Wax Strong in the Spirit

Since my last post I have been clean both body and mind.  I have not had any desire to look at pornography.   I have been studying in the scriptures about the Spirit.  I prayed this morning to learn more about how to receive the Spirit stronger in my life.  I read in the scriptures about the story of Alma the elder and when he was teaching the people during the reign of King Noah.  He taught them something that I had not noticed before.  In Mosiah 18:26 Alma teaches, "[a]nd the priests were not to depend upon the people for their support; but for their labor they were to receive the grace of God, that they might wax strong in the Spirit, having the knowledge of God, that they might teach with power and authority from God." (emphasis added)  I had always looked at the section of that verse that talked about the priests not receiving any support from the people.  It was next part that surprised me, "for their labor they were to receive the grace of God, that they might wax strong in the Spirit."  You must labor in the kingdom for the opportunity to receive the Spirit stronger in your life.  I testify that is true.  

Examples of the strength of Spirit
Let's look at some examples of this for a minute.  

Missionaries
Today, we had a returned missionary speak in sacrament meeting.  For the missionary who is obedient to the mission rules and follows the counsel of God and their Mission President, the Spirit is stronger in them then most any other person on earth.  They have their whole "might, mind, and strength" focused on the work of the Lord, on building the kingdom of God on earth.  I could see this in the face and hear it in the words of the returned missionary as he spoke.  He gave examples of experiences that required great faith and required the Spirit to be very strong with him to be guided to do some of the things and perform some of the miracles which were done during his missionary service.


The Leaders of the Church
The one group of people that compare in the strength of the Spirit to the missionaries are our leaders.  Just look at the Prophet and the Apostles.  Their focus in on building the kingdom of God.  As they spend tireless hours working towards this end, the Spirit of God grows stronger and stronger in them each and everyday.  As I did with the returned missionary I heard today, you can see and hear how strong the Spirit is in our leaders when you watch General Conference.  We will all have an opportunity to be a part of this next weekend.


Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of this.  He devoted his whole life to building His Father's kingdom as it is His kingdom as well.  He labored unceasingly to do His Father's will.  The Holy Ghost was so strong with the Savior that He always knew what the will of His Father was and had the strength to do it, no matter what the cost.


If we are truly to be able to have the strength to overcome the addiction to pornography and do our Father's will, we must have the Spirit with us.  In order to have the Spirit with us, we must labor in the vineyard.  By laboring in the vineyard, the Spirit will grow stronger and stronger in us which we will enable us to overcome temptation.  


We cannot do it alone.  Only with the help of God through the influence of the Holy Spirit can we reach our potential and overcome our addiction.

The Strength of the Temple

This morning I had an opportunity to attend the temple. My Bishop has asked that I attend the temple weekly. Being close enough to temple, I have the opportunity and blessing to be able to do that. What a glorious experience! It just rejuvenates and strengthens you. I highly recommend anyone who is struggling with a pornography addiction that has the ability to attend the temple regularly. Obviously it is important to be worthy to enter into the House of the Lord. As you set that goal to attend the temple regularly (as often as you can) the Lord will strengthen your resolve and you will become worthy to attend the temple. Then you can share in the power that is in the Lord's house. You will then be strengthened even more. The Lord will fulfill his promise as stated in Doctrine and Covenants 84:88 which states "...I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

On a side note, I have learned another thing this week that might benefit anyone who is struggling with addiction. Talk to someone about it. This someone should be someone you trust and that are you very close to. Someone who will not judge you but will love you and support you. It is recommended that it be your spouse if you are married or a very close friend. I have found that to be true in my own life. If I share my experiences with this addiction, even the failures, with my spouse, she is there to support me and lift me up.

I know I haven't done this everytime but I would like to share a scripture. This scripture came to me this last week when I was sharing a spiritual thought at someone's home. I found it to be very powerful:

Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men. (Alma 48:17)