The End of Man?

(As God Created Them, Male & Female?)

This phrase “end of man” appears twice in scripture, coming from Lehi¹ and Nephi. Nephi uses it thus:

... And because that I [God] have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.²

Rather interesting phrasing! — “for my work is not yet finished, neither shall it be UNTIL the end of man” and then this: “neither from that time (the end of man?) henceforth and forever.”

What does this mean — the end of man?

Could it mean (in part) what we are witnessing now — transhumanism,³ transgenderism,⁴  or even more subtly, the injection of messenger RNA designed to “trick the body” into immune response behavior,⁵ AND, as some scientists warn, potentially changing the human genome henceforth and forever⁶ via irreversible integration into the cell nucleus. Of, course the vaxcine⁷ vendors deny integration, but some article writers⁸  have the courage to admit the many unknowns in the novel mRNA vaxcines. Yet, the rushed mRNA vaxcine to “end” this crisis — to achieve herd immunity via herd obedience — is being touted as a never before offered(?) messenger RNA — a “savior” vaxcine — to restore our lives, our human rights, our future.

And what are these vaxcine vendors counting on to achieve their herd obedience (and their fabulous fortunes)? Mainly, four things: 1) the nature of humans to trust in the touted knowledge and altruisms of authorities / experts; 2) on the Stanley Milgram⁹ discovery that nigh 65% of test subjects will defer to the voice of authority even when it goes against their conscience, knowledge, and human rights; 3) on coercion by authorities / experts and peers of the recalcitrant 35%; and 4) fear.

Do we recognize what is being offered here? another chance to improve on God's¹⁰ plan and performance? another bite of the apple? another innovation and promise of the Domination System?

Will we acquiesce to “the end of man” as created by God, or will we commit now to the Extreme Trust that is going to be required in coming days — a Trust that will test us to the limit? Will we render evil for the evil that has come OR will we, beyond our human nature and capacity, render good for evil, thus heaping coals of fire (read: the purging fire of awakened guilt — the forerunner of repentance and change) upon the heads of our abusers,¹¹ as happened in the account of the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi?¹²

How we will render good for the greater evil that is coming,¹³ I do not know. I know it is not in my nature because “justice” calls louder to me than mercy. But I also know that the spirit-of-power is dangerous beyond measure despite awareness.¹⁴ I know what I would like to do with abusers of power and people, if I had the power. Nothing violent, I tell myself — but how do I know what the spirit-of-power¹⁵ and situation might elicit?

In any event, it appears that “the end of man” and of this world (as God created us and it) is nigh at hand,¹⁶ YET the end is not the End, for the Work goes on “from that time [the end of man] henceforth and forever.”

Do not despair.¹⁷ The end [of man's corrupted and corrupting work] is not the End of God's Work. Our work is to be facing the right direction, walking, talking, serving, loving, forgiving, and praying.

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1. Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 2:15–17 ~ And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter. Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other. And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God.
2. Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 29:8–9 (Bold emphasis added.)
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhuman
Already, for decades, “scientists” have been experimenting with augmentation via MKUltra and similar experimentation. The witnesses, even before Congress are prolific, but of course always disparaged to protect the guilty and the Powers-That-Be. With advancing technology, sci-fi is becoming sci-real.
4. This is not to allege that transgender states have all been designed, but considering the “science” and déjà vus of power, control, curiosity, psychopathy, etc; of MKUltra and the like; and of scientists without conscience, the experimentation, manipulation, and presentation of gender fluidity is and has been a secret and not-so-secret aspect of much of world history.
5. RNA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA_vaccine | The wiki entry discounts integration into the host genome, but  https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/five-things-you-need-know-about-mrna-vaccines.html notes the many unknowns.
6. Presently, scientists and investigating journalists who are questioning and warning are being disparaged by the vaxcine vendors, and those who stand to gain beyond our and their wildest imaginations. WHO should we trust: 1) those who have nothing to gain and everything to lose by bucking the Powers; or 2) the Powers who have everything to gain and (apparently, if we go by recent history), nothing to lose by lying, cheating, and stealing.
● The Link Between Human Retroviruses and Chronic Disease - Dr. Mercola Interviews Judy Mikovits (Mercola | Dec 10, 2018 | Time 10:01:42) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCY1LlzLXew
● Whistleblower Dr. Judy Mikovits - 11 Minutes That BLEW ME AWAY (Victurus Libertas VLTV | Sep 8, 2018 | Time 12:15) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhZETbXCqCM
● Bill Gates' Plan to Vaccinate the World (corbettreport | May 8, 2020 | Time: 28:01) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7A_cMpKm6w
● "Gene-Edited" Future Justified By COVID-19 ...  (The Last American Vagabond | May 8, 2020  | Time 2:00:10) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGEkSQSieBY
● As so many critiques are being censored, search for Dr. Rashid Buttar, Judy Mikovits and other doctors and scientists that are getting disparaged and censored at the behest of the Powers. Listen to them and decide for yourself. And ask yourself: Who are the many in every rank supporting the voice of authority — are they the Milgram 65%?
See also: https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2020/04/mike-we-lied-we-cheated-we-stole-pompeus.html
7. Deliberate misspelling because vaxcines promoted for profit, power, and agenda are not the same as uncontaminated vaccines.
8. https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/five-things-you-need-know-about-mrna-vaccines.html
Also see videos in footnote 6.
9. Stanley Milgram: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2020/04/real-life-milgram-spe.html
https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-global-stanley-milgram-experiment.html
10. As in geoengineering, GMOs, vaxcine adjuvants, MKUltra, psychotropics, genetic engineering, transhumanism, virus creation; etc. The crime the Powers refuse to admit, is that the vaxcine is being created to counter a man-made virus designed to achieve all that we now see in our world turned upside down for power and gain.
11. New Testament | Romans 12:20–21 ~ Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
12. I do not say this is the answer for every assault, but in this case it was. Every event has its appropriate discerned response.
Book of Mormon | Alma 24:20–27 ~ And it came to pass that their brethren, the Lamanites, made preparations for war, and came up to the land of Nephi for the purpose of destroying the king, and to place another in his stead, and also of destroying the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi out of the land. Now when the people saw that they were coming against them they went out to meet them, and prostrated themselves before them to the earth, and began to call on the name of the Lord; and thus they were in this attitude when the Lamanites began to fall upon them, and began to slay them with the sword. And thus without meeting any resistance, they did slay a thousand and five of them; and we know that they are blessed, for they have gone to dwell with their God. Now when the Lamanites saw that their brethren would not flee from the sword, neither would they turn aside to the right hand or to the left, but that they would lie down and perish, and praised God even in the very act of perishing under the sword— Now when the Lamanites saw this they did forbear from slaying them; and there were many whose hearts had swollen in them for those of their brethren who had fallen under the sword, for they repented of the things which they had done. And it came to pass that they threw down their weapons of war, and they would not take them again, for they were stung for the murders which they had committed; and they came down even as their brethren, relying upon the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them. And it came to pass that the people of God were joined that day by more than the number who had been slain; and those who had been slain were righteous people, therefore we have no reason to doubt but what they were saved. And there was not a wicked man slain among them; but there were more than a thousand brought to the knowledge of the truth; thus we see that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people.
13. The latest roll out: Home Invasion. Coming soon to sister blog: Déjà Vu ~ Times [Added: 12 May 2020: https://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2020/05/home-invasion.html]
14. Doctrine and Covenants | Section 121:39–40 ~ We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. Hence many are called, but few are chosen. (Bold emphasis added.)
15. https://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-spirit-of-power.html
16. Geoengineering Watch Global Alert News, May 9, 2020, #248 (Time 54:45) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zijvBgFtoFk
17. Old Testament | Isaiah 41:10 ~ Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Where is the Anguish?

