King Benjamin Was a Good Father

Today I read Mosiah 1 and as I sit here on Father's day, I cannot help but wonder at how good a father King Benjamin was to Mosiah and his other two sons.  Benjamin made sure he set a good example for them.  He worked for his own support and was not a burden to his people.  He taught his sons in the language of their fathers and made sure that they knew the scriptures.  He taught them to love their enemies and to love the Gospel.  He did everything a good father knows how to do.  It is a great example to the rest of us, especially the fathers that read this blog.  I firmly believe, and the scriptures support this, that we parents will be held responsible for the things we did and did not teach our children.  If we do not teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and prepare them for both this world and the world to come, their sins are on our heads, not their own.  Now of course they will have to answer to what light and knowledge they do have, but the potential they did not reach because of our not teaching them, is all on us.  I don't know about you, but I don't want that on my head!  Until tomorrow.

Mormon Explains Why He Used the Small Plates

Today I read the Words of Mormon.  I remember the first time I was old enough to really read the Book of Mormon on my own I was kind of shocked how it jumped from about 200 B.C. to 385 A.D in one page.  I mean that is almost a thousand year gap right there.  As I was reading this morning I was struck that Mormon started with his own record and worked backwards in his abridgement.  To me personally it seems like that is the opposite way I would do an abridgement.  I would start at the beginning and work my way back.  I wonder if that was a cultural thing, or the Lord told Mormon to do it that way? 

I also can't help but wonder what Mormon though when he read the plates of Nephi?  To read all those prophecies and know they have come true already?  Would it have been fulfilling for him?  I know he said he found them pleasing.  Also, knowing the rest of the Book of Mormon and how Mormon always focused on the spiritual aspects of the records as opposed to the historical, I am sure that he enjoyed the small plates of Nephi very much.  It might have also been a relief too that for the last 400 or so years, he did not need to do any abridging, because Nephi and Jacob and their descendents had done it for him already.  I know I would have been pleased if I had just finished condensing almost 600 years of history!  What ever else his reasons, I am glad Moroni included them in their entirety for us to have.  Until tomorrow.

The Choices of Jarom

Today I read the Book of Jarom and I was struck right away that Jarom did not want to add any of the revelations he had personally received, because he feels that they would not add to what has already been recorded by his father, grandfather and grand-uncle, Nephi.  Instead, he uses what little space he has remaining on the small plates to record the habits of the Lamanites.  This to me is incredibly interesting.  Why would he choose to talk about the Lamanites and what they are doing as opposed to what his people experience on a spiritual basis.  He does in fact inform us that there were prophets among the Nephites and that they are a happy people over all.  But I still find it strange that he chose to focus more on the mundane compared to the spiritual.  But he must have felt is was important for us to know the disposition of the Lamanites.  Until tomorrow.

I Like to Learn About Ancient Civilizations

Today I read the Book of Omni.  I think it is interesting how humans are interested in history and other peoples.  What causes this desire to know more about ancient cultures?  Why are we fascinated with them?  When I read about the Jaredites, why is it so exciting to me?  Why were the Nephites so desirous to know more about them?  Was it merely a desire to avoid the same fate as them?  Am I unique that I am intrigued by ancient civilizations and think that finding an ancient unpeopled city would be truly amazing and awesome?  When I hear stories about Pompei, Troy and even ancient Babylon I want to know what the lives of those people were like.  I want to know more about the Jaredites.  We know about the Nephites because we have their complete record, or what was left to us by Mormon.  But it is enough to know about them and their lives.  What Moroni left to us about the Jaredites is not much and a bare minimum of knowing what their lives were like.  I know I am jumping ahead several chapters, but what would it have been like to walk through the ruins of the Jaredite civilization and to find the plates Ether left behind?  It gives me goose bumps just thinking about it!  Until tomorrow.

To Have Your Guilt Swept Away

Today I read the Book of Enos and I had a thought while reading it.  Enos states that when he heard the voice of the Lord tell him that his sins were forgiven him, his guilt was swept away, because he knew that God could not lie.  While I too know that God cannot lie, my guilt is usually not swept away like Enos' apparently was.  Now, I have not heard the voice of God tell me that my sins are forgiven, so perhaps that is the difference.  I have always been taught that once the Spirit leaves you, after you repent and you feel its presence again, it means you have been forgiven, because the Spirit cannot dwell in unclean tabernacles.  That is what I use to gauge my worthiness before God.  What would it feel like to have your guilt swept away I wonder?  Until tomorrow.

