I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My purpose is simply to share experiences in my life that effect my faith and confidence in a loving God, who I know is the Father of all mankind.
I thought of you again today as I considered with whom I should share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Lately, I have been feeling almost continuously prompted to share my witness of Jesus Christ. I attempted to share this witness years ago in your English class. (It seemed appropriate, as we were discussing life and philosophy, and what people believe.)
I know that Jesus is The Christ, the Living Son of the Living God (if you want to offer feedback about how I punctuated this sentence, by all means!). I say that I know. A prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ I think said it best, "and by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things," (Moroni 10:3-5, The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ).
In The Book of Mormon, brothers Laman and Lemuel are reproved by an angel when they are beating their younger brothers with a rod (see 1 Nephi 3, The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ). The angel then commands them to return to Jerusalem with the promise that their daunting foe, Laban will be delivered into their hands.
The light from the vision has hardly faded before Laman and Lemuel are complaining again! Laban "can command fifty, yea, he can slay fifty, then why not us?" they ask.
Were visions so commonplace to them that seeing an angel was no big deal? The two doubting brothers do not comprehend God's power!
Before we're too quick to judge, think about the miracles of the last few hundred years! (Penicillin, space flight, horseless carriages, just to name a few.) How quickly have we forgotten? How quickly do we forget the God who has created us? The smart phone I'm typing this on is a miracle, as is the very existence of life itself. How quickly we forget.
God knows me--knows everything about me and so does His Son Jesus Christ.
In The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, God knew Nephi (He knows all of us. We are His children. He is literally the Eternal Father of our spirits). Nephi's earthly Father, Lehi, has visions and revelations of God the Eternal Father and of His Beloved Son, The Messiah, Jesus Christ (see 1 Nephi, The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ). Inspired by his father's testimony, Nephi sought God. He believed his father's words. He knew Heavenly Father's character. He knew Heavenly Father's attributes. God, our Heavenly Father, knows all of humanity. Each and every soul! He loves us! He cares for us! He seeks us as a tender parent! (See 1 Nephi 8:37.) His deepest desire is our welfare, success, and happiness, now and forever.
When we pray, God hears us. One of the most profound questions we will ever ask in life is whether we hear Him. Nephi heard Him (for examples see 1 Nephi 2:16-24; 3:1). Nephi remembered Him. Doing so gave Nephi great power--to obtain the Brass Plates, to build a bow and provide food for his family, to escape his brothers time and time again, and to build a ship. Because Nephi heard God, his family was very, very blessed. He saved their lives (more than once--see 1 Nephi 16, 2 Nephi 5). Nephi heard Jehovah, the antemortal Jesus Christ (see John 1:1).
"If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you." (1 Nephi 15:11, The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ)
Lehi's experience of seeing a pillar of fire and receiving communication from God is very consistent, both with the experience of Moses and the Children of Israel, and with the visions of Latter-day Prophet, Joseph Smith. (compare Lehi's experience with other visionary experiences in the scriptures). Interestingly, some Rabbinical traditions hold that the "window" in the Ark of Noah was, "a stone that shone in darkness;" an interesting similarity to the stones which the Brother of Jared formed from molten rock and which the Book of Mormon indicates Jesus touched and caused to glow.
"And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they," (Jacob 2:13, Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ).
This morning I've been contemplating how people in The Book of Mormon overcame their challenges through faith in Jesus Christ. There were those who became firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ (Helaman 3:35).
Nephi overcame great challenges, as did his father Lehi. What did Nephi do? Nephi always remembered. He always remembered God. He always remembered that God had directed them! He seems to have had a simple and tremendously powerful faith in God's character and attributes. When all around him were failing, Nephi remembered!!! (See 1 Nephi 16 in The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.) How did he do it? Was it because he was faithful in prayer? I can't help but think that that was part of it. (Those who stayed close to God in Lehi's vision of the tree fell down and worshipped.--1 Nephi 8:30.)
I believe that sincere prayer--daily prayer--can keep us close to God. For Latter-day Saints, prayer is a conversation with God. It is worship and our attempt to commune with God. Sometimes it is relegated to meaningless recitation, but at its best, prayer brings us into harmony with God. The purpose of prayer is for the one who is praying to come closer to God--to draw near to him--to become one with Him. When we pray, our souls can draw nearer to God. In the end, nearness to God and learning to seek unity with him are what bring us great joy. Through true prayer, we may know God (See John 17:3 and Joseph Smith History 1:15-20). There is deep and abiding satisfaction in learning to become like God.
Consider, from The Holy Bible and The Book of Mormon, what Jesus Christ has taught us about prayer.
I think that President Benson learned the virtues of work in his youth. As a boy, he took over his father’s farm as his father was called on a mission! (No surprise that each of the Benson children followed in their father’s footsteps and served missions!)
So, what does it mean to labor in the Spirit? I've been thinking about this a bit. I've also been impressed lately by another statement in this chapter about the sons of Mosiah:
. . . they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God (Alma 17:2-3).
What struck me here, is that they didn't teach with their own knowledge. They read the scriptures and studied them that they might know the word of God, but to me it seems that they still relied upon God and upon His spirit to give them utterance. As I studied this scripture, I also came across this interesting verse from 2 Nephi 28.
And they [rival churches] shall contend one with another; and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance (2 Nephi 28:4).
I realized when I read this, that I am sometimes, and perhaps often, guilty of using my own knowledge, wisdom and pride to teach. The point of reading the scriptures, as I see it, is to get the Holy Ghost in our lives. I need to learn to trust more in that spirit (see Doctrine and Covenants 11:12).
I declare before God and before His holy angels that I know that Jesus is the Christ, the living Son of the Living God. I have perfect faith in the efficacy of his all-encompassing atonement for all human sin and for all human suffering, and I believe in mothers. I believe in women. Women who sacrifice. Women who care. Women who heal. Women who love. And, I believe in marriage. I believe in the deep, soulful union, body, soul and spirit, of a man and a woman, joined under God in holy wedded matrimony. And, I believe in family--unified family. Family where love prevails, along with kindness. Family where each member is heard. Family where each member is recognized and nurtured and encouraged. Family where parents and children and siblings counsel together and nurture one another in love. And, I declare before God that this is the order of heaven. When we arrive in a perfect heaven, what we will see is family. What we will see is order. What we will see is counsel, and harmony. What we will see will be awesome. These are the things I aspire to. These are the things Jesus teaches me, evenand these are the things that I love. I know that God loves us, His children. I know that Jesus Christ is our brother in deed. I know that everything good that we do and that we know is a reflection of the goodness and knowledge that is in them.
Abinadi does Isaiah better than the KJV! "Skousen has noted that Abinadi’s quotation of Isaiah 53:7 more consistently uses the past tense than does the KJV. In the KJV translation, the second occurrence of the verb “open” is rendered with present tense “openeth not his mouth” instead of the past tense “opened not his mouth” as it is rendered earlier in the verse. Mosiah 14:7 consistently renders the verbs in the past tense, “opened not his mouth.” The Book of Mormon version renders the underlying Hebrew verbs of Isaiah 53:7 more correctly than does the KJV. Again, this observation can be seen to support the thesis of this essay. Skousen, Analysis of Textual Variants, Part Two, 1321–1322." as noted in <https://knowhy.bookofmormoncentral.org/knowhy/why-did-book-of-mormon-prophets-speak-of-future-events-as-if-they-had-already-happened#footnote5_4qgnam9>, accessed on 9 June 2020.
Sometimes, I'm really determined. "Never say 'die'," if you will. That's how I feel about school this semester.
I have a lot of things going against me: family obligations, financial challenges, family health and wellness challenges--a number of things. Sometimes, I think I should drop out of school, that this would be easier and make more sense. Sometimes, I've even decided that's what I should do. Then, after I sleep on it, I can't. I need to stay. I can't seem to quit!
God swore in his wrath that the Israelites would not enter into the promised land. What was the nature of their offense? After witnessing the plagues sent upon Pharoah, The Passover and slaying of the Egyptians' firstborn, being delivered from Egypt and from the Egyptian armies, passing through the Red Sea on dry ground, and being fed in the wilderness with manna and quail, the children of Israel still did not comprehend the nature of God! After so many benevolent acts of saving, these delivered captives did not comprehend. The straw that broke the camels back was their unbelief at Massah and Meribah.
Recently, I was deeply impressed by these words of Jesus:
16 ¶ Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to afast. Verily I say unto you, They bhave their reward.
(--sincerity. We should do things with God in mind, not men!)
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
18 That thou appear not unto men to afast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall breward thee openly.
19 ¶ Lay not up for yourselves atreasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves bbreak through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves atreasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor bsteal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine aeye be bsingle, thy whole body shall be full of clight.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that adarkness!
24 ¶ aNo man can bserve two cmasters: for either he will dhate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and emammon. (Either we are serving God, or we are serving the god of this world.)
25 aTherefore I say unto you, Take no bthought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? aConsider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, ashall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little bfaith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father aknoweth that ye have need of all these things.
