If we put our trust in worldly power, we will be disappointed, for there will always be someone bigger and stronger and more powerful. Only God is guaranteed to be stronger than everyone else.
Friday, August 26, 2016
First Nephi 2:13
Neither did they believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed according to the words of the prophets. And they were like unto the Jews who were at Jerusalem, who sought to take away the life of my father.
If we put our trust in worldly power, we will be disappointed, for there will always be someone bigger and stronger and more powerful. Only God is guaranteed to be stronger than everyone else.
If we put our trust in worldly power, we will be disappointed, for there will always be someone bigger and stronger and more powerful. Only God is guaranteed to be stronger than everyone else.
Thursday, August 25, 2016
First Nephi 2:12
And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them.
If we are to avoid the mistakes of Laman and Lemuel, we must understand the dealings of God. The church, the scriptures, and the Holy Ghost teach us of God's dealings. If we don't know God, we will find ourselves fighting against him.
If we are to avoid the mistakes of Laman and Lemuel, we must understand the dealings of God. The church, the scriptures, and the Holy Ghost teach us of God's dealings. If we don't know God, we will find ourselves fighting against him.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
First Nephi 2:11
Now this he spake because of the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold they did murmur in many things against their father, because he was a visionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart.
Those who focus on worldly wealth feel they will perish without the trappings of the world. They believe their life is in their things. Without their things they have no worth and no purpose. Satan tells us that we can buy anything in this world with money. God says we don't need money for the most important things in life.
Those who focus on worldly wealth feel they will perish without the trappings of the world. They believe their life is in their things. Without their things they have no worth and no purpose. Satan tells us that we can buy anything in this world with money. God says we don't need money for the most important things in life.
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Book of Mormon, First Nephi 1:14-15
And it came to pass that when my father had read and seen many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord; such as: Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish! And after this manner was the language of my father in the praising of his God; for his soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled, because of the things which he had seen, yea, which the Lord had shown unto him.
This is the doctrine of Christ and the gospel of hope. Christ will ultimately save those who come to Him and follow Him and believe in Him. Though we deserve to perish forever in outer darkness, Christ will snatch us from our deserved fate and rescue us from our sins and shortcomings and bring us into His presence. We do not trust in ourselves, but we trust in Him who is mighty to save. He saves us from eternal death, not because we have earned it, but simply because He loves us. Christ's sole purpose in His magnificent life is to bring God's children into immortality and eternal life with Him. He has done, and will do, everything in His infinite power to accomplish His goal. All we have to do is choose to let Him do it for us. We just have to choose Christ and stop fighting Him, and He will set the Atonement to work in our lives, pour out His spirit upon us, teach us and tutor us, refine us through challenges and trials, and then bring us home. He does all the work, and we just have to submit, do our best, and be grateful.
This is the doctrine of Christ and the gospel of hope. Christ will ultimately save those who come to Him and follow Him and believe in Him. Though we deserve to perish forever in outer darkness, Christ will snatch us from our deserved fate and rescue us from our sins and shortcomings and bring us into His presence. We do not trust in ourselves, but we trust in Him who is mighty to save. He saves us from eternal death, not because we have earned it, but simply because He loves us. Christ's sole purpose in His magnificent life is to bring God's children into immortality and eternal life with Him. He has done, and will do, everything in His infinite power to accomplish His goal. All we have to do is choose to let Him do it for us. We just have to choose Christ and stop fighting Him, and He will set the Atonement to work in our lives, pour out His spirit upon us, teach us and tutor us, refine us through challenges and trials, and then bring us home. He does all the work, and we just have to submit, do our best, and be grateful.
Monday, August 22, 2016
Book of Mormon, First Nephi 1:14
And it came to pass that when my father had read and seen many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord; such as: Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!
God's power is over every person on earth. No one is beyond His reach or outside the pale of His influence. Though many may ignore Him, deny Him, or even fight against Him, they never overcome Him. They can do nothing that He does not permit them to do. Pilate claimed the power to crucify Jesus, but the Master taught him the truth, that the only power he had was power permitted him by God to fulfill the plan of the atonement.
