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sbelzinga-blog · 7 years ago

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Offer everything we have for God and he will offer everything He has in return

If a person like you, me or anyone, is willing to commit everything they have to God, then God is willing to commit everything He has. How beautiful is that?! Think of how much God has compared to us. He's not asking for much! All God asks is to turn our whole broken heart and life over to Him so He can make our heart and life whole.

I know a story of a great king who was willing to offer half his kingdom to save his physical life. When he learned about what his soul and spiritual life were worth, he was willing to offer his whole kingdom to learn how to have faith and repent to receive God's grace to save his spiritual, eternal life. The story is from the Book of Mormon Alma 22:13–18;

13 And Aaron did expound unto him the scriptures from the creation of Adam, laying the fall of man before him, and their carnal state and also the plan of redemption, which was prepared from the foundation of the world, through Christ, for all whosoever would believe on his name.

14 And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins, through faith and repentance, and so forth; and that he breaketh the bands of death, that the grave shall have no victory, and that the sting of death should be swallowed up in the hopes of glory; and Aaron did expound all these things unto the king.

15 And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the king said: What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.

16 But Aaron said unto him: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.

17 And it came to pass that when Aaron had said these words, the king did bow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying:

18 O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day. And now when the king had said these words, he was struck as if he were dead.

Alma 22:13–18

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/22?verse=13-18&lang=eng#p13

What a beautiful conversion story! We are all royalty in God's eyes because we can each become heirs of eternal life and glory with God as this man did.

If you'd like to learn more by chasing with missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints or order a free book of Mormon, I invite you to go to mormon.org

You are also welcome contact me on Facebook Steven Blake Elzinga or email [email protected]

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sbelzinga-blog · 7 years ago

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Simple Faith in Jesus Christ and repentance for conversion/awakening

Why in the scriptures were teachers and priests only to share the faith and repentance part of the gospel? Possibly it was the kis principle, keep it simple. Possibly it was because we do the faith and repentance part and God does the conversion part. There's only one Master heart surgeon and that is Jesus Christ because only he understands the suffering of our heart and soul, only he can heal.

Today I was reminded of the people in scriptures that prayed until they had enough faith in the One whose voice was pleading with them to repent, until the paralyzing cloud of doubt and fear dispersed and they were filled with unspeakable love, light, joy and peace. We can all have this type of conversion experience, which is the sweetest and most joyful experience. Helaman 5:20–52

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/hel/5?verse=20-52&lang=eng#p20

Chat with missionaries at mormon.org to learn more or to order a free Book of Mormon.

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sbelzinga-blog · 7 years ago

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My lifelong spiritual awakening/rebirth; how God taught Adam his plan of salvation

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sbelzinga-blog · 7 years ago

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My lifelong conversion/spiritual awakening story; how God taught Adam and Eve His plan of salvation

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sbelzinga-blog · 7 years ago

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It fascinates me that God himself taught Adam and Eve his plan of salvation in the most pure and plain way, yet we humans get so easily confused. Maybe we had to get confused first so we could appreciate order. Or maybe the order in the chaos is God's love of diversity.

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sbelzinga-blog · 7 years ago

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My lifelong spiritual awakening/rebirth; how God taught Adam his plan of salvation

How Do We Enter the Kingdom of God, Be Born Again, Converted or Spiritually Awakened?

Spiritual awakening/enlightenment/mysticism, to me are also known as conversion, spiritual rebirth or spiritual transformation and is the ultimate goal of any religion. Conversion literally means to turn around. It is the positive result of an identity crisis. For various religious descriptions of conversion/awakening, see Jewish devekut https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devekut Buddhist Boddhi https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightenment_in_Buddhism, Islamic Sufism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism and Hindu Moksha .https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moksha

Spiritual awakening/rebirth or conversion is both an event and a lifelong journey of discovery. The conversion events are baptism by water, Spirit, and blood-a mighty change of heart.

The conversion journey is the lifelong daily process of coming to know and become like God and divine self by developing a personal relationship with God daily by sincerely and persistently conversing with God in prayer and scripture study. Then it includes following the thoughts and feelings God sends us daily by his Spirit like ideas of how to serve others and be more loving.

