God has been there
in the past and He will be there in the future… Learn and grow and have faith
in the future that someday you will return to live with God and be eternally
happy with your family. If we lose this
perspective, life becomes a roller coaster.
Elder Scott said
that when we have an eternal perspective that we make choices based on right or
wrong and when we have lost that perspective we make choice on circumstance and
what we desire now. If chose to make
decisions under circumstance we will eventually make serious sin. They have no direction or foundation that
comes from living the Gospel. Do not
look at others and their successes because many times when troubles come, their
character shows and many will crumble if they are not centered on Christ.
Many times we are
asked to set aside what we desire now for a greater blessing in the future.
"He
doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he
loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw
all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not
partake of his salvation" (2 Nephi 26:24)...
Salvation is a process as is happiness… This isn't tied to an event or a
person
because we are likely to lose those in time… Lord will not perform
anything
that is not for our benefit. Happiness
can still be found in opposition. It is
not one or the other. Our depth of love
is also associated with the amount of the sense of loss that we can feel if
that person is lost physically or spiritually.
As we fall short of our potential we do not have a fullness of the
Spirit of the Lord or of happiness.
"Wherefore,
men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them
which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and
eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose
captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil;
for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself" (2
Nephi 2:27)…
Opposing forces, choice, happiness versus sorrow and misery… God has
given us
everything we need to be happy… God knows what is expedient for your
happiness
and it has been given to you… Look for those things and realize that
every
little thing doesn't need to go right… In relationships, we need to see
that
there are many good things and our lives don't need to be perfect nor
our
spouse needs to perfectly meet our needs… Expand your happiness… The
Savior is
expedient for us to overcome the struggles or afflictions we face… We
are not
islands but God has given us many resources or many people in our lives
to help
us… Faith in God's plan and understanding that God knows who we really
are…
Trials help build us through opposition by choosing God's plan
"And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to whatsoever thing is expedient in me" (Moroni 7:33).
The Lord provides
patterns for us so we can learn to maintain an eternal perspective. Patterns are there so we will not be
deceived. The greatest pattern for us to
find success is The Plan of Salvation.
You can't follow telestial patterns and get celestial results. Patterns provide us to receive things with
exactness. Patterns produce
consistency. Greatness is measured day
in and day out. Patterns keep us safe…
Keep your covenants and you will be safe.
Patterns produce confidence. It
doesn't matter what level of activity we are in the church or our family… We
follow the patterns set by the Lord and we can be confident that we are doing
our best.
When you don't have
to be thinking about anything else, where does your mind go? You need to find something that you love so
much that when you don't have to think about anything your mind goes to that
thought. An eternal perspective starts
in our minds. Are your thoughts mostly
about yourself or others? Are your
thoughts mostly positive or negative?
Whichever kind it is, your thoughts will continue to be that kind. Become positive and look for the good. Are your thoughts mostly on things temporal
or things of eternity? Look outward,
look for the good, look for God.
What grudges do you
bear? What excuses do you cling to? How do we face the unknown if we don't have
an eternal perspective? It is paralyzing
and challenging if we don't have that perspective. We always want to see the end from the
beginning… Ether 6:12 We must learn to
watch to the edge of the light and take a few steps into the darkness and then
the light will move just ahead of us again.
Faith will help us move forward.
GPS… Longitude,
latitude, altitude… As long as you have the destination and you follow the
directions given to you, you will arrive there.
We need to stay connected to the doctrines past, present, and future. We have moments where we can see ourselves in
past, present, future all at the same time.
An eternal perspective connects all of those three. Goals... Priorities... Standards…
Goals bring purpose
and direction because without them time will just float by and they are stuck
in mire of time. We need to progress to
perfection and that requires goals and constant self-evaluation to move ourselves
forward. Practicing helps us know where
we are in our short term goals and determine our progress. But as we set those goals we need to keep the
end in mind. The means are just as
important as the end goal. Patience...
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