Come Follow Me with Living Scriptures — Signs of the Times | Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 19: May 3–9 “Seek Ye Earnestly the Best Gifts” Doctrine and Covenants 46–48

Come Follow Me with Living Scriptures — Signs of the Times | Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 19: May 3–9 “Seek Ye Earnestly the Best Gifts” Doctrine and Covenants 46–48

“It’s Christmas morning and you race to see all the gifts you received, but this year all of the gifts seem really different.”
Total
0
Shares

Come Follow Me LDS D&C 46-48 (May 3-9) (Doctrine and Covenants) – Signs of the Times – powered by Happy Scribe

Hey, everybody, come downstairs quick. It’s Christmas morning and you race to see all the gifts you received, but this year all of the gifts seem really different. I received the gift to heal.

Wow. I got the gift of knowledge. Mine’s the gift of.

I have the gift of listening now, even though these seem odd, these spiritual gifts are actually some of the best gifts and unlike toys, electronics or clothes, you never outgrow them and they can actually get better and more exciting over time.

OK, these gifts are called Gifts of the Spirit, and someone who received many of them was Levi Handcock.

When Levi’s brother Alva shared with him about the restored gospel, Levi recalled, It seemed like a wash or something warm, took me in the face and ran over my body, which gave me a feeling I cannot describe. I said, it is the truth. I can feel it. Having such a strong conviction of the truth was a gift of the spirit. Levi later had a vision in it. He saw the savior holding a small yolk in his hands, and the savior said to him, This is the yoke of Christ and you are my servant.

That may seem like an unusual gift, but President Nelson explained, as were yoked with him and with his power.

We’re not pulling life’s load alone, but with the savior and redeemer of the world. And suddenly our problems, no matter how serious they are, become lighter. Levi was given this gift by the spirit and told to bear testimony to the world of the truth of the work.

Levi used his gifts of the spirit for good, even to the end of his days.

In this life, we’re commanded to earnestly seek the best gifts, let’s call this our quest. But how do we find these gifts?

Maybe an old school quest video game can help us learn how spiritual gifts aren’t handed to us by a benevolent elven queen or father Christmas.

Rather, they’re discovered and polished as we try new things, strengthen our testimony, fulfill callings, serve others and overcome challenges with the Lord’s help. Our quest also gives us the opportunity to seek out and pray for more gifts of the spirit as we need them. OK, but exactly what gifts should we seek? Well, if a person lacks wisdom, they can ask God for wisdom. If they lack charity, they pray earnestly to receive the gift of charity and so on.

We pray for gifts to correct our imperfections and weaknesses. Spiritual gifts are endless in number and infinite and variety. There are way more than those listed in Section 46, like the gift to ponder deeply the gift to be calm and calm others and the gift to hear and respond to the still small voice.

But wait, there’s more. Other, less conspicuous gifts are the gift of being able to wield the gift of avoiding contention, the gift of caring for others, and the gift of understanding how to use a cell phone.

Now, there’s no need to compare our gifts with others on our quest because everyone’s different. For example, some people are given the gift to know that Jesus Christ is the son of God and others have the gift to believe in their words. Both are gifts from God and as such should be celebrated on this quest.

Everyone wins. Why? Because as we combine our gifts together, our marriages, families and wards are branches are strengthened and become one powerful body of Christ. Now, we also need to be careful not to be deceived, like some of the early church members in Ohio.

Many of the new converts felt that they should have the great gifts of the spirit mentioned in the New Testament.

But they didn’t understand that the wrong source could mislead someone to imitate false gifts of the spirit.

Joseph asked the Lord, How do we keep from being deceived by false spirits?

The answer is to do all things with prayer and Thanksgiving, seeking earnestly the best gifts and always remembering why they’re given.

So on our quest, we can avoid deception by staying close to our savior and praying for guidance.

OK, now many of the early saints were given unique spiritual gifts to help restore the savior’s church called us the first church.

Historian Oliver Cowdery had a wonderful gift for writing and recording details and revelations.

But now he was away on a mission using another of his gifts to proclaim the gospel. While John Witmer was serving as Joseph Scribe. John was one of the eight witnesses and he’d been sent to organize the church in Kirtland before the prophet arrived in Oliver’s absence.

Joseph asked John, John, would you like to be the new church historian? To which John replied, Nope, rather not. You see, John recognized his gifts as a leader, but he didn’t quite feel up to the task of being the church historian so grudgingly, he added.

But the will of the Lord to be done, and if he desires it, I wish he would manifest it through Joseph the Seer. So Joseph sought a revelation from the Lord with the answer found in Section 47. It is expedient in me that my servant John should write and keep a regular history. Knowing the difference between Joseph speaking for himself and speaking for the Lord, John accepted the calling and began keeping a record for the church as well as acting as Joseph Scribe.

Now, do we ever want reassurance from the Lord that our church calling came from him?

Well, today we wouldn’t ask the Prophet for a revelation to know if we should accept a calling as nursery leader or whatever. But we can always pray for a confirmation from the Holy Ghost that the calling is meant for us. And honestly, if we feel that we’re unqualified, remember, by humbly accepting the new calling, we can receive the gifts from the spirit to help us if we seek them.

So what spiritual gifts have you been given? Is it time to go on your own quest to discover them? Ask your family and friends what your gifts are and how they bless others. Next time we’ll learn about masks and deception. Thanks for watching.

If you feel like this video has helped you on your path towards truth and Christian discipleship, share it and subscribe to the channel and click on the little alarm bell to get notified when new videos come out.

Most importantly, go study the scriptures for yourself.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.