   David Wilkerson: A Call To Anguish ~ (Time 11:51 min.)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF4TfKp4iic

Have we made a covenant with death because we have not seen and have not heard? Do we think we are just in a matrix of illusion—the ever-expanding fluke of a Big Bang? here to enjoy all we can of the world before our time runs out?

Do we not remember the weeping of Enoch AND of God as they witnessed what mankind had done with their agency, millennia ago?

28 And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains?
29 And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?
30 And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou art just; thou art merciful and kind forever;
31 And thou hast taken Zion to thine own bosom, from all thy creations, from all eternity to all eternity; and naught but peace, justice, and truth is the habitation of thy throne; and mercy shall go before thy face and have no end; how is it thou canst weep?
32 The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;
33 And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood;
34 And the fire of mine indignation is kindled against them; and in my hot displeasure will I send in the floods upon them, for my fierce anger is kindled against them.
35 Behold, I am God; Man of Holiness is my name; Man of Counsel is my name; and Endless and Eternal is my name, also.
36 Wherefore, I can stretch forth mine hands and hold all the creations which I have made; and mine eye can pierce them also, and among all the workmanship of mine hands there has not been so great wickedness as among thy brethren.
37 But behold, their sins shall be upon the heads of their fathers; Satan shall be their father, and misery shall be their doom; and the whole heavens shall weep over them, even all the workmanship of mine hands; wherefore should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer?
38 But behold, these which thine eyes are upon shall perish in the floods; and behold, I will shut them up; a prison have I prepared for them.
39 And That which I have chosen hath pled before my face. Wherefore, he suffereth for their sins; inasmuch as they will repent in the day that my Chosen shall return unto me, and until that day they shall be in torment;
40 Wherefore, for this shall the heavens weep, yea, and all the workmanship of mine hands.
41 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Enoch, and told Enoch all the doings of the children of men; wherefore Enoch knew, and looked upon their wickedness, and their misery, and wept and stretched forth his arms, and his heart swelled wide as eternity; and his bowels yearned; and all eternity shook. (Pearl of Great Price | Moses 7:28-41, bold emphasis added.)

And when other visionaries saw our day, was it not all déjà vu Noah's day? And we don’t seem to have a clue, while repeating the “What have we done?” mantra of the blissfully, willfully ignorant.¹

35 Behold, I [Moroni] speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.
36 And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.
37 For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.
38 O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world?
39 Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?
40 Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads?
41 Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer. (Book of Mormon | Mormon 8:35-41)

Is it time for that other déjà vu that so many deny will come—the déjà vu of the justice of God—the déjà vu that invariably comes when His will and mercy are incessantly rejected?

HE [the Lord GOD] cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.
3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;
4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
5 ¶ And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
7 And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.
8 ¶ And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
9 Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
10 And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
11 And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me. (Old Testament | Ezekiel 9:1-11, bold emphasis added.)

Where are the millions “that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst of [Zion and professing Christians]”?

Or are the majority of us all aGaga with the perks, promises, and “glamour” of Babylon?

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*Other sources for David Wilkerson’s A Call to Anguish are at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGMG_PVaJoI (7.24 min.);
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASxOwPdJixQ (7.20 min);
Full Sermon at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-CFMN3wDPo (56.01 min.)
1. Old Testament | Jeremiah 16:10 ~ And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?
Old Testament | Proverbs 30:12 ~ There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.

The Former Prophets ?!

Circa 2,300 years ago (in the first year of Darius¹), O.T. Daniel, beloved² of God and the recipient of several divine revelations, “set [his] face unto the Lord God, to seek [forgiveness and mercy] by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.”³ Daniel had just become aware of an approaching, prophetic event and he knew how far the people had strayed from (or become casual about) the words and will of God; how immersed he and they were in the ways of “Babylon”; and how unprepared they were to receive the promises.

About that time, Daniel was given visions of the end of days—OUR day—yet today, we Christians seem to spend our last days in déjà vu of those former days (which included Zechariah):

AND it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah … saying, Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain? And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts. Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts: (Old Testament | Zechariah 7:1, 5-13).

Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD (Old Testament | Zechariah 1:4).

Are we, too, ignoring “the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets”? Do we imagine our “lifestyle” can go on forever as we continue laboring for money, shopping, studying or pursuing the philosophies of men, entertaining and being entertained, massaging our hearts and minds with superficial things, and so forth? Do we sport a “pre-trib rapture” mentality—thinking we are “good enough” to escape the “tribulation” described so graphically in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Daniel, Revelation, and numerous other places—despite clear warnings to the contrary?

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? (New Testament | Revelation 6:9-10)

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (New Testament | Revelation 20:4)

And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (New Testament | Revelation 7:13-14)

And it was given unto him [the beast] to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. (New Testament | Revelation 13:7)

And in her [Babylon ~ v. 2] was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. (New Testament | Revelation 18:24)

I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; … And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. (Old Testament | Daniel 7:21, 25)

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (New Testament | Matthew 24:29 - 31; see also Mark 13:24)

[See numerous other tribulation references at ftn 4.)

