Fortify our Cities

Before Peter became the strong chief apostle that we revere today, he demonstrated much human weakness. Many of us suffer through the same mistakes and weaknesses that Peter made throughout his discipleship. Christ warned Peter that there would come a time when Peter would deny knowing Christ three times. In Matthew 26 v. 69, Peter was in Caiaphas' Palace when a woman asked if he knew Christ. At that point, Peter began fulfilling Christ's prophesy of ultimately denying Christ three times.
My professor shared an interesting insight of how there might be places where we might find ourselves weak in standing up for the truth. For Peter, this was Caiaphas' Palace. If we find ourselves in a place where we struggle standing up for righteousness, we need to avoid this place. One I heard these comments I was reminded of a General Conference talk given by Richard G. Scott in October of 2013 entitled "Personal Strength through the Atonement of Jesus Christ".
When Ammon's Lamanite converts covenanted to never take up the sword again. This was not because it would always be evil to take up the sword but because of their past, it was necessary for them to take extra caution around the weakness of being a former blood thirsty people. This caused me to reflect on my personal weaknesses. I thought of ways I could personally "fortify" (Alma 53:6) my barriers around my weaknesses so I am less likely to fall in temptation.  I am thankful for the atonement of Jesus Christ, who can make my weakness a strength (Ether 12:27).

Better understanding the infinite Sacrifice

One of the beauties of the restored gospel how it sheds more light on our savior's infinite sacrifice. The term "atonement" came from William Tyndale during his translation of the bible. He made up to the word to mean the process of becoming "at one" with God. In our new testament class we discussed about a few scriptures that add further light on this subject. In Alma 7:11 Alma explains that as part of the atonement of Jesus Christ, our savior would "go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and sicknesses of his people."This scripture teaches us that all the trials Christ went through during this time was essential an essential part of the atonement. He had to truly be alone. He had to be rejected and persecuted as an essential part of the atonement process. V. 12 explains to us that he suffered all this so he could personally relate to any pain, suffering, discouragement and sorrow that we might go through. That is comforting to know when I am struggling that I can call upon him to comfort me.

Forget Yourself and Go to Work

This week in New Testament class our professor discussed the role of the Holy Ghost in the Godhead. It is odd on how much we talk of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and not not very much of who the Holy Ghost is as the 3rd member. In John 16:13 Christ tells us that the Holy Ghost "shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will shew you things to come." When we think of the role of the Holy Ghost as simply being a messenger, it tells us how we should act as his servants. When we are on the errand of the Lord, we don't put the focus on us, but on Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost understands that perfectly. He simply does his job and gets out of the way to put focus on our savior. 

The Savior then puts our focus on the Father. In Moses 4:2, Christ told the Father that he would do what the father asked him to do and give Him the glory. That night after the New Testament class , I was in the car with a friend from the mission. As we drove I told him how I saw the bishop of a ward I served in on my mission. The bishop recognized me but didn't know my name. I knew he had seen a lot of missionaries between since a year and a half ago but my mission buddy brought up a good point to me. He asked me "doesn't it felt good knowing that you worked hard and received none of the glory?' I got out of the way so the focus could be on Jesus Christ. Reflecting on the work I had done in that area, I realized that it wasn't a bad sign that the bishop didn't remember my name. When I think of this type of missionary work, I think of the quote by Gordon B. Hinckley's dad- forget yourself and go to work.

God's Gifts

In my New Testament class, we discussed the parable of the talents. This master gives his servants different amounts of talents. Many people assume that Christ is talking of the skills many of us have. However, a talent is simply a sum of money and thus the symbolism can be looked at with a much broader view. A talent can be any gift that our Heavenly Father has given us. this parable is perfect to think of during this thanksgiving season. Some of the gifts my Heavenly Father is a loving family that also loves God. This also reminded me of the verse in the Doctrine of Covenants that tells us of the gifts of the Spirit our Heavenly Father has given us. Doctrine Covenants 46:11-12 says "For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God. To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby." I thought of the people I've met through out my life they have told me stories that have happened through the gifts of the Spirit. Many of the gifts that were made present during each miracle were ones I never experienced. At times I struggled believing since I had never had such an experience myself. However, as I grown I've seen miracles myself that manifested to me that Heavenly Father has given me gifts of the Spirit. These experiences with this scripture has helped me gain a stronger testimony in those miracles I have not experienced myself. In the parable of the talents the lord tells both the 5 talent servant and 2 talent servant the same reply. In verse 21 and 23 of Matthew , the lord says "Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of the Lord." This shows that our God does not trust those he has given any more responsibility to anymore. He does not have a bigger celestial vision for them. He only expects each of us to do our best with what he has trusted us with. I think of everything I've been taught since I was a child and realize how accountable I am to all of that. I also understand that this knowledge I have given does not make me better in God's eyes by any degree. I am very thankful for everything I have been given.

