9 – Recalibrating With the Spiritfeatured

HOW FLUENT WERE YOU IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE SPIRIT?

Just before everything blew up, how calibrated with the Spirit were you? Was it a connection you identified daily, something you had stopped working on some time ago, or somewhere in between?

Years ago, I heard of a conversation where an individual struggled to stay active through difficult family circumstances and finally stopped trying altogether. A friend asked if they noticed a difference in the Spirit since leaving and was surprised to hear them say they did not. My friend was concerned about how that could be, but I don’t find that hard to believe.

Walking into the chapel each week is not the formula for having a relationship with the Holy Ghost, nor does it ensure previous spiritual experiences will retain priority placement in your heart and mind. We may attend on a weekly schedule but could also be defined as the “walking spiritually dead”. That doesn’t mean stop going if you are not feeling the Spirit, it just means there is work to be done. 

WERE YOUR EXPERIENCES PERSONAL OR CALLING-BASED?

I was blessed to be having many spiritual experiences because of my calling. I had one very striking encounter just before everything blew up in my world. It happened while giving a blessing of comfort to a young single adult looking for some guidance. Once I finished, he turned to me and said that most of what I had just said was directly in his patriarchal blessing. So what is the lesson? The Lord will get His blessings through to those who are following the covenant path, even through imperfect people. He has to do it that way – we are all imperfect.

Having lost my membership, I was concerned about how my relationship with my Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost would change. What a fascinating and loving experience this has been! 

The first thing I did was recalibrate. I journaled and took notice of ways I was feeling comforted, protected, instructed, prompted, and above all, loved. I realized that for some time the majority of the Spiritual communications I had been having were to bless the people I was serving in my calling, and now they were blessing me!

WHO REALLY CONTROLS YOUR ACCESS TO THE SPIRIT?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had taken my membership, but they cannot take my relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ – and taking that relationship away is NOT the purpose of Church discipline. I am not saying you did not lose the Gift of the Holy Ghost as was given at your baptism, I am saying you still have access to the Light of Christ. You can still have the influence of the Spirit in your life. You can still communicate with your Heavenly Father for guidance and to feel His love.

So again, I ask you – Just before everything blew up, how calibrated with the Spirit were you? Were you seeking guidance with your calling on behalf of others? How about at home or work – did you have a track record of relying on guidance from above? Were you recognizing promptings? If you were not recognizing promptings, what efforts were you making to improve your sensitivity to them? Or had you given up trying altogether?

Whatever your connection was then, you need to know that you can – and should – have a connection to Heaven even now. You need to know that there are others in your situation that feel the Spirit, so you can too. Maybe you need to start from scratch in building something you did not feel was a significant relationship before. That’s ok, your Heavenly Father is there waiting for you!

HOW DO YOU FEEL THE SPIRIT? 

When I was a child the local newspaper would annually print a page full of the words to a large number of Christmas carols. I have fond memories of being at Church Christmas parties singing one carol after another from that page. It was a fun, spiritual and happy time. It took me years, even until my mission, before I realized there was a distinct difference in the feelings I had while singing “Frosty the Snowman” compared with the feelings I got while singing “Silent Night”. There was nothing wrong with the happy feelings I got from Frosty, but something different came to me when singing Silent Night. I realized the Spirit was not going to tell me that a snowman coming to life happened, but the Holy Ghost was going to reinforce the message that the Savior Jesus Christ is the son of God and was born to this world.

That helped me identify one of the ways I felt the Holy Ghost. 

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

I noticed another aspect of this relationship almost immediately following my council. I may have lost the Gift of the Holy Ghost, but I still could identify the Light of Christ and initially, it was a dramatic on-and-off experience – much like a switch that would turn on and off abruptly. I was able to very clearly identify that interactions with some people brought the Spirit into my life while interactions with some chased it away. I am not saying everyone I interacted with had one clear effect or the other – but some certainly did. I contemplated stories of converts who said they could feel something different in someone they knew who was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that would leave them wanting to learn why. Thanks be to God; I knew what I was feeling, and I took every step I could to have those Christlike people in my life who brought that peace – whether they were members of the Church or not.

