Language is the hallmark of the human species. It is language that culture itself depends—and within language is where humanity’s knowledge resides. There is a buildup of energy inside of our minds that needs to be released because God has not only sowed in people’s minds a seed of religion of which we have spoken, but also revealed himself and daily discloses himself in the whole workmanship of the Universe. As a consequence, we cannot open our eyes without being compelled to see God. The Universe is a large book, a mirror, and a theater for the display of God’s attributes—preeminently for the display of his goodness to us, but also of his glory, wisdom, power, and justice. God can be known through his works, and by speculation concerning his essence. It is by nourishing his sense of divinity and his conscience, with the contemplation of God’s work, that humans can in principle arrive at a knowledge of God. We should take a moment to examine the difference between our experiences of the outside World and our interactions with the mental World. When we are just thinking, we are free to create whatever thoughts we want in our minds, and these thoughts are expressed through the voice. We are very accustomed to settling into the playground of the mind and creating and manipulating thoughts. This inner World is an alternative environment that is under our control. #RandolphHarris 1 of 11
Our thoughts are not always good. Sinful thoughts are often something we believers struggle with because there are so many images and things happening around us. However, we are able to take control of any thoughts in our head and it is important because the outside World operates by its own laws. All of the thoughts in our heads and the ideas from the outer World intermix and actually influence our experience of the World around us. What we end up experiencing is really a personal presentation of the World according to our own interpretations, and it may not be the true experience of what is out there. However, God’s Word helps us to recognize our thoughts for what they really are, and how to act (or not act) upon them. “Do not conform to the pattern of this World, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will,” reports Romans 12.2. The mind talks all the time because we gave it a job do to. We use it as a protection mechanism, a form of defense. Ultimately, it makes us feel more secure. Our thoughts are a doorway to the depths of our being. “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things,” reports Philippians 4.8. #RandolphHarris 2 of 11
The voice of the Holy Spirit is always edification. It speaks messages intended to lift us up, encourage us, bring strength, faith, joy, and peace to the threshold of our fantastic inner journey. When properly used, the mental voice can become the foundation for true spiritual awakening. The Spirit of God wants us to know we are never alone, we are loved, the Lord provides us with strength, there is no sin too serious that God will not forgive us, all things work together for our good, and the Lord’s plans for us are good. Once we come to know the Lord, we will understand the great mysteries of creation. However, sin, although primarily a matter of the will, infects human’s reason. Perversity leads to blindness and distortion because this seeing does not direct one to the truth, much less enable an individual to attain it in this sinful state. Thus, the consequences of humanity’s willful alienation from God is not merely that one does not know God, but also that one’s views about God are now so incomplete and distorted that nothing at all can be built on them. The effects of sin are far more pervasive than people realize. Not only does sin disrupt human’s relation to God; it thereby spreads corruption throughout the whole of human life. Of course, it does not impair our natural faculties as such. #RandolphHarris 3 of 11
Reason and will are human’s chief faculties, and the person in sin may be as intelligent and as capable of making decisions as the person who knows God. The corruption is to be found, rather, in the use we make of our native capacities. To state accurately what sin does to people’s use of their native talents, we must distinguish between human’s supernatural gifts, their abilities concerning Heavenly things, and their natural gifts, and their abilities concerning Earthly things. The supernatural gifts comprise human’s ability to know God, to worship him properly, and to obey him inwardly as well as outwardly. However, when we sin, we are stripped of these gifts. The film The Memory Keeper’s Daughter accurately depicts how the sin of one person can have a devastating ripple effect and destroy an entire family, and the impact can also hurt the community. Dr. David Henry separated his daughter from her twin brother at birth. To hide the fact that the daughter was born with a disability, he told his wife, Nora Henry, that the girl died at birth. In reality, he had a nurse take the daughter to a mental hospital where they planned to leave her until her death. However, the nurse kept the baby after seeing what horrors were awaiting the baby in the mental hospital. Meanwhile, the family has a funeral for the girl, but for years Nora grew up wondering what it would have been like to have a daughter. As a result of her yearning for a daughter, Nora often ignores her son Paul, and cries or lashes out when he does good things. #RandolphHarris 4 of 11
Feeling incomplete and like she has a whole in hear heart, Nora also goes on to have an affair. Her son Paul actually catches her in the act of letting another man talk under her skirt, so it erodes the trust and respect he has for his parents and sends him on a downward spiral. The film lays out how one lie devastated the entire family, and if they had just lived by the laws of God, it could have all been prevented. Now the father lives with a dark secret he can never reveal. Often times, little sins have impacts that can have lifelong consequences because we experience an estrangement from God. If human society is to be preserved, we have to retain some sense of the laws of God. We tend through natural instinct to foster and preserve society. The human abilities concerning Earthly things have not been destroyed by sin, but they have been corrupted. Both reason and will have been gravely wounded; the mind becomes both weak and plunged into deep darkness. And depravity of the will is all too well known. “People who remain and dies in sin receives wages of everlasting punishment,” reports Mosiah 2.33. If our natural gifts are to be healed and our supernatural gifts restored, our sin must be overcome; we must come to know God. We have already sensed that for this purpose human’s conscience, our sense of divinity, and our awareness of God’s revelation in the objective World must be restored. Through faith, we again know God. #RandolphHarris 5 of 11
Indeed, faith, consisting as it does in a clear knowledge about God coupled with proper worship and true obedience, is a certain sort of knowledge of God—that certain sort which focuses on the Savior as interpreted in the Scriptures. God does not minimize nor dismiss our sins, but the Lord reminds us that our sins are covered. If we confess, in prayer, and repent, we can be free. The voice of God shows us a way out and gives us the strength to do the hard work of making amends. Our inner growth is completely dependent upon the realization that the only way to find peace and contentment is to be conscious of what we are doing because our thoughts, rightly focused, can be our best friends. When we correct what is on the inside of our minds, our external World will reflect it. If we want to achieve peace in the face of our problems, we must understand why we perceive a particular situation as a problem. “The Lord has commanded that people should not envy,” reports 2 Nephi 26.32. Jealousy means to be fervent and to have sensitive and deep feelings about someone or something, and to be envious of someone or suspicious that another will gain some advantage. Envy impedes our spiritual growth and harms our relationships with others. Jealousy feels so overwhelming because it is more than a surface phenomenon. “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work,” reports James 3.16. However, by eliminating envy, we can improve our relationships with others and our view of ourselves. #RandolphHarris 6 of 11
When we realize that we are not competing with others, we can then rejoice in their accomplishments. The practice of comparing ourselves to others is usually at the root of envy. It causes people to feel that they are not good enough and that in order to be acceptable one has to achieve more, acquire more, or in other ways appear to be better than others. The tension felt in jealousy may be that of much greater World colliding than can be seen by looking only at one’s personal situation. It occurs when people do not value themselves sufficiently as children of God and consequently feel they have to prove their worth by doing or having. To attain true inner freedom, people must be able to objectively watch their problems instead of becoming lost in them. No solution can possibly exist while one is consumed by the energy of the problem. Part of the reason envy can be so difficult to recognize in oneself is that it often disguises itself in other feelings and behaviours. One costume envy wears is the tendency to criticize. Another is the desire to act in a way that will provoke envy in others. The good news is, once we unmask envy and begin to eliminate it, we can take corrective actions towards remediation of its cause, and this will allow us to feel much better about ourselves and others around us. Real spiritual growth is about consistently moving toward maturity because we want God’s deepest wisdom. #RandolphHarris 7 of 11
Wisdom is one of the most important things in the World because once we become conscious enough to understand our predicament, then we can commit ourselves to the inner work of freedom. Drawing near to God is the key to unlocking every door that seems shut in our lives. The rewards of drawing near far outweigh any sacrifice of time. The Holy Spirit is waiting to show us special insights into the problems that we face today. The Holy Ghost wants to help us walk in perfect truth and strength. God makes salvation. There is nothing higher or deeper than consciousness. Consciousness is pure awareness. “You will keep in perfect peace one whose mind is steadfast, because one trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal,” reports Isaiah 26.3-4. God’s purpose and the Supreme Court have something in common. The Supreme Court of the United States is a place of honor, respect and procedure. Many of us would like to show up and pursue some righteous changes in the Court. If we are given the privilege, there is one thing we need to do first—answer the call. When court is called into session, all persons having business in the Court are first called to draw near. However, if everyone is in attendance, why call them to draw near and give their attention? It is simple. Just showing up is not enough to get results. #RandolphHarris 8 of 11
If anyone really wants to achieve a victory in what they are pursuing, they must participate and show their intent by drawing near (coming closer) and giving their attention. There is another court in which we must draw near and give our full attention—the court of Heaven. God is seated on the throne of the highest court, and he is making the same call to draw near. God has dominion over the Earth and he does not just call us to draw near for his own benefit. Drawing near to God and waling in the spirit are a lifestyle—a lifestyle of victory and triumph. The more we abide in God’s Word and in His presence, the more we will hear his voice and the more victorious and successful we will be in every area of life. When we get closer to God, he pays special attention to us and the doors of communication are opened wide. We can hear his instruction, correction, and encouragement. And, we will enjoy the other rewards that come directly through this relationship. When we are in tune with God, we get to follow him to a very special place known and accessible only to his followers. It is a place called truth. If you are a business person, the Holy Spirit may show up and show you how to increase your profits and reduce expenses. If you are a parent, God has the power to settle arguments between your children. If you are a student, it means the Holy Spirit will show you how to excel in your classes. #RandolphHarris 9 of 11
God is the author of truth. If there is a truth to know—God is the one to reveal it. The Spirit of God will continually direct us, and he will show us things to come. God will reveal to us how to prevent problems and trouble. Even when tests and trials come, we will walk right through them. When we find ourselves in an impossible situation—one we just do not have the strength or the ability to handle, we may be tempted to give up and accept defeat? Maybe it is not just one challenge, but a whole onslaught of trials all at once—an infirmary, a strained relationship, bad news from the fake news media, or a temptation we never thought we would face. However, we these are not things that have power over us. God has miracle-working power. When human strength ends, that is where God’s power begins. And the Lord has promised that his miraculous power will bring us through! No matter what our needs or goals, it is the wisdom that comes from the Word of God that will get us there. When we focus our thoughts on God and do what is right, everything we need and desire (even somethings we never imagined) come right to us. “In that day the LORD Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people. He will be a spirit of justice to those who sit in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate,” reports Isiah 28.5-6. #RandolphHarris 10 of 11
Drawing near God moves us into the supernatural, were God’s ability moves onto our ability, and we are no longer dependent on our own knowledge, intelligence, or talents. God will give us the supernatural ability to accomplish what he asked of us. When we have access to the gifts and rewards of God, there is nothing we cannot do. “Lord, you established peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us,” reports Isaiah 26.12. Father in Heaven, we thank you that you desire to spend time with us, and you have even called us to be your friend and children. God, your Word says, if we draw near you, you will draw near to us—and we want to be near you. So right now, we ask you that you cause us to draw near you above everything else. Help us to have supernatural time-management abilities, help us to see clearly when we can set aside time to spend with you, and help us to never compromise that time. Father, you said that you are a rewarder of those who diligently seek you. We have pursed you with passion and perseverance. Still, help us to put your Word first in every decision we make, to pray continually throughout the day, and to look for opportunities to listen to your teachings that will build our knowledge and understanding of who you are and what you want for our lives. Thank you. #RandolphHarris 11 of 11
