How Does the Lord Lead Us?

My Come Follow Me Studies for this week took me to Doctrine and Covenants 77-80 in a lesson titled “I Will Lead You Along.” The lesson was introduced by the following information. 

Less than two years after the Church of Jesus Christ was restored, it had more than 2,000 members and was growing quickly. In March 1832, Joseph Smith met with other Church leaders “to discuss Church business”: the need to publish revelations, purchase land to gather on, and care for the poor (see Doctrine and Covenants 78, section heading). To meet these needs, the Lord called on a small number of Church leaders to form the United Firm, a group that would join their efforts to “advance the cause” of the Lord (verse 4) in these areas. But even in such administrative matters, the Lord focused on the things of eternity. Ultimately, the purpose of a printing press or a storehouse—like everything else in God’s kingdom—is to prepare His children to receive “a place in the celestial world” and “the riches of eternity” (verses 7, 18). And if those blessings are hard to comprehend right now, in the midst of the busyness of daily life, He reassures us, “Be of good cheer, for I will lead you along” (verse 18).

The scripture block contains several principles, including: (1) God gives knowledge to people who seek it (Doctrine and Covenants 77), (2) What was the United Firm? (Doctrine and Covenants 78), (3) I can help “advance the cause” of Christ and His Church (Doctrine and Covenants 78:1-7), (4) The Lord will lead me along (Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-18), (5) I can receive all things with thankfulness (Doctrine and Covenants 78:19), and (6) The call to serve God matters more than where I serve (Doctrine and Covenants 79-80).

This essay will discuss principle #3, “I can help ‘advance the cause’ of Christ and His Church” discussed in Doctrine and Covenants 78:1-7. Here are the applicable scripture verses.

1 The Lord spake unto Joseph Smith, Jun., saying: Hearken unto me, saith the Lord your God, who are ordained unto the high priesthood of my church, who have assembled yourselves together;

2 And listen to the counsel of him who has ordained you from on high, who shall speak in your ears the words of wisdom, that salvation may be unto you in that thing which you have presented before me, saith the Lord God.

3 For verily I say unto you, the time has come, and is now at hand; and behold, and lo, it must needs be that there be an organization of my people, in regulating and establishing the affairs of the storehouse for the poor of my people, both in this place and in the land of Zion—

4 For a permanent and everlasting establishment and order unto my church, to advance the cause, which ye have espoused, to the salvation of man, and to the glory of your Father who is in heaven;

5 That you may be equal in the bonds of heavenly things, yea, and earthly things also, for the obtaining of heavenly things.

6 For if ye are not equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things;

7 For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you.

These verses reference caring for the poor and how the Church should be organized to help the poor. The cause of Christ and His Church refers to the purpose, plan, or mission of serving Christ and is the reason for our actions and service to God. The mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is four-fold: (1) perfecting the Saints, (2) preaching the gospel, (3) redeeming the dead, and (4) caring for those in need. You and I can advance the cause of Christ by laboring in the four areas of the mission of the Church of Jesus Christ.

I can help to perfect the Saints by teaching the principles of the gospel to my children, grandchildren, and other family members. I can also help to perfect the Saints by preparing faithfully to teach my Sunday School class composed of 15-18-year-old young men and young women and by fulfilling any other calling given to me through the bishop of my ward. In addition, I can work to perfect myself by prayer, scripture study, attendance at Sunday meetings, and temple attendance.

I am not able to go into the mission field to preach the gospel – a formal mission, but I can share the gospel in informal ways, such as sharing information about the Church of Jesus Christ in this blog or by answering questions from neighbors, medical personnel, or business associates. For example, a man and a woman came to my home last week to take measurements and pictures in preparation to redo our bathrooms. I have several Lego temples in my living room, and they had some questions about those temple replicas as well as the temple being built about one mile from my home.

I can help to redeem the dead by searching for family members who did not accept the gospel of Jesus Christ during their mortal life. Once I have the information, I can take their names to a temple and then function as a proxy in performing the necessary temple ordinances in their behalf. Serving in a temple helps to perfect me as well as to redeem family members.

I can help the poor and others in need by sharing my blessings with them. I do this best by paying tithes and offerings to the Church of Jesus Christ to be used in proving food and other necessities to those in need. I make my donations through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because I know that 100% of my donation will go to help those in need.