My mind has been all over the place lately and I can tell
you I have been having some awesome spiritual experiences recently. Sad thing
is, the situations around these experiences I’ve been in many times before but this
time the whole experiences are almost surreal. If you remember in Mosiah 2:30 where King Benjamin says,
“For even at this time, my whole frame doth tremble
exceedingly while attempting to speak unto you; but the Lord God doth support
me”
I feel like I have experienced that off and
on.
I’m still connecting lots of dots that I
never even considered before. It is like I am seeing with new eyes. We talk in
the church about Foreordination which as defined by the church is different from
Preordination. On the church website foreordination
is explained such . . .
In the premortal spirit world, God
appointed certain spirits to fulfill specific missions during their mortal
lives. This is called foreordination. Foreordination does not guarantee that
individuals will receive certain callings or responsibilities. Such
opportunities come in this life as a result of the righteous exercise of agency, just as foreordination came as a result of
righteousness in the premortal existence.
The doctrine of foreordination applies to
all members of the Church, not just to the Savior and His prophets. Before the
creation of the earth, faithful women were given certain responsibilities and
faithful men were foreordained to certain priesthood duties. As people prove
themselves worthy, they will be given opportunities to fulfill the assignments
they then received.
I’ve come to understand more fully what
Joseph Smith meant when he taught that life is truly one eternal round.
In the Preexistence we learned our first
lessons and prepared for the mortal realms. As part of this preparation we received
blessings, instruction, and for the faithful foreordination in preparation for
our mortal sojourns. When this journey is complete it is not intended to be the
end of our progress. Yet, as we know a third part of the heavenly hosts have
already ended their progress. We learn that the only realm after this life for
which progress can continue is in the Glory of the Celestial Kingdom.
I have often heard it said that this life has
two main events, receiving a physical body which we do at birth, and that of
being tried and tested, which I’m not sure that even ends in this life or the
life to come. The only thing I can relate this second item with is that of
rebirth, or becoming born again through water, Spirit and blood as spoken of in
Moses 6:59 which is a series of post all unto its self. The time frame for this
is from mortal birth till the final judgment which takes place after the resurrection.
The only ordinance spoken of as required for
entry into the Celestial kingdom is that of Baptism D&C
75:51-52 and as usual I speak of baptism as a whole (water, fire, and Spirit).
I also understand that Eternal progress is possible for all in the Celestial
realm not just those who receive Exaltation.
Would it not make sense that we should be
prepared through instruction, blessings and foreordination in this mortal realm?
The truth is we are. It happens predominantly in the Temple. Think of how the
washing and anointing goes. If things are truly an eternal round and progress
is only possible in the Celestial Kingdom and the only ordinance required for
entry is baptism what is all the rest of the things we do in the church for. Even
from birth the celestial patterns are began with the family structure. We
practice just as children play house, we practice the celestial order of things
in this life. We are continually preparing for higher realms. We are
to learn all we can in the second estate before we move onto the next, just as
we were to do in the first estate before moving onto the one we are currently
in. The more we learn here the better we will be off in the next. It is far easier
for the spirit to remind us of what we once learned then to teach us those
things anew.
