Sacrifice Still Brings Forth Blessings ~ Part Two

   Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening, 

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

This post focuses on October 1971 General Conference talk, and it is called "Sacrifice Still Brings Forth Blessings" by Elder Hartman Rector, Jr. This post is part two, and I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the talk. 

Elder Rector, Jr has mentioned the following; “It is in vain for persons to fancy to themselves that they are heirs with those, or can be heirs with them, who have offered their all in sacrifice, and by this means obtain faith in God and favor with him so as to obtain eternal life, unless they, in like manner, offer unto him the same sacrifice, and through that offering obtain the knowledge that they are accepted of him.

… “But those who have not made this sacrifice to God do not know that the course which they pursue is well pleasing in his sight; for whatever may be their belief or their opinion, it is a matter of doubt and uncertainty in their mind; and where doubt and uncertainty are there faith is not, nor can it be. 

For doubt and faith do not exist in the same person at the same time; so that persons whose minds are under doubts and fears cannot have unshaken confidence; and where unshaken confidence is not there faith is weak; and where faith is weak the persons will not be able to contend against all opposition, tribulations, and afflictions which they will have to encounter in order to be heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ Jesus; and they will grow weary in their minds, and the adversary will have power over them and destroy them.” (Lectures on Faith, 1891 ed., 6:2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12.)

From this it is apparent that sacrifice, no matter how disagreeable it may be, is absolutely vital, for it is the only means the Lord has provided for his children to gain the faith and assurance necessary to successfully return to his presence in condition to enjoy eternal life.

"God's Blessings go far beyond 
anything we could ever dream."

Now, what would constitute a sacrifice today? All too often when we hear the word sacrifice we think of burnt offerings or one man laying down his life for another as the Master did for us all. 

These are valid examples, but surely there are some very modern sacrifices that the Lord has instituted to bless his children today. 

Some of these might include:

Paying tithing, in a day when prices are increasing at an alarming rate and inflation seems to be running rampant.

Observing the Word of Wisdom, when using stimulants of all kinds is almost a way of life in this and other nations of the world.

Living morally clean and chaste, when these principles are scoffed at from every newsstand and almost every movie screen.

Filling a mission, when serving in the mission field means a break in educational pursuits of our young men and women and sometimes early exposure to military service.

... Holding family home evening might appear to be a sacrifice when, among the myriads of other distractions, a professional football game competes for prime time on Monday night.

Yes, my brothers and sisters, sacrifice is just as integral a part of the economy of God today as it has ever been. And sacrifice still brings forth the blessings of heaven. Without it no blessings come forth, although serving just to earn blessings is not right either. The service should be rendered because we love the Lord and love his children.

May we serve with an eye single to the glory of God and do what the Lord wants us to do instead of endlessly doing what we want to do, and may we do it because we love the Lord. ..."

If you would like to read the whole talk either now or in your own time, here is the link below.

https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1971/10/sacrifice-still-brings-forth-blessings

Stay Tuned until next time.

Sacrifice Still Brings Forth Blessings ~ Part One

      Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening, 

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

What is your definition of the word, "sacrifice"? What does "sacrifice" means to a immediate relative? 

What is your definition of the word, "blessings"? What does "blessings" means to a immediate relative? 

This post focuses on October 1971 General Conference talk, and it is called "Sacrifice Still Brings Forth Blessings" by Elder Hartman Rector, Jr. This post is part one, and I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the talk. 

Elder Rector, Jr has mentioned the following; 

"Last fall the Lord announced through his prophet that the Church would hold family home evening on Monday nights. It is interesting that about the same time, the other side announced that there would be professional football games on Monday nights.

You might be surprised to know how many families tried to work family home evenings in between half time of the football games. ... It appears the prophet’s request required too great a sacrifice. In the fourth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord sets forth the qualifications for the labors of the ministry. 

He says that they are “faith, hope, charity, and love, with an eye single to the glory of God.” The faith, hope, charity, and love we know something about. ... But the eye single to the glory of God is probably the most important of those qualifications. 

Generally speaking, “an eye single to the glory of God” means sacrifice. It means that instead of endlessly doing what we want to do, we have to do what the Lord wants us to do, but we have to do it in his way when he wants us to do it. This, of course, is not the natural inclination of man.

We hear much in the world today about “doing our own thing.” ... I think it has been going on since the beginning of time. Perhaps this is just a little different way of saying it. Certainly Lucifer did his own thing, contrary to the will of the Lord. ... The prophet Lehi’s statement that “men are, that they might have joy” (2 Ne. 2:25) is all-inclusive.

"Surely in the work of the Lord, it is what we do after
we think we have done enough that really counts with
him, for that's when the blessings flow." 
- Elder Hartman Rector, Jr.

On the other hand, Abraham was told by God to sacrifice his “only” son Isaac as a burnt offering to the Lord. I presume Abraham could not have received a more disagreeable commandment from his Heavenly Father. Still he arose immediately, took his son and the necessary firewood, and started for the designated place. 

He could not be diverted from his course until an angel of the Lord intervened to stay his hand. And what was the reward for such action? Hear the Lord’s statement to Abraham: “… because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

“That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore. … “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Gen. 22:16–18.)

Jesus, our Lord and Master, was the greatest example of all in following in obedience to his Father’s commandments. His great agony in the Garden I presume has never been approached and cannot be matched by human man. 

... The Master did not want to endure what was before him even though he knew this was the major purpose of his coming to earth but he did what his Father had asked, and because he did, he holds “all power … in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18) and has, as Paul records, become “the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2), and as many as receive him become his sons and daughters.

And how was it done? It was possible only through sacrifice. Truly sacrifice does “bring forth the blessings of heaven.” But how and why it happens seems to be difficult to understand, and perhaps few people really do understand it. 

Maybe this is the reason so few persons are willing to make the required sacrifice to allow the work of the Lord to fully succeed. ... The Prophet said, “An actual knowledge to any person, that the course of life which he pursues is according to the will of God, is essentially necessary to enable him to have that confidence in God without which no person can obtain eternal life

... It was through this sacrifice, and this only, that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life; and it is through the medium of the sacrifice of all earthly things that men do actually know that they are doing the things that are well pleasing in the sight of God. …

“It was in offering sacrifices that Abel, the first martyr, obtained knowledge that he was accepted of God. And from the days of righteous Abel to the present time, the knowledge that men have that they are accepted in the sight of God is obtained by offering sacrifice."

Stay Tuned until next time.

An Outpouring of Blessings

     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. 

"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.

https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2006/04/an-outpouring-of-blessings

Stay Tuned until next time.