Moral Agency School

 

With all the alternatives to choose among
We've moral agency for the right or wrong
With freedom of choice and accountability
We've knowledge to increase our sensibility

While God preserves us from day to day
There's laws to obey or disobey
And though many opinions and preferences numb
We can't change the consequences or a fixed outcome

While Satan promotes conduct that narrows our station
Our God does not intend that we yield to temptation
He's given us a Savior, and redemption is possible
If we come to Him, to be like Him, and be responsible

The glory of God is intelligence
With wisdom learned through obedience
When we receive truth it is full of light
Till line upon line we are made bright

Knowing these things is only the start
The test comes as we experience the dark
That we can become independently strong
To yield to the right and flee from the wrong

And that we might know true liberty
While we are here in mortality
We've been given God's resources in full
That we might pass moral agency school

Moral agency

Our gift from God

Use it wisely

Choose the right not the wrong

Be accountable

And repent oft

D. Todd Christofferson
BYU Devotional
31 January 2006
click on the title
to link to the talk

D&C 101: 78
That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.

[Verse 1] With all the alternatives to choose among We've moral agency for the right or wrong With freedom of choice and accountability We've knowledge to increase our sensibility While God preserves us from day to day There's laws to obey or disobey And though many opinions and preferences numb We can't change the consequences or a fixed outcome [Pre-Chorus] While Satan promotes conduct that narrows our station Our God does not intend that we yield to temptation He's given us a Savior, and redemption is possible If we come to Him, to be like Him, and be responsible [Chorus] Moral agency Our gift from God Use it wisely Choose the right not the wrong Be accountable And repent oft Moral agency Our gift from God [Verse 2] The glory of God is intelligence With wisdom learned through obedience When we receive truth it is full of light Till line upon line we are made bright Knowing these things is only the start The test comes as we experience the dark That we can become independently strong To yield to the right and flee from the wrong [Pre-Chorus] And that we might know true liberty While we are here in mortality We've been given God's resources in full That we might pass moral agency school [Chorus] Moral agency Our gift from God Use it wisely Choose the right not the wrong Be accountable And repent oft Moral agency Our gift from God [Bridge] The test comes as we experience the dark That we can become independently strong To yield to the right and flee from the wrong And that we might know true liberty [Final Chorus] Moral agency Our gift from God Use it wisely Choose the right not the wrong Be accountable And repent oft Moral agency Our gift from God

Govern Your Actions

Govern your actions 

With the future in mind

Divine potential's

For the faithful to find

Purity Precedes Power

"We cannot foresee what the Lord has in mind for us. Our only course of action is to be prepared and worthy for whatever he requires. We must govern our actions every day with our future in mind."

—M. Russell Ballard, "Purity Precedes Power"
Topics: Agency, Obedience, Divine Potential

Heavenly Father Will Bless YOU

Heavenly Father will bless you
To do amazing things
If you heed His words, to do
His love comes shining through

A Plan of Freedom

The gospel is a plan of freedom

Where appetites are in check

Our behavior becomes wholesome

As we let Christ's light direct

You Are Free

The gospel, said President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008), “is a plan of freedom that gives discipline to appetite and direction to behavior.”¹ This plan puts us on a path of increasing knowledge and capacity, increasing grace and light. It is the freedom to become what you can and ought to be. But for your freedom to be complete, you must be willing to give away all your sins (see Alma 22:18), your willfulness, your cherished but unsound habits, perhaps even some good things that interfere with what God sees is essential for you.

—D. Todd Christofferson, "You Are Free"
Topics: Agency, Obedience

Jesus Demonstrated Love

Jesus demonstrated love
To our Father above
By expounding on His law
And purely living what He taught

He was never haughty
Or puffed up with pride
He served as one mighty
To speak, but not deride

He had amazing power
And complete authority
For blessings He did shower
While inviting charity

He spoke to all and the "one"
Whoever had the faith to show
Healing work was done...
He was the Father's son to know

Stick with the Brethren

Stick with the brethren
And stand on higher ground
They see around the bend
Where safety can be found

Your Faith is Only as Secure

Your faith is only as secure
As your obedience to God's laws
Repentance is the cure
When you've put the rules on pause

A Man Took to the High Seas for Proof

A man took to the high seas for proof
Of an eternal fountain of youth
And as to each island he stopped, he grew more sure
That somewhere he would find this water so pure

Although his efforts were filled with vigor
He found naught the magical elixir
Yet... still to each century this desire lives on
In the memory of the expired... once Ponce DeLeon

But there is no need to sail uncharted seas
For in this life we have much greater needs
Our Father in Heaven who has plotted our paths
Offers fountains of truth to those who but ask

Who will wax strong in the knowledge to drink?
Those who allow obedience and commandments to link
They in deed have found the way to eternal life
As they diligently prove to be more and more like Christ

He our Master has drunk from the bitterest cup
That we can be clean and with the Father then sup
Who will hear and heed His beckoning call, "Come follow me"
And live such that His works will ever more hallowed be.

