
The first ordinance in a child’s life usually takes place when he or she is a baby and is given a name and a blessing. When children reach the age of accountability, they are baptized. ... The same baptismal ordinance is performed for a young girl and a young boy, who are baptized in the same font.
When those children are confirmed and receive the Holy Ghost, the same power is given to each of them. They qualify for the help of that holy power through their faithfulness and not in any other way. As members of the Church, we are equal before the Lord as we partake of the sacrament.
Through our faith in Jesus Christ and the power of His Atonement made possible because of that ordinance, we can all repent and become better. Each of us is equally entitled to a priesthood blessing when we are sick or need added support from the Lord in our lives.
A young woman who desires a patriarchal blessing is equally entitled to know her lineage and potential as a young man her same age. ... We teach all young men and young women to prepare to go to the temple so they can “receive the blessings of [the] fathers that [they] may be entitled to the highest blessings of the priesthood.”
... Every man and woman who is willing to serve the Lord and can qualify for a temple recommend makes covenants of obedience and sacrifice. Each is endowed “with power from on high.” Every elder and sister who receives a mission call is set apart to do the Lord’s work, and each is given authority to preach the gospel of Christ.
A man and a woman who enter into the full partnership of a covenant temple marriage share equally in the blessings of that covenant if they are faithful. The Lord has said that their covenant will be in force after this life, and together they are promised power and exaltation. ... I saw the power of priesthood blessings when I visited a family where the young father lay dying.
Surrounding him were his wife and beautiful daughters. ... The mother testified of their blessings when she said: “We are empowered and protected by our covenants. Our family will endure forever. The Lord is watching over us, and we are not alone.”
All faithful members are equally blessed by the outpouring of blessings they receive through priesthood ordinances. Because the priesthood has been restored, we also share equally in the blessings of spiritual gifts. The Lord gives us these gifts for our own benefit and to help each other.
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| "All faithful members are equally blessed by the out- pouring of blessings they receive through priesthood ordinances." |
... I have heard other Church leaders and missionaries bear powerful testimonies in languages they have barely studied. I know people who are given the spiritual gift of a believing spirit.
When they hear the gospel, it rings true in their hearts. I know others who are given the gift of wisdom or the ability to use knowledge in righteous ways. Some have the ability to work miracles, some are gifted healers, and others have great discernment. When I was a little girl, I often experienced serious illness. My father was always willing and worthy to use the priesthood power he held to bless me.
But I have also felt that my mother’s special gifts contributed to my healing. She was truly gifted in her ability to minister to my needs and help me get well. Her great faith that the Lord would lead her to answers about medical treatment was a comfort to me. How blessed I was to have two parents who lovingly used their spiritual gifts.
President Wilford Woodruff said that “it is the privilege of every man and woman in this kingdom to enjoy the spirit of prophecy, which is the Spirit of God; and to the faithful it reveals such things as are necessary for their comfort and consolation, and to guide them in their daily duties.”
The blessings of the priesthood make it possible for every person who is set apart to serve in any office in the Lord’s Church to receive “authority, responsibility, and blessings connected with the office.” Spiritual gifts are numerous and varied and come to us as we seek them and use them appropriately.
We enjoy them because of the power of the Holy Ghost, which is in and around and woven through our lives. Through the blessings of the priesthood, the Lord shows us that He is “no respecter of persons.” ...
In my travels, I usually have the chance to visit members in their homes.
Some of those homes are very basic dwellings. ... Then one day I sat in a temple next to a sister who lives in a humble house. I spent two hours at her side. ... As we finished our work in the temple, I had a powerful realization. In all of the eternal blessings, in all of our most important privileges and opportunities, we were equals. I had been “baptized unto repentance,” and so had she.
I had spiritual gifts, and so did she. I had the opportunity to repent, and so did she. I had received the Holy Ghost, and so had she. I had received temple ordinances, and so had she. If both of us had left this world together at that moment, we would have arrived equal before the Lord in our blessings and potential.
Priesthood blessings are the great equalizer. Those blessings are the same for men and women, for boys and girls; they are the same for married and single, rich and poor, for the intellectual and the illiterate, for the well-known and the obscure.
I am grateful that through the infinite fairness and love of God, all men and women were given equal partnership, gifts, blessings, and potential through priesthood ordinances and spiritual gifts. Because of the priesthood, which is woven in and around and through our lives, every power, every covenant we need to do our life’s work and walk back to our heavenly home has been poured out upon our heads. ..."
If you would like to read the whole talk either now or in your own time, here is the link below.
Stay Tuned until next time.
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