That Which Cometh Out of the Mouth Defileth Man

Today I read Matthew chapter 15. The majority of the chapter is the Savior talking to the scribes and then He feeds another multitude miraculously with just a few loaves and fishes. The scribes asked the Lord why His disciples did follow he traditions of the elders. I think it is interesting that they freely admitted that it was not part of the law, but was just a tradition. Now, to their way of thinking, that was just as important. The Savior disabuses them of that thought very quickly though.

The Savior responds to them by asking them why they transgress the commandments by following their traditions. Now, remember, He was talking to the scribes, not the Pharisees so they probably knew the law backwards and forwards and yet placed more emphasis on their traditions than they did the law. Jesus cites the example of the law says to honor thy father and they mother, but according to their traditions, they could say whatever they wanted to the father and the mother and it didn't matter. Thus because they placed more emphasis on their traditions, they were ignoring the laws and the reasons the laws were given.

I love how the Savior still uses this as a teachable moment though despite the scribes trying to trap Him. The scribes had asked Jesus why His disciples did not follow the tradition of washing their hands immediately before eating. Jesus tells the multitude that it is not that which comes into the body from the outside that defiles a man, but rather that which comes out of the man's mouth that defiles him. He does on to explain that whatever we eat, it will go into the belly and thus only affects the body that way. However, what we say is a reflection of our heart and what is important to us.

Now, Jesus is saddened because His Apostles do not understand what He is saying to them so He goes on to explain to them that anything that is eaten goes to the belly and in due time is expelled out of the body. However, that which comes out of the mouth is a true reflection on who we are. The Savior gives a few examples such as the heart is where adultery, fornication originate, lies, theft and so on and so forth. So truly it is that which leaves a man that will defile him. For it is a bad thing to have those thoughts to begin with, however it is even worse to act on them.

This life is all about preparing to return to live with God. We are only going to be comfortable in His presence if we are the type of person that He is. He finds pleasure in keeping the commandments. Do we? He finds pleasure in the chastity of women. Do we? He finds pleasure in helping others. Do we? We have talked before hand on how the judgement is not so much a giant checklist of what we did and did not accomplish, but rather a thorough examination on what we have chose to become. The Lord will not force us to return to live with Him, although I am sure He would like us to return to live with Him, He loves us too much to force it on those that want nothing to do with Him. I bring this up because as I said, it really isn't a good thing to have such thoughts in the first place, but if all we do is have those thoughts and we don't act on them, the Lord will help us learn to control those thoughts and to overcome the desires that spawn such thoughts. But if we are acting on such thoughts, He will leave us to our own devices.

Heavenly Father loves us too much to force us into anything, as we said above. This is life is our time to decide what we truly want and we all do with a few exceptions. Make sure you are living the life you want to live. I was talking with a friend one day not too long ago about golf. He was frustrated that when he played golf, all too often the ball was not going where he was aiming. A third friend then wisely replied that the ball always went where you aimed, unless you sliced or hooked it, you are just aiming in the wrong place. It got me thinking about people and this life. We are all going where we are aiming ourselves to go. Do we know where we are aimed? In gold you are aiming where your hips are pointing. In life, you need to examine the type of choices you are making and you will know where you are aimed. Just food for thought. Until tomorrow.

John the Baptist is Killed, Jesus Walks on the Water

Today I read Matthew 14. The one thing I always take away from the story of Herod and John the Baptist is to be careful of what you say and what you promise. The scriptures have a few instances of something like this happening where someone swears with an oath to do something either for another person or for the Lord and they always end up regretting it as soon as it is made clear what they are asked. For example the military leader from the Old Testament, Jephthah, swears with an oath to sacrifice to the Lord the first thing that greets him upon his arrival home, and it ends up being his daughter.

This case is not so different. Herod on his birthday throws a party and his step-daughter dances for everyone and it says that Herod was pleased by her, which I can only assume meant he was aroused by her dancing. In his state, which most likely included intoxication, he promises her anything she desires and she asks for John the Baptist's head, literally, on a silver plate. Unfortunately, despite what else he was, Herod was a man of his word and had it done. I've never understood these men that make such broad promises or generalized statements to people. Perhaps it was a cultural thing, I just don't know. It has certainly served as a warning to me to be careful what I say or promise to another person.

When Jesus heard that John was killed, He departed into the mountains, presumably to pray and commune with the Father and try and deal with His grief. However, the multitudes followed after Him, and true to form, He did not send them away. Instead He bade His disciples feed the multitude of over 5000 men, women and children. Unfortunately all they had was 5 small loaves of bread made from barley and 2 fishes, not even enough for the Savior and His Apostles, let alone over 5000 people. But Jesus was not worried about it and had them all sit down and then He gave thanks for the bread, blessed it and brake it and asked His Apostles to distribute it among the people.

What faith it must have taken the disciples to trust Jesus and do this! It must have looked woefully inadequate to the Apostles as they walked away from Jesus holding their meager fare to give to the people. And yet, through some means unknown to us, the food was multiplied everyone ate their full and the leftovers were enough to fill 12 baskets full, although Matthew does not tell us this fact it is in another of the Gospels. Unfortunately, the miracle was wasted on most of the multitude which then began to follow Jesus, not because he was the Savior and had the Gospel, but because He could feed them and take away their hunger. Little did they know that He could take away so much more than their hunger if they would only allow Him the opportunity. I believe that some did, but vast majority missed the lesson entirely.

Once the multitude was sent home, the Lord sent His Apostles out into the sea so that He could be alone to commune with the Father. When He was done, He set out to join them, but they were still on the sea as it was quite tumultuous that night. The Savior did not have a boat to use to join then, so He did the next best thing and walked on the water out to them. When they saw Him they were afraid, and who wouldn't be? It's raining, possibly quite hard, and the boat is being rocked by the waves, and then they see a person out in the middle of it walking on the water coming towards them? It is hard to say what I would have thought at such a time.

Peter though, when he learned it was the Lord asked the Lord to command him to come out to Him and Jesus did so. Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water and for a moment was fine. But we are told the storm was still ongoing and he grew afraid and probably thought a little too hard about what he was doing and just how impossible that was for a human to do. He then began to sink and cried out for the Lord to save him, which Jesus of course does. Now, most people chastise Peter in this story for his lack of faith and for taking his eyes off the Savior and losing his focus. I choose instead to think of the wonderful analogy it serves for our own lives.

We desire to go back to live with our Heavenly Father, so He asks us to come to Him and we start out on our journey. Things are going well until soon we lose sight of our goal, the spiritual tempest arises and we grow afraid and start to sink into the waters of despair and sin. We call out for help and Jesus reaches out and grasps us by the hand and pulls us back onto our feet, if we allow Him to. Sometimes unfortunately, when He extends His hand to us we scoff at it and sink even further into the sea because we prefer it. After all it's comfortable in there and that's where all our friends are. However, we are meant for better things and we need Jesus' help to get back onto our own two feet. Occasionally, we stumble and fall beneath the waves through inattentiveness, at other times we dive right in of our own accord. Whatever the challenge we face, He is ready and waiting with His hand outstretched ready to help us back up and out of that sea. All we have to do is grab hold of it and let Him do the rest.

That's one of the great thing about the scriptures, the stories it tells and usually so applicable to us and we can have read them a dozen times and know their meaning when all of the sudden one day we read it and see it another way too and wonder how me ever missed it. Thank Heavenly Father and His holy prophets for their sacrifice in making sure we have these Holy Scriptures to help us on our journey, a life jacket for us to wear as attempt to walk along these waves of adversity if you will. I shudder to think where we would be without them. Thankfully we don't need to worry about it, and hopefully we are taking the time to thank Heavenly Father for that fact. I know I should do it more often than I do. A shortcoming there is still thankfully time to fix. Hopefully you express your gratitude for the scriptures and the wonderful guide to life that they are. Until tomorrow.

Jesus Teaches in Parables

Today I read Matthew chapter 13 where the Savior gives and then explains many parables. Parables are very interesting how they can reveal so much or conceal even more. I wonder if the Jews had been looking for the Messiah to come the first time and had not had so many scriptures removed about the first coming of their Messiah if Jesus would still have needed to teach in parables? I don't think He would have since He did not teach in parable to the Nephites when He visited them.

But as Jesus Himself explains in this chapter, He taught in parables in order to protect those who were not ready for the knowledge He was giving them. As we know from the Doctrine and Covenants, unto whom much is given, much is required. Or in other words, those who are taught the Gospel and take upon themselves sacred covenants are expected to live up to those covenants and follow the Gospel. Jesus taught in parables so that He could teach those who are ready and those who were not would not have to be held accountable to that level of light and knowledge.

It would seem to me though that not even His disciples were able to understand the parables that were taught as the Savior takes the time to explain most of the parables that He speaks in their presence. I think it is interesting that it seems to be the case that people almost universally learn better through stories that they do from other formats. The things Jesus is teaching them in His parables are not earth shattering truths, although it is entirely possible that I feel that way because I have known them my whole life. I don't remember the first time I heard them and I don't remember if I understood them right away or if it was only after reading/hearing the explanation the Savior gives.

So in this chapter the Savior gives the parables of the sower, the wheat and the tares, the grain of mustard seed, the leaven, the treasure hid in the field, the pearl of great price, and the net cast into the sea. The first two, the sower and the wheat and the tares are about the people of the earth and the gospel. The last 5 parables were more about the kingdom of heaven on the earth. I think the one people can relate the most with is the parable of the sower.