Perhaps we Christians need a severe turn-about toward Daniel's example of study, “prayer, supplication, fasting, sackcloth, and ashes,”^[3] and watching for prophetic fulfillment.

Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. (New Testament | Mark 13:35-37)

So what are we watching? Perhaps we could begin a daily diary; perhaps an hourly register; and ask: How much time am I giving to deep study of the word and will of God? how much in praising and thanking Him? how much to comprehending the prophecies and warnings of all “the former prophets”?

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1. Darius, the son of Ahasuerus ~ Old Testament | Daniel 9:1. For info on Darius, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darius_the_Mede
2. Old Testament | Daniel 9:23; 10:11, 19.
3. Old Testament | Daniel 9:2-21 ~ In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. ¶ And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God; Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. (Old Testament | Daniel 9:2-21)
4. Tribulation:
New Testament | Revelation 17:6 [5] ~ And I saw the woman [MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH] drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
New Testament | Revelation 16:5-7 ~ And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
Old Testament | Daniel 8:24 ~ And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 87:6-7 ~ And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations; That the cry of the saints, and of the blood of the saints, shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, from the earth, to be avenged of their enemies.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 58:3-4 ~ Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand. (See also D&C 103:12)
New Testament | 1 Thessalonians 3:3-4 ~ That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.
New Testament | 2 Thessalonians 1:4-5 ~ So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
New Testament | Revelation 1:9 ~ I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
New Testament | Revelation 2:10 ~ Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Book of Mormon | Jacob 7:26 ~ And it came to pass that I, Jacob, began to be old; and the record of this people being kept on the other plates of Nephi, wherefore, I conclude this record, declaring that I have written according to the best of my knowledge, by saying that the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream, we being a lonesome and a solemn people, wanderers, cast out from Jerusalem, born in tribulation, in a wilderness, and hated of our brethren, which caused wars and contentions; wherefore, we did mourn out our days.
Book of Mormon | Mosiah 23:10 ~ Nevertheless, after much tribulation, the Lord did hear my cries, and did answer my prayers, and has made me an instrument in his hands in bringing so many of you to a knowledge of his truth.
Book of Mormon | Mosiah 27:28, 32 ~ Nevertheless, after wading through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God. … And now it came to pass that Alma began from this time forward to teach the people, and those who were with Alma at the time the angel appeared unto them, traveling round about through all the land, publishing to all the people the things which they had heard and seen, and preaching the word of God in much tribulation, being greatly persecuted by those who were unbelievers, being smitten by many of them.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 78:14-15 ~ That through my providence, notwithstanding the tribulation which shall descend upon you, that the church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world; That you may come up unto the crown prepared for you, and be made rulers over many kingdoms, saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Zion,
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 112:13 ~ And after their temptations, and much tribulation, behold, I, the Lord, will feel after them, and if they harden not their hearts, and stiffen not their necks against me, they shall be converted, and I will heal them.
Pearl of Great Price | JS-Matthew 1:18-21 ~ For then, in those days, shall be great tribulation on the Jews, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, such as was not before sent upon Israel, of God, since the beginning of their kingdom until this time; no, nor ever shall be sent again upon Israel. All things which have befallen them are only the beginning of the sorrows which shall come upon them. And except those days should be shortened, there should none of their flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake, according to the covenant, those days shall be shortened. Behold, these things I have spoken unto you concerning the Jews; and again, after the tribulation of those days
New Testament | Mark 13:13 ~ And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
New Testament | Acts 14:22 ~ Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 13:37 ~ And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.
Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 15:9 ~ Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 14:7 ~ And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 101:35-38 ~ And all they who suffer persecution for my name, and endure in faith, though they are called to lay down their lives for my sake yet shall they partake of all this glory. Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full. Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the soul, and for the life of the soul. And seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life.
Doctrine and Covenants | Section 54:10 ~ And again, be patient in tribulation until I come; and, behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, and they who have sought me early shall find rest to their souls.
Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 26:3 ~ And after the Messiah shall come there shall be signs given unto my people of his birth, and also of his death and resurrection; and great and terrible shall that day be unto the wicked, for they shall perish; and they perish because they cast out the prophets, and the saints, and stone them, and slay them; wherefore the cry of the blood of the saints shall ascend up to God from the ground against them. (See also numerous references in 3 Nephi 9 & 10.)
Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 10:11-15 ~ And thus far were the scriptures fulfilled which had been spoken by the prophets. And it was the more righteous part of the people who were saved, and it was they who received the prophets and stoned them not; and it was they who had not shed the blood of the saints, who were spared— And they were spared and were not sunk and buried up in the earth; and they were not drowned in the depths of the sea; and they were not burned by fire, neither were they fallen upon and crushed to death; and they were not carried away in the whirlwind; neither were they overpowered by the vapor of smoke and of darkness. And now, whoso readeth, let him understand; he that hath the scriptures, let him search them, and see and behold if all these deaths and destructions by fire, and by smoke, and by tempests, and by whirlwinds, and by the opening of the earth to receive them, and all these things are not unto the fulfilling of the prophecies of many of the holy prophets. Behold, I say unto you, Yea, many have testified of these things at the coming of Christ, and were slain because they testified of these things.
Book of Mormon | Ether 8:22-23 ~ And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed; for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of his saints, which shall be shed by them, shall always cry unto him from the ground for vengeance upon them and yet he avenge them not. Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.
New Testament | John 16:33 ~ These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

“My Word”

“CERN's LHC [Large Hadron Collider¹] resumes experiments at record-breaking energy: New research seeks to understand dark matter and supersymmetry” (CBC ~ June 3, 2015).²

Aerial View of the CERN
This photograph was produced by CERN
Creative Commons licence ~ CC-BY-SA
(See footnote 8 for author and URL source)

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3 And I, God, said: Let there be light; and there was light.
…
5 … and this I did by the word of my power, and it was done as I spake;
…
6 And again, I, God, said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and it was so, even as I spake; and I said: Let it divide the waters from the waters; and it was done;
7 And I, God, made the firmament and divided the waters, yea, the great waters under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament, and it was so even as I spake.
…
9 And I, God, said: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and it was so; and I, God, said: Let there be dry land; and it was so.
…
11 And I, God, said: Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, the fruit tree yielding fruit, after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed should be in itself upon the earth, and it was so even as I spake.
…
14 And I, God, said: Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years;
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so.
16 And I, God, made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the greater light was the sun, and the lesser light was the moon; and the stars also were made even according to my word.
…
20 And I, God, said: Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl which may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
…
24 And I, God, said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind, and it was so;
…
26 And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and it was so.
…
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein I grant life, there shall be given every clean herb for meat; and it was so, even as I spake. (Pearl of Great Price | Moses 2)

So what does all this have to do with the CERN (LHC)? Perhaps this:

Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God. For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure? (Book of Mormon | Jacob 4:8-9)

Do we really think we can come to know the mysteries of the Universe by the violent smashing of particles to see what might happen?!!

