Give Thanks

From Pres. Monson's general conference address (Nov. Ensign 2010, The Divine Gift of Gratitude):

When we encounter challenges and problems in our lives, it is often difficult for us to focus on our blessings. However, if we reach deep enough and look hard enough, we will be able to feel and recognize just how much we have been given.

In the book of Matthew in the Bible, we have another account of gratitude, this time as an expression from the Savior. As He traveled in the wilderness for three days, more than 4,000 people followed and traveled with Him. He took compassion on them, for they may not have eaten during the entire three days. His disciples, however, questioned, “Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?” Like many of us, the disciples saw only what was lacking.

Thoughts on 3 Nephi 11, this time around.....

Isn't this a beautiful painting of Christ's visit to America? This is by Walter Ranes. I love his work.



When Jesus comes, His first priority is to give authority to baptize and tells how to be baptized properly.

Then He talks about the fact that He doesn't want contention about His doctrine.

To summarize: Be baptized and get along.

Nephi's reaction to being called by Jesus:

19 And Nephi arose and went forth, and bowed himself before the Lord and did kiss his feet.

In a nutshell, according to Jesus, this is what it is all about:

32 And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.

33 And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.

34 And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.

35 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

36 And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one.

He elaborates but keeps with the same theme:

37 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.

38 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

39 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

I never noticed before that He says we need to became as a little child twice in a row. Not just a child, but a little child. Hmmm- more to ponder about.

40 And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them.

Here is more to think about in this verse, too. Building our lives on anything more or less than His doctrine is like building on a sandy foundation. Makes me think of one of my favorite scriptures: Helaman 5:12

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Open your ears to hear

A few years back for YW Camp, our theme had to do with Voices. In thinking about learning to listen to the voice of the Spirit, I came upon this scripture that I thought was very interesting. It has to do with when Jesus appeared to the people in Ancient America after His death and resurrection:


3rd Nephi 11

3 And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.

4 And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they understood it not.

5 And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.

6 And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them:

7 Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.

I think it is interesting that they heard a voice but they didn't understand it. My favorite part of this is in verse 5, when it says "they did open their ears". I think that is the difference between hearing and listening. You can hear something but not understand it. The people really had to intently concentrate or they couldn't understand it. This was Jesus that appeared to them, but I think this process is the same with the Holy Ghost. Even if we have the Holy Ghost with us, we have to "open our ears" to hear His voice.

It took them 3 tries to understand the voice they heard. Practice. You have to keep trying. The more we try to listen to the Spirit, the better able we are to hear it.

Also, they had to stop what they were doing and really concentrate. They had to put away all their distractions and concentrate on listening to the voice and nothing else. The scripture says they 1)they did open their ears and their eyes toward the sound of it 2) they did look steadfastly toward heaven. Here is my plug again for daily quiet time. We need to give ourselves quiet time to hear and feel the Spirit.

Dreams

I am reading in Matthew 2 right now about the birth of Jesus. I have been thinking about Joseph, Jesus' stepfather and what a great man he must have been to have such a weighty responsibility in this life. I was also thinking about the impact of the dreams that Joseph that made such a huge impact on their lives.

Matthew 1:20
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

Matthew 2:13
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

Matthew 2:19-21
¶But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.

And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.

Dreams are a big topic in the scriptures. This theme comes up a lot. It made me want to compile a list of times in the scriptures that dreams play a role:

Lehi-

1 Nephi 1:16

And now I, Nephi, do not make a full account of the things which my father hath written, for he hath written many things which he saw in visions and in dreams; and he also hath written many things which he prophesied and spake unto his children, of which I shall not make a full account.

1 Nephi 2:2

And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness.

1 Nephi 8:4

But behold, Laman and Lemuel, I fear exceedingly because of you; for behold, methought I saw in my dream, a dark and dreary wilderness.

