3 Ne. 12
3 Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
One group that I think “poor in spirit” refers to are those who lack the spirit of the Holy Ghost, or the courage to obey the Holy Ghost. The action that needs to take place in order for that to change is to come unto him as you did, Matt, when you poured out your heart to God as you spiritually planned your week, telling Him of your fears and your willingness to obey His spirit more fully. His promise and assurance is that yours is the kingdom of heaven.
You have the fullness of the gospel, Matt. You have the gift of the Holy Ghost, given to all those who enter into His kingdom through the gates of baptism. You are an emissary of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have everything you need to act in His name. You are not poor in his Spirit; you are filled with it, but it does no good unless you allow it to overflow into action, blessing the lives of others, not just with comforting words, but with the fullness of the everlasting gospel and baptism into the kingdom of God along with the gift of the Holy Ghost that they will no longer be poor in spirit, but will be filled.
4 And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Matt, you mourn for your weaknesses, you mourn for those that don’t have the fullness of the gospel. For this, Christ calls you blessed. Yet, that mourning can turn to joy in Christ.
Alma, as he saw the iniquity of the Zoramites, realized the sorrows that lay before him as he prepared to go among them teaching the gospel, and he prayed saying,
Alma 30:31-38 “O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ…O Lord, wilt thou comfort my soul, and give unto me success, and also my fellow laborers who are with me…yea, even all these wilt thou comfort, O Lord. Yea, wilt thou comfort their souls in Christ. Wilt thou grant unto them that they may have strength, that they may bear their afflictions which shall come upon them because of the iniquities of this people. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ.
Now it came to pass that when Alma had said these words, that he clapped his hands upon all them who were with him. And behold, as he clapped his hands upon them, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. And the Lord provided for them… and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.”
Alma knew that even in their afflictions and their weaknesses, their sorrows could be swallowed up in joy, as can yours, Matt. Were they successful in bringing the Zoramites to the truth? With some, yes, but with the majority, no. Yet their sorrow in that fact was swallowed up in the joy of Christ, knowing and having faith that everything will work out according to God’s plan. Christ says blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. Pray when you are sorrowful, and God will comfort you.
Even the great missionaries Ammon, Aaron, Omner, and Himni, sometimes gave in to doubts, but they did not let them prevail. They turned to God for peace. “Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren,… and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.”
5 And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
The meek are the teachable. When you listened to the man telling you that he didn’t think we needed organized religion, you let God teach you. Through His spirit and because you were meek and teachable, you learned to see that man as God sees him, and love him as God loves him. Being teachable requires us to listen to the need behind people’s words, not merely to the words themselves. It means listening to the Holy Ghost.
One thing that helps us to be meek is our weaknesses. Ether 12:27—“And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”
He gives us our weaknesses. These weaknesses come from many sources, our past experiences, the way we were taught, our physical shortcomings, and these experiences are all given to us by God that we may be humble and have faith and then He promises that our weaknesses will be made strong. He doesn’t condemn us for having weaknesses, he gave them to us! They are not sins. He only asks us to stay faithful and humble, and He will help us to obey Him despite our weakness, and to make us strong.
6 And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Hungering and Thirsting help us to have the Spirit. Hungering and thirsting as we prayerfully fast brings the Spirit. Hungrily feasting upon the word of God brings the Spirit. Thoughtfully partaking of the bread (hungering) and water (thirsting) brings the Spirit. Christ is the bread of life and the living waters. As we hunger and thirst after the Son of Righteousness, and do the things that we have seen Him do, we are filled with the Holy Ghost. God blesses those who act upon the promptings of the Holy Ghost, as Christ did, with more promptings and more guidance and takes from those who quench the promptings further opportunities.
7 And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Matt, in bringing the fullness of the gospel to God’s children, you are performing one of the most merciful acts a person can perform. God is so pleased with you! He is full of mercy and compassion for you. He loves you and wants you to have joy in your errand of mercy to save His beloved children.
8 And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Harold B. Lee tells us that the pure in heart will not only see God, but will see God in others. Matt, you are living the life of a missionary. As you keep yourself pure in heart and unspotted from the world, you will be able to see God’s likeness in His children. You will be filled with the pure love of Jesus Christ, a pure love for the people you serve. Love for others will bring sorrow when they don’t choose the gospel, but overarching all sorrow is joy as we feel Christ’s pure love and mercy for us and them.
9 And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
Matt, as you spread the gospel, you are making peace. You are helping to bring forth Zion upon the earth. You are anxiously engaged in the good cause of Zion, and God is with you! Stay consecrated. Give everything you have to him. Hold nothing back.
10 And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake;
12 For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.
Matt, we have nothing to fear. We are not as Job, racked with bodily afflictions, or as Aaron and his brethren languishing in prison. We are not as Abinadi suffering death by fire. We are not as our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who suffered all things. Are we greater than these? What are we afraid of?
“2 Tim 1:7-8 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.”
Let us be like Alma who forgot his own suffering and remembered instead God’s suffering children of the earth who cried saying, “O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!
Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth." Alma 29-:1-2
God’s children need more than words of comfort, more than acts of love, they need the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and how blessed are they who declare it, and how beautiful upon the mountains are their feet and how beloved are they by their God!
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared, “Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel… for the prisoners shall go free.
23 Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers!” –D&C 128:22-23
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