4/12/2017 - Section 11:1-14

April 12, 2017

Section 11:1-14

Gospel is Simple, Spiritual Gifts, Holy Ghost Guidance Of, Missionaries Mission, Holy Ghost How to Gain,

The synopsis at the beginning of this section is wonderful enough to record here: “1-6, Laborers in the vineyard will gain salvation; 7-14, Seek wisdom, cry repentance, trust in the Spirit; 15-22, Keep the commandments and study the Lord’s word; 23-27, Deny not the spirit of revelation and of prophecy; 28-30,Those who receive Christ become the sons of God.” The gospel is simple and straightforward…not always easy, but always simple. And we are always rewarded with so much more than we give.

These verses are sweet and concise:

V 8: “Verily, verily [truly, truly], I say unto you, even as you desire of me so it shall be done unto you; and, if you desire, you shall be the means of doing much good in this generation.” Our power to do good in this world is so enhanced when we talk to the Lord about those desires, and follow His promptings.

In other scriptures the Lord has told us about his gifts that are available to us. V 10 explains our part in receiving those gifts: “Behold, thou hast a gift, or thou shalt have a gift it thou wilt desire of me in faith, with an honest heart, believing in the power of Jesus Christ, or in my power which speaketh unto thee. For, behold, it is I that speak; behold, I am the light which shineth I the darkness, and by my power I give these words unto thee.”  The student manual sheds more light on this scripture with a quote from President Joseph Fielding Smith: “The Lord declared that Hyrum Smith had a gift. The great gift which he possessed was that of a tender, sympathetic heart; a merciful spirit. The Lord on a later occasion said: ‘Blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith; for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord.” (D&C 124:5) This great gift was manifest in his jealous watch care over the Prophet lest some harm come to him.” Hyrum’s gift was not promised unconditionally. It would come only after he exercised faith in Christ. And Hyrum’s life shows that he did that again and again and again. The things he did were not easy tasks, but he did them with love and support and courage.

Every verse is beautiful—how can I not write them, for that is how I secure them in my mind!  v 12-14: “And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.    Verily, Verily [truly, truly], I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy.   And then shall ye know, or by this shall you know, all things whatsoever you desire of me, which are pertaining unto things of righteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive.” Christ uses the word ‘desire’ at least 6 times in this section. HE is ready to give, we merely have to desire (times 6) these gifts for they are only given when and where they will be appreciated and used.

President Lorenzo Snow spoke on what was meant by the phrase ‘my spirit…shall enlighten you mind’: “There is a way by which persons can keep their consciences clear before God and man, and that is to preserve within them the spirit of God, which is the sprit of revelation to every man and woman. It will reveal to them, even in the simplest of matters, what they shall do, by making suggestions to them. We should try to learn the nature of this spirit, that we may understand its suggestions, and then we will always be able tot do right. This is the grand privilege of every Latter-day Saints. We know that it is our right to have the manifestations of the spirit every day of our lives….From the time we receive the Gospel, go down into the waters of baptism  and have hands laid upon us afterwards for the gift of the Holy Ghost, we have a friend, if we do not drive it from us by doing wrong. That friend is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, which partakes of the things of God and shows them unto us. This is a grand means that the Lord has provided for us, that we may know the light, and not be groveling continually in the dark.” (Gen Conf Apr 1899)

2/4/2021 – D&C 11

Here again is where the synopsis of the section is a concise and powerful statement to me: “Laborers in the vineyard will gain salvation; Seek wisdom, cry repentance, trust in the Spirit; Keep the commandments and study the Lord’s words; Deny not the spirit of revelation and of prophecy; Those who receive Christ become the sons of God.”

I read v 1 which proclaims that “a great and marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men”, and since I know what was in the future for Joseph and the saints, I know that great and marvelous can also contain great effort, sorrow, hardships and mishaps---and yet the ‘great and marvelous’ refers not to the outcomes of my days, but to the outcome of my time here on earth.

V 3: “…the field is white already to harvest; therefore, whoso desireth to reap let him thrust in his sickle with his might, and reap while the day lasts…”  In a harvest, reaping is what gives us the food for the coming year. The Lord is telling us that there is work for all of us to do. Some of that work is assigned to us by our bishop, but much of that work should come for our desires to help and love others.

V 5 reminds us of Christ’s promises: “if you will ask of me you shall receive; if you will know it shall be opened unto you.” I know from experience that this is true. But I also know from experience that when I ask, it doesn’t often flow into my mind and heart at the time of my asking. Asking can be a time of great growth. But it is often just like we are unable to see our children’s physical growth, but there is no doubt when they desperately need new shoes or new pajamas. It has happened without our even noticing it—but there is no doubt that it happened.

Desire is an important part of our coming closer to our Lord. He assures us in v 8 that “as you desire of me so it shall be done unto you; and if you desire you shall be the means of doing much good”. And in v 10, he reminds us of OUR part of the bargain: “Behold, thou hast a gift, or thou shall have a gift if thou wilt desire of me in faith, with an honest heart, believing in the power of Jesus Christ…”

The Lord also reminds us of the role of the Holy Ghost: “put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do goo—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is. My Spirit. Verily, verily, I say unto you I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy.” I feel that joy each day. I wake up each morning, walk through a dark house and into my office, I switch on the light, and I open my scriptures. I pray, I read, I ask how I can apply these words to my daily life, I write so I can better remember, and I pray again. That time changes the way I see my day, and hopefully changes the way I live my day. It is a gift I am able to give myself!

Heavenly Father, Christ, and the Holy Ghost are all there for us at any moment. V 17-18 tells us that their help will come to us according to our “desires, yea, even according to your faith shall it be done unto you. Keep my commandments; hold your peace; appeal unto my Spirit.” This isn’t always easy for us, and so the Lord reminds us yet again that we must keep our part of the bargain: “Behold this is your work, to keep my commandment, yea, with all your might, mind and strength.” (v 20)

This section is written specifically to Hyrum, and yet it is simply the plan we knew before we came to earth. The Lord reminds us “Behold, I speak unto all who have good desires, and have thrust in their sickle to reap.” (v 27) I often think of life as I think of my college experience. I gained according to the amount of time and effort I put into it. And to me “graduating” from this life with honors is far more important than my graduation from nursing school. Nursing was demanding and hard work, and I loved bringing comfort and confidence to the new mom’s I was able to help. I found a card yesterday from a woman who had been in my Lamaze classes in the Netherlands. Spoke of the preparedness she and her husband received, but added that it was the confidence and the enthusiasm for parenthood that they felt they gained that they appreciated the most. And the line I loved the most was “You made me realize that it is not the birth that is so important, but the baby—for that I will always be grateful.” The Lord is doing the same as I tried to do with my Lamaze students and my new mon’s in the hospital. Yes, I wanted to help them get through the todays…but the most important goal was a long term goal—as in creating a fuller lifetime.  I think that too often we are paying more attention to the close up deadlines, when the long term deadlines are much, much more important.  And that’s my small worldly view of the Lord’s amazing eternal view.  In short, I just know that if I follow His advice to the best of my ability, all will be well---then…and now!