Tithing: A Law for Our Protection and Advancement

LESSON CHAPTER 12 FROM THE MANUAL was given by Bohdana Allman.

 

 

"Tithing:  A Law For Our Protection and Advancement".  The law of tithing is one of the most important ever revealed to man...  Through obeying this law the blessings of prosperity and success will be given to the Saints.

 

Bohdana started the lesson by recounting from the manual the inspiration that President Lorenzo Snow had in May 1899 that he should visit St. George and other settlements throughout Southern Utah.  Pres. Snow felt prompted that he should make the trip although he did not know exactly why.  He gathered other General Authorities and prepared to go.  It was not until they had arrived in St. George that the purpose of the trip was "clearly manifested" to him.  In a meeting held on May 18, President Snow declared:  "It is the word of the Lord to you, my brethren and sisters, that you should conform to that which is required of you as a people.... The word of the Lord to you is not anything new; it is simply this: THE TIME HAS NOW COME FOR EVERY LATTER-DAY SAINT, WHO CALCULATES TO BE PREPARED FOR THE FUTURE AND TO HOLD HIS FEET STRONG UPON A PROPER FOUNDATION, TO DO THE WILL OF THE LORD AND TO PAY HIS TITHING IN FULL.  That is the word of the Lord to you, and it will be the word of the Lord to every settlement throughout the land of Zion." 

 

President Snow promised the Saints that if they would observe the Law of Tithing, they would be blessed individually, both temporally and spiritually.  The Saints took the admonition of the Prophet to heart and both the Saints and the Church prospered because of it.  President Joseph F. Smith announced in the April 1907 general conference that there had never been a time in the history of the Church when the law of tithing was observed more universally.  He also announced that "Today the Church has been able to pay off our bonded indebtedness.  Today the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owes not a dollar that it cannot pay at once.  At last we are in a position that we can pay as we go."

 

The Law of Tithing is a law revealed specially for our protection and safety, as well as for our advancement in the path of righteousness and holiness; a law by which the land of which we dwell might become sanctified; a law by which Zion might be built up and established never more to be thrown down or removed out of her place by wicked and ungodly men. 

 

President Snow admonished the Saints to be "conscientious" in paying their tithing.  The word "conscientious" means to be thorough, systematic, diligent, careful and exact.  He indicated that tithing is not a difficult law...it is easy to calculate... and, that paying a part of a tithing is no tithing at all, no more than immersing only half a person's body is a baptism.  As we pay our tithing, we are immediately blessed, so that we actually have more than we had before.  According to President Grant, one of the blessings we receive is greater wisdom on how to use the 9/10ths that are left.

 

TITHING IS NOT PAID WITH MONEY.  TITHING IS PAID WITH FAITH AND OBEDIENCE.  And, parents and teachers have the added responsibility to not only pay their own tithing, but to teach children to do the same.  

 

President Snow counsels us:  "We can never be prepared to see the face of God until we are conscientious in the payment of tithes and other duties." 

July 7th Teresa Muse

Reflecting the Light of the Savior

 

Do you remember when you were a child being afraid of the dark?? Sometimes as adults are we still that way??

 

3 Nephi 8:21-22

 

What broke through that thick darkness??

 

The light of the Savior can overcome ANY darkness.

 

 

Our Savior's love

Shines like the sun with perfect light,

As from above

It breaks thru clouds of strife.

Lighting our way,

It leads us back into his sight,

Where we may stay

To share eternal life.

 

 

When Edward Hart wrote this song he wrote it because he would see ladies who quilted take pieces of fabric into the sun to see what their true color was. 

 

Jesus, like the sun, reflects on our hearts to show our true colors.  It is by reflecting the light of Christ that we can truly affect others.

 

D&C 88:6-13

 

The Savior's light is so powerful!

 

How do we reflect light??

 

--The Savior descended below all things so that He could better serve us! 

--3 Ne. 12:14, 16

    We need to share our light with everyone.

--Our light converts others to the Savior--> Your good works bring fruit which makes others glorify God. 

--Prayer & scripture study brings our light back. 

*Those who have the light of Christ can see others differently.

-- The Holy Ghost helps us use our light.

 

Seminar in Greece and very noteworthy professor finished a lecture and asked if there were any final questions.  Someone stood and asked "What is the meaning of life?"  He stood thoughtfully looking at the man who had asked the question for a time and then told a story about how when he was a child he had found a small piece of a mirror from a wrecked motorcycle.  He took the shard home, rounded off and smoothed its edges, and turned it into his own little personal mirror. After carrying around this mirror for a few days, he found it to be an incredible cure for boredom. Whenever he found a moment, he pulled out his mirror and began reflecting the light from a room or from outdoors into corners of a room that could otherwise receive no light. This game turned into something more for this man, for he learned a very valuable lesson.  I found that I could reflect light into the darkest of places. 