I am a big fan of Moroni 7:16-18

For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God. But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him. And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgement which ye judge ye shall also be judged.

WAYS THAT I STARTED RECALIBRATING

Beyond drawing people into my life who were bringing the Spirit, I started my own recalibrating process by being aware of my actions and their consequences. There were times I felt very alone and would get on my knees to ask my Heavenly Father how He felt about me. It was something I think I once heard in a youth class – and it worked when I was both sincere and patient.

I made it a routine to read from the Book of Mormon every morning as I ate breakfast, and I read something from the Come Follow Me program every night. I prayed regularly, many times a day. I relied HEAVILY on prayer through the stress-filled moments – or stress-filled days. I did not always find those prayers had a Holy Ghost experience, but I knew they banked credit in Heaven, meaning they were changing me, so I did them religiously. 

I did find a reliable touchstone for feeling the Spirit that works for me, it is every time I pray over the food I am about to eat. I still don’t fully understand why. Maybe it was because I am sincerely giving credit and gratitude to Heavenly Father for what I am given. Maybe it’s because I feel the need to stay healthy to keep on working. Perhaps it is God letting me know He is paying attention to the smallest of details. Maybe it is something else, but it quickly became something I looked forward to doing because of the personal connection I am offered – and allow myself to feel.

After building my confidence that God still loved me and was willing to guide me through His Spirit, I took that communication to the next level. Could I really get an affirmation of a decision between wants and needs? Isn’t that what we all wonder – if what we feel is God’s will or just what we want? Over the course of the first summer after my world blew up my annual craving to get a motorcycle was stirring again, but stronger. I had a bike before my mission, but that was 30+ years prior. As the second summer neared, I decided to take it to the Lord. My Patriarchal Blessing counsels about wants versus needs, but I thought I would do the homework and take it to God. To my surprise, the answer “get it” became the strongest affirmation I had to date in this process. So, I got it. I drove the winding roads as often as I could. Each ride would start with a prayer that I would make it back without injury.  I would find myself through much of each ride talking with Heavenly Father about what was going on in my life and expressing admiration and appreciation for the beauty of the earth. That bike became a vehicle that took me closer to sanity and closer to God.  What I thought was just a want became something God used to help me beyond what I imagined. This experience is so close to my heart as it showed me that I could trust Heavenly Father was still answering my questions. I know that as we go through this discipline God still helps you and me make life decisions.

DON’T DROP YOUR GUARD

Spiritually you are at a very critical point in your life. Satan is real and will throw everything at you to disrupt your relationship with God. He will try to slip in thoughts that will mess with your judgement and feelings. In addition to the guidance Moroni gave us are the teachings of Paul which read “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…”. Galatians 5:22-23 

How do you calibrate your life with those scriptural teachings? What was true to you before is still true. Perhaps you want to spend some time pondering over those previous spiritual experiences and then talk about them with Heavenly Father in prayer now? Maybe hymns will be the key for you? Have you noticed when someone brings the Spirit of God into your life?

In the first General Conference as President of the Church, President Russell M. Nelson stated:

“To be sure, there may be times when you feel as though the heavens are closed. But I promise that as you continue to be obedient, expressing gratitude for every blessing the Lord gives you, and as you patiently honor the Lord’s timetable, you will be given the knowledge and understanding you seek. Every blessing the Lord has for you—even miracles—will follow. That is what personal revelation will do for you.”

“Choose to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the Spirit more frequently and more clearly.” – “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives.” April 2018 

What works for me may or may not be how you will connect with Heaven, but realize that, even though you are in Church discipline, you can still use the Spirit to draw closer to God – perhaps closer than ever before.

He is there for you if you humbly seek for His help. I know it!

*I would love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below, and follow me on Instagram at onesheep.blog to help me help others who have lost their membership.