Overcoming False Traditions

Changing one's way of thinking is one of the hardest changes in this gospel. When one has grown up believing some idea for most of their life, it can be very hard for someone to then believe something else. A false tradition that the Jews believed, including the Apostles, was people were blind because they were sinners. In the beginning of John 9, Christ comes across a blind man that had been blind since birth. In verse 3 Christ took the time to explain to these apostles "neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that works of God should be made manifest in him." I thought of how that might have been hard for the apostles to digest. For the longest time they looked at blind men as sinners and now they were being told otherwise. I thought of how difficult it has been in America's history for groups of people to overcome feelings of racism. I thought of how there might be ways I hold on to false traditions or ideologies that aren't of God. In that way we are all like the blind man by how we can be blinded from the truth because of false traditions we have brought ourselves to believe. Luckily, our savior is there to remove the blindness from us- which would take a miracle. Our savior tells us this in the Book of Mormon. Ether 12:27 we learn Christ will take the weaknesses and imperfections we have and make them in to strengths. I am grateful for my Savior making that possible.

The Showing of True Charity

This week our class had a discussion on the adulteress woman who was brought before Jesus. In an attempt to trick Jesus. the scribes and pharisees brought forth a woman who was "taken in adultery, in the very act..." (John 8:4). As they tried to corner him in to the old testament commandments, he yet again found a way to get out. As these pharisees left, Christ asked had a short conversation with this woman. At the end of the conversation he tells her that he does not condemn but to "go, and sin no more." John 8:11. What I find so beautiful about this is how Christ is showing true charity towards this woman.
In Moroni 7:45 we learn charity "is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity..." If we truly show love to someone then we aren't going to tell them inappropriate behavior as righteousness. Elder Holland confirms this in his talk "The Cost and Blessings of Discipleship". He says "Christlike love is the greatest need we have on this planet in part because righteousness was always supposed to accompany it. So if love is to be our watchword, as it must be, then by the word of Him who is love personified, we must forsake transgression and any hint of advocacy for it in others."

As Christ speaks to the adulteress woman, he shows her love and gives her hope that she can repent. I often see myself in that situation of how I can have this rising guilt for my mistakes and Christ gives me that hope that I can change. This story has given me a better understand on how Christlike love works and how views us in our sins. 

The parable of the Soils

It just so happens that this week my BYU professor touched on one of the most intriguing parables to me thus far in my life- the parable of the sower. As it was the topic I decided I wanted to do my essay project on, I had been learning about it a lot. This last week he talked about it in class and it caused me to think about one of the soils that I find the most interesting. A sower is throwing out seeds in to the ground. Christ mentions the seeds land on 4 different types of soil. In Matthew 13:7 it says some of the seeds "fell among thorns; and forthwith they sprung up and choked them;"
One of the beauties of this parable is he actually gives the interpretation. In verse 23 it reads "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful." I would like to compare that to the wording of the same parable in Luke 8:14. That verse says "And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection." The reason I wanted to point out this verse is because it caused me to think of the type of heart that could be included in this group- mine. Fruit has often been compared to as works. There are many times in the scriptures in which this symbolism can be connected. In this context I would like to say the same. The heart mentioned in verse 14 went and worked after hearing the word. Unfortunately, their heart was still in "the pleasures of this life" and so they ultimately brought "no fruit to perfection." This phrase is what really caught my eye. This is someone who is doing the work but with the wrong motivation or does not do the work correctly. For example they may be doing service but their motivation might be so that they look impressive to others. Another example on how they may be doing the right thing the wrong way is when they go home teaching simply so they can report that they got 100% that month. Another example is someone who likes the gospel but it is second in importance behind popularity. The reason I mentioned my heart as this soil is because I realized there has been times when I might have been living righteously but my heart desired the life of popularity. I saw the people at the high school parties. I would never go but in my heart I wish I was there. I feel, over time, my heart transformed as I yielded to the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost took that desire from me.  This is an example of a heart that started "among thorns" but transformed in to "good ground." I also feel that my heart is in different places with different principles of the gospel. For certain principles, my heart was good soil, but for others it may have started out as stony. Over time, through Christ I know my heart can be changed for every principle of the Gospel. That is the beauty of the atonement.

