In my morning devotions, I find the Lord takes me down thread after thread after thread of information. He tells me to look up something, and as I do, because the spirit is upon me, he teaches me something about everything I look at on the way to what he originally told me to look for. Because you have to follow where he leads to stay in this state, you end up with so many threads that it takes hours to unwind the spool, all from one original idea. And it could take more than just hours, if we weren't chained to the need to eat and sleep, let alone work.
When I try to write what the spirit floods into my mind and heart, I feel like I am trying to put an ocean into a thimble.
Nevertheless, here is an attempt to convey a tiny fraction of one of the many threads of where the spirit has taken me this morning.
Different responses to lions
People react differently to the same manifestations of God. The New Testament is full of examples of this from Jesus' ministry.
I will here illustrate this principle using an important meme from scripture: lions. When a lion roars, it will mean different things to different people, depending on who they are, what they think, and what they have become.
A person from history who is walking through the bush of the ancient territories of lions and hears one roar is going to be instantly overwhelmed with the apex of terror possible for a human to feel.
In contrast, a person who has come to a certain point in the way of life has no fear of animals, even the most dangerous ones, because, like Adam and Noah, they have accumulated and yielded to so much of the spirit of God that the animals are affected by the radiance of that influence from them, and they not only seek to be in their presence, but the nature of those animals is elevated to the point where their animal nature subsides. A previous bloodthirsty pack of wolves acts like a litter of puppies, and so on. This is a mystery, but I am explaining it to you. It is the mechanism of the fulfillment of this passage:
6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. (Isaiah 11)
A person like this will not fear the roar of the lion, but instead, can only react with overwhelming praise for the goodness of God, because all he can hear in that lion's roar is the magnificence of the God who created him. The fear of the experience has been purged by his long-practiced fear of God.[fear]
Can you imagine a love of God so deep that your natural reaction to things changes? I tell you, it is possible. There is no aspect of human nature that God cannot overcome. He is the epitome of value, and you cannot get to know him without coming to see that who and how he is exceeds the value of any other person or thing so fully that sustained walking with him will penetrate the deepest, darkest corners of your mortal dispositions. If you will focus your desires on him, his light will expand within you until it is a roaring fire, consuming every pocket of darkness within you as you yield to him in all things, even unto death.
To illustrate the contrast of the reaction to a lion with an easily understandable language[misfits], watch this short clip from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. If you are familiar with the story, all hope is lost as the army of Narnia goes against the much larger army of the witch. Aslan has been killed, and he was their hope of winning. When they are on the brink of being destroyed, they hear the roar of Aslan. Notice the difference in the reaction of the forces of Narnia and the forces of the witch.
And now we get to the point: how would you react to the lion of Judah, were he to come in his glory? What seems like multiple lifetimes ago, I had this dream when the Lord first started teaching me on this topic. Since then, I've written several times about the Lord's expanding revelation of himself as the roaring of a lion (for example).
Recently, I made this video, where I explained this same idea using the imagery of impulses and echoes. All of God's servants are like lions. This is why seraphs have an aspect which is like a lion. They are also like stones thrown into a pond.
We live in the end times. God's roars are already sounding, and they will increase in intensity as time unfolds. You can read more about this all over scripture. Perhaps begin in D&C 1 and Revelation 10.
How will you react to the roar? How have you reacted so far?
Did you even hear it? It begins like wind in the grass, or the noise coming from your refrigerator in your kitchen. It is subtle. You have to make effort to recognize it and perceive the information in it.
Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder. (1 Nephi 17:45)
Did you recognize it? Or did it sound like something different to you? A lion's roar is perhaps the most distinctive thing in the world, but God's roar is most often mistaken for something else:
- The ravings of a madman
Ye look forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is the effect of a frenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so. (Alma 30:16)
- The lucky guesses of an imposter
Some things they may have guessed right, among so many; but behold, we know that all these great and marvelous works cannot come to pass, of which has been spoken. (Helaman 16:16)
- The clever enticements of a master manipulator
Now, he says that the Lord has talked with him, and also that angels have ministered unto him. But behold, we know that he lies unto us; and he tells us these things, and he worketh many things by his cunning arts, that he may deceive our eyes, thinking, perhaps, that he may lead us away into some strange wilderness; and after he has led us away, he has thought to make himself a king and a ruler over us, that he may do with us according to his will and pleasure. And after this manner did my brother Laman stir up their hearts to anger. (1 Nephi 16:38)
- Blasphemy
And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? (Luke 5:21)
...Etc.
