Notes from My Journal
10/22/2003 8:57PM (written that evening)
A couple of nights ago, I was praying about what I was supposed to be doing. Christ said: “I want you to … write. Don’t worry about what you will write about. Just sit down and write I will tell you what to write about.” The above document is what has come out of this effort. I consider it to be the finest and most inspired piece of writing I have even written, or at least that came from my hand.
10/22/2003 3:16AM (written that morning)
Re Priesthood authority and Zion.
Here are some principles to keep in mind:
- If ye have desires, ye are called to the work.
- You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.
Where is there room to sit around and wait for a prophet to appear? Do the work you feel called to do now. Be your own prophet. Follow the light that is given you. And it may be that God will show you a greater vision of the work you could perform, and the vision he shows you will be according to your desires and your faith. Jesus said: “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.” Another translation of this is “You have not chosen me SAVE I have chosen you.” In other words, he is saying that we could not be able to choose him unless he chose us first.
If God gives you a vision of a great undertaking or work, and if you begin to serve and perform the work which God has shown you, and if you perform it under the influence of the Holy Spirit, you will be a prophet to the degree that your followers sustain you as such and God will place as much authority in your hands as is necessary in order to accomplish the work you are called to do. When you have exhausted your personal reserves of knowledge and your personal mental capacity, and if you seek God in humility, you will have the added endowment of light which you need in order to accomplish the task.
This is how Enoch, Moses, and Joseph received their callings. This is how Abraham obtained his priesthood. This is how Peter obtained the promise that he could quickly join Christ in his kingdom, and how John obtained the promise that he could remain in mortality and bring souls to Christ until His kingdom came to earth. This is how the promises of God are sought for and obtained.
The day will come when one or more people have such an overwhelming desire to establish Zion and such a sense of mission that they will have the desire above all else to see it accomplished and presented to the Lord as his Bride that they will work to that end, and God will bless them jointly with a greater vision of the work and provide whatever authority they need to accomplish the task. And the light which they generate will attract other lights. And the lights which are gathered will sustain each other in their endeavors. And because of their desires they will have the ability to call down the resources of heaven and obtain whatever revelation is necessary to complete and perfect the work.
God already has people in mind who will perform this work. But they need first to choose themselves and to find themselves. Then God will take over and supply whatever else is lacking. And all this will happen because God has already ordained and set in place a covenant which will allow this to happen. This is the covenant which God made with our fathers when he told them that when men look upward, then will the Kingdom of Heaven look downward, and the day will come that those of the Kingdom of Heaven, Enoch and his family will come down and dwell in our midst.
It is well-said that Zion cannot be built up on any other principles but those of the Celestial Kingdom, and the Celestial principle which rules in this case is this: If we are willing to consecrate all that we have to the building of up Zion, then God is willing to consecrate all that He has to the same effort. We have the opportunity, even in this life, to enter into the same Celestial order which God belongs to. It’s an order of equals, each giving their all for the good of all.
The questions we need to answer are these: Is the time right? Are enough people prepared? Are we prepared to sacrifice all that we have in order to obtain something better? Until we can answer yes to all of these questions, then more preparation is in order.
11/30/2003 7:10PM
God does not have to wait for Zion to be established. If one or two people are ready now, he will abide with them, and they will have a little Zion.
John144 