The Whole Armour of God

A few weeks ago I had a strange dream. Ron and I were being outfitted with armour. With heavy helmets, breastplates, heavy armour on our legs and feet and we were given swords. I distincly remember in the dream feeling the incredible weight of that armour. We were being prepared for battle, and we were going to war together! It felt so real---so serious. As I woke up pondering this strange dream I thought what is coming? What kind of war did I just dream about? Then that thought was immediately answered in my mind, "You are already at war, you are in the midst of it now." I looked up Ephesians 6:11-19 and read it again.

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,"

After re-reading this scripture I found much to ponder over. It's been on my mind a lot lately, the things that we "wrestle" with in this mortal world. I pray God will give me, and all of us the strength to "withstand in this evil day!"

I Will Tell You In Your Mind and In Your Heart

I read a wonderful article, "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence" by Elder Holland that I haven't read in a long time. It was a good reminder about personal revelation. We all know the formula for receiving personal revelation taught in Doctrine and Covenants section 8 and 9. Elder Holland quoted it and then added his thoughts: "I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. [I love the combination there of both mind and heart. God will teach us in a reasonable way and in a revelatory way--mind and heart combined, by the Holy Ghost.]"

The message of his talk is this: once we know we have received confirmation from the spirit of the Lord to do something, or that something is right, then, we can always, always count on Satan to come and muddy the waters so to speak. He will try to keep us from acting on that knowledge, by having us question ourselves, did I really feel that . . . etc. etc. etc., or by tempting us away with his endless enticements and arguments tailored precisely for each of us.

It was such a good reminder to me to have the courage to stay the course, to act on that which I know to be true, to command Satan to get behind me, and that Heavenly Father will ALWAYS provide the way to do the things he asks of us.

I love the first scripture verse I ever memorized, and it has been a light in the darkness for me all these years. 1Nephi 3:7 "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

Darla Isackson

Almost a year ago I read an article in Meridian Magazine by Darla Isackson, in which she mentioned that she had lost her son to suicide. I have often read articles by Darla and I am always moved buy her depth of love for the Lord, her desire to improve her life, and her deep desire to share her knowledge with the rest of us. This article moved me to email her and thank her.

She graciously wrote back, and we began an extensive correspondence that blossomed into a great friendship. Darla expressed her promptings to write a book about her experiences since the death of her son, and she began sending chapters for my input and impressions. Her words of wisdom and comfort have touched and helped me more than I can say during my own ongoing process of grief since my son's death eleven years ago.

Darla has also been so kind about my blog. She continues to tell me it's beautiful and that I am a good writer. (She even ordered my out of print book, "Joy Outweighs The Sorrow" from Amazon and told me how much she enjoyed it.) I haven't even been able to think of myself as a writer for the last decade. It stunned me in fact when Darla said, "you are a writer, and writer's need to write." I didn't write anything, except emails to my children, for eight years after Robert's death.

I must say that in the beginning of our correspondence I was at first intimidated, then amazed, and then gratified by her encouragement, since "Darla has been on the Continuing Education speaker's circuit for BYU. . . In 1988 she pioneered the book division for Covenant Communications and was their Managing Editor for four years. She later served as Managing Editor for Aspen Books. Darla has edited well over two hundred uplifting books in her interesting career--shepherding them successfully from manuscript to bookstore shelves. She has presented at writer’s workshops in three states. Since 1998 she has free-lanced at home, editing and ghost-writing many books and caring for her elderly mother until she passed away. She has written a bi-monthly column for Meridian Magazine online since 2002." (Quoted from her website)

Two weeks ago Darla invited myself and three other women, who also helped with feedback on her book, to her home for lunch where she presented us each with a copy of her book. She included comments from each of us on the back cover of her book, and quoted us in various places in the book. (What an honor!) I found her to be just as warm and loving as she is while expressing her testimony in all of her writings. She has become a "bosom friend" to quote Anne of Green Gables!

Please check out Darla's website, where you may order this wonderful book if you know of someone that could use the wisdom and comfort she gives to those who are faced with this terrible tragedy in their life.