1 Nephi 3:2

And it came to pass that he spake unto me, saying: Behold I have dreamed a dream, in the which the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brethren shall return to Jerusalem.

1 Nephi 8:2

And it came to pass that while my father tarried in the wilderness he spake unto us, saying: Behold, I have dreamed a dream; or, in other words, I have seen a vision.

The lesser known Omer-

Ether 9:3

And the Lord warned Omer in a dream that he should depart out of the land; wherefore Omer departed out of the land with his family, and traveled many days, and came over and passed by the hill of Shim, and came over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed, and from thence eastward, and came to a place which was called Ablom, by the seashore, and there he pitched his tent, and also his sons and his daughters, and all his household, save it were Jared and his family.

I will fill in the scripture references on these later but there is also:
Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar
Joseph

And something for us to think about:

Joel 2:28

¶And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

This post is a work in progress...

Shelli's mirror quote

President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, once said,

“If you are helpless, he is not. If you are lost, he is not. If you don’t know what to do next, he knows. It would take a miracle, you say? Well, if it takes a miracle, why not?

Boyd K. Packer, in Conference Report, Oct. 1970, 120. He was being quoted in this Ensign article: Amy M. Morgan, "What Mothers Can Learn from the Savior", Ensign, Mar. 2010, 12–15


Thanks Shelli!

Comprehending God's love for us.....

At Ashley's basketball game tonight, I was reminded of an experience that happened a while ago. A girl on Ashley's team got hurt and the girl's dad went running out on the court and scooped her up in his arms. It was so touching that it brought tears to my eyes. It was so indicative of the love of a parent for their child.

It started me thinking of the scripture found in Matthew 7:

7 ¶Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Until you become a parent yourself, it is hard to imagine the love of a parent for a child. And parents are imperfect people. God is perfect and loves us each perfectly and knows exactly what we need at all times. Being a parent only gives us an inkling of that love.

Pres. Uchtdorf:

Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount—that is the measure of God’s love for you.

God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely.

He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked.

What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us.

Elder Holland:

In whatever country you live, however young or inadequate you feel, or however aged or limited you see yourself as being, I testify you are individually loved of God, you are central to the meaning of His work, and you are cherished and prayed for by the presiding officers of His Church. The personal value, the sacred splendor of every one of you, is the very reason there is a plan for salvation and exaltation. Contrary to the parlance of the day, this is about you. No, don’t turn and look at your neighbor. I am talking to you!

And one last comment... Thinking of the love Heavenly Father has for us reminded me of an experience I had a few years back. I was taking the sacrament and feeling bad about coming before God to ask His forgiveness yet again. As I was feeling that way, I came upon this scripture in Moroni 6:

5 And the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls.

6 And they did meet together oft to partake of bread and wine, in remembrance of the Lord Jesus.

7 And they were strict to observe that there should be no iniquity among them; and whoso was found to commit iniquity, and three witnesses of the church did condemn them before the elders, and if they repented not, and confessed not, their names were blotted out, and they were not numbered among the people of Christ.

8 But as oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven.

I think it was a sweet reminder from Heavenly Father that He loves me, that He will continue to forgive me, and that the sacrament is exactly for the purpose of asking forgiveness and trying to get back on track and try harder and I shouldn't feel bad about asking for forgiveness.

Just so I can find them easier, here are the links to Pres. Uchtdorf's and Elder Holland's full addresses:
http://lds.org/ensign/2009/11/the-love-of-god?lang=eng

http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/because-of-your-faith?lang=eng

Lead Thou Me On

I love listening to the words of hymns. I have been listening to "Lead, Kindly Light" for years and there were some certain phrases that stood out to me today.

So long Thy power hath blessed me, sure it still will lead me on.
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till the night is gone,

It also reminds me of these words in another hymn:

O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home.

Basically, what these are both saying is that God has taken care of us in the past, so there is no reason to believe that He will not continue to help us. The experiences we have had in the past will help us to have faith and hope that He will continue to help us.

