We be Abraham

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We be Abrahams Seed

• Khinckley1_at_yahoo.com

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Dear Bishop Letters
Dear BishopMy mother sometimes sings and dances
in the kitchen. For no reason! Could she be going
through a mental pause? Signed, Brant
Dear BishopWhat  can  I  do  about  all the
Nudity, Fowl Language and Violence on my VCR?
Dear BishopOur  son writes that he is taking
Judo lessons. Why would a boy who was raised in a
good Christian home turn against the Church?
Dear BishopI  was  married  to  Bill for three
months and I didn't know he drank until one night
he came home sober.
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Question

• Scores of problems often seem to plague those who
  were raised in dysfunctional or broken homes.
• What separates those who rise above it from those
  who dont?

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Abraham 1
Avraham Gileadi A story I heard in rabbinic
school relates how Abraham's father, Terah, in
the land of Ur of the Babylonians, at times put
young Abraham in charge
of his store. When Terah, who made and sold
idols, went into the forest to fetch wood for
their manufacture, Abraham was to sell the idols
in his father's place. Typically Abraham would
dissuade buyers, reproving the adults for
esteeming statues as gods. One day, fed up with
his duty, Abraham smashed all his father's wares
except a large idol that stood on a top shelf.
When Terah returned from the forest, he flew into
a rage, demanding an explanation. Abraham
responded, "The big one did it!" implying that
these were no gods at all, or they could have
saved themselves. After that, Abraham became
unpopular in Ur and the people sought his life.

• 1 In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence
  of my fathers, I, Abraham, saw that it was
  needful for me to obtain another place of
  residence

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• Abraham 12
• And, finding there was greater happiness and
  peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings
  of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should
  be ordained to administer the same

desiring also to be one who possessed great
knowledge
having been myself a follower of righteousness
and to possess a greater knowledge,
and to be a greater follower of righteousness
and to be a father of many nations, a prince of
peace
and to keep the commandments of God
and desiring to receive instructions,
I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding
the right belonging to the fathers.
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In other words
Spirit
Knowledge
Action
Joseph F. Smith In Christ's Church we cannot be
neutral or inert. We must either progress or
retrograde. It is necessary for the Latter-day
Saints to keep pushing on in order that they may
keep their faith alive and their spirits
quickened to the performance of their duties
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Who is the Seed of Abraham?
For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these
two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the
magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the
Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. They
become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the
seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and
the elect of God. (DC 8433-34)
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President Kimball

• Many times I have tried in my mind to span
  the long centuries that link us to our common
  fathers and my soul is stirred when I remember
  that in our veins flows the blood of the Lord's
  electthe great patriarchs of the Old Testament,
  such as Adam, and Enoch, and Noah.
• I am humbled to know that our common father was
  Abraham, of whom it is said there were no greater
  ones and through whose seed the Lord has chosen
  to carry out his holy purposes on the earth

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Question

• What are the blessings of Abraham?
• What are the responsibilities, though, of being
  Abrahams Seed?

Joseph Fielding McConkie "In claiming to be a
chosen people, we make no pretense to be superior
to any other people but simply claim to have been
chosen to serve as the Lord's messengers in
declaring the message of salvation among the
nations of the earth. Ours is a call to service,
not to privilege, though the service itself is
such. The promise given to Abraham was that his
posterity would be called upon to bear the
ministry and priesthood among all nations."
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Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

• We are all willful people too much
  of the time.We must break out of
  our petty selves and weep for our sins and for
  the sins of the world.
• We must plead with others to yield to the father,
  to yield to the Son, to yield to the Holy Spirit.
  There is no other way.

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Elder Bednar

• Quotes DC 8878
• Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend
  you,
• That you the teacher my be instructed more
  perfectlyin all things that pertain unto the
  kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to
  understand.

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Elder Jeffrey Holland

• Elisha, with a power known only to the
  prophets, had counseled the king of Israel on
  how and where and when to defend against the
  warring Syrians. The king of Syria, of course,
  wished to rid his armies of this prophetic
  problem. "Therefore sent he thither horses, and
  chariots, and a great host and they came by
  night, and compassed the city round about. . . .
  They compassed the city both with horses and
  chariots."
• If Elisha was looking for a good time to be
  depressed, this was it. His only ally was the
  president of the local teachers quorum. It was
  one prophet and one lad against the world. And
  the boy was petrified. He saw the enemy
  everywhere-difficulty and despair and problems
  and burdens everywhere. With faltering faith
  Elisha's youthful companion cried, "Alas, my
  master! how shall we do?" And Elisha's reply?
  "Fear not for they that be with us are more than
  they that be with them."

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Elder Holland Cont.

• "They that be with us?" Now, faith is fine and
  courage wonderful, but this is ridiculous, the
  boy thought. There were no others with them. He
  could recognize a Syrian army when he saw one,
  and he knew that one child and an old man were
  not strong odds against it. But Elisha's promise
  was "Fear not for they that be with us are more
  than they that be with them." Then Elisha turned
  heavenward, saying, "Lord, I pray thee, open his
  eyes, that he may see." And, we are told, "the
  Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he
  saw and, behold, the mountain was full of horses
  and chariots of fire round about Elisha." (2
  Kings 614-17.)
• In the gospel of Jesus Christ we have help from
  both sides of the veil. When disappointment and
  discouragement strike-and they will-we need to
  remember that if our eyes could be opened, we
  would see horses and chariots of fire as far as
  the eye can see, riding at great speed to come to
  our protection. They will always be there, these
  armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed