Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Message 91:18
See those that think themselves to be great, seeking prominency, moreover seeking the praise of mankind. Their works do show their nothingness and will not endure the sword of truth and justice.
We have to be humble in our works and our words. Christ does not want us to brag or show off our accomplishments. He wants us to be obedient servants who each do our own tasks.
Message 84:4-5
Be wise in works and humble in your talk and the Lord will direct in all things. When the fruit is ripe, then is the time to pluck. He that gathereth when the harvest is not ripe—it wasteth away and their labor is in vain.
We must follow the guidance of the Lord in all that we do. This includes both our work for the Lord and our daily lives. If we follow his lead we will see wonderful things. Apart of following the Lord is to stay humble. Humility is very important.
2 Peter 1:4-8 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ is the only way for us to live a productive life. When I say productive I don’t mean in the ways of the world. I mean in the ways of Christ. Christ wants us to be full of love and humble. He wants us to have his righteousness in us. Will you have things of Christ in you or things of this world?
Matthew 6:5-8
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Doing things for show will not produce any results. God does not like people who do things for show. We should serve God quietly and humbly. God will bless you for your worship without the show that some people attach to it.
Message 84:3-4
Let the Church and all men respect the resurrection, for with it there is hope for all mankind. Come together and worship on the first day of the week—but remember God always. Keep the Lord’s Day holy. Be wise in works and humble in your talk and the Lord will direct in all things.
The life that we chose to live when we follow Christ is not one that only happens on Sunday. It is a lifestyle. It requires us to love God every day. The Lord will bless us with wisdom and knowledge if we only follow his instructions.
Message 40:6
Great shall be the joy in the hearts of men for they will hear the Lord’s words and humble themselves before him. The law of the Lord shall be written in each heart and all men will obey his will.
I cannot wait until this day. Each person on earth will know the truth of the Lord. There will be no man made additions or changes. There will be no denying Christ. All of mankind will know and understand who is Lord. The only question is will you be ready?
Romans 1:20-25
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Don’t let yourself get caught up in the act of praising God that you forget why you are doing it. It is important to remember to stay humble and honest to yourself and to God. There are many people in the world today to talk a great story and seem to be close with God, but who do it for the fame and fortune. Remember to stay true to God and to yourself.
Just a few quick thoughts today. It is amazing how the Lord works in our lives. We pray and pray for something that we need in our lives. Opportunity after opportunity to give us what we want fails to materializes we can start to get frustrated and disenchanted with God. But we have to stay patient and humble before God, because his plan is the right one. If we keep praying and trusting in him, what we need will always come when we need it. And when he does answer our prayers, it will be better that what we would have planed. God works in powerful ways, lets give him the chance to do it.
Message 57:2
The Lord your God wants a holy people, those that will humble themselves before him. He know the hearts of all and their desires. He knows your weakness and faith.
God knows every thing about us. We should not try to hide who we are from him. If we want to counted as his in the last days, we need to follow is commandments with out our own additions or subtractions.
Alma 37:33
Preach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.
The base of the Gospel of Christ is that we have to have faith in Christ and that he will take away our sins when we repent. We also have to strive to stay clean and like Christ. Being a follower of Christ is not a part time job.
Message 48:4
Thus saith the Lord, I have heard the prayers of my children, many of whom are truly humble before me. Blessed art thou, for I shall reward thee as your faith is, and that to your joy and peace. The hearts of the righteous shall be filled and their bosoms shall overflow with gladness.
God loves a humble people. He does not like arrogance or self r righteousness. God wants a people that worship him give him the glory. If we do this he will bless us for our faith. We will have peace and joy in our lives. We will enjoy life the way that he created it. We might not have large material possessions, but we have a blessed and happy life.
Great shall be the joy in the hearts of men for they will hear the Lord’s words and humble themselves before him. The law of the Lord shall be written in each heart and all men will obey his will.
When we come to the Lord, there will be great joy in our heart and life. We will be blessed by his spirit in our day to day lives that will give us peace and reassurance. God will always send us his joy and peace if we follow his will and are humble before him.
This afternoon Bro Beck told us about his trip to Africa. There were lots of pictures of happy faces and videos of good times.
In the Evening service Edward Coffey talked about having humility and following the true words of God. There is only one way to do Christ’s work, so we have to follow it closely.
Check the Facebook page the next few days and weeks at http://www.facebook.com/elijahmessage for pictures and videos from the missionary trip to Africa and the 2010 Assembly. If you are not a member of Facebook you can view the pictures at:
Assembly: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=460757&id=236551755141&l=e34e0476a5
Missionary Trip: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=411254&id=236551755141&l=0efd0a024
Message 30:5
My sheep know my voice; many false delusions are going out; but again I say my sheep know my voice and heareth not another. Some have lost their affections for my work. This ye must not do, but uphold my work, or darkness will shake you one and all, and the gathering you long to accomplish shall come to naught. I know your desires; yea, when seasoned by my Spirit, much good will come of your works. Humble yourselves more before me. In not doing this, ye do foolishly before me
In our daily lives we have to remember to follow God, and not others. There are several forces that try to pull us away from God. Most things that trip people up look harmless on the surface, but often times are not. We need to pray and seek God’s advice when we chose what to do in our lives and what to believe. God is there to help us and he sends his spirit to us lead the way. Let us listen with our heart, not our heads.
Alma 38:14
“Do not say: O God, I thank thee that we are better than our brethren; but rather say: O Lord, forgive my unworthiness, and remember my brethren in mercy—yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times.”
We need to remember that we are not better than any other people. We have to stay humble and obedient. Just because we follow the plan of God does not make us more deserving of God’s love. He loves all people equally. No matter how much we strive to serve God, there is always more that we can do. So let us keep trying.
Message 19:17
“Separate yourself from all those, and have no part with their works. If you will seek the Lord in prayer often, he will give you the light you need. Save your strength. Be humble. Be wise in your work. Use love in your work, but yield not to the traditions of men.”
God is telling us how to do our job. First we have to have love in our work. It is imposable to do God’s work without love. Second we need to be humble. If we thing our success is our doing it will not last very long. Third we need to pray to the Lord often. This direct line of communication is important for us know what to do. We need to separate ourselves from others who have added traditions into God’s work. These traditions are not the workings of God and will destroy those who follow them. But remember, we still must love everyone.
Message 107:2-3
“The hearts that are humble will hear the call of God to be up and doing in this work of hope and salvation. There is much to be accomplished. The power of the adversary has enthroned his influence in the minds of many, ruining the lives of those that will not learn truth and come to doctrine.”
The Devil will work very hard to pull as many people away from God as he can. It is up to us to not listen to his whisperings, with the help of God. Those that are humble and obey God will be blessed for the work that they will do. The more work we do for God with humility, the more blessed we will become.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. ”
In our search for the truth, we must be careful of who we listen to. There are many people who are doing their best to follow God, but if someone’s actions or words do not follow the teachings of God, we must not listen to them. There will be many people who say they are following God and doing his work, but if listen and watch closely, they are not preaching the word of God. Only follow a man as long as he follows God. If a person that you looked up to turns from God and starts to wonder away, you need to stop listing to them. I know it is hard, but it is better to lose that person then you salvation.
Man and Faith.
When God sends his messenger again to lead the Church, it is important to remember the whomever the new scribe is, is just a man. That person will not have any more power or authority then the rest of the Church. The scribe will have a greater knowledge of the power of God and a great testimony, but he will not have new authority or power then before. Let us celebrate the message, not the messenger or scribe.
God gives out his spirit by our level of humbleness and faith. If we are humble and full of faith, the power of God will be able to work in us to do his work. If we are not humble then the spirit will leave us and our thoughts and actions will no longer be of God. We have to be careful when listing to others because we do not know their relationship with God is. We have judge everything against the books that we know are true, The Bible, The Record of the Nephites, and The Word of the Lord.
If you need a copy of one The Record of the Nephites or The Word of the Lord, just let us know and we can mail you one.
Matthew 9:35/An Address to all Believers in Christ
“And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.”
In An Address to all Believers in Christ, David Whitmer points out how each person that is wanting to be the greatest is really not sent of God. The people who do the best work and for God, are the ones who don’t go looking for titles or praise. People who want to hold a certain position because the status that it brings do not have the best interest in the Church in mind. Being humble is a great way for the God to do work though you. You are not the one that performs the miracle, but God. It is like a skillful surgeon with his trusted scalpel, the knife does the work, but the surgeon is the one in control. If the knife become dull, it is replaced. The same is true with us and God, if we become prideful, we will be replaced as tool for Gods great good.
