I’ve cruised, posted, and written in the Bloggernacle for seven years. It’s been an interesting experience.
My initial goal in coming to the Bloggernacle was to mingle with LDS who are seeking to fulfill their baptismal covenant by receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I assumed that with the vastness of the internet’s reach I’d find multiple sites where church members discussed things of the Spirit and shared spiritual experiences in a meaningful way. However, I quickly learned that most LDS who post and comment in the Bloggernacle have other priorities.
LDS author James Farrell observed:
“Many [LDS] today carry a secret: We do not love what we have been commanded to love. We do not love what is holy. Although we might reverence things that are deemed holy – the temple, for example, and the scriptures, and the Sabbath – we do not love them. Not really. Not with our whole souls.” The Holy Secret, James Farrell
The apostle John counseled:
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15
There is a significant difference between reverencing the Lord and loving Him. If one truly desires to be a follower of Christ and to be perfected in Him then the first order of Spiritual business is to fulfill our baptismal covenant and do what is necessary to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Without taking this step everything else we accomplish has less meaning and our accomplishments are more of terrestrial order than celestial.
Lorenzo Snow taught:
There are men among us who possess the gift of healing, and might have great faith; but they do not exercise the gift, they do not live for it, and, therefore, do not have the power to use it so effectually as they might… I wish to impress upon you, my brethren and sisters that there are Elders among us endowed with Spiritual gifts that may be brought into exercise through the aid of the Holy Ghost. The gifts of the Gospel must be cultivated by diligence and perseverance. The ancient Prophets when desiring some peculiar blessing, or important knowledge, revelation or vision, would sometimes fast and pray for days and even weeks for that purpose. JD 23:194 -195, Lorenzo Snow, May 6th, 1882
In closing, I would like to acknowledge that out of all the experiences I’ve had in life, there is nothing that even comes close to the beauty and splendor of the manifestation of the Spirit. I hope to live my life in the coming year in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.
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