Elect

Elect.  That's a pretty awesome word.  I mean, who doesn't want to be 'elect.'  I would dare say we all desire to be chosen.  No one likes being the last person chosen for a team.  I spent a great deal of my youth fantasizing about rising above my station - there were a plethora of movies catering to the genre.  Poor girl falls in love with rich boy - can they overcome their social classes?  In fact all the bbc movies I love to watch have that as their major theme.  I always wondered if it were possible to rise above the condition to which I was born.  *spoiler alert* I was able to.  I actually am living out that very fairy tale.  

My question is now, can I rise again above the condition I was born into.  Can I have the Savior say something similar to me as he said to Isiah in chapter 42:

1 Behold my ^aservant, whom I uphold; mine ^belect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have ^cput my ^dspirit upon him: he shall bring forth ^ejudgment to the Gentiles

Well, the answer is yes.  I've already made decisions to determine my destiny.  It started with my being adopted into The Lord's church.  It didn't matter where I was born or to what conditions, I have been grafted in.  I chose to be baptized and therefore grafted into the family of Christ.  

Back to my theory of being picked last for the team.  Baptism is the first step to qualify for even being chosen.  You've also got to keep the commandments and covenants.  But, I don't want to be the last on the team.  I want to be a star player, I want to be elect.  

In Doctrine and Covenants 29 the Lord says:

7 And ye are called to bring to pass the ^agathering of mine ^belect; for mine elect^chear my voice and ^dharden not their ^ehearts;

In the study manual for this section there are a couple of great quotes:

“The elect of God comprise a very select group, an inner circle of faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the portion of church members who are striving with all their hearts to keep the fulness of the gospel law in this life so that they can become inheritors of the fulness of gospel rewards in the life to come.” (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 217.)

Elder George Q. Cannon explained: “Where people are pure and chaste in their thoughts and actions, the Spirit of God has such power with them that they readily perceive and comprehend the truth. It is by this means that the best among the children of God are being gathered out from the various nations. Truth cleaves to truth, light to light and purity to purity. The gospel gathers with its influence those who love its principles; and if any should be gathered in who cannot abide its requirements, they pass off and mingle with the elements that are congenial to the spirit they possess.” (“The Sin of Adultery and Its Consequences,” Millennial Star,14 Mar. 1863, p. 169.).

Those explanations are what help you not get picked last for the team.  The character traits that allow you to be an instrument in the Lord's hands.  To be a sanctified vessel to radiate the light of God.  To be an instrument for good.  To get a backstage pass to witness the many miracles our Heavenly Father is performing on behalf of His children every day.  

I realized while going through all the stuff I've written on family mission plans to give to my MIL, I discovered that I had already written a talk about sanctification.  It is on here under "do you have one?" from September 29.  When I re-read it, I realized that there wasn't much more to say on the subject.  I decided it was time to put away all the scriptures that were covering my table.  The only problem was that there was so much work that went into it and there is still so much to gain from them, that I couldn't just throw them away.  What could I do with all that work?

While Jared was sitting at the other end of the table putting his binder together to go before the board of review for his Eagle on Tuesday night, I sat on the other and organized all my notes.  I used a glue stick to glue all the little strips back together on a piece of paper.  I kept them in their categories so it will be easy to go back through them later to find more inspiration.  I also included all my handwritten notes and the quotes I pasted into my virtual notebook that pertained to sanctification and waiting.  Each new subject I study will get added to the book.  For me, this is how I'm "striving with all my heart."  

I don't have this life all figured out yet.  In fact, the more I delve into trying to align my character and will with the Lord's, I realize how much more work I have to do.  My striving for perfection and a serious lack of patience makes this process difficult.  One would think that with all the work I'm doing on this would not have me show up to church and want to poke my eyes out or want to check out and lay down on the pew.  That I don't get restless and think, there has got to be something else I'm supposed to be doing instead of this drudgery.  I wish I could say that I've master the ability to radiate light and be kind and loving to everyone I meet.  The reality- people still make me want to punch them in the face and I have to fight those feelings off.  If I had it all worked out and perfected, I wouldn't need the atonement and I wouldn't need to be on this earth anymore.  

