moroni 10

moroni 10 . . .the end
moroni seems to finally be grasping his role as prophet. the way he writes is changed a bit, more mature and assured.

moroni 10:4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

so much hangs on this promise. we hand people over to this promise when we give them a book of mormon to read.

then, in 9-17, moroni gives us an example of the gifts from God, our talents and how different we all are. we are all supposed to be different.
17 And all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will.

i love this verse-
31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled.

get up! get moving! do missionary work! it is your duty, get moving!

moroni 9

moroni 9: 5 For so exceedingly do they anger that it seemeth me that they have no fear of death; and they have lost their love, one towards another; and they thirst after blood and revenge continually.

i read this as my husband came in telling me that someone stopped to take a picture of his truck parked half on the sidewalk so he could take it to the police.   there were several other cars parked on the sidewalk, that didn't bother the guy, just the 4 door truck.   this just really brought home to me how much we as a culture are so vengeful, spiteful and nasty sometimes.

 6 And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.

yep, the world is harsh, nasty, wrong, and angry.   that is no excuse for us to be that way or stop trying to change it.  

moroni 8

moroni 8
this chapter does more than put straight the practice of baptism for children.
 8 Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them; and the law of circumcision is done away in me.

Christ came for the sinner, that's me!   i am not whole, Christ came to heal me.
 25 And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins;

 26 And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.


the other side of this that is really useful to me as a parent, is that God sees little children as without law, or not understanding the law, i have to remember this as i look at my roll as a parent.  my little guy is still learning.  it is my job to teach him.   he is going to make mistakes as he learns, so do i.   if i take this same view of my kids as God does.   it makes a difference in how i deal with them.   the difference is  this-
"you know better!   why would you do that?!" vs. "do you remember that we talked about this?   do you see how this wasn't a good thing?   what might be a better choice/way of doing things?"

this doesn't end with my kids as they turn 8.   yes, they are then held accountable before the Lord, but only for the things they have been taught.   it is my job to continue teaching them.   it changes my reactions when i remember this.

moroni 7

moroni 7
moroni is still not sure what to write. he decides to write something from his father. evidentially, there were followers in mormon's time even though he was forbade form preaching to the general public, he did have a group he was able to speak to that were faithful. and still are at moroni's time since he says that the lamanites are killing anyone who will not deny Christ. this little difference of words is important as we look at their day compared toours. often blanket statements are made in the scriptures that imply "all people" are wicked, "none" are left that follow Christ etc. the same type of language is used for prophecies in our day. even when exact numbers are used, it is often this blanket statement being made, (does Christ really mean we should only forgive to 7 x 70? no.) as we are looking at last days prophecies and symbols, keep these blanket statements in mind. in relation to 7,125,000,000 people in the world, 15,082,028 is a pretty small number. let's put it in perspective. that means that mormons are 0.21% of the population. two tenths of a percent. you would need 5 dollars to get 1 cent at that rate. 

5 For I remember the word of God which saith by their works ye shall know them; for if their works be good, then they are good also.

mormon then talks about how our actions relate to our hearts and how that is counted in eternal terms.   i feel like this chapter is really relevant in everyday life.   this comes to mind when i do something for someone but i am not happy about doing it.   

 14 Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil.
this verse is really relevant to the world today.   there is so much pressure to accept political correctness as good when in relation to eternal correctness, it just isn't.

 18 And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged.

this one also a daily user too.   the way i look at others is how i will be looked at by God in the last judgement.   kinda makes me want to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.

 29 And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men. . .  37 Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men

look for the miracles in your life, everyday.   look for the ministering of angels in your life, everyday.

