"Living Far Beneath Your Privileges"-How Are You Supposed To Know?

[Hamba Tuhan]

Joseph Smith: 'It is the privilege of the children of God to come to God and get revelation'.

Brigham Young (at the dedication of the St George Temple): 'We enjoy privileges that are enjoyed by no one else on the face of the earth. Suppose we were awake to this thing, namely, the salvation of the human family, this house would be crowded, as we hope it will be, from Monday morning until Saturday night ... All the angels in heaven are looking at this little handful of people, and stimulating them to the salvation of the human family. So also are the devils in hell looking at this people, too, and trying to overthrow us, and the people are still shaking hands with the servants of the devil, instead of sanctifying themselves and calling upon the Lord and doing the work which he has commanded us and put into our hands to do. When I think upon this subject, I want the tongues of seven thunders to wake up the people'.

Brigham Young: 'When you believe the principles of the Gospel and attain unto faith, which is a gift of God, he adds more faith, adding faith to faith. He bestows faith upon his creatures as a gift; but his creatures inherently possess the privilege of believing the Gospel to be true or false'.

Brigham Young: 'If the Latter-day Saints will walk up to their privileges, and exercise faith in the name of Jesus Christ, and live in the enjoyment of the fulness of the Holy Ghost constantly day by day, there is nothing on the face of the earth that they could ask for, that would not be given to them'.

Brigham Young: 'Do you know that it is your privilege so to live that your minds may all the time be perfectly within your control? Study to preserve your bodies in life and health, and you will be able to control your minds'.

John Taylor: 'When the Spirit has beamed forth powerfully upon the hearts of the saints—when the light and intelligence of heaven has manifested itself—when the Lord has [shone] upon the souls of the saints when assembled together, what have they felt like? that they are the blessed of the Lord. How oft when they have met together on special occasions to receive certain blessings from the hands of God, has the spirit of revelation rested upon them, and the future been opened to their view in all its beauty, glory, richness, and excellency; and when their hearts have been warmed up by that spirit, how have they felt to rejoice! How have they looked upon the things of this world, and the prospect that awaited them! upon their privileges as saints of the Most High God; and upon the glory they will inherit if they are faithful to the end!'

John Taylor: 'He [God] has brought us into his covenant, and it is our privilege to go on from wisdom to wisdom, from intelligence to intelligence, from understanding of one principle to that of another, to go forward and progress in the development of truth until we can comprehend God'.

John Taylor: '[T]he power of the higher, or Melchizedek, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church; to have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened to them, to commune with the general assembly and church of the firstborn and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant'.

Wilford Woodruff: 'I consider any people blest of the Lord to whom he has revealed the gospel of Jesus Christ, to whom he has given the holy priesthood and authority to administer in the ordinances of his house … I consider this to be our position to-day; we have the privilege of walking in the light, we have the privilege of comprehending and knowing the truth, of knowing the way to be saved and exalted in the presence of our Father and God. We are in a position to know his mind and will, through his servants the prophets. The Lord has given unto us teachers and inspired men, men who are inspired by the Spirit and power of God; clothed them with truth and endowed them with wisdom to teach us at all times the path we should walk in. This is a great blessing'.

Wilford Woodruff: 'We should attend to this in order that our minds may be prepared and our bodies become fit subjects for the reception of the Holy Ghost, so that the Spirit of God may flow freely through the whole body from the head to the foot. Then when this is the case we will all see alike, feel alike, and be alike, and become one as far as the gospel and kingdom of God is concerned, as the Father and Son are one, and then this people will begin to see the position and relationship which we bear towards each other and towards God, and we shall feel the importance of attending to our duties and we will willingly step forward and improve our time, make good use of our talents and obtain the blessings that the Lord has for us to enjoy; but do you not see that if the people are asleep and slothful and not living up to their privileges, and the Spirit of God begins to flow from the head to the body that it soon becomes obstructed and dammed up?'

Wilford Woodruff: '[T]he testimony of the Spirit of God to me is that this whole kingdom, this great kingdom of priests … who have borne the priesthood, have thoroughly fulfilled one part of the parable of the ten virgins. What is that? Why, that while the Bridegroom has tarried we have all slumbered and slept; as a church and kingdom we have slumbered and slept, and the word of the Lord to me is that we have slept long enough; and we have the privilege now of rising and trimming our lamps and putting oil in our vessels'.

Lorenzo Snow: 'We should try to learn the nature of this Spirit, that we may understand its suggestions, and then we will always be able to do right. This is the grand privilege of every Latter-day Saint. We know that it is our right to have the manifestations of the Spirit every day of our lives'.

Lorenzo Snow: 'The time is come when it behooves every man and every woman to know for themselves in relation to the foundation on which they stand. We should all strive to get a little nearer to the Lord. It is necessary for us to advance a little and obtain a full knowledge of those things which we should more fully understand. It is the privilege of every Latter-day Saint'.

Lorenzo Snow: 'This then was the Gospel order in the days of the apostles, belief on Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. When this order was understood and properly attended to, power, gifts, blessings, and glorious privileges followed immediately; and in every age and period, when these steps are properly attended [to] and observed in their proper place and order, the same blessings are sure to follow; but when neglected, either wholly or in part, there will be either an entire absence of those blessings, or a great diminishment of them'.

Lorenzo Snow: 'We frequently, in the multitude of cares around us, get forgetful and these things are not before us, then we do not comprehend that the gospel is designed and calculated in its nature to bestow upon us those things that will bring glory, honor and exaltation, that will bring happiness, peace and glory. We are apt to forget these things in the midst of the cares and vexations of life, and we do not fully understand that it is our privilege, and that the Lord has placed it in our reach to pursue that gospel whereby we may have peace within us continually'.

Thomas S. Monson: 'Yours is the privilege to be not spectators but participants on the stage of priesthood service. Let us hearken to the stirring reminder found in the Epistle of James: “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves”'.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf: 'Are we as priesthood holders living below our privileges when it comes to the sacred power, gifts, and blessings that are our opportunity and right as bearers of God’s priesthood?'

Dieter F. Uchtdorf: 'Brethren, we are faced with a choice. We can be satisfied with a diminished experience as priesthood bearers and settle for experiences far below our privileges. Or we can partake of an abundant feast of spiritual opportunity and universal priesthood blessings'.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf: 'If we are not seeking to use this channel of revelation, we are living beneath our priesthood privileges. For example, there are those who believe but don’t know that they believe. They have received various answers by the still, small voice over an extended period of time, but because this inspiration seems so small and insignificant, they do not recognize it for what it really is. As a result, they allow doubts to keep them from fulfilling their potential as priesthood holders'.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf: 'We live beneath our privileges when we allow worldly anchors to keep us away from the abundant joy that comes from faithful and dedicated priesthood service, especially within the walls of our own homes. We live beneath our privileges when we fail to partake of the feast of happiness, peace, and joy that God grants so bountifully to faithful priesthood servants'.

[Stargazer]

Joseph Smith: 'It is the privilege of the children of God to come to God and get revelation'.

Brigham Young (at the dedication of the St George Temple): 'We enjoy privileges that are enjoyed by no one else on the face of the earth. Suppose we were awake to this thing, namely, the salvation of the human family, this house would be crowded, as we hope it will be, from Monday morning until Saturday night ... All the angels in heaven are looking at this little handful of people, and stimulating them to the salvation of the human family. So also are the devils in hell looking at this people, too, and trying to overthrow us, and the people are still shaking hands with the servants of the devil, instead of sanctifying themselves and calling upon the Lord and doing the work which he has commanded us and put into our hands to do. When I think upon this subject, I want the tongues of seven thunders to wake up the people'.

.... and so on

I was so surprised that so many were not instantly understanding of what this, "beneath one's privileges" means, and I started to do a search on LDS.org in order to come up with a list of quotes about it. As it turns out, this evening the search function there appears to be broken, because it wouldn't even find anything using the keyword "Mormon". But Hamba Tuhan has done it for me.

I have been in a place in my life when I was very close to this state of living up to my privileges, and it was marvelous. Unfortunately, a lot of years have come and gone since then, and I am no longer there. I seem to be living not on borrowed, but on old light. And that isn't the goal I set for myself.

I seriously need to repent.

As to the question, how are we supposed to know? If you can ask this question, well, then, you're not there yet. It's clear up there.

Edited March 21, 2013 by Stargazer

[Questing Beast]

Me:Think big. That seems to be a safer way to live. That is especially true when thinking about "God". Mormons, everyone adhering to a dogmatic, limited/limiting theology, are not thinking big enough and will settle for a much lower self image than they might otherwise, if they just think as far outside of the dogmatic "box" as they possibly can. Thinking big is an acquired skill/talent. I am sure that "God" will help out as required!...

Vol: Perhaps one of the more dogmatic statements I've seen recently.

Really. I thought it was a statement of faith. How is what I said dogmatic? Which dogma are you referring to? Mine? I say again, it is a statement of faith. Oh, and an assertion: that dogmatic thinkers are not thinking big enough....