Day 206

  • Principle: The powers of heaven are controlled only upon the principles of righteousness.
  • Book of Mormon Reading: Alma 39:9 - 40:10
    • When mastering your heart and mind if you fall short of your goal it can often be discouraging.  Remember what Jeffrey R. Holland taught:
      • “To you is extended the peace and renewal of repentance available through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. In such serious matters the path of repentance is not easily begun or painlessly traveled. But the Savior of the world will walk that essential journey with you. He will strengthen you when you waver. He will be your light when it seems most dark. He will take your hand and be your hope when hope seems all you have left. His compassion and mercy, with all their cleansing and healing power, are freely given to all who truly wish complete forgiveness and will take the steps that lead to it” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1998, 101–2; or Ensign,Nov. 1998, 78).
  • Boyd K Packer Taught:
    • "I have the idea that many go through life with their minds something like a corner lot at ' a city intersection, just a lot on which there is no house. It's used for many things children cross it to play, people cross it going here and there, sometimes a car will take a shortcut across it. Here is a mind, a vacant playing field; and anyone who comes by can crisscross it. I don't have that anymore . On my lot I have some signs that say No Trespassing, and then I list to whom that refers. I will not consent to contamination of the slightest single spot from a perverse source. I will not consent to it. If a thought like that enters my mind, it comes as a trespasser; it comes as an unwanted intruder. I do consent openly-without re servation, hopefully, with anxiety, pleadingly, with all invitation-to inspiration from the Lord." ("To Those Who Teach in Troubled Times," Growing Edge, vol. 5, no . 3 [Nov. 1972] .)
  • Bruce R. McConkie gave nine admonitions to help keep positive thoughts on your mind.
    • Ponder in your heart the things of righteousness.
    • Let virtue garnish your thoughts unceasingly.
    • Be spiritually minded.
    • Sow to the Spirit.
    • Thing on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy.
    • Consciously elect to ponder the truths of salvation in your heart.
    • Sing the songs of Zion.
    • Call on yourself to preach a sermon.
    • Rejoice in the Lord; ponder his truths in your heart; rivet your attention and interests on the Lord and his goodness to you; forsake the world and use all your strength, energy, and ability to further his work.
      • (Bruce R. McConkie in CR, Oct. 1973, pp. 56–57.)
  • Gordon B. Hinckley gave four things for controlled thoughts and a happy life.

    • Now I offer you a very simple recipe which, if observed, will assure your happiness. It is a simple four-point program. It is as follows: (1) pray, (2) study, (3) pay your tithing, and (4) attend your meetings.

      With reference to the first item—personal prayer—you are a daughter of our Heavenly Father. He is your heavenly parent. Speak with Him. Each night and morning get on your knees and express unto Him the gratitude of your heart. Speak of the blessings which you desire and need. Never forget that this Church began with the humble prayer of the boy Joseph Smith in the grove of his father’s farm. From that remarkable experience, which we call the First Vision, has grown this work until today it is established in 160 nations, with a membership of over 12 million. It is the very personification of Daniel’s vision of a stone cut out of the mountain without hands rolling forth to fill the whole earth (see Daniel 2:44–45).

      Not only can you offer your individual prayers, but you can encourage your parents to have family prayer, if they are not already doing so. Prayer is the bridge over which we approach our Father in Heaven. It costs nothing. It requires only faith and effort. There is nothing more rewarding than kneeling in humble prayer. It speaks of love for Deity, as the giver of all that is good. It speaks of respect for self. There is no substitute for it. It is personal communication with God.

      The second item on my list is study. What is included in this simple five-letter word? First is a study of the scriptures. You might only read portions of the Old Testament, but it contains great lessons. The New Testament is a gold mine. It contains the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—as well as the Acts of the Apostles and other writings. Try reading just one of the Gospels—perhaps the book of John. When you are through with that, pick up the Book of Mormon.

      Two years ago I challenged the entire Church to read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year. It is amazing how many met that challenge. Everyone who did so was blessed for his or her effort. As they became immersed in this added witness of our Redeemer, their hearts were quickened and their spirits touched. Some of you were too young to have read it then, but you are not too young to start to read it now.

      Beyond ecclesiastical study there is the challenge of education. Resolve now, while you are young, that you will get all of the education you can. We live in a highly competitive age, and it will only grow worse. Education is the key that will unlock the door of opportunity.

      You may plan on marriage, and hope for it, but you are not certain that it will come. And even though you marry, education will be of great benefit to you. Don’t just drift along, letting the days come and go without improvement in your lives. The Lord will bless you as you make the effort. Your lives will be enriched and your outlook broadened as your minds are opened to new vistas and knowledge.

      The next item is the payment of tithing. Glorious is the promise of the Lord concerning those who pay their tithes. He says in modern revelation that they “shall not be burned” (see D&C 64:23).

      His great promise is found in the words of Malachi. Said He: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. …

      “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:8, 10).

      And then He goes on to say something very interesting. Listen to this:

      “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

      “And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land” (Malachi 3:11–12).

      While tithing is paid with money, more importantly it is paid with faith. I have never met an individual who paid an honest tithe who complained about it. Rather, he put his trust in the Lord, and the Lord never failed him.

      When I was a small boy, each December my father would take us all across the street to the home of Bishop Duncan for tithing settlement. The bishop did not have an office in the ward building, and so he had to conduct business in his home. We would all sit in his living room and, one by one, he would invite us into the dining room. Our tithing might be 25 cents, or maybe 50 cents, but it was a full tithing. He wrote out a receipt and recorded the amount in the ward record. The amount may have been so small that it cost more to record it than it was worth. But it established a habit which continued through all of these years. With the payment of tithing have come innumerable blessings as the Lord has promised.

      I was married during the Depression, when money was scarce, but we paid our tithing, and somehow we never went hungry or lacked anything we needed.

      The fourth item—attend your meetings, your sacrament meetings. There is no substitute for partaking of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. It is a solemn, sacred, and wonderful undertaking to be able to partake of the bread and water in remembrance of the body and blood of the Savior of mankind.

      There is no other event in human history as significant as the atoning sacrifice of our divine Redeemer. None else compares with it. Without it life would be meaningless. It would be a dead-end journey.

      With it we are assured of eternal life. Death is not the end, but rather a passing on to a more glorious existence.

      All of this is symbolized in the partaking of the sacrament. All other items in our meetings are of lesser importance compared with partaking the emblems of the sacrifice of our Lord.
       

      If you will do these four things, I promise you that your lives will be fruitful, that your happiness will be great, and that your accomplishments will be tremendous and satisfying in every respect. (Gordon B. Hinckley, “Let Virtue Garnish They Thoughts Unceasingly”, April 2007)

  • Additional Study: