Put God over the honors of men

3/23 The first chapter in Benson's prophet teachings book is about loving God, why it's important and how to do it. He suas that we love God when we put Him first. 

He talks about Joseph and potipher's wife, about Nephi when Lehi murmured against the Lord, and about Job. How they all put God first, above heir families and beautiful women and boss's wives. 

I'm a people pleaser, so sometimes I laugh when people say rude things or I don't stand for truth and righteousness sometimes. I sit for truth and righteousness, and that is NOT enough. I need to stand for it. And not laugh when I shouldn't, and leave when I shouldn't be a part of a conversation, and stand for what is right and defend the truth as often as I can, in a loving way every time.

4/18

I've had a really good example of that this week. Landon's been doing some selfish things against Mari. I listened somewhat passively to him talk about. I should have told him that marriage is ordained of God and that he needed to stick it out and work hard to save three marriage. Instead i simply agreed that they were really different and that their goals were different also, supporting, essentially, his decision to leave her. But then I talked to Jordan. And spent a day thinking adopt it and praying about it. Jordan totally stood up for truth and righteousness. He didn't fear what Landon would think. He bore witness that marriage is ordained if God and that we are happy when we keep the commandments and fulfill our responsibilities. He told Landon is was very wrong to leave Mari. 

Jordan was a good example of putting the Lord first, even in the face of someone he loves.

Rejoicing in the Lord

Alma 26 is such an awesome chapter. I am in uses such beautiful language to talk about how grateful he is for the Lord and how much reason he has to rejoice and heavenly father and all the blessings he has given him and his brother in. I am in talks about how it's such a huge blessing that thousands of people converted to the gospel, yes, but he also talks about the huge blessing it was to have had the opportunity to be instruments and heavenly father's hands. I really love and appreciate that. He recognizes that the converts where the Lord's, not Ammon's. He praises God and said that praising God is his joy in his salvation and his life. He praises God for redeeming his soul and forgiving him of his sins and giving him the redemption through the atonement of Jesus Christ. And then allowing him to be patie he praises God and said that praising God is his joy in his salvation and his life. He praises God for redeeming his soul and forgiving him of his sins and giving him the redemption to the atonement of Jesus Christ. And then allowing him to be A missionary and share the gospel with others. He also rejoices in opportunities for obedience and commandments and repentance, rejoices in the responsibilities that we have in the direction of me fire is given us that if we follow we will be happy and receive revelation and be redeemed.

Charity doesn't fail because it always wins

Love makes you want to repent, want to obey, want to share the gospel, want to be kind, want to forgive, want to be patient.

And it's simple and easy to forget: we can't get to heaven without it!

34 And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.

Ether 12:34

http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/ether/12?lang=eng

Promptings/commandments/tests

And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

Abraham 3:25

In reading Ezra Taft Benson's first chapter, I read the scripture above and had a thought occur to me. Sometimes when we receive spiritual promptings, they are hard to listen to. It's hard to be obedient, if we don't want to or don't understand the reason behind the prompting. But I realized that this life is a test and that most often we are required to make a decisions or do things on our own, according to our best judgment. So, spiritual promptings should be obeyed, because there are rare, they make it easier for us to know God's will, and we don't have to decide what to do: it's given to us. 

 I think of all the prayers that I have prayed asking for specific answer, and I've been times I feel peace about several options and conclude that I just need to choose one and allow heavenly father to guide me or just stop me that's not the right answer. So I think of the times that I don't get specific answers, and how often that happens. So when I do get a specific answer, I should listen and be grateful for it and obey it, because that is the Lord's will! And sometimes it's hard to know the Lord's will. 

"The great task of life is to learn the will of the Lord and then do it. The great commandment of life is to love the Lord."

Chapter 1: The Great Commandment—Love the Lord

http://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-ezra-taft-benson/chapter-1-the-great-commandment-love-the-lord?lang=eng

Conversion

In Alma 19 there's so much to do about conversion. There's a scripture that says that king Lamoni was overcome, that the spirit had overcome his natural frame. And the footnote leads to Mosiah 3:19, where it talks about overcoming the natural man. And then later it talks about how they become converted to the Savior and that they had no more desire to do evil. That kind of conversion is something that needs to take place on a daily basis for me. I need to always be trying harder and harder or in different ways and better ways to become a saint through the atonement and to become more like the Savior. And slowly lose my desire to do evil.

PoEM Tie God in to Solve Problems at Work

I love this chapter. On pages 60-64, Clay talks about how he taught a man the principle of forgiveness at work. Apply the principles of the gospel! Use what I know to work to solve problems in secular environments as well, and use them as teaching opportunities to teach others and awaken their sense of faith and trust in Heavenly Father. 

Also, pray every day that those I interact with will feel of my love for them and of God's love for them. This will make it so easy to teach them about the gospel. And to apply the scriptures or orincipldd of the gospel. Also as a teacher he prays every day that he will be able to teach with love and that the Spirit of God will be in their classroom. That is something that I should do.