Are we that arrogant, irresponsible, reckless, careless, negligent, foolish, rash, immature???

Instead of bringing our lives into conformity with the will and mind of God and preparing our souls to receive (to be trusted with the power of) His mysteries, we spend billions to fund a 27-km (17-mile) long tube to smash particles together “that scientists hope might help crack the mystery of ‘dark matter’.”⁽²⁾

Is this a variation of (attempted) queue-jumping?³

Perhaps the mystery of “dark matter” is really to be found by looking inward—into the hubristic human heart.

Should it not be enlightening that God speaks and matter/elements obey (His word)? But man—who seeks not the gift of charity;⁴ who has not cultivated honor, love, and righteous influence—turns to mechanization, force, manipulation, violence, and little-bangs(??!!!), so he can take “a step forward in the sensitivity[??] to possible new physics[.]”⁵

So to believers in God, who are blissfully and obliviously basking in the “blessings” of the world (aka: Babylon), and who are in for a series of “shock and awful” awakenings, perhaps we should begin to remember:

I [the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end] am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me. (Doctrine and Covenants | Section 38:3[1])

So if all things came by Him, they will also GO by Him. Puny (d-lluminati?) man (including his “not-so-alien” consorts⁶) with all his hidden technologies, connivings, and strategies will, in due course, find himself—despite his grand oaths and secrets—in likeness to the army of Sennacherib who were suddenly “all dead corpses.” (Old Testament | Isaiah 37:36)

Should we beware the déjà vus?!—the repeated warnings?

Do we love darkness more than light?⁷

When we begin to see the light that has always been here (even in the darkness), here is a word that should become indelibly imprinted in our minds to get us through the tribulation:

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. (Old Testament | Isaiah 41:10-13)

If we can’t remember anything else in the depth of our repentance and anguish, remember this:

Fear not, I will help thee.

PS: This post in NOT a condemnation of all scientists or researchers who work at CERN or elsewhere, but it is a condemnation of hubristic science, deceptions, corruptions, and the pursuit of power, gain, and prestige without regard for our beloved, indispensable planet and all her inhabitants.

PPS: An additional word:

7 O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth.
8 For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God.
9 Yea, behold at his voice do the hills and the mountains tremble and quake.
10 And by the power of his voice they are broken up, and become smooth, yea, even like unto a valley.
11 Yea, by the power of his voice doth the whole earth shake;
12 Yea, by the power of his voice, do the foundations rock, even to the very center.
13 Yea, and if he say unto the earth—Move—it is moved.
14 Yea, if he say unto the earth—Thou shalt go back, that it lengthen out the day for many hours—it is done;
15 And thus, according to his word the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold, this is so; for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun.
16 And behold, also, if he say unto the waters of the great deep—Be thou dried up—it is done.
17 Behold, if he say unto this mountain—Be thou raised up, and come over and fall upon that city, that it be buried up—behold it is done.
18 And behold, if a man hide up a treasure in the earth, and the Lord shall say—Let it be accursed, because of the iniquity of him who hath hid it up—behold, it shall be accursed.
19 And if the Lord shall say—Be thou accursed, that no man shall find thee from this time henceforth and forever—behold, no man getteth it henceforth and forever.
20 And behold, if the Lord shall say unto a man—Because of thine iniquities, thou shalt be accursed forever—it shall be done.
21 And if the Lord shall say—Because of thine iniquities thou shalt be cut off from my presence—he will cause that it shall be so.
22 And wo unto him to whom he shall say this, for it shall be unto him that will do iniquity, and he cannot be saved; therefore, for this cause, that men might be saved, hath repentance been declared.
23 Therefore, blessed are they who will repent and hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; for these are they that shall be saved.
24 And may God grant, in his great fulness, that men might be brought unto repentance and good works, that they might be restored unto grace for grace, according to their works. (Book of Mormon | Helaman 12:7-24; bold emphasis added in all quoted scripture herein and above.)

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1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CERN
2. “CERN's LHC resumes experiments at record-breaking energy: New research seeks to understand dark matter and supersymmetry” at http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/cern-s-lhc-resumes-experiments-at-record-breaking-energy-1.3098247
3. Q-jumping? at http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2015/03/q-jumping.html . So instead of nurturing the “power of faith and the spoken word”—For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith (New Testament | Mark 11:23)—we turn to force and mechanistic/hi-tech contortions, or increasingly, to the “mysteries” of the occult, dark magics, and faux-light of master deceivers (on the have-now-pay-later plan).
4. New Testament | 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ~ Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth:
5. Quoted from http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/cern-s-lhc-resumes-experiments-at-record-breaking-energy-1.3098247 . And what might this word “sensitivity” mean? Could it be a way to mask science’s outreach toward (and increasing fascination with) the occult and paranormal?
6. http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2015/02/heads-up.html ; http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2015/03/another-heads-up.html
7. Doctrine and Covenants | Section 29:45 ~ For they love darkness rather than light, and their deeds are evil, and they receive their wages of whom they list to obey.
Old Testament | Isaiah 5:20-21 ~ Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
8. Image found at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CERN_Aerial_View.jpg ; Author: Maximilien Brice (CERN); Date: 15 July 2008; Source: CERN Document Server; Original URL: https://cds.cern.ch/record/1295244

Rule of Law: Ten to One

In the days of Moses, God gave the world Ten Commandments* consisting of 8½ negatives and 1½ positives. Many of the Twelve Tribes of Israel seemed in dire need of these “Thou shalt nots ...” which should perhaps be a déjà vu, “state of affairs” caution for our 21st Century, seeing as how most of our news and entertainment thrives on the breaking of these Commandments.

