Faith in Jesus Christ

Faith in Jesus Christ

Well, Halloween has come and gone and now Thanksgiving is upon us. Can you believe it’s next week? I can’t! I know it’s been a few weeks since I’ve updated the blog but here are the updates that I am aware of. Missionary updates… Elder Vince Darly comes home on December 1st and Elder Daniel Ribble will be home on December 18th. Any other good minutes, share them with us on our blog. We would love to hear.

Sunday, our discussion was on Faith in Jesus Christ taught by Marietta Sperry. Although I was not there to actually take notes, I will highlight the discussion from the manual so feel free to read it and follow along, it’s on page 101.

What is Faith?

Faith is a “hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (Alma 32:21) (pg 101). Faith is also the first principle of the gospel, a spiritual gift from our Heavenly Father. It is necessary that we have faith and exercise faith for our salvation. King Benjamin said, “Salvation cometh to none…except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Mosiah 3:12). Faith is a “principle of action and power that motivates our day-today activities”. Faith is important for us to obtain knowledge and wisdom. We must believe such as a farmer believes as he plants his seeds that crops will grow for if a farmer has no faith, why would he bother planting seeds? We must “act upon things we hope for when we cannot [even if] we cannot see the end result. This is faith” (pg 101). This is probably the hardest thing for many of us to do. I know it’s hard for me. So many times, I lack in faith. It things don’t make sense to me, it’s very hard for me to “have faith and just believe”. We have several stories in the scriptures of prophets and people who had such great faith and because of their faith, great things happened. One such story is the story of Noah. Noah had the faith to build an ark and by his faith, he saved his family from the great flood that killed every living creature on the earth (Hebrews 11:7). Moses parted the waters of the Red Sea (Hebrews 11:29). “Elijah called down fire from the heavens (1 Kings 18:17-40). Nephi called for a famine (Helaman 11:3-5). He also asked the Lord to end the famine (Helaman 11:9-17). Seas have been calmed, visions opened, and prayers answered, all through the power of faith” (pg 101). Faith is a strong belief of truth. It’s a good thing when we have that faith because it allows us to do good, to be strong and faithful. Here’s a question to ask yourself and think about: Think about your everyday activities. What are things you act upon each day that you cannot see the end results of? How does faith move you to action?

Why Should We Have Faith in Jesus Christ?

That’s a good question! “To have faith in Jesus Christ means to have such trust in Him that we obey whatever He commands” (pg 103). As we have faith in our Savior, we become his obedient disciples and our Heavenly Father forgives our sins while preparing us to return home back to Him. Jesus must be the center of our faith. He will never lead us astray, people will but not Jesus Christ. The Apostle Peter preached that “there is non other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 and Mosiah 3:17). Jacob taught that us that men must have “perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel [Jesus Christ], or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God” (2 Nephi 9:23). By us having faith, we receive strength to overcome our weakness and temptations, we also use the Atonement more effectively too (Alma 37:33). By us having faith in Jesus Christ, we must also have that same faith in our Heavenly Father and also in the Holy Ghost as they all three work with each other in helping us (pg 103). Here’s another question to think about: How can faith in Jesus Christ influence us in our Church callings? In our family relationships? In our jobs? How does faith in Jesus Christ influence out hope for eternal life?

How Can We Increase Our Faith in Jesus Christ?

The Savior said, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed,…nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20). A mustard see may be very small, but when it grows, it grows into a very large seed. That is the same as faith. It may be small at first, but once we begin using it, it grows and grows and grows. How cool is that! So, how can we increase our faith? Good question! The manual says that we increase our faith the same way we increase or develop a skill. “How do we develop skills in woodcarving, weaving, painting, cooking, making pottery, or playing a musical instrument? We study and practice and work at it. As we do, we improve” (pg 104). It’s the same with faith. It must be nurtured as Alma says in Alma 32:27-29. But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves – It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understand…Now behold, would not this increase your faith?” A good scripture to look up and read! We can also increase our faith by praying to our Heaven Father about our hopes, desires and needs (Alma 34:17-26) and I’m sure we all have those items. I know I do! However, yes there is a however, we must do more than just ask. The scriptures tell us that we must have faith… “faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (James 2:17). Here is a story of a man whose faith was shown by his works that the manual has provided.

This man wanted to study the scriptures, but he could not read. He prayed for Heavenly Father to help him learn to read. In time a teacher came to his village, and he asked the teacher to help him. He learned the alphabet. He studied sounds and learned to put the letters together to make words. Soon he was reading simple words. The more he practiced, the more he learned. He thanked the Lord for sending the teaching and for helping him learn to read. This man had increased his faith, humility, and knowledge to such a degree that he has served as a branch president in the Church (pg 104, 105).

