I love the feeling that comes at the opening of a brand new year – gratitude for having lived through the previous year, and eager anticipation  for what awaits in the year ahead.   Like most of us, I set self-improvement goals for myself at the beginning of a new year, and last year, my goal was to try and overcome my tendency to be fearful.  I chose this weakness after I re-read the story of Job in the Bible and realized that his suffering was brought on partly because of his own fears.  I began by studying the topic in the scriptures, and in a nutshell, I learned that fear is the opposite of faith and therefore my real problem was that I did not have enough faith, so my goal in practicality was to try and improve my level of faith.  So how did I do?

Well, although I still have a long way to go, I feel that my faith has increased somewhat.  My typical “fear indicator” is shortness of breath, and throughout the year, there were a few times when I experienced it, but for the most part, I did well, and when the shortness of breath did happen, it would only last for a short time, in fact, there were times when I felt at perfect peace in the midst of circumstances that I normally would feel like I was having a panic attack.  If I had to choose one thing that impacted this area of growth for me, it would be that I learned how to surrender my cares to the Lord.  The feeling of relief that comes from “letting go and letting God” was worth every effort that I made to learn how to do this.

For 2012, I simply want to continue on a path that I started on in 2011, which is to learn to listen for and obey the promptings of the Spirit of Jesus Christ who I believe is with me throughout each and every day, and is constantly trying to get my attention so He can lead me in the direction that I should go.  As Latter Day Saints, we pray every week in Sacrament meeting to have His Spirit to be with us, but I never took this prayer quite as seriously as I did this past year.  I am grateful that I was able to find the strength and courage to shut out some of the noise of the world so that I could more clearly hear His quiet voice speaking to my heart and mind.  I pray for His help to continue to improve on this, and I also pray that each one of us will be able to achieve the goals we set for ourselves this year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR once again !!

“And he beheld Satan; and he had a great chain in his hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness, and he looked up and laughed, and his angels rejoiced.” – (Moses 7:26)

This is part of a vision that God showed to Enoch of things that will occur in the last days.  The whole earth is covered over by this “veil of darkness” and most of us don’t realize it.  Little by little, I am beginning to awaken to the things around me that are hidden under this veil, here is an example:

I love seedless grapes, they are usually sweet and juicy and best of all, I don’t have to contend with the seeds.  Recently, I brought home a delicious looking bunch of seedless grapes that I purchased at the supermarket, and while I was rinsing them in the kitchen sink, the thought came into my mind that I should be eating grapes with the seeds in it.  I immediately began arguing with the thought saying  “but I love seedless grapes! they are sweet and juicy and easy to eat!”   Another thought then entered my mind “Go and read in the book of Genesis about what God told Adam to eat.”  Reluctantly, I obeyed, and here’s what I read in Genesis 1:29 – “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.“  Oh my goodness, what a revelation!   He who created both my spirit and my body, was trying to teach me that there is something about eating foods that has its seed still in it, that is important.  Why exactly this is, I do not understand, but to me, the answer, though it would be interesting to know, is irrelevant.  My maker more than anyone else, knows what is good for my body and I need to listen to Him.  I immediately determined to obey, but soon discovered a problem…

The following weekend, I went in search of seeded grapes – I went to Walmart, two different Costco outlets, and to my local grocery but there was no seeded grapes to be found in any of these stores!  I began to question in my mind as to why.  I thought about watermelon which I also love and bought a lot of over the summer, and I recalled that none of them had seeds either!  By now I became quite suspicious, so I came home and began a search on the internet to find the answer as to how and why the seeds in our foods are disappearing and what I have been discovering so far, is to say the least, frightening!

It would take more time than I have right now to get into the details of all that I am learning about our modern-day food supply, but  for anyone interested, a quick Google search will yield a ton of information.  The most important thing that I have to say, is that since then, the Spirit has undoubtedly confirmed to me that, there is indeed a veil of darkness on the earth and also that there is a vast and urgent effort being orchestrated by the adversary(and carried out by mostly unsuspecting people), to subvert and oppose the work of God.  I now know that not only is the adversary trying to corrupt the food that God has created to nourish our bodies, but he is also trying to corrupt EVERYTHING on the face of the earth that God has created – Consider what “everything” means, and remember that it excludes NOTHING!

I don’t know about you, but I am frightened by this thought.  Some may say I am paranoid, but I consider myself as becoming awakened.  I have a choice before me right now – turn a “blind eye” to the things I am being taught and stay under the veil of darkness which admittedly feels comfortable, or get out of my comfort zone and yield to the Light.  I choose the latter.

“For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad…”

I take the word “all” in this scripture quite literally and my understanding is that in order for me to become righteous, I must learn to choose between good and bad and therefore must face opposition in EVERYTHING!   This is a very sobering thought.  It means that  in every action that I have ever taken, a choice was placed before me whether I realized it or not and so it will be for the rest of my life.

I have lived through most of my life oblivious to this principle, but thank God, He does not hold his children accountable for things they do not know or understand, but now that He has opened my understanding to it, I must begin to learn how to “live in the now” and be conscious at every moment, of the choices that lay before me.

Filed under: Religion ]]> http://paradigmsift.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/the-principle-of-opposition/feed/ 0 Smilingbeauty choices22 http://paradigmsift.wordpress.com/2011/12/17/life-in-the-wilderness/ http://paradigmsift.wordpress.com/2011/12/17/life-in-the-wilderness/#comments Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:50:41 +0000 Sharon http://paradigmsift.wordpress.com/?p=654 ]]> When Lehi and his family were journeying in the wilderness, his sons hunted for food using high tech weapons – Nephi’s sword was made of “fine steel” (1 Nephi 16:18), and his brother’s bows had metal springs. Eventually Nephi’s sword broke and the springs in Laman and Lemuel’s bows were lost and they all suffered starvation for a while. Mercifully, the Lord inspired Nephi to carve a wood sword, bow and arrow and then they were able to hunt again.

I often think about some of the “high tech” and “fine” things in life that I have grown accustomed to and take for granted such as – hot water from the faucet, porcelain toilet, car, washing machine, ready-made pasta, etc.. How will I ever be able to live without those things if I am ever called to “journey in the wilderness” possibly through a natural disaster or otherwise.  Although I have not yet begun, I keeping thinking that I need to start from now to learn how to depend less and less upon these things and simplify my life.

When I read that, I immediately started questioning whether or not I was valiant enough and sadly, the answer I came up with was NO.   I was interpreting valiant to mean over-extending myself in doing good in all things, in all places, at all times, like Mother Teresa (ish).   By this definition, I fail miserably because there are so many items still on my “good things to do” list that it will take me more than just this lifetime to complete.   Needless to say, I was feeling very discouraged after the RS lesson.

Mercifully, I came across a scripture this morning that gave me comfort, it is  ” For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.” (D&C 58:2).   I am so grateful to know that the plan of salvation is not limited to earth-time, and that there is hope  even after this life!  I pray that I will continue to faithfully endure the “refiners fire” otherwise referred to as challenges, adversity, afflictions, trials, disappointments, heartbreaks, etc. etc. (collectively tribulation), so that I can be purified enough to enter the Celestial Kingdom – That’s being valiant!