Spiritual guidance and gifts of the spirit often feel this way.
Some Scripture quotes and thoughts from Charles Hunt, written around 1999, which I shared with a youth group I was working with at our church, to try to help them learn to recognize the gifts of the Spirit in their daily lives.
The notes below help us understand what God said about what His miraculous influence and the God-given gifts of the Spirit feel like, and I am so thankful that they do, because it surely feels good and brings deep joy and inner peace.
Approximately how many miracles have you personally witnessed in your life?
What do you consider to be a miracle of God?
What exactly is love, inner peace, and true joy?
Is it a miraculous gift from God or is it simply a chemical reaction occurring in our brain or heart cells, or what exactly is the source of the true love, inner peace, and true joy we feel?
When we feel any degree of love from someone, who or what is the true root source? Is it always a miraculous gift that flows from God through another spiritual brother or sister and into our inner spiritual self?
Do we feel the incredible miracle of love and inner peace so often that we take it for granted and don’t even stop to accept it as a loving communication from a loving Heavenly Father? Do we think grateful thoughts toward heaven and toward our loving Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, whenever we feel any love, inner peace, or joy within?
Some useful scriptures:
Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love , joy , peace , longsuffering , kindness, goodness, faithfulness .”
2 Corinthians 13:11 “Be of the same mind, live in peace, and the God of peace and love will be with you.
Book of Mormon (B of M) Mosiah 2:21-24 “ . . . …I say, if ye should serve him with all your soul, ye should be unprofitable servants. … And now, in the first place, he created you, and gave you your lives, for which ye are indebted to him. And in the second place, he requires that you should do the thing which he hath commanded you; wherefore, if ye do it, he will immediately bless you; and for that he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted to him, and are, and shall be, forever and ever.”
(Pause for a minute and prayerfully ask yourself and God, in what form do these immediate blessings come? I believe that both God’s Word and the experience of anyone who chooses to be sensitive and pay careful attention to the feelings that come to our inner spirit make it clear that these immediate blessings come in the form of greater inner peace, greater real and deep joy, greater capacity to love God and others, and greater capacity to feel the real love of God and others.)
B of M: Moroni 7:16-19, “For behold, to every man is given the Spirit of Christ, that he may know good from evil; therefore, I show you the way of judging; for whatsoever thing calleth to do good, and persuadeth to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye shall know, with a perfect knowledge, that it is of God. 17 But whatsoever persuadeth men to do evil , and not to believe in Christ, and to deny him, and not to serve God, then ye shall know, with a perfect knowledge, that it is of the devil. . . 18 Now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light whereby ye may judge, which is the light of Christ , beware that ye judge not wrongly: for with the same judgment wherewith ye judge, ye shall also be judged.
19 Therefore I beseech you, brethren, that ye search diligently in the light of Christ , that ye may discern good from evil.
Moroni 7:48 “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of your hearts, that ye may be filled with this love which he hath bestowed upon all who are true disciples of his Son, Jesus Christ;”
D&C (Doctrine and Covenants Book of Inspired Writings) Section 6: 20 to 23 “Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will embrace you in the arms of my love.
21 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God . . . . I am the light that shines in the darkness , and the darkness does not understand it.
22 Truly, truly, I say to you, if you desire further testimony , think of the night when you cried to me in your heart, that you may know concerning the truth of these things.”
Peace of mind regarding the matter? What greater testimony can you have than that of God?” (So He’s saying that we will feel surrounded by His love and that He will speak peace into our minds regarding the matter we are praying, reflecting on, or listening to, if true.)
D&C 8:2 “Yea, behold, I will speak unto thy mind and unto thy heart , by the Holy Ghost which shall come upon thee, and which shall dwell in thy heart.
D&C 9:8 “But behold, I say unto you, you must study it out in your mind; then you shall ask me if it be right; and if it be so, I will cause your breast to burn within you; therefore you shall feel that it is right.
B of M: Mosiah 4:3 “And it came to pass, that after they had spoken these words, the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the great faith which they had in Jesus Christ which should come,”
Alma 5:12 “ 12 And according to her faith, there was a mighty change in her heart. Behold, I say unto you that all this is true.” — then we will feel a powerful and joyful positive change and softening within our hearts.
B of M: Alma 32:26-28 “For as I said concerning faith, that it was not a perfect knowledge, so it is with my words. You cannot, at first, know perfectly of the truth thereof, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.
27 But behold, if you will awaken and quicken your faculties to the point of experimenting with my words, and exercise a little faith, yes, even if it be only a desire to believe, let this desire work in you, yes, even to the point of believing in such a way that you will accommodate a portion of my words.
