Book of Mormon Reading: Mosiah 10-12

Two thoughts from today's readings.

The first is, how do I want to know God?

Abinadi prophecies:

The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

Do I want to know God through famine, pestilence, burdens, hails, winds, insects, destructions, great abominations, and iniquities?

Or, do I want to know Him by the intimations of the Holy Ghost, by recognizing His hand in my life in small and simple ways,  and by exercising faith on His name?

* * *

My second thought is about repentance.

In reading these words Abinadi teaches to the wicked Nephites, he says:

I say unto you, wo be unto you for perverting the ways of the Lord! For if ye understand these things ye have not taught them; therefore, ye have perverted the ways of the Lord.

I noticed the word pervert.

Pervert means to "turn from truth" whereas repentance means to "turn back toward God." 

Thus, in a real sense, pervert and repentance are opposites because perverting the ways of the Lord takes me away from God and repenting turns me back towards Him.

This week, my missionary son serving in Bolivia sent this thought to me:

This week I read in Helaman about Samuel the Lamanite (Sam the Lam haha) and in his three or four chapters he mentions repentance 26 times. I'm learning that I need to do a better job at crying repentance. And that doesn't mean they have to be doing something bad or wrong, but to change.

Along these same lines Neil L. Andersen taught:

The invitation to repent is rarely a voice of chastisement but rather a loving appeal to turn around and to “re-turn” toward God. It is the beckoning of a loving Father and His Only Begotten Son to be more than we are, to reach up to a higher way of life, to change, and to feel the happiness of keeping the commandments. Being disciples of Christ, we rejoice in the blessing of repenting and the joy of being forgiven. They become part of us, shaping the way we think and feel.

I have had numerous occasions (more than I care to share) where the voice of His chastisement has been a loving appeal for me to turn around and return to Him. I'm grateful for the joyfilled news of repentance.

Book of Mormon Reading: Mosiah 9

Today, this one chapter has made me ponder how God determines to fight our battles. I know that He loves all His children. All of them. But there are times that He steps in to deliver one person or one people from their tribulations or, "out of the hands of our enemies."

What determines deliverance?

What determines enemies?

An earlier scripture teaches me that the natural man is an enemy to God.

Another teaches me that those who are righteous are favored of God (does this mean favorable for deliverance?)

These verses teach me that remembering God and the power of His deliverance is really about faith in His name. Knowing from where the deliverance comes and being humble enough to allow Him to fight my battles. Because I have my battles.

Book of Mormon Reading: Mosiah 8-9

And Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God (Mosiah 8:16).

Today's reading has made me ask myself, "In what ways do I proclaim with joy and certainty that I know (because I know) there are prophets, seers, and revelators on the earth today, and what can I do better in sharing this knowledge I have with others?"

Book of Mormon Reading: Mosiah 4-7

Because I chose to be baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I willingly enter into a covenant which makes me a daughter of Christ.

Thus, I am a daughter of God.

And I am a daughter of Christ.

In this context, I am born again.

Born again because I have willingly accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior by taking upon me His name and having covenanted to keep His commandments.

At all times.

In all things.

And in all places.

I'm not always perfect at it. But I am trying to do better one day at a time.

Book of Mormon Reading: Mosiah 3

My reading in Mosiah 3 today reminded me of the Christmas story: angel, glad tidings, great joy, rejoice, Mary, Jesus Christ.

It also reminded me of God's great plan of happiness: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; the Fall of Adam; the Atonement of Jesus Christ; resurrection; judgment.

And Mosiah 3 has helped me to better understand that God's word has always meant to be shared.

Because, "there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent" (Mosiah 3:17).

Book of Mormon Reading: Mosiah 1-2

There's a good reason that we believe that the Bible is the word of God as far as it is translated correctly (Article of Faith 1:8).

Some years ago, a family member of mine bought a Book of Mormon study guide book to help her along the way in understanding the Book of Mormon better. Along the way, she found herself upset at reading these words from King Benjamin:

And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you (Mosiah 2:22).

The word require bothered her a lot. I mean a lot! Because somehow, in the translation of her studies, require meant to "to demand," and how dare, she thought, that the Lord demand her to keep His commandments?

Interestingly, the meaning of the word require has changed over the years. In its beginnings, require came from the Old French word requerre which means to "seek, procure; beg, ask, petition;" the "re" part meaning repeatedly.

And while I do see God making strict His commands, I also see Him with His arms stretched out still.

Beckoning.

Calling.

Asking.

All He seeks of me is to keep His commandments, because His commandments keep me on the covenant path.

And the covenant path is what leads to His life. Even eternal life.

