Friday, May 24, 2013
People became evil and turned against each other. This is because of Satan. Satan wants to bring chaos and disruption into the people of the earth. He is a jealous figure who hates love and despises happiness. With this being said, we know that Satan will do anything to stop us from being happy and loving the Lord. The perfect example of this is in the section below, Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy. When he did this, their family was also very upset and unhappy. We know that this was Satan's plan. It made him overjoyed to know that these people were miserable. He feels the same way when we aren't happy and turn against each other. Even when we don't agree with other people's decisions, the best thing we can do is stand by them, not turn against them and abandon them. For one, it is not right and two, it also creates a void in which both people do not want to be around each other. This becomes a problem, especially in families, which are most sacred. Families need to support each other. In fact, they are the main support group, so when you take this away, you really don't have much left.
In this chapter, God becomes angry with the people for not listening to Him. Heavenly Father asks us to repent for our mistakes. Basically, feel bad about what you did, pray and ask for forgiveness, and try to not do it again. It is a very simple process and yet the people of this land ignored it and with that, the Lord became angry with them.
Heavenly Father tells Enoch to go to the people and say "Choose ye this day to serve the Lord God who made you." This is a reminder to us that as we go throughout each day, we need to choose to serve the Lord, our God and Heavenly Father. He created us and loves us dearly.
As I began pondering about this section, a Mormon Message I had been a bit back came to mind. It was called "Waiting on Our Road to Damascus." This is a story about a man named Saul, who was walking upon the road to Damascus when suddenly a light appeared on him. He hear the Lord's voice asking him why he had done all of the bad things he had. In the end, Saul became Paul and set out to serve the Lord. This video tells us to choose this day to serve, not one day, but this day. To say one day or someday states an indefinite amount of time. You could go on forever without actually choosing to serve the Lord. This is of absolutely no benefit to us. After all, if we are not doing the Lord's will, how can we be blessed? The point is, choose this day to serve the Lord; do not wait on the road to Damascus (after all, most of us will not have a Saul/Paul moment).
Follow what the Lord says. Enoch testified and spoke what the Lord told him to saying "If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heavens, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you." Heavenly Father has asked us to follow this and it really is quite simple. Repent, be baptized, know and believe that Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son and believe in Him, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and strive to follow God in the best ways you can, you will be able to be with Him in heaven. He also tells us that if we ask all things in His name, what we need shall be given to us. That's a pretty amazing promise, to know that Heavenly Father will always help us when we really need it.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Moses 5
Friday, May 24, 2013
To prove their obedience, God asked Adam and Eve to worship only Him and also to sacrifice the "firstlings of their flock."
(verse 6) Adam shows faith when he answers the angel's question by saying "I know not, save the Lord commanded me."
Everything we do is in the name of Christ (verse 8) this is something important to remember because when we do something, it should only be good things since it is in the name of Christ.
Adam received testimony that Christ is the Only Begotten Son of Heavenly Father. When Adam received this, he was filled with the Holy Ghost and began prophesying about his children and families.
Something that came to mind when reading this is that we can lean on Adam's faith when we have little or none of our own. One day when I was having a discussion with an Elder about whether or not God has a body, he told me, that for that time, I could lean on his faith until I had some of my own. Sometimes we do need to lean on each other's faith when we don't have our own. When times get us down, we can have help with this from someone else to help us be able to pray to Heavenly Father and ask for help from Him to get us back up on our feet.
Satan is always in our lives to disrupt our obedience to Heavenly Father. In this section, there are some verses that talk about how he told the children of Adam and Eve not to believe and that he is also the son of God. Unfortunately, some people did follow him and from that time, evil people began to exist upon the earth. In our lives, we cannot allow this to happen. Somewhere I had read that even just having faith as big as a mustard seed is good enough because Christ can take that faith and make it grow into something much bigger. All we need is some faith, trust and hope, and things will be alright for us.
