An Aware God

Christmas can be a stressful time of year.  Shopping for presents, setting up the decorations, buying those ever-so-cherished ugly sweaters, making the hot cocoa, and shoveling the snow can almost make one forget how aware the Father and the Son actually are of all that we think, do, and say.

President Joseph Smith taught that "the Great Parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard; He views them as His offspring" (History of the Church 4:595).  Additionally the Prophet taught, "God sees the secret springs of human action, and knows the hearts of all living" (History of the Church 1:317).  So, as the offspring of Deity, one's actions, thoughts, and words are known of the Great Jehovah.  If we wish to know our standing before God, we need only ask Him in humble prayer, and He will answer.  To the downtrodden soul who thinks their efforts in preaching the Gospel of the Redeemer go unheeded by others, we have the words of the Lord to Nephi III in the Book of Mormon: "as [Nephi] was thus pondering in his heart, behold, a voice came unto him saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people.  And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments" (Helaman 10:3-4).  As the scriptures teach us to liken them unto our own lives, this is sufficient to show God is aware of our efforts (even unheeded by others) to preach His Word.

The Lord Christ has borne these fears upon His shoulders before us.  All He asks is for us to put our fears, doubts, and troubled upon His back.  Saith He, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:28-30).

The world's current Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, testified on 4 December 2011, 

As we face the temptations of our times, the confusion of choice, the embarrassment of error, the pursuit of perfection, our Heavenly Father is there to listen, to love, to inspire.  Our Father to whom we earnestly pray is not an ethereal substance or a mysterious and incomprehensible being.  Rather, He has eyes with which to view our actions, lips with which to speak to us, ears to hear our plea and a heart to understand our love" (Teachings of Thomas S. Monson, p. 260).

I know God is acutely aware of all our actions, and stands with outstretched arms to receive us and help us if we will but ask.  We Latter-day Saints are a lot better than we think we are.  We can always do better, it is true, but we must not beat ourselves up because of our lack of perfection, for only One is called Perfect.  He will help us when we ask, and is ever aware of our righteous actions, thoughts, and desires.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Evidence . . . or Lack Thereof

I have often read of people saying that God doesn't exist because our five senses (touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight) cannot identify Him.  This is not evidence that there is no God.  It is actually evidence that God DOES exist.  Let me explain through historical fact and other means.

I.  VIEWING THE CELL

According to the timeline on http://nobelprize.org/educational/physics/microscopes/timeline/index.html:

"1675 – Anton van Leeuwenhoek uses a simple microscope with only one lens to look at blood, insects and many other objects. He was first to describe cells and bacteria, seen through his very small microscopes with, for his time, extremely good lenses."

Now, is this to say that cells did not exist up to this point in time?  No, but rather that man did not comprehend them, or even know of their existence until 1675, because they could not yet be comprehended.  This also means that just because something abstract can't be seen and understood until aided by another thing, doesn't mean it doesn't yet or beforehand exist.  So it is with God.  One man may say, "I have never seen God or experienced Him with my five senses, therefore, he doesn't exist."  Or one may say, "I cannot at this point in time see, hear, taste smell, or touch God, therefore, He doesn't exist."  God exists, regardless of how many people have not yet experienced Him; they haven't looked hard enough.

II.  THE TRAVELERS AND HAMBURGER

A man living in Tonga who has never experienced a hamburger cannot say hamburgers do not exist, for if two travelers come from the United States to Tonga and say they have experienced hamburgers, and thoroughly explains the experience, the Tongan cannot refute it, especially because there are more witnesses than one.  Therefore, God exists, just like the hamburger, because there is more than one witness.

III.  THE LAW OF WITNESSES

Deuteronomy 17:6 reads, "At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death, but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death."  In ancient Israel, it required more than one witness to condemn a man to death, so as to verify to the people the man's evil deeds, and justice served.  If the witnesses were false, the man was set free.  So it is with God and proof of Him.  Alma states,

"ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets?  The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator (Alma 30:44)." 