I like how Elder Bednar, an apostle today of Jesus Christ, compares the whole process of becoming born again to the steps required to make a pickle. "Through faith in Christ, we can be spiritually prepared and cleansed from sin, immersed in and saturated with His gospel, and purified and sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise—even born again."

Ye Must Be Born Again

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/04/ye-must-be-born-again?lang=eng#p41

How God taught Adam and Eve his plan of salvation, how to become born again

To put it simply, God taught our first parents Adam and Eve in Moses 6:

"59 That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might 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.

60 For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit [aka 'fire'] ye are justified [receive a personal witness of God's remission of your sins], and by the blood ye are sanctified [mighty change of heart and nature, becoming as a child, saint, purified heart with desires to do no more evil but to do good continually];

64 And it came to pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam, our father, that Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the water, and was brought forth out of the water.

65 And thus he was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus he was born of the Spirit, and became quickened [made alive] in the inner man [born of the blood, mighty change of heart/nature].

66 And he heard a voice out of heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the record of the Father, and the Son, from henceforth and forever;

67 And thou art after the order [priesthood] of him [Jesus Christ] who was without beginning of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity.

68 Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons. Amen.

Wow. What a beautiful story of conversion! I can think of no better teacher than God himself to Adam and each of us by his Spirit.

Another way of describing gospel principles is this: "We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost."

Articles of Faith 1:4, Joseph Smith, Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1?verse=4&lang=eng#p4

Here are 3 main parts I have learned of spiritual awakening/ conversion/rebirth from my experience

1. Personal relationship/revelation

Just before He suffered for us in Gethsemane during His intercessory prayer, Jesus said "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/17?lang=eng Therefore, perhaps the most important part of spiritual awakening/rebirth and purification is the lifelong personal relationship building with God, getting to know God by conversing with God in mighty prayer & scripture study daily to build our faith in Christ for repentance and purification.

I think I first started really seeking that personal relationship with God when I was about 14 when my parents weren't able to take care of me because of divorce and my mom's mental breakdown. It's interesting how difficult times turn out to be positive because they turn our hearts to God. At that time I started reading the scriptures every day, specifically the Book of Mormon because someone recommended that to me to help me get through a difficult time. The Book of Mormon brought me peace, love, comfort, and joy like no other book could.

The seed of faith from reading the Book of Mormon grows up into a tree of eternal life, whose fruit is sweetest above all, full of grace, truth, love, joy, and peace to each of us personally. See Alma 32: 27-43

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/32?lang=eng

Oh, the joy and beauty of Repentance! Repentance literally means a change of mind. With our free will we decide to sacrifice or give up the desire for a particular sin or sins. We plead to God for forgiveness, confess our sin to anyone else we may have offended and do our best to stop doing that sin. As we consciously decide to sacrifice sin(s) to know God, God can forgive our sin and purify and change our heart, which literally transforms our sinful desires into righteous desires.

And how joyful and beautiful is receiving forgiveness! It is the peace we feel when we are able to let go of our sins and embrace God's love. When I was 19 headed on a mission to share the gospel of faith, repentance, and baptism I remember not feeling worthy to teach because of my past sins, even though I tried hard to repent. Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is ourself.

Then I stumbled upon this verse: "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Hebrews 8:12

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/heb/8?verse=12&lang=eng#p12

That verse brought tears to my eyes; I was so happy and relieved because I knew at that moment, God was speaking sweet mercy and peace to me directly, through his Spirit from reading the scriptures.

Atonement is literally at-one-ment, meaning we make a conscious decision to sacrifice our fallen nature's will to sin and then embrace God's and our divine nature's will to do good and right. Our will, desires, and needs for us become God's will, desires and needs for us and his will for us becomes ours. We become one in mind and heart with God and each other because we become pure in heart. God is intimately aware of our hopes, fears, and dreams and has a special calling and plan for each of us personally to use our talents, dreams and experience to do good in this world.

And we can find out God's will for us each day. President Russell M. Nelson of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints said in April 2018:

"Follow the example of the Prophet Joseph. Find a quiet place where you can regularly go. Humble yourself before God. Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father. Turn to Him for answers and for comfort.

Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will “grow into the principle of revelation.”

Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/04/revelation-for-the-church-revelation-for-our-lives?lang=eng

Go here to see the rest of the post

http://choosingfaithingodoverfearoftheworld.godfaithsite.com/2018/08/my-lifetime-journey-of-spiritual.html

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sbelzinga-blog · 7 years ago

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My lifelong spiritual awakening/rebirth; how God taught his plan of salvation

How Do We Enter the Kingdom of God, Be Born Again, Converted or Spiritually Awakened?

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sbelzinga-blog · 7 years ago

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"Take up thy cross and follow me." Life's struggles save souls.

This is a collection of times that were the best and the worst of my life, from my parents’ divorce, my bipolar depression to an addiction. They were the worst because they were so hard, but the best because of how evident it was how God’s love had been changing me for good. I hope this may encourage you in your struggles too. God bless.

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sbelzinga-blog · 7 years ago

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The plan of salvation is pure and simple to understand

How God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost teach spiritual awakening, enlightenment, rebirth

Our enlightenment, awakening, rebirth

Other words for this holier state are “baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost”, spiritual rebirth, Buddhist enlightenment, Hindu Moksha, Jewish d’veikut and Islamic sufism/mysticism

Heavenly Father, Elohim with Adam & Eve

Moses 6 of the Pearl of Great Price

51 And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before…

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#awakening #rebirth #born again #moksha #boddhi #conversion #gospel #God #Jesus Christ

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sbelzinga-blog · 7 years ago

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Lifelong spiritual awakening, conversion, enlightenment, rebirth

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How God taught Adam and Eve his plan of salvation

Here is God's plan of salvation, pure and simple:

Moses 6 of the Pearl of Great Price

51 And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh.

52 And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you.

Then God, our Heavenly Father, asked Adam to teach his children (that includes us) these things:

59 That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might 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;

60 For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified;

61 Therefore it is given to abide in you; the record of heaven; the Comforter; the peaceable things of immortal glory; the truth of all things; that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment.

62 And now, behold, I say unto you: This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time.

63 And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.

65 And thus he was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus he was born of the Spirit, and became quickened in the inner man.

66 And he heard a voice out of heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the record of the Father, and the Son, from henceforth and forever;

67 And thou art after the order of him who was without beginning of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity.

68 Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons. Amen.

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/moses/6?lang=eng

Go here to see the whole post and my testimony: http://choosingfaithingodoverfearoftheworld.godfaithsite.com/2018/06/how-god-father-son-and-holy-ghost-teach.html

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sbelzinga-blog · 7 years ago

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My lifelong conversion story

What is Spiritual Awakening?

Spiritual awakening/enlightenment/mysticism, to me are also known as conversion, spiritual rebirth or spiritual transformation and is the ultimate goal of any religion. It is the positive result of an existential or identity crisis. See Jewish devekut https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devekut Buddhist Boddhi https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightenment_in_Buddhism, Islamic Sufism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism and Hindu Moksha .https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moksha

Spiritual awakening/enlightenment/conversion/rebirth is a lifelong journey of coming to know God, finding and and living our divine nature.

To put it simply, God taught our first parents Adam and Eve in Moses 6: 59: "That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might 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."

Another way of saying it is this: "We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost."

Articles of Faith 1:4, Joseph Smith, Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1?verse=4&lang=eng#p4

If you'd like to see how our first parents Adam and Eve received this awakening, "quickened in the inner man" and scripture recounts on how God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost each personally taught at different times how to be spiritually awakened/reborn and purified in heart to see God, go here http://choosingfaithingodoverfearoftheworld.godfaithsite.com/2018/06/how-god-father-son-and-holy-ghost-teach.html

Here are 3 main parts I have learned of spiritual awakening from my experience

1. Personal relationship/revelation

Just before He suffered for us in Gethsemane during His intercessory prayer, Jesus said "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/17?lang=eng

Therefore, perhaps the most important part of spiritual awakening/rebirth and purification is the lifelong personal relationship building with God, getting to know God by conversing with God in mighty prayer & scripture study daily to build our faith in Christ for repentance and purification.

