"Lived After the Manner of Happiness"

One of my all-time favorite verses of scripture comes from 2 Nephi 5:27 of the Book of Mormon: "And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness." I've pondered greatly about what that means, and how one can live after the manner of happiness. 
First of all I'm certain that they maintained a Positive Mental Attitude, and definitely had an Attitude of Gratitude, but what else contributed to their happiness? Perhaps some background would help. At this time in Nephite history, they had just landed on the American Continent, the Land of Promise, and started to settle in. Then the rebellious brothers, Laman and Lemuel, decided they wanted to take control by killing Nephi, so Nephi was warned in a dream to take his family and those faithful to the Lord, and flee into the wilderness. 
Soon they found a new place and settled in. So, they were happy because they had to rebuild their homes and lives after fleeing their murderous bothers? Perhaps in one way. But if you study the verses leading up to verse 27 you'll find a few triggers that helped them live in happiness despite their circumstances.

1. They followed the spirit (vs. 5)
2. They moved their families from wickedness (vs. 6-7)
3. They kept the commandments "in all things" (vs. 10; cross reference to Alma 41:10, "Wickedness never was happiness" ) 
4. They worked hard and were industrious in doing good things and providing for their families (vs. 11, 15-17)
5. They focused their lives on the temple (vs. 16)
6. They chose to follow their church leaders, who pointed them to Christ (vs. 26)

Think about this in your own life. Are you happy? Do you do the basic things that bring happiness? Perhaps you're doing all these things, but are somehow just 'going through the motions', and your efforts lack faith and hope? It's kind of like trying to fly an airplane without wings. It's time to add wings to your vessel by 'doing all that you do in the name of [Jesus](Moses 5:8).  By so doing, we consecrate our actions, and thus our very lives, to the source of all true happiness.

"Soul Mates" or "Solo Fate?"

I'm kind of sad when so many wonderful people are so unfortunately single. I know of a few who seem to be looking for 'their soulmate', and are turning down fantastic people left and right. For some reason, no matter how much they are told that soul mates are a myth, they can't give up on their quest to find that one person who fulfills them, who matches their chemistry, who creates some sort of internal spark that jumps from toes to head at the first sight of them.
I know that most of you are not seeking this dream, but the few who are, are holding up the marriage train for others. 
In truth, the only soul mates that ever existed were Adam and Eve. For the rest of us, "any righteous man and woman can and will have a successful and happy marriage if each lives the gospel of Jesus Christ." (Paraphrased from miracle of forgiveness)

So, who you should really be looking for is someone who is committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Who has a relationship with Him and loves and honors Him. Who's future is firmly rooted in the faith and hope of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Who desires not only to be married in the temple, but to have a temple marriage. And especially, one who is first and foremost, your best friend. "Romantic Love' comes and goes, but who would you rather face life's trials and triumphs with more than your best friend.
This is the type of person who obeys the commandments because they love the Lord, not because they're afraid of the consequences. Who selflessly serves, not just does service. For therein lie the Lord's two great commandments: Love the Lord and Love your neighbor as yourself.
And if such is the goal you have for a spouse, shouldn't you be that type of person yourself? 

The same goes for you who have "fallen out of love", or aren't compatible anymore, or just can't get along, or any other of the myriad of other excuses. What's really happening is one or both of you are not living the gospel.
If this is the case for you, go home and spend the next week in study, prayer, and pondering how you can better live the gospel. But focus solely on the changes you yourself need to make. You can't change your spouse, you can only change yourself. I promise you that if you both do so, you will fall back in love and be happy together again.

In truth, you can become your spouse's soul mate as you live the gospel, love God, and love your spouse. 

Christ's Grace

                I believe all my life I’ve only viewed Grace as that eternal balancer of the scales. When the final judgement day comes, and after I’ve done all I can do, Grace will make up for my shortcomings and bridge the gap between my performance and justice. That has been my take of 2 Nephi 25:23 (Saved by grace after all we can do). I believe that many good, strong members believe the same thing. And, it’s true. The scriptures say it is. But that’s not the whole story.

                In the Bible Dictionary, under the heading of Grace, it talks about the kind of grace we just talked about, but it also speaks of grace as an enabling power that gives the faithful and repentant soul strength and assistance to do good works that we otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to our own means. With this usage of the word, Christ doesn’t just step in after we’ve done all we can do, He walks alongside us. He doesn’t just make up the difference, He is the difference. 

