Obedience

I thought I would share the talk I'm giving at church today. Its about obedience. It was very hard to think about what being obedient is, and how to be obedient. And most of all, who am I being obedient to.

So, here it is...

Obedience

What is obedience? How does the Gospel define it? Some might say that it is obeying all of the commandments. Some might say that is simply listening to the voice of Heavenly Father. Others will tell you that praying, reading your scriptures, and paying your tithing are all ways of being obedient. These things are all true, and important to teach our children, but this is a small part of what we must learn about being obedient. Following the commandments and scriptures is a fine idea, and Heavenly Father wants us to do so, however there is a bit more to it than that.

In Proverbs 29:23 we read, “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.”

These are actions of being obedient. The things that we do in our daily lives are the outward actions of obedience. When we do them our lives are blessed. But is that the end of it? Are performing these actions making us obedient to the Lords wishes? The Ten Commandments give us the basis for our expected actions, but they are only a type of things to come. They were the lower law, meant to prepare us for the higher law, which Christ brought.

Obedience is more than actions, but rather a mighty change of heart. When Jesus Christ went down to the river Jordon to be baptized by John did Jesus need to be baptized? In Matthew 3:14-15 we can read; “But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.”

The answer is clear, yes Jesus needed to be baptized to show the rest of us that we too needed to be baptized and be cleansed of our sins. He was obedient to the commands of the Father that all need to be baptized as the way to enter into the kingdom of God.

In an article in the Ensign in Nov 2006, Elder Richard G. Scott Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles wrote:

Each of us makes mistakes in life. They result in broken eternal laws. Justice is that part of Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness that maintains order. It is like gravity to a rock climber, ever present. It is a friend if eternal laws are observed. It responds to your detriment if they are ignored. Justice guarantees that you will receive the blessings you earn for obeying the laws of God. Justice also requires that every broken law be satisfied. When you obey the laws of God, you are blessed, but there is no additional credit earned that can be saved to satisfy the laws that you break. If not resolved, broken laws can cause your life to be miserable and would keep you from returning to God. Only the life, teachings, and particularly the Atonement of Jesus Christ can release you from this otherwise impossible predicament.

We need to be obedient, and to follow Christ’s example so that we can show to the Lord that we have had a mighty change of heart. It is by repenting, giving forgiveness to others, and following the laws we are given that we are able to earn the right to be recognized by Christ. It is how we show that we know Him, and by doing so, He comes to claims us through our obedience to Him.

We need obedience so that we can become the people we want to be. We evolve through obedience. The evolutions I have seen in some people after they have joined the Church and have been obedient to the Lord’s commandments speak volumes. As we are more obedient, the more we become one with Christ. The goal is to become Christ-like, not Christ himself. I am not the same man that I was 5 years ago. In that amount of time I have changed in countless ways. All of those changes required obedience to laws and principles of the gospel. Some changes required giving up bad habits, other changes required learning new laws, and having the faith to follow those laws.

The consequences to obeying or disobeying the Lord’s commandments are pretty straightforward. Law governs the kingdom of heaven and when we receive any blessing it is by obedience to the law upon that blessing is based.

In D&C 130:20-21 it says, “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.”

The Lord has told us that through our obedience we will gain knowledge and will grow spiritually.

Now, disobedience brings many things in particular disappointment and loss of blessings. This always reminds me of the “son-in-law points” my mother in-law says I’m either gaining or losing at the time.

In D&C 58:31-33 we read, “Who am I, saith the Lord, that have promised and have not fulfilled? I command and men obey not; I revoke and they receive not the blessing. Then they say in their hearts: This is not the work of the Lord, for his promises are not fulfilled. But wo unto such, for their reward lurketh beneath, and not from above.”

The deal we have with Heavenly Father is simple. We obey the commandments he gives us blessings. That’s His promise to us. As King Benjamin said to his people, “He doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ya do, he doth immediately bless you” (Mosiah 2:24)

In D&C 14:7 it says, “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.”
This is counsel directly from the Lord.

Heavenly Father wants us to be His children, to know Him as our Father in heaven and to obey Him as His children. There are some parents that allow their children to tell them what to do, how to do it, and when. Basically the parent is not the parent in the situation, but rather the child and the child is acting like the parent. The Lord wants us to be His children. He wants to ask Him for help, He wants us to obey his commandments, just as we obeyed our parents when we were children.

Even Jesus obeyed His father. In 2 Nephi 31:7, “Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments.”

Oftentimes our actions lead us into paths where we are substituting our wisdom for that of Heavenly Fathers. Whether it is thinking that a particular commandment doesn’t apply to us, or that we can have the blessings of the gospel without first following the directions of the prophets. When we substitute our desires and thoughts for those of Heavenly Father’s, we are putting ourselves above Heavenly Father. How can we be so prideful to think that we are above Heavenly Father? When taken to its most extreme conclusion, this prideful disobedience can lead to becoming apostate. Apostates, rather than being Christ-like, they feel they are Christ, or they are above the First Presidency of the Church or even Heavenly Father Himself. Oftentimes they feel that the rules or commandments don’t apply to them. It is only through obedience and humility that we can fight the tendency to become apostate. Satan wants us to believe that we are above the laws of God. Christ tempts us back to Him, and wants us to follow Him as he follows Heavenly Father.

The Lord expects us to do our best, in all situations that includes our callings, our dealing with our fellow man, our neighbors, our relatives, everything. If we do our best to be obedient, the Lord will know it when we get the Celestial Kingdom. We must endure to the end. While that can be a constant struggle, it is one in which we build the spiritual strength to become closer to Christ. Being obedient is hard, but it is well worth the effort in the end.

In Matthew 24:13, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

How do we become one with Christ? – We must be obedient to act in His name. One of the ways we do this as priesthood holders is when we perform blessings. I remember the first time I gave a blessing. I was a little nervous, but I started out OK. Then I don’t recall anything until I was at the end of the blessing. I was so exhausted by the end. Afterwards, I was speaking to my wife about what had happened and she said that she felt the Spirit very strong that night. If I had started the blessing with an idea of what I wanted to say, I wouldn’t have been open to the promptings of the Spirit. It is only in turning the blessing over to the Lord, and saying those things which I am inspired to say, that I can hope to be a profitable servant of the Lord.

Our challenge, as members of the Lord’s church, is to continue to stay humble, be obedient and endure to the end. It is a constant process. We learn something new every day. I know that as we come closer to Christ, as we are more obedient to the Lord’s directions, that we will find joy in this life, and an eternal relationship with our Lord and Savior. I know that the Lord is beckoning to us, urging us, with his hands out, because he wants us to come unto Him.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Backwards

Today I had my first doctors appointment since the surgery. After a quick upper GI, I was off the doctors office for a weigh in. I actually gained 5 lbs since the last time I weighed myself. ACK!

Actually, it wasn't much of a surprise. I have been eating like a horse and many of the wrong things. No ones fault but my own. Some of it was stress induced, but I got to get on with it.

So, Dr. Patterson gave me a "fill". A fill is where they add saline to the lap-band to constrict it around the stomach area a little more. It's pretty normal not to feel any restriction at all the first month or so. I generally would feel some restriction after eating some bread. Sometimes I would throw it up because if felt like it would "get stuck".


You start to learn what works and what doesn't. So far, chicken, bread, rice, and pork are off my list. They tend to get stuck and well, you know you have to get rid of it somehow, and it's not going to go down!

A couple of years ago, I had a problem where many foods (it didn't matter what kind normally) would get stuck in my esophagus. I would have to regurgitate it back up to get rid of the pain. It was very painful. I finally (on advice from a friend) went to the doctors and they performed an endoscopy.

This is performed by knocking you out and pushing a camera down your throat and seeing what is going on. They found that I had done so much drinking and hard living that my esophagus collapsed in a couple of different places and all the nerves were worn out, so it was no wonder why I would never have indigestion or any kind of heart burn. The problem was easily fixed by "inflating" those areas that were collapsed to make them larger and less restrictive. I also had to take medication since so the nerves would heal.

Well, when I eat rice or chicken, it has the same feeling as when my esophagus was collapsed. Funny that I would choose this surgery to help lose weight. Same type of issues, but at least I understand what to do and why it happens.

Well, that's it's for now. Please leave a comment if you like.

A Day At Powells

My daughter and grand-daughter are up visiting this weekend. We took Christina and Kaitlyn to a Portland icon, Powell's Book Store. We had a blast looking through most of the store, but found it to be quite crowded today and the babies (Kaitlyn 13 months and Maddy 9 months) just wanted to pull books off of the shelves.

I would like to have found a number of books to read, but alas, I was bound to "The Poky Little Puppy" with Maddy and numerous other books with Kaitlyn. I have to admit, it was fun watching the two kids play together.

Happy New Year!

Well, here it is 2010. I never thought I would live to see the day when we would be in the year 2010. When I was a kid growing up in the early 70's, 2010 seemed like a such long way away. Where's my flying car? Transporters that zap you anywhere? None of these things have made it to the main stream yet, if they are even invented yet.

As for me, 2010 marks my fourth year of being sober. The last day I took a drink was December 7th, 2006. So, just over three years now without self medicating to the point of not knowing where I am. Sheash, what a life that was. The interesting thing is that I hid it from a lot of people. Many people knew I had a drink or two, but not many knew how much I really drank. Morning, noon, and night sometimes. Screwdrivers and Bloody Mary's for breakfast, beer or rum and coke for lunch and wine, bourbon, and anything else that fit my fancy for the evening. I would drink to the point of being water logged. I can recall waking up in a hotel room, still dressed from the night before, but having the feeling of dryness that only a hangover could produce. The best way to get rid of a hangover of course, was never to be sober. I was very, very good at this cycle.

It took me a while, but I finally realized that I didn't need to drink any longer and that life could be better, if I wanted it. Sobering up was one of the best things that I have ever done for myself to this day.

The second best thing I did for myself was go into counseling. Not so much for the drinking issues, but the feeling of being depressed and anxiety. It took me a while to realize what kind of household I grew up. It was no ones' fault, it's just the way it was. I'm sure there were many houses throughout the world that had controlling fathers. Controlling to the point of exhaustion on everyone's part. I didn't realize it at the time, but my marriage was abusive. Neither one of us wanted to admit it, but it was. I really didn't understand fully at the time why I wanted out of the relationship, but I decided to leave my wife and go out on my own. I stopped drinking and I got out of a abusive relationship with a woman who I really cared about, but didn't love her the way a husband should love a wife. She was more of a friend. I still think she is a nice person, as long as I am not married to her.

The other thing I did to help my life along was to get out of a business partnership that was also in many ways just as abusive as my marriage. My partners were good guys, but they felt compelled to push me around. I let them too, however when I tried to fight back, the relationship worsened.

I took a great loss from selling the business, but I was out of it and I felt good about the decision and changes I was making. In the meantime, I met a woman who made me feel good about myself, but let me be my own person at the same time. She has showed me some avenues of life that I never have thought could be possible.

So, 2010 is going to be a great decade for me and my family. Things are starting to look up financially, spiritually, and my relationships with loved ones, although can be a struggle, it's worth every bit of struggle that I endure. I love them all and can only hope that love will continue to grow.

I often wonder how my life would be if I didn't make these changes. The relationships I have now I wouldn't trade for the world.