Book of Mormon Reading: Jacob 6-Words of Mormon

The story of Jacob and Sherem is instructive.

It teaches me that it is inevitable (because of an opposition in all things), that my faith in Jesus Christ, wherever it is currently on the spectrum of low to high, will be tried just as equally by the adversary, in hopes to shake me from my faith.

Like that one leaf, stuck up on on the branch, holding on for dear life while 26 kindergartners shake the trunk of the tree. . . .

Or riding that bucking bronco at the state fair . . .

Or praying for an answer to a question that hasn't come in weeks or months or years.

Jacob has taught me to see that there are people in my life who have had and are having their faith tried. I may not see it. I may not know it because they choose to remain strong and unshakable in the face of opposition.

Like He did for Jacob, God is pouring out His Spirit into their souls so that the power of the Holy Ghost is made manifest in their lives.

Book of Mormon Reading: Jacob 5

President Nelson has invited us to participate in the gathering of Israel!

Reading Jacob 5 today has given me greater insight and created a desire in me to be a part of what President Nelson has deemed “the greatest challenge, the greatest cause, and the greatest work on earth today!"

Zenos's allegory teaches me that God loves us! He wants us to return to Him and He has done and continues to anything and everything He can to invite us to come unto Him.

And He extends His love, through us, to gather Israel and joy in the blessings that He is so willing and ready to give.

SOURCE

Book of Mormon Reading: Jacob 1-4

The writings of Jacob teach me that the word of God is not always about feeling peace and joy and love.

Although His word can and does heal the wounded soul, the harried mind, the heavy heart, His word can also be filled with rebuke, with chastisement, and with wrath for those who have made covenants with Him and have not kept His word.

Sometimes, as a parent, as a teacher, as a friend, as a saint of God, I have to share the word of God with those around me and it isn't always comfortable. Especially, when I am required to invite others to come to Him in a way that may seem too strict or too churchy.

Sometimes, as a parent, as a teacher, as a friend, and as a saint of God, others have to share His word with me and it's not comfortable because they need to chastise me for not doing as He has asked.

But I am learning that "the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls" (Jacob 4:13).

And when I learn to listen to and follow that Spirit in the way that God has intended for me, truly His words that are spoke and received are for the salvation of my soul.

Book of Mormon Reading: 2 Nephi 30-33

Satan works in darkness. He blurs our understanding of right and wrong, makes us numb to Godly promptings and intimations, lulls us into false assumptions, and leads us to filthy waters.

Revelation, then, is the key in thwarting Satan's ability to have power over us. Because revelation is about light and truth.

And because light and truth forsake the evil one (Doctrine and Covenants 93:37).

No wonder President Nelson taught us about the need for us to learn how to receive personal revelation in April General Conference:

Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, preside over this Church in majesty and glory. But in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.

My beloved brothers and sisters, I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation. Let this Easter Sunday be a defining moment in your life. Choose to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the Spirit more frequently and more clearly.

Book of Mormon Reading: 2 Nephi 27-29

Satan teaches in rage, with carnal security, in building flattery, through anger, and by cheating so he can grasp me with his awful chains.

Chains of spiritual death and hell.

Yet, in the midst of affliction, adversity, and chaos, God teaches me in peace.

He gives to me a little here; a little there.

He asks me to hear His counsel; to learn His wisdom.

So He can offer me more.

More of His word and more of His peace.

Book of Mormon Reading: 2 Nephi 26

Be convinced . . .that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God; And that He manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men according to their faith.

manifest: plain, open, clearly visible to the eye or obvious to the understanding; apparent; not obscure or difficult to be seen or understood.

Because I choose to believe Him, He does manifest Himself to me.

Plainly.

Through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Book of Mormon Reading: 2 Nephi 24-25

Redemption is about Grace.

God's grace.

Because without His grace, no matter what I do, no matter what I don't do, no matter how well (or badly) I live my life, I cannot be saved.

I cannot save myself.

It is by His grace that I am saved.

Book of Mormon Reading: 2 Nephi 15-23

Behold, 

God is my salvation; 

I will trust, 

and not be afraid; 

for the Lord Jehovah is my strength 

and my song; 

he also has become my salvation.

Book of Mormon Reading: 2 Nephi 9-14

If I did my counting correct, during Nephi's vision (1 Nephi 11-14), he refers to Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God 35 times.

In 2 Nephi 9, Jacob refers to the Savior The Holy One of Israel 10 times.

Holy.

The Webster's 1828 dictionary defines holy as applied to the Supreme Being as: "perfectly pure, immaculate and complete in moral character."

What strikes me is that Jacob writes that God is holy even knowing all things and seeing all things. 

