The other day I was reading in Alma 40. This is the chapter where Alma is speaking to his son, Corianton, about life after death. I love the process that Alma explains he went through as to how he came to obtain his knowledge and testimony of this. In verse 3 Alma explains that he had "inquired diligently of God that [he] might know."
Two things stand out to me in that statement: 1) He inquired diligently and 2) he inquired of God so that he might know. I feel like a lot of the times I have questions concerning doctrine or different circumstances in my life that I want to know the answer to, but unfortunately I am not always diligent in my asking, seeking, and knocking concerning the matter. This is something I have tried to improve on the last little while: being seriously, honestly diligent in searching for answers. I can not expect to ask once one night during my prayer and then receive an answer by the morning. I need to be diligent and persistent.
Another thing that I have been trying to do better at is going straight to God for answers - seeking His guidance first. Too often I just ask someone else (family member, friend) and I do not really take it to the Lord. But it is most important to go to God first, and then He will guide you in receiving greater understanding or answers. Whether that is to then ask/talk to someone, or to read a talk, to go back through your journal, etc. Or He may answer you through words, thoughts, and feelings. God asks us to inquire of Him, not google. He is where we find will find truth.
I encourage each of you, as you do your own searching for truth, to diligently inquire of God. There we find peace, clarity, assurance, and answers.
Friday, March 31, 2017
Monday, March 27, 2017
Follow Me
For Religion we had to write a paper this past week and there were multiple options on what we could do to write out paper. I chose the option of reading all the footnotes in a chapter to study it better. I read 2 Nephi 31. A great chapter that talks about the Doctrine of Christ and has many powerful teaching. But going through the chapter this time reading the footnotes I came across some interesting things in the first part of the chapter. In versus 10, 12, and 13 the word follow is mentioned 4 times and they all have footnotes. But the interesting thing is that with the footnotes, the word follow has different definitions to it in each verse. The words intent and willing in verse 13 also have very interesting footnotes that changed the meaning of the verse for me. I invite all of you to go through those verses and check out the difference there are with the word follow.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Cry Unto Him
This week I read Alma 34 - one of my favorite chapters. Amulek is preaching and he starts to talk about prayer; what to pray for and the many ways it can bless our lives.
18 Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save.
19 Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him.
20 Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.
21 Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.
22 Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.
23 Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.
24 Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.
25 Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.
26 But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.
27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.
God wants us to seek Him through prayer with every aspect of our lives. Not only does He want us to seek Him for mercy and protection against the adversary, but He also wants us to go to Him seeking direction in our schooling, our jobs, providing for our families, etc. He cares about our day to day lives. He wants us to prosper and do well and find joy each day.
If our desires are righteous, Heavenly Father will bless us in our endeavors. If I am needing help on a test, He cares. There have been many times I have prayed for help as I've studied the material for help in remembering and for success in taking the test. I have found that He even cares about my stomach pain! When I prayed for it to stop (so that I could focus on that test I was taking), it stopped.
Prayer works. It is amazing. And I know that God wants us to turn to Him and counsel with Him in each aspect of our lives.
Monday, March 20, 2017
God is Merciful
This past
week I have been studying Conference talks from last October in preparation for
this coming conference. One of the talks that I read was The Souls Sincere
Desire by Carol F. McConkie. This was a great talk that really made me think.
She used a passage of scripture at the beginning of her talk that was really
quite reflective.
Lucas 18: 7-8
7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto
him, though he bear long with them?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them
speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the
earth?
What do we
have to do so that God can avenge us? What condition do we need to be in to
receive the blessings of God? According to the scripture we must cry day and
night. Now it is impossible to always be praying every moment of everyday but
we can have our thoughts always turned to the Savior and plead that things will
work out for our good. It requires a lot of faith to cry day and night. And
that is our faith. Will the Son of Man find faith in us when he comes? Or when
it is necessary? It's a great question to ponder and think about our own
individual lives and what is the next step for us so that He will find faith
when He comes.
Friday, March 17, 2017
Worshipping God
Alma 32: 11
And moreover, I would ask, do ye supposed that ye must not worship God only once in a week?
