Meridian Magazine - Lesson 22, The Word of Wisdom: "A Principle with a Promise" - Page 3 - Meridian Magazine - LDS, Mormon and Latter-day Saint News and Views

God made mankind pure and capable
Who, then, sought to create inventions.
Soon, his vices became innumerable
Succumbing to a word of temptations.

His taste became vitiated.
His judgment and will, impaired.
To diseases he was initiated.
Till, he prayed and wisdom was shared.

...A law to remove beastly appetites
And the disposition to kill.
...A hope to restore once healthy delights
And vigor, where one thinks well.

Our body is but the instrument
For our heaven-bound spirits to know joy.
It amplifies each response to truth, and
Assists us in the friendships we enjoy

But...

As "the spirit is willing and the flesh is weak" 

 When tempted, we must yield to our spirits to grow 

Lest Satan overcome both the body and spirit he seeks

Now, there is wisdom that all of us should know!

'Everything has become degenerated from what it was in its primitive state; 'God made man pure, but he has found out many inventions:' his vices have become innumerable, and his diseases multiplied; his taste has become vitiated, and his judgment impaired; he has fallen-fallen-fallen, from that dignified state that he once occupied on the earth; and it needs a restorative that man has not in his possession-wisdom which is beyond the reach of human intellect;-and power which human philosophy, talent and ingenuity cannot control. God only is acquainted with the fountain of action and the main springs of human events; he knows where disease is seated, and what is the cause of it;--he also is acquainted with the spring of health; the balm of Gilead-of life; he knows what course to pursue to restore mankind to their pristine exeelency [sic] and primitive vigour, and health; and he has appointed the word of wisdom as one of the engines to bring about this thing, to remove beastly appetites, the murderous disposition and the vitiated taste of man; to restore his body to health, and vigour…" (Times and Seasons, 1842; 3:799-800). 

Purpose, Power, and Spiritual Control of Physical BodiesThe Prophet Joseph Smith, through whom the word of wisdom was originally revealed, taught "we came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the celestial kingdom. That great principle of happiness consists in having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is his punishment" (TPJS, 181). In a talk to the students at Ricks College (newly renamed Brigham Young University-Idaho), Elder David A. Bednar quoted the statement of Joseph Smith above and further explained that one of the blessings of mortality is "our physical bodies make possible a breadth and a depth and an intensity of experience that simply could not be obtained in our Premortal estate. As President Boyd K. Packer has taught, 'Our physical body is the instrument of our spirit' (Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled, p. 211). Thus, our relationships with other people, our capacity to recognize and respond to truth, and our ability to obey the principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ are amplified through our physical bodies" (Ricks College Devotional, Jan. 11, 2000, p. 2).In this same talk, Elder Bednar also quoted Brigham Young about the nature of our agency in regard to our bodies and their appetites.  "You are aware that many think that the Devil has rule and power over both body and spirit. Now, I want to tell you that he does not hold any power over man, only so far as the body overcomes the spirit that is in man, through yielding to the spirit of evil. The spirit that the Lord puts into a tabernacle of flesh, is under the dictation of the Lord Almighty; but the spirit and the body are united in order that the spirit may have a tabernacle, and be exalted; and the spirit is influenced by the body, and the body by the spirit. In the first place the spirit is pure, and under the special control and influence of that fallen nature that is of the earth. If the spirit yields to the body, the Devil then has power to overcome the body and spirit of that man, and he loses both…. When you are full of evil passion, and wish to yield to it, then stop and let the spirit, which God has placed into your tabernacles, take the lead. If you do that, I promise that you will overcome all evil, and obtain eternal lives" (Discourses of Brigham Young, pp. 69-70).'

Meridian Magazine - Lesson 22, The Word of Wisdom: "A Principle with a Promise" - Page 3 - Meridian Magazine - LDS, Mormon and Latter-day Saint News and Views

Let us Wait on Him

Let us wait on Him
For renewed strength
And begin again
With resolve to strain

Let's run and not be weary
Going to bed when we should
To be found not fainting
Living health laws ever good

Isaiah 40:28-31

¶Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

My Body is a Temple 2

My body is a temple
For my spirit found inside
This is my time to sample
All that earth life does provide

With each of my senses
I'll develop my smart brain
Avoiding all pretenses
I'll be real. There's much to gain

I will rise up with the sun
And make each new day golden
Exercising will makes things fun
And my covenants... I will hold them

I will honor the priesthood
Come of God, I'll dress nobly
Seeking after all that's good
I will attract the best to me