Having a healthy, fully functioning community is not a luxury or something just for a rare few. It needs to be a reality for enough of us to significantly impact the majority. The omnipotence of God resides simply in the fact that whenever he wills anything, his will is immediately and invariably followed by the existence of its object. Heaven may seem distant at times, but God’s pure love encourages us to become more pure and holy. It inspires us to walk in righteousness—not out of fear or obligation, but to out of an earnest desire to become even more like the Lord because we love him. By doing so, we can become born again and be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this World and eternal life in the World to come, even immortal glory. If we do not feel worthy to be a disciple of the Lord at all times, we should not get discouraged. The first step to walking in righteousness is to simply try. We must try to believe. Try to learn of God: read the scriptures; study the words of his prophets; choose to listen to the Heavenly Father, and do the things he asks of us. Try and keep on trying until that which seems difficult becomes possible—and that which seems only possible becomes habit and a real part of us. “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give us a spirit of unity,” reports Romans 15.4-5. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8
Some of us are overly self-conscious, and that skill and be both a blessing and a burden. It may help us forecast what others want or need for us, but it also opens us up to every critical comment aimed in our direction. This can cause an individual to become wrapped in their thoughts, mentally on guard for any chance to win approval and be accepted. However, after we figure out that we are worthwhile and stop worrying about how others react to us, we will still be aware of others’ opinions of us, but we will not care so very much. At first it might feel odd not to be vigilant in every social situation. Since we will no longer analyze every interaction for its inherent danger or opportunity, we may find ourselves building up a huge bank account of mental energy. Once we realize the gift life has given to us, we become very excited. It is like winning a lot of money tax free and being able to do whatever we want. So, why not channel all of our keen mental abilities in some new, more productive, less stressful direction? How about getting to know who we are as people? We can learn more psychology, religion, art, more names of flowers and trees and birds. Maybe it would even be possible to grow a business and get rid of poverty. When people mature we experience a dramatic change in the way we view the opinions of the outside World: these opinions suddenly lose impact. We shift our attention from words to things. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8
None of this is to say, of course, that the opinions of others are unimportant. The fact that we care about what other people think is a basic foundation of society, and it helps us do the right thing at times when it would be easier, or more fun, to follow our own selfish interest. The self-conscious, is us watching ourselves from the eyes of others, and this helped us, as children, learn to adhere to the norms of our families and communities. Self-conscious observation spurs us to climb the ladders of success in educational and professional pursuits. “None of us lives in oneself alone and none of us dies to oneself alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your family? Or why do you look down on your family? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: ‘As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God,’” reports Romans 14.7-11. We should listen for the voice of the Heavenly Father in the bounties and beauties of nature, in the gentle whisperings of the Spirit. As we draw near to Heavenly Father, we become more holy. And as we become more holy, we will overcome disbelief and our souls will be filled with his blessed light. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8
The new approach we need to keep growing is by aligning our lives with this supernal light so it can lead us out of darkness and toward the greater light. This greater light leads to the unspeakable ministering of the Holy Spirit, and the veil between Heaven and Earth can become thin. Heavenly Father’s love for his children is the core message of the plan of happiness, which plan is made active through the Atonement—the greatest expression of live the World has ever known. When we are ready to give up self-conscious, adults who experience this magical time of self-awareness, or one watching through the eyes of one’s own inner authority come to understand that God’s commandments hang upon the principle of love. If we do not neglect the great laws—if we truly learn to love our Heavenly Father and our fellow people with all our heart, soul, and mind—all else will fall into place. “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in human love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality,” reports Romans 12.9-13. As we begin to listen to ourselves, we will find that our mental life takes on two important aspects. First, we begin to approach the external World more deliberately, with out own interest at heart. Second, we discover aspects of ourselves—our preferences, talents, and habits. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8
As we negotiate a new balance between our internal World and the external one, both changes help us face the World with confidence. Getting this balance is the right key to wisdom. “Learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God. Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and withersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever,” reports Alma 37.36. Becoming wise is one of the major objectives of maturity. How wise we become depends in large part on our ability to watch our public self with the curiosity of a detective and the compassion of a saint. What we observe ourselves doing in the course of our maturity may at times startle us, discourage us, confuse us, and overwhelm us. However, we must remember to be gentle with ourselves. We have to understand that we will renegotiate this balance over and over in the years to come. Many people are at war—at war with life, with each other, with themselves—consumed by the fight to win at work and elsewhere. It all includes huge drama, high stakes, tremendous challenges and risks, primal encounters, great danger, unusual camaraderie, and the extremes of play at the edge. However, the ensouled body is in communion with the body of the World and find its health in that intimacy. “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good,” reports Alma 37.37. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8
All power ultimately comes from God; he alone has absolute sovereignty. Although many nations have a wonderful constitution, many people see the American Constitution more nearly perfect than others because it recognizes the existence of the Creator and God-given rights of individuals, which the government is bound to respect and protect. Because of the social contract theory, a philosophy of government that holds that governments exist based on the consent of the governed, and individuals who give their consent to be governed have the right to resist or remove rulers who deviate from those purposes. In the ringing language, the Declaration of Independence proclaims: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal (in the eyes of the law), that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. When God reveals himself, he does so as a person. Revelation is the act of a person, not the setting out of a doctrine. In revelation, God encounters humans beings as person to person; humans cannot argue their way to God by philosophy or discover God apart from the Biblical revelation, yet when God calls, humans can at least answer. We must return continually to revelation for renewal. This is in part because of the character of human sin, but it is also in part because we must reassert the personal character of social life in a new context. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8
Many people never make the transition from self-consciousness to self-awareness. They get stuck in what is called self-sabotage: they stop caring altogether. The man who just lets himself go, or the woman who just says she is no good at math are both engaging in self-limiting behaviour. A self-aware person makes conscious choices about what to do about simple facts: “I want to live a long, energetic life (fulfilling a person imperative), I will start exercising.” A self-sabotaging person will see the fact, may even see what needs to be done, but will go no further. We can, however, use this gift of life to pursue wisdom. All we have to be to become wiser is to listen to our own internal rhythms and use them in our daily lives. Sounds simple, right? However, anyone who has tried it knows that it is constant work. Wisdom is not a goal, but a life-long process, lit by a sense of ever-evolving relationship with all that we are. If we practice on improving everyday for a week, we should make surprising discoveries that can improve our lives on several levels. The divine love of God turns ordinary acts into extraordinary service. Divine love is the motive that transports simple words into sacred scripture. Divine love is the factor that transforms reluctant compliance with God’s commandments into blessed dedication and consecration. Love is the guiding light that illuminates the disciple’s path and fills our daily walk with life, meaning, and wonder. “And never could be a people more blessed than were they, and more prospered by the hand of the Lord,” reports Ether 10.28. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8
God is in Heaven. He lives. He knows and loves you. He is mindful of you. He hears your prayers and knows the desires of your heart. He is filled with infinite love for you. Let us be known as a people who love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and who love our neighbour as ourselves. When we understand and practice these two great commandments in our families, in our wards and branches, in our nations, and in our daily lives, we will begin to understand what it means to be a true lover of God. If only because through doing so we learn to fully and compassionately relate to all that we are, every one of us needs to wholeheartedly engage in the learnings and work that make closeness possible because it will eventually heal ourselves so deeply that we render ourselves all but incapable of dehumanizing others. Full-out intimate relationship is one of the most healing paths there is, and has the capacity to revolutionize our companionship on a significant scale, but only if it foes to a sufficiently deep level. More than cosmetic shifts are needed, more than superficial gains, more than dips in self-help literature and seminars, more than attendance to sporting events. Without a saner, deeper bonding between intimate partners, dysfunctional associations will continue to dominate the community landscape. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8
The experience of love in everyday life is diverse and complex in nature. Although some philosophers see the Universe as a plurality of minds, and recognize the levels of mind below the human soul, they realize that we can never be independent from God because our origin as humans in the creative act of God have made us able to respond to God’s love in a unique way. The Soul is a human developing part, but it is not a detached creation. Love is the measure of our faith, the inspiration for our obedience, and the true altitude of our discipleship. By loving God and doing what he wants us to do, and by loving our neighbour, we are complying with God’s law. However, love of God and love of neighbour are quite different. Love of God is manifested by acts of obedience and worship that grow out of concern for the love of the neighbour’s need. Because love is the great commandment, it ought to be at the center of all and everything we do in our own family, in our Church callings, and in our livelihood. Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal and family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities, and nations. There is no finer example in life than love. Love is the power that initiates friendships, tolerance, civility, and respect. It is the source that overcomes divisiveness and hate. Love is an energy that warms our lives with unparalleled joy and divine hope. Love should be our presentational continuum, an undifferentiated flux, not a partitioned series. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8
When facing complex problems, some people find themselves feeling confused, and are yearning to learn something new because they are experiencing routines as boring. In the process, individuals become worried over forgetfulness, may cling to narrow-minded ideas, lack creativity, and are longing for mental challenges. One woman was complaining she was sick of housework and feeling guilty over her lack of interest in caring for her family. A computer science engineer reported he felt overwhelmed by the amount of information coming at him. And an architect was frustrated that $1,200.00 worth of tools had been stolen from one of her farm houses under construction. These are common concerns and people are looking for answers of how they can review their lives and make changes to prevent feeling robbed. As we journey down the pathway of Mental Mastery, it is important to consider everything that can go wrong and plan for it ahead of time, look for ways to see how the products of our lives are helping those around us, and to take breaks when we need time to rest. Some people notice that their conscious attention to the details of their lives leads to better judgment in problem-solving. Others observe that activating their memory for past events expands their ability to understand their deeply rooted intellectual talents and creative gifts. When we achieve our objectives or find an unanticipated benefit, we should stop a moment to enjoy it and take the time to relish those wins. That will help more of them to come our way. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8
When we truly understand what it means to love as the Lord does, the confusion clears and our priorities align. Our walk as disciples of God becomes more joyful. Our lives take on more meaning. Agreeing with the ideal that the World is somehow a construct of the mind, we interpret the mind not as an all-inclusive absolute but as concrete, practically active human personality. There is a psychological logic of discovery that will recognize the practical impulses being the pursuit of knowledge. The World be understood only as an interrelated whole. We are bombarded with information at one thousand times the rate our grandparents were. Our senses register many thousand stimuli each day, from the way a colleague’s cologne smells to an ad for the circus to the fact that dinner will be 6.00pm at Jill and Justin’s house. Most people know that it is up to us to decide which of these bits of information to retain. (It would be nice to remember what time to show up at Jill and Justin’s, for example.) None of us could function in daily life without the ability to filter out unwanted stimuli and focus on what is important. Like many skills, however, this skill is overdeveloped by the time most of us reach midlife. What is essential to our ability to become productive in society is now so automatic that we miss out on a lot that life has to offer. Human action can be understood only by sympathetic insight, by reliving the thoughts of others, and not by the methods of inductive science. We have to note what it takes to life our lives the best way possible. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8
