Faith
I would like to spend some time talking about my faith. I am not sure how many times I will post about this, currently I feel like I could post every day and not run out of things to say and so perhaps I will post a lot about this, or perhaps it will only be a few.
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love my religion and I know that it is the true church of Jesus Christ. It is not some mind controlling organization that just brainwashes me to be a good person. (as if being brainwashed to be a good person is really a bad thing?) It is something that leads and guides my life, and has been a source of unending happiness for me. (so far!) :)
I am not perfect. I do not deserve the blessings I have received. I can only account it to the true grace of God that allows me to be as happy as I am with life. I would like though to talk about spiritual experiences. I cannot point to any one experience that gave me my testimony because this did not happen to me. Instead I started with a small seed of faith, and God answered my prayers. One at a time.
Often I talk to people and they say “I don’t believe that God can answer prayers, therefore I will not pray” I say to them “Do you believe that is it possible that God exists” if they say “Yes, I believe it’s possible” then I say “Then this can be your prayer: God I don’t know if you exist, but if you do exist will you help my unbelief?” Prayers are not always or even often answered in the way we expect. But if you learn to listen to the still small voice of the spirit of God, you will hear him say “I do exist, and I love you”
Here is one experience I’d like to share.
While serving a mission in the Denver Colorado South Mission I was teaching a woman who told us she believed in the Bible and in Jesus, but she did not believe in The Book of Mormon. We talked for a bit about how we know there is a God and eventually I read a few verses from the Bible in Luke, Chapter 4. As I read them I stopped and asked her ‘how are you feeling?’ Her response was ‘I feel something inside of me that is giving me Goosebumps’ I told her that feeling was the spirit of God telling her that what we were reading was true. Then I read from 3 Nephi, Chapter 4, and again asked her what she was feeling. Again she said to me she was having the same feelings as when I read the Bible. I then explained to her that this was the spirit again testifying of the truthfulness of the Gospel.
This to me is a great example of how we feel the spirit of the lord reveling truth to us. And it is not about her faith, but my faith. I knew that the spirit was talking to her and that was special to me.
Now I’d like to share another experience.
When I was about 12 years old I was diagnosed with a deadly cancer. The tumor was large and on the tip of my right middle finger. I was told that it was going to need to be amputated. I was very afraid of what my finger was going to look like after the surgery. I was given a blessing by members in my ward. I do not remember who they were, likely our bishop or elders quorum presidency. During the blessing I saw an image of my hand perfect with no tumor, then I saw another hand come from above and touch my middle finger there was a small flash of light and as the hand moved away I saw what my hand looks like today. It was still scary as I had hopes that the blessing could somehow make it so they didn’t have to remove my finger, but it was comforting too that it looked fairly normal. I can look at my hand today and see that same thing I saw during that blessing. You don’t have to believe me because I say so, but it is part of my faith.
These are just two of many, many experiences that I have had that have solidified my faith in God and Jesus Christ.
More to come!
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love my religion and I know that it is the true church of Jesus Christ. It is not some mind controlling organization that just brainwashes me to be a good person. (as if being brainwashed to be a good person is really a bad thing?) It is something that leads and guides my life, and has been a source of unending happiness for me. (so far!) :)
I am not perfect. I do not deserve the blessings I have received. I can only account it to the true grace of God that allows me to be as happy as I am with life. I would like though to talk about spiritual experiences. I cannot point to any one experience that gave me my testimony because this did not happen to me. Instead I started with a small seed of faith, and God answered my prayers. One at a time.
Often I talk to people and they say “I don’t believe that God can answer prayers, therefore I will not pray” I say to them “Do you believe that is it possible that God exists” if they say “Yes, I believe it’s possible” then I say “Then this can be your prayer: God I don’t know if you exist, but if you do exist will you help my unbelief?” Prayers are not always or even often answered in the way we expect. But if you learn to listen to the still small voice of the spirit of God, you will hear him say “I do exist, and I love you”
Here is one experience I’d like to share.
While serving a mission in the Denver Colorado South Mission I was teaching a woman who told us she believed in the Bible and in Jesus, but she did not believe in The Book of Mormon. We talked for a bit about how we know there is a God and eventually I read a few verses from the Bible in Luke, Chapter 4. As I read them I stopped and asked her ‘how are you feeling?’ Her response was ‘I feel something inside of me that is giving me Goosebumps’ I told her that feeling was the spirit of God telling her that what we were reading was true. Then I read from 3 Nephi, Chapter 4, and again asked her what she was feeling. Again she said to me she was having the same feelings as when I read the Bible. I then explained to her that this was the spirit again testifying of the truthfulness of the Gospel.
This to me is a great example of how we feel the spirit of the lord reveling truth to us. And it is not about her faith, but my faith. I knew that the spirit was talking to her and that was special to me.
Now I’d like to share another experience.
When I was about 12 years old I was diagnosed with a deadly cancer. The tumor was large and on the tip of my right middle finger. I was told that it was going to need to be amputated. I was very afraid of what my finger was going to look like after the surgery. I was given a blessing by members in my ward. I do not remember who they were, likely our bishop or elders quorum presidency. During the blessing I saw an image of my hand perfect with no tumor, then I saw another hand come from above and touch my middle finger there was a small flash of light and as the hand moved away I saw what my hand looks like today. It was still scary as I had hopes that the blessing could somehow make it so they didn’t have to remove my finger, but it was comforting too that it looked fairly normal. I can look at my hand today and see that same thing I saw during that blessing. You don’t have to believe me because I say so, but it is part of my faith.
These are just two of many, many experiences that I have had that have solidified my faith in God and Jesus Christ.
More to come!
posted by Daryl at
9:32 PM
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