Gathering and doing the work for the house of Israel is so important. We need to take it upon ourselves to do more in order to fulfill God's commandments and bring to past the promises made and given to us. Sometimes in life, we labor and our labors don't show or we must go out and do more or be more than we were before. I think this parable shows a lot about life and is trying to give us a better look at what we should do and how we should live our lives to better live them the way that Heavenly Father wants us to live. Jacob 5:71 ye shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up The reward of the servants is that they will have joy in the fruit of their labors. The Lord has said: 'And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought...
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Jacob 5:41 What could I have done more for my vineyard? Jeffrey R. Holland said "There is much more here than simply the unraveling of convoluted Israelite history. Of greater significance in this allegory is the benevolent view of God that it provides. He is portrayed here as one who repeatedly, painstakingly, endlessly tries to save the work of His hands and in moments of greatest disappointment holds His head in His hands and weeps, 'What could I have done more for my vineyard?' (Jacob 5:41, 47, 49.) This allegory is a declaration of divine love, of God's unceasing effort as a father laboring on behalf of His children. As one writer has noted, 'Zenos's allegory ought to take its place beside the parable of the prodigal son. Both stories make the Lord's mercy so movingly memorable.' (John S. Tanner, "Jacob and His Descendants as Authors," in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon, ed. John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne [Provo: Foundation fo...
Jacob 5:26,27 Let us prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it The interchange between the Lord and the servant is instructive. The Lord suggests that the Lamanites be destroyed for their wickedness. The servant intervenes on their behalf, requesting of the Lord that more work be done to save the wicked part of the tree that perhaps it may bring forth good fruit. This is exactly what happened. In more than one place in the Book of Mormon, the Nephite prophets prayed on behalf of their Lamanite brethren. They prayed that the Lord would show mercy to them in the last days and bring them to a knowledge of the truth. 'And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord; and I prayed unto him with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites... And now behold, this was the desire which I desired of him--that if it should so be, that my people, the Nephites, should fall into transgression, and by any means be destroyed, ...
This is interesting: Jacob 5:8,13,14 the young and tender branches are hid in the nethermost parts of the vineyard This is the scattering of Israel when the natural branches are taken and spread all over the world. Note that the execution of most of the work to this point has been done by the servant (v. 10). This act, the scattering of Israel, is done only by the Master of the vineyard himself, the Lord of the vineyard went his way, and hid the natural branches of the tame olive-tree (v. 14). Later in the chapter we learn that the Lord hid three distinct branches (v. 20-25). The only branch whose identity is known is the last, which is a representation of the descendants of Lehi. This helps us understand the chronology. It implies that the other three branches hid up by the Lord were taken before Lehi and his family in 600 BC. One of these three branches is probably a representation of the ten tribes which were taken in 721 BC. The identity of the second branch is unknown.* I r...
RECONCI'LED, participle passive Brought into friendship from a state of disagreement or enmity; made consistent; adjusted. We ned to have faith and obtain a good hope of glory in him, as well as live and stand as witnesses to God and those around us. We also need to build our lives and our testimony on "the great... and only sure foundation" (Jacob 4:16) Blessing: I was able to go to church yesterday and have a great relaxing day.
Abraham was so obedient to God that he was willing to sacrifice his only son, " which is similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son." (Jacob 4:5) Similitude- SIMIL'ITUDE, noun [Latin similitudo.] 1. Likeness; resemblance; likeness in nature, qualities of appearance; as similitude of substance. Let us make man in our image, man in our similitude Fate some future bard shall join in sad similitude of griefs to mine. It is so important to submit our will to the Fathers will and become humble as a child. "the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace,.. that we have the power to do these things." (Jacob 4:7) We must be humble and follow our Father in Heavens guidance and counsel in order to do what is needed and to "have power to do these things." (Jacob 4:7) I love this scripture Jacob 4:10 "Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand . ...he counseleth in wisdom,...
Jacob 3 His promise to the righteous is that if they pray with exceeding faith, the Lord will console them and comfort them. This great promise is available to all who diligently seek the Lord.* in vs. 2 "feast" means 'to partake freely'. Which is a great comfort that there isn't a certain level we have to be on or a certain spot in our lives we have to achieve to feel ou Saviors love. Blessing: I work a lot and don't have to be home.
"For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women." What is it that needs to be done to make this more important in the world? How can live a chaste life truly bless us? For me, something that has helped is having a guilty conscience. I don't like doing even little things that I know are wrong because I will have to feel bad about them forever. It is definitely something that is rare in these days as well with the world. About 9 years ago I met a guy in California we were talking and somehow we got on the topic of chastity and he couldn't believe I was still a virgin and that I was waiting until I was married. 100 years ago that's what people did without questioning it and now it's a question? Blessing: I have the desire to live a chaste life and stay pure until marriage
Jacob invites us to "magnify mine office with soberness," I think there is more to this than just asking us not to get drunk or use drugs. I think if you aren't anxiously engaged you also aren't magnifying your calling. Jacob 2:7 it grieveth me that I must use...boldness...before your wives and your children The book of Proverbs talks about two types of women, the virtuous and the foolish. Of the former it says: 'A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband... Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her... She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy... She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, a...
