You're Strong Enough (21 page)

If we constantly doubt ourselves and the God that sent us, we will find ourselves surrounded by darkness, disbelief, worry and self-esteem problems. Once we stop believing in ourselves, then we start following the crowd. Usually, it’s a crowd making poor choices. When you start making poor choices, then Satan feeds you with more doubt that you could ever overcome. When you feel you can’t ever change and get back on your path, then you will feel hopeless. Hopelessness occurs where Satan convinces us that there’s no purpose to this life, there is no God. So live it up, for when we die that is it.

Satan will try to take us to the darkest areas of our minds, bodies, families and friends, so that he can thwart our potential.
Do not let doubt rule your world. Believe in God and yourself and the quest that you’re on.

You are Strong Enough

You are strong enough and have the potential of becoming a prince and princess in the Kingdom of God. You have everything you need here on Earth to overcome anything on your quest back home. God has given you strength, talents, gifts, family, forgiveness, atonement, the light of Christ, the armor of God, the Gospel of Christ, guardian angels, prayer and everything else you would ever need to conquer the dragon and come out victorious.

It is never too late to change. Though darkness may surround you, you always have a choice. God made sure you have a way through to bring brighter skies, better food, happier victories and an eternal perspective. We are strong enough to defeat Satan and win our reward.

My Quest for Happiness

I am the eleventh of twelve children, and yet, I never felt part of a family. I have lived with six different families, moved thirty times up to my thirtieth year and have been confused about a lot of things in my life. After I ran away from my mom, I went to live with my dad for two years. During my senior year he and my step-mom got a divorce, so I moved. I moved in with a friend for six months. Because there wasn’t permanent room for me, I moved in with another family.

I felt very lost and alone. I didn’t know where I belonged, who to talk to, or what my future looked like. I was hurt often by those I considered close friends through gossip, lies and guys. I was glad when high school was over so I could start fresh in a new area and in a new part of my life.

The first year out of high school, I lived with my brother, but I still wasn’t very happy. I decided to move back with my mom and try that out. That lasted about a month. We still did not see eye to eye. While I was feeling lost and alone, one of my sisters mentioned to me a course she had taken. A course that had helped her forgive those who had harmed her, reconnect with God and discover who she really was.

I went to this three-day course and felt enlightened and uplifted. It had nothing to do with what they did, but with what they taught. They taught me what I’m teaching you, except mine includes the purpose of life. We must forgive those who have harmed us. If we don’t, darkness will always follow. We must believe in ourselves and in the God that sent us. We must love our family no matter what. We must make sure there are safe boundaries for us in all our relationships. Good choices will always bring us joy and poor choices always make our life harder.

I always had a relationship with God and believed He had a purpose for me here on Earth. But, I became the happiest when I realized I didn’t have to be perfect, that forgiving others is a must and that I was strong enough for any trial or challenge that comes my way.
Once you accept and believe that you are here on a quest, then you can be happy no matter what happens in your life through forgiving those who have harmed you and getting close to
God.

Your Quest for Happiness

Your first quest
is to discover why you’re unhappy. Are you unhappy because old thoughts still consume your mind with pain and hurt? Are you unhappy because you still don’t feel you can conquer your quest? Are you unhappy because you feel there’s no way to come back? Once you have discovered why you’re unhappy you have the power in this moment to change your perspective, tell Satan to go to hell and start making better choices.

Post on your wall what good choices you will now be making.

Your second quest
is to start making better choices. That begins with looking at life with an eternal perspective. For example: If your parents are divorced, look at that as something you can learn to do differently. If you have been harmed by another, see what you can learn from it, forgive them and help others not have the same thing happen to them. Start taking a look at how you can use your trials and challenges as building blocks and stepping-stones to reach greater heights.

Changing your perspective to an eternal one will alter how you overcome things now.

Your third quest
is to look for areas in your life where you have doubt. If you are doubting, then why? Do not feel strong enough? Do you feel you can’t change? Do you feel God won’t help you? Discover how you can change it from doubt to faith. You can also ask God to help increase your faith and believe in yourself more.

Your fourth quest
is to be happy. When you doubt, fear, make poor choices and use an Earthly perspective you will not find happiness no matter your circumstances. If you can look at everything as a challenge that you accepted, you be able to have confidence in yourself now—for you knew at one time (Preexistence) that you could overcome anything. Find good things that make you happy and try to do them everyday.

Today’s the day. Now is the time to change your perspective.

Have faith in God and in yourself that you can overcome anything.

Remember to cheer yourself on during trials, for you can be the prince or princess God wants you to be.

H
opefully, by now, you’ve realized that this Earthly life is a test. Will we follow our Heavenly Father by making good choices and using the atonement, or we will, instead, follow Satan, give in to temptation and make poor choices?

Every choice—big and small—counts on this Earth
. If we make small good choices, then the big choices will be easier to make wisely. On the other hand, if we make poor small choices, then the big choices will reach the same outcome.

Our quest here on Earth will be full of choices every day. And those choices will lead us down certain paths.
The question is which path will you choose?

The path that will lead you back to your Heavenly King and obtain your eternal reward because you defeated the dragon?

The path that is easy, well-trodden, filled with caramel apples, riotous living, selfish desires and poor choices?

Or the path that has some rough terrain, but nothing too difficult because you don’t want to put forth too much energy?

Every Earthly quest will be rewarded. Of course, some rewards will be better than others. Our Heavenly Father made sure that everyone would be judged fairly according to his/her works and deeds on Earth.
Therefore there are three degrees of glory, or three different kingdoms, that will be homes to everyone on Earth, depending on the individual’s bravery during the
quest.