Talking yourself out of it

I am reading in 3 Nephi 1 and 2, where the sign that the people had been intently watching for, finally came to pass. There was a day, a night, and a day of light. There were also many other signs and wonders in the heavens. It was an amazing experience and many people were converted to the gospel because of it. Then a few years passed and these same people began to be less and less astonished by the signs and wonders. They also started to talk themselves out of the great miracles they had already experienced.

I can relate to that. Some of the spiritual experiences I have had, I sometimes start to doubt, or tell myself it was just a coincidence or I was just imagining it.

This is why it is so important to write down in great detail any answers to prayers or other spiritual experiences that you have right away, when all the feelings and details are fresh in your mind. Then when the doubts start to creep in, you can go back and read what your feelings were at that time and gain strength again. It is also important to write them all down, so that you have more than 1 or 2 entries. You have a whole compilation of God's workings in your life and the more there are, the more convincing and irrefutable it becomes. Plus, it is important to feel the Spirit every day so that you have more than just a couple but it becomes part of you.

The other aspect of disbelieving for the Nephites and Lamanites at that time was that they were less and less astonished at the signs and miracles. How can we keep ourselves immune from feeling that way about the miracles in our lives? As I think about this and search my own heart, maybe this is where prayer and pondering comes in. The more we ponder about events and miracles and blessings in our lives, the more we keep the wonder and awe of it. Maybe keeping the Spirit with us helps us keep a spirit of gratitude, too. Had the people stopped being grateful for the signs and wonders?

Here is a scripture in Helaman (3:25) where the people did not become less astonished:

25 And so great was the prosperity of the church, and so many the blessings which were poured out upon the people, that even the high priests and the teachers were themselves astonished beyond measure.

From thinking about this, my conclusion is that if you are doing the things that keep the Spirit with you more often, that helps to keep you innoculated from talking yourself out of great experiences. The people that began to be less and less astonished were spending their energy talking themselves out of their experiences instead of turning to the Lord and continuing to add to their spiritual feelings.

Power of God vs. power of Satan

Why is it that when great miracles are done in God's name, people don't believe it could happen and say that the person must be possessed of the devil or something like that. How come they think it is possible that someone with the power of the devil could work a sign or miracle, but that someone could not do it with the power of God?

Why is it easier to believe Satan could do it than God could do it? Just wondering...
For example-

Helaman 16:6

But the more part of them did not believe in the words of Samuel; therefore when they saw that they could not hit him with their stones and their arrows, they cried unto their captains, saying: Take this fellow and bind him, for behold he hath a devil; and because of the power of the devil which is in him we cannot hit him with our stones and our arrows; therefore take him and bind him, and away with him.

John the Baptist

Today I was thinking about what made John the Baptist such a great prophet and I found this Ensign article that talks about him and gave some good insight into his mission and purpose.
http://lds.org/ensign/1991/01/there-is-not-a-greater-prophet-the-ministry-of-john-the-baptist?lang=eng

Here is another question I have about John. Is there some correlation between John and Isaac? They both had similar circumstances regarding their births.

Dayspring

This is another term that Zacharias uses in Luke 1 and which is used to describe Jesus. This is the definition of dayspring: dayspring |ˈdāˌspri ng |
noun poetic/literary
dawn; the first light of day
The bible dictionary defines it as daybreak.

The word is only used twice in the scriptures:

Luke 1:78

Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,

Job 38:12

Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;

More on Tender Mercies

I just found another scripture that talks about tender mercy. This is one where Zacharias is praising God after the birth of John the Baptist:

Luke 1
76And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

77To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

78Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,

79To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

I think the words "tender mercies" are two of the sweetest words in the scriptures. Another phrase that is sweet to ponder on is "mighty to save". Here is the link to the other scriptures that talk about tender mercies:
http://amygospelstudy.blogspot.com/2008/01/tender-mercies-of-lord.html