Burden Reduction Acts

God’s Word is the only thing that can transform our spirit, soul, and body. The Word of God is living, life-changing, and dynamic as it works in us (Hebrews 4:12). We must not only listen to the Word; we must also let it transform our lives.

Fear Not, the Battle Is Mine”

In response to this prayer God sends his Spirit upon a prophet named Jahaziel and tells all the people of Judah that God will protect them. Verse 15: “Hearken, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Fear not, and be not dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God’s’ . . . You will not need to fight in this battle; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not, and be not dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”

Jehoshaphat had cried to the Lord: “O God, we are powerless! Help us.” And God responded, “Fear not, the battle is mine!”

Worship and Song

Jehoshaphat’s response to this word of promise is to fall on his face to the ground and worship. Verse 18: “Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.”

Then something different happens. While everyone is bowed down low on their faces before the Lord, a group of people stand up. And together they begin to praise the Lord. Verse 19: “And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.” Was this a spontaneous eruption of song from a few free spirits? Who were these people?

Turn with me back to 1 Chronicles 6:31. Here the writer is listing the families of the tribe of Levi. In verse 31 he says, “These are the men whom David put in charge of the service of song in the house of the Lord, after the ark rested there. They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, until Solomon had built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem; and they performed their service in due order. These are the men who served and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites . . . “ And then the descendants of Kohath the son of Levi are given.

In other words this group who stood up to praise the Lord in 2 Chronicles 20:19 are not merely a group of charismatic free spirits. They are the Choir of Israel. They are the group who ever since the time of David had been appointed to do the ministry of song in Israel. So they stood up while everybody else was bowed before God and they led the people and helped the people praise the Lord for his promised victory.

There are three ways that God protects his people from danger.

1. Sometimes he prevents danger from even arising on the horizon of our lives.

2. Other times he allows the danger to attack, and gives us the victory so that we live on and serve him in gladness.

3. But in the end one enemy is never driven off, the enemy of death. We will all die if the Lord does not return in our lifetime. But here, too, God protects. He protects us from unbelief, and preserves us for his heavenly kingdom.

The more we obey God, the more we desire to help others. The more we help others, the more we love God and on and on. Conversely, the more we disobey God and the more selfish we are, the less love we feel.

Trying to find lasting love without obeying God is like trying to quench thirst by drinking from an empty cup—you can go through the motions, but the thirst remains.

The value of persistent prayer is not that God will hear us, but that we will finally hear God.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive
Through the scriptures, we are taught that God will always hear our prayers and will answer them if we address Him with faith and real intent. In our hearts we will feel the confirmation that He does hear us, a feeling of peace and calm. We can also feel that everything will be fine when we follow the Father’s will.

What does OBEDIENCE mean?
In simple terms it means hearing the word of God and acting on it.
It implies aligning our will to God’s will; doing what God has asked us to do.
It is when we completely surrender to His authority and base our decisions and our actions on His Word.

Parents should understand that sometimes children will make wrong choices even after they have been taught the truth. When this happens, parents should not give up. They should continue to teach their children, to express love for them, to be good examples to them, and to fast and pray for them.

In the sacred responsibilities of parenthood, “fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102). They should work together to provide for the spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical needs of the family.

Some responsibilities must be shared by the husband and the wife. Parents should teach their children the gospel. The Lord warned that if parents do not teach their children about faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, the sin will be upon the heads of the parents. Parents should also teach their children to pray and to obey the Lord’s commandments. (See D&C 68:25, 28.)

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness…For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:3-8)

Paul urges us in Eph 4:1 to “live a life worthy of the calling you have received,” and later (verse 12-13) we are told to “be built up… reaching unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature; attaining the full measure of the fullness of Christ.”

Spiritual growth is commonly defined as becoming more and more like Jesus in nature. But for me, it is equally important to not just become more like Jesus, but to grow up in your faith. By growing up I mean less past, sinful behaviour and more fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) produced in your life. This is a life-long process of growth facilitated by spending time in the Word and co-operating with the Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Train up a child. This proverb, founded on the covenant with Abraham (cf. Gen. 18:19), encourages parents to “train” (i.e., to “dedicate” or “initiate”; this is the sense of the word in Deut. 20:5; cf. Ezra 6:16) their children in the way (i.e., the right moral orientation) by pointing to the kinds of conduct that please or displease the Lord, and to the normal outcome of each kind of conduct. The training will include love and instruction as well as “the rod of discipline” (Prov. 22:15).

Who gets praised when you give? It will tell you what happens to your giving.
When you give, Thanks and praise goes to God.
When a lot of people are blessed by your giving, a lot of Thanksgiving goes to God.
E.g. The inner-city families that received free education gave thanks to God that he remembered them.
That's a lot of Thanksgiving going to God.

Teach your children how to pray by praying with them. Sit down with them every day, and pray with them about their lives and your loved ones’ lives. Pray favor over them in their lives, and that God will show His love to your children every day. Including your children in these prayers can help them learn about God’s nature.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.

Everyone—toddlers, kids, and grownups—is made to work. Everyone wants meaningful work to do. God designed people this way.

When God made the first person, God gave him a job. Genesis 2:15 says that God put Adam in the garden “to tend and watch over it.” God also gave Adam the job of naming all the animals. God created them, and Adam named them. They worked as partners.

A home is a place for partnership, too. Your family is a team and God put your family together for a reason.

“And this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

Isaiah 59:21

Through Isaiah, the Lord promises that his words will be “on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever.” This promise, once given to Israel, speaks to one of the deepest yearnings of our own hearts. Those of us who care about children, whether they’re related to us or not, want so much for God’s words to be on their lips and in their hearts. We ache for the next generations to know the Lord and walk with him.

The work of raising children is not easy. The Bible acknowledges this difficult reality in Proverbs 22:15. “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child.” This is no surprise to any parent who has yelled things like, “Cleaning your room means NOW” or “Don’t use the cat as a feather duster!”

The Bible offers parents the promise that wisdom can eventually replace folly in a child's heart. "Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray" (Proverbs 22:6).

Explaining to our children how and why God wants us to give to others can be challenging. In its simplest form, giving is an act of worship — something we do graciously and for the right reasons.

Why God Asks Us to Give
God has given us the greatest sacrifice — his only Son. In doing so, he left us with a true example of what it means to give. He asks us to sacrifice as an act of worship before Him. And, when we obey He will bless us.

Acts 20:35
35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Hebrews 13:16
16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.