In the movie “End of the Spear,” christian missionaries are led by the Holy Spirit to a indiginous people in South America. The people have a distorted concept of God and the sanctity of life. Ultimately many of the missionaries end up sacrificing their lives in order to bring the message to this indiginous people.
The scriptures also contain many accounts of people sacrificing their time, talents, and in many instances their lives in order to bring salvation to people. Prophets in the Bible include: Paul, Stephen, Christ’s disciples, Jeremiah, and of course Jesus who was not just a prophet, but the Savior of the world. Book of Mormon prophets who sacrifice include: Lehi, Alma, Abinadi, and also many more. Of the Latter-Day Saint prophets, Joseph Smith is definitely the most recognized as sacrificing all he had for the Lord’s kingdom. When ridiculed he wouldn’t renounce his testimony for he knew he’d seen a vision and God knew he’d seen a vision and he dared not deny it. He was persecuted and eventually killed as a result. Millions of other Latter-Day Saints and also Christian members of other faiths around the world today have felt the love of Jesus in their hearts and have sacrificed their time, talents, and even their lives.
What is it that moves us to action? Why sacrifice so much for people that we don’t know in many instances? Those of who have been moved by the Holy Spirit…in other words, born again, understand why. Once we’ve tasted of the love of the Lord and been born again, we are willing to try to do everything we can to help the Lord and do His will.
My message is for those who have been or want to be born again and want to continue on by building a solid foundation on Jesus that will weather any storm that may come.
One of my favorite scriptures on building a foundation on the Lord is in Helaman 5:12. It reads:
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
We all have “mighty storms” that beat upon us and all of our experiences are different. Sickness, depression, fears, trying to make ends meet, the list goes on and on. The LDS priesthood manual offers 7 suggestions to help us build, strengthen, and maintain our foundation on Jesus. These include:
1. Seek the companionship of the Holy Ghost
2. Partake of the Sacrament (Communion)
3. Pray and fast
4. Keep the Commandments
5. Study the scriptures
6. Follow the living prophet
7. Love and serve the Lord
Three additional ways that I use to strengthen my relationship with Jesus include:
8. Attend the Lord’s house (the temple)
9. Pay tithing and fast offerings
10. Share my testimony with others
I will be sharing more thoughts on each of these ways that have helped me build and maintain a strong foundation on Jesus in future posts. I, like many of you, feel I have made a lot of progress and at times feel my foundation is sure and steady. Many other times I’ve felt the whirlwinds of Satan hit the foundation and I’ve had to start rebuilding again.
Many times I notice that opportunities to build my foundation are little by little on a daily basis just by doing simple things to help others, telling someone who’s down about God and prayer, praying for others, telling the truth and being honest in dealings with employers and friends, and focusing on being positive about myself and others. My hope is that my foundation will be strong enough to be a witness for the Lord in every event just as the missionaries in the movie and the prophets mentioned.
In conclusion, I pose some questions:
1. Has building a foundation on Jesus helped you? If so, how has it helped you?
2. What do you do or have you done to build and maintain a firm foundation on Jesus?
3. What does it mean to you to have a foundation built on Jesus?
Grace for Grace 
1 comment
Comments feed for this article
January 20, 2008 at 4:51 am
Jay and Susan
I truly agree with the 10 points you listed as ways to strenghten our belief in Chrsit, and for that matter the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Anyone who ususally doubts has failed to follow some of the 10 steps you suggested. 1.If we fail to live worthily to have the comanionship of the Holy Ghost, then we open ourselves for influences and doubts from Satan because he is the oppostie power. 2. As we worthily partake of the sacrament, we are covenanting with Christ to follow him which in turn will build our faith and trust in Him. 3. It’s obvious that if one fails to go to the Lord in fasting and prayer then we can not recieve answers to those things we have concerns over. If we don’t have anwers, doubts begin to creep in, and faith begins to wane. 4. All a person needs to do is test the commandments. Most people who begin to doubts have broken commandments thus leaving themselves open for doubt. 5. How can anyone gain knowledge and faith without reading the scriptures or the directions the Lord has given us? It would be like trying to build a house without a blueprint. 6. Once again, put it to the test. If you are a worse person for following what a living prophet has asked us to do, I would be completely surprised. Follow what he says, and just see if you don’t feel more faith and trust in the Savior. 7. By giving service for the Lord whether in the church or to our fellowman we are blessing the lives of God’s children, and by giving this service our own faith is truly strengthened, and our desire to serve will actually grow. As we serve others, we feel a greater love from, as well as towards our Savior. 8. Anyone who has lived the law of tithing knows the windows of heaven are literally opened. Wealth, no, but blessings, a resounding yes. One of the first ways to start to doubt is by not paying our tithes and offerings. 9. Attending the temple is perhaps one of the greatest ways to feel at peace with our faith and with our belief in Christ. I feel that it truly brings couples and families closer together, and as you return home you bring a portion of the temple experience with you. Failure to attend the temple is a sure way to lesson our faith and begin to plant seeds of doubt. 10. As we share our faith and expeirences with others, it really begins to do something inside. Yes at times, it is difficult to share with others, but once you do, you feel a feeling of joy and satisfaction, thus feeding our faith and desire to be a servant of God. These ten steps have truly helped us to raise a family, and the trials and tests that come through each day. I would challenge anyone to give it a try, and see if your not a better person for doing so.
LikeLike