July 14 — Motivation of the Saint. ‘That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection.’ Phil. 3:10
_____
My earnest desire is to know Jesus better today than I did yesterday. When people write in asking for advice on what to say to their Mormon loved one, I often tell them to share what new thing they learned about sweet Jesus today.
When we make a habit of doing this each day, we’ll never be without a way to witness! You’re using demonstrative evidence from His word, and your life, to show how He operates.
I vividly recall how I tried to line up the BoM, and my Bible, in an effort to learn more about Him. It was a never-ending saga with nothing to show for my hard work. Unbeknownst to me at the time, He kept gently leading me to Him through the gospels. The accounts I read weighed heavily when I did another study comparing what I knew about Mormonism with the Bible. Once I began, it didn’t take long to make my decision to leave my beloved heritage. The devotional for July 11th from Oswald Chambers reminded me of what I went through, and what it takes to be a true Saint.
“The aim of the spiritual saint is “that I may know Him.” Do I know Him where I am to-day? If not, I am failing Him. I am here not to realize myself, but to know Jesus. In Christian work the initiative is too often the realization that something has to be done and I must do it. That is never the attitude of the spiritual saint; his aim is to secure the realization of Jesus Christ in every set of circumstances he is in.” — Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.
My heart grieves deeply for the confusing mess members of the Church have placed themselves in today. Please pray for Jesus to intervene as you share the truth today!
_____
Liahona, ‘A Temple-Motivated People’, March 2004 “All of our efforts in proclaiming the gospel, perfecting the Saints, and redeeming the dead lead to the holy temple. This is because the temple ordinances are absolutely crucial; we cannot return to God’s presence without them. … I would hope that every adult member would be worthy of—and carry—a current temple recommend, [sic] even if proximity to a temple does not allow immediate or frequent use of it.
Let us be a temple attending and a temple-loving people. Let us hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our kindred dead, but let us also go for the personal blessing of temple worship…” — Howard Hunter
Hasten to the Temple, for what reason? Saving Ordinances and Temple attendance is the number one tactic the church has used to become so wealthy. Convince church members that without tithing 10% of their total income, they can not receive a Temple Recommend. No Temple Recommend means you can’t have the Saving Ordinances performed oN you. No Saving Ordinances means no eternal life with God.
In other words brothers and sisters, please pay your tithe so you can be on the our A-Team. Only members of the A-Team get to go to heaven. To help you along, we will schedule you for a Tithing Settlement chat with the Bishop. Please bring your wife and especially your kids to this wonderful event. Now, you wouldn’t want to embarrass yourself in front of your kids by telling the Bishop that you aren’t a full tithe payer, would you?