28 Now we will compare the word to a seed . Now if you give place for a seed to be sown in your heart , behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, and you do not cast it out through your unbelief , resisting the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell in your breast; and as you feel this sensation of growth, you will begin to say within yourselves, This must be a good seed, or the word is good, for it begins to enlarge my soul; yes, it begins to enlighten my understanding ; yes, it begins to be delightful to me.
Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am.”
It seems clear to me that our loving Heavenly Father has clearly taught us in His Word that every time we choose to think or do something good, kind, thoughtful, or loving, He will bless us with a little more inner peace, joy, and love within our inner spirit, and that if we will just stop for a minute to be still within and really feel His influence, we will feel flows of love, inner peace, and greater joy. When we feel these incredible feelings and a flow of greater inner peace, greater love, and greater inner joy; so is it a miraculous gift from an incredibly loving and just Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, or exactly what is it if it isn’t?
If we choose to think or do something that goes against the teachings of joy and happiness taught by Jesus Christ, then what exactly is going on inside our inner spirit? If we were to really pay close attention to what we feel inside our inner spirit and honestly evaluate what we feel, would we notice that the incredible feelings of greater or lesser inner peace, love, and true joy that our inner spirit is allowed to feel is exactly in accordance with how well we try to draw closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and His teachings? Someone might say, “But even people who live in China and have never read a Bible or the Book of Mormon feel love, inner peace, and joy inside, so what are you talking about?”
You are absolutely right—people all over the world can feel love, inner peace, and joy within, but they also feel those gifts and rewards within in exact proportion to how well they follow the teachings of Jesus Christ as taught and witnessed to them by the Light of Christ within their inner spirits. (Moroni 7:16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given unto every man, that he may know good from evil.) Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair if some of us received that guidance and the rewards of greater inner peace, love, and joy within our inner spirits and others didn’t, simply because they didn’t have access to a Bible or a Book of Mormon. If we stop to really think about it, we can all realize that the times in our lives when we try hardest to “come unto Christ and his teachings” are the times when we feel the most inner peace, love, and true inner joy. Isn’t that right?
What if we thought we knew more about what would bring true joy, inner peace, and love to our inner spirit than Jesus Christ does, and we chose to live another way? Exactly what kind of feelings might we expect to feel within our inner spirit if, for a period of time in our lives, we chose to go against the teachings of Jesus Christ? Would we feel confusion, frustration about life, anger, resentment, inner turmoil instead of inner peace, a lack of love for and from others instead of feeling a joyful flow of love from and to others, a lack of true inner joy instead of feeling true joy within? If some light, joy, inner peace, and love have left us, then what do we need to adapt?
D&C 1:33 “And from him that repenteth not , even the light that he hath received shall be taken away : for my Spirit shall not always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts.”
What did the children of Israel eat while they were in the desert for 40 years? – – – Manna as an incredible gift from heaven 6 days a week, and enough on the sixth day to last through the Sabbath, and that incredible miraculous gift from God continued to appear on earth 6 days a week for 40 years.
After the first few days, do you think a large portion of people no longer recognized or appreciated it as a miracle of God’s love? Do you think Satan and his team might have whispered to them something like, “Oh, that manna on the ground isn’t a miracle or a miraculous gift from God; it’s there on the ground every day.” Was it really a miracle from God every time, even though it happened six days a week for 40 years?
If the incredible witnesses of the influence of our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ always came as miraculous things that we could see with our eyes every day, like the manna that falls to the ground every day, instead of miraculous things like the inner peace, love, and true joy that we would feel in our inner spirits as witnesses of our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, would you prefer that God worked His miracles that way, or are you actually incredibly grateful, like I am, that He allows it? Does each of us feel Him within our inner spirits instead of simply seeing His miracles every day?
What if you walked out every morning and saw God’s miracle of manna on the ground every day, but you didn’t feel anything inside?
Would you rather see God’s miracles with your own eyes or feel God’s incredible miracles within you every day—like the inner peace, joy, and love He promised to give us when we diligently seek Him, or when we think? Or do something kind, loving, or good? When the amazing and miraculous miracles of greater love, joy, and inner peace come as promised by Jesus, why do we sometimes doubt that they are from God? Is Satan whispering to us to seek something other than what Jesus promised to send?
What type of miracle would you most likely accept and believe as coming from God?
For example, how many of you have ever seen a magic show? Did you see absolutely incredible things with your eyes? How did you feel inside? Did you feel as good within your inner spirit seeing the incredible wonders of a magic show as you feel within your inner spirit experiencing incredible wonders and miracles of greater love, joy, and inner peace that our Heavenly Father has chosen to use as a witness to His influence and true principles.