In knowledge independent objects are directly present to the mind and the mind itself is not to be contemplated, but enjoyed. The World is a process of emergent evolution in which new, higher levels of being successively develop; from the raw material of undifferentiated space time came the World of mathematical physics, from that the perceived order of sensible qualities, then life, then mind, and finally, in a time yet to come, God, conceived as the ideal goal of the whole evolutionary process. This allows our relationship with our Heavenly Father to become more profound, and obedience becomes a joy rather than a burden. God the Eternal Father did not give that first great commandment because he needed us to love him. The Lord’s power and glory are not diminished should we disregard, deny, or even defile his name. God’s influence and dominion extend through time and space independent of our acceptance, approval, or admiration. No, God does not need us to love him. But oh, how we need to love God. For what we love determines what we seek. What we seek determines what we think and do. What we think and do determines who we are—and who we will become. We are created in the image of our Heavenly parents; we are God’s spirit children. Therefore, we have a vast capacity for love—it is part of our spiritual heritage. What and how we love not only defines us as individuals; it also defines us as a community. Love is a defining characteristic of disciple of God. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8
Since the beginning of time, love has been the source of both the highest bliss and the heaviest burdens. At the heart of misery from the days of Adam until today, we will find the love of wrong things. And at the heart of joy, we will find the love of good things. And the greats of all good things is God. “We ought always to thank God for our family, loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth,” reports 2 Thessalonians 2.13. Without the illative sense, we would not be open to the transcendent, and therefore never be open to the reality of a God who has revealed himself to us. Without this preliminary openness to God as a result of reason’s illative sense, we would not be able to put our faith in that God who has revealed himself to us. The illative sense is therefore a preamble to faith. The human experience of conscience makes it clear that we have a moral duty to concluded, based upon reason alone, that there is a divine legislator, and hence God. In a healthy self-love, the experience of relationships is a phenomenon that provides insights for the purpose of advancing power, success, emotional and gender certainty that is sometimes said to make people envious of one’s mental mastery and spiritual renewal. Our Father in Heaven has given us, his children, much more than any mortal mind can comprehend. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8
God created this wondrous World we live in. God the Father watches over us, fills our hearts with breathtaking joy, brightens our darkest hours with blessed peace, distills upon our minds precious truths, shepherds us through times of distress, rejoices when we rejoice, and answers our righteous petitions. A highly decorated Vietnam veteran, an officer of the highest caliber, who had done plenty of time in the battle, said that loving God and working on mental mastering was a source of strength and relational intimacy, a crucible for breakthrough healing. True healing happens when courage, integrity, vulnerability, compassion, awareness, and the capacity to take strong action are all functioning together. Such power is potent but not aggressive, challenging but not shaming, grounded but not rigid, forceful but not pushy. Following God requires head, heart, and guts in full-blooded alignment. This is a true hero’s journey of healing and awakening. We are connecting our past and present emotionally as well as intellectually, to understand who we are. “And now, because of their steadfastness when they do believe in that thing which they do believe, for because of their firmness when they are once enlightened, behold, the Lord shall bless them and prolong their days,” reports Helaman 15.10. It turns out that the ability to be mindful has a powerful, beneficial influence on each aspect of our lives. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8
Think of mindfulness as focused concentration, as acting on purpose or with keen awareness. When we are mindful we take no situation for granted, not even routines. Mindfulness means being vigilant, looking at what is happening from multiple angels, being open to new information and willing to revise our understanding of the way the World works. Paying attention to the comprehensive view of the World and the details of our experience is the essence of mindfulness. Being mindful in our daily life choices can increase self-knowledge while decreasing the likelihood of depression. We should reflect on the reason behind each of our choices. Did the choice we made serve our own purpose? Were we accommodating the needs of someone else? Were we acting out of habit? We also need to reflect on the consequences of each option. What impact did our choices have on us? Our Healthy? Our happiness? Our relationships? Our productivity? And based upon our brief but insightful analysis, we have to consider what choices we intend to repeat when appropriate and which ones will we replace with more useful, fulfilling alternatives? And we should think about the wonderful things God and our intellect has done for us recently. God offers his children the promise of a glorious and infinite existence and has provided a way for us to progress in knowledge and glory until we receive a fulness of joy. The Lord has promised us all that he has. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8
Think of the purest, most all-consuming love one can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount—that is the measure of God’s love for us. God does not look on the outward appearance. He does not care one bit if we live in a castle or cottage. God does not care how attractive we are. God does not care if we are famous or a has been. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Through we are imperfect, God love us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely. God loves us because he is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and extraordinary love. We are important to God not because of our resume, but because we are his children. He loves every one of us, even if we are misfits. God’s love is so great that he loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked. The closer we approach God, the more profoundly we experience love. However, because a veil separates this mortality from our Heavenly home, we must seek in the Spirit that which is imperceptible to mortal eyes. There is a huge need for us to take this journey out of a service to everyone. There is a deep life for us, a life in which reasonability and freedom are the same, a life in which happiness is rooted not in what we have but in what we fundamentally are. It is to such a life that the love of God is dedicated. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8
Virtue is doing good to humankind, in obedience to the will of God, and for the sake of everlasting happiness. Virtuous people are proper self-lovers who, in the process of promoting the self, will not hard others. Love is divine because it comes from God and unites us to God; through this unifying process it makes us a community which transcends our divisions and makes us one, until in the end God is all in all. The psychology concerns the person, who loves, and the mutuality of persons in love. The psychology of mutual love is based on a gift that is first received from other human beings—parents, spouses, children, friends—and primordially from God. Love recognizes the interdependence of human and divine love and their being rooted in knowledge and faith. God is love and has created all humankind in the divine image as knowing and loving persons. It is God’s love that makes possible human love of God, neighbour, and oneself. Since human love is both divine in origin and human in expression, we are constantly reminded of that because of the effects of sin, the divine likeness is wounded in humankind. Nonetheless, the Atonement bestowed a new dignity on human nature and redeemed human kind in a majestic act of love. God’s continuous and sustaining gift, which is manifest in loving personal relationships and the living religious tradition, serves as the basis for the practice of the art of love in a faith-based psychology of love. #RandolpHarris 1 of 8
Psychology is the study of the human psyche or spiritual soul, which includes behavior and the mine, but more as well. There is a basic need for safe emotional connection and people often seek safe relationships, as they are a manifestation of health and strength. As relationships develop, they tend to flourish because they are a secure base to help deal with life and the World. Typically, emotional accessibility and responsiveness are desirable. If people have self-love, they respect their thoughts, feelings and beliefs and experience a deep sense of pride; a framework is designed to resist compression, and allows us the right to have ideas, speak them, and expect others to be respectful. People that love themselves acknowledge and accept the fact that they have some faults and, for the most part, excuse themselves. People who are able to self-actualize learn from the mistakes made in life. All knowledge is relative and concerns only what is conditioned by the fact that we know it. Absolute or unconditioned reality is unknowable at this time. We can conceiver it even have faith that it exists, but at best we can have only negative knowledge of it. The experience of our humanness depends on our self-knowledge and the experience of ourselves. The difference between a healthy self-love and a distorted self-love lies in the ability to tell reality from fantasy and the ability to empathise and to love others. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8
The great spiritual teachers do not preach only to the converted, but engage with an entire people, and by their ability to reach into the hearts and minds of many they exert a profoundly transformative influence on individuals and society. There is a deeper sense of spiritual affection, a love that unites God and humankind, souls and soul in divine communion. God cannot be submitted to humanly rational standards of morality so we build a connection and guide humanity to God’s grace, God’s unselfish love, and it is given freely by God. God’s love is sovereign and is directed to the good for those who stand in a relationship with it; it creates value in its object. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. God guides me in paths of righteousness for is name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all these days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever,” reports Psalm 23.1-6. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8
Some people only think about how old they look, and that is an indication that they need to work on their self-esteem. If an individual invests too much of one’s self-worth in the way he or she looks nature’s gentle changes begin to seem like personal insults. Many people who care about the way they look resort to cosmetic surgery to keep themselves looking young. These patients are never satisfied with their surgeries, because no plastic surgeon is capable of erasing age. No matter how many wrinkles the doctor eradicates, a patient’s face will reveal its chronological age within five years. There is another kind of patient, too, a type who does not care about looking young; they want to look good. It sounds like a fine distinction, but someone who wants to look his or her best at forty-five will always be happier with his or her surgery than someone who wants to look thirty at sixty-five. If you do it for the right reasons, plastic surgery can really be terrific. No one can decide how much attention you will give your looks. For most of us, it is enough to dress well, get a good haircut, and generally make the best of what we have. All of us are in some age shock experience. However, who we are is in fine shape somewhere deep inside. So why worry about the flesh so much? Cast your minds back to your first spiritual experience. You are a fierce, energetic, living person. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8
The thinking-self separates mind or soul from the bodily material World and has the effect that emotions, sensations, and feelings, necessary for self-reflection, can be neglected. How many times do you force your body to so something at its own expense? We may push ourselves to run faster, lose more weight, stay up later, get up earlier, work longer, loft one more box plant one more tree—at a time when our bodies are screaming “STOP!” in fatigue or pain. Many people fight back, maybe pop some acetaminophen or oxycodone, and keep going. However, this can cause high risk for addiction and dependence, respiratory distress and death when taken in high doses or when combined with other substances, especially alcohol. We learn how to mentally dominate our physical needs early in life. That is what potty training is all about. However, often what starts out as a healthy effort to adapt bodily function to fit social dictates ends up causing strain and damage. Without contemplation, sense, experience, feelings, etcetera, the idea of a personal identity is not possible and the self as a rational and relational being experience Empty Suit Syndrome. When a person is subject to relentless, abusive demands, the physical mechanisms of the body start to break down, and the brain-washing slowly erodes one’s sense of self-worthy, security, and trust in humanity. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8
Many physical symptoms that we attribute to getting older are actually manifestations of physical strain. For instance, high blood pressure trouble digesting certain foods, and chronic pain, along with more debilitating cancer and heart attacks, are more often manifestations of unrelenting strain. Honor the wisdom of the body by slowing down long enough to figure out how to alleviate the stress it is under. Listening to our bodies has many rewards. We will be healthier, of course, and we will feel better. The better we become at listening to your bodies, the better our bodies will treat us. Aches and pains, poor sleep, or lack of stamina may be the early warning signs of unresolved stress on our bodies. We are probably pushing ourselves too hard, perhaps as a result of some internal pressure to perform. Rarely are symptoms such as these related solely to the aging process. If we leave them unresolved, we are opening the door to physical decline. “The Earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the World, and all who live in it; for God founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters,” reports Psalms 24.1-2. God designed our bodies to communicate with us, to help us achieve mind-body balance. The mind, body, and sensations are working together in creating awareness of self with memory and one’s sense of personal identity. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8
The Experience of an integrated self-love, mind, along with emotions and will is a core reality. Although the mind work through reasoning, it works closely with one’s emotions and will, but the mind is the part where all experiences are intellectually observed and where one consciously and unconsciously learns to deal with the inner as well as the outer World. The mind, by the process of reasoning and analysis, assists us to learn lessons about ourselves and makes us conscious about the World. The illative sense sustains a real assent to the existence of God on the basis of the deliverance of conscience. To have a natural theology, that is, to know God exists through reason, we need to recruit our illative sense. The illative sense is what allows us to take our concrete human experiences—whether they be of nature’s beauty, of the demands of conscience (the feeling of guilt, the pangs of remorse, the search for forgiveness), of the sense of the contingency of life, and come to the conclusions that there is a transcendent reality behind it all, ultimately God. Truths and beliefs that we inherit from the ancestors, who discovered the Unknowable toward which they shared the religious emotions, transcended the belief that quantity of life is the supreme value is uneasily qualified by admission of the importance of a surplus of agreeable feeling. The task of morality is to counteract the cruel injustices of the natural order of things. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8
The whole net of relationships which we find ourselves in, in one way or another, influences our life-experiences, and thus also our experience of self. The lack of an integrated view point of the self clearly has dire consequences for the understanding of the relationships we have with God, other human beings, ourselves, and the Universe. If we do not experience self, we cannot experience anything else. In short: the ability to think, to reason, in other worse, the rational, is of fundamental importance in discerning the importance of relationships and the development of relationships. It is an ability that draws on and is influenced by our personhood as a holistic experiential experience of past and present realities and future anticipations. Our evaluations, our perceptions of what we experience, are fundamental not only to how we relate to ourselves, but to everybody and everything, God included. It is the light in the Biblical teaching that God’s love towards humans and all of creation is realized within the context of a covenant relationship, is a core truth. Love in Scripture is always within clearly defined relationships governed by certain distinctive responsibilities. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appear to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No” to ungodliness and Wordly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and Godly lives in this present age,” reports Titus 2.11. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8
There are no such things as limits to growth, because there are no limits to the human capacity for intelligence, imagination, and wonder. Our heart’s desires must be elevated to the mind before they can be activated. We will get what we constantly put into our mind. Energy goes where attention flows. In a sense, energy responds to our mental hygiene. It works by monitoring our thoughts and gives substance to those thoughts. This is the supreme power of the Law of Attraction, which is simply our imaginations at work. However, the thoughts we conjure up do not manifest immediately, and that is a blessing in some cases. Our mind gives us a chance to reconsider our thoughts. Yet, if our thoughts continue with consistency, the mind’s assumption is that those thoughts are our heart’s desire. It will provide activation energy. We live in a World of fulfillment and unlimited resources. It is a Universe of creativity and productivity. There is so need to want for anything because our Heavenly Father has already provided everything we can imagine to create the lives we desire. Our minds are our Universe, and the heart fuels its intensity. The Law of Attraction follows the flow of energy that is attracted to what we think about most, which is why some people pray and go to church so often. Reality consists of corporeal substances, all of whose properties can be deduced from motions. Immaterial substance is a plain contradiction, it will merely receive your thoughts and manifest things. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8
Perception and will, the two seemingly propriety attributes of humankind, are brought within the scope of the theory of motion. Sensation is a physical response to a physical stimulus. The small motions within people that sets up interact with the vital motions of the body. If this interaction is harmonious, pleasure is experienced; if discordant, pain. Pleasure leads people away from the source of discord. The fundamental law of human behavior is self-preservation which continued existence depends. The mental life of the human being is a multiplicity of minute motions within the body, of endeavors toward or away from the environment as determined by its propitiousness or hostility to self-preservation. Human beings are deterministic as well as materialistic. The fundamental law of self-preservation is that we should seek whatever means are necessary to protect ourselves from dangers created by the self-preservation activities of others. We ought to do what is rationally prudent, not what is autonomously morally binding. As we complain and remain fixated on our anemic imagination, we observe the decimation of our lives. Imagine how our thoughts interrelate to our lives, we have the power to transform our thoughts—and our lives. We are in complete control of our destinies. We should only think about the things we desire. The area where we place most of our attention will prevail. We get what we expect. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8
Expectation is belief in thoughts. We come from royalty. We have a rich heritage. Therefore, if we elect to live in squalor and deprive our spirits of the empowering atmosphere it rightfully deserves, that is a shame. God exists, and he should be worshiped. Piety is shown in right conduct, and sin should be repented. God will distribute rewards and punishments in an afterlife. We are the masters of our fate, and the captains of our souls. This proclamation should reverberate in our hearts. We must not live likes slaves nor outcasts because our birthright is a lineage of royalty. We must claim our heritage and take our position with the great ones. Mind is senior to the World both in the sense that there must be an infinite self-existent spirit and an intellectual concept plays a part in our perception of things. Mind is essentially active. There is a spiritual mover behind the evident motion of the natural World, and on the human level knowledge is not passive sensation; in knowledge mind is actively involved with its environment. If our desires are deeply rooted, fertilized, and nurtured, then our wishes become true because we are working in accordance with the Law of Attractions and the Theory of Expectancy. We acquire our heart’s desires from the God because we understand and work with the Universal laws and principles. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8
Impenetrability and divisibility constitute the essence of matter. For spirit, which is to say God’s activity is present everywhere. Wat is the emotional climate of your spirit? Often, a person’s desire overshadows one’s ability to discern the mind’s mental atmosphere. Although we may have good thoughts, are they congruent with the overall condition of our mental state? A good thought here or there does not mean that we will reap a mental state of prosperity. The sum total of our thoughts will tip the scale of emotional quality one way of the other. Our thoughts can generate a bountiful garden, or our thoughts can generate a garden of lack and limitation. We are the magician and the magic. We have complete control of every thought. No one can force us to think anything without our approval. “The Lord, your God, is with you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing,” reports Zephaniah 3.17. The moment you start the journey of elevating our spirit to things in line with Universal Love, we will meet a magnitude of lessons of opportunity. These lessons will visit us by the multitude and invade every aspect of our lives. “At that time I will deal with all who opposed you; I will rescue the defenseless and gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the Earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” reports Zephaniah 3. 19-20. The more spiritually rooted we become, the more opportunities will come our way, which will allow our souls to become more advanced. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8
In the concept of substance we have an idea that is essential to knowledge and yet is not derived from, but brought to, experience. There is much a priori knowledge—intuitive knowledge of one’s own existence, demonstrative knowledge of mathematical and moral truth. Everything, in particular sensation, is caused and some of our sensations resemble their causes. In everything we do, say, and thing, we have a choice. It reflects on our thoughts, imagination and visualization. Ideas are the raw material of all thought and knowledge, and all ideas (expect substance) are acquired from sensation and reflection, or inner sense. The complex fabric of knowledge is assembled from these elementary empirical data by combining activity of the mind. We combine simple, qualitative ideas into complex ideas of objects and relations. We run similar ideas together to form abstract ideas that serve as the inner criterion for the application of the words with which they are conventionally associated. The concept of causation is more or less perceptible property, a power, of things related by it. Sensation yields us simple ideas of many kinds. If we limit our choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, we disconnect ourselves from what we truly want, and all that is left is compromise. There is a God, the indispensable cause of the perfections to be found in the World. The revelations of the incarnate God are not indispensable for the acquisition of correct moral and religious opinion. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8
Those who lived before Christ were not in complete darkness. The purpose of revelation is not the diffusion of new truths, but the corroboration of ancient ones. Since God is good, he cannot have concealed his essential message from those who lived before Christ. It follows that the vital content of revelation is accessible to all through natural reason and, therefore, revelation is a necessary reminder so humanity does not get lost. Human nature is always the same, and so is God’s law for humans. It is in the moral demands of this law that the essence of religion is contained. The Fall of Adam and Eve did not make revelation necessary because people have not perceptibly improved since Christ’s incarnation. The real corruption is to be found in what some have done to remove God from society. Gravity is immaterial and it must be interpreted as a direct expression of God’s will for the natural order. When one looks at history, it is interesting to discover that the planet experienced global warming before and America, as a result, because a tropical rain forest. As temperatures cooled, the rain forest then became the beautiful plains that we have today. Also, there used to be an ocean in the middle of North America, but as the continent rose and the Rocky Mountains formed about 85 million years ago, the ocean drained into the Arctic. Therefore, God is a self-existent being and displays the provable attributes of unity, infinity, intelligence, freedom and goodness. Human’s freedom is safeguarded from obliteration. Space and times are properties of God. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8
Moral truth is conceived in close analogy to mathematics as concerned with the eternal and intuitable fitness of actions to situations. Moreover, morality is prior to God’s will; an action is not good because God commands it, but is commanded by God because it is good. We must rely on a great accumulation of probabilities to understand God’s purposes and activities in the World. There is injustice on Earth, but, broadly speaking, the natural outcome of virtue is happiness and of vice suffering. No natural fact can exclude the immortality of the soul and a just rectification of the balance in the afterlife. We see all things in God because the ideas in our minds are the direct results of divine activity. Do not ask what the World needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the World needs is people who have come alive. Everyone has a secret World inside of them. All of the people of the World, I mean everybody. No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside, inside them they have all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, beautiful, amazing Worlds. Not just one World. Hundreds of them. Thousands maybe. “Give careful thought to your ways,” reports Haggai 1.7. It is our Heavenly Father that is blessing us. We receive blessings from the creator. Prayer is by far the most effective way to use the Law of Attraction. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8
There is more to the law of attraction than just visualization. Once in a while, we can just visualize what we want and they will come our way. However, most of the time, worthwhile things take action, work and dedication. There has to be a passion inside of the person We need extra spiritual power to overcome personal challenges and receive a blessing. A blessing is a conferral of power over spiritual things. Though it cannot be touched or weighed, it is of great significance in helping us overcome obstacles on the path to eternal life. We must also try to remember that when adversity comes, it is likely a means of preparing us for something ahead. Yes, it is worthy it. It is worth it all. “And when you shall receive these things, I would exhort you that you ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if you shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it onto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost,” reports Moroni 10.4. We must be willing to live the truth to the best of our ability. And then be available to the gifts of the Spirit though our personal worthiness that we may be directed and that we may recognize the answers when they come. The notion of virtue is the outcome of a correct balance of the elements of human nature. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8