We can have faith that God uses His power to benefit us in goodness and mercy. His very nature is goodness and mercy. Unlike the inconsistent nature of mortal man, God's nature is consistent and unchanging. He does not have to fight against the natural man. Therefore, all that He does is good and merciful. He cannot be any other way. We can therefore trust that every use of His power is a demonstration of His goodness and mercy.
Our finite minds may not comprehend how some of His actions are for our good and extend mercy to us. Of course, not everything that happens in our lives is initiated by God. He has granted us agency and sufficient power to exercise that agency meaningfully. Many choose to exercise their agency in ways that harm others, either accidentally or intentionally. We often suffer because of the agency of others or even because of our own poor use of agency. Because God is good, He lets us have agency, but because He is merciful, he has provided a Savior for us, whose atonement will heal all the damage done by sin and stupidity.
His power is over all, and so is His goodness and mercy. No one will miss out on any glorious blessing that he is willing to receive because God lacks the power to grant that blessing. If we miss blessings, it will be only because we choose to turn our backs on those blessings, but not because God cannot grant them.
God's power is over every person on earth. No one is beyond His reach or outside the pale of His influence. Though many may ignore Him, deny Him, or even fight against Him, they never overcome Him. They can do nothing that He does not permit them to do. Pilate claimed the power to crucify Jesus, but the Master taught him the truth, that the only power he had was power permitted him by God to fulfill the plan of the atonement.
We can have faith that God uses His power to benefit us in goodness and mercy. His very nature is goodness and mercy. Unlike the inconsistent nature of mortal man, God's nature is consistent and unchanging. He does not have to fight against the natural man. Therefore, all that He does is good and merciful. He cannot be any other way. We can therefore trust that every use of His power is a demonstration of His goodness and mercy.
Our finite minds may not comprehend how some of His actions are for our good and extend mercy to us. Of course, not everything that happens in our lives is initiated by God. He has granted us agency and sufficient power to exercise that agency meaningfully. Many choose to exercise their agency in ways that harm others, either accidentally or intentionally. We often suffer because of the agency of others or even because of our own poor use of agency. Because God is good, He lets us have agency, but because He is merciful, he has provided a Savior for us, whose atonement will heal all the damage done by sin and stupidity.
His power is over all, and so is His goodness and mercy. No one will miss out on any glorious blessing that he is willing to receive because God lacks the power to grant that blessing. If we miss blessings, it will be only because we choose to turn our backs on those blessings, but not because God cannot grant them.
Book of Mormon, First Nephi 1:14
And it came to pass that when my father had read and seen many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord; such as: Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!
God's power is over every person on earth. No one is beyond His reach or outside the pale of His influence. Though many may ignore Him, deny Him, or even fight against Him, they never overcome Him. They can do nothing that He does not permit them to do. Pilate claimed the power to crucify Jesus, but the Master taught him the truth, that the only power he had was power permitted him by God to fulfill the plan of the atonement.
We can have faith that God uses His power to benefit us in goodness and mercy. His very nature is goodness and mercy. Unlike the inconsistent nature of mortal man, God's nature is consistent and unchanging. He does not have to fight against the natural man. Therefore, all that He does is good and merciful. He cannot be any other way. We can therefore trust that every use of His power is a demonstration of His goodness and mercy.
Our finite minds may not comprehend how some of His actions are for our good and extend mercy to us. Of course, not everything that happens in our lives is initiated by God. He has granted us agency and sufficient power to exercise that agency meaningfully. Many choose to exercise their agency in ways that harm others, either accidentally or intentionally. We often suffer because of the agency of others or even because of our own poor use of agency. Because God is good, He lets us have agency, but because He is merciful, he has provided a Savior for us, whose atonement will heal all the damage done by sin and stupidity.
