Lesson for June 5, 2016

Lesson for June 5, 2016 Today our lesson was given by Andrea Gerber of our Relief Society presidency about personal revelation. She said she struggles to get answers for her prayers, at least not clear answers. She was never sure. She feels that not many people discuss the language of the Spirit. She has learned a lot about what the prophets. Her favorite is by Richard G. Scott and acquiring spiritual revelation. The Lord has more for you, no matter where you are in spiritual growth. We need to be grateful for the revelation we have. Every good feeling we have is from the Holy Ghost, even the feelings we get from holding a baby. It is more like a warm light shining in your being. Many people in the Church will not feel the burning in the bosom, but only that light. Joseph Smith said that when you get pure strokes of intuition, that could be revelation. Elder Oaks said it could be inspiring feelings, performances, words, actions. Miracles are not usually the parting of the sea or a burning bush, but the small miracles that happen every day. We may not recognize the Spirit if it comes in common dress. We may feel a call to action because of a good Relief Society lesson or church talk. Praying about something and having it linger in your mind is a type of revelation, even if you fight against it. When we listen to the Spirit and carry out what our feelings are given to us, we respond to the Spirit and gain revelation and trust the answer. We also need to recognize what we have already been given as revelation and not worry that God is not telling us over and over again what we already know. We need to build on that knowledge. That is a confirmation. And sometimes the Spirit just gives us an impression, but that is revelation. As long as you live your life with the Spirit and so you can have the Spirit that you can have personal revelation in your life. We need to teach each other how to recognize the Spirit. The Spirit works differently with each person and you don’t have to have the same type of revelation as someone else does to have revelation. Sometimes you need to just ask and not look for signs. Acting with charity is guided by the Spirit. The Spirit follows humility and forgiveness. We all come from heaven with certain gifts, but the scriptures say to seek after the best gifts. If we act on the inspiration we get, the Lord will bless us with more. We can practice and not give up. The Lord can move a moving target better than he can move a stationary target, so we need to keep moving. Elder Holland told us how to tell the difference between our own thoughts and what we get from the Spirit. If the result was good, it came from the Spirit. If we operate on that premise and practice, we will get the answer we need—maybe not immediately, but we may receive inspiration and learn that what we are already doing and decided the best we could do, will be right. You have to be humble enough and brave enough and act on the inspiration. Some get an intense high when we are doing what is right. We sometimes have to work for our spirituality and that includes actively studying the gospel, going to church, attending the temple, taking care of our bodies, getting rid of critical or negative feelings, and actively doing what is necessary to receive the Spirit. Sometimes you need to be grateful for the type of revelation you receive. Strong emotions, such as anger, greed, pride, fear, exhaustion, and others overcome the effects of the Spirit. We need to remember that the Lord can overcome those. We can choose to not feel those emotions. We can choose to do the things we need to for us to receive revelation. We can choose to turn our lives to the Lord. Sometimes we are being tested to see if we will continue on. The Adversary is a copycat and can copy many feelings, but he cannot copy feelings of peace. Elder Scott said there is no simple formula or technique to gain the Spirit, but the Lord wants us to learn how to be led by the Spirit through our own struggle with the Spirit. It takes work. We cannot learn the language of the Spirit without work. Things you can try is to ask the Lord, study, act on any good idea, try the morning for revelation, fasting, taking care of our bodies, record your impressions so you can reply to the first impressions you are given.