He Did Deliver Me from Bondage
by Colleen C. Harrison

I Teach Them Correct Principles: Part 2
To Read Part One Click Here

EXPERIMENT UPON MY WORDS

So what are these correct principles? That’s a good question, and that’s what this course of study is all about.

Notice the words “course of study.” This isn’t a book you just read or a series of lectures you just listen to. This is a course, a journey, a program. It will take willingness to act upon it, willingness to get involved. Remember Alma’s words:

But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words… (Alma 32:27)

That’s all I’m asking of you. You must be willing to “experiment” upon these words, to act upon these correct principles. This is a spiritual program of action. What you are going to learn herein is the process of weaving spiritual power into physical actions.

Now, as you begin, you will need to realize that to whatever extent you have been trying to fix your life from the outside in and neglecting the inner person, you will find that inner self an undernourished and out-of-shape spiritual being. You will be tempted to think this malnourished, unexercised spiritual self is all there really is of you spiritually, that somehow you must have stowed away in the transport area when all the really valiant spirits were coming in the last days. I want to encourage you to withhold judgment until the end of this course of study. You see, the truth is, our spiritual self adapts to and is shaped by our beliefs and choices, and these beliefs and choices are either nourishing or starving our spiritual selves.

That’s the good news of the Gospel and the good news of this course of study. We don’t have to be discouraged by the neglected, undernourished/underexercised condition we find our spiritual selves in. We need only begin to spend the kind of time and attention in nourishing and exercising ourselves spiritually/emotionally as we thought we had to physically, and with miraculous quickness that spiritual self will begin to recover.

SUMMARY

Though the promised results of this program will ultimately affect your physical/mortal circumstances and self, the program itself is a spiritual one. It will lead us through the study and application of twelve true principles. The study part we can help each other with. The application part, though, is totally individual. Each of you must take the action that is asked of you on your own. This is when it becomes a totally individualized program, reflecting completely your own sincerity and diligence. I’m familiar with a saying: When the pain of the problem gets worse than the pain of the solution, we’ll be ready to change. (If you are puzzled over the meaning of that statement and need an example of what it means, just think how desperately ready to face labor and delivery the ninth month of pregnancy makes most women.)

In other words, if you find yourself not really willing to put forth the effort to work this program of spiritual focus, don’t worry. Life will eventually bring you to a place of readiness to accept the truth that God and His ways (which are manifest first in spiritual powers) are the only solution that works. You see, that’s what this life is all about—not to teach us self-reliance and self-sufficiency—but to bring us to a place of complete humility, to consider ourselves fools before (and without) God (2 Nephi 9:42). But then that brings us to the first principle of our journey of recovery. We’ll study and discuss that next week.

ASSIGNMENT FOR THIS WEEK:

Many people have asked me, “It’s great to read President Benson’s counsel to put God first in your life, but how do you do that?” The answer is so easy and simple that many won’t believe it: I put God first in my life by putting Him first in my days—one day at a time.

Before our hearts and lives can change, we must be willing to change our level of effort—we must become willing to go to any length. If we’re not willing, there is nothing God can do for us, for as the hymn says, “God can force no man to heaven” or even change a man (or woman) for the better.

In return for my efforts to get up early and put Him first, I have had this promise from Him literally fulfilled:

He that seeketh me early shall find me, and shall not be forsaken. (D&C 88:83)

1.   So get yourself a notebook or use your permanent journal (these things will be precious to you, I promise) and do three things:

      PRAY
      READ
      WRITE

2.   Read “What Is Capturing?” (See below).

Preparation for discussion of principle one:  “O HOW GREAT IS THE NOTHINGNESS OF THE CHILDREN OF MEN” (Helaman 12:7)

Step 1:    Admitted that we of ourselves are powerless, nothing without God. (Mosiah 4:5; Alma 26:12)

The following scriptures are provided to enable you to practice using the tools of scripture study, prayer and capturing, and to introduce you to the principle we will study in the next chapter. There are seven references listed—one for each day of the week. Take one reference each day and spend at least ten minutes prayerfully pondering and writing your thoughts about these references. Although it may be tempting, please do not pass over these exercises. Remember, this book is not meant to be a “quick-fix” or an end in itself. It is a means to the end we all hope to reach some day—a living testimony of our Heavenly Father and our Lord, Jesus Christ. This end is well described by President Gordon B. Hinckley, encouraging us to:

constantly nourish the testimony of our people concerning the Savior… [and to instill] a true witness in [each] heart of the living reality of the Lord Jesus Christ, [in order that in each of our lives] all else will come together as it should… (Ensign, August, 1997, p.3, emphasis added.)

