Zion and Jerusalem,
October 23 2-13
GIVE ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear,
O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop
as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the
tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: Because I will publish
the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
(Old
Testament | Deuteronomy 32:1 - 3)
It
is no mystery. The word of the LORD does not return to him empty, void or
without doing what he intended when he uttered them by or thru his mouthpiece
then and now.
An
apostle is an elder, Elder Bednard from the quorum of the twelve apostles of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints gave us and the world most in
the recent general solemn general assembly of the church a speech titled The
Windows of Heaven.
THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN
By
David A Bednard
“Spiritual and
temporal blessings come into our lives as we live the law of tithing.”
Then
not long ago he went about and asked those who visited his facebook page and
asked:
How has tithing blessed you?
I
was gladly obliged to report and said to him.
Now, Elder Bednard, since you have asked this is my
report.
Before,
when I was young I girded myself and went where I wanted. I had lots of hair, pride,
I had a great job and I traveled the world. I had a palatial home, two cars in
the garage and sufficient resources to travel and take vacations. I paid
tithing on and off but never did a tithing settlement. I had lots of physical strength, but was sick
spiritually and was angry all the time, unsatisfied, always wanting to earn
more and thus mad me very unhappy. I
only bought new stuff and rejected simple things and I paid for services, for
someone else to cut the grass or to have something fixed. And the list of pride, vanity, slackness,
softness and wickedness can go on and on.
I sum, I was not worthy to hold a temple recommend and to do the errand
of the LORD which is genealogy work for my own. And if that was not enough, I said much about
me, myself and I.
Now
that I am not so young, somebody else girds me and I go where I do not want to
go. I have had no gainful employment
since 2004, but the LORD gives me abundantly the gold that I lack and of which
I had never had enough, which are the gifts of Gratitude and Humility. And then, when I could buy, I had never had
as much food, as many ties and shirts or pants or food or shoes as I do now for
my family and I. And I have no room to
hold it and yet I buy very little. I feel like a bishop that knows how to get
things, and when someone in need appears, I surely have something good to give
to anyone that asks. And these material
things came to us even without even asking or by purchasing it by pennies on
the dollar here and there, new or newsed. Those are only one hundredths of the
temporal blessings. I do not always know what to do with it. Things have
changed dramatically. Now I am on the
right side of the river. People are in the position that I was before, in the
gardens of Babylon,
they do not want for simple things.
Now
as a result of more consecrated like obedience, to commandments, the law of
tithing and the temple covenants, I am home most of the time and I have very
pleasing and insightful family home evenings consistently. We hardly even get
sick at home and we are growing from grace to grace. I see my children grow and I fix the stuff
that need to be fixed. I even had mown
my own lawn and a few others from time to time.
I have enhanced the gift or ability to say things that come do not from
me, but from the spirit of the LORD which is in me; and I am not ashamed
because it is the truth and the power of God unto salvation. I have completed a lot of
genealogy work and that is priceless. I
lack hair some physical strength and stamina now, but I have increased faith,
happiness, power in the priesthood, and I have become somewhat quick to
observe. I can see heavenly patterns and
I guide my life by them. I do not know about today, because the devil is always
snaring, but if I had died yesterday, I would have gone directly to paradise. I
now work for the LORD Jesus Christ only.
I
graduated from High School by equivalency examination when I was at grade ten,
so I am not a learned man, but now it is as I am instructed every single day
without a vacation in of the school of the prophets. I have been given the tongue of the learned;
and right or wrong, I record pretty much everything, even my own thoughts. Since
October 2007, I have written some 11 blogs with over 530 unedited long articles
in them and counting. To me those blogs
are as vast gleaning fields of pasture for my children that in case of need, if
faith does not fail me, they could even feed the whole world spiritually until
the kingdom comes. Because in these blogs I publish the name of the LORD and
his words. Or, as the prophets speak for GOD, I plagiarize their words to the
ends of the earth so saint and sinner could hear them. They are the wise, I am
their voice. They are to me as Moses and
I am to them as Aaron. And all that came thru the windows of heaven that you
see as my face here this very day.
And
I did not notice it much before, even how subtle are these blessings until the
prophet of GOD confirmed the faith of many in public during general conference.