This has made me wonder why I even think to myself, "Would I do this if Jesus was watching?" Of course He is watching! Of course He knows what I'm doing! He knows all the rotten things I do, say, and think, and yet, He still stays holy. 

He even watches all the evil and awful things I cannot even fathom, things that have happened, things that are happening, and things that will happen. 

And He is holy. 

Holy, still.

"O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it" (Jacob 9:20).

Book of Mormon Reading: 2 Nephi 7-8

The Lord God will help me.

Because He has helped me when I felt lonely.

He has helped when I was lost.

He has helped me when I was burdened.

He has helped me when I needed rebuke.

He has helped me when I stressed.

He has helped me when I needed comfort.

He has helped me in the face of danger, worry, loss, heartache, and impatience.

Yes, the Lord God will help me.

Book of Mormon Reading: 2 Nephi 2-3

God is a God of covenants.

Making a covenant with God means I want to be on His side of the line. It means I want to keep His rules of the game. It means I love His will more than I love mine.

And God allows us to enter into His covenants because He is good.

He is merciful.

He is faithful.

Book of Mormon Reading: 2 Nephi 1-2

I absolutely LOVE reading the doctrinal chapters in the Book of Mormon. But it wasn't always so.

When I was young, my mother would tell us stories from the Book of Mormon.

Nephi.

King Benjamin.

Ammon.

Captain Moroni.

Samuel the Lamanite.

And when I was baptized, my parents gave me one of those XXL blue cover editions of the Book of Mormon. On the front cover my mother wrote the following:

To our daughter, Darla. on her baptismal day,
We greatly appreciate you and love you very much. Always love Heavenly Father and keep His commandments. Remember to read your Book of Mormon, a scripture everyday, and Heavenly Father will bless you.
     Love you, Daddy and Mommy

I remember being SO excited to read the Book of Mormon at eight years old. But I soon realized that after the stories of leaving Jerusalem, the Brass Plates, the Broken Bow, and Building a Ship, there were a lot of other words that I didn't quite understand. . .  until I came to the story of Enos . . . then more stuff I didn't understand. . . . and then King Benjamin, and so forth and so on. It took so long for me to get to the stories I knew!

But over time, because I followed my mother's counsel to read the Book of Mormon every day (and I am sure I missed a lot of everydays), I began to see that those "words" in between the stories, contained plain and precious truths--the doctrines of the gospel.

2 Nephi 2 is on example where nearly every verse can be a study of doctrine in and of itself!

As I read 2 Nephi 2 today, I realized that one reason I LOVE this chapter is because it includes the three pillars of eternity: the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement.

Something I have been pondering today is this part of Lehi's counsel to his children:

1. Look to God
2. Hearken to His commandments
3. Be faithful to His words
4. Choose eternal life

Choose eternal life.

Interesting, don't you think? That even after looking, hearkening, and being faithful, I still must choose eternal life.

I must choose every. little. thing. along the way. Because making one right choice today doesn't mean I'll automatically make the right choice tomorrow.

Elder Dale G. Renlund said:

So, choose faith in Christ; choose repentance; choose to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost; choose to conscientiously prepare for and worthily partake of the sacrament; choose to make covenants in the temple; and choose to serve the living God and His children. Our choices determine who we are and who we will become.

Book of Mormon Reading: 1 Nephi 18-22

Today in my reading, two words stood out in the middle of this verse:

And behold HE COMETH, according to the words of the angel, in six hundred years from the time my father left Jerusalem.

I share my witness that I know this to be true: Jesus Christ will come again.

I know it because of my faith in Who is He and the promises He has kept to me.

Book of Mormon Reading: 1 Nephi 15-17

A few things I have been pondering in my read today:

The first is how the Lord prepares me for future experiences, opportunities, and stewardship. But my preparation is contingent on my willingness to respond to His call. I learned something today that I have decided to call, in tribute to Nephi, "The Law of Go and Do."

In the story of the Brass Plates, Nephi was told where to GO to get the plates (back to Jerusalem), but he was not told how to DO it. It took a couple of tries until the Spirit intervened and gave Nephi explicit instructions for the plates to finally be acquired.

In the story of the Broken Bow, Nephi, finding himself and his family without food, decides that sitting around starving to death isn't they way he wants to die, so he forms a bow in with to find food (the DO part). Then, Nephi asks his father where he needs to go to find the food (the GO part).

Finally, we come to the story of the Ship Builder. To me, it is the culmination of the "go and do." Nephi, in this part of his leave-home-live in the wilderness-find-the-promised-land experience, is not only told how to build is ship, but is shown how to forge the tools wherewith to make the ship, how to get his brothers to help (quite shocking, if you ask me), and how to navigate through the waters to the promised land. All of this ultimately prepares Nephi to be a spiritual leader and founding colonizer for the entire Nephite civilization.