Did you get it right? Are you judging by the standards of the scriptures, or your own native understanding--which is always far from God's ways?
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Romans 1:21)
This voice will increase in number of sources, frequency, and volume as the days roll on. This may tempt you to wait to respond to it. I encourage you with all my heart not to, and I warn you with all gravity against it.
As the plainness increases, the blessings must decrease for those who heed it, and the punishments increase for those who ignore, resist, or reject it.
Saved by fire
For further Narnia meming see this example of a good illustration of how the righteous are saved, even if by fire . If you "live like Lucy," the "attacking lion" will be your refuge, not your enemy. The rest of the clip has some other valuable points, too.
The allegedly Christian world believes that they will be spared from the afflictions of the end times. The means of being spared vary. For example, some believe they will be raptured, some believe they will be taken to Zion, and some believe they will be miraculously spared by God through some other ways.
Interestingly, there is some truth in all of this.
There will be a rapture, when the fiery ones return and those who can endure their glory are taken up to meet them--but this happens after all sorts of bad things happen, and everyone I've met who believes in this event doesn't yet qualify for it, as proven by their fear of death. No true disciple of Christ fears death, and one full of the spirit of Enoch will fight to remain here rather than miss out on any opportunity to suffer for the benefit of anyone else, while there remains any hope of it benefiting them, and no matter the cost to them.
The righteous will be gathered to Zion, but you can't come until you've come up to that level of light and law and glory and love. You have to do that before you come. And I don't see a long line of people at that gate...yet. They will come as the fire gets hotter, and the bitter turns sweet and the sweet turns bitter.
And as for the miraculous rescues, they will happen, too, but, like the rest, not as people expect. All of these mistaken expectations are based on the desire to feel good without first becoming good. The latter is the path to the former.
Here is how the righteous are saved, even by fire, in a nutshell. The roars contain truth and consequences for resisting/rejecting it. As the truth is revealed and shared, the reasons for receiving it and valuing it increase as the consequences for resisting and rejecting it increase.
The "fires" come:
And they that believe not in him shall be destroyed, both by fire, and by tempest, and by earthquakes, and by bloodsheds, and by pestilence, and by famine. And they shall know that the Lord is God, the Holy One of Israel. (2 Nephi 6:15)
...and the righteous are preserved:
Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire. (1 Nephi 22:17)
While they are preserved in eternal life, they are not always preserved in mortal life. Many righteous people will die. This is for God's purposes, and it is also a blessing to those who experience it.
These fires are also like this figurative lion we've been talking about: they are seen as terrible and fearful to those who do not know and love God. But the righteous desire these things to come, because they understand that it is the apex of God's glorious work and wonder, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man: life and more abundantly than they had before.
The unfolding of these events provides greater and greater clarity in the revelation of God's gospel, signs in the message and the messengers, value in what is offered, and all of this is for the purpose of helping all people who will gain a greater understanding of the goodness and glory of God, and gaining the same in themselves through repenting and becoming like him.
And they that believe not in him shall be destroyed, both by fire, and by tempest, and by earthquakes, and by bloodsheds, and by pestilence, and by famine. And they shall know that the Lord is God, the Holy One of Israel. (2 Nephi 6:15)
For the time speedily cometh that the Lord God shall cause a great division among the people, and the wicked will he destroy; and he will spare his people, yea, even if it so be that he must destroy the wicked by fire. (3 Nephi 30:10)
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[misfits] - Since we are talking about lions, there is some deep truth in this clip from Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. The king of the island is a lion who has wings. He is the only one who doesn't need to be there. He mentions how living creatures can't find refuge on the island for toys, but that they have the ability to help the toys (as he is obviously doing). Rudolf and his companions become instruments to connecting the miserable toys with the potential of their creation, to be enjoyed by children.
[fear] - You will fear something. Choose to fear God, and you will fear nothing else. "Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread." (Isaiah 8:13)