(P.S. There is no way that I am doing the talk or the speaker justice with these notes since I find it incredibly hard to infuse written word with the amount of enthusiasm, clarity, elegance, and confidence that Bytheway is able to speak with; I love how he uses real life, concrete, "close-to-home," and straight-forward examples. Nonetheless, I find it a valuable endeavor to rewrite the main points of his talk for myself and in order to share it with others.)
7 Scriptures That Rock Your World
John Bytheway
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. (just a bunch of noise)
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have
not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
How is your discipleship?
Without charity: you are nothing!
In order to have true charity (which is the pure love of Christ), you need a mighty change of HEART (not a change of behavior)
Are you converted? How you treat other people is an indicator of your conversion.
"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples."
How do you act under pressure? Sudden provocation reveals the rats in your cellar- or the condition of your heart- (you never see hidden rats when you open the door slowly...)
The story of the good Samaritan- his heart was in the right place
Have I done any good in the world today?
I have wept in the night
For the shortness of sight
That to somebody's need made me blind;
But I never have yet
Felt a tinge of regret
For being a little too kind.
See here
Moroni 7:47-48
D&C 88:125
I have wept in the night
For the shortness of sight
That to somebody's need made me blind;
But I never have yet
Felt a tinge of regret
For being a little too kind.
See here
Moroni 7:47-48
D&C 88:125
Doctrine and Covenants 68:31-32
31 Now, I, the Lord, am not well pleased with the inhabitants of Zion, for there are idlers among them; and their children are also growing up in wickedness; they also seek not earnestly the riches of eternity, but their eyes are full of greediness.
32 These things ought not to be, and must be done away from among them; wherefore, let my servant Oliver Cowdery carry these sayings unto the land of Zion.
YOU have tremendous potential and power that could take you and your family over the summit so don't just sit and let that power idle.
D&C 42:42; 60:13; 75:29; Ezekiel 16:49
"Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out." (Oliver Wendell Holmes)
Doctrine and Covenants 122:7-8
7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.
8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?
Can you really say, "I don't deserve this"?
Think about...
Nephi
Joseph
Job
Jesus...
"No pain that we suffer, no trail that we experience is wasted." Orson F. Whitney (Faith Precedes the Miracle, p. 98)
Sometimes Heavenly Father loves you too much to let you have it easy.
Don't get Korihor syndrome and become complacent or disillusioned.
Doctrine and Covenants 19:15-19
15 Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.
16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—
19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.
The choice is repent or suffer (not repent or not repent). (And suffering is not the same as repenting.)
Are you hitting the spiritual snooze button?
Today is the day to prepare to meet God.
Forgiveness is a bridge that you must cross.
"When we don't forgive, or think we cannot, we destroy that bridge over which we must cross to receive forgiveness." (Elder Robert E. Wells, The Mount and the Master, p. 167)
Let it go and leave it alone.
Some might ask where is the justice? Some kids are born to families that love them and some are born to families that abuse them...
Volunteer to be a chain breaker and a savior on Mount Zion (which is to suffer so that others might not and do what others can not do for themselves). Don't let bad habits, traditions or attitudes continue through generations.
Doctrine and Covenants 64:10
10 I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive,
but of you it is required to forgive all men.
Plain and simple. but of you it is required to forgive all men.
Alma 33:16
16 For behold, he said: Thou art angry, O Lord, with this people, because they will not understand thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon them because of thy Son.
How do you make the Lord angry?
-Ingratitude D&C 59:21
The wording "will not" indicates that it is a choice to understand or not.
You can change your past a little bit everyday. (Because the present becomes the past and we can repent.)
Your past has a future and it's called today.
When does it really matter? Not at half-time, but at the end. (What have you become?)
When you know what to do and you do what you know, you start to become.
1 Corinthians 2:9
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
"A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 4:227)
D&C 76: 89-92
Books he mentioned:
One Flesh, One Heart
What's on the Other Side
So there you have it! We can get a lot out of the scriptures by reading them and studying them on a little deeper level and incorporating the principles into our lives.
Happy Sunday!
Happy Sunday!
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