These instructive stories teach me that sometimes the Spirit will merely direct where I need to go; other times, the Spirit will direct me as what to do; and sometimes, I will be told what I should say and shown what to do.

The trick is to keep on going and doing, just as He asks.

* * *

The second point of pondering for me today has been that word murmur, found 30 times in the Book of Mormon, 20 of those in 1 and 2 Nephi! Murmur means "an expression of discontent by grumbling."

And I know where grumbling leads. Murmuring makes my heart see everything as an annoyance. Especially God's commandments. Too hard to do.

So here's the thing. Laman and Lemuel had some very legit questions regarding the things Lehi saw in his dream. I believe they very much wanted to know what their father's dream meant and how it affected them, just like Nephi did. But the difference was, Laman and Lemuel did not want to pay the price of knowing for themselves.

Nephi wrote that Lehi "truly spake many great things unto them, which were hard to be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord; and they being hard in their hearts, therefore they [meaning Laman and Lemuel] did not look unto the Lord as they ought."

So 1 Nephi 15 is the watered-down version of the explanations to their questions from Nephi, the one who paid the price to know the grandeur of Lehi's vision. In essence, it is the second explanation (e.g. second witness) given to us about what Lehi's dream means.

And so, relevant to me, in this day of prophetic revelation, I incorporated that idea into the 9th Article of Faith, as a reminder for me to look with an eye of faith, to inquire of God, and look to Him in every thought (doubt not, fear not).

I believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and I believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God that will be hard to be understood unless I inquire of the Lord.

Book of Mormon Reading: 1 Nephi 13-14

In my Book of Mormon readying today, particularly in 1 Nephi 13, I have been pondering the great and marvelous revelations we have been given in the past 10 months through our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson.

I recognized today that it is in this manner that the Savior IS manifesting Himself in word, in power, and in deed.

His purpose? To take away our stumbling blocks.

Or, better said, to take away MY stumbling blocks.

In his "Beware of Pride" talk, President Ezra Taft Benson emphasized, "Pride is the great stumbling block to Zion. I repeat, pride is the great stumbling block to Zion."

How much I want to be a part of Zion! How much I want to be counted among those in His fold! So, I diligently try to strip myself of all pride that interferes from receiving His Holy Spirit and understanding His holy word.

But it's not as easy as I want it to be because of that dang, carnal woman part of me! That part always sets me back when I give into the enticings of the flesh, or heed the the enticings of the devil.

Yet, overcoming pride (that great stumbling block to Zion) IS attainable as I become a saint through the atonement of Christ. Because, as Elder Renlund taught, quoting Nelson Mandela, "A saint is a sinner who keeps on trying."

And as a child of God, I will try, try, try.

Book of Mormon Reading: 1 Nephi 11-12

Today I noticed that Lehi's descriptions of the Tree of Life are words that also describe the Savior in some way: beauty, exceedingly white, whiteness of the driven snow, precious above all.

I also pondered the role of righteous women. Righteous women testify of God in their actions, attitudes, and behaviors.

Book of Mormon Reading: 1 Nephi 6-10

I love that as individuals read the same words in the Book of Mormon, each person will glean different doctrines and principles according to current situations, circumstances, and challenges.

And I LOVE that the Book of Mormon, right off, introduces us to a family. A family who is trying to do the right having some challenges along the way. A family who has members struggling to do what the Lord has asked and other family members who don't.

Today as I read in 1 Nephi 8, I recognized that the covenant path must also be equipped with the word of God. In other words, no word of God, no covenant path.

Book of Mormon Reading: 1 Nephi 1-5

I am so very excited to follow President Russell M. Nelson's invitation to the women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

"Read the Book of Mormon between now and the end of the year and mark each verse which refers to the Savior . . . Doing so," he promised, "will invite blessings of increased inspiration, revelation and miracles by bringing you closer to the Savior."

I believe the promises made by prophets of God. And even though I was almost finished with the book of Mormon in the Book of Mormon, I started rereading the Book of Mormon all over again.  so I can read it all by December 31.

What I discovered in my first day of readying is that God, very much, wants to be a part of my life. And even though I think He is a part of my life, and I do my best to make Him a part of my life,  there is SO much more I can do to let Him in to play a bigger role in my mortal existence.

When I shared this idea with my sister, she made the observation that Nephi never left the Savior. And because Nephi never left the Savior, the Savior never left Nephi.

I am learning that the more I open my eyes to Christ's goodness, and as I willingly, choose to keep His commandments with full purpose of heart, I invite Him to be with me always.