 

This is a metaphor for life.  I am not the light nor am I the source of light.  Light can only shine in dark places if I choose to reflect it.

 

How do we reflect light?

 

--Light is truth.

--Light is charity.

--Lead by example.

--In order to reflect light you must first receive light.

--Prayer, scripture study, temple attendance, gratitude.

 

"Spiritual light rarely comes to those who merely sit in darkness waiting for someone to flip a switch."  Elder Uchtdorf

 

How should we study the scriptures?

 

--Open them!!

--Pray to be taught with a sincere heart.

--Study by subject.

--Go one verse at a time.

--Knowledge is power.

--Listen to the Spirit.

--Pray to reflect light.

--Listen to the Spirit all day

 

Know your duty- Know what you need to be doing.

 

--Go to the scriptures to find what your duty is in your life and in your calling.

 

CHALLENGE:  Visiting Teaching

 

Search the scriptures to know your duty in becoming a VALIANT Visiting Teacher.

 

You have been called to visit these sisters for a reason!

 

They NEED you! Are you there??

 

A text on the phone is not reflecting light, it is not enough.

 

The sisters NEED YOU!

 

Story of the Brother of Jared and asking the Lord to touch the stones with His finger to create light.

 

And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch this HEART, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall shine forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we may have light while we shall cross the sea.

 

Ask the Lord to touch our hearts so that we won't travel in darkness and so that we may help others cross the stormy sea's.

 

Be like a sunflower and always watch the Son.

June 23rd RS Lesson

LESSON FROM THE ENSIGN was given by Shauna Cameron based upon the following April 2013 Conference Talk.

 

ELDER DAVID A. BEDNAR -- WE BELIEVE IN BEING CHASTE

 

"Obedience to the law of chastity will increase our happiness in mortality and make possible our progress in eternity."

 

Shauna started the lesson with the definition of being chaste:  Being pure in thoughts, actions, dress, and being morally clean.  Quoting from Elder Bednar:  "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has a single, undeviating standard of sexual morality: intimate relations are proper only between a man and a woman in the marriage relationship prescribed in God's plan."  The Lord's truths are not altered by fads or public opinion polls.  They are eternal. 

 

Quoting Elder Dallin H. Oaks:  "The power to create mortal life is the most exalted power God has given his children....The emphasis we place on the law of chastity is explained by our understanding of the purpose of our procreative powers in the accomplishment of God's plan. 

 

Shauna shared a letter from her Missionary cousin and the overwhelming spirit he felt as he baptized and confirmed a new church member.  He said that he is continually amazed at the joy that comes from living the way God intended for us to live.  These concepts of Christ are not new; they were always there, waiting for us to recognize them.

 

While it often seems that the "natural man" described by King Benjamin is at odds with the Light of Christ and our Spiritual nature, Elder Bednar explains why God would put our Divine Spirit into a "Natural Man" body:

"Our physical bodies make possible a breadth, a depth, andan intensity of experience that simply could not be obtained in our premortal existence.  Thus, our relationships with other people, our capacity to recognize andact in accordance with truth, and our ability to obey the principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ are amplified through our physical bodies....Simply stated, there are lessons we must learn and experiences we must have, as scriptures describe, "according to the flesh".  I Nephi 19:6; Alma 7: 12-13.

 

We are here on Earth to get our bodies in tune with our spirit. 

 

The qualities of the Man (Woman)  of Christ are the Spiritual qualities of temperance, restraint, and selflessness.  The attributes of the Natural Man (Woman) are physical and include indulgence, excessiveness, and being selfish. 

Satan relentlessly works to distort the most important elements of the Father's Plan.  He does not have a body, and his eternal progress has been halted.  Because a physical body is so central to the Father's Plan of Happiness, and our spititual development, Lucifer seeks to frustrate our progression by tempting us to use our bodies improperly. 

 

Shauna shared some of her techniques for breaking bad habits that weaken the spirit by replacing them with something better, thereby gaining control and prioritizing our activities. 

 

Shauna closed with a quote from Elder Bednar:  "The precise nature of the test of mortality, then, can be summarized in the following question:  "Will I respond to the inclinations of the natural man, or will I yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and put off the natural manand become a saint through the Atonement of Christ the Lord (Mosiah 3:19).  That is the test!  Every appetite, desire, propensity, and impulse of the natural man may be overcome by and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  We are here on the earth todevelop godlikequalities and to bridle all of the passions of the flesh. 

 

Elder Bednar closed with a promise:  "I promise that obedience to the law of chastity will increase our happiness in mortality and make possible our progress in eternity.  Chastity and virtue are now, always have been, and always will be 'most dear and precious above all things'." Moroni 9:9