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It is the same with any student. He who would research in a scientific laboratory must begin by learning the theory and then how to use the equipment with which to conduct experiments.
No door opens without the right key. The knowledge of our own constitution, of our own capacities and powers, is the key which will unlock the door to the inner worlds of being lying within and behind and beyond the physical world. Here is the meaning of the expression "self-directed evolution. Within lie all the wisdom and potencies of the universe. The urge to evolution through self-expression and experience does not come from blind physical nature.
It comes from our own higher self, and only within ourselves can we find the knowledge and power to achieve the aims of evolution. Without our own vision, willpower, and courage we could never get anywhere.
A child can be helped and guided by parents and teachers, but only it can make itself walk, eat, study, or use its physical and mental faculties. Self-directed evolution puts into our own hands the science of self-knowledge. In light of the seven basic elements of our constitution, it gives us the spiritual laws by which we can understand, control, and direct these elements.
Only we ourselves can apply this knowledge in our daily lives to bring about a higher and quicker evolution of our own natures. Therefore the student no longer looks outside of himself for the strength to accomplish this, but becomes his own savior, powerful enough at last to make of himself a god in human form.
Did not Jesus say: Some of the highest forms of spiritual powers exist even now in all of us. There is the creative imagination, the power to visualize what we want or need or wish to do, and then give it form and direction. Successful business people inevitably possess this power, as do artists and scientists.
Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. Do not fear or be dismayed. My soul weeps because of grief; Strengthen me according to Your word. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth. You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it!
The Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily, so that he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself!
Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.
But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe. Our overall goal, of course, is to return to our Heavenly Father and live with him in exaltation. We have an understanding of many of the steps necessary to accomplish this—Church activity, abstaining from major sin, payment of tithing —but we seldom systematically pursue the requirements of spiritual power. Granted, a certain amount of spirituality is awarded to him who keeps the laws mentioned above.
But to be eligible for exaltation, a person must grow in spiritual power and be sanctified to the point that he develops a powerful and personal relationship with the Savior. This is a requirement of spiritual strength far above our normal level. Many Church members live in ignorance of this disparity and the need to acquire spiritual power. The solution requires new perspectives and new behavior on our part.
Our best sources for examples of how to gain spiritual strength are the life of our Savior and the accounts of the lives of our great spiritual leaders. It was a planned, deliberate process to gain the strength and power he needed to begin his ministry. Maybe these are the elements of the pattern we need to follow.
A second example is John the Baptist and the process he underwent in preparing for his mission—again a period of fasting and prayer. Alma the Younger provides a third example in Alma 5: Many other examples exist of instances where man has sought strength, answers, revelation, knowledge, and guidance. In each case a resultant blessing was desired and the person involved followed certain steps to achieve the results or the blessing. In our lives we are often brought to our knees by circumstances or need.
We find ourselves at the point where there is no other way to turn but to the Lord. It appears then that there is greater worth in assessing our needs and humbling ourselves in a planned process to gain strength, answers, direction, or comfort. What are the steps of such a process?
Power from on high will be essential for the expanding witness of world Acts 1: 8, "And you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come. What is spiritual strength? Like building physical strength when you work out, building spiritual strength is similar but on the inside. Building your “spiritual.
If we were to bring together various scriptures and statements of latter-day prophets, we might synthesize the following steps:. Review with the Lord in quiet meditation your present situation and how you stand with him. This is a process of intensive analysis.