Confirmation to one's prayer

Confirmation to One's Prayer

This last week in my New Testament class, Brother Griffin talked to us about miracles. As he lectured, I realized he was teaching something that I had pondered for a long time. I soon realized I had come up with the same answer. I felt that maybe I hadn't witnessed any real miracle. I wanted the experience of where the Spirit prompted me to do something ridiculous that ended working out. People always talked about these feelings they received when they found out something was true. I wondered why God would choose to use a spiritual experience as a miracle, rather than something visual that we can see. The physical miracles we would consider to be undeniable, because through our eyes or ears we experienced something that could not be explained other than it was from God. I wondered why I had not yet had such an experience. I wondered if there was some way I was lacking. I would read these scriptures in the New Testament and ask "If God would do these miracles before, how come we don't see them that often today?" I would read these stories of angels appearing, people being raised from the dead,instant recoveries from sickness, being protected from massive armies and so on. I had never witnessed in my life time one of these miracles. I remember once struggling with this and was hoping I could be shown something supernatural to confirm I was in the right this Gospel was true. I remember fealing silly after nothing happened. It wasn't until much later that this experience happened to me.

When I was a missionary, I was on exchanges with a missionary with diabetes. He was a healthy boy and had done well keeping his blood sugar at the correct levels so when he had forgotten his glucose pen at his apartment he wasn't too worried. He said call 911 if anything happened. The next morning we were about leave to play basketball for morning workouts, when I turned around I saw him collapse and start having a seizure. I knelt down, placed my hands on his head and gave him a blessing. I called 911 and then the mission president. I was told the seizure was caused by his blood sugar levels being too low and he needed more sugar in his system immediately. With no glucose pen, I ran around the apartment looking for something that contained a lot of sugar. By then, the ambulence had come and this missionary had become conscious. They tested his blood sugar and it was at normal levels. They couldn't believe it. They thought that something else had caused the seizure and accused us of taking drugs. I remember sitting there and thinking "I can't believe my blessing worked!" 

I had never seen such a miracle at that degree. There is no scientific reason on how he should of come out of that seizure. Not only was it faith promoting, it helped me realize that the importance of spiritual experiences can be much more impactful. I reflected on how I felt with that blessing compared to how I felt when I felt the spirit. I remembered the Spirit confirming to truths when I was baring testimony.I remembered the time I felt the Spirit call me to repentance and I had a completely different undeniable feeling.  It also inspired change. I realized that the difference is in one we are witnessing a miracles, while the other, we are the miracle. I felt God cared more about our spiritual welfare than our temporal welfare. 

With Brother Griffin's class, everything I had been taught by the Spirit had been confirmed. It helped me gain confidence that those thoughts were from the Spirit and not my own. 

The Sermon on Repentance

This last week I had one of my most favorite lectures thus far in this New Testament. He took the Sermon on the Mount and completely just blew my mind. In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus begins his discourse with a list of people that are "Blessed" (V.3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10). As do most people, it is really easy to just look at that list and think that those are just different groups of people Christ understands, and appreciates and that there isn't a deeper connection other than that.
He first state "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." (v. 3) It is easy to presume that he is referring to people that lack confidence, or arrogance. Christ is there to lift those people up or is there to teach them. If we do take it as it is, it can also read "poor in the Spirit..." Looking at it that way may be initially confusing because that seems contrary to the way Christ wants us- he wants us to be rich in the Spirit. Instead we should view it as being aware of our lack of Spirit. There has been times in all of our lives when we have felt spiritually stagnant. We feel like we've hit a brick wall and aren't "feeling it." That is a time when we will feel bad for all the ways we fall short and our shortcomings because extremely obvious to us. That might a time when we would consider mourning (v. 4). Once we do see all of this, the hope is that we turn to God for help. We pray to him and come to him with meekness (v. 5). If you turn to that chapter you can start to see how I am connecting the verses together in such a way that Christ is not talking about groups of people, but of a process. That process that is coming forth is repentance. I personally feel that the biggest difference between people that don't progress and do progress is becoming meek. Often they feel the guilt for the mistakes but they don't turn to God to overcome them. This humility will cause one to hunger and thirst after righteousness (v. 6). I think that is the action behind the meekness. I also noticed that it mentioned both hunger and thirst. This reminded me of the eating of the bread and drinking of the water during the sacrament. It can be compared to how the atonement can satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst. As God is merciful to us throughout this process, it is important to be merciful (v. 7) to others. When we do all these things, God will begin to purify our hearts (v. 8). That purifying will grant us peace. When we have found that peace, we are responsible to help others find that peace in their life (v. 9) This is the essence of missionary work. As is always the case, those who try and share truth will have many enemies and will be persecuted for it (v. 10). As Christ taught this sermon, it was much more than just explaining that these groups of people were blessed. He was teaching us the steps of full and complete repentance. Those to live this and continually apply this steps will in inherit the kingdom of heave (v. 3, 10).

To Find Christ

Due to a challenge issued this week by my professor I decided I would study Matthew chapter 2- the story of the Wise men coming to see Jesus. As I studied I was to compare how the Wise men would find Christ compared to how King Herod would try. When I read, I compared the Wise men's story to how I might spiritually find Christ.