Then, some millennia after Moses received the Ten Commandments, a Pharisee put a question to Jesus:

... one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (New Testament Matthew 22:35-40)

And so, from ten mostly negatives, the law was condensed into two positives: love God and love thy neighbour as thyself.¹ We can see, with minimal study, how these two commands transcend, yet clearly include the prior Ten.

Then in 1835 (published 1842), Joseph Smith translated² some writings purporting to be those of Abraham where God’s will for mankind was expressed in a single, positive form:

And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them. (Pearl of Great Price Abraham 3:25,** bold emphasis added.)

This overarching (transcending/including) law and purpose was further elaborated by Joseph Smith in section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants. And though the framework of God’s instruction (apparently³) arose out of Joseph’s question about the Biblical plurality of wives, a broader meaning of “the new and everlasting covenant” is surely warranted in light of:

I am the Lord thy God; and I give unto you this commandment—that no man shall come unto the Father but by me or by my word, which is my law, saith the Lord. (Doctrine and Covenants Section 132:12, bold emphasis added.)

... [Abraham] abode in my law; as Isaac also and Jacob did none other things than that which they were commanded; and because they did none other things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods. (Doctrine and Covenants Section 132:37.) ⁴

Is this not the way of progression? From Ten to Two to One? When we have matured enough spiritually to go from perfection in the micro-details of the “Thou shalt nots ...,” then we advance into the positive guides of loving God and loving our neighbours as ourselves.

Then line upon line, precept upon precept, we are prepared for the test and trauma of the One—the new and everlasting covenant to “do all things whatsoever the Lord [our] God shall command [us].”⁵

It will be new and different for every soul. It will try us to the nth degree, and may appear to offend the Ten and even perhaps the Two.⁶ Only those who know God by years of obeying the Ten and living the Two, who cannot mistake His glory or His command⁷ will be tried to that nth degree. Just ask Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Nephi, Joseph Smith, et al.⁸ Is that why we are warned against judging unrighteously? Who can know for sure if those who have lived the Ten and the Two have not been required to prove utterly obedient, against sense and reason, to the One? Divine perspective and endowment are beyond mortal capacity to fathom.⁹ They can only be revealed and gifted to those prepared; and may be utterly incomprehensible to those of us still struggling with Ten and Two.

If we shrink from the One, how can we possibly imagine that our new and everlasting covenant will ever be offered? Doesn’t Doctrine and Covenants 88:21-24 put us on notice.¹⁰

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** Note added 24 September 2014: For those who have encountered the theory that Abraham 3:25 describes the plan of the adversary (commands, punishment, laws, measuring, testing, etc.), I refer you to my post of that date at http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2014/09/questions-of-evidence.html

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*See Exodus 20, Deut. 5, etc.; though these Ten could have been given previously and restored through Moses. A cursory reading of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy reveals an endless supply of “Thou shalt nots ... .”

1. The Two were also taught my Moses but it seems many people were in a state where they needed the “don’ts” spelled out. We find Moses’ statement of the TWO as follows: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (Old Testament Deuteronomy 6:5; see also 11:1); ... but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: ... (Old Testament Leviticus 19:18).
2. This writer acknowledges that there is some considerable controversy about this translation, but the question is: Do we really know enough to judge between scholarly analysis and claimed revelation? How often is the test of faith resolved by a scholarly analysis? Is Joseph's translation/interpretation based on revelation of older, uncorrupted texts and facsimiles—like his inspired translation of the Bible? How probable is it, over thousands of years of Egyptian history, that texts and facsimiles were copied, changed, varied etc. for a myriad reasons, perhaps polemic, as was done with the Bible? Has not God given us enough seeming contradictions, contraries, and inexplicables to make us proceed with profound caution?
3. Admittedly, the provenance of D&C 132 is not known for certain. It was several years after Joseph’s death that it “came to light,” engendering some continuing controversy as to its full authenticity.
4. See also: Doctrine and Covenants Section 132:5-6: For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world. And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fulness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God. // Doctrine and Covenants Section 130:20-21: There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.
5. Even as Christ: Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. (New Testament John 4:34)
6. Doctrine and Covenants Section 132:36: Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac; nevertheless, it was written: Thou shalt not kill. Abraham, however, did not refuse, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. //  Doctrine and Covenants Section 132:59: Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as was Aaron, by mine own voice, and by the voice of him that sent me, and I have endowed him with the keys of the power of this priesthood, if he do anything in my name, and according to my law and by my word, he will not commit sin, and I will justify him.
7. Pearl of Great Price Moses 1:13-22
8. Doubtless, countless women, like Eve, Naamah, Sarah, Esther, Mary, Emma Smith (D&C 132:51), et al. could witness of the One, but for some reason their stories were seldom recorded. I believe we shall have them in time.
9. Doctrine and Covenants Section 76:1-2: HEAR, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, and rejoice ye inhabitants thereof, for the Lord is God, and beside him there is no Savior. Great is his wisdom, marvelous are his ways, and the extent of his doings none can find out.
10. And they who are not sanctified through the law which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit another kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom. For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory. And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory. And he who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory. (Doctrine and Covenants Section 88:21-24)

Attachments

I came upon a conversation yesterday where some relatives and friends were discussing the mystery of “Why do so many bad things happen to good people?” and “Why is life so full of hardships?” Since this has been a persistent grief and exploration of mine for decades, I made the observation that I thought it was not such a mystery—that hardships are to break us of our attachments to the things of this world. If our unrelenting attachments are to things telestial / terrestrial isn’t that what we will inherit—a telestial or terrestrial sphere? Provided however, that everything telestial / terrestrial that is of eternal worth will be included in the celestial sphere. It’s just that we can’t become rigidly attached to anything here in this world.

A mother interjected fervently: “Except for our families.” In reflex, I agreed: “Except for our families.” But within minutes, I knew we were both wrong: that we cannot be stubbornly attached to anything here—not property, fame, wealth, ideas, philosophies, pleasures, convictions, expectations, people, etc.—not even beloved family members. I take my justification from Jesus’ words:

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. (New Testament Matthew 10:37-39)

If our attachment to something in this world (even family) is so great that we will not do or accept God’s will, however wrenching and seemingly unreasonable, then we will lose that thing we are so attached to, plus our life’s potential. Isn’t that the message of Abraham’s story concerning Isaac? But if we are prepared to give up (or accept) whatsoever He wills, then and only then shall we find “our life.”