                In Alma 7 we read that Christ took upon him our infirmities, pains, afflictions and temptations. Isaiah said He would bear our griefs and carry our sorrows. Why did He do all this? Wasn’t the atonement just about overcoming death and sin?

                Jesus Christ suffered all these things and more, so that he would know how to succor His people. He suffered everything possible for man to suffer, so no one would ever be able to say, “But Jesus, you just don’t know how I feel.” And instead, He says to us, “I know how you feel.”

                The Savior’s grace enables us to overcome any hardship, any trial, any pain or sorrow. He’s not just there to grant us forgiveness. He’s also there to lift our heart and strengthen our weaknesses. He’s there so we don’t have to do it alone.

                This is a lesson I’m still working on learning. On my mission, I struggled with the balance between grace and justice. I foolishly thought I could do it all myself, and would only need the Savior’s grace a little at the end (more like a LOT at the end). I felt like I was working hard, and struggling to do what’s right, but never getting anywhere.

                Then one night I had a dream. In it I found myself in a place I assumed was the Spirit World. I knew there was a place where Christ was, but didn’t feel comfortable going there. Instead I cleaned the walls of a building, scrubbing them with a push broom. After a time of hard work, I’d return to the place where Christ was, only to return to my work without having seen the Savior.

                This happened a number of times, and I came to understand that the building was a symbol of my “mansion in heaven” that Christ spoke of when leaving his apostles in Jerusalem. When I woke and wrote down my dream and shared it with my companion, I interpreted it as meaning I had a lot of work to do to be worthy to enter Christ’s presence.

                While this dream has been a special experience for me, it has also hung over my head for many years, as I think of all I need to change so I can feel comfortable in Christ’s presence. What I am only now beginning to realize, is that Christ wasn’t sitting there, sending me away to work on my mansion. Christ told his apostles that He would go to prepare a place for them. He would do it.

                I pridefully thought it was up to me, and foolishly believed I could do it on my own. Little did I realize, that we can’t become like the Savior unless we walk side-by-side with Him. We have to allow him to take His half of the yoke, we can’t do it alone.

                Instead of walking back to my work in shame, all I had to do was ask Him to help. .  Instead of scrubbing endlessly with a push broom, Christ could have come with his pressure-washer and done for me what I couldn’t do for myself.

                You see, grace doesn’t just fill the gap between us and perfection. Grace fills us. It doesn’t just become active after all we can do, it helps us before, during and after all we can do. If we read the verse right, it says: "We (meaning you and I) are saved by grace after (meaning before, during and after) all we (meaning us and Jesus Christ) can do." (2 Nephi 25:23, changes suggested by Brad Wilcox in his book, Continuous Atonement)

           (more about this in a later post)

He is Merciful unto our Weakness

Weakness. Sin. Habit. Laziness. We've all got them. We try to hide them. When really, we need to bring them to Jesus.
Jesus Christ understands our weakness. He's felt them, suffered through them, suffered for them, and overcome them. Only He can succor and strengthen us (D&C62:1) with His Grace, so that our weaknesses become strengths.
Some of our weaknesses were given to us by Him (Ether 12:27). Others come from our choices and lifestyle. If we are brought to an awareness of our weaknesses, then instead of giving up because of the perceived distance we must still go, we should rejoice, knowing that Christ is showing us our weaknesses to help us change (Jacob 4:7, Ether 12:27, D&C 66:3)
All we need do is to come to Him in humility (Ether 12:27), with broken heart and contrite spirit. We have to recognize that we can't do it alone, and plead for His grace to sustain and empower us and Change us.
And through His promise of His Grace, we can stand strong and fear not (D&C 38:14-15), knowing that we can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us. (Philippians 4:13)
We are told that through the grace of Christ, our weak things may become strengths (Ether 12:27). And that we are blessed with the power of God as we recognize our strengths and humble ourselves. So what can these weaknesses become? What strengths can result from humbling yourself and turning your weaknesses over to the Savior? What gifts of the Spirit might aid you in change?

