Today's lesson was on faith and repentance. She did not get through the whole lesson due to time. Here is a link to it for you.
Sister Bosh read an excerpt from the beginning of the lesson and it says,
"Our faith is centered in the Lord Jesus Christ, and through him in the Father. We believe in Christ, accept him as the Son of God, and have taken his name upon us in the waters of baptism.8
Let it be
uppermost in your minds, now and at all times, that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of the living God, who came into the world to lay down his life
that we might live. That is the truth, and is fundamental. Upon that
our faith is built. It can not be destroyed. We must adhere to this
teaching in spite of the teachings of the world, and the notions of men;
for this is paramount, this is essential to our salvation. The Lord
redeemed us with his blood, he gave us salvation, provided—and there is
this condition which we must not forget—that we will keep his
commandments, and always remember him. If we will do that then we shall
be saved, while the ideas and the foolishness of men, shall perish from
the earth.9
By
faith we come to God. If we did not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
if we had no faith in Him or in His atonement, we would not be inclined
to pay any heed to His commandments. It is because we have that faith
that we are brought into harmony with His truth and have a desire in our
hearts to serve Him. …"
You can't have faith in Jesus Christ without faith in our Heavenly Father. Sister Bosh had us discuss with each other on what it means to have faith in Jesus and Heavenly Father. After we discussed, here is what was shared:
1. Everything in our lives fit into place easier.
2. Faith governs our thoughts and actions
3. We need to know where our faith lies ---in ourselves or with the things of the world.
Then Sis Bosh shared the scripture: James 2:26, it says, "For as the body without the aspirit is bdead, so faith without cworks is dead also." Faith without work does not exist. Faith is a principle of action. It can't just happen.
In the manual, it states, "Faith cannot be obtained by inaction or
through indifference or passive belief. The mere desire to obtain faith
will not bring faith any more than the desire to be skilled in music or
painting will bring proficiency in these things without intelligent
action. There is where our trouble comes. We get a testimony of the
Gospel, we believe in Joseph Smith, we believe in Jesus Christ, we believe in the principles of the Gospel, but how hard are we working at them?"
She asked the question that a bishop in her old ward would ask. What are you doing to increase your faith? A couple sisters replied.
1. Strengthening through service
2. Finding faith in yourself as well to what is asked of us in our callings.
In other words, take a leap of faith.
We also can increase our faith through repentance. It takes faith to believe and to first take that step towards repentance. It is important to have humility as well in repentance. Not everyone is perfect. In the following scripture, King Benjamin teaches his people to understand what they must do to repent and how their souls will be filled with joy and peace once they repent. A peaceful conscience and a joyful heart sounds great, doesn't it? I know it does to me.
In Mosiah 4: 1-3, it says, " And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the aangel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had bfallen to the earth, for the cfear of the Lord had come upon them.
2 And they had aviewed themselves in their own bcarnal state, even cless than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the datoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be epurified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who fcreated heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.
3 And
it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of
the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a
aremission of their sins, and having peace of bconscience, because of the exceeding cfaith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the dwords which king Benjamin had spoken unto them."
President Smith raises a voice of warning. He calls upon us to repent so we can receive blessings of exaltation. He says, "I plead with the world to repent and believe the truth, to let the light
of Christ shine in their lives, to keep every good and true principle
they have, and to add to these the further light and knowledge that has
come by revelation in this day. I plead with them to join The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and reap the blessings of the gospel."
Sister Bosh closed with saying that we need to have a soft loving heart in repentance instead of a hardened heart. Let go of things that are not good for your soul.
Please reflect on the following: When have you felt true repentance?
Closing Song: "Be Still, My Soul"
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