I Cannot Be Shaken

Today I read Jacob 7 where Jacob contends with Sherem.  I have often wondered where Sherem came from.  Jacob says that Sherem came among the Nephites, does that mean he was a Lamanite?  I don't think so, I think Jacob would have recorded something as important as that.  Was he one of the people of Mulek?  It's possible, but again unlikely.  Most likely Sherem was indeed a Nephite and Jacob saying he came among the Nephites is just a phrase that Jacob used to describe Sherem traveling among the Nephites spreading his lies.

I also wonder why we as humans always try and prove others wrong.  I know it is pride.  Because the humble man doesn't care if it is known he is right.  He just goes about doing good because it is what God has commanded.  But Sherem was so eager to prove Jacob wrong that he even sought him out.  Jacob was just concerned that Sherem was spreading lies among his people, but knew that the truth of God would ultimately win out and wasn't overly worried I think.  Maybe he was and just didn't record it here, I am not sure.  But I know that when someone comes at me challenging my faith, I don't sweat it, because I know it is true and even if they manage to ask me a question I can't answer, it doesn't shake my faith.  I know God is real and Jesus Christ is a real being.  I don't need to physically see them to know this.  Nothing will shake my faith.  I hope each of you also have a strong testimony that you can rely upon in the face of uncertainty.  Until tomorrow. 

Why Do People Reject Truth?

Today I read Jacob 6 and as I was reading I had a thought.  Jacob pleads with the people who will read these words to not reject them.  God said that so many people are searching for the truth and they don't know where to find it.  Why is it that so many can recognize the truth when they find it, but so many others reject it out of hand?  Have they been blinded by Satan for so long that they can no longer recognize the Light of Christ they were born with?  Have they ignored the promptings of the Holy Ghost for so long that its whisperings are softer than the wind?  Why is it, that as much as this Gospel makes sense and conforms to what so many people believe, they will still reject it?  I really don't understand.  Maybe I am blinded by how clear it is because I was born with it in my life.  While it is true I have made a conscious choice to follow it now that I am grown, I have always known it and always loved it.  Maybe that is the difference.  Until tomorrow.

How it Must Hurt to be God

Today I read Jacob 5 and several thoughts came to my mind as I was reading this chapter.  The first thought I had was if there ever was hard evidence that Joseph Smith did not write the Book of Mormon himself, it is Jacob chapter 5.  I mean how would a man who has never left New England know how to cultivate olive trees and graft in branches?  Joseph Smith knew nothing about Olive Trees, but Zenos, the prophet who wrote Jacob 5 did.  But, even the critics of the Book of Mormon would find fault with this chapter and find a way that Joseph would have written it.

The second thought I had was how heart wrenching the people of the earth are for God.  I can feel the genuine sorrow that God has for the people who choose not to follow Him.  It is similar to an earthly parent that has a child that makes poor choices.  Whether it has to do with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or not when a child makes bad choices, it is hard for the parent to let them go on without helping them.  How hard must it be for Heavenly Father to sit back and let them drift away?  I hope to find out one day because we all aspire to be as God is one day.  I hope by then I can learn to cope with the challenges of being a God.  Until tomorrow.

Jacob Was Given Weaknesses Too

Today I read Jacob 4 and a few things stood out to me.  Jacob mentions it is hard to record their language on plates.  It got me wondering is there a language that is easy to record on plates?  I mean you are using a nail, most likely, to scratch in symbols, letters, pictures, into metal.  I can't imagine that is easy no matter what your method of speech is.  Just made me chuckle a little bit.

I also liked how Jacob freely admits that he has faults.  In fact he says they were given to him by Heavenly Father so that he could grow.  So why is it we have such a hard time growing from our weaknesses that we were given in this day and age?  I have no problem believing when a person who is attracted to the same sex tells me they were born this way, but that does not mean they have to act on it.  I was born with a weakness for sexual appetites also in a different fashion, but that gives me no more right to indulge in them that it does a person with same sex attraction.  We are given weaknesses to grow and become better men and women, not to prove that the flesh has mastery over us.  When we can learn to be the masters of our bodies, then we will be in a great place.  Until tomorrow.

Stay True to your Spouse

Today I read Jacob 3 which is a continuation of Jacob 2 where he tells the Nephites about the sins of adultery.  It just breaks my heart to read when a family is broken up because of adultery.  I love my wife so much the very idea of being unfaithful to her makes me physically ill.  Why can't we all be faithful to each other and stay firm in our commitments to one another? 

