Joseph Smith and Our Relationship with Christ

[drtanner]

Although Jospeh did have forordained missions no doubt based upon his pre-existent obedience his life is an example for all of how we can reach our own spiritual privledges.

Most of us are ordinary souls but with unlimited potential when combined with the lord and the understanding of correct principles.

[True]

Ok, now tell us the principles that he lived by that you are talking about. Are you talking about his trust and love of the Lord that motivated him to action like it did Nephi getting the plates? I'm trying to understand what you are trying to teach.

[drtanner]

Helaman Chapter 10:
4 Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.

5 And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.

D&C 82:10 I, the Lord, am bound when ye DO what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.

Joseph showed his faith by his works. What are we actually doing? Is it really what he wants? Miracles occur, mysteries unfold, spiritual gifts pour down, and heavenly blessings are bestowed when we partner with the Lord in his work and work according to his will. It has nothing to do with trying to earn a blessing but everything to do with true faith and bringing glory to him. How can we give the father GLORY? By our unwearyingness in declaring his word with the hopes of helping others receive eternal life.

The more I study Josephs life it is clear to me why he obtained what he did despite his weakness. We all have a role to play and blessings waiting if we will actually play the role.

[Finrock]

God is no respector of persons but we can see that he has chosen certain people to do things that others have not and will not do. Not everyone will be a prophet, only few have been ordained to that position.

He is no respector in that he requires the same thing of us and gives no free passes. But there certainly are special people who do special things when most are just ordinary souls.

All those who were present at that meeting in the pre-existence and who chose to follow Jesus Christ are the noble and great ones. That means that each person and every person we see here on this earth, was one of the noble and great ones. We each have that spark of divinity within us and we are in a very real way gods and goddess. Each man is on equal footing on the most fundamental level. I don't respect one man above another. I don't respect positions and authority for the sake of a positions and for the sake of authority. I respect and respond to goodness. When I feel the Spirit, I respect that.

There are different roles and different parts to play, but one person is not more special than another person. One role is not more important than another role. All parts, all positions, all roles are necessary and needed. Some people discover and accept their role and they fulfill it. Some people recognize who they are and they respond. Some people don't discover and/or accept their role. Some people don't recognize who they are and they do not therefore respond to the divinity within them. People sell themselves short thinking that they are just "ordinary souls" and the awesome stuff that they read about in the scriptures is reserved for these special folks who are favored by God above others because they have some special status or standing before God by virtue of who they are. We assume that some are "noble and great" and others are just "ordinary and insignificant". I wholly and completely reject this doctrine and it is part of this veil of unbelief that keeps us from God and keeps us from reaching and fulfilling our potential.

Joseph Smith and every other person is nothing without Christ. God loves each of us equally. God has given each person gifts and talents, all from the same source, and all glorious, great, and wonderful. Different roles, different parts, different gifts, different talents, but each one integral, necessary, and wonderful in their own right.

If we don't believe this and we compare ourselves to others and say within ourselves, oh, this person is one of the special ones and I'm just ordinary, then this does at least a few things. First, if we are honest, it is a way to abdicate our responsibility or to maintain ourselves in our comfort zone. If we are just ordinary, then we don't place any extraordinary responsibilities or requirements upon ourselves. Second, this thinking puts us in a position to start esteeming one flesh above another and to honor one person above another person. Third, this thinking also can lead to us failing to recognize our own potential and causing us to believe that we are not privileged to access God's greatest gifts or that we can go so far, but no further. It contributes to the thinking of, "Let Moses climb the Mount and commune with God, I'll just stay down here in the valley because stuff like that is for all those special folks like Moses and not for me".

We all come in to this earth with various talents and gifts, at least one, but probably several. These gifts and talents given by God are sufficient for us to obtain all that there is to obtain. These gifts and talents are also equally special and equally important in the eyes of God. My individual role and my individual purpose in life is just as important and integral as that of Joseph Smith or any other mortal who has ever lived on this earth. I may never be a President of the Church, but that doesn't make my role and the part I play any less important or valued in the eyes of God. If we all would recognize who we are (spirits of God) and if we all would recognize our standing before God (He values and loves us as much as any other mortal) and if we all would recognize that we truly are nothing without Christ and no person valued another person above another, then what we could fulfill in life would be miraculous and great.

The strength to go beyond our mortal limitations and to do miraculous works comes from us always remembering that we need God in our life and relying on His matchless power, mercy, and grace and thus recognizing that our efforts, when directed by Him and done through Him, are His efforts, and God doesn't do menial, ordinary things.

-Finrock

[onefour1]

God has blessed man throughout history (in the pre-mortal existence and in this world) when man has humbled himself and followed after the will of God. But God's greatest of all his blessings is extended to every one of us.

Doctrine and Covenants 14:7
7 And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.

None of us need to compare ourselves to others and think that God loves some above others. We are all his children and if we do good, God will bless us with his greatest of all blessings. We need not fall into the trap of making an invidious comparison among ourselves but we should honor those who follow after God and do good. We should love one another and seek not to be jealous and envious of others receiving blessings at the hand of God. Life is hard and sometimes seems unfair to some but God has sent us here and knows exactly what we need to grow and become the best that we can be. We are all the family of God and we should have the most tender feelings for one another and take joy in the blessings of others. Let us be humble and contrite and thankful for what we have and what God has promised to all of us if we remain faithful to him.

