Abiding Precepts – Testimony of Joseph Smith

It may not have been part of the original printing of the Book of Mormon, but the testimony of Joseph Smith is a powerful account of how God works with us and is taken from another book of scripture. So we’ll take a few minutes to consider the precepts here too!

Read the full text here: Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith

Passage #1

While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor. . . . He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me

Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, paragraphs 3 and 6

Precept #1

God has a message for each of us personally everyday. Believe it. Search for it. Be sensitive to it. Supplicate all mighty God for it. It will be delivered how and when God desires it to be delivered, but most frequently through the Holy Ghost and most likely during scripture study or prayer.

Do you know what the Lord is trying to tell you today?

Passage #2

. . . that God had a work for me to do . . .

Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, paragraph 6

Precept #2

Be aware of what God wants you to be doing, the tasks He wants you to accomplish, and the person He wants you to be and do them.

What was the last errand Heavenly Father gave you to do? Did you do it?

Passage #3

I lay musing on the singularity of the scene, and marveling greatly at what had been told to me by this extraordinary messenger; when, in the midst of my meditation . . .

Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, paragraph 11

Precept #3

Think, ponder, and meditate over the scriptures and all the personal, sacred experiences God gives you until He has finished His communication with you.

When was the last time you paused to consider a message from the Lord a bit deeper than the surface level? How deep did you go before you felt He was finished communicating to you? How did the message bless your life at each step of the process?

Passage #4

This he forbade me, saying that I must have no other object in view in getting the plates but to glorify God, and must not be influenced by any other motive than that of building his kingdom; otherwise I could not get them.

Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, paragraph 13

Precept #4

When you serve God do it only for the purpose of glorifying God.

What was the last thing you did in your church participation that was not about bringing glory to yourself?

Passage #5

I made an attempt to take them out, but was forbidden by the messenger, and was again informed that the time for bringing them forth had not yet arrived, neither would it, until four years from that time . . .

Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, paragraph 20

Precept #5

Be patient. Our God is not a fast food God. He is a last watch God.

Can you think of a particular blessing or answer to a question/prayer that took considerably longer than you expected and wanted? Was it worth the wait? Were you better off for it?

Published by Russty

I remember my first truly sacred experience when I was 12 years old. The next was somewhere around 14. My teenage years after that - after beginning a life-long study of the LDS canon of scripture - was chalked full of sacred experience after sacred experience which have developed in me a love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a devotion to His teachings as taught in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Because of those experiences as a young man I can say for sure that Jesus Christ lives today and is the Son of the Living God. He atoned for me and has "redeemed my soul from hell." It was in those years that I learned for myself that the Book of Mormon is the true word of God. That came to be a huge social battle for one young as I was growing up in the Bible belt. I spent those years trying to live my life in such a way that people would know that I was a follower of Christ only to find out after years of hanging out with my friends that none of them believed I was Christian. This was devestating to me, a young man simply trying to show a good example as a follower of Christ. I felt like I had failed. It was only after serving my two year mission for the LDS Church that I realized the reason for their opinion was simply because our definition of what it meant to be Christian was drastically different. For me it had been about following Christ and living His teachings. For them it was whether or not my beliefs fell within their narrowly defined window of what they believed about God and Jesus Christ. I realize now that I was doomed to fail from the beginning! It was in those years while I was trying to show people that I was a follower of Christ - facing opposition from friend, minister, and teacher alike - that I began studying the scriptures not just to understand His Gospel, but to come to understand answers to the challenges I was being presented with. In short I became as much of a Mormon apologist as a teenage boy with little education could ever become. But I at least had the scriptures and and the guidance of truly devoted and inspired friends and teachers - and that was all I needed. It is this pattern of questioning and searching for answers which has informed all of my scripture study and learning over the years of my life since then. My research and understanding of the Gospel, the Church, The Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith have all grown and expanded because of that constant and consistent devotion to studying. And they will all continue to do so - for the knowledge of God is infinite and there is no way in the life to learn it all. This blog is an outlet for all I have learned and considered over the years of my Gospel study. I have found - as many people who have come to know the teachings of Christ the way I have - that when the Word is a part of one's soul he or she cannot escape the desire to share It. So share it I do. There are imperfections and missing pieces in what I write, but all in all I truly feel the Lord has blessed me with the one thing I have desired more than almost anything else: a well rounded understanding of His doctrine and truth as He has given to us at this point. Please forgive my imperfections for this blog is as much about improving myself and my own knowledge and faith in God and Christ as it is for helping anyone else do the same.

Abiding Precepts, Russty's Daily Coat, The Book of Mormon

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