If we have to choose between certain prison time and probation, we generally like the idea of probation. However, if we never change our ways during our probationary period, we'll likely end up in prison anyway.
In this life, though we may deserve eternal punishment for unrighteous deeds, that punishment doesn't come immediately. We aren't immediately cast in to hell whenever we break a commandment. We get a chance to change. We get a probationary period. At the end of our probation, we must be prepared to meet our Judge. We'll have an Advocate if we choose to accept His terms.
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We lived with God before we were born. We loved Him and wanted to become like He is--full of love, wisdom, and power for good. Our Father offered us all that He has, if we would learn to become like He is. We chose to come to earth to help us in this process. Here we can learn and grow. Away from the direct presence of our Father, our choices become more independent. The Lord requires us to conform to his laws. We are to keep his commandments--all of them. We are all expected to live in this way. With this high level of conformity as a requirement for all, where is the opportunity to be unique? Children are often difficult. Why is it then that many parents seem to enjoy being parents? What is it about being a parent that brings happiness? The term prophet is used in more than one way. In its most fundamental sense, a prophet is anyone who delivers the words of God as he received them from God. He is a mouthpiece for God on the earth. Power is based on faith. Whenever someone has faith in you, you have power over that person. This person believes that in following you they will gain something desirable. To act as a representative of God, one must be called of God. Having multiple representatives all teaching conflicting messages wouldn't make sense. And yet that is what we see today. Ministers from all sects and creeds claim authority, sometimes explicitly, but often implicitly. The most scarce resources are the most valuable. We have a limited amount of time. As the world gets busier, the challenge of where to allocate our attention becomes more complex. Attention focused in one area can bring large amounts of monetary income and prestige. Other focuses can bring thrills. Still other focuses can bring no personal gain, other than positive emotions that come from serving others. "Now what is this other Comforter? It is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and this is the sum and substance of the whole matter; that when any man obtains this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had such glorious visions--Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens, and all the Saints who held communion with the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 150) |
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