Power Quotes From Bible, Etc., That Help You Know You Are a Dearly Beloved Child of God.
Did we live as Spirit Children of God before coming to our Earth-school and testing period?
I believe that Three of the most important questions for each of us to study, ponder, and pray about are:
Where did I come from – – – before I came to earth?
Why am I here on earth?
Where am I going after this earth-school and learning experience?
The answer to those three important questions, will help you to see that God is amazingly loving, fair, and generous with each of us children of God with the way He designed His Plan of Salvation/Happiness for the forever future of His children.
The Bible scriptures below are some of the huge number of Bible scriptures, that help make it clear that we lived as spirit children of our Father in Heaven before we came to earth. This truth is so very important, because when you understand that you are a child of God, that changes everything, in how you feel about yourself and other children of God as our brothers and sisters; and about our amazing potential. And it helps us to understand how much God truly loves each one of us.
Job 32:7-8: “But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.”
Numbers 16:22: “And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh”
Ecclesiastes 12:7: “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Clearly the spirit part of us could not “return” to God after death, unless we had previously been there with God before birth.)
Jesus taught this same principle, in John 3: 13: “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”
Genesis 1:26-28: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”
The prophet Jeremiah was called at a very young age to be a prophet, and God reassured him in Jeremiah 1:5 that: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (God knew the prophet Jeremiah as a valiant and faithful individual way back in the pre-earth life – – – and way back before he was formed in the womb of his mother, God even ordained him to become a prophet – – because he was clearly a valiant and faithful spirit son of God in his pre-mortal existence. Doesn’t this verse make it very clear that Jeremiah and the rest of us spirit children of God, lived there with God before coming to earth?)
Hebrews 12: 9: “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?”
Romans 8:29: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son”
Romans 8: 16 to 17: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” (Clearly, there is a spirit part of us and a physical body part. The eternal unique spirit part of us was with our Father in Heaven before coming to earth.)
John 9: 1-3 teaches: “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” (Obviously, the close disciples of Jesus at that time clearly understood that each of us did live as spirit children of God in a pre-earth life, and that we had freedom to choose both good and evil there, just like we do here – – – so they were simply asking Jesus if that man had sinned back in his pre-earth life, and if that was why he was born blind. Jesus made it clear that this man before coming to earth did not sin to cause him to be born blind. Obviously, if Jesus’ disciples were wrong in assuming that this blind man lived as a spirit child of God before coming to earth; then Jesus would have set them straight on that doctrine at that time, right?
What does it mean that each of us is a child of God as so many Bible verses teach, and how does that change your life and perspective in a powerful way?
Power Quote: “An important part of this life is understanding one’s relation to God and to others. When you really understand this, you will act differently, and will treat others differently”. Bradley D. Foster
“And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.” 1 Kings 17:20 to 21
“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” Luke 23:46 (We also have a spirit part of us, who is our eternal being, that lived with God before coming to earth.)
“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. John 20:17
“And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” Luke 24:36-39
“And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend” Exodus 33:11 (So clearly God has a face and a body).
“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:19-22
“Ye are the children of the Lord your God” Deuteronomy 14:1
“Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?” Malachi 2:10
“One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:6
“And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Acts 7:59
“Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children” Ephesians 5:1
“Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation.” Numbers 27:16
“For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” Acts 17:28
“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” Ephesians 1:4
Bible: Revelation 12:7-9 : “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (This quote above is referring to the war that was fought in Heaven before we all came to earth. The devil and his followers were cast out of Heaven, and will never have the opportunity to receive physical bodies. Their desire is to tempt us to sin, and become as miserable as they are.)
In the Bible in Job 38:1, 4-7: “ Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, . . . Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job and all of us here on earth, are the Spirit sons and daughters of God, who shouted for joy when we were told of the Plan of God for the forever future of us as His Spirit children, which included us coming to our earth-school and testing period, and gaining a physical body, that would help us to learn many useful lessons that we needed to learn to make progress, to become more like our Father in Heaven.
Hosea 1: 10 teaches: “ Ye are sons of the living God.” (Isn’t that awesome to know that you are sons and daughters of the living God? )
Acts 17: 28 and 29: teaches“… For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God.”
