"Yea, thus saith the still small voice, which whispereth through and pierceth all things, and often times it maketh my bones to quake while it maketh manifest"
Today I was impressed by the importance of gifts. Oliver Cowdery was told that he has two gifts: The Spirit, or knowing what the Spirit says (and this before he was baptized) and the gift of Aaron. By using both of these gifts he will be delivered and will receive answers to his questions. He is told to "apply unto" his gift and it will deliver him. He is told "whatsoever you ask by that means (gift of Aaron), that will I grant. I guess I just never considered that answers will come through the gifts that I've been given (other than the obvious - or sometimes not so obvious - gift of the Holy Ghost). So, I'm going to have to do some pondering and remembering about what my gifts are and how I've possibly received answers in the past by "applying to" these gifts.
There are a few things that are implied when thinking about using spiritual gifts to receive answers. 1. That you actually know what your gift(s) are. 2. That you are conscious of your
gift(s) and keep them current, that is work to keep them in your life and apply them. This will be a good exercise for me, and a personal one, so I won't publish my results. I will say this about gifts though: often in conversations about gifts and talents we have, musical abilities and outward acts are brought to attention first. While these things are definitely talents and are very useful in feeling the Spirit, I feel like we need to dig a little deeper. After all, the Savior talked about gifts given (see DC 46 ), and musical talent was not included (again, not defaming musical talent, but perhaps the cause of the musical talent or purpose?). It is also worthy of note that spiritual gifts can be attained, not just given. What spiritual gift do you want? Go for it. But be ready for any answer :).
Here are a few quotes that are in the DC student manual pertaining to personal revelation. Pres. Packer lists some things we can do, guidelines, to prepare ourselves to receive personal revelation. They are Sunday School answers. Which means THEY ARE IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO REPEAT AT LEAST EVERY SUNDAY UNTIL WE GET IT THROUGH OUR THICK HEADS!! Myself included.
- Keep the Word of Wisdom
- Read the scriptures
- Listen to your parents and to the leaders of the Chruch
- Stay away from places and things that common sense tells you will interfere with inspiration.
- Develop your spiritual capacities.
- Learn to tune out the static and the interference.
- Avoid the substitutes and the counterfeits!
- Learn to be inspired and directed by the Holy Ghost.
- Pray and spiritually listen.
- Be prepared to learn line upon line.
Also by Pres. Packer: "I am persuaded, my brothers and sister, that it is irrational to hope to escape the lusts of the world without substituting for them as the subjects of our thoughts the things of the Spirit." and "It may be that you are not doing anything wrong. It may be that you have not done the right things long enough. Remember, you cannot force spiritual things."
Gifts of the Spirit are definitely different than the talents given us. I believe too that as Mothers we are given the gift of inspiration for our individual children while our spouses are given the gift of inspiration for the family as a whole. I remember learning that at church but I need to find some scripture to back it up...if it is true. I need to focus on spiritual gifts more.
ReplyDeleteThat's very interesting. If you find a scriptural reference, let me know. It seems to me that either those gifts don't need to be seperated, or if they are, husband and wife work so closely together for the benefit of both individuals and family, that the gifts are really intertwined. Hmmmmm. . .
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