Sunday, January 23, 2011

There is always something to learn.

Most of us are familiar with the story of Sleeping Beauty. When the princess was born, the fairies were invited as godmothers to offer gifts, such as beauty, wit and musical talent. Now without telling you the rest of the story, I would like to focus on the good gifts that she was given.
I believe we were all blessed with good gifts from our Heavenly Father when we were born. But some gifts we have to work for and achieve in this life. Today in church, we talked about how transforming the power of faith and character are in our lives. It was from a talk given by Richard G. Scott in October 2010

I will share some of the notes that I took from the lesson ...

Hebrews 11:1  "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

What are some of the empowering principles upon which faith is based?

  • Trust in God and in His willingness to provide help when needed, no matter how challenging the circumstance.

  • Obedience to His commandments and a life that demonstrates that He can trust you.

  • Sensitivity to the quiet promptings of the Holy Spirit.

  • Courageous implementation of that prompting.

  • Patience and understanding when God lets you struggle to grow and when answers come a piece at a time over an extended period.

With even your strongest faith, God will not always reward you immediately according to your desires. Rather, God will respond with what in His eternal plan is best for you, when it will yield the greatest advantage. Be thankful that sometimes God lets you struggle for a long time before that answer comes. That causes your faith to increase and your character to grow.

To summarize:

  • God uses your faith to mold your character.

  • Character is the manifestation of what you are becoming.

  • Strong character results from consistent correct choices.

  • The bedrock of character is integrity.

  • The more your character is fortified, the more enabled you are to exercise the power of faith.

I have personally verified that concepts like faith, prayer, love, and humility hold no great significance and produce no miracles until they become a living part of us through our own experience, aided by the sweet prompting of the Holy Spirit.

This was a great lesson for me today, and one to help me teach my kids and granddaughters. I can remind them of how they have already been given many of the gifts and talents that they need, they don't have to wait for someone else to bestow them upon them. It can also remind them if they have faith and good character, it can be life changing for them. So when life gives them trials, they can remember to stay faithful, believing and true to what they know, completely trusting that they can grow and learn from each of these experiences. The moral of the story, is that we actually have more knowledge and gifts than Sleeping Beauty ever had! So each morning we awake... we should be grateful for that knowledge! Talking about all this sleeping is making me tired! So good night dear friends!

"Faith is a bird that feels dawn breaking and sings while it is still dark."  ~ Rabindranath Tagore

"When you have come to the edge of all light that you know and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, Faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly."  ~ Patrick Overton

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