When the wise men entered Jerusalem they started asking (mat. 2:2) "Where is he that is King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." The word it used was "saying" prior to this question. I only point this out because it did not say "asked." The first thing we do in our journey in finding Christ is to ask. It is not simply asking once but asking many times. So when it used the word "saying" I feel they were asking everyone they saw. God helps those who keep trying find Christ. 

I noticed at the end of their question, they note for what purpose they are trying to find Christ; it was to worship him. This purpose contrasts with that of King Herod's. When he heard of Christ (Mat. 2:3), he was "troubled." This showed that he did not have room for Christ because he felt threatened rather than at peace. Already he was shutting out the grand story of Christ. When he went to find out more (Mat. 2:4), he did not ask- instead he "demanded"his priests and scribes to tell him. One can not make demands when trying to find Christ. 

When King Herod talked to the Wise men, he lied to them about his intentions. In verse 8 he tells them that he wanted them to tell him where Christ was so he could "worship him also."  Really, he wanted to kill Christ when he attempted to in verse 16. God will not answers prayers that are a lie. If one says he would like to "find Christ," his heart has to be pure.

 I also note that King Herod did not go out himself to discover, but rather tried to take a shortcut by just having someone else tell him. We can can not share a testimony. In order to gain a testimony we have to go out ourselves to search and find it. Like wise, Herod's efforts of finding Christ through someone else's efforts would not work. 

The next part I noted was when the Wise men finally met Christ, they came with a gift for him (Mat. 2:11). I think one of the most important parts of my journey of finding Christ is I should come with a gift. I should ask myself what I can do for my Savior, who sacrificed it all in my behalf. That gift is an the act of becoming consecrated. He asks me to give myself to him. The best part about giving gifts to Christ is I am not giving up anything that is worth keeping. 

That is the beauty of Christ's atonement. Any sacrifice I make is an investment. I gain more than I can give.

Alone, man is nothing, but through God, is everything but nothing

In the beginning chapters of the book of Moses, God explains to Moses who he is. He tells Moses of the creations and everything he has ownership over. He explains his great power and his endless ability. This may sound like God bragging but when God tells Moses "behold, thou art my son..." (Moses 1:4) I realized it was God teaching Moses who he was. I just imagine a king and this boy riding around the kingdom. The King shows him the amazing castle, the armies, the marketplaces, the dining halls, the servants, the people, the riches, the tapestries and so on. The boy stands there in amazement as he sees every thing that the king owns. At the end of the carriage ride, the king tells the boy that some day it will all be his, and his to take care of. The boy realizes that he is so privileged but also realizes how great of a responsibility he has. Moses must have felt the same way.
Moses continues to have this conversation with God. God shows him the creation of the world and of many other things. After showing all this to Moses, he withdraws himself from Moses. At that moment  Moses collapses. He then responds "... now for this cause, I now know man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed (Moses 1:10)."
I did not entirely understand this statement until one explained to me that Moses is not saying man is worthless. What he means is that on our own there is absolutely nothing we can do that is any good. God is good, and he is His child. Only through God can Moses be made great. Thus this statement is a sign of humility rather than hopelessness. That is exactly God wants us to feel. He does not want us to feel worthless, he wants us to understand that we must turn to Him and rely on Him. It is only through God can we truly show humility.

What child is this?

One of the beauties of attending Brigham Young University is I get to study the Word of God for a class. This semester I decided to take a New Testament class and I do not regret it one bit. It simply amazes me that there is much more to the scriptures than meets the eye. Moroni 10:32 says "yea, come unto Christ and be perfected in him..." I have heard this scripture since I was in primary but it wasn't until a year or two a go that I could comprehend the meaning behind that statement. I now see the savior as someone reaching down with his arm to help lift me out of my current way of life into a life that is beautiful. He will continue to do this for us as we progress towards the goal of perfection. Viewing Christ as this perfected God that desires us to come him can be very intimidating but when we view him as how he entered this world, we get a better idea of who he is and how he wants us to be. Luke 2:7 tells us that he was born in a manger. The circumstances of his birth were not sanitary at all. The animals would stink and they probably didn't keep where they lived very clean either. It really shows that Christ is the God for all of us as he entered this world as a baby in a smelly animal house. In Matthew 19:14 Christ tells the people to let the children come yo him because "such is the kingdom of heaven." The reason children are so special to Christ is because they have qualities that come naturally to little children that many of us can lose in our adult years. One of them is they are approachable. It is a rarity to hear someone being intimidated by a little baby. This is how Christ wants us to view him. He is supposed to approachable from anyone in any walk of life. When my professor told me to view Christ as he was in the manger, and think of the phrase "come unto Christ," my attitude changed on approaching him. That insight really stood out to me as I thought of how that is a beautiful way to think of it. It is also a quality in Christ that we should try to emulate. This is so we can help anyone feel comfortable about approaching us. This will give us more opportunity to serve and help those that are struggling as they approach us with those things that they need help with.