Finding Strength Through obedience
Thomas S. Monson
Ensign October 2009, 5

The Holy Ghost Protects Us

The Holy Ghost protects us
Like unto a guardrail or fence
If we but listen and then trust
To stop with obedience

The Light of Christ Manifests as Conscience

The Light of Christ
Manifests as conscience
That man may be tried
Unto obedience

Where ever there be good
Know that it comes from Light
To seek for these- we should
For each leads us unto Christ

Thus to each of us is given
To know the good and bad
The influence to live in
But not to judge... for you'll be had

For the very thing you see
Continually before the eyes
Is where all paths will lead
As from sin's load will be your cries

It's so easy to drift
When you walk on judgment sand
But the Holy Ghost our gift
Can teach forgiveness to understand


lds.org gospel topics- click on title to go to the site...

With All the Alternatives to Choose Among

With all the alternatives to choose among
We've moral agency for the right or wrong
With freedom of choice and accountability
We've knowledge to increase our sensibility

While God preserves us from day to day
There's laws to obey or disobey
And though many opinions and preferences numb
We can't change the consequences or a fixed outcome

While Satan promotes conduct that narrows our station
Our God does not intend that we yield to temptation
He's given us a Savior, and redemption is possible
If we come to Him, to be like Him, and be responsible

The glory of God is intelligence
With wisdom learned through obedience
When we receive truth it is full of light
Till line upon line we are made bright

Knowing these things is only the start
The test comes as we experience the dark
That we can become independently strong
To yield to the right and flee from the wrong

And that we might know true liberty
While we are here in mortality
We've been given God's resources in full
That we might pass moral agency school

Moral agency

Our gift from God

Use it wisely

Choose the right not the wrong

Be accountable

And repent oft

D. Todd Christofferson
BYU Devotional
31 January 2006
click on the title
to link to the talk

D&C 101: 78
That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.

[Verse 1] With all the alternatives to choose among We've moral agency for the right or wrong With freedom of choice and accountability We've knowledge to increase our sensibility While God preserves us from day to day There's laws to obey or disobey And though many opinions and preferences numb We can't change the consequences or a fixed outcome [Pre-Chorus] While Satan promotes conduct that narrows our station Our God does not intend that we yield to temptation He's given us a Savior, and redemption is possible If we come to Him, to be like Him, and be responsible [Chorus] Moral agency Our gift from God Use it wisely Choose the right not the wrong Be accountable And repent oft Moral agency Our gift from God [Verse 2] The glory of God is intelligence With wisdom learned through obedience When we receive truth it is full of light Till line upon line we are made bright Knowing these things is only the start The test comes as we experience the dark That we can become independently strong To yield to the right and flee from the wrong [Pre-Chorus] And that we might know true liberty While we are here in mortality We've been given God's resources in full That we might pass moral agency school [Chorus] Moral agency Our gift from God Use it wisely Choose the right not the wrong Be accountable And repent oft Moral agency Our gift from God [Bridge] The test comes as we experience the dark That we can become independently strong To yield to the right and flee from the wrong And that we might know true liberty [Final Chorus] Moral agency Our gift from God Use it wisely Choose the right not the wrong Be accountable And repent oft Moral agency Our gift from God

It's Through Faith That We Pray

It's through faith that we pray
And are willing to obey
Never mind that we're weak
We're strong when to God we speak

But, to each comes the test
Which tries our very faith
Then, we know not of rest
Till we heed what our Lord sayeth

In faith's absence there is fear
That can shake us off our feet
For though now to Him we're not near
The day will come when we will meet

What can we do to prepare?
For the day of our challenge?
Read what the scriptures declare
From that we should not estrange!

It is our liahona
To lead us where we should go
And just like an antenna
Our faith must upwards grow

And as it enlarges
It must also be maintained
For the storms of life damages
What is not oft sustained

Then we are oft reminded
Of the covenants we have made
If not, we're spiritually blinded
And our remembrances soon do fade

Be Thou Humble

Be thou humble to the Lord
For He shall lead thee by the hand
And give answers to thy prayers
That thou may simply understand

What a tremendous statement!
If we're without arrogance or pride
And in us there's no conceit
Our greatest needs will not be denied


Gordon B. Hinckley,
“A Prophet’s Counsel and Prayer for Youth,”
Ensign, Jan. 2001, 10
Yes, it's one of the 6 be's!



