Lesson Summary October 21

Stay on the Lord's side of the line. (Lesson 18) 

By Lisa H.

George Albert Smith’s grandfather George A. Smith served for many years in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and in the First Presidency as a counselor to Brigham Young. George Albert Smith often repeated the counsel his grandfather used to give to his family: “There is a line of demarcation well defined between the Lord’s territory and the devil’s territory. If you will stay on the Lord’s side of the line you will be under his influence and will have no desire to do wrong; but if you cross to the devil’s side of that line one inch you are in the tempter’s power and if he is successful, you will not be able to think or even reason properly because you will have lost the Spirit of the Lord.” -George Albert Smith

How do we know that we are on the Lord's side of the line?

On the Lord's side: you will have no more desire to do evil, having a love for everyone, we have the companionship of the best men and women in the world, we will have influence on others to do the right thing. Invite us to do good and to believe in Christ. Safety, righteousness and happiness. 

On the Devil's side: no clear thought or reason because you have lost the Spirit, refusal to see the truth. Persuade to do evil and to deny Christ. Rationalize our actions or make exceptions to the commandment. 

There is a litmus test in Moroni 7:16-17.

"All safety, all righteousness, all happiness are on the Lord’s side of the line. If you are keeping the commandments... If you love your neighbor as yourself, you are on the Lord’s side of the line. ...all that enriches our lives and makes us happy and prepares us for eternal joy is on the Lord’s side of the line. Finding fault with the things that God has given to us for our guidance is not on the Lord’s side of the line. " -George Albert Smith

Sometimes we might feel that the commandments are so strict and restrictive but we soon see quite the opposite. 

"You observe people running to and fro in the world, seeking happiness but not finding it. If they would only pause long enough to accept the Lord’s advice happiness would follow, but they will find it in no other way.

Now to me the laws of the Lord, so-called, the counsels contained in the Holy Scriptures, the revelations of the Lord to us in this day and age of the world, are but the sweet music of the voice of our Father in heaven in His mercy to us. They are but the advice and counsel of a loving parent, who is more concerned in our welfare than earthly parents can be, and consequently that which at one time seemed to bear the harsh name of law to me is now the loving and tender advice of an all-wise Heavenly Father." -George Albert Smith

Shari Dew said:

"But if he can't get us to succumb to blatant evil, the adversary tries to coax us onto his side of the line by resorting to strategies that slowly wear us down, weaken our resolve, and dim our memory of who we are. See if any of these sound familiar. Lucifer whispers that it doesn't matter what we do now, that there is plenty of time later to get our spiritual act together. It is the Sin Now, Pay Later Plan. He feeds our vanity with promises of popularity, power, and prosperity. He tells us what we want to hear: that life is supposed to be easy and fun and that if we experience pain or undeserved difficulties the gospel must not be working. He always promotes shortcuts, though there are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.
He wants us to compare ourselves to others and then to criticize and judge one another. He numbs us to a sliding scale of morality so that we eventually embrace behaviors that repulsed us earlier. He wants us to believe that anything short of blatant immorality is just sport—no harm, no foul. He wants us so absorbed with school, dating, and careers that we don't have time to really live the gospel—to learn how to receive answers to prayer, to immerse ourselves in the scriptures, and to go to the temple. He rejoices in even small breaches in our integrity because he knows that unless checked they will ultimately lead us "away carefully down to hell"...."

"And others will he ^apacify, and lull them away into carnal ^bsecurity, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the ^cdevil ^dcheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell." (2 Nephi 28:21)

How does the devil "cheat our souls " and lead us carefully down to hell?

Sometimes when you make bad choices it is hard to feel like there is a way back and to find hope in repentance. Sometimes the Devil can distract us by making others things more important. He can convince us that selfishness is the right way to live. Focusing on the grey areas and how close can we get to the edge of the "cliff".  He makes you believe that you are gaining something when you are in fact losing something. Satan is still trying to get control one step at a time. 

Choosing an uplifting atmosphere is essential to stay on the right side of the line. We all have detectors in our house that will sound an alarm if there is toxic smoke or carbon monoxide. We likewise have to have the same sort of alarm for whether or not a situation is a good one or our choices are leading us away from the Lord's side. 

Lesson Summary: Sept 30

Toady we combined with the Priesthood and heard from the Bishop on being a prepared servant for our Father in Heaven. In the vision of the tree of life, Nephi tells us that the fruit of the tree was the sweetest of all fruits. The fruit is the love of God and when we feel that in our lives it is truly the sweetest feeling. We can share that fruit with others.

We are living in the time of the gathering of Israel. It is the Lords gathering and he is preparing his people.

"The Lord trusts His true disciples. He sends prepared people to His prepared servants. You have had the experience, as have I, of meeting people where you were sure the meeting could not have been by chance." - Henry B. Eyring

If we are prepared servants, then we are able to have experiences such as Elder Eyring, meeting people that we are sure is not chance.

Several members shared their experiences of meetings and opportunities that filled this promise. Whether it be chance meetings with strangers, casual discussions with friends, or contacting lost friends these members were all prepared to share the Gospel. They could tell about a church program such as genealogy, or share pamphlets or media. All were open to the Spirit to understand what the needs are in that situation. God knows each of us and wants to connect us together.

We need to prepare our hearts. One way of doing that is to create patterns in our life.

How do we prepare ourselves and think about our interactions with others. Changing our attitudes from sharing the Gospel to sharing ourselves can change our hearts. In this way this sharing works into our lives in a way that is seamless.

The Bishop discussed four types of parenting styles. One may confront the child for disrupting sleep, another may ignore, another tells the child that there is nothing to work around, and the fourth effective style is one that picks up the child and listens to their fears, then stands with them as they confront those fears. This is how we should approach our interactions with others, we should listen to what they need and the stand with them as they discover.

We can extend ourselves by taking the time to simply talk to our neighbors instead of rushing by, by asking for help from our neighbors, or being willing to share ourselves. We should approach the people around us with faith hope charity and love. We don't need wisdom or bravery etc. All we need is faith hotel charity and love. Our relationships should not be based on our expectation of converting people but simply based in love. If it is right then the fruits will come, but we must trust in The Lord of the vineyard to provide the growth that is prepared to be received.

If we are prepared to receive and love others then the Bishopric has felt that we can see fruit come. If we can be an inviting people. We have been challenged to make an invitation a week, anything from walking the dog to going to the temple.