Lesson Summary August 24, 2014

Katie T. led our discussion of Elder Russell M. Nelson's talk "Let Your Faith Show" about faith and priorities.

Katie began by relating two times she prayed and had faith she would be safe after the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and a post 9/11 trip to Europe.

"When we speak of faith--the faith that can move mountains--we are not speaking of faith in general but of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." (Let Your Faith Show)

• What is the difference between faith and faith in Jesus Christ?

If you were navigating a boat and basing your movements on the path of a cow on a hill instead of the hill itself your path would not be on something fixed.

"The word religion literally means “to ligate again” or “to tie back” to God. The question we might ask ourselves is, are we securely tied to God so that our faith shows, or are we actually tied to something else?"(Let Your Faith Show)

• What can we be 'tied to' that distracts our lives?

Fashion, exercise excess, celebrities, academia, hobbies with Sunday activities.

"God declared in the first of His Ten Commandments, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” He also said, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” Yet so many people look only to their bank balance for peace or to fellow human beings for models to follow.

Clinicians, academicians, and politicians are often put to a test of faith. In pursuit of their goals, will their religion show or will it be hidden? Are they tied back to God or to man?

I had such a test decades ago when one of my medical faculty colleagues chastised me for failing to separate my professional knowledge from my religious convictions. He demanded that I not combine the two. How could I do that? Truth is truth! It is not divisible, and any part of it cannot be set aside."
(Let Your Faith Show)

The Veterans Administration (VA) recently had an issue with people putting priorities on monetary incentives for scheduling numbers. It took a whistleblower to bring the issue to light and the current secretary wants to focus on integrity in place of the incentives.

"Problems abound in this world because it is populated by imperfect people. Their objectives and desires are heavily influenced by their faith or lack of it. Many put other priorities ahead of God. Some challenge the relevance of religion in modern life.
But living the Lord’s pure religion, which means striving to become a true disciple of Jesus Christ, is a way of life and a daily commitment that will provide divine guidance. As you practice your religion, you are exercising your faith. You are letting your faith show. "(Let Your Faith Show)

• How does your faith influence your desires/objectives?

Having an eternal perspective, making a decision prior to a foreseeable situation brings increase of faith, trust the process/covenant path, role play prior to issue.

"The scriptures provide one of the best ways to find our course and stay on it. Scriptural knowledge also provides precious protection. For example, throughout history, infections like “childbirth fever” claimed the lives of many innocent mothers and babies. Yet the Old Testament had the correct principles for the handling of infected patients, written more than 3,000 years ago! Many people perished because man’s quest for knowledge had failed to heed the word of the Lord!

My dear brothers and sisters, what are we missing in our lives if we are “ever learning, [but] never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”? We can gain great knowledge from the scriptures and obtain inspiration through prayers of faith.

Doing so will help us as we make daily decisions. Especially when the laws of man are created and enforced, God’s laws must ever be our standard. In dealing with controversial issues, we should first search for God’s guidance." (Let Your Faith Show)

• Is that what I do, search the scriptures for greater knowledge?

Instead of basics we distract ourselves with other paths of decision to soothe anxiety. We need discipline to find answers from the scriptures instead of being fooled.  Surprise vs. crisis: we can be thoughtful and proactive in an ongoing way to not feel the crisis since we've been thinking about it.
We have the Spirit with us more, greater discernment of what is of man or what is in line with what you've felt spiritually.

• How does having faith encourage courage?

We might know that Jesus can do something but also having faith to accept that he does the right thing/what we need.