That day I knew that I had not labored in vain. I know, I myself have even seen and heard the
windows of heaven. I solemnly testify this
day in public that God spoke thru the prophet. Therefore I have reason to rejoice in the gifs
and the giver of the gifts and to say up loud. I THANK THEE OH GOD FOR A
PROPHET.
The
talks that our leaders give com with references or scriptures or little numbers
by some phrases the prophets utter to give us some deeper insight if we search
them with eyes of faith. In those things I learned the ways of the LORD for in
them as the prophets said the LORD spoke saying:
For my thoughts are
not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow
from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it
bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the
eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not
return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent
it.
For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with
peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their
hands.
(Old
Testament | Isaiah 55:8 - 12)
And
this I say humbly and joyfully in the sacred name of Jesus Christ amen.
I
thought I had said enough about it not knowing what the LORD had in store for
me.
Last
week I was asked by the Elder Quorum President to teach in the Elder’s quorum
that very same speech tomorrow. I had
heard that speech in General conference. I read it for the first that Sunday in
Spanish; and then read it again a couple
of times at home both in Spanish and in English to grasp the will of the spirit.
And I did not have the inspiration to
teach about it because I did not recognize all the blessings of which Elder
Bernad spoke about. Maybe I grasped a few but not all. The LORD works in his own way and in his own
time and according to his own will. This
morning I woke up demoralized because of the horrible dreams I had. And I woke
up at six and went to facebook. The
Mormon.org site in facebook had posted a link concerning gratitude. And then
everything that I had read last night came to remembrance and I posted a
message and a link that says:
“Gratitude is a gift, a blessing that comes to us thru the windows of heaven that radiates our lives when we obey the law of tithing. I know. And you can too, see for yourselves. We thank thee God for a prophet.”
http://www.lds.org/gener.../2013/10/the-windows-of-heaven...
After
this I visited the facebook page of elder Bednard and from there I played the speech
he gave so I could hear it again and it was marvelous. I enumerated a great
many blessings that we take for granted when we pay tithes. So I began to write
what you read above. And now I have been
thinking about that speech all day. I believe I left many things unsaid. The most important is that before, when I
paid tithes on and off and kept not the commandments as much as I now do, I did
suffer greatly because of unrighteousness and nothings shameful happened to me;
now I suffer even more exquisitely but for righteousness sake and I rejoice exceedingly when I am counted worthy
to be taken for righteousness sake. Before
I did hide from my church brethren, I did not have much disposition to serve
others. Now I take great pleasure in
serving others. Before, I read the book
of Mormon and the other scriptures to learn knowledge, now I live by its
precepts and have a more perfect testimony of the divinity of Christ and the
truth. Before, I worked on Sundays to
make more hours and earn more in over time pay; and now I would not trade a
Sunday for work nor for all the money in the world. Before I believed that GOD was a god of far,
and now he is a GOD of near. Before I hid my evil thoughts and deeds and did
run away from GOD and his striped when he undertook to chastise me, now I no
longer turn my back on him but draw nearer and ask him to search my heart and
thought and clean me with hyssop my unrighteousness. Before I had trouble being faithful or
keeping the commandments and now I ask for more commandments. Before
I attended to church meetings, now I attend church to receive revelation. Before, I planned my life five years in
advance and had great anxieties to live providently, now I am like the wind, I
do not know where I will go or where the spirit will take me. I truly live day
by day. And the list of blessings can go on and on. And last but not least, before I thought I
was one of the ninety nine righteous, and now I know that it was me who was
lost and that Jesus Christ suffered and died for me.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth:
so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
(New
Testament | John 3:8)
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that
there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now
herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of
heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there
shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke
the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your
ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field,
saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall
be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
Your words have been stout against me, saith the
LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?
Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance,
and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the
proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
Then they that feared the LORD spake
often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written
before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of
hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man
spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return,
and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God
and him that serveth him not.
(Old
Testament | Malachi 3:10 - 18)
I
am very grateful for all these and many other spiritual blessings. I did not intend to prove the LORD and take
his challenge as recorded in Malachi 3 , but I now know by my own testimony that
the windows of heaven are wide open. And when I am cornered and have no way
out, the LORD opens a door than no man can shut. And these are but a portion of
my many blessings. And the eternity is not enough to thank and ascribe
greatness unto my GOD. And these things I say humbly and meekly in his holy
name, even in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Miguel
Angel Tinoco Rodriguez
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