That is not to say, we should not love and care deeply. To love and care is the second great commandment; but there is a first great commandment¹ that takes priority when the two come into seeming conflict.

That’s the sense I make of why we continually encounter painful wedges between our attachments and our faith, hope, and charity. It is not an easy or welcome spiritual reality for most of us trying to navigate in this “rational” world, but as Jesus said:

... Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting. (New Testament Luke 18:29-30)

And as Isaiah and Paul said:

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. (Old Testament Isaiah 64:4)

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (New Testament 1 Corinthians 2:9)

What are our attachments? How many sharp wedges have we already endured to break us away from the limitations of this world? How many more will be required? How do we know and discern what is God's will for our individual lives?

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1. New Testament Matthew 22:37-40: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

In Good Company

Recently I have listened to the interviews of John Dehlin at Mormon Stories.¹ There he speaks of the pain that has been his companion for many years—the pain of witnessing a world in pain.

This is what I would say to the John (and Jane) Dehlins of this world. Pain and confusion are déjà vu nigh every prophet of old, plus a thousand, thousand other seekers of truth. Why so much sorrow in this world? Why so much pain in seeking to know God? in trying to reconcile His character, plan, and promises with this mortal life? in trying to endure His ways?

From my observations, it seems we have two extremes in believers: those who are perpetually of “good cheer”; and those who cannot shake the sorrows of a broken world. I have a sister on the perpetual cheer side. I have struggled for decades on the grief side. We each think the other is too extreme, which is undoubtedly true, but I take consolation in the counterweight we are to each other.

Those who manage to do as the Savior directed:

... In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (New Testament John 16:33);

are probably the more healthy and balanced as they grieve the tribulation, yet remain of good cheer—like the people of Mosiah:

“Now this account did cause the people of Mosiah to mourn exceedingly, yea, they were filled with sorrow; nevertheless it gave them much knowledge, in the which they did rejoice” (Book of Mormon Mosiah 28:18).

But nonetheless, many of us struggle with the discord between a God who self-describes as a Being of lovingkindness and the state of His creation.

These are some of the things that have, at times, given comfort:

▪ the Savior being described as “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:” (Old Testament Isaiah 53:3);
▪ the poignant verse, “Jesus wept.” (New Testament John 11:35); and though he undoubtedly laughed and smiled at times, the descriptions of Him seem to confine themselves to the sorrow side;
▪ the honesty of Biblical Job² in crying out his despair and confusions; and then, of God’s preference² for Job’s integrity over that of God’s own defenders, Job’s friends;
▪ the lamentations of Old Testament Jeremiah, e.g., “OH that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Old Testament Jeremiah 9:1);
▪ the cries of Ezra who, like Jeremiah, sorely lamented before God about the fate of the mass of humanity; and God’s reply: “For you come far short of being able to love my creation more than I love it.”³
▪ that God and the Heavens should weep for suffering mankind (Pearl of Great Price Moses 7:28, 31, 37, 40);
▪ that Enoch had bitterness of soul and wept, and wept, and wept, and wept (Pearl of Great Price Moses 7:41, 44, 49, 58);
▪ the description of the only designated survivors from a sword of justice as: “the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof” (Old Testament Ezekiel 9:4);
▪ the lamentations of Nephi, Jacob, Limhi, Alma, etc.: “... why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?” (Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 4:26); “... I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be”(Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 32:7); “... wherefore, we did mourn out our days” (Book of Mormon Jacob 7:26); “... great are the reasons which we have to mourn;” (Book of Mormon Mosiah 7:24); Alma’s prayer (Alma 31:26-35);
▪ the baptismal covenant that we are “willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort,” (Book of Mormon Mosiah 18:9);
▪ the beatitude: “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted” (New Testament Matthew 5:4);
▪ the words of Joseph Smith expressing his “painful anxiety” about the world and Zion: “I am led to exclaim, "O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night"; and “... if the fountain of our tears be not dried up, we will still weep for Zion. This from your brother who trembles for Zion, and for the wrath of heaven, which awaits her if she repents not.” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 13, 19; see also Doctrine & Covenants 21:8.)
▪ the forewarning: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. ... And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you” (New Testament John 16:20, 22); “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you [and almost every mortal soul], as though some strange thing happened unto you” (New Testament 1 Peter 4:12);
▪ the scripture that I turn to perhaps more than any other: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Old Testament Isaiah 55:8-9).

And though many of us yet lack the balance of Jesus’ admonition, yet I take consolation that we are not alone in struggling to comprehend the contraries of life and a loving God; and that sorrow and grief are acceptable before God as we mourn with those that mourn, and strive to trust in a Being greater than ourselves.

THE Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. (Old Testament Isaiah 61:1-3)

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1. http://mormonstories.org/john-dehlin-and-faith-reconstruction/
2. http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2010/01/finding-god.html . See also: “Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor? ... My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep” (Old Testament Job 30:25, 31).
3. (The Fourth Book of Ezra, The Old Testament Pseudephigrapha: Vol. 1, Apocalyptic Literatures & Testaments, ed. by James H. Charlesworth, pp. 543-544, bold emphasis mine)

Man vs. God

The discussions concerning Church history and Joseph Smith seem to have heated up in recent years with the ease of publishing and sharing of opinions. Clearly, for many seekers, God has not made faith easy to maintain. Some can’t even get to faith, because God Himself has become such an obstacle. And from a strictly human, rational, moral, and legal POV, one can hardly fault them. Many times, God manifests as an incomprehensible stumbling block.

On a diet of milk (or skimmed milk¹), God seems easy enough to accept, but when one attempts to eat meat in His house, one is almost guaranteed to experience bouts of choking because, at some point, He quits mincing it for us. Just ask Adam & Eve, Noah & Naamah, Abraham & Sarah, Moses, Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nephi, Peter, Joseph & Emma Smith, and tens-of-thousands of others.

He has forewarned us about the meat in His house.