The sower sowed a seed which was good and some fell by the wayside and were devoured by birds, some fell on stony ground and sprouted but because the roots were not deep died in the heat of the sunlight. Others fell upon thorny ground and were smothered by the thorns and finally some fell on good ground and produced good fruit. The Savior gives the explanation for this parable Himself although I have always found this one to be fairly self explanatory, but maybe that is because I have been a missionary and thus a sower and seen this first hand.

The seeds that fall by the wayside and are devoured by the birds are those that the Gospel of Jesus Christ finds no purchase in at all. They hear the word and it does not resonate with them at all, they hear it and then they move on having changed nothing. The stony ground represent those that hear the word and accept it with gladness but they do not have a firm enough foundation and so when persecutions arise, and they will arise you can rest assured on that, they fall away. I think every faithful Latter-day Saint knows at least one person like this and it is very heartbreaking to see. But sadly, a testimony is not something one can share with another person. Every person has to build their own testimony and find their own way to deal with temptations.

Those that are choked by the thorns are those that again hear the word and receive it with gladness, but then they become caught up in the world, in their riches and the distractions of the world and so they lose their way. This is one that anyone is subject to and it can happen so subtly that before you even know it is happening to you, it is already too late and you now have to fight your way back to where you were. As I have mentioned before, there is no standing still in the Gospel, or in life. We are either progressing or we are getting worse. It's like walking on a moving sidewalk that is going the wrong way, unless we REALLY work at it, we are going to move backwards or stay in the same place. It's only when we plow through adversity that we can really make headway and go in the right direction.

Finally there are the seeds that fall upon good ground and spring up and bear fruit. We all want to be in this category and endure to the end. Unfortunately, just like those seeds, we have to work at it continually and do what is right to overcome the adversity that will come our way. There is no easy way to become a fruit bearing plant, it takes effort and time, and lots of it. But the reward is all that the Father hath. Isn't that worth it? I sure think it is. Until tomorrow.

Lord of the Sabbath and Speak Appropriately to Others

Today I read Matthew 12, which for the more part is about the Sabbath day and keeping it holy. In the Jewish culture in Jesus' day, as I am sure most of you are aware, the Pharisee's had taken a simple law, to keep the Sabbath Day holy, and turned it into a set of rules and laws that were very cumbersome and a challenge to keep. They had rules such as how far you could walk, what you "labor", if any, you could perform. In other words, they completely missed the point of the law in their zealous efforts to keep it perfectly.

The Pharisee's law was so zealous, that apparently if you were starving to death and the only food nearby was an apple on a tree, in order to keep the law, you should just starve to death. Now, that may seem extreme, but the opening verses of this chapter state that the Savior's disciples were walking through a corn field and were hungry so they plucked off some ears of corn and ate them. Now, I am not a professional farmer so I could be wrong, but I am under the impression that all you have to do to get an ear of corn off the stalk is grab it and pull down or out, very similar to plucking an apple from a hanging branch. And yet, the Pharisee's got really upset about this and told Jesus that they were doing that which was unlawful on the Sabbath.

The Savior then reminds them that there is an account where David and his men ate the shewbread that was in the house of God which only the priests were allowed to eat. But it was allowed because it was an exceptional circumstance. He then reminded them all that the Son of Man was also Lord of the Sabbath, and as we know, He was the Son of Man. Later, I assume that same day because it does not say otherwise, a man with a withered hand approaches the Lord and the Pharisee's try and trick Jesus by asking if it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath. They asked Him because, by the set of rules THEY had set up, it was indeed unlawful to heal on the Sabbath day. However, as any former missionary knows, it is perfectly ok to do the Lord's work on the Sabbath. In fact, that is the day we are encouraged to go out and visit the sick and the weary.

The Lord asks them that if they have a sheep that goes missing won't they go and find it on the Sabbath day? Which of course they would as it is one of the few exceptions they had to the rule. And as the Savior points out, how much more important is a man compared to a sheep? Sadly though, the Pharisee's did not learn the lesson and after He healed the man with the withered hand, because the scriptures state that afterwards the Pharisee's conspired against Him and sought to destroy Him. What must it have been like to live in such a time when if you didn't follow the rules the leaders sought to kill you? I cannot even imagine what such a thing must have been like but sadly it was not only Jesus' time that was this way as we know from the sad history of the world. We have but to look to the Spanish Inquisition to see a more modern example of the same way of thinking.

Later the Savior casts out a devil and the Pharisees, almost bitterly so, remark that He is doing all these miracles by the power of the devil. I say bitterly because it almost seems like the Pharisees are trying to convince themselves of the truthfulness of their words. But Jesus reminds them that a house that is divided cannot stand and Satan cannot cast out Satan. He also turns it back on them because He is not the first to cast out devils among the Jews. So He asks them if He is casting them out by the power of the devil, how are the other people who cast out devils casting them out?

He does not give them a chance to reply but goes on to teach them a few more truths. I particularly like verse 36 and 37 where the Savior says we will have to give an account of every word that we speak at the day of judgment. This is not a new concept and in fact King Benjamin and Alma the Younger both taught the Nephites the same thing in the Book of Mormon. It really gives you pause to know that what you say, even in anger, is going to be brought up to you again, but God Himself no less. It really puts a new perspective on watch what you say doesn't it? I've never understood the people that speak out in anger and don't stop to calm down before speaking. Although I will freely admit it is not an easy thing to do. It is something that has to be learned and even then it is all too easy to slip out. I remember one time when I was a missionary I was arguing with another elder that lived with us, not my companion about our front door. It had accidentally been left open all night long and we each were blaming the other for the mistake. We started to get upset and I remember I said something, not even directly at him, but realized after I said it, that by implication, since I was accusing him of leaving the door open, that it WAS directed at him. I immediately apologized, even in the middle of an argument and it actually served to calm us both down for a bit.

I remember back when I was a young adult I used to get frustrated with friends and even family that would treat other people or even each other, poorly. I used to have a phrase that I would use, "Nothing give you the right to treat someone other than the way Jesus would treat them". It doesn't matter what someone has done to us, we are commanded to forgive someone 70*7 times or in other words, it doesn't matter how often they've done it, we still need to forgive them. That can be harder than others as not all sins are created equal as we all know. But it is no our place to judge, as we talked about last week. It is our job to forgive and move on.

It can be hard to watch what you say, even when you are upset but it gets easier with practice. And I promise you that if we come to that day and the Lord asks us why we said such a thing, it will not be acceptable to Him if our answer is, "He made me angry". Better to just not have to answer for such a thing and speak civilly to each other no matter what. Until tomorrow.

The Jews Reject Jesus Despite the Many Miracles

Today I read Matthew 11. Before I was a missionary I used to wonder why people think that there are no more miracles and that there are no more prophets that are called and it seems the most natural thing to people that the Savior would call prophets for thousands of years, and then just stop. Today, it still confuses me to be honest. However, I learned as a missionary that for most of the people, it is because of verse 13 of this chapter.

Verse 13 of this chapter states, "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John". There are a couple of other very similar verses to this one which I have heard quoted but essentially the people are knowledgeable in the scriptures cite that John was the last prophet. Now, the way this verse reads is the King James version of verse 13, but there is actually a JST of verse 13 which reads, "But the days will come, when the violent shall have no power, for all the prophets and the law prophesied that it should be thus until John." Verse 13 is actually a continuation of verse 12, not a separate thought like it appears to be. This is just another example where things were lost from the Bible which have served as a stumbling block for man. John was not the last prophet, he was not even the last prophet for that dispensation.

I have often wondered, just what was wrong with the Jews at the time of Jesus' mortal ministry? I mean, were the type of miracles that the Savior was performing just THAT commonplace? Jacob in the Book of Mormon tells the Nephites, and us, that if the type of miracles that Jesus performed had been done in ANY other place among any other people, they would recognized Jesus for who He was and repented of their sins. But not the Jews in Israel. Jesus Himself says that if the quantity and quality of miracles that were performed in Capernaum were done in Sodom, Sodom would have repented and still been a city in Jesus' time! Now that's a bold statement because as we all know, Sodom was destroyed in one of the most painful ways possible, with flaming brimstone falling from the sky. And yet, Jesus boldly declares that it could have been saved just by showing the miracles He was performing on a daily basis.

I don't have an answer for just why the Jews would not repent except that they were looking for a military Messiah to "save" them from the Romans. Now, to be fair, some did believe and many, many were converted, but wouldn't you think that the entire society would have been converted? And yet is it so hard to believe that others would not believe? 500 people saw Jesus alive after He was crucified. How many people have been and walked on the moon now and yet there are STILL people who doubt it happened? Is it really so hard to believe that people rejected the Savior despite the testimonies other gave of Him? No, it's not hard to believe. Because the natural man is distrustful and does not understand the things of the Spirit and thinks that everyone is trying to pull a fast one on him/her.

So, sad to say, no it is not strange that despite so many witnesses, the people as a whole did not believe in the Messiah. I mean, would most people believe these days, despite how many witnesses there were, if such miracles were being performed today? Some would, but most would be skeptical and even if they saw them first hand would react like the pharisees did and state that it must be some kind of trick. It's sad, but true. I think that is why the second time, the Savior will come in His glory so the whole world will know and cannot deny that it is He.

This chapter is also one of the first instances of the Savior declaring His gospel to us, in the scriptures. Stating that His yoke is light and He will give us rest if our burdens are heavy. And such invitations are still available to us today. His hand is stretched out still and He is waiting for us to come unto Him. If we do, we will find rest from our worldly cares and sorrows. Anyone who has put that promise to the test can testify of that! Until tomorrow.

