From: paul gage
FASTING, PRAYING, STUDYING AND LIVING FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD
NOVEMBER 4, 2021
November and thanksgiving blessings and wishes to all God's Family,
As a song stated, "January to December, we'll have moments to remember..." Though not quite to December yet, we will take an early look at our moments to remember. specifically, those moments we have spent in fasting, praying, studying, and living for the Kingdom of God. Someone asked a group if they felt they were more spiritual at that time than a year or so earlier. God always encourages us to do the best we can and we sing, "I'm Pressing on the Upward Way."
We also know that many times, for any number of reasons, we have a tendency to slack off or lag behind. The challenge is to be as Jesus in Luke 9:51 "...he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem;..." We may often find ourselves lagging behind in our efforts of fasting, praying, studying and living for the Kingdom of God and when we sense that, we "pick up the pace,": as the saying goes. Jesus is always OUR Shepherd, looking after us, reaching out to us and encouraging us to stay close to Him.
In 1949 the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints published a booklet by Apostle D. T. Williams, entitled "Each One Win One." It is a booklet about witnessing to others of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Chapter Six is "Ten Commandments for Personal Workers. Each of us is to be a "Personal Worker " for Jesus. Commandment number eight is "Thou Shalt Not Cease to Pray." Brother Williams reminds us that as we plug various appliances in to a source of power to get them to work, we also must plug ourselves in to the source of our power..Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. Prayer and the other disciplines are part of the process of plugging in. As we always expect the lamp to come on when we plug it in and turn it on, so we may expect God's light, blessings, guidance, etc when we "plug" into His power whether it be by fasting, prayer, study and or living. Prayer is a fundamental exercise of faith. Those who utilize it reap results such as we read concerning those mentioned in Hebrews 11:33-34. You can look that up and read it. I like to refer to Hebrews chapter 11 as the New Testament Faith Hall of Fame, although as you notice in verses 33-34 there are no names mentioned. In the Book of Mormon, Ether chapter five is the "Faith Hall of Fame."
So, in our working toward the Kingdom, this is the correct and wholesome spirit of the work of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all we can. We seek not the Kingdom just for ourselves, but for the world. We continue to seek testimonies of your efforts in practicing these spiritual disciplines for the Kingdom of God.
God go with you as promised in Doctrine and Covenants 83:15 c.
Paul Gage
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