I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. (New Testament 1 Corinthians 3:2)

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (New Testament Hebrews 5:12-14)

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: (Old Testament Isaiah 28:9-10)

For they cannot bear meat now, but milk they must receive; wherefore, they must not know these things, lest they perish. (Doctrine and Covenants Section 19:22)

Many of us study the history of God’s dealings with mankind, and know of His dealings with us and our loved ones, and when we get to the meat of life, we, like Job, often cry out:

... I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction; For it increaseth. ... (Old Testament Job 10:15-16)

God’s meat (will) is full of contradictions and contraries despite what we would prefer (and often preach). Consider:

▪ the command for Abraham to perform human sacrifice;
▪ the unmerited sufferings of “perfect” Job;
▪ the command for Isaiah² to go naked and barefoot like a slave;
▪ the command for Hosea ² to marry an infamous  “wife of whoredoms”;
▪ the counsel of an old prophet³ to a young prophet to disobey personal revelation (and the fatal consequences, I Kings 13, JST);
▪ the command for Nephi to kill Laban;
▪ Peter’s denying the Christ (as a command???⁴);
▪ the command for Joseph Smith to practice polygamy; (???)
▪ the horrible suffering and death of hundreds of prophets, saints, sages, and defenders of truth as they sealed their testimonies with their blood.

What do these few examples say about our belief in: “Thou shalt not kill”; justice and lovingkindness; the dignity of prophets; following the prophet; “Thou shalt not bear false witness”; “Thou shalt not commit adultery”; God protects and blesses His faithful; and so on?

At times, the meat of contrarieties⁵ becomes too dissonant, agonizing, overwhelming, nonsensical, shocking, irreconcilable, and on and on. For many of us, the point comes where belief runs up against information, documentation, allegation, assumption, disappointment, etc., etc., and we cry: “I know too much (to remain faithful).”

BUT WHAT IF, in the end, the final, simple question is: “Did you know enough? (—to judge Me or My thoughts and ways?")?

We already have the short answer:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Old Testament Isaiah 55:8-9)

which is perhaps the one scripture that should be written on the forehead of every seeking soul. Or perhaps:

... he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: (Old Testament Isaiah 11:3)

If we demand a rational, reasonable, logical, common sense God, then we won’t get the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; of Moses, Joshua, Hosea, Gideon, Joseph Smith, or of any of the old prophets. We seem, in this latter day, to want a telestial/terrestrial God who conforms and confines Himself to the enlightenment paradigm.

But no! we have been told time and again:

He is beyond us:

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. (New Testament Romans 11:33-36)

He has a purpose:

For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Pearl of Great Price Moses 1:39)

He is going to try us:

... that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. (Old Testament Exodus 16:4)

And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; (Pearl of Great Price Abraham 3:25; bold emphasis added.)

But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, ... (Old Testament Jeremiah 11:20)

My people must be tried in all things, that they may be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion; and he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy of my kingdom. (Doctrine and Covenants Section 136:31; bold emphasis added.)

And HOW is He going to test/prove/try us? by NOT offending our sense of logic and reason? by always confirming our faith-based, telestial/terrestrial biases? by offering up physical evidence? by preventing contradictory, confusing evidence? by making it easy to believe?

So if God commands Abraham or Nephi or Joseph Smith (or others) do we ever know enough to cry foul? And if the civil authorities do, then is it not up to God to provide a way for their escape, or not, as He sees fit?

Each of their acts offends our sense of what is rational, logical, reasonable, legal, moral, etc. And worse yet, how are we supposed to reconcile any of this with civil law and order? How, if confronted with civil or criminal law, could any of these have justified themselves? The contraries cannot be anything but agonizing and incomprehensible.

God’s will is often like a harpoon to the heart (or the imaginations of the heart, or mind, as the case may be). Again, just ask Abraham.

And maybe, in this twenty-first century, our harpoon to the heart is to let God be transrational⁶; to let Joseph Smith be His prophet of the Restoration (or as I first mistyped it, Testoration) even when he fails our “enlightenment,” evidentiary tests. What better way to push us toward “the evidence of things not seen”⁷ than to hopelessly confound the “evidence of things seen.”

In light of Abraham 3:15, the question we will surely face regarding Joseph Smith will be: Despite all you knew or thought you knew, did you ever know enough to judge him righteously?

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The following links are expansions of several of my thoughts expressed above:
1. Skimmed milk: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2010/10/skimmed-milk.html
2. Isaiah/Hosea: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2010/11/shock-of-contrast.html
3. Old Prophet: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/search/label/Old%20Prophet ; Ask yourself: How correlation-rational is this story?
4. Peter: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2011/12/in-defense-of-peter.html
5. Contradictions: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2009/09/agony-of-contradictions.html
6. Transrational: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2012/11/transrational.html
7. Faith: Hebrews 11:1

WHY?

In recent weeks, several families in our Ward have experienced tragedies and traumas. Then today, we had our Sunday Service and I left the meeting feeling depressed in spirit; depressed because of the words of a leader who said: "Why do bad things happen to good people? I simply don't know."

To clarify, I must say that our stake leaders are good men and women, probably doing the best they can with the time they have, and yet how can a top leader in our stake not know? With the continual cycling (and déjà vu) of "bad things"—with the prolific witness of scripture and history, how can our leaders not be able to articulate the principles of why "bad things happen to good people"?

1. The principle of agency. Children, spouses, friends, strangers, and we ourselves make choices—and choices have consequences. Many, many times those consequences are painful—sometimes so agonizing they seem unbearable, unforgivable, unending.

2. The principle of progression. The comfortable, "untroubled, blessed life," plus fame, money, power (The Three Temptations), and so forth are status-quo and distractive impediments to spiritual and eternal progression which is The Great Plan. Without some motivation to reassess priorities, perspectives, and purposes, we seem to forget that life is, at core, about eternal lives and relationships—not about transient, 3-D material and personal attachments.

3. The principles of law and necessity. Without perfecting faith, hope and charity¹ we cannot be trusted with the greater powers that accompany progression. And like so much else, increasing in faith, hope, and charity comes line upon line, choice upon choice—mostly triggered by reevaluations and recommitments wrung from out of suffering.

4. The principle of submission.²  However anything appears to us, things do not just happen randomly—without God's awareness. And furthermore, God is not asleep, nor dead, nor fickle, nor sadistic. He is a loving God who said:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Old Testament Isaiah 55:8-9)

Is He not telling us that the principle of progression (#2 above) means more than we can possibly comprehend in our 3-D world?³ That we don't know enough to judge what is best for our or another's progression? And that every "bad thing" that flows from agency (or from whatever cause) can be turned to good if we apply it to increasing our faith, hope, and charity?

5. The principle of comfort.

... I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (New Testament John 16:32-33)

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. (New Testament John 14:18)

Are we open to that comfort? Are we open to the principle of submission to God? Or are we so immersed in our own sense of what is "rational and just"⁴ that comfort is rejected out of hand?

But God's witness and the witness of unnumbered sufferers is that when we remain open, even when understanding is elusive, we shall be comforted (in God's way and timing). Remember Job.⁵

Someone said: "The gospel message is to disturb the comfortable and to comfort the disturbed."

How much peace, comfort, and understanding do we deny ourselves and others when we cannot witness (in appropriate times and ways) about the why of suffering?

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The following are related posts that also address these issues (in greater depth):
1. http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2009/09/agony-of-contradictions.html
2. http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2011/10/will-we-ever-get-it-part-3.html
3. http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2013/01/evolution.html
4. http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2012/11/transrational.html
5. http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2009/09/trauma-happens.html

WILL we ever get it? (Part 3)

(CAPS, color, bold, etc. are my emphasis throughout)

“While trav’ling thru this vale of tears?”^[1]

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, WILLING to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. (Book of Mormon Mosiah 3:19)

O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish. But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God. (Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 9:28-29)

Wherefore, my beloved brethren [and sisters], reconcile yourselves to the WILL of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved. (Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 10:24)

And what is the will of the devil and the flesh? What does this Lucifer ask Adam and Eve in the LDS temple drama?^[4] He asks “What is it you want?” Is that not the very question the “Prosperity Gospel” asks? The very focus of the Law of Attraction? What is it YOU want? What is YOUR WILL? YOUR wish, YOUR dream, YOUR fondest desire? Wasn’t that the substance of the Three Temptations? “I can GIVE YOU anything you could possibly need or desire. … Look to me because I’m the one with the material goods. I’ll come through for you. You can have anything in this world.” A fixation on “GIVE ME”?^[5.a&b]

Yet all the while, the adversary’s goal is to captivate the shortsighted soul. Remember Jabez Stone and Daniel Webster? Remember Faust? For in the strange paradox of life, those who give their WILL to God shall be added upon^[6] (trusted with increasing powers?) while those who pursue their own worldly WILL (without repentence), will lose because they cannot be trusted even with what they have.

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. (New Testament Matthew 10:39)

And it shall come to pass, if they are not more faithful unto me, it shall be taken away, even that which they have. (Doctrine and Covenants Section 60:3)

What a subtle twist we have fallen into—preached now from too many pulpits—that God is there to do OUR WILL. Just ask Him. Get in the right frame—the right wave-length of attraction—the right flow of the universe. Then the riches of the world will flood into your life. And if they don’t, it’s your fault; you haven’t gotten in sync, yet. But don’t be discouraged. Keep at it. Buy our books and DVDs. Attend our courses and lectures. Talk to God. Talk to yourself. Talk to us. (Just don’t run this “my will” through the prism of scripture though! Don’t read too deeply about the apostles and prophets or the Son of God! Their lives don’t exactly reflect OUR more attractive reality. It’s a great mystery! That’s why we don’t mention it!)

Even if we claim, our chief motive is to give back to God, or “our neighbor”, or the universe, is it really so? Or are we an enriched version of the church at Ephesus, becoming so distracted by our second love (of riches?), we forget there was even a first love before riches?^[7] Thinking our sacrifices in service, our donations to deserving causes, our tithing of temporal blessings constitute full measure (and running o’er) of all that is required? OR are we already déjà vu Nephites?^[8]

WILL we ever get it that we are on a proving ground?^[9] That we are not wise enough, faithful, charitable, disciplined, enlightened, just, nor visionary enough to know what is best in the eternal WILL and plan of things^[10]?

WILL we ever get it that our daily plea must be:

… thy word must be fulfilled. Help thy servants to say, with thy grace assisting them: Thy WILL be done, O Lord, and not ours (Doctrine and Covenants Section 109:44)?^[11]

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[1] From the LDS Hymn book (1985), # 116 Come Follow Me (Text: John Nicholson, 1839-1909; Music Samuel McBurney, b. 1847)

[2] What is that work? “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Pearl of Great Price Moses 1:39)

[3] Notice it says, “bear much fruit”; not “be given much fruit.”

[4] While teaching some of these concepts on discipleship to a Relief Society group, this insight was brought to my attention by a perceptive class member.

[5.a] AND I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore GIVE ME thine honor. But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy WILL be done, and the glory be thine forever. Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should GIVE unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice. (Pearl of Great Price Moses 4:1-4)

[5.b] Of course, God gives us things also, but His goal in giving gifts (and trials) is for our growth, not our obsessions. The gifts He prefers to give—even directs that we ask for—are spiritual gifts, as in 1 Corinthians 12 and Doctrine and Covenants 46 (v. 8 “… and that ye may not be deceived SEEK YE EARNESTLY the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given;”). Proverbs makes it clear: “Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired ARE NOT TO BE COMPARED TO IT. … Riches and honour are with me; yea, DURABLE RICHES and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.” (Old Testament Proverbs 8:10-11, 18-19)

[6] And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever. (Pearl of Great Price Abraham 3:26)

[7] “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” (New Testament Revelation 2:4-5)

See also: “Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you. But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.” (Book of Mormon Jacob 2:17-19)

[8] And if ye seek the riches which it is the WILL of the Father to give unto you, ye shall be the richest of all people, for ye shall have the riches of eternity; and it must needs be that the riches of the earth are mine to give; but beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old. (Doctrine and Covenants Section 38:39)

[9] And we will prove them herewith, to see if they WILL do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; (Pearl of Great Price Abraham 3:25) And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to the WILL of God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men. For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of their parents. (Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 2:21)

[10] But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. (Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 2:24)

[11] Author’s concession: Of course, some may be rich and living in perfect harmony with God’s WILL, but the margin is so slim, it should keep one awake at night, reviewing one’s day. God and his prophets don’t get much more superlative than “wo, wo, wo” as in Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 28. And from my opinionated opinion, this includes the Church of the Laissez-faire ( http://dejavu-times.blogspot.com/2011/03/econ-009-church-of-laissez-faire.html )

NOTE: a very insightful article on a 3-fold test for discerning the will of God in one's life can be found in the last three paragraphs of the article "32. Jacob's Departure From Haran: Genesis 31" at http://pbministries.org/books/pink/Gleanings_Genesis/genesis_32.htm