My Testimony

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God the Father lives, and His Son, Jesus Christ, lives. While on this Earth, Jesus Christ lived a perfect life free from sin, performed miracles, and died a martyr.  He did this to show His love to the Father and to us that we may be redeemed from our fallen state.  He died on Earth as a mortal but miraculously arose from death in His infinite glory and lives again forevermore. 

I know this is true from praying to God for confirmation.  I received these truths by experiencing the positive, peaceful feelings of the Holy Spirit.   Through the Holy Spirit, God confirmed these truths to me personally.  I also know this is true from being assured and comforted by the Holy Spirit that I am forgiven as I have repented.

This life is a test of our obedience to God. God wants us to turn our hearts to Him, but He will not force us. He pleads with us to willingly give our hearts to Him.  He is the source of all things good and praiseworthy.  We are to follow God according to His teachings He reveals to us by the prophets He has chosen.  Prophets over time have written God’s word in books such as the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon.  These teachings were written to be shared with all mankind.  I know both the Holy Bible and Book of Mormon are inspired scripture given to us from God.  I know this from having studied the teachings and pondering them in my heart as I’ve prayed to God to know their truthfulness.

As God allows us to make our own decisions, the history of man has shown a repeated behavior of us drawing close to Him for a period, only to be followed by a period of us falling away.  This is a cycle that has repeated itself many times since the beginning of man’s existence on Earth. 

This behavior has been evident in my own life as I have gone up and down with my relationship with God.  I will draw close to the Lord in a time of need only to later become too comfortable with my life and forgetful of what He has done for me.  We must always be vigilant in living our lives to God that we may always have His spirit to be with us. 

Having His spirit with us is meaningful because God is the source of all life. Without God, we would not only cease to exist physically as He is the Great Creator, but we would also be spiritually dead.  We must seek after Him to live by His light and not in darkness. Without God, we are lost wandering aimlessly through darkness. 

I experienced this darkness, or as I refer to it as a “black hole”, during a 3-year period in my life where I did not invite God into my heart.  Not allowing God in my life for this period left me spiritually famished and malnourished.  It eventually created a spiritual hunger within me so great that the Lord finally was able to pierce my heart and get through to me as I humbled myself to Him once more.

The last great period of darkness this world experienced led up to the early 1800’s.  Joseph Smith was a young boy during this time the world had lost God’s true gospel.  Many people still led good, decent lives, but without the true and everlasting gospel in its fulness, the world was wandering aimlessly trying to take its best guess at how to follow the Lord.  It was through Joseph the Lord chose to yet again restore the fulness of the gospel to His children.  The Lord not only used Joseph to correctly interpret the Bible, but Joseph was also used to help bring forth the Book of Mormon and restore the Priesthood. 

Experiencing the power of Priesthood is what first truly opened my eyes to the Church.  I received Priesthood blessings of comfort during a time of need.  Upon receiving these blessings, the Holy Spirit undeniably bore witness to me of its presence in the Church and how the Priesthood is God’s power entrusted to men to effectuate His work here on the Earth.  Since then I have experienced the power of the Priesthood in other settings.  Participating in the blessings and ordinances effectuated by the Priesthood has enabled me to be a witness that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God’s church.

I am but one man whose voice may only be heard by a few on this Earth.  I share these spiritual truths nonetheless however significant or insignificant the impact may be.  May the Lord bless us all that we may fulfill the measure of us having been created in His image.  May my life serve as a witness to these truths that I may help those within my reach come unto Christ.