Alma asked this question to those who had come to him and were upset because they could not enter the synagogue on the Sabbath to worship their God. In the verse before this Alma tells them that just because they are not in a synagogue does not mean they cannot worship God. Then he goes on to say in conjunction with that, that they shouldn't only be worshipping Him one day a week when they would go to church, but they should every day.
True discipleship is living the Gospel of Jesus Christ - not just practicing once a week. As we live the gospel we are worshipping God and Christ. As we pray daily, study our scriptures daily, attend the temple during the week, seek to serve those around us, and testify of our Savior we are worshipping God.
How can we do better in our lives at truly worshipping God? This is a question that we can each, as individuals, take to the Lord and ask what He would have us do. I know He will answer as we are sincere in our seeking and are prepared to act.
Monday, March 13, 2017
Our Desires
The
past couple weeks I have been thinking the topic of everything has it's
opposite, how there is an opposition in all things. Many things that we do or
use can be applied for good or for evil. That can be technology, money,
leadership positions, and many other things. But one thing that has really
stuck out to me these past couple weeks is our desires. Those too can have
their opposites. As i've pondered about what road to take in my life and what I
really want for me it has come to me that I can do a great many things, but all
of these things that I can do can influence on both sides of the spectrum
depending on my desires, the condition of my heart, my conversion. For example,
worldly possessions are something that many desire in some shape or form, but if
your heart isn't in the right place when you come across these possessions they
can be a bad influence on you or others. Riches are something that attract
many, but only if you have the mindset as it asks in Jacob 2:18-19
will seek them for the intent
to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to
liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.
then will the riches be a
blessing. That's why it's so important to always work on your conversion, we
never know when temptations will come our way. We always need to ask, 'what is
my desire in wanting this possession?' If it is for personal gain or pride then
we probably have better options.
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
All Things Denote There is a God
The other day I read Alma chapter 30 which is the chapter about Korihor, the Anti Christ. Korihor is trying to convince the people that there is no God, no Christ, no need for a Redeemer, and no need to repent or to have faith. When he is speaking with Alma he asks to be shown a sign; that's the only way he would believe (and in Matthew 12:39 we are taught that those who seek for signs as "proof" that God lives are those who are wicked).
Alma responded with this in verse 44:
Alma responded with this in verse 44:
Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? 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, year, and also all the planets which movie in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.
Each time I read this verse I think "yes! This is true!" because every time I take time to look around at the beauty of the earth, when I learn more about the systems of the world and universe, as I study the human body and all that is occurring, and most especially as I sincerely study the scriptures I KNOW that God is real. Truly, "all things denote there is a God."
While I respect other's beliefs, personally I do not understand how someone could not believe in a god. The most common reason I hear is that they do not believe because of the fact that bad things are happening in the world. When you stop, ponder, and study then you come to realize more and more that there must be opposition in all things. There is so much good, but along with that there will be bad things that happen. Agency could not be put into play without opposition. This opposition helps us to stretch, grow, and become better - become more like Christ.
Back to my original thought - God is real. Christ lives and is our Savior. Just go outside and look around. Many things witness of our Supreme Creator.
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
He Lives!
I have found myself very much looking forward to Easter this year. It is still a month and a half away, but I wish it would come sooner. I am not excited because of the Cadbury chocolate eggs (which seem to be available all year round at this point), or the Peeps, or the Sunday dinner. I am excited for the focus on Christ and His Resurrection. During my scripture study I came across this scripture in Alma:
"...they never did look upon death with any degree of terror, for their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore, death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it." (Alma 27:28)
Death is hard, but because of the Savior's victory over it each person, regardless of what you've done, who you are, where you come from will be resurrected. The blessing and comfort that accompanies true faith and hope in Christ is matchless. Our Savior lives. Each of us will live again. I am grateful for Him and for the knowledge of God's Plan of Salvation.
This video put out a couple years ago is really great and I do not think I will ever get sick of it. It touches me every time.
Also, I have been listening to this song non-stop by Nathan Pacheco about the Savior and His resurrection.
He lives!
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