His power is over all, and so is His goodness and mercy. No one will miss out on any glorious blessing that he is willing to receive because God lacks the power to grant that blessing. If we miss blessings, it will be only because we choose to turn our backs on those blessings, but not because God cannot grant them.
God's power is over every person on earth. No one is beyond His reach or outside the pale of His influence. Though many may ignore Him, deny Him, or even fight against Him, they never overcome Him. They can do nothing that He does not permit them to do. Pilate claimed the power to crucify Jesus, but the Master taught him the truth, that the only power he had was power permitted him by God to fulfill the plan of the atonement.
We can have faith that God uses His power to benefit us in goodness and mercy. His very nature is goodness and mercy. Unlike the inconsistent nature of mortal man, God's nature is consistent and unchanging. He does not have to fight against the natural man. Therefore, all that He does is good and merciful. He cannot be any other way. We can therefore trust that every use of His power is a demonstration of His goodness and mercy.
Our finite minds may not comprehend how some of His actions are for our good and extend mercy to us. Of course, not everything that happens in our lives is initiated by God. He has granted us agency and sufficient power to exercise that agency meaningfully. Many choose to exercise their agency in ways that harm others, either accidentally or intentionally. We often suffer because of the agency of others or even because of our own poor use of agency. Because God is good, He lets us have agency, but because He is merciful, he has provided a Savior for us, whose atonement will heal all the damage done by sin and stupidity.
His power is over all, and so is His goodness and mercy. No one will miss out on any glorious blessing that he is willing to receive because God lacks the power to grant that blessing. If we miss blessings, it will be only because we choose to turn our backs on those blessings, but not because God cannot grant them.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Flood the Earth - One Drop At A Time
In 1988 President Ezra Taft Benson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints asked the members of the church to "flood the earth" with the Book of Mormon. He said at the October General Conference of the church: "The time is long overdue for a massive flooding of the earth with the Book of Mormon for the many reasons which the Lord has given. In this age of the electronic media and the mass distribution of the printed word, God will hold us accountable if we do not now move the Book of Mormon in a monumental way."
Recall that in 1988 the Internet was in its infancy. The World Wide Web had not yet made its appearance. Smartphones were not yet invented. How far we have come in the technology that President Benson envisioned for flooding the earth.
The commandment to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon has never been rescinded. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I need to do more with the technological gifts at my disposal to keep this commandment.
Now, I am not so naive as to think that I am going to flood the Internet with the Book of Mormon. But I can add my drop. As the old saying goes, if we each add a drop, pretty soon we'll have an ocean.
So here is my drop. I am going to post a verse from the Book of Mormon every day in my blog, along with a short comment. I invite anyone who wants to join your drops to mine to do three things:
Working together, our individual drops can become a drizzle, and then a stream, and pretty soon we'll have a river that becomes a flood. If a cute kitten video can get a gazillion hits in a day, surely the word of God can go viral if we all lend a hand.
Recall that in 1988 the Internet was in its infancy. The World Wide Web had not yet made its appearance. Smartphones were not yet invented. How far we have come in the technology that President Benson envisioned for flooding the earth.
The commandment to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon has never been rescinded. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I need to do more with the technological gifts at my disposal to keep this commandment.
Now, I am not so naive as to think that I am going to flood the Internet with the Book of Mormon. But I can add my drop. As the old saying goes, if we each add a drop, pretty soon we'll have an ocean.
So here is my drop. I am going to post a verse from the Book of Mormon every day in my blog, along with a short comment. I invite anyone who wants to join your drops to mine to do three things:
- Follow my blog so I know you are with me.
- Share my blog on your Facebook page and invite your web of friends to join us.
- Use your Facebook page to share your own Book of Mormon verses and encourage others to share.
Working together, our individual drops can become a drizzle, and then a stream, and pretty soon we'll have a river that becomes a flood. If a cute kitten video can get a gazillion hits in a day, surely the word of God can go viral if we all lend a hand.
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