From: Paul Gage
FASTING, PRAYING, STUDYING AND LIVING FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD
APRIL 29, 2021
Four months of 2021 are now behind us. We continue to look to the future for God's Kingdom on earth, as it is in Heaven. With each passing day, we must be about those thing that help us maintain a strong faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and in His purposes and plans for His people.
The daily disciplines as listed above can be vital resources to each of us in our quest for Zion. A quest is pursuit made in order to obtain something. A quest can be an adventure, a journey, an undertaking, a mission, etc. All of these can apply to our longing for Zion. Remember, it is not an impossible dream, but in fact is possible, as promised by Jesus Christ.
The little things, or daily duties are what prepares us best, perhaps, for the obtaining of Zion. The ones who received five and two talents and doubled them were told that because they had been faithful over a few things, the Lord would make them rulers over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. This parable is one of the three in Matthew 25 that gives us insight into the coming of Jesus in His Glory.
Since we know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man cometh, Matthew 25:12, we are told to "Watch therefore." Watching involves more than just what we may see with our physical eyes. It includes everything about us, both physically (temporally) and spiritually.
There is a hymn, in the Hymns of the Restoration, number 136 entitled, "Waiting and Watching." The chorus says we are waiting and watching for Him, Jesus Christ. So, what are we to do, while we are waiting and watching for Jesus (Zion?)
The purpose of our life on earth is to grow, develop, and be strengthened through our own experiences. How do we do this? The scriptures give us an answer in one simple phrase: we “wait upon the Lord” Read Isaiah 40:31.
To wait and watch for the Lord means planting the seed of faith and nourishing it (Read Alma 16:151-156.) It means praying as the Savior did—to God, our Heavenly Father—saying: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:11.) It is a prayer we offer with our whole souls in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Waiting and watching for the Lord means pondering in our hearts and “receiving the Holy Ghost” so that we can know “all things that we should do” . Waiting upon the Lord means to “stand fast” and “press forward” in faith, “having a perfect brightness of hope”
It means “relying alone upon the merits of Christ” and “with His grace assisting us, saying: Thy will be done, O Lord, and not ours". As we wait upon the Lord, we are “immovable in keeping the commandments,” knowing that we will “one day rest from all our afflictions”.
May we wait and watch for Him by pressing forward in faith and the spiritual disciplines that we may truly be ready when He comes.
God be with you in your continued efforts
Paul Gage
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