"My Body—a Temple,”
Friend, May 2002, 18

Striving for Simplicity in Life

Striving for simplicity in life
Brings peace in times of troubles
For when there is hardship or strife
Each struggle grows and doubles

Although the storm's tumultuous
We know what's beyond the dark shadows
Thus, it will not get the best of us
For prayers light does shines through our windows

As then we sense the best is yet to come
And take moments to escape the frontal attack
To pause, reflect beyond thoughts that succumb
And recognize that with the Lord, there's naught we lack

There are but four things that we need:
Food, clothing, shelter, and fuel
Then of our time and effort we are freed
To apply these things to what's spiritual

With food- comes the word of wisdom
With clothing- modesty of dress
With shelter- living within means and income
And with fuel- our oil serves us best

Elder L. Tom Perry
Let Him Do It With Simplicity
Ensign, November 2008, 7

I Have a Message- Alcohol is Bad

I have a message
Alcohol is bad
Not even a drop
For man should be had

It wounded my heart
And killed my brother
He drove while drinking
And he killed another

This was not the start
Nor is it the end
Of my life lesson
More did descend

For he had a son
That never knew him
He had a daughter
That idolized him

My niece found a man
Just like her dad
He could beat and drink
Doing all that's bad

He killed her baby
While still inside her
And her, too, maybe
As there was naught inside her

She went back to him
With booze on the shelf
She ignored his faults
And thought naught of herself

And when he drank
It did not matter
Though she too was drunk
Her head still did shatter

There is more I've learned
Again and again
Not a single drop
I wish it would end

When I see you smile
With a raised up glass
I see only pain
While you see only class

I will leave right now
Drinking's not that fun
You may think it's cool
But, soon the bottles done

Enjoy your laughter...
Tomorrows the day
When my brother died
What more can I say?

When you are sober
And are able to walk
I have a shoulder
And an ear if you'd like to talk

Do you have control?
Then you are lucky
As others cannot
And, I think that is sucky

The cost for each pour
Does not seem enough
For it is much more
For body bags to stuff ($50.)

A comment I have sketched
(For I like to draw)
While my heart was wrenched
I put it on a straw

Soon these words reached
Unto every glass
Before you entertain to sip
Please say "no thanks, I think I'll pass"

For all the babies
Who too had to drink
Can you please pour this
Down the nearest sink?

For all the drivers
Who've been hit and died
Please remember them
And their last joyful ride

For those who've been raped
And for all who've been abused
Can you please turn away?
And leave the drink unused

For the homeless children
Who've naught where to go
Please hear their crying
May your love for them now grow

Who knows but drama?
There's a better life!
Full of promise
Though not without it's strife

You have to want it
And put away the past
With your eyes straight ahead
To the future, they should cast

There is a message
Inside a bottle
It says drink, drink, drink
But, don't taste a jottle

The Word of Wisdom

The word of wisdom is a law of health
It is greater than any kind of wealth
As when it's obeyed there is peace and rest
And when it's not- addictions contest

No tea or coffee or alcohol, too
Or drugs if a doctor would not approve
These are harmful, as well as tobacco.
These are the things to which we must say, "No!"

The Lord declares that some things are good
Eat vegetables and fruits with prudence, we should
The beasts and the fowls we should try to spare
As for our bodies, grains give the best care

These words of wisdom come with promise
There's treasures of knowledge when we're not amiss
We're not weary to run nor are we faint
Destroying angels pass by those known as a Saint

Yet, there is a law, that of opposition
That causes many to face a temptation
Some form habits to a controlling substance
But, through the Lord's grace there lies resistance

To resist temptation you must beware
The path to freedom requires much meek prayer
Heavenly Father wants for you to be so blessed
He will give you more strength- of this we attest

Thoughts from reading "True to the Faith"
A Gospel Reference

Suppress That

Suppress that anger and jealousy
Do not give in to the enemy
The spirit is injured as long chains grow
Till much of our liberty begins to go

The best inside of us can cave to entices
To a point we have virtues or we have vices
Our appetites are strengths that take us farther
Do not gormandize what comes from our Father

Hard drinks, each has an appetite for itself
Once deprived, it is an enemy to oneself
Healthy passions perpetuate joy and life
Prostitute them, you will soon have sin and strife

The whole lesson is that of subduing
To conquer pride will be our best doing
In our day of spiritual renaissance
There are established tools for best resistance

Surrender to God

In meekness and pain

He is all we've got

To become wholly sane

One of the three forms of temptations:
Temptation of the appetite or passion
my thoughts from reading
Pathways to Happiness
discourses of David O. McKay