Another point to consider is that Satan could counterfeit and deceive us with incredible wonders that we could see with our eyes, like a cheap magic show, but Satan cannot counterfeit or deceive us with greater inner peace, love, and joy within our innermost being. The Spirit departs from us to guide us down a certain path, because it has no love, joy, or inner peace to give. For myself, I am incredibly grateful that our loving and wise Heavenly Father has chosen to allow us to feel incredible miracles within our inner spirit, such as inner peace, love, and joy, in order to guide us down the path that brings the greatest real joys, rather than simply allowing us to see miracles with our eyes. When you and I are allowed to feel any degree of inner peace, love, and inner joy, shouldn’t we pause and express deep thanks to our loving Heavenly Father in prayers of gratitude, thanks, and acknowledgment for such a wonderful miraculous gift? I am also extremely grateful every day for the miracles of nature that I am allowed to see every day with my eyes, but even those miracles that my eyes see would not have the richness and meaning without our loving Heavenly Father also touching our inner spirits with joy when we choose to pause to appreciate and acknowledge the source of the beauties of nature around us. Furthermore, we pause each day to simply enjoy and be incredibly grateful to God for each of our senses. It is incredibly amazing, for example, if you stop to think about it, that these eyes function the same incredible way that they do, and that our other senses function the way that they do. Our entire body is an incredible miracle beyond all understanding, even if it is not as attractive or pretty or does not function as perfectly as some of us would wish.
B of M: Jacob 4:14 “But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people , and they despised plain words, and killed the prophets, and sought after things which they could not understand. Therefore because of their blindness , which came through trespassing, they must surely fall.”
Do we often feel God’s miracles clearly at work within our inner spirit, bringing love, joy, and inner peace, and yet look beyond the mark and allow Satan to make us look for some other kind of sign? For a testimony of God and Jesus Christ? Satan tries to whisper to each of us to expect something more, something other than what God promised He would give as a testimony of truth and what is right. To try to confuse us, Satan sometimes tries to whisper to us that we should expect to witness something we see with our eyes, rather than feel with our inner spirit.
Is the incredible way a flower or vegetable seed grows each day less of a miracle and testimony to a loving Heavenly Father than seeing manna in the earth every day? When we see a flower, a tree, or a garden grow, do we pause for a minute to think of heaven with incredible thanksgiving for its influence and its gifts of miraculous beauty that surround us?
How many times each day do we pause, just to think truly grateful thoughts of gratitude to a loving Heavenly Father who continues to perform miracles around us and within us?
If we experience miraculous gifts from a loving Heavenly Father, such as love, joy, and inner peace, for enough days in a row, do we still recognize and appreciate it as a miracle?
A wise person once said, “We are spiritual beings undergoing a human experience, rather than human beings occasionally undergoing a spiritual experience.” If we pause more often to acknowledge and appreciate this, we will recognize the incredible gifts of the Spirit that come from our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit many times a day.
One of my favorite books is called “Joni, the Unforgettable Story” by Joni Eareckson Tada. It tells the true story of Joni Eareckson Tada and the trials she endured and overcame with much help from God to face her challenges after a swimming/diving accident that left her body paralyzed from the neck down about 30 years ago. I would recommend that you read this book and hope it has as positive an impact on your life as it had on mine.
Our bodies and circumstances are likely functioning much better right now than Joni Eareckson Tada’s body and circumstances were after her accident, which left her paralyzed from the neck down. She found love, joy, inner peace, and purpose beyond the description of Jesus Christ. So certainly we can too, right? Or are inner peace, joy, and love just a matter of luck? Are our problems as serious, complicated, or difficult as Joni’s problems were in her life after her accident? Do we have as much appreciation, thankfulness, and joy for life as Joni has now? If not, why not? What might we adjust in our lives to gain the same level of appreciation, thankfulness, and joy for life that Joni has? After Joni’s accident, she felt so discouraged and hopeless that she no longer had any desire to continue living and begged her friend to help her end her life. What later caused such an incredible transformation in her inner spirit that made her more joyful and thankful than ever? Joni was turned over every two hours in her Stryker frame so she wouldn’t get bedsores. The Stryker frame held her in place, and she could look up at either the ceiling or the floor. Joni felt totally hopeless and needed answers to life’s difficult questions because she was quickly losing the will to live. Joni’s parents placed a Bible on a stool beneath her when she was upside down so she could read the pages and begin to seek answers and peace from God. Joni searched diligently and prayed much for a miraculous “physical healing.” Then, gradually, a different kind of totally miraculous “spiritual healing” took place within her inner spirit, and she received exactly the same flows of amazing love, joy, and inner peace that can come to each of us, if only we will spend time in God’s word and seek to draw closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Joni felt so grateful that God miraculously healed her the way He did, rather than the way she had prayed for, because she learned so much more and matured so much more through the way God chose to heal her in the areas of her life that needed healing the most. Which miracle was more necessary or crucial if you look at things from an eternal perspective? Is the miracle God chose to perform within her inner spirit any less amazing or miraculous as a testimony to the love, influence, and power of a loving Heavenly Father than if He had chosen to heal her body from paralysis? We all need to seek the almost continuous stream of daily miracles that God would love to give us—if only we will sincerely seek Him and pursue a relationship with Him.