Jesus Calls His Apostles

Today I ream Matthew 10, where Jesus chooses His Twelve Disciples. In this chapter He also sends them out to preach the word of God and gives them instructions on how they should conduct themselves. In modern day times we are told that everyone has to have the chance to hear the Gospel and be given the chance to accept it. I have often wondered just what a true "chance" to hear and accept the Gospel is like. I bring this up because in this chapter the Lord tells His Apostles that if a city rejects them they are to wash the dust of their feet off as a testimony against that city and its inhabitants.

I'm thankful that I am not the one who has to determine what a true opportunity to hear and accept the Gospel looks like. I'm also glad I did not live in the day and age where they went out without purse or script, although I have no doubt in my mind that the Lord did indeed take care of them while they were out and preaching His word unto the Jews, and again in the early years of this dispensation. That would require a lot of faith to not know where your next meal is coming from. Or where you were going to sleep that night. But they were about the Lord's business and the Lord did indeed take care of them as they later come back to report to Jesus after they go out and preach His word.

I've often wondered if when the Savior walked the earth, in particular when He was doing His ministry, just how prevalent the Holy Ghost was on the earth? Was the Holy Ghost still testifying of the truthfulness of the Lord's words? It is my understanding that the Gift of the Holy Ghost was not given while Jesus walked the earth because there was already a member of the Godhead present on the earth. So just how prevalent WAS the Spirit? The only reason I even bring it up is because in verse 20 Jesus tells them that it would not be them that did the speaking, but rather the Spirit of their Father that was in them. Now, one could take that a couple of different ways. It could mean that because they would be speaking the things of the Spirit they would be communicating more on a Spiritual level than a physical level. Or it could mean that they would have the Spirit about them and it would give them what they should say.

Either way would be correct if we were speaking of modern day missionaries, but for missionaries during the time of the Savior, I'm really not sure. The final thought that comes to me from today's reading is from verse 39 where the Savior tells us that he who would try and save His life shall lose it and he that shall lose his life for the sake of the Gospel, or the Savior will find it. I have often found many different interpretations to this scripture throughout the years and I believe I have discussed them in the past but it bears repeating I think. I think the most obvious interpretation is that if you lose your life, or give up what you want, in order to spread the Gospel and do as the Lord wants us to do, then we will find eternal life in the life to come.

However, I think an equally true interpretation is that when we lose our lives, or give up what we want, for the sake of another, that is when we truly begin to live. In other words, if we live a life of service, that is the most meaningful life anyone can live. Just ask my wife. She spends 90% of her day doing things for my daughter and it makes her very happy to live that way. And anyone who has lived a live that is primarily service will tell you the same thing. Ask any missionary who is serving their mission the way he/she is supposed to and they will tell you that it was the happiest time of their lives or that they love it. That's because service breeds love and happiness. And all you need to do to test that theory out is go put it into practice. You will not be disappointed.

Now, it is possible to lose your life in service for God without actually being a full time missionary. all you have to do is continue to serve those around you. When you see someone in need, stop and help them. When they ask for volunteers at church to assist in something, volunteer if you are available. You will be glad you did. Few things in this life are as worthwhile as service. And it always brings incredible peace and joy to those that perform the service. Again, all you have to do is give it a try and you will not be sorry. I believe it is because when we give service to others, we allow the Spirit into our hearts and of course when we feel the Spirit we feel joy. The reason for that is because that is our purpose for being here, remember? Men are that they might have joy, in the appropriate fashions of course. But Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. Doesn't it make sense then that the things He tells us to do or asks of us would bring us joy? It does to me. Until tomorrow.

Jesus Raises Jairus' daughter and calls Matthew

Today I read Matthew 9. In this chapter we learn that Matthew was a publican, or a tax collector. I've often wondered when reading the scriptures just why publicans were regarded as sinners. I mean, if all they did was their job and collected taxes, why would the Pharisees regard them as sinners? Perhaps it was a common theme that tax collectors would collect more than just what was owed and so in that way they sinned. Or it could just be that the publicans were a visual representation of what the Jews hated, the fact that the Romans had power. I think it is probably a combination of the two, but I have always wondered why the Pharisees treated all publicans as sinners.

This is also the chapter where for the first time we are introduced to the woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years. Again it just speaks to how much we don't have of the miracles Jesus had already performed that this woman had such faith that she knew all she would need to do was touch the Savior's garment and she would be healed. Now, a more complete telling of this woman's story is in Luke and so we will put off talking about her situation until then.

Now, when the woman with the issue of blood touched Jesus, He had been on His way to see Jairus' daughter. Jairus was a ruler according to Matthew's account and his daughter was sick and he came in person to seek the Lord's help. Now in the version recorded by Luke it tells us that while they were walking to his home, one of Jairus' servants came and told him that his daughter had actually passed away and to not trouble Jesus anymore. But Jesus came anyway and told the mourners in the home that she was only asleep. The people laughed and mocked Jesus stating that they knew what death looked like.

I have often wondered why Jesus told them that she was only asleep. The only thing I can think of is at this point in His ministry He was not trying to broadcast His fame or come across as being a healer. Later in this same chapter He heals two blind men and tells them to tell no man who had healed them. So perhaps that is why He told Jairus and his family that she was only asleep. Regardless, He goes in and commands her to awake and she does. She then comes out and eats to the astonishment and joy of her parents and all who are there.

It's pretty sad to me actually that the Pharisees would attribute the miracles Jesus performed to the power of the devil when they were supposedly so learned in the scriptures. When in the history of the Jews, at least that we have a record of, has someone who could perform miracles like Jesus does, been anything other than a man of God? And yet, when He casts out devils and heals the lame and the leper and blind and the deaf, they declared it to be of the devil. I've often wondered why men are so in love with power. That is the real reason they did not want to acknowledge the Savior for who He was. Yes it is true they were looking for a Messiah who would liberate them from the Romans. But I personally think the real reason the Pharisees hated Him was because they were afraid of losing their status as "rulers" over the people, which is ridiculous anyway because the Romans were the real rulers. I just cannot even imagine the type of men that would see the things Jesus is doing and feel anything but the Spirit testifying of the truthfulness of who He is.

I often wonder if I had lived in those times and were hearing about the things the Savior was doing and how many miracles He was performing, would I believe? It's impossible to know since it was a completely different time. But I would like to think that I at least would not have been blinded by pride and desire for power like so many were back then and so many still are today. But the true seekers have always been able to find the Savior and recognize the truthfulness of the Gospel for which I have always been grateful. I hope each of you recognizes what gift we have all been given to have the Spirit to testify to each of us of the truth of the Gospel and that we have the New Testament to read about the Savior's earthly ministry and what He did for each one of us. It is a great blessing indeed. Until tomorrow.

Jesus Heals the Centurion's Servant and Calms the Sea

Today I read Matthew 8, which contains a series of miracles the Lord performs including cleansing a leper, healing the centurion's servant and calming the sea. The first miracle is the cleansing of the leper. I find this interesting how the Savior actually does the healing. The leper approaches Jesus and tells Him that he knows the Lord can save him, it's just a matter of if the Lord WILL clean him. And not only does the Lord say He will heal him, but Jesus actually touches the man. This is HUGE for this leper because under the Mosaic law, those with leprosy were cast out and no one would touch them because they did not want to catch the leprosy for one thing, but also, and possibly even more important, they did not want to touch a leper because lepers were unclean. And if they touched him then they would be unclean. So depending how long this man had leprosy, it might have been years since another person had actually touched him. Now that's compassion.

The second miracle was the Lord healing the centurion's servant. I've always marveled at the faith of the centurion, I mean I know there is a lot more that the Savior did that we don't have a record of, but for this man to believe completely that all the Savior had to do was say the word and it would be done, that's true faith. It is truly an amazing thing that this man was not even a Jew and the centurion believed completely. Like I said there must be more, many more miracles by this point that we don't have a record of for the man to believe so completely at the beginning of the Savior's ministry.

The next miracle is the calming of the sea. I've often wondered about this one. It is still calling those that were with Him disciples and so He has not called them to be His Apostles yet, nor have there been many miracles yet, that we have a record of. And yet the Lord acts as though the men's fear of drowning in the sea is completely unfounded because He was with them, but I'm not sure why the Lord felt that way. I mean, even if they had seen several miracles at this point, I'm not sure the disciples made the connection in their minds that He had the power to calm the sea. I doubt I would have in all honesty. But yet, their wording when they wake Him up seems to suggest that they felt He could do something about their plight so perhaps the light rebuke is warranted. But then at the end they marvel that He has control over the elements and the seas and the storms. All in all, the story is weirdly worded to me and I don't understand all of it. Perhaps it's just as simple as they hoped the Lord could do something, but they weren't very confident of it.

The last miracle is the casting out of the devils into the herd of swine. This story has always been strange to me. There are some details missing from this version that are in other versions that we'll read later but I have often wondered just why the entire herd of swine run into the sea after the devils go into them. Did the pigs do it themselves meaning they prefer death to being possessed of the devils? Or perhaps even more strange, did the devils have the pigs do it? I don't think that is very likely since they had just begged the Savior to let them inhabit the swine instead of just being cast out back into nothing. Perhaps the pigs were so terrified at what was happening to them that they did not even realize where they were running to and it was an accident. We may never know.

The truly interesting thing to me though is that the Lord allowed them to take over the bodies of the pigs. I would have thought that the Lord would tell the evil spirits no and force them out. Why would He allow them to take possession of another creature? We are not told and it is very strange to me. I can understand the spirits desire to have a body was so strong that it did not matter to them what body they inhabited, but why did the Savior acquiesce to their request? I may never know in this life but I am really intrigued by it. Maybe as I ponder on it I will find something out before we re-read this story in one of the other Gospels.