Natural knowledge is the first instance of an intuitive awareness through the senses of singular individuals. Knowledge of the self is pretty much the same as knowledge of God. We know that we exist, and have some natural and rational knowledge about where our souls come from. Things are good because God wills them and not vice versa, so moral truth comes from the Lord. God’s creation of the World is a free act of will. All possible ideas of created things are present in God’s mind, and human’s philosophy can explore these possibilities but cannot anticipate the free act of will by which God selects some of them for creation. “Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives. Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all,” reports Titus 3.14-15. God’s existence and nature must be revealed. That is how God’s absolute power and freedom of action are conceivable. The soul prospers in an environment that is concrete, particular, and vernacular. It feeds on the details of life. Our soul capacity is to mirror the sacred becomes a divine mirror. As embodied mirror, we reflect the divine presence with all the reverence of our humanity, and it is etched into our memory and personality. It is difficult to imagine anything more nourishing to the soul. Maybe one function of love is to cure us of an anemic imagination, a life emptied of romantic attachment and abandoned to reason. #RandolphHarris 2 of 5
However, if every person wore their heart on their sleeve, openly displayed or made known one’s emotions or sentiments, society would be unendurable; for wicked would appear too monstrous, and the weak too important, so the divine forecast provides safeguards. “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, as set you above your companions by anointing you with oil of joy,” reports Hebrews 1.9. Under the ancient covenant, anointing oil was used to consecrate kings and to set people and articles in the sanctuary apart for holy service unto God. It symbolizes the ordaining and presence of the Holy Spirit to heal, empower, comfort, and deliver. The oil is a symbol of God’s blessing poured out through his Holy Spirit in all it’s fullness. “This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord was confirmed by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will,” reports Hebrews 2.3-4. We glory in our designation as a unique people. It is our desire to be exceptional—different from other people—because we have forsaken the World and have made a covenant to live Godly lives and to walk in paths of truth and virtue. We do not care for the soul by shrinking it down to a reasonable size. The soul has a depth of mystery and grandeur of expression that is considered highly coveted. #RandolphHarris 3 of 5
Our way of life, the security and joy that fills our souls, our hope of glory and honor hereafter all grow out of our doctrine, out of our theology, and out of the revealed truths that have come to us. And if we have a better way of life, surely those who are honest in heart will desire to know what we believe and how it changes and uplifts people. Eternity is love with the productions of time. There is a God in Heaven, a glorious personage, a holy being, who knows all things, has all power, and is infinite and eternal. God is the Supreme Being, the Eternal Absolute, the Creator and people of Worlds without number. He is our Father in Heaven, and he lives in the family unit. We believe it is not too much to ask, in this age of enlightenment and open dialogue, to let us be the ones who tell who we are, what we believe, and why our cause is going forward in such a marvelous way. It is difficult to imagine anything more nourishing to the soul. Therefore, guided by the holy monitor, we must walk in the light, keep the commandments, and overcome the World. Such is the plan of salvation for all people in all ages. Such is the plan that has been revealed from age to age so that fallen people might work out our salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord. God, who is the Father to us all, who loves all his children, and who pleads with all people to repent and be saved, the great God in Heaven above has commenced the promised restoration of all things. #RandolphHarris 4 of 5
Motivated by thoughts of purity and self-control, a person can deny narcissism all kinds of comforts. Spiritual programs are filled with concerns for individual progress, acceptance by authorities, and the wish for sainthood or some other high position. An alternative approach is to hear the soul’s complaint and give it love and attention where is most needs it, even where we are most suspicious. Love releases us into the realm of divine imagination, where the soul is expanded and reminded of its unearthly craving and needs. Love brings consciousness closer to dream state. When we comprehend the doctrine of premortal life, we know that we are the children of God, that we lived with him in spirit from before entering mortality. We know that this life is a test, that life did not begin with birth, nor will it end with death. Then life begins to make sense, with meaning and purpose even in all of the chaotic mischief that humankind creates for itself. In the field of destiny, no team or player will be eternally disadvantaged because they keep the rules. They may be concerned or misused, even defeated for a time. However, individual players on that team, regardless of what appears on the scoreboard, may already be victorious. “We have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God,” reports Moroni 9.6. Life from this glowing purer place, our innocent spirit, relying on its own talent, falls into compliance, and is entangled with overwhelming love. #RandolphHarris 5 of 5
Happiness is a skill. It requires effort and time. Since knowledge involves reference, it is always hypothetical and tentative. Probably one of the hardest steps of faith is believing that God hears and will help us when we call on him in prayer. We are still living in a World that has dimensions and boundaries and our finite minds have limits to our understanding in difficult matters. We, therefore, need a measure of faith to see past that which is seen and go deeper into that which is of the divine. Despite the turbulence in life, we please God by trusting him. “Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard,” reports Daniel 10.12. Reality is a society of persons: the ultimate (uncreated) Person and finite (created) persons. Reality is thus not nature, but history. The natural order does not have ontological identity outside the ultimate Person; rather, this order is God’s behavior. The laws of logic do not have privileged priority; they are constitutive of the supreme mind. In philosophy of religion, this position is idealistic theism (not theological dualism). God is a conscious Person who creates finite persons and cooperates with them in the cosmic endeavor. A human persons is a context of experience capable of self-consciousness, reason, and ideal values. Biblical faith has as a bridge between humans and God, in other words freedom as love. #RandolphHarris 1 of 13
God has basically created us with a desire to come to perfect knowledge of hum, but this full knowledge and relationship with God is hidden from us while in our mortal bodies. True knowledge of God will require being able to see him directly, but this is only possible by a completely purified soul. When this occurs, we will experience the ultimate pleasure—a pure and everlasting bliss that will be the satisfaction of every human desire and the obliteration of every sadness and worry. However, we can achieve a kind of imperfect happiness here on Earth. Happiness depends on the actualization of one’s natural faculties. The highest faculty the human being possess is reason, from which it follows that we can achieve happiness in this life in proportion to the level of truth accessible to reason. Our ultimate happiness consists in the contemplation of truth, for this operation is specific to humans. It is not directed to any other end sine the contemplation of truth is sought for its own sake. This is the only human operation that is carried out both by God and by the separate substances (Angels). Human nature is not so completely corrupted by sin as to be totally lacking in natural goodness. We have an impulse in us that seeks God and other impulses that pull us down to Worldly pleasures. However, it is possible to begin the process of healing in this lifetime by exercising natural virtues. Virtues of wisdom, courage, moderation, justice, and friendship. #RandolphHarris 2 of 13
God, in his grace, has revealed to us additional virtues: those of faith, love, and hope. These will pull us through to the final end so long as we begin the effort. It is impossible for any created good to constitute human’s happiness. For happiness is that perfect good which entirely satisfies one’s desire; otherwise it would not be the ultimate end, if something yet remained undesired. Now the object of the will of human’s desire, is what is universally good; just as the object of the intellect is what is universally true. Hence, it is evident that nothing can satisfy the human’s will, expect what is universally good. This is to be found, not in any creature, but in God alone, because every creature has only participated goodness. Therefore, God alone can satisfy the will of human beings. “For he (God) satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things,” reports Psalm 107.9. Life today may not be totally satisfying, however, we know that God will please the soul which is longing for an integral center of free action, wanting to be absorbed into the deity, and seeks unification with the highest perfection. Also, as we accept ourselves as emotional beings, we can find more beneficial outlets and feel good about the expression of our emotions. If it is accepted and acknowledged the we have a delicate nature, the strain of strong emotions can be reduced by channeling of expressions that do not harm oneself or another, or do not make the individual feel guilt or shame afterwards. #RandolphHarris 3 of 13
In the World at large, people are rewarded or punished in ways that are often utterly random. Increasing numbers of people use some sort of chemical either to produce emotion or eliminate it. Sometimes the same person will take a drink when happy and when sad. There are a hundred pills that will give one whatever effect one is after. We are surrounded by chemical helpers, many of which have come to be seriously misused. The use of chemicals and other artificial means of dealing with emotions and consciousness is not a new phenomenon. Such experiences have been around as long as humankind has. However, today, huge numbers of people are involved, for reasons that most of us cannot understand. Consciousness is a state of awareness, ow aware we are of what is going on, who we are, and what the reality around us is like. Human beings have always been interested in change and variety in their states of consciousness. Even little children enjoy alterations of consciousness. That explains why they will deliberately get blind dizzy on a playground merry-go-round or want to whirl around until their heads spin. This desire is a natural part of human experience, but much like children, we can find natural ways to deal with stress and avoid the unwinder martini. In the garden, cause and effect, labor and reward are re-coupled. Gardening makes sense in a senseless World. It gives a feeling of well-being, euphoria, relaxation and in some cases permits pleasant variations of perceptual experiences. #RandolphHarris 4 of 13
By extension, the more gardens in the World, the more justice, the more sense is created because the garden enables people to relax, have something to focus on in social gatherings and to become more talkative about nature, which is a neutral subject. Therefore, a garden can also be a consciousness-alteration experienced by people where they can listen to music, in communion wit nature, say prayers and experience religious ecstasy and beautiful visions. We still have a long way to go in understanding, appreciating, handling, and experiencing the full range of our emotional lives, but we know God wants us to be happy and the best way to do that is by focusing on things that bring us joy and are not harmful to others. Most of us have experienced the strong and dramatic feelings like anger, hate, joy, depression, passion and ecstasy, and fear. However, the findings of psychologist remind us that most people go to their graves still infants when it comes to living their fullest and most interesting emotional experiencing. One of the most baffling aspects of the behavior of men and women in highly-responsible positions in some segments of our society, is their comparative lack of concern for—perhaps it is lack of awareness of—the factor of communication, as such, in the problems and situations in which they have to deal. It is communication that makes human society possible. #RandolphHarris 5 of 13
The World is beset by many problems, but this hijacking of our brain’s reward centers by electronic media is potentially one of the most destructive. Sometimes we must empty ourselves of everything in order to make room for something good and full to come in. The goal is to get rid of all extraneous thoughts and feelings, to make room for something new and rich. A beautiful bouquet or a long lasting flowering plant is a traditional gift for women, but doctor Dr. Andrew Weil recommends that both men and women keep fresh flowers in the house for their beauty, fragrance, and the lift they give our spirits. Also, God created the World is six days, and rested on the seventh—now called the sabbath. Our English word sabbatical comes from that same root; it is used to refer to educational institutions’ practice of providing for teachers’ well-being and development by giving them a sabbatical, a year-long leave, once every seven years. A few businesses are beginning to give their employees similar extended periods of time off every few years, with partial or full pay, to provide times of full rest, recuperation, and recharging. We think these companies are wise. Even if their employees do nothing directly related to their work during this time, they will grow. They will come back to work refreshed and renewed, and they will probably do better, more productive work, plus having a better feeling about working for a company tat is concerned with its employees’ mental health. #RandolphHarris 6 of 13
We have found that packing our religion and living it while on a vacation is as vital as living it at home. Once love has been acknowledged as our Source of all supply—our being in other words—it must be extended to be able to flow. This is the real secret of prosperity. One who sincerely desires to find the secret of prosperity (not only money, remember?), to learn about the law of supply, cannot and will not do so, unless one comprehends the fundamental truth of love’s increase though extension. If love is not extended it cannot fulfill its own nature. It is about making us holy. It is our opportunity each day, especially on the sabbath, to connect with God and become more like him. Sometimes this means finding a new church to a attend, while on vacation, but it is nice to meet new people and see how other cultures preach about and praise the Lord. We sacrifice so little, but the Lord blesses us with so much. Love now extends itself, and always returns in the form we can use best—its value always being greater than the value we ascribed to the gift (time) we gave. God is the giver of all gifts, and each human being is an individual expression of God, his Being is therefore love’s source. God’s love has a special meaning and the truths expressed are beautiful and touches us on many levels. We are draw to the word of God because it is associated with important spiritual events in our lives. #RandolphHarris 7 of 13
The Lord has provided all of us with what we really need; and undeniable personal witness of his love. The blessings from God’s specific awareness of our lives and problems are examples of his constant influence called to our spiritual mind, the Spirit confirms the truthfulness of each. When we acknowledge God, our hearts overflow with love and gratitude, springing from some untouched place deep within us. When we feel God’s love, we can respond to it not only with our loyalty, but with our own love in return. God is so near that he is completely aware of our most secret sorrows and fears—even our troubled midnight thoughts. We are not alone. God’s love is what enables us to let go, and to realize that even though our goals have not been achieved exactly as we think they should be, God’s plan, whatever it is, will be better than our own. There is a great deal of scientific evidence that social connectedness is a very strong protector of emotional well-being, and there is no question that social isolation has greatly increased in our culture over the past 100 years. “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and you shall find me; ask, and you shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you,” reports Doctrines and Covenants 88.63. #RandolphHarris 8 of 13
Over the years many of us have learned that love is abundant and never in short supply. Without hungering for that love and seeking it, we may never know it. Human beings have survived for millennia because most of us make good decisions about our health most of the time. Many people move to suburban areas for a better life. To appreciate the classic American town, go to the suburbs. The streets meander past a parade of beautiful houses, cafes, shops, markets, and parks, all teeming with people on foot and in cars. We think of this buzzing pedestrian existence as a kind of vacation to experience. People walk because it is an easy, fast way to get where thy are going, whether it is work, a store or café; and others walk because they are interested in the natural scenery along their paths, such as parks, rivers and woods. In other words, walkers tend to be in it either for the journey or for the destination. Human beings have an innate need to socialize with one another. A neighbor may bake a pie to welcome you to the neighborhood, and he or she may be catering to a more primal desire for connection and support. In general, suburban communities tend to be the most affluent, enjoying the highest socioeconomic status when ranked with urban populations. Suburban residents seem to also have better health than inner city residents. #RandolphHarris 9 of 13
People living in suburban communities tend to be more educated and are most likely to have adequate health insurance and benefit from longer life expectancy, more access to health care and higher quality of care. They also seem to be happier and often benefit from access to and choices from nutritious foods, spaces for physical activity and recreation, utilities such as water and sewer, dental care and health care, transportation and even digital telecommunications. The schools in the suburbs are also better and there is more space for children to play. More space means children have more room to lay out their electric trains sets. You wake up in the morning, you know, and the Sun is shining. And it is nice, and all that type of stuff, and it just makes a person feel like it is going to be one terrific day. The houses are perfect for families—they have family rooms, open floor plans and backyards—and not so suburban names like “Rocklin Trails” and “Cresleigh Domain.” And for so many, the American Dream becomes a reality in the suburbs. Within a person’s reach is the chance to have a hose on their own land a car or two, a dog and a couple of kids. Each house has three to five bedrooms or more, two or three bathrooms. And the communities look uniform. Residents, in many cases, pledge to mow their lawns on the weekly basis. And many love the chance to leave the dirtiness of the city to live in the own home on their own land. There are shopping centers and restaurants, which add to the convenience of suburban life. #RandolphHarris 10 of 13
Every magnificent house also has a refrigerator, stove, comes with a laundry room, and space for the TV set. There are picture windows and natural light. In addition to this sense of feeling like everyone belongs, there is also a sense of conformity. The suburbs also bring families together. Thousands and thousands of people migrate to suburbia because residents of suburban communities often enjoy greater access to opportunities for healthy food stores and active lifestyles such as fitness centers. There are playgrounds, sports fields, sidewalks and bikeways, greenways and trails, public swimming pools and lakes. Other amenities in suburban communities are nature parks, pet parks, plus walking, biking, and bus riding to school. People in suburban communities also practice controlled-growth land use that protects the area’s natural environment in perpetuity by preserving landscapes, sustaining farmland, protecting natural habitats for wildlife and maintaining the character of the rural communities. Land trusts are voluntary conservation easements to safeguard the land from development and sprawl. Families who have passed down the same property from generation to generation often like entering into a land trust to know their family home will remain similar to how they remember it. In addition to improved property values, many people feel their quality of life is improved when there is a protected greenspace nearby. #RandolphHarris 11 of 13
People who have achieved enlightened awareness have found a way to retain the simple joys of life, while acknowledging the challenges inherent in living. They have learned how to own and cope with their emotions, from the most pleasurable to the most painful, and have the perspective to realize that life goes on no matter what feelings slow in the moment. They come home from a tough day at work and wonder what to eat for dinner. Emotions are self-regulated. The development of a more highly evolved language for emotions I which feelings are represented as dynamic, vivid, and uniquely personal experiences (rather than the more conventional approach in which feelings—like idea or thoughts—are believed to be uniformly experiences. People fully become themselves. As we enrich our emotional responsiveness, we add immeasurably to our sense of being in harmony with life, our ability to stay productive despite disturbing upheavals, and our willingness to our own feelings and express them freely. We also put ourselves on firm footing for gain in interpersonal effectiveness, spiritual serenity, and personal integrity. #RandolphHarris 12 of 13
People are attracted to others because of their rewarding qualities. People are so motivated that they tend to adopt a number of self-presentation strategies or tactics of ingratiation that include, in addition to flatter, conformity in opinion, judgment, and behavior to that of the other and attributing attractive characteristics to themselves directly or indirectly. “I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord and your love for all the saints. I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in the Savior. You love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you have refreshed the hearts of the saints,” reports Philemon 1.4-7. The World’s greatest need is mutual confidence. No human being ever knows all the secrets of another’s heart. Yet there is enough confidence between mother and child, husband and wife, buyer and seller to make social life a practical possibility. Confidence may be risky, but it is nothing like so risky as mistrust. The secrets of enjoying life is to like oneself. One of the best ways to accomplish that is to sped time around people who accept you. #RandolphHarris 13 of 13 
If we think about nature as a cosmic person, it is economically explained as the energizing cosmic Person. Nature is God willing in accordance with rational principles, hence nature dependably supports the orderly common World our finite reasons construct in response to it. God, however, it not identical with the natural World. He is transcendent as well as immanent in relation to it. He is the unified, dynamic ground of nature, and he uses it for his purposes, inclusive of his interaction with finite person. How, then, are finite persons related to God? Finite persons are created by God and have relative, delegated autonomy. The real World, whose structure maintains and guides the constructive cognitive adjustments of persons, does not force their moral and appreciative responses. However, when person do not treat each other as persons in a realm that is purposeful, they fall short of what their own natures in God’s World can be. God created humans free, to work out the content of their freedom in a World order that at once limits and gives them opportunity for fulfillment. Human freedom could effect nothing in a World without order, for persons do not create the rational or moral principles by which they guide their thought and action in the given ultimate order. “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you,” reports 2 Thessalonians 3.16. #RandolphHarris 1 of 11
The natural World as known by persons is the objectification of the orderly interaction between finite wills and cosmic Will. The ethical World is the objectification of the orderly, chosen, interaction among free, finite persons in the natural World God makes possible. It is a realm of persons untied both by God’s purposive action in nature and by the further moral unity created as persons freely respond to the reason, will, and love of the cosmic Person. “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and people, the man who is our Savior, who gave himself as a ransom for all people—the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose, I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith. I want people everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger nor disputing,” reports 1 Timothy 4.1-8. The grace of God as it is prevenient both in time and nature to all good works prevents the destruction of inherent order between grace and glory, sin and free will. God is the first cause, the author of action and not the creature who acted. #RandolphHarris 2 of 11
There can be no such thing as an act of free will, let alone merit, other than by God first willing it. God not only sees future actions, he wills them; contingency, far from being outside our knowledge, is the product of God’s willing. God is so actively involved in his creatures, as the senior partner in all they do, that creation is virtually an extension of his will. Some people say that because human’s infirmities and God’s omnipotence as established by authority, the Fall played no role in the outcome of humanity because people are dependent on God and it is not reasonable to have a huge planet with only two people on it. For a human being to adapt to a rapidly-changing World, one needs the companionship and support of others with whom one may sometimes disagree, but nevertheless feel a fundamental bond of like-mindedness. Pain is real, but so is hope. We need to recognize the importance of interdependence with others. “For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. However, women will be saved through childbearing—of they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety,” reports 1 Timothy 2.14-15. The family is divine in nature and God designates it as the fundamental building block of society, both on Earth and through eternity. As such, it becomes the foundation for civilization and a sanctuary for the individual. #RandolphHarris 3 of 11
Family is where we learn the social graces of loyalty, cooperation, and trust. Originally, the family served as almost a self-contained society. Perhaps one of the reasons for the immense popularity of the film “The Godfather” is that despite the admittedly less than honorable aims of the Godfather’s family activities, that sort of solidarity and support is strangely attractive to modern humans who are largely but loose from their own extended families. The traditional functions of the family are to provide long-term personal intimacy, companionship, regulate sexual relations, ensure continuance of society through the birth and socialization of children, and to provide economic support for dependents and later, for the parents, through their children. The is also the institution where we learn to love ourselves and each other, bear one another’s burdens, find meaning in our lives and give purpose to others’ lives, an where we learn to feel the value of being part of something greater than ourselves. The men and women who, for good reasons and bad, revolt against the family, are for good reasons and bad, revolting against humankind. “The sins of some people are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden,” reports 1 Timothy 5.24. #RandolphHarris 4 of 11
For the fortunate among us, that desire for a family and a good community, began with loving parents and siblings in a home that was equal parts refuge and laboratory for experimenting with our potential, our beliefs, and our identity. Those who had less than this ideal situation growing up still have the capacity to forge families of their own making. We can create places where children feel loved and supported, where they are taught that this life reflect what we previously had in Heaven, and that our families will be ours through eternity as long as we accept God and follow his commandments. Our Heavenly Father has the power to protect us, just as mortal parents do. However, sometimes God may step aside and allow us to learn from the consequences of our own decisions and actions. And our Heavenly Father provides us with rules that can teach us skills, the habits, and the values that will continue to shape our spiritual selves. It is our duty, even a sacred responsibility, to care for those in our family. We must provide and care for each other with love. We can follow Heavenly Father’s example by encouraging our loved ones in their trials, listening to their worries, cheering for them in their efforts and successes, and comforting them in their sorrows. Many people take pride in their family names and the heritage of honorable people they represent. “Every soul who belongs to human family shall stand before judgment-seat,” reports Mormon 3.20. #RandolphHarris 5 of 11