In Matthew 6: 9 : Jesus taught: “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” Jesus is calling God, Our Father in Heaven, and teaching us to do the same. If we are supposed to address God, as our Father in Heaven, doesn’t that help make it clear that we are His Spirit children from back in our pre-earth existence?
Doctrine and Covenants Section 130: 18 to 20: which is a Revelation given to the prophet Joseph Smith teaches that: “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come. There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” Clearly, the knowledge and progress that we make in each area in this life, goes on with us when we are done with our earth school and testing period. And obviously, any knowledge and progress that we made in our pre-earth existence as spirit children of God, through our personal diligence and wise choices there also comes with us when we come to earth, which is why God knew that the young prophet Jeremiah was a great and valiant soul before he was formed in the belly of his mother – – – way back in his pre-earth life as a spirit child of God. For example, if someone becomes a great musician during their time on earth by working diligently on that skill each day; then that talent goes with them after they step out of their bodies, and they don’t lose that talent they have worked hard to develop just because they die, right? And there are clearly super talented musicians like Mozart and Beethoven, who I am sure were incredibly talented and skilled musicians in their pre-earth life as spirit children of God before they were born on earth.
Also, obviously two identical twins who have all of the same chromosomes, and are raised the same – – in the same family; are still very different from each other, and unique souls, because as spirit children of God, they were very different spirit children of God long before they were sent to this earth school and testing period.
What is “the inner spirit part of me, or my Spirit? – – – the part of me that is me, that makes decisions of right and wrong, good and evil, following God or following the temptations of the devil and his team? Clearly the inner spirit part of each of us lived as spirit children of God, before coming to earth, and continues to live after being temporarily separated from the body at death, and reunited with a glorified body again at the resurrection.
I am not talking about reincarnation, because that is not a true principle, and it does not match with the Word of God in the Bible. We were not a different person or creature before coming to earth. You were always you, and you always will be you. However, each child of God is amazingly capable of making changes and improvements for the better – – if they choose to, so that they can learn to enjoy more real love, joy, and inner-peace. No one can feel better without becoming better, and more Christ-like. The devil, who was a liar from the beginning, offered his plan to God in our pre-earth life, which was that he would force everyone to do everything right and good, so that not one soul would be lost, and he wanted all of the glory and honor to go to him. God’s Plan was the truth, that there could not be any progress or joy for anyone without the God-given gift of free-agency – – – the freedom for each soul to choose good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, kindness vs. meanness. No one could have ever found real joy, love, inner-peace, and progress without the freedom to choose. How could anyone qualify to receive any earthly or heavenly reward of increased inner peace, real love, and joy and loving relationships, etc. if they had no freedom to choose good vs. evil. They would be mere puppets. If you were forced to do every good thing and severely abused if you ever chose to go against that force; would you learn to truly develop the ability to love, forgive, have compassion, empathy, inner motivation to improve and do better, under a forceful environment with no freedom to choose?
In short, you are a child of God, who knows you and loves you with a perfect Fatherly love as His spirit child of infinite worth and potential?
You may be thinking: “That really sounds good Charles, but is it true?” And, yes, it is absolutely true, and if you read and ponder and pray about these Bible quotes in this chapter, and on the other points in this chapter, I believe that you will sense that it is true.
Remember how Jesus taught that we should forgive others until seventy times seven: “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21-22
Questions to ponder on and to pray about:
If we are all spirit children of God, why do so many of us choose to be selfish, rude, and mean toward each other? In short, because of the God-given gift of free agency (See chapter # 25). We must be free to choose both good and evil, or we would not be able to grow and progress and become more like our loving Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Below are some additional scriptures about this subject regarding where we lived before coming to earth, and God’s Plan for us, that I believe to be from the Bible prophets: Moses and Abraham from our scriptural record called “The Pearl of Great Price”, and from the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi, and from the Doctrine and Covenants (D & C: Revelations from the prophet Joseph Smith). I believe understanding that we lived as Spirit children of God before coming to our earth-school and testing period, helps us to love God more and His plans for the forever future of all of His children. So many true principles and understandings fall into place, and make far more sense, when you realize that we lived as spirit children of our Father in Heaven before coming to earth.
2 Nephi 2: verses 11 to 28:
“ For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, . . . righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. … And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away. And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon. And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter. Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other. And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God. And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind. Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. And after Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit they were driven out of the garden of Eden, to till the earth. And they have brought forth children; yea, even the family of all the earth. And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men. For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of their parents. And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given. . . . And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit”.
From Pearl of Great Price (P of GP): Abraham 3:22-26: “ Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born. And there stood one among them that was like unto God (Jesus Christ), and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.”
P of GP: Moses 4:1-4: “And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost (because his plan was to take away our agency and force everyone to do what he wanted), and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor. But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever. Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.”
You may be thinking; “But Charles, some of your last quotes above are not from the Bible, so how do you know if they are true and inspired by God or not?” I encourage you to ponder and pray about these quotes and see if they feel true to you or not. If you don’t want to accept these last teachings above, there is far more than enough clear evidence in the Bible alone that we lived as Spirit children of God before coming to earth.
Bible: Revelation 12:7-10 “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels (followers) were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
A wise prophet in our church, Spencer W. Kimball, taught: “If we looked at mortality as the whole of existence, then pain, sorrow, failure, and short life would be calamity. But if we look upon life as an eternal thing stretching far into the premortal past and on into the eternal post-death future, then all happenings may be put in proper perspective. Is there not wisdom in his giving us trials that we might rise above them, responsibilities that we might achieve, work to harden our muscles, sorrows to try our souls? Are we not exposed to temptations to test our strength, sickness that we might learn patience, death that we might be immortalized and glorified?
If all the sick for whom we pray were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended. No man would have to live by faith.
If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil—all would do good but not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, only satanic controls.
Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death, and if these were not, there would also be no joy, success, resurrection, nor eternal life”.
((Maybe insert some quotes from “My Turn on Earth” play.))
True Story: My Grandpa Hunt was visited in the hospital by one of his granddaughters (my cousin) the night that she graduated from her earth-school/died, and he thereby knew that she passed away in the hospital that night, and that she was at-peace and happy, and did not want him or others to be worried about her.
Every person who comes to earth has a Spirit part of them, and a physical part of them (physical body while they are on earth and after resurrection.)
Important questions to ponder on:
What happens to the physical body after our spirit departs out of it?
How long does it take for the physical body to start decaying after the spirit part departs out of the body? – – not long at all, right?
Why is it you can sense when the Spirit departs the body of a loved one?
Why is it that many people, just before departing their physical body, seem to be seeing and talking to their spouse, or dear mother, etc. who had already graduated from earth-school?
How important are family relationships and other relationships during my earth school and beyond?
Your spirit is the inner part of you – – – that is “You” – – – always has been and always will be. It is the inner part of you that makes all of your important decisions and choices, that analyzes, observes, and tries to make progress and to become more like our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ, so we can experience more real joy, inner-peace, and loving relationships. Your inner Spirit seeks to understand what is truly important and what is not, and that tries to figure out the difference between: right and wrong, good and evil, truth and error, things that lead them closer to God and His light and goodness, and the opposite – – meaning things of the devil and his team, that feel like darkness and the bad and wrong things and choices. Even an amputee, who has lost his arm or leg, can still sense that his leg or arm is still there in a way. That is because our Spirit, or inner-spirit part of us, has a spirit-body also, but it is made of finer matter, and can not normally be discerned with our physical mortal eyesight.
“But Charles, with all of the dozens of quotes from the Bible, make it so clear that we lived as spirit children of God, before we came to earth; why does no other Christian Church teach it, other than The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints? From my understanding, it was at least a couple of hundred years after Jesus and his apostles were all murdered, when it became common in Christianity to start teaching that we did not have a pre-mortal existence. I don’t see any proof that Jesus or any of his prophets and apostles, ever taught that in the Bible. And there were no living prophets or apostles of Jesus Christ on the earth to restore that beautiful and important truth, until the prophet Joseph Smith brought it forth along with God’s Plan of Salvation/Happiness for the forever future of His children, and so many other beautiful truths that were restored through the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants book.