This personal relationship with God starts with faith, just faith that God would care enough to give each of us the time of day to minister to us through his Spirit, constantly encouraging and guiding us each step of the way. As we pray and study scriptures daily, we open ourselves up to receive and follow more promptings of the spirit. As we do those things we are filled with more faith, hope and love from and for God, others and self. It's an upward spiral, staircase to heaven. This seed of faith will then grow up into a tree of eternal life, whose fruit is sweetest above all, full of grace, truth, love, joy, and peace to each of us personally. See Alma 32: 27-43

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/32?lang=eng

Then I stumbled upon this verse: "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Hebrews 8:12

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/heb/8?verse=12&lang=eng#p12

That verse brought tears to my eyes; I was so happy and relieved because I knew at that moment, God was speaking sweet mercy and peace to me directly, through his Spirit from reading the scriptures.

Atonement is literally at-one-ment, meaning we make a conscious decision to sacrifice our fallen nature's will to sin and then embrace God's and our divine nature's will to do good and right. Our will, desires, and needs for us become God's will, desires and needs for us and his will for us become ours. We become one in mind and heart with God and each other because we become pure in heart. God is intimately aware of our hopes, fears, and dreams and has a special calling and plan for each of us personally to use our talents, dreams and experience to do good in this world.

And we can find out God's will for us each day. President Russell M. Nelson of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints said in April 2018:

Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/04/revelation-for-the-church-revelation-for-our-lives?lang=eng

For daily scripture study, the prophet Nephi also said "feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/32?lang=eng

I heard one person put it simply at church one time, "I talk to God when I pray, God talks to me when I read the scriptures." Many times in my life I've had a question, concern or desire from my prayer or in my mind and heart which God answered as I read his holy scriptures.

For instance one time, summer 2017, I lost my keys at a wedding in a church building. I said a prayer and had a feeling to go into the nursery room. My eyes were drawn to a hymn book (hymns are a form of scripture and prayer). So I felt to sing a favorite hymn "I am a child of God" as I walked back into a dark hallway to find my car keys. My eyes were drawn to under the water fountain and sure enough there they were!

2. Biological/inner transformation- the mighty change of heart from God

I like this biological explanation of inner transformation of our mind, heart, spirit and body. It involves the pineal gland in our brain which is also responsible for melatonin-sleep/wake cycles- and serotonin-mood balance.

https://prepareforchange.net/2018/04/15/sacred-secretion-christ-oil-true-annointing-heaven-on-earth/

The first time I felt like my physical body was completely encompassed with Jesus' love for me was when I was about 15 in 1999. I had been struggling with a certain sin I was addicted to. I swear my Bishop must've been tired of me coming back to confess to him the same thing almost every week. But he was patient with me and with God's Spirit encouraged me to read the scriptures every day and keep serving like at Sunday meeting, which gave me strength to withstand temptation. I went with family to go watch a video at a Salt Lake Temple visitor center about Jesus Christ, called the Testaments.

I didn't feel worthy to be in Jesus' presence, even just to watch him on the screen. But I wanted desperately to be worthy of God's presence, enough to feel his love. Then, toward the end of the movie, after I watched the depiction of Jesus suffering for me, and when I saw him come back resurrected and smiling. I felt my whole body filled with tingling energy, warmth, light, and love, directly from Jesus, as if he was smiling directly at me, to save me from my desire to sin, because of his sweet grace.

Much later I had a major transformational event in January 2015 when I felt my heart broken and spirit crushed under the weight of several major life changes and vulnerable mental health. My thoughts and feelings were spiraling my existence into nothingness. For a moment I felt completely separated from God's presence, trapped alone in the deepest, darkest abyss; the void. I was experiencing a moment of eternal spiritual death which is separation from God.

Then, with all the will and energy I had left, I willed myself to believe God was still there for me. I put all my faith in Jesus, even if just a glimmer of hope was left in me. Then the words came to me: "Nothing shall be impossible with God." Luke 1. Then, the flood gates opened inside my heart, soul, mind and body like rushing waters of God's eternal life, love, peace and joy for me personally. God's presence and energy filled me overflowing, as if exploding in me like a supernova.