Satan told Cain to make an offering of fruit unto the Lord and the Lord rejected it while He accepted the firstlings of the flock from Abel. This is because Cain did not follow what the Lord had commanded. This shows that the Lord wants us to listen to Him and will reject things, like the fruit, if we don't. The Lord is the one and only God and we need to listen to Him above everyone else. What pleases Him is what matters, and nothing else.
In anger, Cain went and slew his brother. This was also because of jealousy. Many people become jealous of those who follow the commandments of the Lord. This is unavoidable. We need to hold our faith and never waiver. The Lord is always there to help us. With the story of Cain, we know that the Lord will never give us a punishment, or in our case trial, that is too much for us to bear. He knows what we can handle far better than we do. Sometimes it's all we can do to remember that and rely upon Him. There is a Bible verse that tells us to "wait upon the Lord." This means wait patiently and the Lord will help you because sometimes, certain things that happen or need to happen can only be done by the Lord, not us.
One other thing that needs to be pointed out is in verse 58, we are told that angels themselves came down to earth to declare the truthfulness of the gospel. With this, we know that the gospel is real and true.
To prove their obedience, God asked Adam and Eve to worship only Him and also to sacrifice the "firstlings of their flock."
(verse 6) Adam shows faith when he answers the angel's question by saying "I know not, save the Lord commanded me."
Everything we do is in the name of Christ (verse 8) this is something important to remember because when we do something, it should only be good things since it is in the name of Christ.
Adam received testimony that Christ is the Only Begotten Son of Heavenly Father. When Adam received this, he was filled with the Holy Ghost and began prophesying about his children and families.
Something that came to mind when reading this is that we can lean on Adam's faith when we have little or none of our own. One day when I was having a discussion with an Elder about whether or not God has a body, he told me, that for that time, I could lean on his faith until I had some of my own. Sometimes we do need to lean on each other's faith when we don't have our own. When times get us down, we can have help with this from someone else to help us be able to pray to Heavenly Father and ask for help from Him to get us back up on our feet.
Satan is always in our lives to disrupt our obedience to Heavenly Father. In this section, there are some verses that talk about how he told the children of Adam and Eve not to believe and that he is also the son of God. Unfortunately, some people did follow him and from that time, evil people began to exist upon the earth. In our lives, we cannot allow this to happen. Somewhere I had read that even just having faith as big as a mustard seed is good enough because Christ can take that faith and make it grow into something much bigger. All we need is some faith, trust and hope, and things will be alright for us.
Satan told Cain to make an offering of fruit unto the Lord and the Lord rejected it while He accepted the firstlings of the flock from Abel. This is because Cain did not follow what the Lord had commanded. This shows that the Lord wants us to listen to Him and will reject things, like the fruit, if we don't. The Lord is the one and only God and we need to listen to Him above everyone else. What pleases Him is what matters, and nothing else.
In anger, Cain went and slew his brother. This was also because of jealousy. Many people become jealous of those who follow the commandments of the Lord. This is unavoidable. We need to hold our faith and never waiver. The Lord is always there to help us. With the story of Cain, we know that the Lord will never give us a punishment, or in our case trial, that is too much for us to bear. He knows what we can handle far better than we do. Sometimes it's all we can do to remember that and rely upon Him. There is a Bible verse that tells us to "wait upon the Lord." This means wait patiently and the Lord will help you because sometimes, certain things that happen or need to happen can only be done by the Lord, not us.
One other thing that needs to be pointed out is in verse 58, we are told that angels themselves came down to earth to declare the truthfulness of the gospel. With this, we know that the gospel is real and true.
Moses 4
Monday, May 20, 2013
Satan rebelled against God because He would not allow Satan to be His Only Begotten Son. Satan wanted the power and glory for himself. But the Chosen One said to Heavenly Father that the glory would always belong to Heavenly Father. Because of this, Satan was so filled with hate and rage that Heavenly Father denied him what he wanted, he left and became the devil. Satan has been so angry that he has done everything he can to stop us from hearing the voice of God.
