Monson - First Presidency Message - The Blessings of Obedience - October 2016

We thought that since we share the words of living prophets on our blog, we should add to our monthly study, the words of the living prophets through the first presidency message each month in the Ensign magazine.  So on the first of each month, we will dedicate our blog to reviewing the first presidency message.  We hope you will leave and grow from the messages that are taught and shared.

For the October 2016 first presidency message, President Monson's teachings on obedience are reviewed.  They provide a series of quotes about obedience that he has given since being called as the President of the church.  So these teachings are recent and reflect his prophetic message that he has been called to share with us.  I hope these messages will cause you to ponder and reflect on the blessings that can come into our lives if we are obedient to the commandments of God.

The introduction shares this quote that tells us that blessings come to those that keep the commandments.

• When we keep the commandments, our lives will be happier, more fulfilling, and less complicated. Our challenges and problems will be easier to bear, and we will receive [God’s] promised blessings.
  

Guidelines for the Journey

• God’s commandments are not given to frustrate us or to become obstacles to our happiness. Just the opposite is true. He who created us and who loves us perfectly knows just how we need to live our lives in order to obtain the greatest happiness possible. He has provided us with guidelines which, if we follow them, will see us safely through this often treacherous mortal journey. We remember the words of the familiar hymn: ‘Keep the commandments! In this there is safety; in this there is peace’ [see “Keep the Commandments,” Hymns, no. 303].
  

Strength and Knowledge

• The knowledge which we seek, the answers for which we yearn, and the strength which we desire today to meet the challenges of a complex and changing world can be ours when we willingly obey the Lord’s commandments.
  

Choose to Obey

• The tenor of our times is permissiveness. Magazines and television shows portray the stars of the movie screen, the heroes of the athletic field—those whom many young people long to emulate—as disregarding the laws of God and flaunting sinful practices, seemingly with no ill effect. Don’t you believe it! There is a time of reckoning—even a balancing of the ledger. Every Cinderella has her midnight—if not in this life, then in the next. Judgment Day will come for all. … I plead with you to choose to obey.
  

Joy and Peace

• There is nothing which can bring more joy into our lives or more peace to our souls than the Spirit which can come to us as we follow the Savior and keep the commandments.
  

Walk Uprightly

• Our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments.
  

Follow the Savior

• Let us follow Him. Let us emulate His example. Let us obey His word. By so doing, we give to Him the divine gift of gratitude.
  

This simple message of obedience helps us recognize that the Lord asks us to follow Him.  President Monson is sharing a simple but important truth of the gospel.  If we want blessings from Heaven, we need to be doing what Heaven expects of us.  Only when we are keeping the commandments can the windows of Heaven be opened and we can feel the true strength of Heaven supporting us.