The economic institution has a tremendous effect on our socialization. Worldwide, materialism has become a major way of life for many. We often allow our environment to be exploited and polluted in other to produce cost efficient goods. And the rich are an elite considered inherently better than those with little or no money. There are only a few symptoms that indicate the power of the economic institution. All of us have seen the love of money change a person. Whether it be a Wall Street executive or the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or will. When people value money more than their family, friends, dignity, and spirituality, they become enslaved by it. The true danger of greed is that one becomes so obsessed with the object of his or her desire that it becomes the only thing that is important. Someone possessed by greed develops tunnel vision and, in that tunnel, they can see only their own selfish desire. Greedy people walk over the rights and needs of others and to them it is no big thing. They, along with their needs, are the only things that count. “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with may griefs. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline,” reports 1 Timothy 6.10 and 2 Timothy 1.6-7. #RandolphHarris 6 of 11
Many people—especially the young—are questioning the power that economics has in the World today. They feel that pursuit of a materialistic way of life is a sellout. Ultimately, greed is a sign of emptiness. The throwaway culture of materialism has created the giant accumulation of plastic called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which contains at least 79,000 tons of discarded plastic, covering an area of about 617,800 square miles (1.6 million square kilometers). That is three times the area of France and more than twice the size of Texas. With technology and human civilization as advanced as it is, this is not something we should even see in our ocean. Also, swamps, marshes, and tidal shallows are irreplaceable areas of extraordinary value to the environment. Inland wetlands are natural regulators of water flow, soaking up rains that would otherwise cause floods and then releasing them slowly. And both are rich in life. A swamp is useless because it cannot be developed for commercial sites or industry and thus does not being in much tax revenue. Dump garbage in the swamp to fill it up. Or dredge out part f it and use the dredged up soil to fill the rest. Then you have a deep water right up to the bulkhead, a fine site for an industrial plant, marina or shopping center. So the theory goes. Because many youth are so against materialism and concerned with the environment, they have come into direct conflict with those who has experienced deprivation and have had to work hard for financial security. You may have been through such a conflict with your parents. #RandolphHarris 7 of 11
Because the mismatched values, some people feel like their parents view them as more of an economic liability or tax exemption than as a person. Some parents reinforce this fear in their children by continually reminding them how much they cost. We know of one man who actually presented his son with an accounting of all he had cost his parents since childhood—and demanded repayment within twenty years. Most parents do not expect to be paid back in money, but some demand total conformity in exchange of support. When a young adult begins to question his or her parents’ values, one may be forced out of the house. Or one may conform while one is around one’s parents, in order to keep a lace to sleep, food to eat, and the relative security of a family. If one, one may feel guilty because one is using one’s parents to get through school or for support. “Command those who are rich in this present Word not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life,” reports 1 Timothy 6.17.19. #RandolphHarris 8 of 11
We know so far in our head, heart, guts, or whatever else we experience in life that being human is a very complex business. In is a business that involves pleasure—leisure, fun, enjoyment—as well as work, and both side of the coin are important for a full life. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a work person who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. We know so far in our head, heart, guts, or whatever else we experience in life that being human is a very complex business. In is a business that involves pleasure—leisure, fun, enjoyment—as well as work, and both side of the coin are important for a full life. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.” You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. Teacher the older people to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith. Likewise, teach the women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers nor addicted to much wine. reports 2 Timothy 2.15-17 and Titus 1.16 and Titus 2.1-3. People who find benefits in working will have many useful things accomplished in their lives. Too, work will continue to provide satisfaction to those people whose products are sources of pride and pleasure. #RandolphHarris 9 of 11
Through work, we use the skills we possess not only to create new work—as invention gives rise to advanced technology—but new work may also create new skills that enhance the creative process. Many people also need some sort of creative activity (whether it be called work or not is debatable) to use up energy or restlessness. Work or a productive activity also keeps people occupied and out of mischief. If you do not believe that, look at the dilemma of a retired man who’s worked hard all his life and suddenly finds the hours and months dragging on. What experiences have you had that have shown you the importance of work? Not all of us can choose the kind of work we do. Some of us labor for long hours for the bare necessities. It is difficult to enjoy such work. Yet the happiness people have learned to enjoy their work, whatever it is. We also keep the work-World going by rewarding the worker—with a paycheck, an incentive system, fringe benefits, and labels. Let us realize that the privilege to work is a gift, the power to work is a blessing, the love of work is a success. People should be anxiously engaged in a good cause. We are cocreators with God. He gave us the capacity to do the work he left undone, to harness the energy, mine the ore, transform the treasures of the Earth for out good. However, most important of all, the Lord knew that from the crucible of work emerges the hard core of character. #RandolphHarris 10 of 11
One of the unfortunate consequences of seeing work as nobility and looking at it with pride is that such an attitude is to convince people that is an activity is enjoyable, then it is not work. “You are having such a good time on this job, maybe we will just have to change your duties or require you to work more hours so you will really earn your pay!” A boss would not ordinarily express this idea so clearly in words, but the implication is clear in what is said: to work is to suffer. However, that need not be; work can be enjoyable, and if it is, that aspect should not be condemned. Many of us have so sharply drawn the lines between work and leisure that most of the rewarding aspects of our work have been squeezed out. However, there is pleasure in turning out well made houses and furniture, seeing a patient smile when you let them know what is causing their infirmary and how to cure it, watching others use something you have put together or worked on, having someone benefit from your skill, time, labor. “Remind the people to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all people,” reports Titus 3.1-2. Every piece of work we do is a portrait of the one who produced it. Let us give full, honest effort to our jobs as though we owned the enterprise. #RandolphHarris 11 of 11
私たちは仕事の倫理へのコミットメントは、私たちの伝統時間で意欲的、勤勉な人々として世界中で知られており、再び、私たちは火の炉を通過され、ドロスが焼失して…私たちは、洗練され、それから毎回来ます、聖別、インスピレーションを得た。私たちは、主よ、私たちの家族、そして私たちの社会最善の努力の生産に戻りますように、心、筋肉、および精神の私たちの個人的な能力を発揮するために道徳的な義務があります。以下を行うことにあります..しかし、私たちが苦労として、私たちはまた、我々は我々の仕事は何を決めるの人生を構築していることを覚えてみましょう。私たちの生活は、それは自分自身と私たちは、生活費を稼ぐために働く機会と利点私たちに依存したものを否定することで満たされていない住んで、それは本当です。その人生はなります。全体的な効果は、仕事に誇りや貴族のものを作ることです。仕事は立派である。これは、ほとんどの問題のために良い治療法です。それは心配のための解毒剤である。それは、ネイティブ基金の不足のためのイコライザーです。作るワークそれは可能な平均がGEにアプローチするためのnius。私たちは適性に欠けることが、我々はパフォーマンスに作ることができます。あなたが悪い場合は、仕事。あなたは満足している場合は、作業。怠惰は疑問や不安のための部屋を提供します。失望が来た場合は、作業上の権利を保持します。信仰はつまずきますそしてその理由は失敗し、ちょうど仕事、夢は粉々になります。仕事と希望が死んでいるようだ。それは音の人生利用できる最大の救済策であるとして、忠実に動作します。我々はまた考えると、私たちは私たちの仕事で創造的であることを確認するために時間を取る必要があります。「とき神の優しさと愛が私たちの救い主は、彼が正義の事で私たちが行っていたではないので、私たちを救ったが、彼のために慈悲の。彼は聖霊によって新生と更新の洗濯を通して私たちを救った。、登場し、「タイタス3.5インチ報告6。
我們作為一個積極性高，勤勞的人在全世界都是眾所周知的。對職業道德的承諾是我們的傳統。我們一次又一次地穿過火爐;我們每次都出來，精緻，渣滓被燒掉，受到啟發，成聖。我們有道義上的義務，以一種能夠回歸主，我們的家庭和社會的方式來運用我們個人的思想，力量和精神能力，從而產生我們最大的努力。少做就是讓我們的生活無法實現。它是否認我們自己和那些依賴我們機會和優勢的人。我們努力謀生，這是真的;但是，當我們辛苦勞作時，讓我們也記住，我們正在建立一個生活。我們的工作決定了生活將會如何。總體效果是讓工作成為一種自豪和高貴的事情。工作很光榮。這對大多數問題都是很好的治療方法這是擔心的解藥。它是本土禀賦不足的均衡器。工作使平均水平接近天才。我們可能缺乏能力，我們可以彌補表現。如果你很窮，就要工作。如果你快樂，工作。閒暇給人懷疑和恐懼。如果失望，請繼續努力。當信仰動搖，理性失敗時，就去工作吧。當夢想破滅，希望似乎已經死亡，工作。忠實地工作，因為它是可用的最好的補救措施。我們還應該花時間思考並確保我們在工作中發揮創造力。 “當我們的救主上帝的仁慈和愛心出現時，他救了我們，不是因為我們做了正義的事，而是因為他的憐憫。他通過聖靈的重生和更新來拯救我們。“”提多書3.5-6報導。
Somos conocidos en todo el mundo como personas muy motivadas e industriosas. El compromiso con la ética del trabajo es nuestra tradición. Una y otra vez, pasamos por el horno de fuego; salimos de ella cada vez, refinados, con la escoria quemada, inspirada, santificada. Tenemos la obligación moral de ejercitar nuestras capacidades personales de mente, músculo y espíritu de una manera que devuelva al Señor, a nuestras familias y a nuestra sociedad la producción de nuestros mejores esfuerzos. Hacer menos es vivir nuestras vidas sin cumplir. Es negarnos a nosotros mismos y a aquellos que dependen de nosotros la oportunidad y la ventaja. Trabajamos para ganarnos la vida, es verdad; pero a medida que trabajamos, recordemos que estamos construyendo una vida. Nuestro trabajo determina qué será esa vida. El efecto general es hacer que el trabajo sea una cuestión de orgullo y nobleza. El trabajo es honorable. Es una buena terapia para la mayoría de los problemas. Es el antídoto para la preocupación. Es el ecualizador para la deficiencia de la dotación nativa. El trabajo hace posible que el promedio se acerque al genio. Lo que nos puede faltar en aptitudes, podemos compensar el rendimiento. Si eres pobre, trabaja. Si eres feliz, trabaja. La ociosidad da lugar a dudas y temores. Si vienen las decepciones, sigue trabajando. Cuando la fe vacila y la razón falla, solo trabaja. Cuando los sueños se rompen y la esperanza parece muerta, trabaja. Funciona fielmente, ya que es el mejor remedio disponible una vida sana. También deberíamos tomarnos el tiempo para pensar y asegurarnos de ser creativos en nuestros trabajos. “Cuando apareció la bondad y el amor de Dios, nuestro Salvador, nos salvó, no por lo justo que habíamos hecho, sino por su misericordia. Él nos salvó mediante el lavado del renacimiento y la renovación por el Espíritu Santo “, informa Tito 3.5-6.
نحن معروفون في جميع أنحاء العالم كدوافع عالية الكراهية. الالتزام بأخلاقيات العمل هو تقليدنا. مرارا وتكرارا ، نحن نمر عبر الفرن الناري ؛ نخرج منه في كل مرة ، صقل ، مع خبث أحرق بعيدا ، مستوحاة ، كرست. لدينا التزام أخلاقي بممارسة قدراتنا الشخصية على العقل والعضلات والروح بطريقة ستعود إلى الرب وعائلاتنا ومجتمعنا لإنتاج أفضل جهودنا. لنعمل أقل هو أن نعيش حياتنا لم تتحقق. إنه حرمان أنفسنا ومن يعتمدون علينا على فرصة ومزايا. نحن نعمل لكسب لقمة العيش ، هذا صحيح. ولكن عندما نتألم ، دعونا نتذكر أيضًا أننا نبني حياة. يحدد عملنا ما ستكون هذه الحياة. التأثير الكلي هو جعل العمل شيء من الفخر والنبل. العمل شريفة. إنه علاج جيد لمعظم المشاكل. هذا هو ترياق للقلق. هذا هو المعادل لنقص الهبات المحلية. يتيح العمل للمتوسط الاقتراب من العبقرية. ما قد نفتقر إليه في الكفاءة ، يمكننا أن نعوض في الأداء. إذا كنت فقيرًا ، اعمل. إذا كنت سعيدًا ، اعمل. الكسل يعطي مجالاً للشكوك والمخاوف. إذا جاءت خيبات الأمل ، فاستمر في العمل. عندما يخفق الإيمان ويفشل العقل ، فقط اعمل. عندما تتحطم الأحلام والأمل يبدو ميتا ، العمل. يعمل بإخلاص ، لأنه أعظم علاج متاح حياة سليمة. يجب أن نأخذ بعض الوقت للتفكير والتأكد من أننا مبدعون في وظائفنا. “عندما ظهر لطف وحب الله مخلصنا ، أنقذنا ، ليس بسبب شيء صالح قمنا به ، بل بسبب رحمته. لقد أنقذنا من خلال غسل الولادة والتجدد من خلال الروح القدس. “، تقول تقارير تيطس 3.5-6.
Siamo conosciuti in tutto il mondo come persone molto motivate e laboriose. L’impegno per l’etica del lavoro è la nostra tradizione. Di volta in volta passiamo attraverso la fornace ardente; ne veniamo fuori ogni volta, raffinati, con le scorie bruciate, ispirate, santificate. Abbiamo l’obbligo morale di esercitare le nostre capacità personali di mente, muscoli e spirito in un modo che ritorni al Signore, alle nostre famiglie e alla nostra società producendo i nostri migliori sforzi. Fare di meno è vivere le nostre vite insoddisfatte. È negare noi stessi e coloro che dipendono da noi opportunità e vantaggio. Lavoriamo per guadagnarci da vivere, è vero; ma mentre lavoriamo, ricordiamoci anche che stiamo costruendo una vita. Il nostro lavoro determina ciò che sarà questa vita. L’effetto complessivo è quello di rendere il lavoro una questione di orgoglio e nobiltà. Il lavoro è onorevole È una buona terapia per la maggior parte dei problemi. È l’antidoto per la preoccupazione. È l’equalizzatore per carenza di dotazione nativa. Il lavoro consente alla media di avvicinarsi al genio. Ciò che ci può mancare in attitudine, possiamo recuperare nelle prestazioni. Se sei povero, lavora. Se sei felice, lavora. L’ozio lascia spazio a dubbi e paure. Se arrivano delusioni, continua a lavorare. Quando la fede vacilla e la ragione fallisce, basta lavorare. Quando i sogni si spezzano e la speranza sembra morta, lavora. Lavora fedelmente, poiché è il più grande rimedio disponibile per una vita sana. Dovremmo anche prenderci del tempo per pensare e assicurarci di essere creativi nel nostro lavoro. “Quando apparve la gentilezza e l’amore di Dio nostro Salvatore, egli ci salvò, non a causa della cosa giusta che avevamo fatto, ma a causa della sua misericordia. Ci ha salvati attraverso il lavaggio della rinascita e il rinnovamento dello Spirito Santo “, riferisce Titus 3.5-6.
Whether in paintings or on television, in books or movies, people have always had a fascination with angels, and angels absolutely exists. Angels are pure spirit, and in most cases, have no physical body. Angels do, however, take on human form sometimes, as clarified by Saint Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica, and in the Bible. “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you,” reports Exodus 23.20-22. The human mind is right (rectus) when it has found truth, and above all, eternal truth. When it loves what is good, the human will is right, and the exercise of power is eight when it is a continuation of God’s ruling power. Through original sin or the Fall, human beings lost their triple righteousness. The human intellect, lured by vain curiosity, has enmeshed itself in interminable doubts and futile controversies; the will of most human beings is ruled by greed and concupiscence; in his or her exercise of power one seeks autonomy. However, although many people are in a lost state of original justice, they still hunger for it. #RandolphHarris 1 of 9
