Correct Principles

Joseph Smith once said "I teach men correct principles and let them govern themselves." This is one thing I always loved.  When we follow correct principles, generally speaking good things happen, and when we don't follow them generally speaking not so good things happen.  The natural consequences of following incorrect principles in effect become their own form of punishment because we reap what we sow in life.

But sadly it is not 100% cut in dry in the world we live. We see people follow incorrect principles all the time in Babylon and we see these same people willfully sinning reap great rewards so it seems.

The problem is that we now have a tendency to see all the rewards primarily as fruits of success which are measured in Baylonian terms.  Money, a big house, respect and notoriety with connections to others of notoriety, educated and well spoken of, the fruits of Babylon are available to anyone who follows correct Babylonian principles. 

Following correct Babylonian principles are likely what Korihor would have argued for, "for every person prospers according to the management of the creature."  In all reality this is true, we do have the capacity to prosper in terms of temporal things according to the management of the creature.  If we are self disciplined, work hard, invest our time and talents correctly, most of us can be made partakers of the Babylonian dream to have the nice things and extravagances of life.

However as being followers of Christ we know that the Babylonian fruits of success and riches are not to be confused with the gospel fruits.

The Gift of Faith, The Gift of Charity, The Gift of Tongues, The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues, The Gift of Translation, The Gift of Wisdom, The Gift of Knowledge, The Gift of Understanding the Diversity of  Operations (Recognizing the many ways the Lord and the Devil are influencing or working in the world, is my own understanding of this gift), The Gift of Teaching Wisdom and Knowledge, The Gift of Knowing That Jesus Christ Is the Son of God,  The Gift of Prophecy, The Gift of Healing, The Gift of Faith to be Healed, The Gift of Working Miracles, The Gift of Discernment, The Gift of Beholding of Angels and Ministering Spirits, The Gift of Humility.

These are the gifts, these are the fruits we should be seeking after in this life.  These are the real fruits of spiritual success not to be mistaken with the fruits of Babylonian success. 

The fruits of Babylonian success, the fruits we often use to measure the merit and quality of a man, are actually in many ways borderline contrary to Christs teachings. While it is true, that the qualities of hard work and diligence, and a spirit  of truth naturally lend way to prosperity in temporal things, temporal prosperity is not a proper measuring stick of someones standing before God.  When Job had everything taken from him, some fell into this trap by labeling him a sinner.  Instead we should look the spiritual gifts, the fruits of the spirit if we are trying to judge righteously. And we must be careful in this regard, as with the same judgement we judge others, we will also be judged.

Christ made it very clear where he stood on riches and rich men.  The JST of the bible offers even more clarity on this exchange about rich men entering heaven.

In Mark we hear the story of a man who asked the Lord what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. The Lord admonished him to follow the commandments and the man said he and done so.

Mark 10:19 Then Jesus, beholding him, loved him and said unto him, One thing thou lackest;

Mark 10:20 Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor; and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

Mark 10:21 And the man was sad at that saying and went away grieved; for he had great possessions.

Who could blame the man for being sad at first.  It isn't an easy thing to accept, giving up all earthly treasure to follow the Lord. That takes a lot of introspection and willingness to submit.

Mark 10:22 And Jesus looked round about and said unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of my Father!

Mark 10:23 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus spake again and said unto them, Children, how hard is it for them who trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!

Mark 10:24 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Mark 10:25 And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?

Mark 10:26 And Jesus, looking upon them, said, With men that trust in riches, it is impossible, but not impossible with men who trust in God and leave all for my sake; for with such, all these things are possible.

Mark 10:27 Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all and have followed thee.

Mark 10:28 And Jesus answered and said, Verily, I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my sake and the gospel's,

Mark 10:29 But he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and in the world to come, eternal life.

Mark 10:30 But there are many who make themselves first that shall be last, and the last first.

The truth is that Jesus taught that when we go after riches in this world, or seek to make ourselves first, we have our reward...in this life. We risk forfeiting our reward in the next the life if we seek to make ourselves first.

I love the Book of Mormon because the doctrines we find inside help to expound can clarify these doctrines we find in the gospel.

First we find in Jacob 2: 17-19 we are told to seek riches for the intent of helping other to become rich like unto us, and to seek first the kingdom of God. We should seek riches for the intent to do good in the world, not have so much of the good of the world kept to ourselves.

Earlier in verse 13 Jacob mentions, "because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, " and "because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they."

Persecute is a strong word.  Did they literally call them horrible names?  The definition of persecute is "subject (someone) to hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of their race or political or religious beliefs."

In Mosiah 4 we learn a little more about what this persecution may look like.

16 And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.

17 Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—


One of the trends of many members in today's church is to focus more on teaching correct Babylonian principles as well as Gospel principles in order to help us through specific problems.

When a person is struggling, or faltering, or over burdened, or in financial difficulty, we tend to lead towards offering a mix of offering counseling, financial services, getting proper medications, and the list goes on.  These things are not bad in and of themselves.  We also try to guide people towards going to church, performing calling, prayer, fasting, and looking to the Lord for deliverance.

