Seek the Face of Christ - Literally

The restoration through Joseph Smith was not to create a New Testament church. It was to prepare a people to see the face of Christ, no matter what religion they professed. It was not to bring people into a legal corporation, to follow a myriad of regulations or be cast out.

This is what the Lord was attempting to do:

1  VERILY, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 93:1)

19  And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.

20  Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.

21  And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;

22  For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.

23  Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God;

24  But they hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence; therefore, the Lord in his wrath, for his anger was kindled against them, swore that they should not enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fulness of his glory.

25  Therefore, he took Moses out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also;

26  And the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel;
Doctrine and Covenants 84

63  Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

64  Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, that is expedient for you;

65  And if ye ask anything that is not expedient for you, it shall turn unto your condemnation.

66  Behold, that which you hear is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness—in the wilderness, because you cannot see him—my voice, because my voice is Spirit; my Spirit is truth; truth abideth and hath no end; and if it be in you it shall abound.

67  And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.

68  Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.
Doctrine and Covenants 88

10  And again, verily I say unto you that it is your privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am—not with the carnal neither natural mind, but with the spiritual.

11  For no man has seen God at any time in the flesh, except quickened by the Spirit of God.

12  Neither can any natural man abide the presence of God, neither after the carnal mind.
Doctrine and Covenants 67

Know. Not merely believe. An actual knowledge. It is possible. We should be seeing angels (and for a whole lot more than genealogy). We should be seeing the Lord. We should be allowing Him to prepare us to see the Father, then seeing Him, also.

Where are our fruits? Where are our secret acts of kindness? We should not be patting ourselves on the backs, telling each other in our publications and meetings how wonderful we are. We should be helping those who need our help, those we have the means to help. All of us can give something, even if it is just a listening ear and fervent prayers in behalf of the suffering.

Let us seek after our Lord, not letting anything come between us and Him. There need be no obstacles. Someone once said that obstacles are what one sees when one takes one's eyes off the goal. Let us keep our eyes on the goal and move forward, firmly, not looking back. Let us count the cost and move forward with the faith that if God asks us to sacrifice all (see Lectures on Faith), it will be worth it.

Nothing is more important than fidelity to our Lord and seeking His face. Not money, fame, power, belongings, friends, relatives, nor any organization we may align ourselves with. Let us cast aside our fears and pride. Let us face the enemy of all righteousness courageously. We are already in the battle.Don't let them shoot you in the back. Go forward fearlessly, seeking only truth no matter how much it may contradict what we currently believe.

Then, we shall begin to see the fruits. Then we shall see the miracles and gifts of the Spirit that don't need acrobatic techniques to convince us and others that they are genuine, bona fide miracles and gifts.

This is a "reprint" of a post from LJn's Voice 

Emulate Christ

I found this as part of a post on a blog I frequent. It was so profound I could not share it.


"We look to Jesus as the standard we are seeking to emulate and then we put up no resistance, whatsoever to the influence of the Holy Spirit, so that we become a completely malleable lump of clay in the Lord’s hands, one that can be easily manipulated by Him and made to exactly conform to the standard we are looking to. A broken heart, then, is a heart that has completely submitted itself to the transforming power of the Holy Ghost, putting up no resistance to becoming like Christ.

The word emulate means “to strive to equal or excel (another); to imitate, with a view to equal or outdo; to vie with; to rival; as, to emulate the good and the great.” Jesus taught,

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” (John 14:12)

Thus, the gospel is that we “strive to equal or excel” Christ, doing even greater works than He did, which is one of the reasons why it is called the more excellent way of Christ. In other words, the doctrine of Christ really is a doctrine of emulation. Emulation, or the “ambition or endeavor to equal or excel; rivalry”, gives glory to God because through the atonement of His Son, God does the impossible, taking nothings (us) and making us somethings greater than even “the greatest of all” (D&C 19:18.) This miracle shows forth God’s matchless power and marvelous ways, causing all things to “shut their mouths” in dumbfounderment and give glory to Him. But the impossible can only be made possible through the right ways of the Lord. Otherwise, this transformation into a new creature remains an impossibility."