I have often wondered why adultery is such a widespread practice anyway.  I mean we all have some variation of the same parts.  It's not like having sex with another woman is going to feel any different physically that it does with my wife.  So what is the draw to be attracted to people other than our spouses?  I think it is really just Satan trying everything he can to get us to sin and be bad.  We know that sex with others is bad and going to feel the same way, but because our bodies are so driven by sex and the desire to mate we get caught up in the hormones and sin.  But if we keep our minds pure and focus on the good things that attracted us to our spouse in the first place is the way to keep safe.  We should not even entertain thoughts of other people and when we are tempted, we need to make sure that we think instead of our spouse.  Stay clean and you will be happy.  Until tomorrow.

Be True to Your Spouse in Mind as Well as Body

Today I read Jacob 2 where Jacob has to talk to his people about the sin of pride and chastity.  I struggle to understand how married men and women for that matter can not be faithful to their spouses.  Most of the time I think that anyone who commits adultery cannot really and truly love their spouse, because if you love them, you put their needs and desires ahead of your own.  And adultery is most possibly the most selfish act one can do in a marriage.  But then I think of other ways one can not be faithful to a spouse.  Imagining sex acts with another person is being unfaithful to a spouse.  We are supposed to be faithful in mind as well as in body.  If we indulge in fantasies with women/men other than our spouse we are breaking their trust in us. 

Now I do want to say here that dreams are not the same thing.  I know all too many women who get mad at their husbands because either they themselves dreamed something or their husbands did.  I have been blessed with a wife who understand that we have no control whatsoever in what we dream.  But when we are awake and fantasizing, that is another thing all together.  We must remain pure in heart and mind if we are to truly be faithful to our spouse.  I would never purposefully cause any harm to my wife so I need to not cause her harm inadvertently by being unfaithful in my mind.  If I am to become one flesh with her, that means I need to remain faithful to her in every form/fashion there is.  The Lord delights in the chastity of women, shouldn't we delight in it also?  Until tomorrow.

Why Do We Help?

Today I read Jacob 1 and I felt a kinship with Jacob when he declared that he desired to be able to bring all men everywhere into the fellowship of God and to convince them to no longer rebel against God.  I too long for a world where everyone treats each other as the Savior would and with respect.  Sadly we live in a very selfish world and so we are not prone to treat one another well.  However, the goodness of humanity does shine through from time to time.  In times of accident or tragedy we all rush to help and do what we can to assist.  Where does this sense of altruism come from?  It is the kinship we feel deep down inside that draws us together to help?  Is it the love of Christ that we innately feel for one another that causes us to hurt when we see others hurting?  I'm not sure, but something speaks to us on a basic level when others are in need and compels us to help out.  And that is a good thing.  If we would all listen to it instead of squashing it, we could have the millennium now, here on the earth for all to enjoy.  Until tomorrow.

Worry a Little, Rely on the Lord for the Rest

Today I read 2 Nephi 33 and it makes me wonder, what must it be like to be a prophet?  Nephi says that he waters his pillow over his people at night.  I know that I have spent many nights wondering what I can do to help my daughter and wife be healthier.  Is that what Nephi means?  Has he spent nights thinking on how he can help his people as a whole?  It must be.  I am sure President Monson is the same way.  I am sure he thinks continually on what he can do to help the members of the church be more faithful, to fulfill their covenants, to make sacred covenants and to magnify their callings.  The Savior taught that whosoever shall lose his/her life for His sake shall find it.  In other words if you spend your time in His service, it is a good life and not wasted.  Nephi spent his life in the service of his people.  I think he would tell you that he had a happy life.  I know that when I set aside what I want to do in order to help my wife and my daughter, I am happier than if I just blew them off and did what I wanted to do.  Just because you are worried about the people you have stewardship for, does not mean you are putting your entire life on hold.  It means you do the best you can, and listen to the Spirit guide you.  When you do that, the Lord will help you and you will not fret more than is needed.  Until tomorrow.

Improving in Prayer

Today I read 2 Nephi 32 and it struck me as a little odd.  In the first verse Nephi chastises his people for pondering the things that he has taught them, and then later on in verse 4 he says if you can't understand his words it is because you do not ask or knock, or in other words, you have not pondered them.  I do understand that Nephi is saying that we need to listen to the words of the prophets and do as they say, but the way he says it is a little odd. 

I have always loved verses 8 and 9 that state we need to pray always.  Prayer has been on my mind a lot lately.  My prayers are not what they should be and I don't like that.  I have been pondering for some time what I can do to make my prayers better.  I think back to how I was as a missionary and how I prayed then and I am slowly striving for that again.  I don't think you need to live like a missionary to pray like one, but it does help for sure.  But when it comes to prayer the first step is to make a conscious choice to improve.  This I am doing today.  I will improve.  Until tomorrow.

