Living by Every Word

You may have heard how we are to live by every work that proceeds from the mouth of God. You may ask what those words mean.  People may give you the common primary answers like the scriptures or the church leadership. Occasionally someone might bring up the very best one of all. God himself. Most people are not seraphim so I am not talking about God literally speaking face to face with you, but you can have the equivalent all the time and be blessed for it.

The Holy Ghost is part of the Godhead and when it speaks to you it is the same as God speaking to you directly. In fact if you can perfectly follow what the Holy Ghost tells you then you can have the blessing of the Second Comforter. The one leads to the other which leads ultimately to our Heavenly Father.

We have to understand how this works. You have probably seen the classic devil and angel on the shoulder trope. Well that is actually pretty close. We have three voices in our head vying for our attention. The trick to recognize which one is which and then follow the good one. The first is the devil or his minions. It is probably different ones with different specialties at various times. They all work in similar ways though. They are very loud, repetitive, and demanding. They are also well trained in logic. They will give you reasons why it is ok to get a little sleep instead of reading your scriptures after all you won't really remember them you are so tired. At times it is obvious that they are the one whispering as they ask you to do things obviously contrary to the word of the Lord. At other times they seem perfectly reasonable and are very much in tune with your own leanings.

The sprit is also always trying to talk to you. If you don't listen though there are consequences. If you fail to listen to it then it withdraws for a time. The more serious offense the longer the time away or the greater the repentance required to be able to receive its whisperings again. Whisperings is a good way to explain it. The spirit is rarely loud as the devils ilk. The spirit can be so quiet it may be talking to you now and you don't hear it. It may require you to stop and slow down and listen to hear it. It is not demanding and rarely relies on absolutes. Instead it offers. It suggest to your mind the Lords will and then lets you choose. It does not always make sense either. If we had a complete understanding of things it would make sense to us but in our limited understanding what it asks may not make sense. But God knows all things and with that knowledge he can guide you in ways you can't predict on your own with your limited knowledge.

The third voice is your own. Each is different but if you are questioning that is your voice. The devil and the spirit don't question they know. Wavering or indecisive thoughts are a sign it is just you.

Figuring out how to identify the three and then choosing to follow the spirit is very important. You do not have to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to hear or follow the spirit. Knowing gospel truths may help you identify the two as you will know certain things are forbidden so they won't typically be asked of you (you may have to kill someone every now and then after all but angels will tell you first). If people of any background would do this in time it would lead them to greater blessings and truth.

As you follow the spirit more and more you will get better and better at identifying it. It is often said that the spirit speaks to each person differently I would even say that it speaks to you differently at different times. When you are familiar with the different ways it speaks to you then you can have a better idea of why it is asking or how to respond.

An example from my own life of the spirit speaking in different ways was when I went to Kiev, Ukraine. For some reason the bus driver decided to skip a stop. Fortunately we were able to get him to drop us off in Kiev even though it was not the right spot. I had been prepared with maps of the nearby ATMs, food options, and subway I needed to get to. All that became useless. I had a couple hour journey that the spirit was working with me the full time and in different ways as the situation demanded. I think in that time I felt the sprit speak to me about every way it does to me.

Giving a specific example I was in Vietnam and having a conversation with a less active member of the church. I thought it was going well. Then the spirit clearly told me what to say. I was familiar with this. It is was one of those rare times the spirit is loud to make sure it gets my attention and lets me know I better do what it says. Usually this is because there is someone else that can be helped by my obeying its prompting. As soon as I knew what what it wanted me to say I did. It was one of the strongest spiritual experiences I have had. I felt like I could chomp down on the air and I would be eating spirit. The young man nearly cried and this was a young man who was not the type to cry. He had lived a very harsh life and seen and been through many terrible things. He told me what I said was what he needed to hear at that moment. It had nothing to do with what we were talking about which seemed to be going well. It was nothing I would have thought this young man needed. I had one more similar instance during this conversation which was not as strong but still strong and again the young man told me that was what he needed to hear.

I like to say I am either living my life by inspiration or indigestion. If I am right and its inspiration then I know my life will end up far better then it could be on my own. If indigestion I really am wasting it. The Vietnam experience helped me know that maybe I understand this inspiration stuff after all. Kiev was a reminder.

Maybe you already know how to identify the spirit. In that case make sure you follow it. Having the ability to have direct guidance from God is a great gift. If you don't feel you really know the difference well I would suggest you take some time to quietly pray to ask for experiences to happen in your life where the spirit can guid you and you can begin to learn to fill the spirit. You may need to quiet your own mind to hear. You also need to make sure you follow when you are given something. If you follow the spirit with exactness you will have a better life then you could have on your own.

What do you think? Does this sound about right to you? Do you have experiences where you were blessed or blessed others by following the spirit? Do you have any suggestions to help others? Please feel free to comment below.