President George Q. Cannon exhorted the saints: “If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to pray for the gift that would make us perfect. If I am an angry man, it is my duty to pray for charity, which suffereth long and is kind. So with all the gifts of the Gospel, they are intended for this purpose.” (in Ashton, Measure of our Hearts, 24-25)

Examples of those with weaknesses:
•(2 Corinthians 12:7-10) Paul prays for a thorn to be removed three times, saying Satan gave him the thorn. But Christ teaches him that through his weakness the power of Christ can be manifest and rest upon him.
•Moses was slow of speech
•Enoch was slow of speech
•Joseph Smith was an unlearned man:

Like all people, Joseph Smith faced the challenges of mortality. Because of his weaknesses, he questioned his personal worthiness before the Lord. Other prophets expressed similar concerns about their personal worthiness and their weaknesses (for example, see 2 Nephi 4:17–19; Moses 6:31). Elder Neal A. Maxwell, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, explained: “Just as God cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance (D&C 1:31), as we become more like Him, neither can we. The best people have a heightened awareness of what little of the worst is still in them!” (Notwithstanding My Weakness, 16–17). (The Pearl of Great Price Student Manual, Joseph Smith–History)
“Perhaps there are some who have reconciled themselves to a speckled life, who have found it easier to accept a spiritual status quo than exert the required effort to make the whole of their lives bright. No doubt there are some who believe they possess irrevocable weaknesses and shortcomings—spiritual defects that are incurable, tempers that are insurmountable, ill feelings that are irrepressible, or a lack of faith that is unconquerable. Many such good souls may have plateaued out spiritually. “It is my nature,” they say. But cannot God, creator of all, fashion, shape, add to, modify and help overcome any weakness of any faithful, humble person?” (Elder Callister, Infinite Atonement, 272
I guess the bottom line is, we all have weaknesses and faults. But we should rejoice in them, for through humbling ourselves and turning to Christ, we can transform our lives till we become like He is, so that when He appears we shall be like Him (Moroni 7:48).

Do I have the Faith to Believe God's Word?

            A few years ago I was hiking with my father to the top of a 14,000 foot peak in Colorado and happened to be in the right place at the right time to help in the rescue of a man who had slid down an ice field too fast and tumbled head over heels into a rock field. The circumstances where such that we had to remain later than we planned on the side of the mountain, and by the time the helicopter had taken the man away, it was well into the afternoon. Many of you know that late afternoon is when storms come almost daily when you reach that elevation. We hurried down from the peak as massive black clouds rolled into view. The rain started, then turned to hail. When the lightning started, we still needed to cross a valley to reach the safety of shelter, but in order to do so, we would be the tallest things in the valley, thus perfect lightning rods.

            We said a prayer and felt a peaceful assurance that God would protect us as we crossed the valley, and immediately we set out walking across, with lightning striking on either side of us.

            That day I learned that I had the faith to walk through the midst of a lightning storm. But more than that, I learned that I had faith to believe God’s word.

            The scriptures tell us that God cannot lie, that He is a being of truth and light. Do we have the faith to really believe that?

Every week in church we have the opportunity to hear from some great speakers and teachers (in the LDS church, the talks--or sermons, are given by the members) who accepted a call to teach even though they probably didn’t feel comfortable doing so. They might have worried that they’d forget what to say, or say something dumb. But:

·         Do I believe that if I am given an opportunity to speak or teach a lesson, that God will give me words to speak?

o   God has promised us that if we treasure up in our minds the words of life, it will be given to us what we should say in the very moment that we need it. Do we believe it?

§  Do I exercise my faith by treasuring up in my mind Christ’s words? Do I study the scriptures daily?

§  Do I exercise my faith by accepting and seeking out opportunities to teach God’s word and share my testimony?

In the LDS Church, all positions of leadership are given by inspiration from God. No previous experience or schooling qualifies one for service. We call these positions a calling, meaning we are called of God to serve. I recently received a new calling that has stretched me in ways I didn’t know I could be stretched. When accepting this calling, I had to ask myself:

·         Do I believe God can make me equal to any task?

o   Nephi testified that the Lord giveth no commandments to the children of men, save he prepare a way for them to accomplish that which he commanded them.

§  Do I take on assignments with zeal and enthusiasm, knowing that the Lord will open the way for me to accomplish the task?

§  Do I exercise my faith by asking the Lord’s help, or do I pridefully think I can do it on my own.

·         This one is big for me. My pride says I can do it by myself. But my heart knows I can’t.

I’m probably alone in this next example. I’m sure no one else has had a hectic and stressful day, right? Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and like my day is out of control.