As we mentioned above, we certainly do not have all the works that the Savior performed and it is obvious He was already well known for performing miracles by how people are treating Him at even the beginning of His ministry. I can only imagine what we don't have a record of and will get to read some day. I think when we finally get to read the entirety of the Savior's life, the fact that the Jews rejected Him will be even more amazing and dumbfounding than it already is. Until tomorrow.

The Sermon on the Mount - Part 3

Today I read Matthew 7, the final chapter in the Sermon on the Mount. Once again I am reading the Joseph Smith Translation of the King James version so the things we talk about may be slightly different than just a straight reading of the King James version might render. The first thing Jesus tells His disciples is to avoid judging people unrighteously. Because the way we judge others is the same way we will be judged.

Now, because of the portion of this chapter that has been lost, it reads "Judge not, that ye be not judged". But really, such a command is kind of silly if you think about it. Everyone makes judgments all the time, every time we meet a new person or really even interact with our friends, etc. We are constantly making judgements about people, situations and other things. And that is good. But the JST adds the clarification that is missing from this verse by telling us not to judge unrighteously. For example, if we see someone with a cigarette hanging out of their mouth, it is perfectly acceptable to decide that is not a person you wish to associate with. It is NOT however, acceptable to judge them in your mind that they will be condemned because of that smoking habit. That is an unrighteous judgement and it is not our place to decide such things. In my opinion it is also an unrighteous judgement to judge someone before you even get to know them. It is completely unrighteous to judge someone based on outward characteristics alone, and yet we all do it seems. To dismiss someone because of the color of their skin, or the clothing they wear or their mannerisms is to judge unrighteously. Now, sadly, we live in a day and age that the way someone dresses is usually a statement of who they are as are their mannerisms, and so sad to say that most snap judgements we could make about a person based solely on their clothing and mannerisms would be all too accurate these days. So while it is ok, and even necessary to make some judgements and decisions in this life, we need to make sure we are doing so appropriately and for the right reasons.

The next part of this chapter that the Savior talks about is hypocrisy. He talks about being concerned about the mote that is in another's eye while ignoring the beam that is in our own eye. I have often thought of this in relation to an article I read once. I once read an article in the Ensign, an LDS church monthly publication for those who are not LDS, entitled, "Overlooking the smell of smoke" or something like that. And it was talking about how as followers of Christ, if we see someone in church and they have a stink of tobacco smoke about them, we are quick to judge and condemn them. And yet, as the article points out, isn't it enough that they are in church? Yes, they have a weakness and a sin, but isn't it a good thing that they are in church, indicating that they want to be better and are trying? Why would we condemn someone who smells of smoke, an outward appearance of sin, while we know for a fact that we are not perfect either and may have just as bad or a problem with sin or a different type?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is NOT for perfect people. It is for people who are trying their best to overcome their weakness and become perfect men and women. It is for people who fall, a lot, and get back up to try again. Perfect men and women have no need of church, or as the Savior will tell us Himself later, the whole have no need of a physician. We are all working towards perfection and most of us will not achieve it in this life. But we can do our best and the last thing we need to be doing is judging each other about our shortcomings. Personally, in the past when I have seen, and smelled, someone in church who smelled of tobacco smoke, I have been proud of them. How hard would it be to come to church with such an obvious sin? It would be like if you had a problem with being faithful to your spouse, bringing your mistress to church with you for all to see. Those with smoke on their person in church, as long as they are humble and repentant I should add, are very brave souls indeed.

The Lord then tells us not to cast our pearls before swine and to ask and it shall be given us. I have often wondered at the phrase do not cast your pearls before swine. It is strange to me because we are told to stand as witnesses for Christ at all times and in all places. I had often wondered why we are told to be careful who we preach to or who we explain the gospel to. But it is just as the Lord says in this chapter, they will trample them under their feet. The reason we don't explain the entirety of the gospel to everyone who comes along is because they will not understand it and will not be ready for it. And we have all met people like this, people who explain that they do not understand or care for organized religion. If you were to earnestly try and explain the gospel to those people, most of them would not be very polite in their refusal. I believe the Lord is cautioning us to use care when we are explaining the gospel to those who do not understand it.

The last part of the chapter honestly circles back around to the beginning of the chapter. The Lord tells us that by their fruits we will know them. The Lord is cautioning us to beware of false prophets, but it really applies to everyone. The Lord tells us earlier to not judge unrighteously, well, the way to avoid this is by not making those instant decisions about people like we talked about earlier. When you see people, they will show you who they are if you watch them long enough. Especially in this day and age where people don't feel the need to temper what they do or say at all anymore. We live in a day and age where people are very in your face and if you don't like it, then you are being intolerant. But the truth is, there is a right way and a wrong way to act. And people in today's world are doing everything they can to undermine what is right and what is wrong. Not everyone of course, but there are definitely some out there that that is their mission. And it is up to us as disciples of Christ to stand up for what is right and to make sure that we keep striving to let the world know that there really is a right and wrong way to behave and act.

This is the end of the Sermon on the Mount and I have always enjoyed reading and pondering it. The Lord gives some really good counsel in these three chapters and gives us a lot to work towards because no one is doing everything in all 3 of these chapters. Hopefully though we are trying and working towards it so we can be like the wise man who built a house upon the rock instead of the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. Until tomorrow.

The Sermon on the Mount - Part 2

Today I read Matthew chapter 6, the second part of the Sermon on the Mount. In this chapter, the Lord gives a lot more detailed instructions to the disciples and focused more on the intents of our heart and what our reasons are for the things we do. For example, he talks quite a bit about hypocrites and that we should not be like them because they are only after the praise of men, and are not concerned with the things of Heaven like they ought to be.

The Lord in this chapter cautions us that we should not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing when we give our alms. There are not many people outside of the LDS church that seem to follow this admonition, at least in the media. We are always hearing about how much money some celebrity has given to a charity. This is not why we should be donating money to the charities and to the poor. We do it for the glory of God and to help those in need. The satisfaction of having done what is right and fulfilling the commandments of God should be our only sought after reward. Now, I do believe that there are some that do the donation and do not wish it shouted from the rooftops and indeed there maybe some that are that way and we never hear about it at their request, and God will reward them if such is the case.

The Lord then talks about prayer. I think it's so funny that in the very section where the Lord says not to use vain repetitions is the very prayer that so many people use. There are many people that say the Lord's prayer and either that is all they recite or they recite it before they go on to say a prayer. I have often wondered why so many people recite the Lord's prayer? I have always viewed it as this is a model of the type of prayer that we can offer to the Lord, especially when viewed in the context of the prayer the Lord offers up in John 17. But everyone is raised differently and most likely I don't view the Lord's prayer as important to recite everyday before my own prayer because that is the way I was raised. But the Lord's prayer aside, I have often wondered at that phrase, "vain repetition".

To me, when the Lord is talking about vain repetitions, what I think of is a prayer where you are not really thinking about what you are saying but rather are just going through the motions of the prayer. I do not think this is done intentionally most of the time but rather it is because prayer becomes a matter of habit and not something that we take as seriously as we should. I find that the best way to combat vain repetitions is to pray out loud whenever possible. When we pray out loud, it causes us to focus on what we are saying a lot better and easier than if we pray only in our minds. It can also help to have a prayer journal, where we take a few moments before we pray to write down a few things we are thankful for and a few things we want to ask God for. I have used both devices in the past and have found them most effective when I feel my personal prayers are not being as effective as they normally are.

There is a scripture mastery in this chapter, in verse 24 where we learn that no man can serve two masters. We cannot serve God and Mammon, or we cannot be in the world and out of the world at the same time. It just will not work. For example, it would be incongruent for a devout member of any faith, to work for an alcoholic beverage company or as a stripper or anything else that goes against the core tenants of their faith. I do not know of any faith that says the consumption of alcoholic beverages is ok, hence why I did not just specify Latter-day Saints. To me, if you profess you are a member of ANY church, you should not be working in any type of industry that conflicts with those beliefs. That is why I find it so funny that, from what those of my acquaintance who view such things tell me, there are so many people in the adult entertainment industry who wear a cross or crucifix while working. Any good, devout Christian should know that working as a stripper or a prostitute or in any type of pornography is completely against the teachings of Jesus Christ. To me it is bad enough to work in such a line of work, but to wear a cross or crucifix announcing your religion while doing so is just plain mockery and a slap in the face of God. Our lives need to be all in concert with our beliefs and religious devotions. We cannot go to church on Sunday and then operate a proverbial gambling hall the rest of the week. Remember, our goal in this life is to become like God is. We cannot do that if our life is not all in sync with His ideals.

The last point I want to talk about today comes from the JST of verse 25. In the JST version of verse 25, the Savior tells His disciples to go out into the world, to preach, but to take no thought for what the world is about. He goes on to tell them that this is because the world will reject them and will cast them out because they are not the norm. This is something a lot of people have a really hard time with. It is a real struggle for most people to ignore what is said about them. Most people are overly concerned with their image and how they are thought of. I'm not just talking about their dress, but so many people will not do a certain action or go a certain place because they are concerned what others will say about it if they do. Here the Lord tells His disciples, and us for we are or should be His disciples, that they should not be concerned with what the world thinks of them, but rather that we should only be concerned with what God thinks of us.

