Thursday, May 30, 2013

Seek Ye Earnestly The Best Gifts . . .


Lesson 15: “Seek Ye Earnestly the Best Gifts”

I am excited about this lesson because it is a good tie in to last weeks lesson on the law of consecration. Last week we discussed the physical ways to live this eternal law, and today we are going to tap into some of the spiritual ways we can live it.

The lesson is entitled “Seek Ye Earnestly the Best Gifts”, but in preparing it, I would like it to read: “Seek Ye Earnestly Your Best gifts, and The Best Gifts of Others For We Are All One Body”.

Just to preface, I know we are studying out of the D&C and I promise to utilize those amazing scriptures; however, ever since I completed my senior literary course—The Bible as Literature—I have a great affinity for the Bible.  And as I was preparing this lesson, I was so pleased to see it working in direct correlation with the BOM and The Pearl of Great Price.

*So get ready to get in the trenches with Paul today as we read, verbatim, his message to the Corinthians.

*HANDOUT BIBLES

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GARDEN
Before we get into the meat of this lesson we are going to start off with an anaology of a garden, which will give us the “thesis” for the lesson today.

Imagine that you are planting a garden.
Q. What seeds would you plant?

Even though our gardens would be different they would all be beautiful and useful.

Similarly we may receive different gifts of the spirit but all of these gifts are useful for building up the kingdom of God.

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DEFINE GIFTS
Q. Keeping with the garden analogy, who can plant a garden (I am not asking who has the know-how, rather who has the ability to plant one)? EVERYONE


Q. Who can receive gifts of the spirit?
*(READ D&C 46:3-6 if anyone asks if only the faithful can receive spiritual gifts)  
God gives at least one of these gifts to every faithful member of the Church who has received the gift of the Holy Ghost. people who have not received the gift of the Holy Ghost may still be blessed with unique abilities to lift and strengthen others” (Lesson Manual)
3 Nevertheless ye are commanded never to acast any one out from your public bmeetings, which are held before the world.
 4 Ye are also commanded not to cast any one who belongeth to the church out of your sacrament meetings; nevertheless, if any have trespassed, let him anot bpartake until he makes reconciliation.
 5 And again I say unto you, ye shall not cast any out of your sacrament meetings who are earnestly aseeking the kingdom—I speak this concerning those who are not of the church.
 6 And again I say unto you, concerning your aconfirmation meetings, that if there be any that are not of the church, that are earnestly seeking after the kingdom, ye shall not cast them out.

“Gifts of the Spirit are spiritual blessings or abilities that are given through the Holy Ghost. These gifts were taken from the earth during the Great Apostasy, but God restored them in the early days of this dispensation.” (Lesson Manual)

So just as each of us had different seeds we planted in our garden, so do each of us have different spiritual gifts.

We are going to define some of these gifts found in D&C 46. We will go verse-by-verse and whomever reads the scripture if you could share what that gift is.  Also any examples you may have of any of these gifts please feel free to share.

.                 a. D&C 46:13. (Knowledge “given by the Holy Ghost … that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world.”)
.                 b. D&C 46:14. (Belief in others’ testimonies of the Savior.) I have a testimony that this is just as important a gift as that of bearing testimony.  In my patriarchal blessing it tells me to “bear my testimony often that others may hear and know and glorify my Father in Heaven.” What a gift it is to hear something and automatically recognize it as truth
.                 c. D&C 46:15. (Knowledge of “the differences of administration.”) Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve said that this gift is “used in administering and regulating the church” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 278).
.                 d. D&C 46:16. (Discernment “to know the diversities of operations, whether they be of God.” This gift helps us discern whether a teaching or influence comes from God or from some other source.)
.                 e. D&C 46:17–18. (Wisdom and knowledge.)
.                 f. D&C 46:19. (Faith to be healed.)
.                 g. D&C 46:20. (Faith to heal.) I love this because it exemplifies the gift of the priesthood holder in administering a blessing (faith to heal) AND the gift of the receiver of that blessing (the faith to be healed)—each work TOETHER to call upon Gods power
.                 h. D&C 46:21. (The working of miracles.)
.                 i. D&C 46:22. (Prophecy.)
.                 j. D&C 46:23. (Discerning of spirits.)
.                 k. D&C 46:24. (Speaking in tongues.) I have a testimony that sometimes temporary gifts are bestowed upon us as a sign of Gods tender mercy.  I had to learn Swedish under less than pleasing circumstances and later when I went back to school to finish my degree I had to take a language course to complete my education and since foreign language isn’t  my strength I decided to take Swedish (having had a basic knowledge of it).  And I can tell you the Lord helped me learn to speak it for four years just so I could get my degree.   * So sometimes gifts are temporary, so don’t think because you don’t possess that gift now you never will.
.                 l. D&C 46:25. (Interpretation of tongues.)

