Inspiration

One of the things that became more clear to me yesterday is how clearly revelation and inspiration can come, in particular for things that revolve around the Priesthood. For instance, I do not have thoughts that "just come" about work things very often. However, when I was listening to priesthood session I had many thoughts about things to do, prioritize, change, etc.

Also, we're speaking on Sunday. Last night Jamie told me her talk and a bunch of ideas came to me as I heard her thoughts. It's an interesting process that just doesn't happen when thinking about too many subjects. It can happen in work things as well, but it happens more often and more clearly and more consistently in spiritual matters.

So here's the main points I want to get out in the talk, although it needs to be flushed out better.

1) Explain why it's necessary to put on the "whole armor of God" and not parts of the armor of God.

a) I have clearly seen in the lives of numerous people that having only parts of the armor of God is not acceptable. For instance, I know someone who is a very good person in many ways. I remember him giving a talk in which he said he thought it wasn't wise to listen to some of his 80s rock music in the car with youth he was driving. The music he was talking about wasn't that bad, but he wanted to be an excellent example. This same guy has had some other at first minor issues however that led to major problems. He's a good guy, but he only had part of the armor of God on. I can think of numerous life examples. There's also some scriptural examples (like David). The Savior also warns in the Sermon on the Mount to avoid a lot of sins. I also have a story or two from my own life about this.

A few other people who had chinks in the armor: many early Saints. The 3 Witnesses had a sure testimony of only the Book of Mormon but not of a lot of other things. Clear holes in the armor. Also, Sidney Rigdon - the Lord even warns Sidney in D.C. 35 that the leader of the church is the one with the keys - 25And ^aIsrael shall be ^bsaved in mine own due time; and by the^ckeys which I have given shall they be led, and no more be confounded at all. Sidney should have known not to try to lead the church. We all are guided to know what our weaknesses are.

2) Potentially include this: it's important to care about everyone in the church having the full armor of God. I remember in Guatemala one time we had a priesthood class that discussed D.C. 58:54-57.

54And your ^aminds in times past have been ^bdarkened because of^cunbelief, and because you have treated ^dlightly the things you have received—

55Which ^avanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.

56And this condemnation resteth upon the children of ^aZion, even all.

57And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new ^acovenant, even the ^bBook of Mormon and the ^cformer commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to ^ddo according to that which I have written—

One member said that as long as his family was reading scriptures as they should then it didn't matter how anyone else was doing with their scripture reading, his family wouldn't be under condemnation. Essentially, he didn't care what other people were doing; it just mattered that he was doing well. This sounds harsh, but I wanted to yell at him for a considerable while. We are all affected by everyone else. For example, if everyone in the entire ward is strong spiritually, the ward will continue to grow. It's likely that youth will join the church with their families and my son or daughter may end up dating or even marrying people who joined the church simply because of how strong the entire ward was. Our lives are greatly affected by those who are in the church and we have to be extremely invested in how they're doing. I was shocked that a man who had been a member for so long didn't understand that. Elder Choi talks about this idea in his conference talk here: http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,49-1-1117-18,00.html

Enoch and the city of Zion was lifted up because everyone was of one heart and one mind and dwelt in righteousness. It's important to me that my family is spiritually strong and that every family in the ward is as well. "No man is an island." :)

3) Why I want the full armor of God? Because it's a better way to live. I really like the Elder Maxwell quote about living well. Something like, "it's important for youth to have more examples and fewer critics, not just so that they know that walking the path and holding onto the iron rod is possible, but also so that they know it is worth doing." - admittedly, this section may get cut and needs more thought.

4) Why it's worth it? Because you'll get to partake in the Sacrament meeting with the Savior and all the great prophets and faithful Saints that will be held at Adam-ondi-Ahman if you do have the full armor of God. That's why D.C. 27 contains the armor of God and a description of that great Sacrament meeting. Pretty cool.

What convinces me that meeting will be so great?

a) Elder Shumway spoke to us about taking the Sacrament with the Prophet and what an amazing experience it is (when I was a missionary). I can only imagine how much better it would be with the Savior there.

b) My own experiences with the Savior and with some of his servants (listening to Pres. Eyring, talking with a temple president, briefly meeting an area seventy, briefly meeting elder Hales, a few others that I'm not thinking of right now :) convince me that being at that meeting alone would be one of the most choice experiences we could ever have. It's so worth it to put on the armor of God in this life to end up there. Great ROI.

Still a lot to do, but this is coming along.

Have a great day