Now this is a challenge for most, as I have said but it is so liberating when it has been accomplished. I think honestly the first thing one will need to accomplish this is to have a good understanding of who you are. You can only be successful in not allowing yourself to be swayed by the opinions of others if you are confident in who you are. When you understand that nothing another person will say about you can change who you are and does not change the reality that you are a child of God and are about the Lord's business, that's when you can successfully ignore the world and its derision. And when you have that, you can accomplish amazing things in the Lord's name. Until tomorrow.

The Sermon on the Mount - Part 1

Before we begin today's post, I need to correct myself. One of our readers corrected me on Friday's post of Matthew 3 that what I referred to as the Trinity is actually called Unitarianism. The Trinity is a belief that God resides in 3 persons, namely the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I am of course not an expert and thus my mistake of a few days ago. Thanks to the Green Platypus for pointing out my error so I could correct it.

Another quick aside and then we'll get started. Today is my 365th post! It was one year ago tomorrow that I started this blog and I have been successful in my goal of writing a post everyday! It has been an amazing journey and I can't wait to continue it with all of you! Thank you for reading and for your comments.

Today I read Matthew 5, the start of what is commonly referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount was given to the disciples Jesus had already gathered and selected. The scriptures state that the multitude was great and so Jesus retired to the mountains where his disciples then joined Him, and He then gave the sermon contained in Matthew 5-7 or it can also be found in 3 Nephi 12-14 in its entirety.

Jesus starts out with what we call the beatitudes, where He tells His disciples about several different character, or personality traits. While reading it today I was wondering if maybe Jesus did this to give the disciples hope for themselves. Mortal life is not easy, at all. We all, somehow, got this ideal that we are supposed to be striving for and if we deviate even a little bit, the world will mock us and put us down. Sometimes we don't even need the world's help, we will do it to ourselves and say things like, "If only I could be more like Donny. He doesn't have this problem." And we all do it at some point in our life. Could the Lord have been trying to speak hope to them? It is also possible that He was teaching His disciples not to be too hard on others who have those traits.

A year and a half ago, when I quit my job in Kentucky and prepared to move to Alabama, I remember sitting at a stop light I had sat at literally thousands of times before at the end of the road where my old job resided. I had just left there for the last time and I was thinking about what the future held for me. And I remember as I was sitting there, the scripture from the next set of verses in this chapter came into my mind, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid." Afterwards I had a very clear impression that one of the reasons my wife and I were to move away to Alabama is because God wanted me to be an example to those around me and that I could do more good for Him there than I could where I was at the time in Kentucky. I do not know if I am doing what He wanted of me and what he had planned for me, but I can tell you that I have gotten a lot of exposure just from doing this blog for the past year.

With the way things are going in this world, it does not take much to be noticed and be an example for Christ, all you have to do is not do what the world is doing and you will stand out like a sore, swollen thumb. But that is not a bad thing. If you had to choose, and believe me we all do HAVE to make a choice at some point, to follow the world and follow Christ, wouldn't you rather follow Christ? I sure would. I mean, what is the world going to do for you?

The next part of this chapter is the Lord trying to teach His disciples that we are more than just the sum of our actions. We also need to be careful of what thoughts we have because our thoughts turn into actions. That is why the Savior tells His disciples to not be angry with your brother, because anger can turn into violence. We are told not to look upon a woman to lust after her, which can be quite difficult considering how a lot of women dress these days! But if we lust after her in our hearts, are we being faithful to our wives? And the same goes for women as well, it is dangerous to form emotional attachments to members of the opposite gender because that is how love starts and can quickly lead to other things. Thoughts are the basis of words and actions. It's rare to do something without thinking about it first. It almost never happens. Even if it's a split second before the action takes place, you thought about it.

Sadly, controlling our thoughts is INFINITELY harder to do than just controlling our actions. It's really, really easy to not hit someone, it honestly is. But to not get angry with them in the first place? That can be a real challenge. How do you stop yourself from getting angry with someone? It takes a long time to learn that trick. The other day, my wife and I were talking about a friend we have who is married who now after many years of marriage, has finally learned to get along with their spouse. Our friend said the difference came when they both realized that when they get angry, they tend to attack each other personally and in a way they would never do if they were calm. I said to my wife that such is the way with almost all mankind really and that is the main reason I never allow myself to lose control while having an argument with my wife, which truthfully does not happen all that often. I had noticed years and years ago, almost 15 years ago now, that when I allow myself to get too angry, I become really mean and a real pill to be around. So I made the conscious choice to not get that angry anymore. Well, unfortunately when my wife and I were first married and she would start getting angry with me and would see me holding back, she would assume that I was not being completely honest with her and that there was more to say. For a long time I told her the truth that I was merely holding my emotions in check because I did not want to become too angry because I would get very mean if that happened. Well, she had never encountered someone like that before that had that kind of control, so she didn't believe me. Well, eventually I'm very ashamed to say, she wore me down and I finally lost my temper in a couple of arguments. It was nothing major but it did involve lots of yelling, some screaming and crying as any married couple will be familiar with I'm sure. After it happened a couple of times though when we were composed I brought it back up to my wife and she apologized and said she understood now and would not push me like that again.

But that is a conscious choice I make each and every time I'm in a situation like that. However, despite it all, I'm still getting angry some of the time, I'm just holding it in so I'm STILL failing! It's a never ending process to learn to have that level of control where you never get angry at someone. But it goes hand in hand with the last section of the chapter, to love our enemies and to do good to them that hate us. The only way to learn to do that is to have control, just like with avoiding getting angry. It is not something that is accomplished in a day and some few lucky people are born with the spiritual gift for it. But all the rest of us unfortunate souls need to learn to do it with God's help.

But as we learn those traits and put them into practice it becomes easier, luckily. We are not put on this earth to fail, but to choose who we want to become. Once we make that choice, God either helps us or leaves us alone. And sometimes He doesn't even leave us alone all that long. He is constantly there with his arms outstretched ready to receive us again if we desire it. All we have to do is take that hand that is stretched out to us and He will do the rest. Until tomorrow.

The Temptations of Jesus

Today I read Matthew 4 which contains the temptations of Jesus and the beginning of His ministry. I have always found it amusing that people have said that after fasting for 40 days Jesus would be at His weakest and most vulnerable state. I often wonder if the people who say that have ever fasted before?

Now, I will admit that the first temptation to create food would probably be very tempting, but the whole fact of Satan choosing this particular time to tempt Christ makes no sense to me. The Savior had just spent 40 days fasting, in other words, letting His Spirit have dominance over His body, and communing with God the Father. We can assume He has been conversing with angels and perhaps even Heavenly Father Himself. I assert that Jesus would be at His strongest that He had ever been up to this point in His life. It is very similar to Moses, why would Satan choose that moment to try and tempt Him when He was coming down from such a spiritual high? I have no idea honestly.

Nevertheless, we have a record of the temptations that Satan tries to tempt the Savior with. First and foremost, they are all a temptation against the Savior's pride. Two of them start off with "If thou be the Son of God" trying to make the Savior rise up and prove that He is the literal Son of God I suppose. I've often wondered why Satan would try and use this tactic to tempt the Savior? I have always thought of Jesus as the most humble man to ever walk the earth, without an ounce of pride in Him, why go for the pride angle? I am quite confident that the Savior was very similar to me in that He understood that no matter what people say about Him, He knows who He is and doesn't need other people to validate who He is. Now, I am in no way as humble as I'm sure the Savior is, that is not my point, but ever since I was a teenager, I have realized that it doesn't matter what people say about me, it won't change who I am. Only I can control that. It always amazes me that so many people will let the people around them dictate who they are by trying to let others have good opinions of them. I learned long ago that people are going to think what they think and I can do very little to influence that and so I don't really try. The one exception being my wife. There is something about her that just changes all the rules for some reason. The rest of the world can go do it's own thing and think what it wants about me, but for some reason I have discovered that I very much am concerned with my wife's opinions of me. A flaw in my otherwise perfect armor, ah well. Luckily for me, she is only concerned about my welfare and that I am doing what is right.

The second half of the first temptation is about the Savior's physical hunger, His appetites if you will. He tells the Savior to use the Priesthood and turn some rocks into bread to ease His hunger pains. This might actually have been tempting for the Savior given how hungry He was. We face similar temptations daily, to overeat, to drink alcohol or partake of illegal drugs or to engage in sexual relations outside of marriage or to view pornography, all are temptations of the flesh and our appetites that we must overcome if we are to be perfected. How will someone who has a weakness for overeating feel when they have no body to eat? Or someone who is addicted to pornography feel if they are exalted and suddenly sees men and women naked and having sex? Such people are not ready for exaltation, none of us are in our present state. Only through God's help can we overcome such issues.

The second temptation is all pride as far as I can tell. Satan telling Jesus that if He is the Son of God to through Himself off of a tower and angels will catch Him. Again, I find this incredibly silly because Jesus had perfect control of the Priesthood and perfect faith. All He would need to do is make a staircase out of air by hardening the molecules of the air so He could step on them. You would really think Satan could have come up with better temptations.

The final temptation was about power. Satan claimed that if Jesus would worship him, he would give the Savior all the kingdoms of the earth and make Him a ruler over them. As of they were His to give! And as if Jesus would want them. The kingdom of the Jews was His by birthright, He could have been King of the Jews, literally, if He had so chosen. He did not want it though, that was not in His Father's plan this time. Once again, Jesus rebuffs Satan with scriptures and the power He had gained through fasting and communing with God.

The rest of the chapter we will cover more fully in Luke where the Savior calls men to be His disciples. It is important to note that at this point they are only disciples, He has not yet chosen His Apostles, although the men He chooses in this chapter, Peter and Andrew, will go on to become His Apostles but that is not until later.