He Does Pour Out His Spirit if We Have Eyes to See!

Last week something came up that had me thinking about Debbie Garcia. I served with her in the Primary Presidency way back when I only had two tiny babies and we were living in San Diego, California in the 70's. It was my first church service in a presidency. She was amazing. When the Bishop called me he said that she was a very spiritual person, and that he trusted her completely. He said he would give her ANYONE she ever asked him for, to serve in the primary, because he knew she would know the Lords will in the matter first. He said that if she asked for the Stake Relief Society President to be Sunbeam Teacher he would request it from the Stake.

While we only lived in that ward for about a year, as a presidency, we had the opportunity to call several new teachers. The Bishop told me I would have an extraordinary experience working with her and he was right! We would go over the list of ward members and come up with a few names, then she sent us home to pray about them. If we didn't ALL have the same name, she would send us home again to pray. Not until we ALL felt right about it would we ask for that person, and the Bishop would always approve it because of his confidence in Sister Garcia. When Debbie prayed I would often peek, just to see if I could see the Lord standing in the room. The next time I served in a Presidency was such a letdown, I thought this was just standard operating procedure for every organization in the church. Don't get me wrong, I loved the women I served with, but I could never help them understand what it had been like with Sister Garcia. It's sad that through the years, I have never had quite the same united, sacred experience while working with others in a calling.

The children adored her. It was back in the days (you know when we walked ten miles to school in terrible blizzards :) and when we had primary during the week. I have never experienced reverence like she generated, before or since. You could hear a pin drop in our opening exercises. She taught the children that Jesus would be with them if He could feel their love by their reverence. He was! That chapel had a holy feeling that I've only experienced since in the temple! The children loved her so much they wanted to be near her or just touch her. In the foyer she would greet them and I can still see her cup their little faces in her hands, and see the love shining in her eyes and in theirs, because she truly had "His image" in her countenance! When I remember this I always think it had to be very much like it was when the Lord greeted each child of the Nephites!

Later when I read of how the twelve apostles conduct their business, I was amazed because I truly had experienced the same thing in an ordinary ward primary! It reminds me of this scripture:

Numbers 11:29 "And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!"

And, we are living in a day when we are witnessing this prophecy:

Joel 2:28, 29 "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit!"

In other words even the lowly, those who do not hold high position, can receive the spirit in greater abundance than we ask for and expect to receive! As I remembered my experiences with Debbie Garcia, I thought about my own current calling. I'm one of three gospel doctrine teachers for the adults in our ward, and I do pray about my calling, but this week, because of Sister Garcia's example I prayed more earnestly. I had intended to have a class member review the story of Elijah passing his mantle on to Elisha to be the next prophet. I tried to think of people who haven't had as much opportunity to participate, but didn't feel right about any of them when suddenly our new Bishop's name popped into my head. Of course, he has just received the new mantle of Bishop. I felt the spirit of confirmation wash over me so completely. (I must admit to feeling surprised that it could come so strongly over something so simple.) So I immediately called him on the phone and got his answering machine. I left the message but didn't hear back from him. I tried his number several more times with the same result. Then I became worried that he was still out of town, so I asked my sweet husband to review the material and be prepared to give it. I worried about the experience I'd just had, I questioned my ability to receive inspiration, but hoped for the best.

Then on Sunday the Bishop was there and willingly accepted my invitation and shared the story, his testimony and feelings, and then his testimony and witness of watching President Hinckley (who is his uncle) personally as a man, and then with the mantle of prophet! It was so powerful! It was wonderful! It was a witness to little ole' obscure me, that God does hear and care about even the smallest details of our lives and of our callings. I knew this before, but what a wonderful reminder! And, what a wonderful reminder that we all really do need to reach higher, and ask for and expect greater direction and power in every aspect of our lives and callings!

2 Kings 6:16-17 "And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And and the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha."

Lord let me have eyes to see, ears to hear, and use my mouth and heart more earnestly to ASK!

LDS Volunteers In Haiti!

