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Subscribe!Sun - Aug 12, 2007 : 12:26 pm
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Teaching With The Spirit
I just arrived home from a most splendid 3-hour church meeting.
Yesterday morning I got a call from the elders' quorum president, in which he asked me to teach the priesthood lesson today. I said yes, and got the information I needed to teach.
The lesson was on "Obedience Born of Faith in God". Well... I spent about 5 hours total preparing the lesson, and I had a good one prepared. I thought it was adequate and thought-provoking.
Throughout the day, I prayed that I would be able to present the ideas I had prepared, if it was God's will. Well... I found out today that ....... man... today I found out a lot of things.
During Priesthood class, I found myself feeling such an abundance of goodness within my soul. I looked at our newly-called bishop and thought to myself, "Man... That man is a good man." I thought the same as I looked at his counselor sitting to his right. As we sang the opening hymn, I found myself listening to the message of the words "We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet". I was then asked to give the opening prayer for priesthood.
When I prayed, the thoughts and words came to me as poetry. I know it sounds corny and weird and outlandish, but that's the only way I can describe it. The thoughts flowed through me as water flows down through the sky. They weren't mine, they were God's, and they weren't for me, they were for everyone.
When the moment came for me to teach, I got a little nervous when I saw all the eyes on me. Those eyes were saying many, many things to me during the two seconds I watched them. They were saying things like "What have you got for us?", "Are you going to bore me today?", "I hope you're prepared to spend my time well today.", and "I'm here for you Jason. You'll do just fine." I'm very grateful for those eyes - thank you, Eric. Anyway...
That nervousness soon was eroded by my preparedness. I started by reading the first 5 lines of my lesson, and that got people thinking. I read the next few lines, and the hands began to raise.
I didn't look at my notes again for the entire 25 minutes I had to teach. The ideas came as comments were brought up. Comments themselves taught principles I had prepared, which then spawned new ideas of things to say.
The whole class became a single unit determined to learn, to teach, to edify, and to enlighten. What an experience.
Also... Today I'm fasting, and the spirit is causing so much joy to be felt in my soul. I look back at the teaching experience, and I am really amazed at the whole beauty of it. It was as if God were there in the classroom, weaving truth and pure doctrine throughout each of our souls with a web of the Spirit. There was no contention, no pretense, no haughtiness or pride, just humble brothers determined to learn the truth of God.
It was beautiful.
And the more part of that beauty is that I had very little to do with it. God uses us as windows to light and truth. If we will allow him, he will shine as bright a light through us as we are able to handle.
My testimony for today reaches beyond the existence of God, and even the incomprehensible love he feels for each of us. My testimony today is of the importance for each one of us to become all we can be, through God. Truly, with God, nothing is impossible.
We must learn, and we must teach, and we must throw down our pride - thinking we are anything more than dust of the earth - to allow God to do with us what He will. Selfishness is nothing more than a weight about our ankles, keeping us from reaching our full potential. I must rid myself of that weight, and let God shine through me as He will.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for allowing me this window today, passing through the sight of my true potential as I let You work through me to teach and edify thy sons.
I pray this is not the last day this happens, but the first of many.
Funny, but that is 100% up to me to decide. Damn my selfish pride, and my inability to let God do what He will with me. I must throw down the walls of selfishness I have created.
Little by litte, Jason. Little by little.
Yesterday morning I got a call from the elders' quorum president, in which he asked me to teach the priesthood lesson today. I said yes, and got the information I needed to teach.
The lesson was on "Obedience Born of Faith in God". Well... I spent about 5 hours total preparing the lesson, and I had a good one prepared. I thought it was adequate and thought-provoking.
Throughout the day, I prayed that I would be able to present the ideas I had prepared, if it was God's will. Well... I found out today that ....... man... today I found out a lot of things.
During Priesthood class, I found myself feeling such an abundance of goodness within my soul. I looked at our newly-called bishop and thought to myself, "Man... That man is a good man." I thought the same as I looked at his counselor sitting to his right. As we sang the opening hymn, I found myself listening to the message of the words "We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet". I was then asked to give the opening prayer for priesthood.
When I prayed, the thoughts and words came to me as poetry. I know it sounds corny and weird and outlandish, but that's the only way I can describe it. The thoughts flowed through me as water flows down through the sky. They weren't mine, they were God's, and they weren't for me, they were for everyone.
When the moment came for me to teach, I got a little nervous when I saw all the eyes on me. Those eyes were saying many, many things to me during the two seconds I watched them. They were saying things like "What have you got for us?", "Are you going to bore me today?", "I hope you're prepared to spend my time well today.", and "I'm here for you Jason. You'll do just fine." I'm very grateful for those eyes - thank you, Eric. Anyway...
That nervousness soon was eroded by my preparedness. I started by reading the first 5 lines of my lesson, and that got people thinking. I read the next few lines, and the hands began to raise.
I didn't look at my notes again for the entire 25 minutes I had to teach. The ideas came as comments were brought up. Comments themselves taught principles I had prepared, which then spawned new ideas of things to say.
The whole class became a single unit determined to learn, to teach, to edify, and to enlighten. What an experience.
Also... Today I'm fasting, and the spirit is causing so much joy to be felt in my soul. I look back at the teaching experience, and I am really amazed at the whole beauty of it. It was as if God were there in the classroom, weaving truth and pure doctrine throughout each of our souls with a web of the Spirit. There was no contention, no pretense, no haughtiness or pride, just humble brothers determined to learn the truth of God.
It was beautiful.
And the more part of that beauty is that I had very little to do with it. God uses us as windows to light and truth. If we will allow him, he will shine as bright a light through us as we are able to handle.
My testimony for today reaches beyond the existence of God, and even the incomprehensible love he feels for each of us. My testimony today is of the importance for each one of us to become all we can be, through God. Truly, with God, nothing is impossible.
We must learn, and we must teach, and we must throw down our pride - thinking we are anything more than dust of the earth - to allow God to do with us what He will. Selfishness is nothing more than a weight about our ankles, keeping us from reaching our full potential. I must rid myself of that weight, and let God shine through me as He will.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for allowing me this window today, passing through the sight of my true potential as I let You work through me to teach and edify thy sons.
I pray this is not the last day this happens, but the first of many.
Funny, but that is 100% up to me to decide. Damn my selfish pride, and my inability to let God do what He will with me. I must throw down the walls of selfishness I have created.
Little by litte, Jason. Little by little.