God's Superpowers

The Holy Ghost is a spirit that Heavenly Father uses to communicate with us and bless us in our lives, through him we receive testimonies of  Jesus Christ and support when we need it. Some of the things that we can do in order to have the Spirit in our lives consistently are going to church, reading the scriptures, and prayer. We need to do these things so that we can have the Spirit to guide us and help us bless the lives of other people. I was reading the scriptures the other day and I started thinking about all the different gifts of the Spirit as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:1-12 and Moroni 10:8-18. God promises to give them to us as we need them, and I can say without a doubt that He has given them to me from time to time as I've relied on Him to help me serve those around me. It's definitely empowering when we are allowed to use these gifts to bless the lives of others, sometimes it makes me feel somewhat like a superhero.

There are a wide range of gifts that He lends to us, to list them off- wisdom, knowledge, the power of faith, the power to heal, the power to perform miracles, knowing something before it happens, understanding what someone else is thinking, the ability to speak different languages and to understand different languages, the ability to teach,  the ability to learn, the support of Angels, and others. A lot of times when we receive these it is only for a short time in order to help someone with something that they need. Everything about the gifts we receive are to help those around us, and as a direct result of having the privilege of being an instrument in the Lord's hands, we are blessed. We're blessed not only for following what Heavenly Father wants us to but also because we helped those around us. I've noticed that a lot of times when I help someone I feel like I got more out of it than what I put in. Its the satisfaction that I feel in my heart, coupled with the gratitude on the faces of those I've served; it means so much to them, even though what I've done seems so simple to me.



As we rely on the Spirit to guide us we are given God's superpowers, the gifts of the Spirit that we need in order to do more than what is in our normal capacity to do. By using those gifts we receive we bless the lives of others, we become their heroes and God's instruments, and we become the answers to their prayers. God uses us to save them from their struggles and to succor them in the time of their need. To those who read this I would strongly encourage you to focus on God, to follow His teachings, and to do all you can to lighten the burdens of those around you. God needs us to be His superheroes, to use what tools He has to spread love and goodness throughout our individual communities. I know we can do this, what do you say?  

Faith

I've been thinking about what it means to have faith, what is faith? A lot of times i get in the mind set that to have faith is to simply believe in something, that's not true, believing is a part of faith but there is so much more to it than that. Faith is an action word and a principal of power, to have faith is to do something. one of my favorite quotes about faith comes from Martin Luther King, he said "faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase". Faith isn't just believing that the "step" is there, it's actually taking the step. One of my favorite scriptures on faith comes from the book of James in the new testament, its James 2:17-20 it reads:  

17 Even so ^afaith, if it hath not ^bworks, is dead, being alone.

 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my ^afaith by my ^bworks.

 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the^adevils also ^bbelieve, and tremble.

 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that ^afaith without ^bworks is dead?

This scripture talks about the importance of faith being action, its not enough to believe that God is there, having faith means that we are doing what He wants us to. The devils believe in God, they know  He is there, but they choose to fight against Him. They don't have faith. Faith is how we follow the Commandments of God, how we treat our families, how we treat our neighbors, how we serve the people around us.

Jesus Christ was the perfect example of faith, He did everything that His Father asked of Him. He kept every commandment, He served, He taught, He healed, He suffered. He was the only perfect man that ever lived. Let us follow His example of faith by doing all that we can to emulate His example in our lives. :) 

Families

Something that I've come to understand recently is that life is all about relationships, the people that we interact with on a day-to-day basis make up who we become. Why we love certain people, how we love certain people, and what we do to show them that we love them, change us. The most important relationships that we will ever have are the relationships that we have with our families. We experience more joy, more happiness, more peace and consolation through our families than anything else; we also experience more sorrow, pain, trials, afflictions and heartache through our families than anything else. We are with each other through it all, good and bad, successes and failures, triumphs and sufferings; we're there, helping each other up when we fall, rooting for one another and cheering one another on, celebrating successes and consoling defeats. Family is always there, Heavenly Father knows that and the whole purpose of everything He teaches us and everything He does is to help our families progress. His first principals are faith in Jesus Christ and Repentance.



Having faith in Jesus Christ means that we trust in Him and follow His teachings, doing that makes us want to be better people and be like Him. repentance is change, changing from doing what we want, to doing what He wants us to do. these principals bless family life more than any other ideas or philosophies that exist. when a father, or a mother, or a child, or any member of a family do all that they can to repent and become more like the Savior, they naturally care more about others than they do themselves. family life is all about putting our loved ones first, and love takes a lot of time and effort. the effort required is that repentance, that change, giving up desires or actions that hurt or draw us away from one another and replacing them with activities that build our relationships and love for each other. this is how the Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families, by increasing our love and our desires to share that love. I testify of the love that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father have for each of us, and I testify of the power that They have to help our families become so much more.

Who is God?

Something that iv'e been thinking about recently is who God is. the scriptures tell us that He is our Heavenly Father, that's true but a little vague, what does that mean? when i think of Heavenly Father i think of Him as my literal father, God is perfect so what attributes would the perfect father have? first i would think that the perfect father would love His children, the love that a parent has for their child is immeasurable; i cant imagine how much my dad loves me, and if he, being an imperfect mortal, loves me that much it amazes me to think of the love that my perfect Heavenly Father has for me.

second, the perfect father would set boundaries for his children to protect them and help them to learn; my dad has asked me not to do certain things because he knows that they will hurt me, he's also asked me to do certain things because he knows that they will help me to grow and be prosperous. Heavenly Father is the exact same way, He gives us commandments and principals to live by so we can have joy in this life and in the next. third, i feel that the perfect father would be the perfect provider: taking care of the needs of his children, making sure that they're clothed and fed and have security in their lives. Our Heavenly Father has provided us with this entire planet for us to draw the necessities of life from.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Food, shelter, family, and the beauty of the world all around us was all created for us to use, it was provided for us by the perfect father so we can have security and stability in this life. lastly, the perfect father would just want his children to be happy. our Heavenly Father wants to give us joy beyond anything we can imagine, when we allow Him into our lives through prayer, scripture study, and keeping His commandments we let Him make us happy. He wants nothing more than to see us again, and if we do all that asks of us then He will be able to; i have the privilege of being able to teach a lot of people about things that i know will bless their lives, after a while i grow to love the individuals that i interact with, so when i see them make decisions that i know will hurt them.... it pains me. i imagine how a father would feel when he sees his children make horrible decisions, decisions that will ruin their lives, he cant do anything but stand there and watch until they come to him for help. their actions are their decisions and the father cant make the decisions for his children, sometimes he just needs to wait until they change. Our Heavenly Father is perfect, that means He has perfect sorrow when we do things that distance ourselves from Him. He wants to help us in every way that we need, but He also wants us to make our own decisions, He will not force us, but wait for us to come to Him. i feel that some of the experiences iv'e had recently have helped me understand the mind of God, He  is the perfect Father and He knows our every thought, desire, and action. He loves us more than we could ever comprehend, He knows what will make us happy forever, He has given us everything, and His only desire is for us, His children, to have joy. I love my Heavenly Father