 45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

i love this really open description of charity.  it is so much more than giving material things.   it is compassion, understanding, kindness . . .a way of thinking , not just a way of giving

mosiah 18

mosiah 18:8-9 and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

teachings of the presidents, joseph fielding smith, chapt 13- Who, among Latter-day Saints, is seeking a place in the telestial kingdom? Who, among the Latter-day Saints, is seeking a place in the terrestrial kingdom? With those kingdoms we should want nothing to do; it is not the intention of the man who is baptized into the Church, or ought not to be, to so live that he will not find a place in the celestial kingdom of God; for baptism, itself, is the way into that kingdom.

mosiah 13-15

mosiah 13-15
today, abinadi uses the little time he has to put as much info as he can into the heads of his critical audience. i am grateful to not be facing such inquiry. with my son 16, and the missionary age one year closer than it was before, i feel the same urgent need though. i have always liked the part about observing the law of moses but not understanding it. it makes me think of how some days i go through the motions, especially in sacrament. i think i have found more meaning in the sacrament since i started teaching it to my little guy. during sacrament, we look at pictures of Christ and talk about what the sacrament means.

mosiah 11

mosiah 11:  6 Yea, and thus they were supported in their laziness, and in their idolatry, and in their whoredoms, by the taxes which king Noah had put upon his people; thus did the people labor exceedingly to support iniquity.
 7 Yea, and they also became idolatrous, because they were deceived by the vain and flattering words of the king and priests; for they did speak flattering things unto them.

this just made me think that the world is pretty deep in this same situation. 
more importantly, do i do this to myself? do i flatter myself to think i am doing enough when i could do more. it's just one more way to make excuses i guess.

mosiah 3

mos 3: 13- even as though he had already come among them.
every time i read this and other verses that refer to believing in Christ as though He had already come, i wonder how different it would be to be looking forward to a time unknown as opposed to looking back to a time that seems unreal. it seems easier to look forward to the second coming than to comprehend something that happened over 2000 years ago. it's funny how even the ones who lived during His time had a hard time really fathoming the whole thing. they mourned Him as though He wouldn't be resurrected. maybe it is just too much for our little brains to handle while the veil is still in place.

jacob 7

jacob 7: 5 made me ask myself about my own "be not moved" part of "stand in holy places and be not moved".   jacob is confronted by a guy named sherem.   sherem is going around trying to tear down the church, it's teachings and the faith of it's members.   " 5 And he had hope to shake me from the faith, notwithstanding the many revelations and the many things which I had seen concerning these things; for I truly had seen angels, and they had ministered unto me. And also, I had heard the voice of the Lord speaking unto me in very word, from time to time; wherefore, I could not be shaken." 

i haven't seen angels but i have heard the voice of God speaking to me through the Holy Ghost.   the problem is that i like goofing off and being lazy too. then i read in the joseph fielding smith chapter 13 for my rs lesson, "Everything that we do should be done in the name of Jesus Christ." what!? man! that's pretty intense.    i mean everything? 

this has just started me thinking. i know that it does not mean we should be serious all the time. i know it does not mean we can't relax. i am just thinking about how i can better use my time but also, not be "on" all the time.

jacob 4

jacob 4 

jacob says that he can't write much of what has been said and done because it's difficult to write on the plates. it would take forever to just write it with a pencil much less carve it into metal plates!   jacob says that they will take the time and trouble to write those most important things on metal plates because the things on plates will last through time.   they have paper and use it to communicate with each other, they use it for scriptures etc.   paper is not really meant to last the centuries though.   just the really important stuff is being engraved on plates with the intention of it being read by future generations.

we had a little example of this done for us in seminary.   our seminary teacher made copper plates, ( i assume he bought some sheets of copper and cut them down to the size of the small plates.  around the size of a large recipe card).   he gave us some tools to write with and a list of glyphs. he told us to write what was most important to us. we had to write it in egyptian letters on the copper plate. we only got one plate and had to do it all in one 90 minute class. we wrote on paper first but then had to condense it down. then we had to press it into the plate. that was not easy! imagine gripping your pencil really tight and then pushing letters into metal. our fingers were sore. we ended up with only a few lines since the plates were small, (we got the small plates of nephi). it was one of the most spiritual lessons we ever had. several of us had personal prophecies revealed to us. our teacher did too.

 

if you have never boiled down your testimony to the bare bones, i recommend it. in your journal, write your testimony. then condense it down to the most important things. in just a few lines, tell your future generations what you want them to know. it is an amazing experience.