*It just hit me, isn’t it so interesting how these gifts are two-fold (the gift to  bear testimony/the gift to believe in a testimony; the gift to heal/the gift to have the faith to be healed; the gift to speak tongues/the gift to understand) , there is a give and take, yet no one gift is more important than the other, each are essential.

Q. There are many other gifts besides the ones mentioned here.  What are a few?

----EXAMPLE by RYAN LYMAN of a spiritual gift his wife possesses-----
#1 HANDOUT: Elder Marvin J. Ashton of the Quorum of the Twelve said some “less-conspicuous gifts” include “the gift of asking; the gift of listening; the gift of hearing and using a still, small voice; … the gift of avoiding contention; the gift of being agreeable; … the gift of seeking that which is righteous; the gift of not passing judgment; the gift of looking to God for guidance; the gift of being a disciple; the gift of caring for others; the gift of being able to ponder; the gift of offering prayer; the gift of bearing a mighty testimony; and the gift of receiving the Holy Ghost” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1987, 23; or Ensign, Nov. 1987, 20).

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WHY DO WE HAVE GIFTS
Q. Why do we plant a garden? Benefits us

Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve taught that gifts of the Spirit “can lead us to God. They can shield us from the power of the adversary. They can compensate for our inadequacies and repair our imperfections” (“Spiritual Gifts,” Ensign, Sept. 1986, 72).

*Pretty amazing that our own talents can override and/or compensate for our own imperfections.  No wonder Satan wants us to hide our talents

Q. Do others benefit from our garden? Sure, if we share.  Each of us benefit from farmers and the fruits and vegetables they harvest each year.

#2 HANDOUT: Elder Orson Pratt of the Quorum of the Twelve said, “Spiritual gifts are distributed among the members of the Church, according to their faithfulness, circumstances, natural abilities, duties, and callings; that the whole may be properly instructed, confirmed, perfected, and saved” (Masterful Discourses and Writings of Orson Pratt, comp. N. B. Lundwall [1953], 571).

——EXAMPLE  of how someone else’s spiritual gift has blessed her life——

So just as a garden benefits us individually, and as a whole, so do our spiritual gifts.  And this is where I want to pause and spend some time.

Q. Who is afraid to use their spiritual gifts? Why? (seen as being prideful, etc,)

Q. Who has ever been envious of another’s gift?  Why? (famine mentality: if I don’t possess it I will be empty or without).

It is hard living in a world where people are seeking to attain as much as they can to enable them to rise in status above another.  However, just as we learned about the law of consecration last week, we need to share and further utilize each others gifts so we call all be lifted to ONE EQUAL status, for we are all of THE SAME status in Gods eyes—we are all his sons and daughters. 

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PAULS SERMON: ONE BODY

Now, I want to delve into this wonderful sermon Paul gives to the Corinthians.  Let’s pull out our bibles. One of you pull out your BOM.

Read Moroni 10:8, 17. ------------Read 1 Cor 12:4-6----------Paul proceeds to define a few of the gifts we read in D&C

1 Cor 12:12 (and this is the ever famous analogy of the body).
*The “members’=toes, feet, hands, arms, etc. ALL are members of this body we have

17—in other words each part is necessary to the whole

19—each member (or body part) isn’t as useful without the other. you can’t just be a toe, or a finger . . . you are the eye, I am the ear, this person is the hand . . . all together we make ONE BODY

20—the NEED of every SINGLE one of us—this can tie into missionary work: all of us

23—How many in here think “I don’t really need my belly button?” “We don’t really need you to complete the whole?” Here he is saying EVERY PART—again I stress PERSON is vital!

24—In other words I give to you because you lack something; you give to me because I lack something, and TOGETHER we are TEMPERED..

*I have always been fascinated with the origin of words so I want to pause and define tempered for a quick moment.  Listen to some of these definitions:

Definition of TEMPER
1
: to dilute, qualify, or soften by the addition or influence of something else : moderate <temper justice with mercy>
3
: to bring to a suitable state by mixing in or adding a usually liquid ingredient: as
a : to mix (clay) with water or a modifier (as grog) and knead to a uniform texture
5
: to make stronger and more resilient through hardship : toughen tempered
in battle>
6
a : to put in tune with something : attune

#3 HANDOUT:  Heat treatment of steel in a school workshop is normally a two stage process (KEY WORD: TWO). For example, if a high carbon steel or silver steel screw driver blade has been manufactured, at some point it will have to be ‘’hardened’ (SYNONYM: STRENGTHENED) to prevent it wearing down when used. On the other hand it will have to be ‘tempered’. This second heating process reduces the hardness a little but toughens the steel. It also significantly reduces the brittleness of the steel so that it does not break easily. The whole process is called ‘hardening and tempering’. (SO IN ORDER FOR STEEL TO BECOME WHAT IT IS IT HAS TO GO THROUGH A TWO STEP PROCESS) LET’S RE-READ THAT VERSE: 1 Cor 12:24.
http://www.technologystudent.com/equip1/heat1.htm

READ 1 Cor 12:25-27

25: don’t you think that if we truly believed that we were extremely beneficial to one another we would care for each other deeply because we know that I am not whole without you and you are not whole without me, just as all of us are not whole without CHRIST.

26—NO ENVY this is no longer the “I mentality.”
Quickly turn to 13:11, I really love this scripture because it is so applicable to me now having kids—Children envy others things and are possessive of what they have.  But guess what, we are no longer children, we are adults, and we need to act like adults by sharing our gifts as well as being grateful for the gifts others have been blessed with). 

So going back to verse 26: (READ) so clap, jump up and down when your fellowman is successful, and instead of elevating yourself through the weakness of another, reach down to pick someone up. WHY? READ

27—together our parts are perfected and ultimately we become members of Christ!

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CULTIVATING OUR GIFTS
We know we need to cultivate a garden so we can harvest good fruit.
Q. How can we cultivate the gifts we have been given?
§       Pray: HANDOUT#4 President George Q. Cannon taught: “If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to pray for the gift that will make us perfect. Have I imperfections? I am full of them. What is my duty? To pray to God to give me the gifts that will correct these imperfections. If I am an angry man, it is my duty to pray for charity, which suffereth long and is kind. Am I an envious man? It is my duty to seek for charity, which envieth not. So with all the gifts of the Gospel. They are intended for this purpose. No man ought to say, ‘Oh, I cannot help this; it is my nature.’ He is not justified in it, for the reason that God has promised to give strength to correct these things, and to give gifts that will eradicate them” (Millennial Star, 23 Apr. 1894, 260).

§       Act: The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that many gifts of the Spirit, such as wisdom or the gift to heal, are not evident until they are needed (my Swedish example). He said that “it would require time and circumstances to call these gifts into operation” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 246).

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CONCLUSION
Read D&C 46:10-12
10 And again, verily I say unto you, I would that ye should always remember, and always retain in your aminds what those bgifts are, that are given unto the church.
 11 For all have not every agift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.
 12 To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.

TESTIFY:
1)   I testify of the power of our patriarchal blessings brothers and sisters—that contained therein are spiritual gifts the Lord has bestowed upon us.  In preparing for this lesson I re-read mine and underlined all of the gifts the Lord has given me.  I encourage you to go home and do the same.
2)   I also encourage you to get a priesthood blessing.  My patriarchal blessing ends by saying: “I bless you to this end by the power of the priesthood which I hold and in the name of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.” I was ONLY able to know of these gifts and blessings I have been given through a priesthood holder. 

I honestly believe the priesthood isn’t used enough; it is often left to be used in times of sickness—when we are on our death bead persae—but it NEEDS to be used on a weekly basis to help us with the smallest to the largest obstacles we face in our daily lives; from the simple ability to get through one more week—SANELY—to helping us overcome fears and/or weaknesses. 

For as we learned in this lesson we only overcome our imperfections by utilizing our strengths, or our gifts.  And the Lord is waiting to reveal those to you and me, and further empower us with them through a member of his priesthood.  

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