This week I was reading in Alma chapter 53, which is the chapter of the stripling warriors. While reading this, verse 17 struck me, "And they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, yea to protect the land even unto the laying down of their lives; yea, even they covenanted that they never would give up their liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage." There were 2,000 men who decided to fight because their fathers couldn't, and not only did they decide this, but entered into a covenant. It was a very different covenant from their fathers but one just as important.
This shows me that The Lord truly has a plan for each of us, and if we listen to Him and follow that plan we will end up doing the best we can. If the fathers of the stripling warriors had broken their covenant, they would have been lost. In contrast, if their sons had not been raised by peace loving mothers and fathers, only deciding to fight for the reason of keeping their home and only fighting with the power of the Lord, they would have failed as well. But as it was, in verse 56 of chapter 56, "But behold to my great joy, there had not been one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea and they had fought as if with the strength of God".
These stripling warriors, as well as the parents that raised them, can be an example of total faith and trust in the Lord. When making the promise to no longer bear arms, the fathers of the stripling warriors had faith the Lord would protect them in other ways. When going into battle, the stripling warriors knew the Lord would be with them in the battle. I want to have the faith that when I do the right, obey the Lord's commandments and do as he asks of me, everything will be well in my life in the end. I also want to be sure to teach my children the same thing, and raise more stripling warriors in this world that seems to be getting more and more wicked every day. Following God's plan for us, and even knowing that He does indeed have one for each and every one of us can help me get closer to this goal.
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Week 5
This week I was reading in 2 Nephi and verse 21 of chapter really struck me. It says, "That these things which I shall write be kept and preserved, and handed down unto my seed, from generation to generation.” I began thinking about the blessing that it is that we are able to have this book that was written so specifically for our day and time, here to guide and help us.
When Nephi and Alma and all the other writers of the Book of Mormon were writing their histories and revelations down, they were doing it for us, for the people in the future that would need those words. They didn't have the entirety of the book with them, they didn't get to read the finished product. But the Lord told them that it needed to be done, so they did it.
The blessing of the Book of Mormon in my life is one that I can take for granted, but as I was thinking about it more deeply this week I realized how much it really does for me. Moroni, while his people and himself were dying, thought only to finish the book, because that is how important it was. Thinking of this reminded me of a question that Ezra Taft Benson told us we should be asking more often in our scripture study, "Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (Or Moroni, or Alma) or any of these writers to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?” I have made it a goal to ask this question more often, and to think of how the Lord truly did inspire those ancient prophets to write the words that we would most need, and that it is a blessing and an amazing privilege to have those revelations so close to us at all times.
When Nephi and Alma and all the other writers of the Book of Mormon were writing their histories and revelations down, they were doing it for us, for the people in the future that would need those words. They didn't have the entirety of the book with them, they didn't get to read the finished product. But the Lord told them that it needed to be done, so they did it.
The blessing of the Book of Mormon in my life is one that I can take for granted, but as I was thinking about it more deeply this week I realized how much it really does for me. Moroni, while his people and himself were dying, thought only to finish the book, because that is how important it was. Thinking of this reminded me of a question that Ezra Taft Benson told us we should be asking more often in our scripture study, "Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (Or Moroni, or Alma) or any of these writers to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?” I have made it a goal to ask this question more often, and to think of how the Lord truly did inspire those ancient prophets to write the words that we would most need, and that it is a blessing and an amazing privilege to have those revelations so close to us at all times.
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Week 4
This week I was reading in Doctrine and Covenants sections 10 and 19. In section 10 verse 5 it says, "Pray always, that you may come off conquerer; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work."
This struck me and made me think about the importance of prayer in our lives. While prayer is an important way to speak to the Lord, it also is important to help us resist the adversary. Satan and those that try to tempt us can be hard to resist, and without the power of prayer in our lives it can be very difficult to not join in.
I thought this related to another scripture in section 19 verse 23, "Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me."
Prayer is our line to the Lord to learn from Him, and to use what we learn in our lives. The peace we get from that is something should be sought after.
In my life, prayer is an important part of starting and ending my days. However, sometimes my prayers, like many others, can get repetitive and not as meaningful as they could be. These scriptures reminded me of the threefold reasons to pray daily. Communication, a way to ward off temptation, and a way to learn from the Lord. These things are all important to have consistently in our lives, and I made a goal to make my prayers more able to totally fulfill me.
Prayer is something that is important in my life, and something that I feel is often overlooked between everything else that goes on. However, prayer is more important than we often think. Prayer is something that there isn't a cap on, you can't pray too much. It's importance can't be overstated, it is our connection to the Lord and the way we can gain more knowledge than we thought possible.
This struck me and made me think about the importance of prayer in our lives. While prayer is an important way to speak to the Lord, it also is important to help us resist the adversary. Satan and those that try to tempt us can be hard to resist, and without the power of prayer in our lives it can be very difficult to not join in.
I thought this related to another scripture in section 19 verse 23, "Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me."
Prayer is our line to the Lord to learn from Him, and to use what we learn in our lives. The peace we get from that is something should be sought after.
In my life, prayer is an important part of starting and ending my days. However, sometimes my prayers, like many others, can get repetitive and not as meaningful as they could be. These scriptures reminded me of the threefold reasons to pray daily. Communication, a way to ward off temptation, and a way to learn from the Lord. These things are all important to have consistently in our lives, and I made a goal to make my prayers more able to totally fulfill me.
Prayer is something that is important in my life, and something that I feel is often overlooked between everything else that goes on. However, prayer is more important than we often think. Prayer is something that there isn't a cap on, you can't pray too much. It's importance can't be overstated, it is our connection to the Lord and the way we can gain more knowledge than we thought possible.
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Week 3
This week I was thinking a lot about the temple endowment and other important covenants that we make in our lifetime. It was while thinking about these things that I read 2 Nephi 9: 27,
"But wo unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state!"
This might seem like a harsh scripture, but I think that it is mainly trying to get the point of how important the laws and covenants of the church are. We are blessed to be able to know and obey them, but also it is a responsibility that once we acknowledge it, can't be ignored.
As I'm preparing to enter the temple this is especially striking to me, as I am going to be part of an extremely important covenant. While the knowledge and ability to participate is a blessing in my life, but it is also something that shouldn't be taken lightly. This also helped me to realize why we, in the church, will ask someone to stop taking the sacrament or even become excommunicated as part of the repentance process, sometimes it is more beneficial to remove those covenant when someone is breaking them, because of the severity of what that could mean.
I had some interesting thoughts on this that I hadn't necessarily before, and learned a little more about covenants that I hadn't known before, which was really interesting for me, especially from a place like 2nd Nephi, where it feels like I've read it so many times. It really shows that every time you read the scriptures you can gain something new.
"But wo unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state!"
This might seem like a harsh scripture, but I think that it is mainly trying to get the point of how important the laws and covenants of the church are. We are blessed to be able to know and obey them, but also it is a responsibility that once we acknowledge it, can't be ignored.
As I'm preparing to enter the temple this is especially striking to me, as I am going to be part of an extremely important covenant. While the knowledge and ability to participate is a blessing in my life, but it is also something that shouldn't be taken lightly. This also helped me to realize why we, in the church, will ask someone to stop taking the sacrament or even become excommunicated as part of the repentance process, sometimes it is more beneficial to remove those covenant when someone is breaking them, because of the severity of what that could mean.
I had some interesting thoughts on this that I hadn't necessarily before, and learned a little more about covenants that I hadn't known before, which was really interesting for me, especially from a place like 2nd Nephi, where it feels like I've read it so many times. It really shows that every time you read the scriptures you can gain something new.
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