April 9, 2011
~ Part of the purpose of baptism is often forgotten; and that part is TO RECEIVE THE HOLY GHOST.
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I found a fabulous talk given by President Boyd K. Packer titled, The Gift of the Holy Ghost: What Every Member Should Know. I would like to quote a small part of it here:
I consider the gift of the Holy Ghost as a constant companion to be my greatest source of strength, motivation, comfort and peace. I rely upon it daily. It is the source of my comfort, positive changes, growth, inspiration... It is not merely the desire to follow Jesus Christ which makes my life good as is evidenced by my decision to be baptized those many years ago. It is the following of Christ which changes my life, constantly making it better than good. And the Holy Ghost is the angel on my shoulder who inspires and prompts these changes... It is the Holy Ghost who helps me to let go of despair, and grab hold of faith - faith that I can change, improve, grow, do the right thing even when it is difficult, and resolve to make positive changes of any kind... even changes as simple as exercising regularly.
It is no wonder then, why baptism is not complete without afterwards receiving the Holy Ghost? - We need the Holy Ghost. Baptism is our way of showing the Lord and others that we are committed to following the commandments and counsels of Jesus Christ. But without the Holy Ghost, it would probably be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to have the strength to actually follow through and OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS.
It is the Holy Ghost who sits on our shoulder... strengthening and encouraging us to follow through and keep our promises to follow Christ. The gift of receiving the Holy Ghost as a constant companion, is the Lords way of blessing us for the decision to follow Him; and it is His way of sending us comfort in times of need; as well as strength and guidance to help us keep our promise to follow Christ. He helps us to succeed.
We all have the light of Christ, even before baptism and confirmation of the Holy Ghost. But to have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion is a gift that I can not imagine living without. This gift is the reason my life is good. I rely upon the lord constantly. The Holy Ghost is my constant guide and inspiration. He is the source of comfort and peace when times are hard. He is the reason I have hope, and am happy. :D
Here is a link to a great talk titled Gifts of the Spirit for Hard Times By Elder Henry B. Eyring (and here is a link to a free mp3 player download). It is about what to do so you can have the Holy Ghost to be with you... to answer your prayers and help you during hard times.
IF YOU WANT TO HEAR AND FEEL THE HOLY GHOST MORE IN YOUR LIFE you might want to read the articles mentioned above (one link is at the beginning of this post). I am also considering writing a follow up post consisting of a few thing I have found which help me to hear the Holy Ghost, though I think these talks really do say much...
I know that I am not a preacher, and I don't mean to sound preachy; but the Holy Ghost is my greatest gift. I would be selfish and unfulfilled not to share it.
Wishing you a happy day!
Corine :D
~ Part of the purpose of baptism is often forgotten; and that part is TO RECEIVE THE HOLY GHOST.
When Paul went to Ephesus he found 12 men who had been baptized, but they had not yet received the Holy Ghost. They said to Paul, “We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost” (Acts 19:2).What happened next is significant. Paul had them baptized again. Then he conferred upon them, by the laying on of hands, the gift of the Holy Ghost (see Acts 19:2–7).
I consider the gift of the Holy Ghost as a constant companion to be my greatest source of strength, motivation, comfort and peace. I rely upon it daily. It is the source of my comfort, positive changes, growth, inspiration... It is not merely the desire to follow Jesus Christ which makes my life good as is evidenced by my decision to be baptized those many years ago. It is the following of Christ which changes my life, constantly making it better than good. And the Holy Ghost is the angel on my shoulder who inspires and prompts these changes... It is the Holy Ghost who helps me to let go of despair, and grab hold of faith - faith that I can change, improve, grow, do the right thing even when it is difficult, and resolve to make positive changes of any kind... even changes as simple as exercising regularly.
It is no wonder then, why baptism is not complete without afterwards receiving the Holy Ghost? - We need the Holy Ghost. Baptism is our way of showing the Lord and others that we are committed to following the commandments and counsels of Jesus Christ. But without the Holy Ghost, it would probably be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to have the strength to actually follow through and OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS.
It is the Holy Ghost who sits on our shoulder... strengthening and encouraging us to follow through and keep our promises to follow Christ. The gift of receiving the Holy Ghost as a constant companion, is the Lords way of blessing us for the decision to follow Him; and it is His way of sending us comfort in times of need; as well as strength and guidance to help us keep our promise to follow Christ. He helps us to succeed.
We all have the light of Christ, even before baptism and confirmation of the Holy Ghost. But to have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion is a gift that I can not imagine living without. This gift is the reason my life is good. I rely upon the lord constantly. The Holy Ghost is my constant guide and inspiration. He is the source of comfort and peace when times are hard. He is the reason I have hope, and am happy. :D
Here is a link to a great talk titled Gifts of the Spirit for Hard Times By Elder Henry B. Eyring (and here is a link to a free mp3 player download). It is about what to do so you can have the Holy Ghost to be with you... to answer your prayers and help you during hard times.
IF YOU WANT TO HEAR AND FEEL THE HOLY GHOST MORE IN YOUR LIFE you might want to read the articles mentioned above (one link is at the beginning of this post). I am also considering writing a follow up post consisting of a few thing I have found which help me to hear the Holy Ghost, though I think these talks really do say much...
I know that I am not a preacher, and I don't mean to sound preachy; but the Holy Ghost is my greatest gift. I would be selfish and unfulfilled not to share it.
Wishing you a happy day!
Corine :D
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I totally agree with you about this one. It is a subject I really try and help the girls understand.
ReplyDeleteI have been watching people start themes on their blogs, and have guest speakers all talking about the same theme. Wouldn't it be cool to do something like that with the theme of teaching children to recognize and heed the promptings of the Holy Ghost? Hmm... :)
ReplyDelete