Invitation: "come unto Christ and partake of the goodness of God," (Jacob 1:7) We have all the right in the world to receive every blessing that God has given to us. We must be worthy and ready at all times though or we may not receive them because of our own actions and thoughts. -Our Lord Jesus Christ gave up His life for us just like shepherds do for their sheep. What is it that we could commit to today to do better or to start doing in order to show Christ and ourselves that we are thankful and worthy of the many and great blessings we have? Hugh B. Brown said "A part of that duty is to live the abundant life of which Jesus spoke, a life which may be enjoyed by anyone regardless of his financial condition, geographical location, or social position. "Robert Louis Stevenson has given us a very good definition of rich and radiant living as follows: 'He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much; who has gained the respect ...
We are invited to " feast upon the words of Christ " and then promised that "the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." (2 Nephi 32:3) If we don't do our part of Studying the word of God and seeking them to find ways we can change and be more like our Lord and Savior then like it says in vs 4, "ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark." We have been invited time and time again to study and learn of the words of our God through the words of our Prophets both of old and today through the Ensign, and General Conference talks. Do we do that or are we just waiting for someone to tell us the answers to our prayers? Nephi says, "I have great faith in Christ" (2 Nephi 33:7) What would it take to have great faith? Sometimes I have more faith than other times but what would it take to have GREAT faith? I think he put more effort into recognizing answers to prayers as well as knowing what the Lords ...
2 Nephi 31:3 Our Heavenly Father will not give us scriptures that we don't understand if we need to know. He will give us the understanding and the knowledge we need to better follow His words. If our Savior Jesus Christ got baptized to be an example and to "fulfill all righteousness" and we need to be following His footsteps in order to return to live with God, how much more do we need to be baptized. Partaking of the sacrament each week is part of the process, being worthy to do so and to submit our will to the Fathers. (2 Nephi 31:10) "...can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?" "follow me nad do the things which ye have seen me do." (2 Nephi 31:12) vs 13 Joseph Smith "You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half-that is,...
2 Nephi 29 God has a marvelous work to do among His people and one thing that I have realized over the years is that we can either help Him or get out of His way while He does His own work or has someone else do it. There are many passages of scripture that talk about needing two witnesses in order to have a true testimony of truth. Which is interesting that we go out with a companion on our mission, we go out with a companion to do our visiting and home teaching and we go before God with our Companion we are sealed to for time and all eternity. Gen 2:18 " And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him ." God truly does have a plan and we need to follow it, get our "moving buddy" and be ready to do His work always. God says in 2 Nephi 29:9, " for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, " Our Father in Heaven will always have a hand in what is going on and He wi...
These chapters talk a lot about Satan and his job as the advocate and leading people astray to follow him. It makes me think just how easy his job has become because of the invention of technology and the many things we could use to bless our lives but instead so many use technology to destroy it. 2 Ne 28:22 he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none LeGrand Richards "I doubt if there was a Christian minister in all the world who would have said there was no devil at the time the Book of Mormon was published in 1830, and yet when a questionnaire was sent out by the Northwestern University School of Religion in 1934 to five hundred Christian ministers, of the five hundred, fifty-four percent, or two hundred and seventy of them, said: 'There is no devil.' Thirty-nine percent, or one hundred and ninety-five, said there would be no judgment day; and eighty percent were opposed to teaching that hell was a place of burning...If the world could just get rid of the...
(2 Nephi 28:5) -I don't understand how men can take it upon themselves to say what God would have them or not have them do especially when it is contrary to what has happened through God in the past. They claim to be the right church or religion and yet they don't get their power or authority from anyone but themselves. "the things which shall be written out of the book shall be or great worth unto the children of men." (2 Nephi 28:2) Talking about The Book of Mormon. We should cherish this book and try to better understand it every single day in order to apply it to our lives. I love these verses mostly because I grew up in this day and was able to experience and truly learn for myself the building up of churches. I believe though that most of them are truly trying to do what God wants them to do they are just missing out on realizing that God has already spoken to His children and is still talking to us because of Joseph Smith's first prayer and his dedi...
The sealed section of the plates intrigues me. I've always wondered what was in them that we as people of this generation aren't ready for. The Prophets always say that The Book of Mormon is for our time so how can we be ready for that sealed section? 2 Nephi 27:25, " Forasmuch as this people draw near unto me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but they removed their hearts far from me and their fears towards me is taught by the precepts of men." This is so true of this day it's scary. We often talk of Christ and that we love and worship Him but our actions of doing what He has asked like; temple attendance, reading the scriptures, doing service... are put on the back burner and never get done. Blessing: I got a cool brease in my room this morning.