The Afterlife

We have already discussed where we lived before we came to Earth. In the Preexistence, all those who fought on the Savior’s side became knighted with a body and blessed with free agency. Once we came to Earth, we were placed on a path with unique trials and challenges, but also with unique strengths, talents and gifts. Our choices here will determine where we live after we die—for eternity. In other words, we passed our first test in the Preexistence, so we are given the opportunity to take the second test here on Earth.
Our performance on the second test will determine where we are placed for eternity.

Once we die, we will be judged on how we did on this Earth, as stated in Rev 2:23, “…I am He which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.” Therefore, how much you prove yourself worthy here on Earth will determine which kingdom you will obtain.

Death is not the end, but merely a type of beginning.

Spirit World

Once you die, your spirit and body will be separated. Your body is laid in the grave where it remains temporarily. Your spirit moves on to the Spirit World. If you’ve ever been to a funeral viewing you may have noticed that the deceased person does not look natural. The body looks like something is missing. Our bodies house our spirits. Once we die, our body becomes empty.

Our spirit goes to place called the Spirit World.
The Spirit World is divided into two parts: Spirit Paradise and Spirit Prison. There are some religions that believe the spirit world is divided into Heaven and Hell and that it is the final resting place of our spirits. That is not the case.
The spirit world is a waiting place for the final judgment, a place where there is still constant learning and
growth.

You may ask why we would need a waiting place before we are judged. God is a fair and just God. There are many people on Earth that never got a chance to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, be baptized and try to live as He lived.
So for God to be a fair and just God, He will need to give them the chance in the spirit world to accept or reject the Gospel.
The spirit world makes it possible for every human to have a chance to accept or reject Jesus Christ and His Gospel. It says this perfectly in 1 Pet. 4:6 where it states, “For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.”

Spirit Prison

Because God is a fair God He will not place good and bad people in the same dimension while waiting for final judgment. Those who will go to spirit prison made bad choices, hurt others, committed sins or ate of the caramel apples and did not repent while on Earth. They took the road most traveled with riotous living, selfish desires, feeding constantly on caramel apples and having no thought or desire to believe in Jesus Christ.

Spirit Prison could be referred to as a hell for there will not be much joy.
Those in Spirit Prison will realize that they had wasted their life doing whatever they felt like doing to themselves, their bodies and to others. Those who dwell here are those who did not think they would have to answer for their choices of hurting themselves and others while on Earth.

This part of the Spirit World will not have much light. Those who dwell here will emanate darkness. It will be filled with people who have regrets, shame, anger and guilt. It will be filled with all those who did not take their quest seriously and were defeated by the dragon.

Though many have lost their way on Earth and did not receive the opportunity to hear Christ’s Gospel, the Gospel will be preached in Spirit Prison to give everyone an equal chance to be redeemed through Christ.
In 1 Pet. 3:19 it states, “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;”

Spirit Paradise

All those in Spirit Paradise made good choices, tried the best they could while on their quest, helped those in need, have repented, picked themselves up when they fell and tried to follow the example of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ spoke of Spirit Paradise in Luke 23:43, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

This part of the spirit world will be filled with light. Those who dwell here will be full of love, joy, forgiveness, and compassion. It will be all those who took their quest seriously, endured to the end, put on and took off Band-Aids as needed, reached out to help others on their quest and truly wanted to be a prince or princess in God’s Kingdom.

Judgment Day

On Judgment Day, you will be brought before God to be judged according to your works and deeds while on your quest.
As stated in Romans 14:10, “…For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” God will search through your life and see what mountains you climbed, where you’ve repented, how much you’ve helped others, if you’ve served your family and where justice and mercy will have claim on you.

Each of us will stand in front of God and be judged according to our works, as stated in Matt 16:27, “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” We will each stand beside Jesus Christ, who will be our attorney or advocate as mentioned in 1 Jn. 2:1, “…And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

Jesus Christ will plead your case, telling how much you’ve repented and tried to do what was right during your mortal life, or Earthly quest.
For instance, let’s say every mountain you climbed you fell off (partook of sin), but you dusted yourself off, repented and tried again. When those sins come up during your life’s review, Jesus Christ will speak up and say you have repented of those sins and, through the atonement, you have been forgiven. That sin will then be wiped clean.

In John 3:17 it states, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” Jesus Christ our Savior came to save the world and will use the atonement to wipe away every sin we have committed as long as we repent. Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ knew we would not be perfect. They knew we would fall down, get hurt and deeply wounded on our quest. They made a way through the atonement for us to pick ourselves up, bridge the gap of imperfection, heal any wound and start again.

Every time a sin comes up during the review of your life on judgment day, Jesus Christ will plead your case if you repented.
He will say, “I have paid for his/her sins when I was on the Earth. He/she has repented of those things he/she did wrong and I have made up the difference between his/her imperfections in my perfection. I have made him/her perfect through me.”

Jesus Christ paved the way for all of us to be saved and earn an eternal reward as prince or princesses in the Kingdom of God, as stated in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
All our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ ask is that we do our best, repent when we have fallen, help those in need, try and follow Christ’s example and get back on
track.

Eternal Worlds or Kingdoms

After you’ve been judged according to your works and how much you’ve repented, you will be resurrected. Your spirit and body will be reunited and made perfect. Not one hair from your head will be lost, any physical deformities will be restored and you will return to a more youthful body.
You will find that, once you are reunited with your body, you will feel complete and full of
joy.

In Phil. 3:21 we read, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Our resurrected body will receive the glory according to how well we did on our quest while on Earth.
Your resurrected body will receive the same brightness as the kingdom you
earned.