We can take away many things from the Savior's temptations. We can learn to quote scriptures when we feel tempted, we can learn to not fear the world and it's judgements. We can learn that Satan has no real power beyond what we give him. There are many lessons to be learned from this chapter. The real question is, which one do we each need to learn? Until tomorrow.

John Baptizes Jesus

Today I read Matthew 3, most well know for being the chapter where Jesus gets baptized by John the Baptist. John had lived his entire life in the wilderness because he too was caught under the edict to kill all children under the age of 2 years old because as we will learn in Luke, John is only about 6 months older than Jesus.

John had the Aaronic Priesthood and thus had the authority to baptize with water. He had received it from his father, Zacharias who was a priest and was offering sacrifices in the temple when an angel appeared to him to let him know he would have a son. No one was allowed to perform sacrifices unless they had the Priesthood. So it makes perfect sense why Jesus would come to John to be baptized.

We have already talked about why Jesus needed to be baptized when we discussed 2 Nephi 31 but it is good to review. First, it is written in the scriptures that all mankind needs to be baptized before they can enter into the Kingdom of God. Therefore, to not make God a liar, Jesus needed to be baptized. Second, it is a commandment of God that we all be baptized. So even though Jesus did not need a remission of sins because He had none, He needed to fulfill the commandments of God. The final reason was to give us an example to follow. As Nephi puts it, if He being holy had need to be baptized, how much more do we, being unholy, need to be baptized?

Now, John had the Holy Ghost about him and was full of the Spirit. He knew exactly who Jesus was. It is entirely probably that he had met Jesus at some point since they were cousins, but it is also possible that this was their first meeting in the flesh. We just don't know. But it is a fact that the Spirit in him recognized the Savior immediately and he knew Jesus for what he was, whether he also knew Him as his cousin or not.

This chapter is a favorite among missionaries to disprove the idea of the trinity. The trinity is the idea or belief that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost are the same person, just different forms He can take, similar to water can be a solid, a liquid and a gas. The reason this chapter is such a good one for showing this cannot be is because all 3 of members of the Godhead are present at Jesus' baptism. God the Father speaks and asserts that this is His beloved Son and that we should listen to what He has to say. Jesus is of course present in the flesh. And finally the Holy Ghost descends in the sign of the dove. Now, I personally have never seen water be in all 3 states at the same time. I suppose you could argue that when ice is melting it is in 2 states at once, but really it's not, it's just in the process of changing which state it is in.

One final note about this chapter before we end for the day. The JST adds more to this chapter in several places. In other parts of the New Testament, we find that John had several disciples that followed John, that at one point just up and leave him to follow Jesus only because he tells them to. The JST in this chapter explains why they would do that. In this chapter when Joseph re-translated the Bible he added back several verses that had been removed through some fashion or another and among those was a verse detailing that John explained to his disciples that his baptism was of water and the remission of sins. But Jesus would baptize with fire and the Holy Ghost. John was preparing his congregation to follow Jesus right from the beginning, letting them know that he could only take them so far, but Christ would be able to complete their conversion and give them all they would need to return to live with God some day. Also in this chapter John tried to help the Pharisees understand that their hang up on being the sons of Abraham was unfounded and had become a stumbling block to them. He let them know that if it suited His purposes, God could take stones and raise up children of Abraham. Now, of course the Pharisees did not understand that John was trying to open their minds to the complete Gospel of Christ and that he was truly concerned for their eternal welfare.

John probably had a very hard life, by our standards and what we all think of as comfort. But I'll bet when we have a chance to meet him, if we have a chance, and ask him he would tell us that he would not have changed it for any reason at all. The chance to baptize the Lord Himself and to be the forerunner for the Savior's earthly ministry is a wonderful privilege and one I'll bet many were envious of him for. I'm glad we have a record of Jesus' baptism and starting tomorrow we will be getting into His earthly ministry. Until tomorrow.

The Wise Men Visit Young Jesus

Today I read Matthew 2, the story of the wise men and the murder of an entire city of little children by Herod. Ever since I was old enough to read the scriptures and really understand them, so I guess a teenager, I have always found it amusing that the wise men are part of the manager scene since they were not there on the night of Christ's birth and in truth were not there until about 2 years later from what the scriptures tell us.

I've also wondered just who the wise men were for that matter. It says they saw the star in the east, which means they were traveling from Europe somewhere, or even America. I've often wondered if one of them might be Nephi, the one from the book of Helaman who is given the sealing power. Just before the Savior is born he disappears out of the land and is never heard from again. The common thought is that he was translated, but it would not be too big or a stretch that he would have departed out of the land, sailed eastward and landed somewhere in Europe or even Africa, then traveled with 2 companions to see the Savior. I'll say one thing though, if it's not someone from the Nephites, then the Lord has more people living the Gospel in that period of history than we currently know about. They also did not come out of Asia as the popular Christmas songs claim as if they had they would have seen the star in the West, not the East as the scriptures state.

Whoever they were, we know that they understood the scriptures and the prophecies and loved God and were wealthy enough to fund an expedition that lasted almost 2 years just to reach the Savior. I've always wondered why they even bothered to stop at Herod's palace since it clearly states that they continued to follow the star after leaving his palace. And for that matter, how would they even know where Bethlehem is? That would be like one of us going to China and arriving in the city of Beijing for the first time ever and they tell us we need to go over to Shanghai. What does that even mean to someone who has never been there before who has no idea where that city is? So many unanswered questions.

And then there is Herod himself. A man who was so paranoid about losing his supposed power that he slaughtered an entire city of little children. The thought of it turns my stomach and it makes me wonder just what type of people the Romans were that the soldiers would carry out such an order. It is horrifying to even consider and yet it happened. I am glad I did not live in such times when such slaughter, especially during a war, would have been commonplace. I don't think I could have handled it.

Once again, we are given proof in this chapter of Joseph's standing before God. He is warned in a dream to take Jesus and Mary, and possibly even another child by this point, into Egypt so that they are not part of the massacre that took place in Bethlehem. We have no record whatsoever of how long they were there but we know it was less than 10 years because we know the story of Jesus at the temple teaching the wise men that we will read about in Luke happened when the Savior was 12 years old. So we know they were not in Egypt overly long.

The JST of this chapter continues the story just a little bit stating that Jesus grew up strong and was patient. As with the story of Him teaching at the temple it lets us know that Jesus was different from other men and did not need to be taught as other men did. It also lets us know that Christ served under His step-father, Joseph, and was a dutiful son. Of course we would expect nothing less from the only man who never sinned in His life. Until tomorrow.

Joseph, the hand picked step-father of Jesus Christ

Today we start the New Testament and boy am I excited. The New Testament contains the only record we have of the Saviors life when He was on the earth. It is a very sacred record, as all are the scriptures but there is just something about the 4 Gospels. I really debated on whether or not to read the synoptic Gospels, namely Matthew, Mark and Luke together, reading the chapters that deal with the same parables and teachings all at once or just do a straight read through. I finally decided to just do a straight read through because each of these Gospels were written to different audiences.

Matthew was one of the Lord's Apostles and was a publican, or tax collector, before his calling. He is writing to the Jews to show that Jesus is indeed the prophesied Christ. Now, I want to let everyone know up front that I will be reading the standard King James version of the Bible, but I will be using the Joseph Smith footnotes in the LDS version of the King James Bible. The first thing that Matthew does is give the genealogy of Joseph, the step-father of Jesus here on the earth. This is important, especially to the Jews as we will find out through our reading, but genealogy is everything to the Jews, especially the Pharisees. They are constantly telling Jesus that they are the sons of Abraham. Well, so is Jesus, and not only that, but He is the direct descendant, or would be if He were Joseph's son, of King David and Solomon. This is important because this means that if the Romans were not in control, Joseph would have been the King of the Jews.

Now, there is not a lot specifically explained about Joseph in the scriptures, but there is a LOT we can infer from what is told us. We know he is a humble and kind-hearted man. In the Jewish culture, if a man, even just an engaged man, found out his wife or intended were cheating, as Joseph surely thought at first, actually had the right to put that woman in prison and make a public spectacle of her. However, that is not what Joseph wanted to do. He truly loved Mary and despite what must have felt like a betrayal, he still did not wish to ruin her life. Rather he wanted to just quietly call off the engagement and go on his way. This one simple act tells us all we need to know about Joseph.

Now, it is no surprise to me that Jesus would pick someone like Joseph to be his step-father, and be thought of as his true father while here on the earth. Since Jesus knew He would be thought of as whoever was His step-father, it makes total sense that He would choose someone humble and possessing of the qualities that would make Jesus proud to be thought of as that man's son. We know Joseph was a hard working man, because Jesus had several half brothers and sisters and only a hard working man could provide enough for a large family in those days without being a farmer.

We also know he was a God fearing man and a man who understood the scriptures. When the angel appeared to him in the dream, he obeyed without question, as far as we know of course. We know that he accepted Jesus and treated him as his own even though he knew where He had come from. We know he loved God and desired to do that which is right in His sight. Not to be crass, but how hard would it have been to get married and not have sex with your spouse for about 7-9 months because she is pregnant with a child which is not yours? I know for me that would be very hard, even knowing that it was a child conceived beyond my comprehension and it was Heavenly Father's child, it would still be a challenge. Yet this is exactly what happened according to the scriptures.

Truly Joseph was an amazing man and we would expect no less from the man who was handpicked to be the Savior's step-father. It is too bad we don't have more information than we do concerning Jesus' earthly parents. They were truly chosen and an incredible man and woman, but we'll learn more about Mary in Luke chapter 2 in a couple of months from now. Until tomorrow.

