This is a neat scripture I found this morning: D&C 35:8, " For, I am God, and mine arm is not shortened; and I will show miracles, signs, and wonders, unto all those who believe on my name." In the scriptures, it seems to always talk about a group of people and if they were righteous they were blessed and wicked they were cursed. For example Alma 50:22, " And those who were faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord were delivered at all times." These kinds of scriptures or similar scriptures are all over and it makes me think; what does delivered mean? Delivered- released; transferred or transmitted; passed from one to another; committed; yielded; surrendered; rescued; uttered; pronounced. Then to go along with this, the people in the scriptures are always happier when they are obeying the commandments. " ...there never was a happier people among the people of Nephi." (Alma 50:23) Blessing: We can ask our Father in Heaven...
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This is an interesting contrast: (Alma 49:27-28) The king of the Lamanites, who was a Nephite by birth, " was exceedingly wroth, and he did curse God, and also Moroni, ... and this because Moroni had kept the commandments of God in preparing for the safety of his people." "on the other hand, the people of Nephi did thank the Lord their God, because of his matchless power in delivering them from the hands of their enemies." It's interesting and really makes me think what group of people am I most likely to act like? If we were to take the easiest way out it would be to curse God for all the hardships we go through in this life. If we were to take the harder way it would be to pray and ask for strength as go go through these hard things and better be able to learn and grow from them. Blessing: I've been taught and have great examples in my life of how to act towards God in hard situations.
Alma 48:11; " And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of perfect understanding ;" What would that take to be a man of perfect understanding? Is the Prophet a man of perfect understanding? He's probably as close as it gets, if not. Promise made to the people by God, " if they were faithful in keeping the commandments of God that he would prosper them in the land;" (Alma 48:15) "Moroni, and his heart did glory in it; ...in doing good, in preserving his people, yea, in keeping the commandments of God, yea, and resisting iniquity ." (Alma 48:16-17) "... if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold the powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of me . This is amazing! It takes more the just a desire to be this kind of a person. I often think of course I have a desire to be good and do what's right but, am I doing enough? ...
After Moroni presented his title of liberty said, " let them come forth in the strength of the Lord , and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion that the Lord God may bless them." I love those two phrases, it shows that God is always there for us and that He is willing to make us stronger if we come to Him. The Title of Liberty was "hoisted upon every tower." I wish we could do that with the Proclamation to the Family. Put it everywhere so that we can remember it more often, therefore living it more often. "But there were many who died with old age; and those who died in faith of Christ are happy in him, as we must needs suppose." Alma 46:41 Blessing: I'm thankful for clients that are patient with me.
" for this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon the land, and the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance." Alma 45:16 " In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children" This is a good reminder of what is truly important. What we need to focus our lives on and how we can better understand what the Lord wants our focus to be on. We need to focus our lives on living the Proclamation to the World. It is a good guide to lives. " And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers of Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called because of their belief in Christ who should come." Alma 46:15 I like this verse and I also have always thought it was interesting that this is the first time we see the word Christians in the scriptures. I love that it says true believers in Christ. It wasn't those who wa...
So the Lamanites and Nephites are in war, but this is what I love that they say; " ye cannot destroy this our faith." (Alma 44:3) Helaman is converted and says " I will keep thy commandments with all my heart ." What do I need to work on to better keep the commandments with all my heart? I need to have greater faith and hope. Blessing: I have a loving Mother that is willing to listen to me and help me get through anything.
The Nephites and the Lamanites are getting ready to go to war the Nephites gathered themselves together, to defend their lands and their country, their rights and their liberties; therefore they were prepared..." We need to do this, use all of the weapons and resources we have been given to fight our own battles today against Satan.
" Now, how could a man repent except he should sin? How could he sin if there was no law? How could there be a law save there was no punishment?" (A;ma 42:17) I like that scripture it really puts the plan of salvation into perspective. The cross reference Romans 4:15, " Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is there is no transgression." Which is interesting to think about because we all know right from wrong and yet so many choose the wrong choices each day. Blessing: I have food to eat.
Unpardonable sin: (Alma 39:6) " if ye deny the Holy Ghost when it once has had place in you, and ye know that ye deny it."his desires of good. Missionaries Job: " Is it not necessary that the plan of redemption should be made known unto this people as well as unto their children?" The Lord has prepared a way for all His children to return to live with Him again and learn how to do that through the missionaries He sends throughout the world. (mormon.org) " those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest ." (Alma 40:12) That sounds great to me, what more can I do today to be more righteous? "... all things shall be restored to their proper order, " (Alma 41:4) " The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good ;" I like that it goes to show that who we are here on earth we will be the same person in the next life. ...