[drtanner]

Another great example of these principles from Elder Enzio Busche's life:

The experience I want to relate in this chapter is a very sacred one and perhaps the most important of my life. Shortly after I was married, and before I had begun investigating the Church, I developed a liver disease so severe that we were told it was terminal. In the first days of my hospitalization, my situation worsened to the degree that I felt life was about to leave me, and I was confronted with the certain expectation of my death. I remember the impossible feeling I had when I faced the end, because up until then, I had had options. I could say, “Well, if I don’t like this, I can do something else.” However, when I embarked on that road where there is no other option and no return, I felt indescribable panic. What started very slowly suddenly erupted into complete recognition of who I was. I saw myself confronted as if in a sharp, focused mirror. I could not escape being confronted with absolute truth. I felt unclean, completely unfinished, and unprepared to leave this life for the unknown. I felt the nearness of something so holy, something so pure, and of such indescribable beauty and authority, that I preferred to become extinct rather than to meet that dimension of eternity in such an unprepared way. I was full of panic as I saw myself stripped of any protection. It was such a shocking awakening that I wanted with every fiber of my being to escape.

My panic was so acute that I made what I would now call a covenant. I said, “If there is the possibility that I might receive another chance and make a recovery, I will never be the same. I will live in complete awareness of my conscience, in complete awareness of the need to report about everything—every word, every feeling, and every thought of my life!”

I promised myself that I would live differently, that I would not be the same person as before, and that I would never submit myself to an insensitive lifestyle. It was not that I had lived in terrible sin. I did not commit adultery or steal or rob. But in the light of that experience, every little incident of not living up to my true potential became an unspeakable burden: my lack of gratitude for even the small things I had received in my life—the air I was able to breathe and the flowers by the wayside. My feelings towards my parents and the teachers I had had throughout my life all changed as if I were able to see them in their true character and understand their positive desires. It became impossible for me to comprehend how anyone could live, as I had been living, without this new, full awareness of reality and truth I was experiencing. I, therefore, made a commitment to myself and to the unseen authority I felt was near.

On the wall of my room was a cross with the crucified Christ on it. It was the only object on the wall, and as I focused upon it, I developed a tremendous hope: If it were true that there was a Son of God named Jesus, who died for me also, then this was the greatest news ever spread in the history of mankind. I knew that I needed someone to do something for me that I could not do for myself—to wash me clean. For even in my greatest commitment to become totally clean, I could not see myself ever achieving the same state of purity, harmony, and beauty that I felt in the moment that I seemed to approach the other world.

Exactly one week later, as I continued having these feelings—terrible physical and emotional pain, as well as thoughts of unpreparedness and unworthiness—something again happened. I was alone in my room on a Sunday morning. Suddenly there was a flash of light in the left corner of the ceiling. It penetrated my soul to the very core, frightening me, and creating in me an awakening I had never had before. I was totally numb, totally shocked, when I heard a voice speaking loud and clear, in German, “Wenn du jetzt beten kannst, wirst du gesund.” (“If you can pray now, you will recover.”) It was just a flash of a few seconds. Someone had told me to do something with an audible voice of penetrating authority and amid a clearly visible brilliance of light. I was actually invited to pray!

I did not know what it meant to pray. I did not have any religious background. Praying was not a part of my thinking or a part of my knowledge. It was clear to me that a prepared prayer, such as the Lord’s Prayer that I had memorized in school, was not what was asked for, but that I should give of myself in communication with the highest authority imaginable. It seemed to be more than I could comprehend, and I was confused about what I should do. Then it was as if someone were helping me to formulate a prayer—one that, for me, was the most honest prayer I could ever pronounce. In German it consists of only three words: Dein Wille geschehe (“Thy will be done”). I said those few words with the full understanding of the meaning behind them and immediately felt an electric impulse course through my body so powerfully that all pain, panic, and agony changed into feelings of joy beyond my ability to describe. After that there came about a total change in my existence, one that has always been very difficult to explain.

Many people are hesitant to listen to matters concerning the spiritual world because they feel they have no control over such things. There is, therefore, a level of spiritual awareness that most people seem to have closed themselves to. But when spiritual eyes have been opened, circumstances change. I found that I could hardly talk about my experience because it was so private and sacred. Yet, I felt, and still feel, a tremendous responsibility to testify boldly because, with that understanding, I have recognized that I have something to share of utmost importance with the spiritually sleeping human family. This world we live in is not the real thing.

The actual world—which is closer to us than we sometimes realize—is full of truth and capable of bringing us to a higher level than we can understand. Indeed, it is more beautiful and majestic than a human can imagine. My spiritual insight let me see that we as human beings live far below our potential from day to day. One day we will be confronted with our true potential; and we will see what we have missed because we have not embraced the ultimate help offered to us from our Creator. Life is not worth living if we walk around in it without really knowing that every choice we make defines our lives in the eternities. Nothing can be hidden, and even every thoughtless spoken word will be brought to our painful awareness one day. With this awareness, I felt a joy of indescribable dimensions—a joy that made me want to jump up, dance, sing, hug everyone, and never be sad again in my life. I had the sure knowledge that I would recover.

[onefour1]

drtanner, thanks for sharing that experience. I needed to hear it.