Wednesday, October 22, 2008

As I Spoke by the Tongue of Angels by: Katrina Walker

Speaking by the tongue of angels is something we can do in our everyday lives, just as long as we are striving to be closer to our Father in Heaven. He wants us to be close to Him at all times, in doing all things and in all places. In Mark 13:11 it states: “…take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.” If we go before the Lord in humble prayer we will be able to understand the things which He speaks to us. Also, we will be able to receive revelation on our behalf, or on others. We can speak the things of God when we have the Holy Spirit with us.

“And this is the ensample unto them, that they shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost. And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation.” When we feel the Spirit of God we know. We know when we speak the words of God. In this scripture it says that we need to speak when we are “moved upon by the Holy Ghost.” This is true in every aspect of our lives today. This past Sunday I truly spoke the words of God when I was speaking with someone very close to me. We are both having trouble with our lives at this point, and he was extremely depressed at this point in his life because of what has happened in his past. As we sat talking I was impressed to tell him of his worth to me, to Christ and to God. As I began saying these things he began to cry. He understood that what I was saying was coming from God Himself. As I finished talking I remember feeling the spirit so strongly, I have never felt the spirit stronger in my entire life so far. This was a growing experience for me and for the person I was talking to. We now understand that if we are closer to God at all times then we can feel His spirit even stronger now because of this experience.

We can become closer to Christ and all of His works when we have the Holy Ghost. We need to feast on the words of Christ to truly be closer to Him. When we feast on the words of Christ we can fully and truly understand everything He has done for us. “Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.” Not only will be become closer to Christ if we feast on His words, we will receive revelation from God for ourselves.

Even if we have the blessing and power of speaking with the tongue of angels, if we do not have charity towards our fellow men we will be “as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”[1] This principle is taught in our church fairly often, but most do not stop to think that if we don’t have charity we won’t be close to our Heavenly Father. Also, if we do have the blessing of the tongues of angels but no charity we will not make a difference in the lives around us. It will truly be as the difference of a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. People will hear, but it will not touch their hearts if we do not show compassion or charity towards everyone around us.

Christ is the perfect example of charity and in the hymn “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief” this compassion is shown to Christ by others around Him. In this hymn it shows the perfect example of charity and of being able to speak in the tongues of angels. The seventh verse was the verse that caught my eye and it states. “Then in a moment to my view the stranger started from disguise. The tokens in his hands I knew; The Savior stood before mine eyes. He spake, and my poor name he named, “Of me thou hast not been ashamed. These deeds shall thy memorial be; Fear not, thou didst them unto me.” To truly speak by the tongues of angels we need to not be ashamed of Christ, and we need to show charity and compassion to all men.

I know these things to be true, I know that if we are closer to our Heavenly Father in our everyday lives that we will always be able to feel His Spirit and we will be able to receive the revelation needed in our lives. I know that this is the true church of Christ, and that this is the fullness of the gospel in our hands today. I know that Christ is always here for us; that he knows and feels everything that we know and feel. I know that Joseph Smith was, and is, a true prophet of God. I know that he restored the fullness of the gospel on this earth. I know that we can receive revelation on our behalf and on the behalf of others that are closest to us. I know that God lives and that He loves each and every one of us. He can help us through our lives if we only listen to Him. I am so grateful for this knowledge, and I am grateful for the knowledge that I can speak with God when needed. I am extremely grateful that God can and will speak back to us when needed. I say these things in the name of His beloved
Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Works Cited:
1. 2 Nephi 32:3
2. 1 Cor. 13:1
3. Mark 13:11
4: D&C 68:3-4
5. LDS Church Hymns, "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief"

[1] 1 Cor. 13:1


8 comments:

Amanda S. said...

Katie, good job! Remember to include your citations in your text in addition to at the end in your Works Cited list. I really like the end of your blog where you talk about the need for charity among all of this. Great transition with the scripture you use.

Lindsay Kendrick said...

I loved your blog Katrina. I especially love how you remind all of us that charity is a so important and none of us can afford to forget it.

Lucy Lybbert said...

Katrina,
Thank you for your thoughts on what speaking by the tounge of angels really means. Someone once said that in class any time you are speaking and can feel the spirit you are speaking by the tounge of angels. This is an important aspect of recignizing when we are doing so.

Unknown said...

nice work. I liked the topic but also how you jumped around a bit and covered a lot of different aspects from it.

Sarah Stephenson said...

Very powerful to realize that we can speak with the tongue of angels. And how important it is to understand that if we don't have charity - people will still hear us, but we will not be able to touch their hearts in the way the Lord wants them to be touched. Definately encourages an increase in charity towards all our brothers and sisters. Great Work!

Ashlee Johnson said...

A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief is my favorite hymn and I'm so glad you mentioned it. Good job on this blog!

KK said...

I really liked the scripture you used in the beginning about how we shouldn't ponder things in our mind beforehand but we need to have faith and through the Holy Ghost we will speak what the Lord wants us to. Good job!

Michelle said...

I love all the different angles you took on this, then tied them all together.