Joseph Smith Receives the Aaronic Priesthood

Today I finished reading the Joseph Smith History, verses 66 - 75, and by extension, the Pearl of Great Price. In this final section, Joseph Smith meets Oliver Cowdery for the first time who serves as a scribe for the translation of the Book of Mormon. Prior to this, Emma had been serving as a scribe for Joseph after Martin Harris lost the 116 pages that he had served as a scribe for. I've personally never really liked it when people in the church brag that it only took Joseph 30 days to translate the entire Book of Mormon, or what ever period of time they say it took. I don't like it because it is misleading and in my opinion a little deceitful. The facts are, that Joseph got the plates in September 1827 and the Book of Mormon was not published until March 1830. Joseph first did translation work in December 1827 by his own account and Oliver Cowdery did not arrive until April 1829. Even from the time Oliver arrived to the time the Book of Mormon was published was almost a full year! Now I realize that he was not engaged in translating full time, but the fact of the matter is that it took almost 2 years to do the work of translation because of persecution and economic concerns.

I bring this up because like I said, it is a pet peeve of mine and bothers me because in my opinion it is borderline deceitful. I mean, if an author is writing a book, and he is fleshing out the idea and the back story and spending all this time, and then he only spends 8 months doing the actually writing, if you ask that author, most of them will include the prep time it took them to write the book. I am currently reading a book that the author did the writing in about 4 months, and it is a HUGE book of over 1000 pages, but by his own admission, it took him 10 years to write this book. So, I understand that Joseph did NOT write the Book of Mormon and it is what he says it is, a translation of an ancient text containing the revelations and teachings of prophets here in America, but opponents of the Book of Mormon and Joseph could easily state that that first year and a half Joseph "had" the plates was prep work and the actual writing took place in 30 days. That's why I don't like saying he translated the Book of Mormon in only 30 days, it sounds too defensive. I prefer when I am asked, which honestly is not that often, that he received the plates in 1827 and the book of was published in 1830.

Anyway, enough about pet peeves. The rest of this chapter is a recount of one of the most beautiful, wonderful events in human history, the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood. It is always so amazing to me that Joseph did not take more care to record the dates such amazing events took place. We do not know the day, or even the month for that matter of the First Vision. We don't know when the Melchizedek Priesthood was restored. As a matter of fact the only date we know of for sure is the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood, and by extension the baptism of Joseph and Oliver. It honestly makes me wonder if the reason we have that particular date is because Joseph told someone right away about it and THEY recorded it, perhaps even Emma, his wife. I do not say that as a slight against Joseph, I think it perfectly logical that he would not think to write down the date given what he was experiencing and how often it was happening. Nevertheless, I would personally like to know when those wonderful, world changing events happened. But I must be content with what I have.

I think I have mentioned that I have often wondered what it would be like to meet an angel. I'm pretty sure it would scare the wits out of me, but I still think it would incredible. But to not only have an angel appear but one so famous as John the Baptist would be an experience beyond words. However, even if an angel appeared, it would not be the experience I hope for I don't think. Angels always come with a set agenda. They are not there to answer questions and "get to know" me. No, really I guess I should say I long for the day when I can just meet historical figures and just talk with them. Among those I can't wait to meet one day are, in no particular order: Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, Alma the Younger, George Washington, Mahonri Moriancumer and others. Those men always fill me with wonder when I read about them and read their accounts.

But I stray from the purpose of this post. On May 15,1829, for the first time in almost 2000 years, the Aaronic Priesthood was had by righteous, worthy men on the earth. Oliver and Joseph were then commanded to baptize each other and to re-ordain each other to the Aaronic Priesthood. I've always thought that was kind of weird. Why did they need to ordain each other again to the Aaronic Priesthood? I really don't have an answer except to maybe set the precedent that only baptized members of the church can hold the Aaronic Priesthood. I really don't know and it's kind of strange to me to be honest. I guess I will know one day. But oddities aside, this is probably the most important event to happen since the Atonement of Christ. I say it is even more important than the obtaining of the Gold Plates containing the Book of Mormon because salvation can occur without the Book of Mormon, but salvation CANNOT occur without the saving ordinances and they cannot be performed without the Priesthood. The restoration of the Priesthood was that important, although Joseph and Oliver did not realize it at the time.

Well, that finishes our discussion on the Pearl of Great Price. Tomorrow we will start the New Testament and the life of our Savior. I have been looking forward to this for a while now so we are going to skip the Old Testament for now. I can't wait! Until tomorrow.

Joseph Marries Emma and Martin sees Prof. Anthon

Today I read the 4th section of Joseph Smith's History, from verses 55 - 65. In this section Joseph Smith is employed by a man to dig for a silver mine near Harmony, Pennsylvania and meets and marries his wife. So many Latter-day Saints have a problem with Emma because of the choices she made later in life, but they are forgetting what the Lord said about Emma in the Doctrine and Covenants section 25, that she is an elect lady.

Emma was a true helpmeet to Joseph during all his trials and she probably had a harder life than anyone else in the church during those years. She had children die as a direct result of mob violence on Joseph. She had to move multiple times, under less than ideal circumstances. She had her husband imprisoned for months at a time on false charges. She put together the first hymnal of the church. And through it all, she stood by Joseph and her own testimony of the truthfulness of the work.

Not only that, but she went against the wishes of her parents and married Joseph by eloping because her father would not consent to her marrying the prophet. She is not the first, nor the last to go against her family by aligning herself to the church. I have always had great respect to those who can give up so much for the truth and the Gospel. I feel very sad and downhearted for those families which cannot accept that their son or daughter, brother or sister choose to go another way and would rather pretend that they have no such son or daughter than enjoy the time they have with them here on the earth in whatever fashion they have. Hopefully I will not have to find an answer to that question on my own, but time will tell.

The rest of this section deals with Martin Harris and the lost 116 pages, or rather the first part of that story where he takes the translated pages and the rubbings of the characters to two noteworthy professors of linguistics. I remember once I was in a Sunday School lesson about something that I cannot now recall, but we were talking about Pride at the time and what professions have a lot of pride, again I cannot now recall why. But I remember a member of the ward who was a professor mentioned that few industries, as a whole, can match the pride that one can find in academia. Even then I agreed with him that it is very true but as I have grown I have really come to appreciate his statement. Anyone who has attended college has likely come across a man, or woman, who is very full of their own self importance and knowledge and acts like they are the best thing to walk the earth. I was able to attend BYU and luckily most of those men and women who chose a life of service in teaching are humble but I did come across one or two of them who nicely fit into the former category.

We do not have a complete account of the conversation that Martin had with the second professor but it sure seems that we have a clear example of the haughty and the humble professor in Martin's story. Most Latter-day Saints are very familiar with this story. Martin took the pages to Professor Anthon who said that the translation was most correct and that the characters were of Egyptian origin as well as Chaldaic, Assyriac and Arabic. He even gave him a certificate stating as such. However, when he learned that this was a record that had been obtained through the power of God, he tore up the certificate and said that there were no more visitations. This action has always intrigued me because, if he did not want his name associated with the plates, as is the only reason I can think of that would cause him to tear up the certificate, why would he then agree to translate the book himself? For the glory of the world certainly, but did he not realize that even if he did it himself, it would always be said he got it from Joseph Smith and STILL he would be associated with a visitation of God? Sometimes I wonder if people think at all.

And then Martin took the rubbings and the translation to a Dr. Mitchell who agreed with what Professor Anthon had said 100%. Now, the story does not tell us whether or not Martin offered up to Dr. Mitchell that these came from a record that was revealed of God or not. I would assume that he did and that Dr. Mitchell was ok with it, but we are not told. This instance, as we have already discussed, is a fulfillment of prophecy given by Isaiah many hundreds of years ago, almost 2000 years from the time when it happened by current reckoning. It is strange that there are all these proofs out there for the learned and yet they will always turn their noses up at them because it is of God and really a testimony of the truthfulness is required, which most men and women will not obtain because it requires a certain level of humility.

Now, obviously I am making a gross generalization here and not all of academia is this bad, not by a long shot. But as with all stereotypes and generalizations, there is an element of truth in them and they get started for a reason. But academia does not have a monopoly on people too proud to give the Book of Mormon a chance, not even close. The world is an enemy to God and will be forever until it learns humility and to put the things of God before its' own wants. Sadly, we know from the scriptures that this will never happen and so it is up to us to remove ourselves our of the world instead. Only when we have done that can we become profitable servants to God. Until tomorrow.

Joseph is Visited by the Angel Moroni

Today I read the third part of the Joseph Smith History, from verses 27 - 54. In this section, Joseph has his famous interview with Moroni and learns of the Book of Mormon and the Nephites for the first time. Everytime I read this, I smile at the innocence of children. And while Joseph was 17 the first time this vision took place, he was still very much a child in many regards. He states that he prayed fulling intending to receive another vision since it had happened the first time.

And he was not disappointed. After he prayed he had a visit from a heavenly messenger, a resurrected being named Moroni who lived around 360 AD and the last known record we have of him being around 421 AD. Just as had happened with the First Vision, the first thing Joseph noticed was light appearing in the room. He also gives us a very detailed description of Moroni's clothing and lets us know that he has a body of flesh and bone as he could see his feet, hands, and chest.