Then I saw evidences of God's love for me all around me for the next several months and I studied in the scriptures and through the believing community online the next 3 years trying to understand what had happened to me spiritually. That's how I came across all of these things about spiritual awakening.

There are many examples of people in the scriptures receiving a spiritual awakening event/baptism by fire/conversion. Jesus said, "Come unto me with a broken heart and contrite (crushed) spirit and I will baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost."

So how do we do that? I know one good way is to pray and fast (skip meals) until we receive a sure answer, then apply it to our life. There is power in mighty fasting or "wrestling with God" in mighty prayer and fasting, like Jacob when his name was changed to Israel (symbol of his rebirth) in genesis 32 https://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/gen/32?lang=eng. There's also Saul when his name was changed to Paul as the Lord Jesus Christ came to him, Acts 9

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/acts/9?lang=eng.

Also there's Enos of the book of Mormon, who prayed all day and night for mercy and the joy of the saints until he received a sure answer and his guilt was swept away, https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/enos/1?lang=eng.

The greatest miracle I know of in the scriptures is when the 12 Nephite disciples of the book of Mormon all prayed mightily to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, God the Holy Ghost's literal spirit presence in them, which Jesus promised they'd receive with baptism by fire after their baptism by immersion.

After the native American (Nephite) disciples received those gifts, they prayed to be purified as Jesus is pure or in other words to become Christ's, sanctified by the blood of the Lamb. Then the crowd watched as Jesus blessed each of the disciples. Then the disciples' countenance, the aura, became as bright and pure white as Jesus. Jesus Christ's literal spirit presence was now gifted to them, as I understand. Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 19:25.

Jesus has also come to me and my children to comfort us. He comforted me in 2016 at the psych crisis recovery unit for bipolar suicidal depression when I saw his hand reaching out to me in a vision. Then again in October 2017 when he hugged me in a dream. Then again in June 2018 when I sawhis beautiful white robe and him smiling at me and my family. But I don't feel that we need to experience a crisis to come to Christ, his hands are always open for us to make the sacrifice or ' wrestle' required to come unto him and his everlasting embrace.

3. Covenants with God in priesthood ordinances

A covenant with God is a promise we make with God of obedience to his commandments to receive more promised blessings from God dependent upon our willingness to be obedient. Priesthood ordinances are outward expressions of inward commitments or covenants.

The priesthoods that perform ordinances are Aaronic, the priesthood John the Baptist used to baptize Jesus, and Melchizedek- the priesthood Jesus used to heal the sick and give the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The priesthood ordinances I have received are baptism by immersion, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, initiatories (washing and anointing), endowment, and the sealing of families together forever.

On July 6, 2017 I had the wonderful experience of kneeling across from my sweetheart Tiffany at the altar of the Mount Timpanogos temple to be sealed together for time and all eternity. Now our children are also sealed to us forever because they were born in the covenant.

What about those who didn't receive a decent chance to choose to receive these ordinances? That's why we do ordinance work for the dead in their place to give them the chance to choose to receive the ordinances on the other side. Jesus organized missionary work in the spirit world during those 2.5 days before his resurrection and it still goes on today. If you have questions about family history/temple work, see familysearch.org. Anyone can use familysearch.org for free to learn more about their ancestors. I've had the pleasure of researching information on my Dutch, Danish and English ancestors and taking their names to the temple to enable them to receive the priesthood ordinances by acting in their place.

It's also important to note that people can receive these ordinances spiritually e.g. baptism by fire/purification of heart, before they have an opportunity to receive them physically like the Gentiles in Acts upon whom the Holy Ghost fell upon before they had a chance to receive that priesthood ordinance. That's why I mentioned at the beginning that people can receive this spiritual awakening in any religion. This makes it easier for us not to judge each other because only God knows who's received the Holy Ghost and this great purification of heart. But, the physical ordinances are important, too, just like how Jesus was baptized to keep that commandment even though he was already innocent.

If you need a friend in the gospel, find me on Facebook Steven Blake Elzinga or email me at [email protected].

I invite you to chat with missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints and order a free book of Mormon at mormon.org

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