Alma lists eight things proving the existence of God.  Doctrine and Covenants 88:45-47 states,  
"The earth rolls upon her wings, and the sun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also give their light, as they roll upon their wings in their glory, in the midst of the power of God.  Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms, that ye may understand?  Behold, all these are kingdoms, and any man who hath seen any or the least of these hath seen God moving in his majesty and power." 

The order of planet Earth, the tides moving with the phases of the moon, the artistic beauty of a sunrise and sunset, and the soothing sound of waves upon the seashore give proof of God, because all things are in order.  Chaos cannot create chaos.  But God, who is a God of order, can turn chaotic matter into order, as in the creation of the earth.  It is explained by the Prophet Joseph Smith in these words:   

"The word create . . . does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos –chaotic matter (HC 6:308-311)." 

Only God can turn chaos into order and be as beautiful as this earth.

In conclusion, Elder Joseph F. Merrill of the Council of the Twelve Apostles said, "He who makes no effort to learn of the existence of Deity will, in this life, likely not learn there is a Deity. But his ignorance does not warrant him in declaring there is no God (The Truth-Seeker and Mormonism, Deseret Book Co., pp. 76–77)."  If I have not sufficiently proven, through many instances, the existence of God, the reader must search for God, as Elder Merrill said, or they will never find Him.  One cannot say something does not exist until there is substantial proof that it does not exist, and this from witnesses.  

I myself know God exists.  I use the term "know" the same way one "knows" the Sun shines because I have experienced God.  The Sun still shines regardless if people say it does not; that fact is a reality.  God still exists regardless if people say He does not; that fact is a reality.  In the Name of Jesus Christ His Son, Amen!

Mormon Theology no. 7 - Jesus Christ vs. Joseph Smith

Within the past years, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been in the news concerning everything from Adam to Zion. Among all of the publicity the LDS Church gets, the bystander should come away with a true understanding of the two principle persons of our religion: Jesus Christ our Savior and Joseph Smith the Prophet. One commands the other, and the other teaches the commandments and reality of the One. But who are they?

WHO IS JOSEPH SMITH?
Joseph Smith, Junior is the man called "the Prophet" in the LDS Faith. That is all he was and is. He is nothing more, nothing less. He restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ, beginning with a marvelous manifestation from God the Father and Jesus Christ. He describes the event thus:

"The Lord does reveal himself to me.  I know it.  He revealed himself first to me when I was about fourteen years old, a mere boy. . . . I kneeled down, and prayed, saying, 'O Lord, what Church shall I join?'  Directly I saw a light, and then a glorious Personage in the light, and then another personage, and the first personage said [of] the second, 'Behold this is my beloved Son, hear him (The Papers of Joseph Smith, ed. Dean C. Jessee, 2 vols. [1989–92], 1:444).'"

This opened the final dispensation of the Gospel. Joseph served the Lord his whole life.  Joseph Smith was an instrument in bringing forth new revelation called the Book of Mormon.  He said, "By the power of God I translated the Book of Mormon from hieroglyphics, the knowledge of which was lost to the world, in which wonderful event I stood alone, an unlearned youth, to combat the worldly wisdom and multiplied ignorance of eighteen centuries, with a new revelation. (History of the Church, 6:74)"  Of revelation, the Prophet declared, "The plea of many in this day is, that we have no right to receive revelations; but if we do not get revelations, we do not have the oracles [prophets] of God; and if they have not the oracles of God, they are not the people of God. . . . Jesus in His teachings says, 'Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' What rock? Revelation. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (1976), 272, 274)"  The Prophet Joseph Smith taught revelation and Jesus Christ. He taught us who Jesus is very plainly.

WHO IS JESUS CHRIST?
Joseph said, "The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 121)."  Jesus Christ is placed at the center of Joseph's (and every other Mormon's) life, because He taught Joseph everything about religion.  So, we can see here that Jesus is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, and that Joseph was merely an instrument in bringing Jesus forth to the modern world.

This I know of myself, because I have read the Book of Mormon and know, like Joseph and the Lord, that it is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen!