The Blue Eyed Bunch

About a month ago Brian and I were on an airplane and sat by a boy who appeared to be in his 20’s.  We began talking and he told us a little about him.  He said he was doing an online religious study.  It was intense and he could only do one class at a time.  He said it would take about five years to complete.  He was a non-denominational Christian. (Not sure if he had been baptized into a certain faith.)  The course he was studying, however, was with a specific religion that he felt aligned with his beliefs the most.  He had studied the Bible and read it.  He could quote scriptures.  I respected his enthusiasm to study God.  He asked if we were LDS and wanted to know some of the differences between our beliefs.  I told him about the LDS faith and answered many questions.  (He looked surprised to find out that bishops are not paid and all the work done in a congregation is done without pay.  We receive a job that we are called to and get moved around, not moved up, just around.)  We were all respectful. There were different beliefs discussed and honestly, I was surprised at how many there were.  The conversation has stirred my mind and I have thought a lot about it.  

Here is a rough list:

-We believe that God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings.  He does not.  He believes God came down in the flesh.

-He does not believe in modern revelation. We do!

-He does not believe in a prophet on the earth today.  We do!

-We believe that we lived in the pre-existence before we came to earth.  He believes that his life began at conception.

-We believe that we are literal spirit children of our Heavenly Father.  He does not.

-He believes that it is quite offensive to claim that we can progress to become like God someday.  

-He believes that when you die, that is final judgement and you either go to heaven with God or hell.  We believe there is a time where we dwell in paradise after death, then final judgement, we are resurrected, and then go to the kingdom we are judged worthy of.

-He does not believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God and felt that the small portion he read sounded like, “Someone was trying to copy the Bible.”  We believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God and another testament of Christ.

I reflected mostly on two things.  No modern revelation, personal or through a living prophet, and not knowing that he is a child of God.  Those truths have blessed my life incredibly.  Knowing that I am a daughter of God makes all the difference.  I am trying to live like Christ’s characteristics for more than to be nice and good so I can live in heaven.  I am trying to become LIKE HIM.  I have great potential.  As a child of God I can essentially grow up to be like him. Knowing the big, eternal picture gives me purpose and goals.  I know I am loved infinitely.  I know where I came from.  I know why I am here.  I know God has a plan. I know all of this is part of His plan.

This lead me to ponder deeper on the power of that knowledge.  Knowing we are children of God is powerful!  Knowing where we came from and knowing Jesus Christ’s role in the Plan of Salvation is amazing knowledge to have. Knowing about the pre-mortal life and the war in heaven is such a blessing.  It led me then to think about the knowledge that gives us about Satan.  We know where he came from.  We know how he came about which gives us an advantage.  We know his motives.  We know his nature.  We know why he is what he is.  We know his tricks. We know his manipulations.  We know his desires.  We know his arrogance, anger, jealousy, and spitefulness.  We know his power, and the limits of it.  We know he is there.  That is also very powerful information!  Knowing that helps us know his lies.  When you have more information on the enemy, you are better prepared to avoid their traps, tricks, and manipulations.  We know we have power over him.  He cannot make us do anything.  We have to submit to it.  He will never have what we have.  He will never progress.

Thinking about this made me wonder what Satan is to this man we sat by. Where did he come from? Why is there opposition?  

Missing truths in the Gospel gives Satan an advantage over people in the world. People don’t know their true divine nature, infinite worth, and great potential.  Missing the truth about Satan also REALLY gives Satan an advantage over people in world. They don’t know they have a body that he is jealous of.  They don’t know he will do all he can to ruin their agency that they fought for.  They don’t know the root of his evil.  What a cunning being he is!  A devout Christian man who studies the Bible in depth can walk away from his worship knowing little about how Satan works.  

He doesn’t know the root of where Satan began because he doesn’t believe in the pre-existence. I believe this is part of Satan’s cunning plan. The less people know about him, the more defenseless they become. Scary.
2 Nephi 28:23 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.