I wonder what went through Joseph's mind as he listened to Moroni's message? He tells Joseph, who is only 17 years old, that his name will be had for good and ill among all nations. For most 17 year olds that would go straight to their head. But Joseph is of course not a normal seventeen year old. Although he tells us in this section that he was normal as far as levity and rambunctiousness is concerned. I suspect it was not really all that serious, more just kids being kids than anything, but Joseph was concerned enough to find out his standing before the Lord and also wanting to know what he should be doing.

I've often found it interesting that opponents of Joseph Smith cite this story of the angel Moroni and the First Vision as proving that Joseph Smith was a liar. They will point out that there are 4 different versions of the First Vision story and they are all different. Or they will point out key differences between Joseph's telling of Moroni's visit compared to his mother's version of it. I usually have a hard time not laughing at such people outright that their argument is essentially someone telling a story, even a true one, didn't tell it the same way every time. Generally when this happens, I am able to compose myself and I ask them a question. Have you ever told a story to someone? Have you ever told that same story to a different person, even just a few minutes later? Did you include every single detail in both tellings? Did you add some details and remove some others depending on your audience? How about years later? Did you tell the story the same way you first told it, 20 years later? Did you remember very single detail then? If they are humble enough that will usually get them thinking about it and perhaps open them up to other possibilities than Joseph was lying. Unfortunately usually the people are too stubborn to actually listen to what I say about it.

I'm also impressed in this story, as well as the whole of Joseph's history, by his family, particularly his father. With so many other people disbelieving him and his story of what happened to him, Joseph must have taken great comfort in the fact that his family never doubted him. His parents were particularly supportive of him and the visions he had. Now, I do not doubt for a moment that when Moroni told Joseph to go tell his father what had happened that Joseph went right to his dad and did not hesitate to follow the command of an angel, but I do wonder what Joseph must have thought as he walked back to his father to tell him.

As we well know, Joseph saw the plates later that same day, but was not permitted to take them because he was not ready. In most versions it is because his mind was not yet wholly on the glory of God and he allowed himself to be distracted. In other versions it just says Moroni told him that the time had not yet come for him to receive the plates. Regardless, Joseph would not receive the plates for another 4 years, but we know that Moroni taught him many things about the Gospel and about the Nephites in those 4 years that he then passed along and taught his family, including his brother Alvin who would die before Joseph actually received the plates.

Those must have been very interesting times for Joseph and his family and it is something I can't wait to talk to him about when I meet him some day. What ever the nitty gritty details of how it all happened, I am extremely grateful it did and that we have the Book of Mormon today and the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope that is what you find most important too. Until tomorrow.

Joseph is Persecuted for telling the Truth

Today I read the second part of Joseph Smith History, verses 21 - 26. It is so strange to me, as it was to Joseph Smith at the time it was happening, that so many people would get so excited about the fact that Joseph Smith had seen, or in their minds claimed to have seen, a vision. Have you ever noticed in our day that when someone claims things like what Joseph claimed we usually just think they are crazy and no one takes them seriously? Yet, for some reason in the 1800's, they were zealots and very reminiscent of the Israelites in the Old Testament, stamping out "corruption" where ever they saw it.

I've often wondered what causes mankind to be so paranoid about anything that is different than themselves. I mean, what caused the Bostonians to be so afraid that the Salem Witch Trials actually happened. That people would turn on their neighbors, literally people they had known their entire lives and see them killed, or "purified". We being much more civilized now, or so we think we are, look back at those days and shudder with horror at how superstitious and paranoid those people in those days were.

But it did not start there. There is a reason the period of time when the Gospel of Jesus Christ was off the earth it was called the dark ages. The decisions some people made during those centuries, especially those that claimed to speak for God, are truly appalling. I've heard it said that the two things you never talk about in mixed company are: politics and religion. Nothing seems to ignite such fierce debates and hatred as these two topics, and religion seems to be the more volatile of the two. Religious snobbery is what caused the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, the Extermination Order of Missouri Governor Boggs, and others that I could name if we had the time and the inclination.

If anything, the sheer amount of persecution heaped on a 14 year old boy for saying he had seen God and Jesus Christ in a vision, lends credence to what he is saying to me. Again, I think about if someone were to claim this today how would we all react? We would think he was either crazy/deranged, or that he had indeed seen a vision but it was probably not of God. But no one would pay it any mind at all and after a few weeks it would fizzle out and we would not hear anymore about it unless they did something else of note such as commit a murder or something similar. Why is that? Because it would not be truly from God. Throughout history the chosen people of God, or the Saints, have always been persecuted and had people attempt to wipe them out. The Egyptians tried it with the Israelites, the Romans tried it with the early Christians, and the Missourians tried it in the 1800's with the Latter-day Saints.

It seems to be only when there is truth is there persecution, usually. There are obvious exceptions such as the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials among others. But again, the sheer fact that Joseph Smith WAS persecuted for almost 30 years and he never changed his story even once, would be enough to convince me logically if I did not already have a testimony of the truthfulness of his words. Satan really only sits up and takes notice when someone is telling the truth. But if one of his servants sat up and claimed what Joseph Smith did, no one even cares and we just go on our way. I wonder why no one else really seems to see it? To me, people should be joining the church out of sheer logic of the facts if nothing else.

I do feel so sad when I think of poor Joseph's life though. All he was trying to do was follow God and the command he had been given and it caused him grief, pain and eventually his life. I guarantee though when we have a chance to meet that amazing man and ask him about it all, he will tell us that it was all worth it and that he would not trade one second of it or change it at all. Because he had a testimony of what was right and knew that God was on his side. And in the end, isn't that all we really need? Until tomorrow.

The First Vision

Today I read Joseph Smith History verses 1 - 20. I was originally going to read all of Joseph Smith History in one sitting but as Joseph Smith has broken it down into sections, almost like chapters, I decided to keep the normal pattern up of reading 1 section per day. Some days I feel like I could actually quote the entirety of the early part of Joseph Smith's history I have studied it so much. But it always a pleasure to review it and remind myself of the First Vision.

As I read his own account I can only imagine what life in those days must have been like for Joseph Smith. To be so young and have so much tumult going on around him must have been a real challenge. Especially when even his own family was divided on the subject. His mother and a few of his siblings were in the Presbyterian faith but his father did not join with them. I would think that regardless of what faith it was, it would be hard to be in a household that did not all belong to the same faith.

It is of course really hard, if not impossible, to know how one would really react when reading such a scripture as James 1:5 for the first time. Growing up in the church, I'm pretty sure I knew the gist of that scripture at a very young age since it is part of the Joseph Smith story. But a scripture like that must have been like a lifeline to a drowning sailor to Joseph during this tumultuous time. To be told that you could ask God and not only would He give you the knowledge you seek, but He also would not chastise you for asking Him must have seemed a wonderful promise indeed. I can only imagine the excitement Joseph must have had as he read that verse and really pondered what it meant. As he made his decision that it was exactly what he was going to do, was to ask God.

Now, perhaps nothing shows just how atypical of a teenager Joseph was so much as his reaction to his attack by Satan as he tried to pray out loud on his own for the first time. Think of your typical 14 year old. If they did something for the very first time and the reaction they got was a very real attack on their person from Satan himself, what would be their reaction? In my experience, teenagers are quick to pass judgment and declare something "stupid" after only a few seconds of effort and desire to move on. Given that, I would think that most 14 year olds would have immediately stopped praying and perhaps even apologized for whatever they did wrong. They would have, rightly so, associated the presence of the devil with their praying and immediately stopped.

However, Joseph did just the opposite. Now, this is being written 18 years after the fact, so perhaps he is putting his own spin of current thinking on an even that happened long ago, we don't know. But Joseph was able to reason that his only chance for salvation from this enemy was to pray even more. And he did so and the result was what we typically in the church refer to as the First Vision. He saw light all around him, emanating from a pillar in front of him. When his eyes adjusted, he saw that there were two persons standing in the air in the middle of that light. If he had been able to distinguish it, he would have noticed that the light actually was being emitted from these two persons, but given the circumstances, I think we can forgive Joseph for not noticing this fact.

Now, Joseph does not state as such, but I suspect these two persons were almost indistinguishable from each other, perhaps he even thought he was seeing double. But as we well know, one of them said Joseph's name and pointed to the other and then introduced the Savior of all mankind, Jesus Christ. Jesus then told Joseph many things, among which was that He did not want Joseph to align himself with any of the religions of the day, that none of them had the fulness of His Gospel. Now, that is all we are told in this scripture but I am confident that Joseph asked more things than this and that Jesus told him many more things than just this.

I can only imagine Joseph's awe and wonder at having God the Father and Jesus the Son appear in person to answer his inquiry. I wonder if he even thought it was strange. He does not state what he was expecting to happen so maybe he was not surprised at all but just figured this must be what James had meant. It really is impossible to know what it must have been like for Joseph because we are looking through the glasses of hindsight and almost 200 years of experience and we know how unique this vision was. But would Joseph know? Most, if not all, his experience with things religion were coming from the Bible and the preachers of the day, which we KNOW were not preaching heavenly visitations in those days. It's really impossible to know and Joseph really does not tell us. Now we do know that because of this First Vision his idea of answers to prayer was skewed as he will tell us on the night he met Moroni.

Thank the heavens and all that is good in the world for that First Vision which ushered in the restoration of the truth and the fulness of the Gospel. Without it, I would not be sitting hear writing this and you would not be reading this. Thank goodness that Joseph wanted to know the truth and would not accept anything less than 100% certainty on the subject of which religion to join. Sadly for Joseph, it was the end of his easy life and the beginning of a life long struggle that, as you well know, ended in his death. But I guarantee if given the choice, he would not have traded it for anything in this world or the next! Until tomorrow.