God's purpose and plan for us

Over the last few weeks I have started making an emphasis on becoming a more effective teacher of the gospel.  Preach My Gospel has some fantastic insights, and I have been able to get good direction on how to go about this.  There is one insight from what I have learned recently that I would like to share with you all.

This morning I was giving some deep thought to the doctrines taught in the section of the Plan of Salvation lesson entitled "Pre-Earth Life: God's Purpose and Plan for Us."  In this section I found a truth in a line that I have read dozens of times before: "God's whole purpose---His work and His glory---is to enable each of us to enjoy all His blessings."  I have always thought of God's purpose as ensuring that we would receive all His blessings.  It is not quite that.  His purpose is to make receiving the blessings possible, and they to allow us to exercise our ability to chose, called moral agency, to live in a way that we can receive those eternal and sacred blessings.  God's purpose, as stated in Moses 1:39, is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."  He has brought them to pass!  They can be ours, if we will accept them by how we lead our lives!

Reading on, we find the truths that, "He has provided a perfect plan to accomplish His purpose...Through His Atonement, Jesus Christ fulfilled His Father's purpose and made it possible for each of us to enjoy immortality and eternal life."  Again, the theme making blessings possible comes up.  We find another gem in here as well, the plan that allowed for the purpose of God to be accomplished is the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ's sacrifice is God's plan for our salvation.  The blessings we received pre-mortally, are receiving mortally, and will receive post-mortally are dependent on the degree to which we accept that glorious Plan into our lives.  The more we are filled with that eternal light the stronger our determination to act in accordance with God's commandments will be.

"Agency, or the ability to choose, is one of God's greatest gifts to His children.  Our eternal progression depends on how we use this gift." (Preach My Gospel, Pre-Earth Life: God's Purpose and Plan for Us).

I have been so blessed to see the blessings of this plan in the lives of many during my service as a missionary for our Savior Jesus Christ---now half over.  Elder Balgley and I have seen a wonderful change occurring in Mai Neng, Tawn, Meng, Danny, Jordan, Mai See, Foua, Leng, Kia, and Michael this last week.  They are all sincere in their search for truth.  They are all children of God, and they seek Him.  I feel so blessed to be witnessing the miracle of conversion in their lives!

It has been a week of blessings!  God's hand is working in the world!  Of this I bear witness.

With love,

Elder Jared Cummings