Sunday, January 21, 2001

Moses 7:59

"And Enoch beheld the Son of Man ascend up unto the Father; and he called unto the Lord, saying: Wilt thou not come again upon the earth? Forasmuch as thou art God, and I know thee, and thou hast sworn unto me, and commanded me that I should ask in the name of thine Only Begotten; thou hast made me, and given unto me a right to thy throne, and not of myself, but through thine own grace; wherefore, I ask thee if thou wilt not come again on the earth."
Moses 7:59


Enoch is one of my heroes... so cool... he and King Benjamin are probably near the top of the list.  But then, maybe I have weird taste.  Anyway... Enoch is amazing.  Can you imagine talking to the Lord like this?  Just hanging out with him... and he starts to go up into heaven and you call out... hey, when are you coming back? :)  (If you want to know the answer to the question read after this verse in Moses...) :)  Enoch, of the perfect community... he says to God, "I know thee."  That is amazing.  Enoch walked with God... Enoch understood him.  He knew him well.  What I think that we don't realize sometimes is that we can have the same thing.  We can ask the Lord hard questions... we can ask him the desires of our hearts... and he will answer us, and help us find truth and peace and comfort... and excitement, joy... interest, love... everything that we could ever want.  God isn't boring, and heaven isn't boring... it is all we can handle, all the time.  Just less inconsistent and scary than here. :)  The thing about Enoch... in knowing God, he gained a confidence that we rarely get, and an ability to talk to God plainly.  The more we learn about God, the closer we can get to that same thing... the better we know the person that we are talking to... the easier it is to say the things that need to be said.  Of course, it is a bonus that God already knows what we are thinking... but that doesn't really help us to know *him* better... for that, we need the scriptures... which contain his thoughts and instructions.  And, without question, we need prayer.  Too often I, and perhaps some of you as well, treat prayer as a one way communication.  I jam all of my thoughts and feelings into a little sound-byte and then say "over and out" and go on with my day.  I don't wait for a response, and I never check my voice mail.  Luckily God is infinitely patient with me, and sometimes while I am churning out the sound byte he makes me stop for air and I get some overwhelming emotion coming through the line... love, deep and pure, and strong... for me.  I know that he loves me, and that always helps communication. :)  Other times, I will be praying for someone else and I will get this overwhelming feeling... and I know that God knows what I am saying, and that he loves that person as much... more... than I do, and is watching over the situation.  Every now and then I even get a brief warning before something unsettling happens, helping me to prepare for it... and once, a few years ago, when I was walking out of church in disgust... I got a short verbal question.  So, little pieces of a relationship.  And, I'm sure you have pieces too.  Feelings, glimpses... and the more pieces we have, the better picture we have of God.  There are huge pieces in the scriptures.  The woman taken in adultery... the story of the good Samaritan.  we start getting to know our God... learning of him, finding out more about him, and our relationship to him.  That is what the gospel is about, in large part... learning who we are, and who he is, and how those two things interrelate.  Even simple things like... "God, please... help me find my keys, I am late" and he does...  you know that he cares about you when he helps you with the simplest things.  And we learn a lot about ourselves when we do little things for him.  Small things... maybe smiling at someone even when we are in a bad mood... maybe praying and attempting communication even though we feel uncomfortable or inadequate sometimes... maybe humbling ourselves enough to walk back into church after we stormed out.  God knows us... he knows our talents, capacities, and limitations... perfectly.  He knows when even the smallest of things is difficult for us to do... and he blesses us beyond measure for the most limited attempts.  Today... do something for God.  Get on your knees and say hi to him.  Read a few verses of scripture... something... anything.  and I promise you... promise... that if you do, God will make this day better than any day where you don't do something for him.  We all have to start small, and then we struggle with consistency.  But it's okay.  read one verse... pray about one thing... spend 2 minutes on your knees.  Whatever it is. Just try it, and keep it up.  Your life will improve.  Mine has... mine does, every time I do something for God. :)  Get to know him... he's a very very cool guy. :)

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