Self Assured

Mark was teaching a lesson last Sunday and referred to Hebrews 11:1.

1 "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

As we were discussing faith and applying it, it occurred to me that having faith manifests itself in others when they are self assured (notice the word assurance in the scripture). I'm not talking about proud, cocky, or smug. I am talking about the people who have a pleasant demeanor about them even while dealing with difficult people, circumstances and trials.

I have felt this feeling at times and thought that it was pretty wonderful to have a calm strength like that.

So it seems even more obvious as to why Faith is the first principle of the gospel.

Simply put, I think that the Lord intends for us to get our sleep more often than not and not be panicky about life's challenges. If we go to him in faith and act in faith, we will find that things go better than we might have supposed. At least we will save ourselves from our own panic attacks, our own misgivings and our own lack of knowledge and control.

He intends for us to have self assurance-the product of faith.

Our Own Tormentors

Back in June I posted this blog: http://lifespringsfromdeeperthings.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html

I was relaying some thoughts that had occurred to me and found them to be far more reasonable than what the traditions have taught me.

I really do believe that like in this life, when we die, we will be our own hell, our own tormentors. We have that kind of power in this life already to work on our choices, correct them if needed, enjoy the good and keep on living.
The Atonement is such a key aspect of not living in hell. When we repent, really repent, not just say I'm sorry but really focus on our harmful actions and remedy them, we find new hope and new life. Having the atonement is an essential gift that lets us see moments of heaven where we are free from sin and torment. We find that strength in being clean as a whole or in that one area in our lives.
If we are not really done fixing, we will not have an overwhelming peace. We might have comfort but not the strength of purity and the sense of progression.

Here are some quotes that I read this week:
“God has decreed that all who will not obey His voice shall not escape the damnation of hell. What is the damnation of hell? To go with that society who have not obeyed His commands. … I know that all men will be damned if they do not come in the way which He hath opened, and this is the way marked out by the word of the Lord.”12
“The great misery of departed spirits in the world of spirits, where they go after death, is to know that they come short of the glory that others enjoy and that they might have enjoyed themselves, and they are their own accusers.”13
“There is no pain so awful as that of suspense. This is the punishment of the wicked; their doubt, anxiety and suspense cause weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth.”14
“A man is his own tormentor and his own condemner. Hence the saying, They shall go into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone [see Revelation 21:8]. The torment of disappointment in the mind of man is as exquisite as a lake burning with fire and brimstone. I say, so is the torment of man. …
“… Some shall rise to the everlasting burnings of God, for God dwells in everlasting burnings, and some shall rise to the damnation of their own filthiness, which is as exquisite a torment as the lake of fire and brimstone.”15 (Joseph Smith)

This is the life to prepare to meet God, right? We need to act in faith being self assured (Heb 11:1) as we go that we are one with our Savior's wisdom and love for us and our love ones. We need to repent. We need to grow in the process. If we allow ourselves to live without real repentance and don't make important changes, we will be miserable now and forever. We need to forgive and love and be careful how we act. The Savior knew this and so he gave us all kinds of solid instruction on what consists of loving, pure behavior culminating in 1 Corinthians (http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_cor/13/1-13#4) with the definition of the characteristics of Charity.

The long and short of it is is that our joy is a choice that we make. We are our own worst enemy. We have the controls on our progression here in this existence and where we are able to go after we're done here. Do we want regrets? Or as others say, do we want our own hell? I don't know that many people do. I have a hope that we all want real happiness and should just keep pushing on working our best to be in "heaven". It seems very difficult at times but if it was impossible, it wouldn't be asked of us.

Happiness is living with no regrets.

In that last paragraph of quotes it says that God dwells in everlasting burnings. I hope that living in the everlasting burnings of purity and love and joy is all that I and my loved ones ever see.

Great Minds don't always think alike!

“Occasionally we hear something like, ‘Why, we have been married for fifty years, and we have never had a difference of opinion.’ If that is literally the case, then one of the partners is overly dominated by the other or, as someone said, is a stranger to the truth. Any intelligent couple will have differences of opinion. Our challenge is to be sure that we know how to resolve them. That is part of the process of making a good marriage better” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1995, 86; or Ensign, May 1995, 65).