Alma 37:32-34, " teach them an everlasting hatred against sin and iniquity ." "Preach unto them repentance , and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart ; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach them to never be weary of good work , but to be meek and lowly of heart ; for such shall find rest in their souls." I love this scirpture. There are so many great things that we need to teach our families and friends. They are talking about the Liahona, at the end of chapter 37. " shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond the follow us beyond the vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise." Alma 38:9, "... I have told you that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of...
" I do put my trust in him, " (Alma 36:27) Do I really put my trust in the Lord, or do I try to do it all by myself? It also talks about the records being " preserved for a wise purpose, which purpose is known unto God; " (Alma 37:12) God has a plan for all things somethings the plan isn't and won't be executed for a while but He knows what He is doing and will make it happen on the behalf of His children. (Alma 37:16:17) "... for God is powerful to the fulfilling of his words. For he will fulfil all his promises which he shall make unto you ," Elder Holland talked about this when he came to Stake Conference, he said, "Every promise God has given will be fulfilled." Blessing: The Lord reveals Himself to me every day, (But I have to be worthy and watching)
Alma, Almas two sons, and Ammon and their brethren were missionaries and (Alma 35:14) " after having been instruments in the hands of God of bringing many of the Zoroamits to repentance; and as many as were brought to repentance were driven out of their land;" This is the first time I can recall that it says that people were doing what was right and something unpleasant came from it. I love this verse Alma 36:3, (promised blessing) " whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up in the last day." Asking to recognize blessings from the Lord will get us a long ways. That is something I need to work on. Often I'm so focused on the things I'm not getting that I want, that I miss recognizing things that the Lord is giving me right now. Plus we are(I am) never or seem to never be pleased with how our life is going and instead we want something better or something m...
Alma 32:5, " Yea, O God, and thou wast merciful unto me when I did cry unto thee in my field; when I did cry unto thee in my prayer, and thou didst hear me." -How can we better recognize the Lord in my life and when He hears and answers our prayers? And be more thankful for things that He is probably protecting us from by not giving us what we want? (Alma 33:19) What simple things are we asked to do that we don't do? Then we are asked to plant the word in our hearts (vs 23) and nourish it by our faith. Promise: (Alma 33:23) " that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son." (Alma 34:11) "Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood which will atone for the sins of another." This is a powerful statement. I think the wording is interesting because it says no man can sacrifice his own blood. can - To be able; to have sufficient strength or physical power. One man can lift a weight which another can not. Putting the...
Alma 32:34, " And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in the thing, and your faith is dormant ; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls , and ye also know that is hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind doth begin to expand." Dormant- asleep, at rest swelled- enlarged at bulk I like this scripture because it does a great job explaining what will happen if we keep learning and growing to gain a perfect knowledge but it also tells us what will happen if we don't. In verse 38-39 it talks about what happens if we neglect our trees or our "faith". I love this; " Now, this is not because the seed was not good, neither is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable; but it is because your ground is barren, and ye will not nourish the tree, therefore ye cannot have fruit thereof." I like this scripture because it shows how imp...
The people were troubled and went to Alma, "t heir afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in preperation to hear the word." (Alma 32:6) Why do we wait until we have trials and afflictions to come unto God? (Alma 32:21) And now as I said concerning faith- faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen which are true." I love this scripture but there are times I struggle with faith because I loose hope in things in my life that I don't see. But with scripture study, prayer, modern day revelation, and family and friends it's easier to have hope because they remind me that there is something worth living for. Blessing: I'm thankful for positive people who have an influence on my life (family, friends, and new coworkers)
I love this scripture in Alma 31:31; Alma is a missionary and he is praying to the Lord and says, " O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people." I wonder how often we suffer in this life or don't get blessings because of others around us? I love that he is asking the Lord for strength to "s uffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me. " I need to do that more instead of just complaining. Asking for the strength to endure will make the trials be easier to go through and I'll probably learn more from them in the long run. It is important to recognize the Lord in our lives and to ask for help and strength to get through our trials. The Lord know just what we need at this time and maybe by going through trials we strengthen relatio...
Alma and Korihor are talking about their beliefs in God. Alma 30:41, " I have all things as a testimony that these things are true; " Alma 30:44, " all things denote there is a God; " I love this scripture. I think it is very powerful and the more I think about it the more my mind is blown. I just think about how amazing God is with all His power and glory and what he could do with it and yet He does things for us down here on earth. Blessing: I have a testimony and more importantly a relationship with my Father in Heaven and know that He lives and loves me.
