Nature's Gospel Lessons

All things bear witness of Christ.

Moses 6:63
63 And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.

Alma 30: 44
... The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.

D&C 128: 23
Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever!

A few years ago, I started something up at YW Camp called "Nature's Gospel Lessons". My premise was that everything on the earth can have a Gospel application. Even the things we experience on this earth can have a Gospel application. So, the goal was to watch for ways that things in nature are bearing witness of God. Jesus used things of nature all the time to help explain gospel topics. Here is a place where I will collect these.



The Sower
Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Mattew 13:3-9)


The Wheat and the Tares
24 ¶ Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
(Matt. 13)


A Mustard Seed
31 ¶ Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. (Matt. 13)

Seven Loaves and a few fishes
32 ¶ Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
33 And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.
35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.
38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.
39 And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala. (Matt. 15)


The Rock of revelation
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Another favorite quote

In Pres. Boyd K. Packer's last general conference address, he quoted a poem that has been a favorite of mine when he quoted it in another general conference talk YEARS ago.

Here it is:
With thoughtless and impatient hands
I tangle up the plans
The Lord hath wrought.
And when I cry in pain,
He saith,
"Be quiet, child,
While I untie the knot."

Here is the web address of the complete talk:
http://broadcast.lds.org/genconf/2009/10/20/GC_2009_10_211_PackerBK__eng._wmv

A Book of Remembrance

Struck by these words today when reading scriptures. A book to help us remember. A scripture in Isaiah. One of the main messages in the Book of Mormon is remember. Makes me want to think more carefully about what I put in a book that I want to remember.

Thoughts about Abinadi

Reading in Mosiah 11, I am struck by the fact that these people are willfully rebelling against God. That is why Abinadi comes out so strongly at first in calling them to repentance. He isn't mincing words. It interesting to see that the wicked priests had a knowledge of the scriptures but then compare it with Abinadi's knowledge of the scriptures. They quote the same scriptures but when Abinadi quotes them, he breathes life and meaning into them. I was struck with the feeling of love for Christ that Abinadi has.

Here is something else I thought was interesting...
Abinadi starts out bawling them out and then he gets carried away talking about the great part Jesus Christ plays in the Plan of Salvation. I was so immersed in Mosiah 15 and 16 that I forgot it was Abinadi talking to the wicked King Noah and his wicked priests. Even though he is supposed to be telling them they had better repent or they will be in big trouble, He starts talking about the love of Christ. Even the wicked have access to the love and gifts of Christ if they will submit to Him.

I don't know if I am being able to portray my thoughts about Abinadi and these scriptures, but I was so struck by Abinadi's testimony, his ability to explain the scriptures, and his ability to explain the Plan of Salvation.

The wicked priests knew the scriptures but Abinadi knows and loves and lives the scriptures and has a testimony of christ.

An enemy to God

Mosiah 3: 19
19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

I have been reading this scripture all my life and never really settled on this phrase before. Enemy is such a strong word. It really makes you think. Being a "natural" man makes you an enemy to God.

Here are two more scriptures that include the same phrase:

Mosiah 16: 5
5 But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him. Therefore he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God.

Mosiah 2: 38
38 Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever.

Just thinking about the word enemy and what it means. Interesting that Satan is referred to twice.

en⋅e⋅my
  /ˈɛnəmi/ [en-uh-mee] plural -mies, adjective

–noun
1. a person who feels hatred for, fosters harmful designs against, or engages in antagonistic activities against another; an adversary or opponent.
2. an armed foe; an opposing military force: The army attacked the enemy at dawn.
3. a hostile nation or state.
4. a citizen of such a state.
5. enemies, persons, nations, etc., that are hostile to one another: Let's make up and stop being enemies.
6. something harmful or prejudical: His unbridled ambition is his worst enemy.
7. the Enemy, the Devil; Satan.
Synonyms:
1. antagonist. Enemy, foe refer to a dangerous public or personal adversary. Enemy emphasizes the idea of hostility: to overcome the enemy; a bitter enemy. Foe, a more literary word, may be used interchangeably with enemy, but emphasizes somewhat more the danger to be feared from such a one: deadly foe; arch foe of humankind (the Devil).
Antonyms:
1. friend. 2. ally.

Unfinished Tasks.....

When I was reading the Gospel doctrine lesson for last week, I was impressed by a statement about the pioneers that settled other areas after coming to the Salt Lake Valley. It really struck me because I have been perplexed about why I should feel so impressed to begin teaching again when I have so many good things I could be doing at home. I will have to look up the exact quote later in the "Our Heritage" book, but it talked about the fact that the pioneers were called by the prophets to serve missions and settle other areas and left many "unfinished tasks". That really struck me. They had things they wanted to do but they did what God wanted them to do. "Thy will, not my will." That helps me to feel better about what I am doing. I am teaching this special education class because I feel strongly that this is what Heavenly Father wants me to do. I guess I don't need to worry so much about all the unfinished tasks that I wanted to do. Maybe I will have the opportunity to do them later if I am patient.

Don't Complain

I was reading Richard G. Scott's General Conference address that is entitled: "Temple Worship: The Source of Strength and Power in Times of Need". I will add a link to it later. He talks about the fact that he started going to the temple once a week and his wife also died 14 years ago. This tells me that the way he has gotten through this trial is to go to the temple more often.

The other thing I thought was interesting is that he mentions at least 4 times to not complain. This is a direct message to me. I need to not complain when things don't go my way.

Elder Scott teaches us 2 important things to do when dealing with challenges and trials:
1) Attend the temple. Don't let things get in the way of going.
2) Don't complain. Be grateful to the Lord.

It also reminds me of the scripture I have quoted about murmuring in my blog. I will have to look up the reference later, but it is about being blessed because of not murmuring.