God's Original Masterpiece

It would appear that blogger only uploads videos from YouTube or from one's own computer.

So, follow this link. It's an amazing skit.



This is what the site says about the video:

God’s Chisel Remastered

From The Skit Guys
Description

When God chisels the dead weight out of our lives it can be quite painful. In this new high quality, remastered version of their most requested skit, Tommy and Eddie give a very creative look at a typical believer having to go through the process of discipline.

The writer of Ephesians says “For we are God’s workmanship” (Eph. 2:10). Elsewhere we’re described as a “poem.” God views us as being his original masterpiece.

The purchase of this video includes media slides and study guide.
       

Broken Vessels - Ian McCormack

A transcription, as best as I could do: (Done by my friend Antau L'jn)

Broken Vessels
Transcript of an interview of Ian McCormack
[Laughter and stuttering omitted.]

Ian: Well, the Holy Spirit, one of the fruits of the Spirit is love and peace and comfort. So it's the kind of glory that... The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. And so I've met many different spiritual entities in my pursuit for truth and gone down many different paths There's unclean spirits, lying, deceitful, adulterous. Um. You know, I mean all kinds of different spirits that would lead you into different forms of bondage, really. But Jesus said, “I'll set you free.”

And then the Spirit of God comes at a very personal and very tangible way, and he is the third person of the Trinity. And he can come as light. He can come like a dove. The Holy Spirit can come like oil. But such a tenderness, like a blanket that just closed you, covers you, but goes deep inside the heart of hearts.

Many of us are unwilling to open up that area and allow him to go into what I call the heart of hearts. But when you allow that to happen, that brings a tenderness and a security which protects you from the evil of this world, and the darkness that tries to undermine us and rob us.

Other person: So it's a real inward, it's letting God touch you at the most core of your being? Is that it?

Ian: Letting God control. One of the biggest issues I've seen is self control. But it's self control that can actually take on different manifestations. People can be so insecure and fearful that they want to control their environment, control individuals, control situations so that they feel secure. 'Cause when they're in control, they feel secure that no one can harm them.

One of the most incredible things that to be vulnerable enough to actually be open and transparent, to be potentially hurt. But you can also be healed. That's a... people go, "Self control is the fruit of the Holy Spirit," but I meet a lot of Christians who are actually self-righteous self-control.

Other person: What's the diff... Tell me about self-righteous self-control.

Ian: Okay. Well, it appears to be control, but it's not. The Holy Spirit gives Liberty to free you from being in control, but he becomes in control. You actually find your identity in him. Unless he falls to the ground and dies. In other words, you've got to, you find yourself and died to yourself at the cross.

Many people, they've got a lot of insecurity and, so, because of their insecurity and fears they try and hold their emotions. They try and hold their friendships. All in a certain order. They don't let people just be free to be themselves, so it's a form of self-control which affects their friendships and relationships. Everything must be in order. They control their children, their relationships. Every area is in control.
Now, what I find is that that emotional suppression can really blow them up. It can eat them from the inside out. It can cause mental problems. It can cause emotional anxiety and sleeplessness. And I think even forms of depression can come from that. I've watched people who are very, maybe live very good lives but never allow to be opened up.

Other person: And was it a process for you to go through that?

Ian: Well, I think what happens when you've been broken, and when you've lost confidence in yourself and you hit the self-destruct button, and I think you can't get much lower, I think you can only then be rebuilt.

The trouble is when someone thinks they're actually intact and quite whole. That's a much more difficult person, it's much easier for God to take the Humpty Dumpty that broke in pieces and make something good out of it. It's like he goes to the potter's field and finds all the broken shards of that vessel and puts them together again.
The hardest thing is when you think you are intact, you are the giver, to allow the Lord to crush you, to bring you down to nothing.

Other person: Sometimes, that can be like a process of years, or it can be uh...

Ian: Or it can be instantaneous. Something which happens that breaks you.

And I do think that many. The hardest things that Jesus found to reach were the people who thought they were okay. Much better to take a broken vessel, 'cause then you can make something good out of it.