Alma 30:8, " For thus saith the scripture: Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve." -Joshua 24:15 This is an excellent example of agency that God has given to us to exercise in this life in order to be tested. Alma 30:9, "Now if a man desire to serve God, it was his privilege; or rather, if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him;..." Privilege - A particular and peculiar benefit or advantge enjoyed by a person. Or in other words we have agency given to us from God to choose as we will in this life in order to be tested and tried. The people threwKorihor out of the land and he tried to preach in the land of Gideon the scriptures say, " here he did not have much success," H ow can we make sure that Satan doesn't have success with us in our lives when he is tempting us? I'm sure these people were living their lives the way they were supposed to according to the scriptures and the prophet or they couldn't have resisted so easil...
Alma 29:2-3, Alma says, " Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption that they should repent and come unto our God , that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the land. But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me . " I love these verses there is a lot of application in them. 1. First we need to listen which isn't stated but it's implied. 2. Repent, become humble and realize that we all sin in the eyes of God. 3. Come unto our God, After being forgiven for our sins coming unto God can make the repentance process easier and it can make continuously becoming better easier. My favorite part: 4. be content with the things the Lord allots us. (I think this is so important because it can help us with the rest of these, help us to be humble and submissive to God.) Alma 29:9, " this is my glory, that perh...
Alma 27:17, " Now the joy of Ammon was so great even he was full; yea, he was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the exhausting of his strength; and he fell again to the earth." I can't even imagine that being swallowed up in the joy of God. Just think our Father in Heaven knows all things and to think that he was able to experience that joy and happiness on a level he had never experienced it before must have been exhausting for a man. Then the scriptures go on in vs 18 and say that no one could receive this joy except those who are " truly penitent and humble seekers of happiness ." Penitent - suffering pain or sorrow of heart on account of sins. They took upon them the name "the people of Ammon" (Alma 27:26) " they were numbered among the people who were of the church of God. And they were also distinguished for their zeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they we...
The Lord asked Ammon to go back to the Laminites and " bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success. " (Alma 26:27) That is a hard thing he is asked to do. Learning before going into situation that you will have afflictions would make me not want to go, but I would go knowing that it was a commandment of the Lord just like my mission. I went on a mission knowing it was going to be hard and that I would have afflictions and have to be patient. I love this line in Alma 26:37, " "we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in;" It's hard to remember all the time, especially when going through trials, that God is always there for us and He is mindful of what I'm going through and that He cares what I'm doing. Blessing: I was able to go for a run and play basketball last night!
Ammon asks if we can tell what blessings God has given us. (Alma 26:2) That is something I've been working on is trying to notice the blessings I have in my life especially the ones that are less obvious. " Yea, I know that I am nothing, as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in hi strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land for which we praise his name forever." (Alma 26:12) Philip 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." MY FAVORITE SCRIPTURE! Blessing- I was able to go see Jeanette last night after work before she graduates and moves. I love that girl.
The people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi formerly known as Lamanites in seven lands (Alma 23). " did join themselves to the people of God, who were the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi." Alma 25 This is my favorite part: " And they did also bury their weapons of was, according as their brethren had, and they began to be a righteous people; and they did walk in the ways of the Lord, and did observe to keep his commandments and his statutes. " "We will recieve answers to our prayers today, next month , next year, or in heaven." Elder Holland (Blackfoot West Stake Conference) Blessing: I am able to work with amazing people that help me and make me feel good about myself at my new job.
" And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children ; " Alma 24:14 " when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin;" That's amazing that they would rather die than commit sin. -How can I get to that point where I would rather die then commit sin? What does it take? How can I be better and focus more on the things I'm doing, not doing or need to improve on? The Lamanites were obedient and didn't break their oath to God and died because of it. Sometimes just because we are righteous it doesn't mean everything we go through will be easy or what we want. Blessing: The lady at conference gave me a hug and told me just want I needed and wanted to hear. She answered my prayers without ...
Aaron teaching the kind in chapter 22, The king said that he will give up all that he possesses for great joy (the gospel). That's amazing. What am I willing to give up or sacrifice in my life? How can I improve and learn to be more thankful for the things I have? It's interesting to me how quickly people turn to the Lord and repent. I often wonder how long the period is between the times they hear about the gospel and repent and turn to the Lord. The People even changed their name to Anti-Niphi-Lehies which was a big step from being the Lamanites and being a wicked people to being converted to the Lord and having a change of heart. That would take a lot of faith to change and become better after being such an evil people. In application, I think it is so important to take advantage of the fullness of the Gospel on our lives and to truly live it and learn personally what to do to improve. Changing habits and our lives isn't easy but it is so worth it. Blessing- I was...