God sealed a portion of the Book of Mormon or of the plates that we haven't yet had revealed to us. The world is too wicked to fully understand all of God's words. I often wonder if we were better at doing as we are asked to do and being obedient. What kinds of things could be revealed to us either personally or through our beloved Prophet? We all have much to improve on but if we all make a conscious effort to work on something then we will all be more like our Savior Jesus Christ. Blessing: I had a good nights rest and I'm ready for a new day.
2 Ne 26:20-21 many churches among the Gentiles Nephi describes the Gentile churches saying, they put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning. How similar are the words of the Savior to Joseph Smith in the sacred grove, they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof? (JS-H 1:19) See also Isa 29:13. Joseph Smith described the envyings and strifes of the religions of his day, it was seen that the seemingly good feelings of both the priests and the converts were more pretended than real; for a scene of great confusion and bad feeling ensued-priest contending against priest, and convert against convert; so that all their good feelings one for another, if they ever had any, were entirely lost in a strife of words and a contest about opinions (JS-H 1:6).* This is interesting the way he say...
"But behold, the righteous that hearken unto the world of the prophets, and destroy them not, but look forward unto Christ with steadfastness for the signs which are given, notwithstanding all persecution--behold, they are they which shall not perish." (2 Nephi 26:8) This is comforting! I need to strengthen my faith in Christ by being steadfast in the way I live and follow His example. We need to always be ready and waiting to hear, receive and act on counsel from the Lord through His beloved Prophet and Apostles. Lets all strive to be "the righteous" in this verse and be ablet to lead others unto Christ by our examples. Blessing: I'm thankful for the people I get to work with and the example I get to set for them especially those who aren't members of the church of righteous living.
This is really neat: The Law of Moses The Gospel of Jesus Christ 1. The Law : the 10 Commandments, etc. focusing on one's actions & the outward ordinances 1. The Law : the higher law, focusing on one's actions, thoughts, and desires and requiring the exercise of faith. 2. The Covenant : If the Israelites keep the commandments, they are promised, I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people (Lev 26:12). 2. The Covenant : the new and everlasting covenant. See also Heb 10:16-20 3. Blessings : see Deut 28:1-14 3. Blessings : all the blessings of the covenant of Abraham and eternal life (DC 132) 4. Cursings : see Deut 28:15-68 4. Cursings : to be turned over to the buffetings of Satan (DC 104:9). See also DC 84:41-42. 5. Priesthood : Aaronic 5. Priesthood : Melchizedek 6. Temple : Tabernacle of Moses, and the Temple of Solomon 6. Temple : L...
"For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace we are saved, after all we can do." 2 Nephi 25:23 I love this scripture especially the last part when it says " after all we can do. " It is important to know and realize that it's not all up to Christ to get us back to live with God again but its dependent also on the way we live our lives and the things we do. Which is not what other churches teach, they all teach that by grace we are saved! That we can't do and anything we do won't save us. We need to understand that faith without works is dead (James 2:17), but also that works without faith are dead. Indeed, the more we understand about the process of salvation, the more we understand that it is not our righteousness that gets us there. * Dieter F. Uchtdorf The prophet Nephi made an important contribution to our understanding of...
Christ is described as the Father in 2 Nephi 25:12; He is usually described as the Son or the Redeemer of the world, things like that but what is He the father of? To our knowledge, He didn't have children. Neal A. Maxwell said, "Jesus is even described as the Father because he is the Father-Creator of this and other worlds. Furthermore, he is the Father of all who are born again spiritually. When we take upon ourselves his name and covenant to keep his commandments, we then become his sons and daughters, 'the children of Christ.' Additionally, since he and the Father are one in attributes and in purpose, Jesus acts for the Father through divine investiture, sometimes speaking as the Father." (Mosiah, Salvation Only Through Christ, ed. By Nyman and Tate, pp. 5-6 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 62) How well and what am I doing to better believe in Christ my Redeemer? What signs do people look for to...
Understanding Isaiah is a struggle for me. They say that if you have the spirit with you then you can understand better his words. I have been thinking a lot about what kinds of things are we missing out on that he has written because we don't understand it, therefore we don't know how to apply it to our lives like the scriptures say to do. I often wonder if the Prophet and Apostles understand Isaiah or if they are just as confused by him as we are. Isaiah is a lot like Shakespear to me in that he writes a lot of things but we don't really understand what he means, we can try to and interpret it the best we can but really we don't know what he want's us to get out of it. Blessing: I was able to listen to conference, this weekend and now I need to change my life to be more like the Savior.
2 Ne 22:3 with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation -We should seek for living water and desire it in our lives. To desire something is more then just wanting something. Joseph B. Wirthlin "The Lord provides the living water that can quench the burning thirst of those whose lives are parched by a drought of truth. He expects us to supply to them the fulness of the gospel by giving them the scriptures and the words of the prophets and to bear personal testimony as to the truth of the restored gospel to alleviate their thirst. When they drink from the cup of gospel knowledge, their thirst is satisfied as they come to understand our Heavenly Father's great plan of happiness." ("Living Water to Quench Spiritual Thirst," Ensign, May 1995, 19) Isaiah doesn't make any sense to me. Blessing: I am able to get a lot of hours in this week.