Friday, February 28, 2014

"Temptation is EVERYWHERE" - Trint-


     Once i heard a story of a district meeting, there stood the District Leader. T.W. and he looked upon his district with a gleam in his eye and said,

                                                       "Temptation is EVERYWHERE."
                                                                       How true it is.
     
     Today's world is full of many types of temptations and things that are meant  to hold us back in this life. Satan is attacking the family on every front, and he is continually trying new tantalizing ways to pull apart the central piece of our Father in Heavens plan, the family. Hardly a day goes by that we aren't exposed to something that is meant to hinder the Light of Christ within our lives. Drugs, Abuse of family, Stealing, Pornography, Dishonesty, you name it. There are many things in this world that Lucifer uses to entice us and pull us away from the light and truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

     It reminds me of a great story in the Book of Mormon. We find the man named Lehonti, a captain of an army who chooses not to fight for anything other than righteous reasons, and he flees with his men. The opposing man, named Amalickiah, has the desire to take possesion of Lehonti's armies by fraud and deceit. 

 And it came to pass that when it was night he (Amalickiah) sent a secret embassy into the mount Antipas, desiring that the leader of those who were upon the mount, whose name was Lehonti, that he should come down to the foot of the mount, for he desired to speak with him.

     Just as Amalickiah sent to Lehonti, inquiring of him, so the devil sends invitations to us each day. Try this, do that, look at this, you can stop whenever you want. And he begins to assault us in the most flattering way. 

And it came to pass that when Lehonti received the message he durst not go down to the foot of the mount. And it came to pass that Amalickiah sent again the second time, desiring him to come down. And it came to pass that Lehonti would not; and he sent again the third time.
     And so it is with us, 'just TRY this, it isn't going to hurt. Just one smoke, just one glimpse of a bad website, just one text to tell someone how you hate them. Try it' and over and over he pushes us, in the most subtle of ways. But Lehonti was firm. And so Amalickiah pushes even harder, going almost to the camp. Satan creeps within the internet lines of our homes, the television, the hearts of families as they harbor bad feelings. 
12 And it came to pass that when Amalickiah found that he could not get Lehonti to come down off from the mount, he went up into the mount, nearly to Lehonti’s camp; and he sent again the fourth time his message unto Lehonti, desiring that he would come down, and that he would bring his guards with him.

     He always reminds you that you are in control. 'Bring your guards (you can stop any time you want.)' And so he uses deceit to make us think that we are in control, as he takes grasp. Eventually our story ends, and do you know how? Lehonti dies. After he let Amalickiah in to his life and let him be close, all the while being told 'you are in control,' he dies from poisoning from Amalickiah. A very carefully worded verse reads that the poison was administered by
                                                                                "Degrees."
     
     We slowly lose control of our lives by letting the devil in by degrees. As we let down our guard just a little, we come down off our mount, or let the Devil come nearly to our camp, we start to lose the will to fight him back. Many any addict has said that they never saw their addiction coming. So what is the best way to avoid it?

                                      DON'T COME DOWN OFF THE MOUNTAIN... DUH!

     As we start to let our standards slip just a little bit, we slowly begin letting ourselves become captive to the will of the devil. We start losing our drive to live free of addiction, we start to lose the Spirit, and we start to douse the flame of faith within our hearts.
      I challenge you to rise to a new sense of commitment to our Father in Heaven in saying 'I WONT COME OFF THE MOUNTAIN!!!' Set standards and restrictions for yourself, and then never EVER breach those standards. Pray often for strength to resist temptation. And fill your mind and life with uplifting things. A declaration of belief by the Prophet Joseph Smith still rings true in todays world and modern society.

 "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."
        
May we always let Virtue Garnish our thoughts unceasingly, and always keep our lives pure.



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