When Jared looked at my pile of stuff before I got it all into the binder he said "what are you doing?  This is insanity.  It is truly mad."  This from the kid that was telling me that he was bored in class on Wed so he drafted up his Last Will and Testament.  I only have a level 9 clearance so I have no hope of ever seeing it, "bummer for you," he said.  He did tell me that he put in there under some article or section or whatever that he is to have a nordic burial.  You know- where you are put on a wood and flower covered boat, pushed out to sea and then someone launches a flaming arrow into it to burn up your remains.  He wants to get it notarized so it is legal and binding.  He made provisions for when he owns his own company and for his children and who gets his journals etc.  We're not talking about him just typing up some stuff on a word document.  He had the entire legal document he was working on.  He also corrected me when I told him we had made an addendum to our will and he told me that was incorrect and that it was called a codicil.  I then told him that he was being curmudgeony and he said "the only thing I hate more than restaurants that completely discount the relativity of a small drink by only offering medium and large is someone who makes up words!"  HA! Dear one, I did not make up that word only the y on the end.  He made me define it and then demanded to know what dictionary that word was in - as if I used a made up one.  Boom!  Put that in your codicil and smoke it you curmudgeony little man! buwahaha 

A couple of things that made me ponder more deeply when studying sanctification were 1 Peter3:15 where it talks about "sanctify the Lord in your hearts" and in 2 Nephi 27:34 "sanctify my name."  There are more, but this kinda goes back to being elect.  We've all covenanted to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ at baptism, but have we taken it to the next level and sanctified it ( his name) or Him in our hearts?  Something really fun to ponder about what exactly that means.  

I have some new favorite scriptures from my study of sanctification and waiting.  I'm sure they will make it into something that I talk about later since I don't seem to be running out of things to say - yet.  I found a lot of really great quotes on sanctification, so I included 2 of them here:

President Brigham Young explained what sanctification means to the Saints by declaring:
“I will put my own definition to the term sanctification, and say it consists in overcoming every sin and bringing all into subjection to the law of Christ. God has placed in us a pure spirit; when this reigns predominant, without let or hindrance, and triumphs over the flesh and rules and governs and controls as the Lord controls the heavens and the earth, this I call the blessing of sanctification. …

“All the Lord has called us to do is to renovate our own hearts, then our families, extending the principles to neighborhoods, to the earth we occupy, and so continue until we drive the power of Satan from the earth and Satan to his own place. That is the work Jesus is engaged in, and we will be co-workers with him. Do not suppose that we shall ever in the flesh be free from temptations to sin. Some suppose that they can in the flesh be sanctified body and spirit and become so pure that they will never again feel the effects of the power of the adversary of truth. Were it possible for a person to attain to this degree of perfection in the flesh, he could not die neither remain in a world where sin predominates. Sin has entered into the world, and death by sin. I think we shall more or less feel the effects of sin so long as we live, and finally have to pass the ordeals of death.” (In Journal of Discourses, 10:173.)

Elder Theodore M. Burton said that this scripture, as he understood it, “means that Jesus Christ is kind and merciful to us when we serve him with our whole hearts, but not any of us can take refuge in past righteousness or service. It also means that there is a possibility that any one of us can fall out of good standing, even those who have already achieved a certain degree of righteousness. Therefore, we need to be on our constant guard, each of us, that we not allow ourselves to fall into habits of carelessness in our faith, in our prayers, or in our various Church activities or responsibilities. It is for this reason that I am resolving again to live closer to God each day and to follow his chosen prophets and apostles more diligently than I have ever done in the past.” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1973, p. 153; or Ensign, Jan. 1974, p. 116.) (Section 20: The Articles and Covenants of the Church)

All this has got me thinking about spiritual armor which also makes me think of Nehemiah.  I'll reign myself in and save that for another time  :0)