President Spencer W. Kimball said, “There must be works with faith. How foolish it would be to ask the Lord to give us knowledge, but how wise to ask the Lord’s help to acquire knowledge, to study constructively, to think clearly, and to retain things that we have learned” (Faith Precedes the Miracle [1972], 205). President Kimball also says, “In faith we plant the seed, and soon we see the miracle of the blossoming. Men have often misunderstood and have reversed the process.” We must do all we on our own to learn the skill to acquire or receive the faith and the miracle. As President Kimball continues to explain, “many of us want to have health and strength without keeping the health laws. We want to have prosperity without paying our tithes. We want to be close to the Lord but don’t want to fast and pray. We want to have rain in due season and to have peace in the land without observing the Sabbath as a holy day and without keeping the other commandments of the lord. (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball [2006], 142). We must hear and study the words of the Lord, in our meetings, our discussion, in the scriptures. We must be familiar with the scriptures and rely on them. “And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words or wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (D&C 8:118). Question to think about: What relationship do you see between our faith and our actions? (pg 105).

What Are Some Blessings That Follow Faith?

Through our faith, “miracles are wrought, angels appear, other gifts of the Spirit are given, prayers are answered, and men become the sons of God (Moroni 7:25-26, 36-37). From Lectures on Faith it reads, “When faith comes it brings… apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, gifts, wisdom, knowledge, miracles, healings, tongues, interpretation of tongues, etc. All these appear when faith appears on the earth, and disappear when it disappears from the earth; for these are the effects of faith…And he who possesses it will, through it, obtain all necessary knowledge and wisdom, until he shall know God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he has sent – whom to know is eternal life” (Lectures on Faith [1985], 83). Final question to think about: What are some stories from the scriptures in which people have become stronger because they had faith in Jesus Christ? How have you seen this happen in your own life?

We have additional scriptures that you can all look up while you have your Bibles out:

Hebrews 11; Alma 32 (nature of faith explained)
Exodus 14:19-22 (parting the waters of the Red Sea)
Genesis 6-8 (Noah and the flood)
Matthew 8:5-33 (sick healed, tempest calmed, miracles of faith)
Mark 5:25-34 (healed by faith)
Romans 10:17 (faith comes by hearing the word of God)

We must exercise our faith daily. We live in very trying times sometimes all we have is our faith. I know it may be hard at times and maybe we feel that we can’t. I know that I have felt like that many times. For years, I have avoided going to college to get my degree because I knew that I would have to take math classes and I don’t DO math. I never did well in math when I was in High School and I knew that there would be a very good chance that I would flunk in math classes in college. But, after losing my job, I found myself is a rut. No degree, no job, and for sure no real job earning real money. So I took the plunge and enrolled in college. I took my first math class, Pre-Algebra and I got a B. I took my second math class, Beginning Algebra and struggled in it and got a C. Now I am in my third math class, Intermediate Algebra and I so far I have an A in my class. I have received two A’s on my test and one B. How am I doing this? Through faith! I have been praying and studying really hard trying to learn the different formulas that are required to solve these problems. Plus this year in my math class, the college decided to do something new. They decided to randomly pick a few math classes and assign them a tutor work with the teacher and to be available for any students who may need their help. Now, I have to believe that the Lords hand was involved in that. And believe me, I am using the tutor every week, twice a week for two hours before school. I have to believe that this was all through me exercising my faith on the subject of math. So it is possible. Before I leave this message with you, I want to share a thought with you that goes along with the discussion. It’s a thought that my daughter received from her Young Women teacher on Halloween. It may be a Halloween thought but the message still applies.

Halloween (Holy Ghost)

Since this is the time for goblins and bats,
Halloween spirits and ghosts and cats,
Weird happenings and witches brew,
These are the things we wish for you…
May the only ghost that comes to stay,
Be the Holy Ghost to guide your way,
May the only spirits you chance to meet,
Be the spirits of love and warm friendship sweet.
May the only trick you are asked to do,
Be the trick of helping a child or two.
These are our Halloween wishes for you,
May God Bless you in all you do.
Author unknown

Please take some time and share your thoughts and stories with us on the blog. We would love to hear from you. Next week, the 21st is Stake Conference. Take some time out, grab some healthy snacks and have a tall glass of water and read the discussion we had Faith in Jesus Christ. It was inspire you and you will be uplifted by the message. Enjoy, and thanks for reading. Until next time…

Kelly