Satan, through the serpent was able to trick Eve and Adam into eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This, though, is absolutely essential to The Plan of Salvation because it allowed Adam and Eve to know the difference between good and evil. This is significant because Adam and Eve were able, in a way, to become more like God. Satan accidentally did the work of God. Part of Satan's plan was to destroy agency (verse 3). God wants each and every one of us to exercise dependence. That is why we have been given the gift of agency. Agency allows us to make our own decisions, even when they go against that of Heavenly Father. Through this, though, we can learn to live righteous lives and one day return to Heavenly Father, as He wants us to do. When Adam and Ever were banned from the Garden of Eden, it also allowed them to follow more of The Plan Heavenly Father has created for us. It allowed Eve to produce children, something she could not have done if she were still in the Garden.
Satan rebelled against God because He would not allow Satan to be His Only Begotten Son. Satan wanted the power and glory for himself. But the Chosen One said to Heavenly Father that the glory would always belong to Heavenly Father. Because of this, Satan was so filled with hate and rage that Heavenly Father denied him what he wanted, he left and became the devil. Satan has been so angry that he has done everything he can to stop us from hearing the voice of God.
Satan, through the serpent was able to trick Eve and Adam into eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This, though, is absolutely essential to The Plan of Salvation because it allowed Adam and Eve to know the difference between good and evil. This is significant because Adam and Eve were able, in a way, to become more like God. Satan accidentally did the work of God. Part of Satan's plan was to destroy agency (verse 3). God wants each and every one of us to exercise dependence. That is why we have been given the gift of agency. Agency allows us to make our own decisions, even when they go against that of Heavenly Father. Through this, though, we can learn to live righteous lives and one day return to Heavenly Father, as He wants us to do. When Adam and Ever were banned from the Garden of Eden, it also allowed them to follow more of The Plan Heavenly Father has created for us. It allowed Eve to produce children, something she could not have done if she were still in the Garden.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Moses 2-3
Monday, May 20, 2013
In this particular passage, Moses 2, God talks about how He created the Earth. Further along, He talks about how He has dominion over us all. I think this is a great thing for us to remember and should have attention drawn to it. This is so important for us to know because it reminds us that we are not the ultimate creature. While we may rule over the animals here on Earth, there is one we are not above. We are not the top, or the best. We rely so much on our Heavenly Father as we go about our daily lives. At the same time, this is very humbling. We know we can call upon someone greater than us whenever we need help. I know for me personally, there have been many times I have had to ask God for help because I did not know the answer or wasn't sure if my answer was the correct answer. But Heavenly Father knows. In the first verse it says "I am the Beginning and the End, the Almighty God; by mine Only Begotten I created these things; yea, in the beginning I created the heaven, and the earth upon which thou standest." This reminds us that God is always here. I feel that this is always incredibly reassuring to know that He will never leave us. He is the Beginning and the End, which means He has been here in the beginning and will be until the end, and even after that.
God, as we know, created the sun and the moon. I think we can use both of these to serve as a reminder that He is always with us. When the sun sets, the moon appears. And even during a new moon, we can still see its outline.
Something that came to mind as I read this is we can think of the sun as God. Not that the sun is God, because it is not. But it is LIKE God. CREATED by God. And can serve as a reminder that He is always there. The sun, in our solar system is the brightest. And like the sun, God is the best and brightest. We can think of the moon as to being like His Son, Jesus. Jesus is not God, but He does play a massive role in our lives. We can think of Him as the lesser of the great lights. And as we ponder on this we can think of the stars that surround them as us. Each of His little children. None greater than Him, but nonetheless, still important.
In Moses 2, The Plan of Salvation is referred to when Heavenly Father tells Moses of how He created all things "spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth." With this being referenced, I believe we can know for sure, without a doubt, that we were once in Heaven with our Father as spirits before we came to this earth. Because we were created spiritually before we were created naturally.