Trust that the Lord Knows Best

Today I read 2 Nephi 31 where Nephi tells us why the Savior was baptized.  I have always liked how after Nephi tells us, he then asks us that if the Savior Himself was baptized, why do we think that we don't need to be.  It is very classic.  It reminds me of D&C 122 where the Lord asks Joseph if he is better than the Savior, that the Savior has suffered all things and that we need to be humble and suffer all that the Lord has seen fit to afflict us with.  After all only He knows what is best for us.  It can be very hard to humble ourselves and accept what He has chosen for us sometimes, especially when it is hard to physically bear.  Trials are not meant to be easy, but some are definitely more challenging than others.  I am very glad my trials have all been easy by comparison to others that I have seen.  Does that mean I don't need to grow as much as others?  I don't really know.  I can tell you that what trials I have had in my life have stretched me and caused me to become a better man, the kind of man that I have always wanted to be.  It is partially because of this that I will continue to trust in Him.  Until tomorrow.

God Only Cares if We are Doing What is Right

Today I read 2 Nephi 30 and the main message I took away is that God is no respecter of persons.  He doesn't care if you are a Jew or a Gentile, if you are following His commandments, you will be saved as the last day.  If you are not following them, it doesn't matter if you were one of the covenant people, you will not be saved by the fact that you are a member of the Church, or of the house of Israel.  God is not concerned with our pedigree but rather with what we have done with our time on the earth.

I am also found it funny to picture nice snakes.  It talks about none of the animals will destroy and it specifically mentions the asp and the cockatrice in this chapter.  An asp is extremely deadly and poisoness.  When I think of snakes I think of short tempered animals who strike first and ask questions later to think of them as nice and not wanting to hurt anyone is a real stretch of the imagination for me.  I certainly believe it will happen because God said it would, but it is still strange to think about.  Until tomorrow.

Why Do We Limit God?

Today I read 2 Nephi 29.  As I was reading I could not help but wonder where the idea that there can be only 1 book of scripture came from in the first place.  Where did the idea that the Bible is the be all end all come from?  The answer of course is obvious that Satan convinced the people that this was the case based on misinterpreting scripture.  But I wonder if the people that state there can only be 1 Bible realize that they are limiting God and placing man made restraints on Him when they say such things?  I bet they do not think about it in such ways.  I bet they think they are following what He wants them to think and do and are being led carefully down to hell as they follow what they believe to be truth.  The fine line to walk however is not judging them for doing what they think is right, but rather to love them and offer the truth and not be upset if they choose to turn away from it.  That is really the hard part.  But it is what we are asked to do and it is what we will do.  Until tomorrow.

Don't Be Fooled

Today I read 2 Nephi 28 and it is sad just how accurate it is.  Nephi warns that there will be people who are lulled away by a false sense of security and that are slowly led down to hell by the devil.  We see if happening all around us, and not just outside of the church, there are plenty of members who cry, "All is well" and give themselves a false sense of security.  It is really disheartening to see just how many people are comfortable in this world of sin and debauchery.  They think this is the way it should be, and the laws of God are old fashioned and outdated they say.  I wold much rather have the outdated and non-hip ways compared to what I see going on all around me, especially in the big cities.  Give me the laws of God any day.  Until tomorrow.

Searching for the Truth

Today I read 2 Nephi 27 which is a quote of Isaiah 29.  I especially liked the analogy of those that dream they eat and wake up hungry.  To me I took this to be those that search for the truth and think they have found it.  They rejoice in what they have found, but then they feel unfulfilled because they know there is more out there.  They understand that they have not found the Gospel in its completeness.  Those are the people that I pray for that will find the missionaries.  Those are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness.  When they find the truth it is sweet to them and they are so grateful for it.  I am so glad when I see people find the truth that they have searched so long and hard for.  It warms my soul!  Until tomorrow.

What He Does is For Our Benefit

Today I read 2 Nephi 26 and I liked how Nephi said that the Lord does not do anything, unless it is for the benefit of man.  Sometimes as a human we can get caught up in the day to day troubles that we face and it can seem like Heavenly Father is picking on us.  I know I have felt this way sometimes.  It can feel like He is purposefully withholding righteous desires, such as marriage, just for the spite of it.  However, much like we sometimes withhold things from our earthly children if we know it is not in their best interests to have it.  Even if they really want it, we know better.  I have to believe Heavenly Father is the same way.  He knows what is best for us and what will help us grow and become better than we are.  Sometimes we think we know what we want, and sometimes He gives it to us.  But then we find out that it is not what we want.  It is better to just trust in Him and listen to what He desires for us.  This is the best way I think.  Trust in Him and we will never go wrong.  Until tomorrow.