(D&C 112:10)
‘Be thou humble;
and the Lord thy God
shall lead thee by the hand,
and give thee answer
to thy prayers’

Safety in Counsel

A new prophet was put in today
We stood with raised hand for the record
In an orderly and patterned way
We sustained our new prophet adored

From the prophet's mouth the Lord calls us
With words of judgment and of mercy
He would to lead us to life's riches
Where there's glory and honor to see

The Savior offers us protection
He would that we accept His warnings
And ponder them with introspection
For if we don't there will be mournings

As a hen gathereth her chickens
To protect them from what would devour
The counsel of the prophet thickens
As his warnings to safety empower
-----------------------------------------
In the fall of 1838
The tensions ran high in Missouri
The Prophet Joseph Smith told the Saints
To seek protection from men's fury

In Far West refugees would be received
But, Brother Haun did not deliver
And his small settlement did not leave
Thus, at Haun's Mill there was massacre

For the first time in church history
The Prophet could not keep the Saints safe
They were in harms way for misery
T'was because of just one man's lack of faith
-----------------------------------------
In our own time we've been warned from sin
And where to find safety from sorrow
When warnings are repeated often
Watch and be ready for the morrow

The law of witnesses has been cast
When Prophets words seem repetitive
As one Prophet quotes a Prophet past
Our attention should be riveted

May our hearts be filled with gratitude
While we look to the path of safety
And, may we not look for latitude
Where e'er the prophets speaks may faith be

We're squaring with what we want to do
If we think his words are just advice
We may slacken and not follow through
But, we'll soon see God's counsel is wise

Some may consider God's word faulty
That there might be another motive
They mock and deride, proclaiming falsely
When, what they should be thinking is "what if?"
----------------------------------------------
In the Book of Mormon- Korihor
Taught that church leaders sought for bondage
That they might glut on members labors
As they take away rights and privilege

This man argued for independence
Which misrepresents reality
For he sought power to influence
With his own rules for legality
--------------------------------------
To choose to take prophetic counsel
Changes the very ground where we stand
As the waters gather up and pool
Those obedient find safety at hand

The more they heard, the more they scoffed
The best time to have helped Noah soon passed
Perhaps on the ark they'd be aloft
If they'd listened the first time he asked
-------------------------------------------
Oft times when one chooses to delay
The first thing that's forgotten is prayer
Confirmation takes us from harms way
And places us safely into God's care

In an early account of Lehi's
He was warned that his family must leave
Those who pray can know where safety lies
If they but ask, then they will receive
------------------------------------------
To some are given the priesthood keys
With them the Lord makes stakes a safe place
They each bear responsibilities
To warn the Saints of what they must face

We then possess capability
To listen, give heed and then to act
With fervent prayer there's ability
Then with a lifeline, we'll stay intact

Those with ears have the faith to obey
As they learn to avoid grave danger
They learn to face fear and not dismay
For revelation's not a stranger
----------------------------------------------
Just like Thomas B. Marshal's accounts fooled
In our day, some elect are deceived
For they feel "they know best" when counseled
And self-exalt in their own belief

God offers counsel and it's for all
We're as an instrument in his hands
When we hear warnings- we'll sound His call
"Pray", we'll advise, "Then one understands"
----------------------------------------
Though sweet to lead someone to safety
Sometimes the counsel is hard to do
This Reddick Allred found it to be
As a storm made it life threatening too

He with supplies waited through the storm
Lest the Martin company should die
While snow blizzard's entombment did form
He refused to budge, though some said good-bye

As weeks had passed they said to give up
They took their supplies, they had lost faith
They turned back more wagons come to help
But, Allred strongly felt he should wait

One day, as he watched his frozen breath
The destitute company arrived
Dozens had suffered and froze to death
Because of this man the rest survived
-------------------------------------------
Sometimes we don't understand counsel
Or think it does not apply to us
Let's think of it as a sand sample
When we shake it the gold flakes show thus

The Lord's priesthood keys are on the earth
We are so blessed to know where to look
To find the things that are of the most worth
It just depends on the way faith's shook

Safety in Counsel
President Henry B. Eyring
Liahona, June 2008 pg 2-7

Matt. 23: 37
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that
killest the prophets, and stonest them
which are sent unto thee, how often
would I have gathered thy children together,
even as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings, and ye would not!

I turned a page by accident and turned from
writing a poem from another talk. the first stanza
is from one of the conference talks. perhaps you
recognize it?...Ronald A. Rasband

We Should Heed and Beware

We should heed and share
What the prophets declare
Offering obedience
While pondering much in prayer

When calamities hit
An emergency kit
With all that is inside
Will be of great benefit

We can store varied food
Enough to feed our brood
All within a budget
As over time it is accrued


Don't forget H 2 O
Two thirds in us must flow
And dry mix we must stow
Because, you never know

We'll also need some heat
To prepare what we will eat
Learning how to use our wheat
Will make our task complete