Continuing with the reference of The Plan of Salvation, we know Heavenly Father wants us to learn and grow so that we may one day be like Him. Part of being like Him is some self-reliance; being somewhat dependent. This is often a difficult concept to grasp because we don't want to rely so much on Heavenly Father that we ask Him for help with everything, but neither do we want it to be where we only depend on Him in moderation. When you try to balance something like that, with just moderation, bad things happen and you no longer carry the same amount of faith you once bad. You begin to think that you can do things by yourself, that you do not need Heavenly Father. I have been there before and I can say it is not fun. We need Him more than we could ever believe. But it is also His will that we exercise some dependence. It is also very important to remember that Heavenly Father created each and every one of us and that He loves us very, very much.
In this particular passage, Moses 2, God talks about how He created the Earth. Further along, He talks about how He has dominion over us all. I think this is a great thing for us to remember and should have attention drawn to it. This is so important for us to know because it reminds us that we are not the ultimate creature. While we may rule over the animals here on Earth, there is one we are not above. We are not the top, or the best. We rely so much on our Heavenly Father as we go about our daily lives. At the same time, this is very humbling. We know we can call upon someone greater than us whenever we need help. I know for me personally, there have been many times I have had to ask God for help because I did not know the answer or wasn't sure if my answer was the correct answer. But Heavenly Father knows. In the first verse it says "I am the Beginning and the End, the Almighty God; by mine Only Begotten I created these things; yea, in the beginning I created the heaven, and the earth upon which thou standest." This reminds us that God is always here. I feel that this is always incredibly reassuring to know that He will never leave us. He is the Beginning and the End, which means He has been here in the beginning and will be until the end, and even after that.
God, as we know, created the sun and the moon. I think we can use both of these to serve as a reminder that He is always with us. When the sun sets, the moon appears. And even during a new moon, we can still see its outline.
Something that came to mind as I read this is we can think of the sun as God. Not that the sun is God, because it is not. But it is LIKE God. CREATED by God. And can serve as a reminder that He is always there. The sun, in our solar system is the brightest. And like the sun, God is the best and brightest. We can think of the moon as to being like His Son, Jesus. Jesus is not God, but He does play a massive role in our lives. We can think of Him as the lesser of the great lights. And as we ponder on this we can think of the stars that surround them as us. Each of His little children. None greater than Him, but nonetheless, still important.
In Moses 2, The Plan of Salvation is referred to when Heavenly Father tells Moses of how He created all things "spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth." With this being referenced, I believe we can know for sure, without a doubt, that we were once in Heaven with our Father as spirits before we came to this earth. Because we were created spiritually before we were created naturally.
Continuing with the reference of The Plan of Salvation, we know Heavenly Father wants us to learn and grow so that we may one day be like Him. Part of being like Him is some self-reliance; being somewhat dependent. This is often a difficult concept to grasp because we don't want to rely so much on Heavenly Father that we ask Him for help with everything, but neither do we want it to be where we only depend on Him in moderation. When you try to balance something like that, with just moderation, bad things happen and you no longer carry the same amount of faith you once bad. You begin to think that you can do things by yourself, that you do not need Heavenly Father. I have been there before and I can say it is not fun. We need Him more than we could ever believe. But it is also His will that we exercise some dependence. It is also very important to remember that Heavenly Father created each and every one of us and that He loves us very, very much.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Moses 1
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Something I have always found a difficult concept to grasp is that God loves us even more than our Earthly parents (verse 10). It is so hard to understand because our earthly parents love each of us very, very much. It is also incredible, though, to know that there is someone who loves us even more. He loves us no matter what we do, even when He is not pleased with our actions. This is always very reassuring to me because I know I will always be loved, even when my parents disagree with me on things such as spiritual beliefs.
In verse 16, God makes it very clear that there is only one God. This is incredibly important for Moses to know because he is later tempted by Satan who pretends to be something he is not. Knowing that there is only one God, Moses was able to draw strength from Him and resist the power of temptation from Satan. Moses had an encounter with Satan where Satan claimed to be the Only Begotten Son of God. We can think of this to be similar to the trials we have with our faith. Every day, we face trials. All of these trials are faith based. We must trust in the Lord and call upon Him for strength to help us through our daily lives. Some trials are harder than others. And sometimes, it does not seem like Heavenly Father hears us. But He does. We just have to remember that He will answer our prayers in His own time. One thing one of my friends has told me is sometimes we need to take a step back from our situation and look at it in the whole of things. I took this into consideration and realized that our trials are like a speck of dust in the big picture of things. Heavenly Father sees and knows the big picture. We need to trust that He will answer and help us when the time is right for Him, not necessarily what we think is the right time. Even when it seems that He does not answer us, we need to hold onto our faith and trust Him. We cannot allow ourselves to be tempted by Satan in any way.
I find it almost amusing that throughout this passage, Satan continuously tries to tempt Moses into thinking that he, Satan, is the Only Begotten. It's funny because Satan already knows he's lost. God wins. Always. Sometimes even Satan accidentally does the work for God without realizing it until it's too late. We can think of our trials like this. Each time we are tempted by Satan and we get through the trials, we can know that our strength and faith in the Lord has greatly increased. This, of course, is not what Satan wants. But in a way, he does God's work each and every time he tempts us.
In verse 26, God tells us that He is "always with thee." We can replace Moses' name with ours and know that God is always with us, as well.
The idea of The Plan of Salvation is referenced in verse 31 when God says that He has made the earth "For mine own purpose." He has made the earth so that we could go to a place where we could learn and become more like our Father. And if we do as He says and live our lives to the very best of our ability and follow Him, we can one day return to Him.
Something I have always found a difficult concept to grasp is that God loves us even more than our Earthly parents (verse 10). It is so hard to understand because our earthly parents love each of us very, very much. It is also incredible, though, to know that there is someone who loves us even more. He loves us no matter what we do, even when He is not pleased with our actions. This is always very reassuring to me because I know I will always be loved, even when my parents disagree with me on things such as spiritual beliefs.
In verse 16, God makes it very clear that there is only one God. This is incredibly important for Moses to know because he is later tempted by Satan who pretends to be something he is not. Knowing that there is only one God, Moses was able to draw strength from Him and resist the power of temptation from Satan. Moses had an encounter with Satan where Satan claimed to be the Only Begotten Son of God. We can think of this to be similar to the trials we have with our faith. Every day, we face trials. All of these trials are faith based. We must trust in the Lord and call upon Him for strength to help us through our daily lives. Some trials are harder than others. And sometimes, it does not seem like Heavenly Father hears us. But He does. We just have to remember that He will answer our prayers in His own time. One thing one of my friends has told me is sometimes we need to take a step back from our situation and look at it in the whole of things. I took this into consideration and realized that our trials are like a speck of dust in the big picture of things. Heavenly Father sees and knows the big picture. We need to trust that He will answer and help us when the time is right for Him, not necessarily what we think is the right time. Even when it seems that He does not answer us, we need to hold onto our faith and trust Him. We cannot allow ourselves to be tempted by Satan in any way.
I find it almost amusing that throughout this passage, Satan continuously tries to tempt Moses into thinking that he, Satan, is the Only Begotten. It's funny because Satan already knows he's lost. God wins. Always. Sometimes even Satan accidentally does the work for God without realizing it until it's too late. We can think of our trials like this. Each time we are tempted by Satan and we get through the trials, we can know that our strength and faith in the Lord has greatly increased. This, of course, is not what Satan wants. But in a way, he does God's work each and every time he tempts us.
In verse 26, God tells us that He is "always with thee." We can replace Moses' name with ours and know that God is always with us, as well.
The idea of The Plan of Salvation is referenced in verse 31 when God says that He has made the earth "For mine own purpose." He has made the earth so that we could go to a place where we could learn and become more like our Father. And if we do as He says and live our lives to the very best of our ability and follow Him, we can one day return to Him.
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