Check out the link I added to my sidebar for this special edition of Meridian Magazine! Note that they post the latest story on top so you should scroll down and read the last story "Meridian Joins an Army of LDS Volunteers Heading to Haiti" first so you can appreciate and follow the journey of these selfless volunteers now in Haiti!

I have been following this amazing story and I know all of you will want to read and help! As I have followed the story of how the spirit of the Lord has touched each of these people, called only by the sweet quiet whisperings of the spirit, to do so much good ON THEIR OWN, it has been a powerful witness of the Lord’s hand in all of our lives as well as my own! I testify that He WILL help us through these last days, and that He is in charge, and that now is the time to redouble all of our efforts to follow the prophet and get our lives in order! God lives — Jesus is the Christ, President Monson is his living prophet and He is guiding his Church and all of our lives! D&C 58: 27-28 teaches us this principle: "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; for the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward." These wonderful volunteers are perfect examples of this, and faith like theirs, is the reason MIRACLES still happen!

Makes me want to do more good in the world today!

Beyond Testimony

I read an article by Wallace Goddard from Meridian Magazine, that has made great sense to me today. He spoke of getting beyond testimony. After we have gained a testimony of so many doctrines and had enough experiences with our Father in Heaven, we need not keep testing each and every doctrine, or each and every thing the Prophet asks us to do, to know that it is from God. We reach a point of trust, wherein we develop a relationship with our Father in Heaven! I love that. Relationships are trust! Whenever we are apart from someone we love, we have a desire to check-in and check-on the welfare of that person, and to share feelings and thoughts and joys and sorrows!

And then, beyond the relationship is partnership. Aah . . . partnership. I know I have had a relationship with my Father in Heaven all my life. I have simply had too many experiences with Him for it to be any other way --- but partnership? I have had only moments of this last step. Only little moments which I have begun to experience, but this article made it so clear. I quote now from the article.

"Maybe the stage of relationship prepares us for the next step in our spiritual development — partnership. After all, God has asked for our mind, heart, might and strength. Many of us submit our mind first through the testimony process. Then we offer our heart as we enter a relationship. As our souls are changed by that relationship, we offer more and more of our energy. We become partners with Him in the remarkable work of blessing His children.
This stage is accessed when we turn our lives over completely to Him. We become consecrated. Our prayers no longer have the begging quality to them: Please do this or change that. We stop trying to change His mind. Our mind and will becomes aligned with His.
Ironically, at this stage of complete submission, our prayers may actually be more authoritative than in earlier stages. The person in partnership with God may pray, “Father, help me to use Thy power to bless Thy children.” Since the person has no will but God’s will, He may be able to command and be obeyed.
Enoch, meek Enoch, was authorized to command the elements in the name of God. “He spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command” (Moses 7:13).
Partnership is where we work with Him in perfect harmony to advance His perfect purposes. At this level of progression, He is preparing us to partner with Him in eternity.
Testimony is the start. Relationship comes next. Then we seek for partnership. His plan is a beautifully progressive plan to make us more like Him". (End of quote)

My desires (Bonnie Holt's desires) to bless the lives of my family have lead me to desire something more, to change the nature and content of my prayers. I have prayed more earnestly lately to "know what to pray for!" I have known intellectually that we have power from God when we give our "whole souls" to Him --- to pray for that which He would have us pray for. I guess Enoch got to the point that the Lord trusted him. He knew that if Enoch wanted to move a mountain, he had a great and noble reason to do so, one in compatibility with God. So Enoch could say, "move" . . . I think I finally understand a little more why Alma could pray for his son and an angel could not be restrained from answering that prayer. Because, that is precisely what God wanted Alma to pray for, and precisely what God wanted to happen, because that was precisely the RIGHT thing for his son. Oh, to be like Alma and Enoch. To know and act and be in partnership with God! It's such a tall order it makes me gasp, but oh I want to be. Just to bless the lives of my family --- just precisely for them! To pray not for what I want for my children, but for what God wants, for them, for my husband, and for myself.

To read the entire article: http://www.meridianmagazine.com/myth/071121beyond.html