Day 1:_ 2 Nephi 9:39—We often think of the word carnal as applying only to those people who appear to be very wicked. Look up the word carnal in the dictionary. Think of its definition as it applies to our efforts to solve our problems. Write about an area in your own life in which you are guilty of being “carnally minded” in regard to seeking solutions.

Day 2:_ 2 Nephi 12:11—Because we usually try to overcome our weaknesses alone, we fail time after time. How can this help in the process of humbling us? Write about a problem you have sought to solve yourself and how peaceful or permanent your efforts have been. What do you suppose it means that “the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day”—the day when our “lofty looks” shall be humbled and all truth shall be known?

Day 3:_ 2 Nephi 31:19—“for ye have not come thus far save it were by the _________ with _________ relying _________ upon the _________ of _________ who is mighty to _________.” Copy the above scripture into your journal, filling in the blanks. Have you ever been told or have you thought that a lack of self-esteem was the reason you were having problems? What does this scripture say to you in regard to this modern “god” of self? Who has power enough to save you? Who should you esteem? How much? Is it yourself?

Day 4:_ Mosiah 2:21—In this scripture we are taught that we can never, even if we try with all our energy, return more to the Lord than we are receiving. How does this scripture translate into your everyday life? Does it bring you despair or relief? Write to Him about your feelings.

Day 5:_ Alma 26:12—We are bombarded with philosophies, programs, planners, commercials, products, and medications that promise personal power. Think back over your life and admit in writing some of these things that have lured you. Did they solve your problem? Did they improve your relationship with the Lord? The principles in this course can introduce you to the true Source of power so that you can say as Ammon did, “I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in HIS strength I can do all things.”

Day 6:_ Helaman 12:7—“O how great is the nothingness of the children of men.” This is a pretty plain statement. Notice the phrase “the children of men.” That expression is used repeatedly through the scriptures, applied to those who have not yet been born of God and become His sons and daughters (see Mosiah 27:25). Write about this verse. (Look back to the previous verse [6] for some clues as to why we are nothing when we are the “children of men.”)

Day 7:_ Moses 1:10—After being in the presence of God for many hours, Moses witnesses to us the tremendous contrast in power, glory and strength between God and man, using the same word that is used in Helaman, that man is “nothing.” Why do you suppose we resist relying on God’s power and choose to lean, instead, on self and the answers the world provides?

What Is Capturing?

What does “capture” mean? It means to get hold of something, really get hold of it, and make it your own. Here’s how you capture thoughts from any source.

1.   If your source is in the form of written material, underline the words or phrases that stand out to you. If it’s in the form of a lecture, take notes as you listen. (Remember, taking notes is not the same as taking dictation. The goal is not to recreate every word the speaker says. The goal is to note those single thoughts that stand out to you.)

      Most people think that this is the entire procedure, that this constitutes “capturing.” Sorry. This is only the step of identifying what it is that you want to capture. (If you were an old-time cowboy and were sitting up on a ridge watching a herd of wild mustangs below you, just picking out the ones that look good to you is not the same as making them your own.)

2.   Get a notebook of some sort (maybe a journal) and a pen and then rewrite the words, phrases, sentences or whatever you underlined or noted into that notebook. When I copy quotes, I usually underline them as well as put quote marks around them so they stand out from the rest of what I write.

      Now are you done? After all, you have written the thought down in your own notebook or journal. Sorry, this still does not make it your own. There is a third and final step. Without this last step you are only a collector of thoughts, not a captor.

3.   Now write all that comes into your mind about the thought or quote that you have previously copied into your notebook. Why was it important to you? How did it connect for you? What does it say to you? How do you see that it applies to your life? This is capturing.

      For me, this process of capturing thoughts, scripture and quotes has also become a way of praying. I often find that I have just naturally entered into a prayer mode somewhere during this process, writing prayerful thoughts, expressing myself directly to God. And in just as easy and simple a manner I nearly always find myself realizing that what I am hearing in my thoughts is the voice of the Lord, through the Holy Spirit’s mediation, speaking to my mind and heart.

He Did Deliver Me from Bondage can be found at most LDS bookstores or purchased online at www.rosehavenpublishing.com