Deception and Brownie Making

A friend recently initiated a great conversation about receiving revelation, specifically referencing a time that she had an impression--a distinct thought--that did not come to pass.  I have had a few personal experiences similar to that; for instance, a distinct impression--so strong!--that my 10th baby, little Spooner, was to be my last baby.  It was strong, out of the blue when he was 3 months old, and felt so sure.  More about that later.

I have wondered for a long time about the idea that what we receive as revelation might not be revelation--the idea that Satan can imitate the Spirit to the point where he can deceive us.  I don't know that this is possible unless we let that happen.  

I know that I have read or heard a quote that is to the effect that Satan cannot imitate the feelings of peace that comes with the Holy Ghost.  Korihor (in Alma) speaks about his experience in being "deceived" by Satan, that Satan came in the form of an angel of God...but Korihor knew that it was still Satan but said that because what Satan said appealed  to him, Korihor acted on it.  But even then, Korihor recognized that it was Satan.

Moses in the first chapter of the Pearl of Great Price has the experience of conversing with the Lord face to face and falls to the earth, overwhelmed, when the Lord departs.  Satan then appears and says, "Son of man, worship me."  Moses, having just had an amazing spiritual experience, easily recognizes the counterfeit of Satan.  I do not believe that someone who is having daily experiences with God through prayer, scriptures, repentance and Sabbath day observance including partaking of the Sacrament and temple attendance can be deceived.  Satan just cannot imitate those feelings of peace that helped Moses detect Satan's counterfeit.

My follow-up, second thought is that I believe that if an earnest, seeking person who is actively striving to have spiritual encounters through those "Primary answers" receives revelation, he or she will be blessed for acting on it with sincere intent.  Take my experiences.  I changed how I looked upon and treated that baby.  Everything that had become mundane became significant and special...because it was the last time I was going to have a little baby.  I appreciated every wonder that the years of 9 previous babies had lost in the repetition of motherhood.  Motherhood regained its magic.  

Perhaps if I had not changed, he would have been my last.  Perhaps it was a warning.  I know that I felt it strongly, distinctly, and that I acted righteously upon it.   And perhaps it was an Abraham/Isaac experience.  Because Abraham didn't end up having to kill Isaac, did it mean that God hadn't asked Abraham to kill Isaac?  Just food for thought.

Again, I really don't believe that Satan can deceive an honest seeker of truth who is seeking to have daily spiritual connections with God.  In Joseph Smith Matthew it reads regarding the last days (emphasis added):

5 And Jesus answered, and said unto them: Take heed that no man deceive you;

6 For many shall come in my name, saying—I am Christ—and shall deceive many;

7 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations, for my name’s sake;

8 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another;

9 And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many;

10 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold;

11 But he that remaineth steadfast and is not overcome, the same shall be saved.

12 When you, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, then you shall stand in the holy place; whoso readeth let him understand...

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19 All things which have befallen them are only the beginning of the sorrows which shall come upon them.

20 And except those days should be shortened, there should none of their flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake, according to the covenant, those days shall be shortened.

21 Behold, these things I have spoken unto you concerning the Jews; and again, after the tribulation of those days which shall come upon Jerusalem, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe him not;

22 For in those days there shall also arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch, that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect, who are the elect according to the covenant.

23 Behold, I speak these things unto you for the elect’s sake; and you also shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled, for all I have told you must come to pass; but the end is not yet.

24 Behold, I have told you before;

I had another personal experience that emphasizes the importance of having the Spirit with us and how it can help us detect if something is wrong.  It is closely related to making brownies :D.

When I make brownies, I always test the batter.  Why?  Well, I love how it tastes, but more importantly, over years of making it I can tell by a quick taste if the two smallest, yet crucial, ingredients are there: salt and vanilla.   How do I know they are not there? Because through experience I can detect the difference if they are there or not.

Years ago when I was at Yale, I took a "Medieval Christian Thought" class which I was sadly disappointed to learn had nothing to do with chivalry and Middle Age mysticism and dealt with the development of the post-Christ Christian churches.   As part of this course, I read the works of Augustine, one of the great shapers of thought at that time and since.  

Now, at Yale I felt bombarded and alone.  I didn't know more than a handful of new associates in our local branch and was miles away from my home in Utah.  It was completely foreign territory.  So every day, as a lifeline, I read my scriptures and journaled about it for at least 20 minutes every single day.  Without fail.  And it sustained me. And did more than that.

As I read Augustine's thoughts, I found myself agreeing with his explanation of doctrine. "I agree with all this!" I happily discovered.  And then, all of a sudden, something seemed wrong.  What I was reading felt wrong.  Now, I don't know how you were in college, but I spent a lot of time sitting over a page with only half a mind paying attention.  But something grabbed my attention with a certain wrongness about it.  I read it over carefully and found that all of a sudden, what I was reading was not doctrinally compatible with what I believed and had been taught.  What had changed? I wondered.  

I carefully went back over the text and found one little assumption in logic that Augustine had made in his line of reasoning that tweaked the whole argument into that wrong direction.  Now, was I, at the age of 18, ready to take on Augustine's years of logic and rhetoric?  Certainly not on my own!  But that feeling of wrongness--like when I taste that brownie batter and can tell that something is different--is a gift of God that comes when we feel the Spirit...and then it is gone.  

I have a daughter that struggles with feeling the Spirit.  She is one of the sweetest purest people I know and she struggle because she says, "Mom!  I just don't feel the Spirit speaking to me!"  A dear family member I recently spoke with is the same way.  He has always put himself into a "second-class" of members of the Church that don't feel the Spirit very often.

This is what brings me to a great Hank Smith talk* I recommend to anyone.  Sometimes, we have the Spirit with us so much that it is in it's absence that we realize it is no longer with us.  Some of us so naturally engage in the actions that qualify us for the Spirit that it is not until it is absent that we recognize that it was there.  It speaks to us all so differently.  I firmly believe that with people like my family member and daughter, they don't need a lot of direction and nudging because they so naturally and intuitively respond to the Spirit.  They are two of the most humble people I know!  I believe it is this desperation, this seeking, this humility, this pure intent that qualifies us for the Spirit and can sometimes be unrecognizable...kind of like when we have had the blanket on us all night and then wake up feeling cold because the blanket has slipped off.  We sleep blissfully, not recognizing the blanket upon us...until it is gone and we feel it's lack.

I just don't believe the sincerely seeking and practicing child of God can be deceived by Satan unless they allow it to happen.  Here's another great way to tell if you are being manipulated by Satan or being inspired of God:

"Do not be kept from the very source of true healing by the craftiness of the prince of evil and his wicked lies. Recognize that if you have feelings that you are not loved by your Father in Heaven, you are being manipulated by Satan. Even when it may seem very difficult to pray, kneel and ask Father in Heaven to give you the capacity to trust Him and to feel His love for you." --Richard G. Scott 4/2008

And the things we learn from the Spirit, like brownies well-made, will be delicious. 

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*a link to the cd collection that has this talk: "How Can I Know If I Am Feeling The Spirit?"

**A great talk that came to mind is Corbidge's talk in a recent BYU address--Feb 2019, I think--that talks about "primary" and "secondary" questions and I think that this applies to "primary" and "secondary" revelation.

Another great talk about revelation:

And a great video: