A Witness and Signs

This entry is part 19 of 34 in the series 2010B

Posted June 7 & 8, 2010
Alex asks:
Now my question. Can the following scenario happen?

Imagine a man receives a witness and joins the LDS Church. He becomes a priesthood quorum leader. He enjoys sitting in the Presidium. He enjoys his “authority”. He enjoys his “importance” and “importance” of the meetings through which “important” and “inspired” decisions are made. He enjoys that he is special in the eyes of God and a leader of his family. And he is the condition of salvation of his wife and children. He is puffed up with the thought that he is saving people by converting (recruiting) them to LDS. He is proud that he is able to quote BoM easily during the meetings and the audience is impressed…

In short can it be that that hypothetical individuum received the witness just to place him in a niche matching his personality, which will make him feel fulfilled?

JJ
I appreciate John and Harry’s comments on this. Here is my two cents.

Higher intelligence that guides seeking humanity is concerned with one thing when giving a witness, or nudge in any direction. The question is this:

Will the supported choice move the entity forward in his spiritual evolution and thus be a benefit to his group and hopefully the whole of the children of men?

The question concerns not his perfection on the personality level. Most people seeking a witness have many flaws that will continue for lifetimes to come. The important thing is that once a person begins to aspire to the spiritual path that he should not stand still or go backwards but move onward.

Alex Replies:
I might rephrase my question(s) then.

1. Can an “ordinary” person see or know a difference between a sign and a witness? Here is an example (true story): A girl, who has never heard about the LDS, had a dream in which she saw a peculiar church with a spire and an angel figurine on top. Some time later she met missionaries who invited her to their local church (and she never before passed by it). To her greatest surprise the church looked exactly the same as in her dream! As a result she joined the church. Was it a sign or a witness? And who or what could create such a sign?

JJ
Signs like this are usually attributed to God but can come from a number of sources.

First, it could just be a coincidence that she dreamed of a Mormon church just before she saw one in real life.

Secondly it is quite possible she had an inner yearning to belong to something like the church and her inner self gave her the dream in an effort to lead her to the church, which would satisfy her needs.

Thirdly it is possible she has karma connected with the church due to a past life and she is given a sign to lead her to it.

Fourthly it is possible that her soul has determined that the church will teach her lessons on giving herself in service in preparations for future service.

Finally, there is a powerful thoughtform connected with the church created by the accumulation of all the thoughts of all the believers from the beginning. If a person taps into this quite a few apparent signs can manifest.

There are many reasons behind signs people receive. Some signs may lead in the right direction and some do not. Because signs often lead people astray Jesus said: “A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign.”

Some people see a sign and a witness as the same thing. A sign is an outward occurrence and is not a witness. A witness is an inner experience caused by the Spirit through the door of the soul.

Many people have never received a true witness of anything but have received a number of strong emotional feelings that they believe is a witness sent from God. A person cannot tell the difference until he receives a true witness. When this happens the difference will be clear.

The closest non witness experience one can have is the feeling of falling intensely in love and many have not had this. This falling in love experience has to be from both sides of the relationship. A one sided attraction creates a lower emotional feeling.

The falling in love experience opens the door of the soul so the two can look upon the perfect spirit within. This is different than a spiritual witness but is the most common experience that is close to the Spirit.

Any true higher witness is for the purpose of pushing you toward progressing along the path and making you more capable at service to our fellowmen. This often has a group effect but the main design is the expansion of your power to serve.

Copyright by J J Dewey

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