·         Do I believe I can feel peace on a hectic and stressfull day?

o   “Peace I give unto you.” The Lord said. “Not as the world giveth.”

o   I love the stories of the Lord calming the storm and helping Peter to walk on water. For me, I’ve learned that sometimes the Lord calms the storm, sometimes the sailor.

§  Do I exercise my faith by asking God to fill my heart with peace, or do I pridefully try to do it on my own.

·         Honestly, there have been a few times where I’ve prayed for and been filled with peace on a stressful day. But there have been many more days where I’ve tried to deal with it on my own.

What about when I make mistakes. When I choose the way of the world instead of God’s way:

·         Do I believe that Jesus Christ can wash away all my sins?

o   Jesus has said that though our sins be as scarlet, they may be as wool.

§  Do I exercise faith by praying for forgiveness, speaking to my bishop if need be, and giving my burden to the Lord?

·         Or do I try to do it by myself, perhaps thinking, “I made this mess, I’ll fix it.”

o   Can I just kindly say, “you can’t.” You, nor I, nor anyone else can truly repent and receive forgiveness for our sins without  Jesus Christ. It can’t be done. He is the only way.

o   But though I know that myself, I still don’t turn to the Savior as often as I should.

·         Do I believe I have the strength to overcome temptation?

o   “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be ^btempted above that ye are able; but will with the ^ctemptation also make a way to ^descape, that ye may be able to ^ebear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

§  Do I exercise my faith by not putting myself in a position where I know I’ll be tempted?

§  Do I exercise my faith when faced with a temptation by looking for the way out that God has promised us?

All of those things are great, of course they can only be done through the atonement of Jesus Christ. But what about when we are facing difficult decisions in our life?

·         Do I believe that the Spirit can guide me with important decisions in my life?

o   The scriptures say to “Trust in the LORD with all thine ^bheart; and lean not unto thine ^cown ^dunderstanding. In all thy ways ^aacknowledge him, and he shall ^bdirect thy ^cpaths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

§  Do I exercise my faith by obeying the spirit with exactness? Do I exercise my faith by turning to him often in prayer? Do I acknowledge him in all things?

And what about all the problems with the economic issues we’re facing.

·         Do I believe that God will bless me and my family so that we may provide for our needs?

o   How many times in the Book of Mormon did the Lord say: This is a land of promise, if you keep my commandments you shall prosper in the land.

§  Do I exercise my faith by living worthy of the promise?

§  Do I exercise my faith by seeking earnestly for employment and doing my best at my job?

§  Do I exercise my faith by living thrifty and staying out of debt?

I’d like to finish with one that I believe many of us are facing. We try to live by faith, but still, somehow fear worms its way into our lives.

·         Do I live without fear?

o   Take no thought, the morrow will take care of itself.

o   Perfect love casteth out all fear.

o   Doubt not, but be believing

o   Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD

§  Do I exercise my faith by trusting God and putting the future in His hands?

§  Do I exercise faith in the plan of salvation, knowing that all things shall be for our good and that this life isn’t the end.

§  Do I cast my burden of fear on the Lord?

Brothers and sisters, what is your burden? What pulls you down, and causes hardship in your life? What keeps you from the Savior. I testify that if you turn to him, and cast your burden at his feet, that He will take your burden that you may be light.

We've got the promises of the Lord. If we live worthily, we have the power to call down the powers of heaven in our behalf, to fulfill the promises of the Lord. I truly believe He wants to bless us more than we want to be blessed.

Now:

·         Just because we have faith, does that mean that we’ll never suffer?

o   Joseph Smith himself was told that his sufferings would give him experience and be for his good. And if he endured it well, he would be exalted.

o   The purpose of faith isn’t to relieve all discomfort. We can’t expect our faith to rid our lives of all trials and troubles.

§  We can expect our faith to give us insight and hope. To keep us focused on our mission in life. And to turn us to the Savior.

§  Our faith can help us to learn from our experiences, to even thank our Heavenly Father for our trials, knowing that they’ll make us better people.

I love faith. Faith enables hope and brings peace in a troubled world. It gives me direction. Christ truly said: ^aIf ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me.” And Paul, in Phillipians said: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” It is my hope that we all might turn to Him more often each day.

I believe Jesus Christ. I believe that all things are possible through Him.