Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Windows of Heaven, Articles of Faith, No Other Gods

Making the schedule this time was a bit tricky. This week we needed to have three talks- one or more of your own choosing to read on your own.
Elder Bednar's talk was one I was assigned to speak on in Sacrament Meeting last week. It was a nice reminder of the small and simple blessings of tithing and how to budget in our family. It was a nice feeling to know we are living the way the Lord has shown us. Tithing has always been an easy law to follow and to want to follow.




I really liked Elder L. Tom Perry's talk about the Articles of Faith. He always has such beautiful stories to tell from his life.
When I was given the assignment to speak in the priesthood session of general conference, I immediately thought of a wonderful Primary teacher. Her great desire was to prepare us to be worthy of receiving the priesthood. She grilled us on the requirements then in place for graduation from Primary—memorize the names of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the Articles of Faith. She also made us a promise—if all of us could recite the thirteen Articles of Faith by memory, we could choose the place and go on an outing for our last class...
She said memorizing the Articles of Faith would mean nothing more than a lot of words unless we understood the doctrines and principles contained in them. She encouraged us to study the gospel doctrine taught in each of the Articles of Faith. She explained that the doctrine found in the Articles of Faith was divided into sections...
The truths taught in the Articles of Faith build upon one another like the components of a cell phone mutually supporting one another. Like the elaborate supply chain that adds components to a cell phone, the Articles of Faith supply us with key doctrines of the Restoration. Each article of faith adds unique value to our understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ.




Elder Oak's is always an exceptional speaker. Perhaps it's the judge in him. (He was on the Utah Supreme Court.) This was another good talk to remind me of where my priorities should be. The statistics he quoted where eye-opening!
What other priorities are being “served” ahead of God by persons—even religious persons—in our day?...
The principle is not whether we have other priorities. The question posed by the second commandment is “What is our ultimate priority?” Are we serving priorities or gods ahead of the God we profess to worship? Have we forgotten to follow the Savior who taught that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments? (see John 14:15). If so, our priorities have been turned upside down by the spiritual apathy and undisciplined appetites so common in our day.



7 comments:

  1. Elder Bednar stated:" Spiritual and temporal blessings come into our lives as we live the law of tithing. " Elder LeGrand Richards stated:" In addition to giving ourselves, and giving our services, the Lord has asked us to give of our means and our substances. We are asked to contribute our tithes and offerings not only because the church needs money to build itself and the giving sanctifies the soul of those who give. The Lord promised to open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. All material and spiritual things are His to give as He sees fit. Included in His blessings from heaven are revelations from Him in one's personal life. He desires to bless His children abundantly.

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  2. President Heber J Grant testified:"I bear witness-and I know that the witness I bear is true- that the men and women who have been absolutely honest with God, who have paid their tithing....God has given them wisdom whereby they have been able to utilize the remaining nine tents and it has been of greater value to them, and they have accomplished more with it than they would have if they had not been honest with the Lord. 1912

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  3. Elder Dallin H Oaks replied to a member who said" I can't afford to pay tithing.". He answered: I can't afford not to pay tithing".

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  4. Elder Robert D Hales explained how we are preparing to live the law of consecration. "The law of tithing prepares us to live the higher law of consecration - to dedicate and give all our time, talents and resources to the work of the Lord. Until the day when we are required to live this higher law, we are commanded to live the law of the tithe, which is to freely give one tenth of our income annually.". Nov. 2002

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  5. Elder Jeffrey R Holland shared 5 reasons why every member of the Church in any kind of circumstance should obey the law of tithing. " I suggest 5 reasons why all of us, rich or poor, longtime member or newest convert, should faithfully pay our tithes and offerings.
    1st. Do so for the sake of your children....teach your children that many of the blessings of the Church are available to them, because you and they give tithes and offerings to the Church.
    2nd. Pay your tithing to rightfully claim the blessings promised that do so..
    3rd. Pay your tithing as a declaration that possessions of material goods and accumulation of worldly wealth are not the upper most goals of your existence...
    4th. Pay your tithes and offerings out of honesty and integrity because they are God's rightful due....
    5th. We pay our tithes as a personal expression of love to a generous and merciful Father in Heaven. Through His grace, God has dealt bread to the hungry and clothing to the poor. At various times in our lives, that will include all of us temporally or spiritually." Oct 2001

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  6. President Marion G Romney taught that the Lord claims the earth as His, that it is not yours and mine to own and manage independently of Him. No matter how many stocks and bonds or how much land and other properties we possess, they are not wholly ours. They are the Lord's. He further says that He owns and gives to us all the blessings we have and that He makes us stewards over them, responsible to Him. He makes it clear that it is His purpose to provide for His Saints, but He requires that it be done in His way, which way he explains, is for those who have to contribute to those who have not. Having made us stewards, he gives us our agency however, and lays down the condition, that if we accept these blessings and refuse to contribute our share for the care of the poor, we shall go to------well, He tells us where we shall go. Apr 1979

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  7. In his book, The Miracle of Forgiveness, President Spencer W Kimball said: "Many people build and furnish a home and buy the automobile first- and then find they cannot afford to pay tithing. Whom do they worship? Certainly not the Lord of heaven and earth, for we serve whom we love and give consideration and desire. Young married couples who postpone parenthood until their degrees are attained might be shocked if their expressed preference were labeled idolatry...whom do they love and worship- themselves or God? To worship the Lord is to put Him foremost in our hearts and our minds, above all other relationships and before all other things. There is no god, but God and we are to worship Him alone. 1969

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