1 nephi 9-10

1 nephi 9-10
the thing that stuck in my mind that i wanted to actually ask all of you about is this. my son and husband don't think God "knows" everything but instead knows what can happen and is just calculating the outcomes. 

this is my take on it- the Holy Ghost is only one place at a time but can affect more than one place at a time just like the sun shines on more than one place on earth at a time while remaining in it's place. (for my science geeks- yes, the sun is moving through the universe and so on and so forth but in relation to the earth, the sun in in one place and the earth is moving etc . . . . but just stick with me here).    i told them that God is kind of like that with time, He sees more than one time at a time, that is why His day is a thousand years. He's operating on a different level.

1 nephi 5-8

as i read 1 nephi 5 -8 i thought a lot about the lesson a couple weeks ago on witnesses of the book of mormon. i thought about how the witness of the Holy Ghost is more powerful than even an angel coming and giving you heck for hitting your brother. laman and lemuel saw an angel and still were "not nice" yet the witness of the Holy Ghost can weave the knowledge into the very fiber of your body and soul.

i thought about the scriptures and treasuring them. "And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy." how much do i treasure them? 

i thought about how much i hold to their teachings, "And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree." do i press forward and cling to them? this paints a picture of struggle and work, grasping at the rod to hold on for dear life in the "whirlwinds" of life.

i thought about how i bore my testimony in class that reading the book of mormon is the most important thing that i do for me every day. some days i lose track of that, even though it is for me. in all of this, i thought back again to the lesson and the reading we are doing with the missionaries in the preach my gospel book. in chapter 5 of preach my gospel it says, Have confidence that the Holy Ghost will testify to anyone who reads and ponders the Book of Mormon and asks God if it is true with a sincere heart, real intent, and faith in Christ. This witness of the Holy Ghost should be a central focus of your teaching." this got me to thinking about how i read. do i read to have this testimony of the Holy Ghost? how would it change my reading if i read not only for peace, guidance and all of the other wonderful things that come from reading the scriptures, but if i read with the goal of having a witness from the Holy Ghost?

3 nephi 4

3 nephi 4

who do you fear? (verses 7-10)

this is an interesting situation. the nephites have gathered up and blockaded themselves into one place. this totally screws up the plans of the robbers because they are not raising their own food, they are just stealing it. 
with all the land left abandoned, there wasn't anyone left to steal from. the robbers decide to come against the nephites so they might have a chance of getting some food. when everyone shows up, the robbers are sporting the latest in the fashions of war, lamb skins dyed in blood. spiffy!

the nephites see this terrible sight and fall to the earth. (bad fashion affects me the same way.) 

the robbers think the nephites are scared and figure they have this war already won. BUT - the nephites fall to the earth not in fear but to pray.

this made me think today about faith and who you fear. 

i feel like so often we don't do something because of how it might be perceived by others. the nephites didn't care that the robbers thought they were big chickens. they were more concerned about going to Heavenly Father in all humility to ask for help.

we are called to stand as witnesses at all times, in all places and in all things. every time we stand forth as a witness in what we say, do, post, how we dress, what we laugh at and propagate, in all we do we stand against the enemy when we stand for God's side. 

in that daily battle, who do you fear?

3 nephi 3

3 nephi 3

this is another one of those testosterone letters between opposing leaders.

think about this for a minute, we have the good and the bad. the evil, oath taking robbing, marauding gadianton robbers invite the good guys to come be one with them. come join our band that by oath helps each other to do evil and get away with it and we promise that you will get a fair share.
this just reminds me of this song in muppet treasure island-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1l7N-WLa3Q

3 nephi 2

3 nephi 2

the people are less astonished at a wonder of Heaven. do you think we are as blinded today? as the people recognized the miracles less, they recognized the work of satan less.
 
i am reminded of an episode of "x files" where these devils are sitting in a coffee shop talking about what they have been doing. they agree that people don't recognize them as what they are anymore. 

one says that he showed himself to someone in his true form and the person thought he was crazy and went on a rampage. 

they say that in the old days when a person saw one of them they yelled for them to get hence and be gone, but now, people just think they are crazy. 

do you think that we, as a society and personally, have stopped recognizing the works of Heaven and accordingly the works of the devil for what they really are?

3 nephi 1

3 nephi 1

waiting for a sign. 

it's like the x-games of faith. the people are waiting for a sign that a lamanite shouted from a wall and then disappeared. (the nephite prophets have of course had spiritual verification of this prophecy.) 

now, all they can do is wait. that wasn't so bad as waiting goes, none of us like to wait, but then there was this little thing that made it ever more fun. the wicked have decided to make it a waiting game of life and death. 

imagine the anticipation. getting ready to defend yourself, possibly hiding the night before, praying, listening for that calm and comfort of the spirit. imagine the trust and faith this involved. 

then, the prophet comes and says, it's all good and the sign will be happening just in the nick of time. imagine taking that deep breath and waiting. being prepared to still defend yourself and family because who knows what the other guys are going to do, and because just waiting idly is worse than waiting while busy. 

we are in that holding pattern now. not so near as tomorrow but we have been in the last days for nearly 200 years and the time has been "soon at hand" for quite a while now. so, now we busy ourselves. we prepare, we do all that we can while looking forward and waiting.

helaman 15-16

hel 15 -16

two missionaries working (presumably) unknown to each other, samuel and nephi. 

samuel climbs the wall, tells everyone to repent and they throw stones and shoot arrows at him. that is one tough crowd! God put a deflector shield around him so rocks and arrows are bouncing off of him like nothing. 

the reaction of the crowd is interesting. for some, it kind of wakes them up. they realize what they are doing and what he is saying and they repent. the majority though, get ticked because they can't hit him and decide to go up and get him. 

it's interesting that nephi has been preaching the same thing but none of these people had listened to him either. when they do wake up to the truth, they go to him to be baptized. they are not converted to the person but the word and they recognize that what is being taught is the same. 

i wonder if samuel knew that they left or that they converted. i would have liked to hear this story of some crazy lamanite climbing a wall retold to nephi as to the reason he just got a bunch of converts.

16:14 - And angels did appear unto men, wise men, and did declare unto them glad tidings of great joy; thus in this year the scriptures began to be fulfilled.around 3 b.c. angels appear to men, wise men, . . . . we know that the "3 wise men" came from the asian continent.   it is interesting that this was included in the book of mormon.   it must have been very cool for the faithful to hear that it had begun.   

helaman 14

hel 14
samuel the lamanite prophecies of Christ's birth and death. these prophecies must have been given or spread in all the land because it is by these prophesies that the wicked later decide to kill the believers if the sign is not given.

verse 16 is interesting. we are considered dead to God, disinherited, except for the intercession of Christ. i had never thought about it like that. it's not a new concept but i hadn't thought of it like this. 

imagine the sorrow of a Father knowing that His children were all dead. it explains why He and Christ were willing to give up so much. it had to be done so that we don't have to die. 

this mortal, lineal comparison makes it more clear to me. i know what the deaths in my family have caused, i can't imagine suffering it without the knowledge of eternity. God would have faced that without the plan of salvation for the billions of His children. 

i better understand His sorrow for the sins of the world. it's like His children committing suicide. what great pains do we inflict on our Heavenly Parents? it brings new meaning to doc & cov 18:16 - "And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!" imagine the great joy of a parent who has seen their child dying and then brought back to life. such is the joy of our Parents. 

i understand better now.

helaman 13

helaman 13: 36 O that we had repented in the day that the word of the Lord came unto us; for behold the land is cursed, and all things are become slippery, and we cannot hold them.

37 Behold, we are surrounded by demons, yea, we are encircled about by the angels of him who hath sought to destroy our souls. Behold, our iniquities are great. O Lord, canst thou not turn away thine anger from us? And this shall be your language in those days.

38 But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-08-2710-it-is-too-late?lang=eng

helaman 12

helaman 12

these chapters have really shown the pride cycle and the wonderful highs and lows that happen in that cycle. this cycle has been happening throughout history but how do you break the cycle in your own life? the prophets have the answer-

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-08-2680-the-cure-for-forgetting-god?lang=eng