If a person has a specific need, we may help financially for a period of time, or send them to the bishops storehouse.  Help is available and this help is all good to have.

When a person has a major terminal illness or a baby or asks for specific help we are there to offer it.

this safety net is good to have. But are we still seeking Zion?  And of a we meet a fellow that is seeking for Zion, and has Zion in their heart are we living the higher principles of a Zion community?  Are we following the principles laid out in Jacob 2? 4 Nephi?

3 And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.

5 And there were great and marvelous works wrought by the disciples of Jesus, insomuch that they did heal the sick, and raise the dead, and cause the lame to walk, and the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear; and all manner of miracles did they work among the children of men; and in nothing did they work miracles save it were in the name of Jesus.

Isn't Zion the society we should be striving for?  They all became rich in this circumstance:

23 And now I, Mormon, would that ye should know that the people had multiplied, insomuch that they were spread upon all the face of the land, and that they had become exceedingly rich, because of their prosperity in Christ.

24 And now, in this two hundred and first year there began to be among them those who were lifted up in pride, such as the wearing of costly apparel, and all manner of fine pearls, and of the fine things of the world.

25 And from that time forth they did have their goods and their substance no more common among them.

This is their first sin... the beginning of a downward trend that ultimately led to destruction.

Run Fast

It is not meet that we run faster than you have strength.

What a lousy cop-out we use to defend our laziness in drawing closer to God.  If I sold everything I owned and gave it charity I would be called a charlatan and a heretic, not doing the Lord's will but my own. And if I told someone I felt like the Lord was asking me to do that, I would be called crazy. Thankfully he hasn't asked me to do that, but if he did would I listen, would I even be able to hear it?  Or would my preconceived notion that God would never ask that stop me from hearing it?

It doesn’t take strength to get close to God. Pushups build muscle, seeking after God in worship, introspection and prayer builds that muscle. Purifying our hearts is the really hard part.  Being humble enough to listen. That's the biggest challenge.

If you can’t run because you don’t have strength, work hard on building that strength up with prayer, fasting, introspection, scripture study, temple attendance, and ridding yourself of all ungodliness in media and thought.

The strength part is building to prepare you for the work. The work part is what you need to be careful about running too fast after…. Feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and afflicted, that needs wisdom and order. 

You can’t seek after God too much. You can't be too Righteous. Those things can be done nearly constantly and the Lord would bless us accordingly to maintain a roof and food and even the basic comforts of life. 

The moment we being to seek for ourselves and our own gain before the Lords, we lose our footing.  We can be good stewards which means we don’t live absurdly or lavishly, but we live according to our fair wants and needs, and are prepared to give it all away at a moments notice.

Oh is that too much faith?  The willingness to give it all up. People seem to hate hypothetical but I thrive in that department.  That's how you strategize against an enemy, you think ahead and try to consider what might be thrown at you. This is a war we are fighting after all.

 I’m sure most of us would give it all up if the Lord showed up and told us to do it. But does that take faith?  Does that show we hear the Masters voice? He wants us to follow his voice, and that is definitely a good thing because a good sheep knows his masters voice, that way when he calls after us we can come and he doesn't have to hunt us down every five minutes when we start to wander off.

So how about on a prompting. How sure are we that we can hear the Lord’s voice if he told us that in a prompting.  Have we purified our hearts before him?  Are we willing to do his will at all costs? If so, then we will hear his voice pretty clearly.  And if we are in a place where we can hear his voice that clearly, then that also means he can use us for a lot of other smaller and easier purposes.

One of the strange things that happens to men, when they become smart or successful they begin to think that everything they do is right or inspired because it pays off with fruits….success in material things is mistaken for fruits of the Lord.  They can be, but not exclusively. The real fruits of following God with exactness, without preconceived notions are the healing of the sick. Power in the Priesthood. Walking with God.

When they are learned they think they are wise…How many of us study and learn the gospel. That's a dangerous precedent if we think that makes us a wizard in knowing all God's ways..A wise man would constantly seek the Lords counsel ready to learn from the fountain of all knowledge. There isn’t one answer.  There millions of them, no man can know all the ways of the Lord for there are too many to list, and each issue no matter how similar might require a completely new approach, especially when dealing with the complexity of human beings. We are after all light years behind on His understanding of things, so we stop earnestly seeking his counsel thinking we already understand. 

A wise man will go to the Lord for learning rather than books.  A wise man will purify his heart to hear the voice of the Lord loudly and clearly so we can learn from Him.

 Section 8 of D&C:

1 Oliver Cowdery, verily, verily, I say unto you, that assuredly as the Lord liveth, who is your God and your Redeemer, even so surely shall you receive a knowledge of whatsoever things you shall ask in faith, with an honest heart, believing that you shall receive a knowledge concerning the engravings of old records, which are ancient, which contain those parts of my scripture of which has been spoken by the manifestation of my Spirit.

The Lord showed Nephi how to build a ship, and he can show us how to do anything else pertinent to our salvation if we can just hear his voice.