01. Are You Truly a Truth Seeker?

Note: This is one of a series of posts devoted to the study of D&C 93:1, and the first examining the phrase "keepeth my commandments".

In the last three posts, we've discussed the concept of a "Spiritual Joystick" which each of us has:

• Move forward too much, and you're overzealous. 
• To move backwards is, well, it's sin. 
• Excessive movement to the left is to have an unhealthy preoccupation with your past, and 
• To the right may mean that you have an unhealthy preoccupation with the future.

By maintaining a divine center in your life, you'll find yourself grounded in non-zealous, righteous, present-oriented truth -- right where God has told us we should be.  Stay divinely centered, and you'll find it easier to keep God's commandments -- D&C 93:1's last requirement to knowing God lives.  Do more or less than that, and you're in Satan's power.

The Key To Understanding D&C 93:1 -- Context!

It's interesting to me how many people read D&C 93:1, but never read the rest of the section.

So, I'm going to pause my blog post here so you can read it -- all of D&C 93. In fact, I'll make it easy for you -- here's the text link. And in case you're not in a reading mood, no problem! Here's the audio file.

D&C 93:1 gives us kind of a formula so we can see His face and know Him -- I mean REALLY know Him.

But the remaining 52 verses tell us more.

Below is a Wordle chart of D&C 93 in its entirety. What words stand out to you?

Painful Truths

Let's focus on the most frequently mentioned word (18 times) in D&C 93 -- "truth" ("fulness" = 15 times).

We learn in D&C 93:24-25 that

"truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning."

Some time ago, I asked God about the truth of some things. I felt prompted to really seek for the answers. I did. Over time, the answers came and were confirmed and reconfirmed in truly divine ways.

Yet, in receiving those answers, in coming to a knowledge of the truth, paradigms were shattered. Relationships with others (who were entrenched in their belief of non-truths) crumbled. I found myself more alone than I was before I sought the truths. Yet one relationship actually strengthened and amplified -- my one with Jesus Christ.

I can remember several times when, in the stillness and silence of the night, I would cry as I reflected upon the pains I endured as I learned the truths of many things. Without fail, He has always -- always -- been there to listen to me, comfort me and love me.

Jesus Christ is love. When we seek the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), we are in essence seeking Him. And in the course of our journey, we not only discover greater truths, but also greater manifestations of His love for us. 

Is "embracing truth" synonymous with (or tantamount to) embracing Christ?

If so, then how badly do you want to embrace truth -- especially truths which may make you feel a little uncomfortable at first, or which may estrange you from others?