Joni only had God’s Word in the Bible, which is a great and wonderful thing, but we not only have that wonderful gift of guidance and source of answers to life’s tough questions, and the inner peace from God that comes when we spend time in the Bible, but we also have the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C), and the Pearl of Great Price. Let me ask you a serious question. If Joni spent some time each day in God’s Word from the Bible she had, and we didn’t spend time each day in the Bible or any of the other scriptures we’ve been blessed with, like the Book of Mormon and the D&C, who do you think would feel more inner peace, love, joy, and guidance in their lives? If God were to give us more of His miraculous gifts of inner peace, joy, and love than He gives Joni, even though we put in less effort than Joni does, just because we are members of His Church that He restored to the earth, that wouldn’t be very fair, would it? One thing about our loving Heavenly Father is that He is always fair and even extremely generous in giving us more than we deserve; though it may not seem that way some days when He allows us to be greatly challenged with increasing experiences, but when we seek Him, He always allows His inner peace, joy, and love to begin to flow through our inner spirit. For a while, when Joni was first trying to understand the answers to life’s difficult questions, she didn’t feel that God was very fair, but gradually she learned as we all can, that God is incredibly loving, kind, just, and more generous than any of us deserve.
Many people who haven’t made much of an effort in a while to stay close to Jesus Christ and His teachings find incredible joy in trying a 30-day experiment with the words of Christ. That simply means that for 30 days they choose to test the words of Jesus Christ to see if they really work or not; that is, by striving to follow Christ’s words better than ever for 30 days and spending time in the Scriptures each day, will they feel much greater inner peace, love, real joy, and purpose in their life, or not? They realize that there is certainly nothing to lose, because if Jesus Christ wasn’t speaking the truth and if they don’t feel greater inner peace, love, real joy, and much more purpose in their life, then they can always simply go back to their old ways. Jesus said, “Whoever desires to do His will will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I speak on my own.” John 7:17,” which means to me that if we are willing to try the 30-day experiment with Christ’s words, spending time in the Scriptures and in more sincere prayer, and then putting more effort into living it out by being kinder to others and showing more love in service to others, following better all the commandments and teachings of Jesus Christ, etc.; then we can simply watch carefully within our inner spirit to see if we begin to feel the miracle of greater inner peace, greater love for and of others, even for and of God, and greater real joy and purpose in life. If Jesus spoke the truth, which I have learned without a doubt that He did, then surely miracles within our inner spirit will come, and soon we can learn to rejoice more each day with appreciation and thanksgiving for the incredible influence of a loving Heavenly Father and Savior in our lives.
I think it’s very important for each of us to always try to spend at least a little time in the Scriptures every day for the rest of our lives. It’s not so much that I feel I need to learn something more every day, but because I urgently need to feel the spiritually uplifting influence that accompanies God’s word every day. I read some of the Scriptures when I was young, but I didn’t learn to really love the Scriptures deeply until the early part of my mission at age 19, when I began to search the Scriptures more prayerfully and try to find at least one thing on each page to mark or underline that said something meaningful to my inner spirit. I believe if we do that and read prayerfully and reflect on what we read, then we will begin to feel the power of the Scriptures that we should feel as we read and reflect on the Scriptures.
I love each of you very deeply and am so grateful that I am allowed to feel love, because it feels so good, and I know it is a joyful gift from our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Are there other miracles or gifts I would prefer to the love, inner peace, and joy I feel? No. None of us could live joyfully without God’s miraculous gifts of inner peace, love, and true joy.
Through careful study, sincere prayer, thoughtful observation, and following the teachings of Jesus Christ, you can gain your own strong testimony that both the Bible and the Book of Mormon are true and come from God through His prophets. In this way, you will also gain power from the scriptures in your life, giving you the wisdom and strength to live as Jesus Christ wisely taught us to live, for a very joyful and thankful life on earth and in eternity beyond.
I say these things with all sincerity and love, and in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Elder Charles Hunt