This longing for the infinite good is revealed in the human ceaseless quest for pleasures. Through faith and love (grace), human being can find there way back to the original state of justice. “Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. I will send my terror ahead of your and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run,” reports Exodus 23.25-27. Since knowledge is involved at every stage of the return, reduction is also a quest for wisdom and hence, in an extended theological sense, it is metaphysical. It is an enlightened return, because every branch of learning is a gift from above, from the Father of the Lights. The natural light of reason reflects first on the external World and then turns inward in an analysis of the soul, it is perfected initially by a natural illumination of the divine ideas and then by a varying additional degree of supernatural illumination which culminate in the experiential cognition of God through mystical union. This experience is not the same as the clear vision of the blessed in Heaven but is the learned ignorance referred to by the mystical writers—a union of the soul of Go with darkness, granted to saints like Francis before death. #RandolphHarris 2 of 9
Now, too often we think of Angels, who are Heavenly bodies, in Earthly, bodily terms. However, they are not human and therefore not bound by human constraints. They exist to do the will of God, to be his messengers, guides, and defenders of truth. They exist for the sole purpose of praising God and carrying out his will. As pure spirits the Angels are created intelligences, altogether above matter and free from any essential relation to it, both in their existence and their operation. In this respect, the Angels are specifically above the human soul which, even though of a spiritual nature, is not a pure spirit and a complete nature, but is naturally ordained to inform a human body and to constitute one individual substance with it. Even though spiritual and immortal by nature, the human soul, in this life, depends in a very large measure on the human body for its operation. All the Angels are endowed with intellect and free will. They have a celestial intelligence. Knowledge is imparted to Angels through the light of glory. The Angels also mediate between the transcendent and temporal realms. #RandolphHarris 3 of 9
In some mysterious ways, when we know a created object, the human mind is simultaneously enlightened so that it is moved to judge correctly about the object and is hence in accord with God’s own mind on the subject. “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live in peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and humans, the Savior, who gave himself as a ransom for all people—the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose, I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying,” reports 1 Timothy 2.1-7. The human intellect can turn inward, reflecting on the soul and its tendencies. In analyzing the precise nature of the object of these tendencies, the mind discovers God and itself as his image. The reasoning process involved is neither deductive nor inductive in the usual meaning of these terms, but is called technically a reduction and seems to resemble in some respect the abduction. Abduction encompasses all the operations by which theories and conceptions are engendered (caused or given rise to). #RandolphHarris 4 of 9
Reasoning proceeds by progressively deepening insights into what the desire for truth and perfect happiness involve. If the reduction remains imperfect and does not go on to completion, God is no discovered and one may err about is nature or even his existence. The existence of God is truth implanted by nature in the human mind, this is referring to the human’s natural desire for knowledge, truth, happiness, or goodness—all of which need explication before human beings realize they have God as their ultimate object. “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons (fallen angels). Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. If it is received with thanksgiving, everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected because it is consecrated by the word of God ad prayer,” reports 1 Timothy 4.1-4. Even more interesting, experiments with human beings suggest that changes in behavior can alter emotional states. That is right: the act of smiling itself, whether triggered by perception or delight or not, can increase the release of endorphins, and cause the smiler to experience happiness as a result. #RandolphHarris 5 of 9
Similarly, the act of cowering, whether in response to a perceived threat or not, can prompt the production of stress hormones and the corresponding feeling of fright. Caught up in an altered state of consciousness, we bounce like Duncan yo-yos, allowing emotions or other external factors to spin us and unwind our mental mastery, then wind us back to the adversary’s hand, exploiting us and our emotional energy. This is called yo-yoing. So the secret is we need to change our perception of conditions, not just the conditions. The scriptures use a powerful illustration to teach us how to protect ourselves in the battle against evil. We learn that we are engaged in a battle against evil and that we must protect ourselves so that we can be victorious. “Put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the adversary,” reports Ephesians 6.11. Examine your armor. Is there an unguarded or unprotected place? Determine now to add whatever part is missing. Through the great principle of repentance, we can turn our lives about and begin now clothing ourselves with the armor of God through study, prayer, and a determination to serve God and keep his commandments. #RandolphHarris 6 of 9
Once we have experienced a taste of reality, we can never revert back to a fear-based perception again Relapses there may be, particularly during the initial period of beginning to trust in the safety of Life. The general direction, however, is now known and literally nothing can stop the soul from joining with its Source. Even if our initial motive to seek was to escape from woes, the motive now is to seek reality for reality’s sake. To seek God for God’s sake, and nothing else. The seeker who succeeded in rising from false to true perception, who balanced within oneself the war of opposing forces still stands in the World, but it not of it. “Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially those who believe. Command and teach these things. Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith,” reports 1 Timothy 4.7-11. We have instructions on how to reconcile with the realm of separation, and, as a result of this, change our life from mediocrity to the song of the morning bird: the celebration of life. #RandolphHarris 7 of 9
The principal energy of life is love, in its state of union appearing as equilibrium, and that is harmony. On the physical plane this same energy appears polarized, split into its opposite reflections, masculine and feminine. Neither is better than the other, but both all-good. “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers,” reports 1 Timothy 4.13-15. Those who love, their love shall increase. And those who do not love, they shall lose the little they have. The more love we give, the more we shall have. This is not wishful thinking. Love, the all-pervading universal energy, can only be increased by sharing. By taking on the mental trappings of our goals, we come closer to that goal. What is so exciting about emotions as we reach maturity is that, knowing ourselves as well as we do, we can use our thought to shape our emotions just as our emotions have shaped our thoughts. In the first half of our lives, most of us give ourselves wholly to our joy (feeling sad when the joy goes away) or our sorrow (missing out on much of what was good in the meantime). #RandolphHarris 8 of 9
Our younger selves are, in effect, trapped by dominant emotions: the highs of youth are seductive and the lows appear inescapable. In maturity, thanks to a decrease in the self-protective impulse and advances in crystallized intelligence, we are better able to modulate our responses to a situation. We also can experience a whole symphony of dominant and nondominant feelings at once. Being able to feel happy and sad, hopeful and despairing at the same time is the hallmark of mature emotional response. This expansions in emotional capacity, coupled with our ability to trigger emotions via our behavior, gives us a chance at midlife to feel the way we choose to feel instead of being locked into some kind of emotional dungeon by the dictates of our brain chemistry. God delegated you to act in his name. We are all enlisted until the conflict is over. Soldiers in the army, there is a bright crown in store; we shall win and wear it by and by. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having the chest plate of righteousness. It is important that we make up our minds early in this life as to what we will do and what we will not do. Selected a particular emotion that you would like to experience instead of the emotion(s) that dominate now. You may want to promote calm over anger, or joy over sadness. #RandolphHarris 9 of 9
我們都有不同的弱點和誘惑，我們應該檢查一下我們的生活，找出那些弱點是什麼，以及我們應該在哪裡增加額外的盔甲，這樣我們才能做正確而不屈服於誘惑的事情。想像一下，能夠讓自己遠離一個人的憤怒和背叛的感覺來提出一個像天使一樣實際和情感上令人滿意的解決方案。當我們研究經文以便我們可以增加我們的知識和信仰時，我們必須記住在我們的交易中誠實和誠實。信仰包括對未見的東西的希望，但這是真的。通過聽取上帝的話來點燃信仰。奇蹟不會產生信仰，但是通過順從上帝而產生強烈的信心。信仰來自正義。真正的信仰帶來了奇蹟，異象，夢想，醫治，以及他給予聖徒的所有上帝的恩賜。憑著信心，人們得到了罪的赦免，並且能夠住在上帝的面前。然而，缺乏信心導致人們因為罪孽而絕望。在這方面，信仰就像愛。沒有對象，愛就不可能存在。事實上，上帝會為我們和我們所有的天父的孩子所做的事情做得更多。堅信上帝比我們所知道的更多，並且他將以對我們和他的其他孩子最好的方式回應我們的祈禱，這是對上帝信仰的重要組成部分。我們應該一直祈求保護，成功和良好的海洋和風能帶我們到達目的地。 #RandolphHarris A
我々は、すべての異なる弱点と誘惑を持っている、と私たちはそれらの弱点があり、私たちは余分な鎧の上に置くべき場所を私たちは正しいことを行うと、誘惑に提出することができない何かを見つけるために私たちの生活を調べる必要があります。天使のように、実用的かつ感情的に満足のいく解決策を考え出すために怒りと裏切りの1の気持ちから十分な自分を遠ざけることができるだろうことを想像してみてください。私たちは私たちの知識と信仰を高めることができるように私たちは経典を学ぶように、私たちは私たちの取引で正直で誠実であることを覚えておく必要があります。信仰には、見えないが真実のものに対する希望が含まれています。信仰は神の言葉を聞くことによって燃やされます。奇跡は信仰を生むものではありませんが、神への服従によって強い信仰が発達します。信仰は正義によってもたらされます。彼は彼の聖人に与える真の信仰は奇跡、ビジョン、夢、癒し、そして神のすべての贈り物をもたらします。信仰によって、人は罪の赦しを得、これまで神の前に住むことができます。しかし、信仰の欠如は、一つを絶望に導きます。それは、不義のために起こります。その点で、信仰は愛のようなものです。愛は目的なしでは存在できません。実際には、神が私たちのために最善と天の御父の子供たちのすべてのためにあるものよりも多くのことを行います。主は私たちがより多くを知っているし、彼は私たちと彼の他の子供たちのために最善であるように、私たちの祈りに答えるという信念は、神への信仰の重要な成分です。私たちは常に保護、成功、良い海と風を祈って私たちの目的地に連れて行くべきです。 #Randolphハリス B
Todos tenemos debilidades y tentaciones diferentes, y debemos examinar nuestras vidas para descubrir cuáles son esas debilidades y dónde debemos ponernos armadura adicional para que podamos hacer lo correcto y no someternos a la tentación. Imagine ser capaz de distanciarse lo suficiente de los sentimientos de furia y traición para llegar a una solución tan práctica y emocionalmente satisfactoria como lo haría un ángel. Al estudiar las Escrituras para que podamos aumentar nuestro conocimiento y nuestra fe, debemos recordar ser honestos y veraces en nuestros tratos. La fe incluye una esperanza por cosas que no se ven, pero que son verdaderas. La fe se enciende al escuchar las palabras de Dios. Los milagros no producen fe, pero la fe fuerte se desarrolla mediante la obediencia a Dios. La fe viene por justicia. La fe verdadera trae milagros, visiones, sueños, sanidades y todos los dones de Dios que da a sus santos. Por la fe, uno obtiene la remisión de los pecados y siempre puede morar en la presencia de Dios. La falta de fe, sin embargo, lleva a uno a la desesperación, que viene a causa de la iniquidad. En ese sentido, la fe es como el amor. El amor no puede existir sin un objeto. De hecho, Dios hará más de lo que es mejor para nosotros y para todos los hijos de nuestro Padre Celestial. La convicción de que el Señor sabe más que nosotros y que responderá nuestras oraciones de la mejor manera para nosotros y sus otros hijos es un ingrediente vital de la fe en Dios. Siempre debemos orar por protección, éxito, buenos mares y viento para llevarnos a nuestro destino. #RandolphHarris C
Vi har alla olika svagheter och frestelser, och vi borde undersöka våra liv för att ta reda på vad dessa svagheter är och var vi borde lägga på extra pansar, så att vi kan göra det som är rätt och inte låta bli frestelsen. Föreställ dig att kunna avstå tillräckligt från sin känsla av raseri och förräderi för att komma fram till en lösning som praktisk och känslomässigt tillfredsställande som en ängel skulle. När vi studerar skrifterna så att vi kan öka vår kunskap och tro, måste vi komma ihåg att vara ärliga och sanningsenliga i våra kontakter. Tro innefattar ett hopp för saker som inte ses, men vilka är sanna. Troen är uppenbarad genom att höra Guds ord. Mirakler producerar inte tro, men stark tro utvecklas genom lydnad mot Gud. Tro kommer av rättfärdighet. Den sanna tron ger mirakel, visioner, drömmar, helande och alla Guds gåvor som han ger till sina heliga. Genom tro erhåller man synders förlåtelse och kan någonsin bo i Guds närvaro. En brist på tro leder emellertid en till förtvivlan, som kommer på grund av oegentligheter. I det avseendet är tron som kärlek. Kärlek kan inte existera utan ett objekt. Faktum är att Gud kommer att göra mer än vad som är bäst för oss och för alla våra himmelske Faders barn. Övertygelsen om att Herren vet mer än vi gör och att han kommer att svara på våra böner på det sätt som är bäst för oss och hans andra barn är en viktig ingrediens i tron på Gud. Vi borde alltid be för skydd, framgång och bra hav och vind att ta oss till vårt resmål. #RandolphHarris D
لدينا كل نقاط الضعف وإغراءات مختلفة، ونحن يجب فحص حياتنا لمعرفة ما هي نقاط الضعف هذه، وحيث أننا يجب أن أضع على درع إضافي حتى يمكننا أن نفعل ما هو صواب وما هو لا يقدم إلى الإغراء. تخيل أن تكون قادرة على إبعاد نفسه بما يكفي من مشاعر المرء من الغضب والخيانة من أجل التوصل إلى حل عملي كما ومرضية عاطفيا كملاك شأنه. كما ندرس الكتاب المقدس حتى نتمكن من زيادة معرفتنا والإيمان، علينا أن نتذكر أن نكون صادقين وصادقة في تعاملاتنا. يشتمل الإيمان على الأمل في الأشياء التي لا يتم رؤيتها ، ولكنها صحيحة. الإيمان يُشعل عن طريق سماع كلام الله. المعجزات لا تنتج الإيمان ، ولكن الإيمان القوي يتم تطويره من خلال طاعة الله. الايمان يأتي عن طريق البر. الإيمان الحقيقي يجلب المعجزات، والرؤى، والأحلام، الشفاء، وجميع الهدايا من الله ذلك وقال انه يعطي لقديسيه. بالإيمان ، يحصل المرء على مغفرة الخطايا ويستطيع في النهاية أن يسكن في وجود الله. ومع ذلك ، فإن عدم الإيمان يؤدي إلى اليأس الذي يأتي بسبب الإثم. في هذا الصدد ، الإيمان هو مثل الحب. الحب لا يمكن أن يوجد بدون كائن. في الواقع، والله سوف تفعل أكثر من ما هو الأفضل بالنسبة لنا ولكل من أطفالنا الآب السماوي. الاقتناع بأن الرب يعرف أكثر مما نقوم به، وأنه سوف يستجيب لصلواتنا في الطريق وهذا هو الأفضل بالنسبة لنا وله غيرهم من الأطفال هو عنصر حيوي من الإيمان بالله. ينبغي لنا أن نصلي دائما لحماية، والنجاح، والبحار جيدة وطاقة الرياح لنقلنا الى وجهتنا. # راندولففاريس
Randolph Harris II International Institute 