Scripture Blog

This weblog is my personal online scripture journal. I try to read the scriptures each morning as I exercise on my cross-trainer. It has a great impact on my life and my testimony of the Savior and his restored church. The journal is really for my own benefit but I have set it up as a web log in hopes to benefit anyone else that may be interested. "For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost..." 1 Nephi 10:19

Friday, May 17, 2024

Elder David A. Bednar - Be Still, and Know That I Am God

 One of the classes I enjoyed most in college was soil mechanics.  Elder Bednar taught - 

"Jesus Christ is our Redeemer,6 our Mediator,7 and our Advocate8 with the Eternal Father and the rock upon which we should build the spiritual foundation of our lives.

Helaman explained, “Remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.”9

The symbolism of Christ as the “rock” upon whom we should build the foundation of our lives is most instructive. Please note in this verse that the Savior is not the foundation. Rather, we are admonished to build our personal spiritual foundation upon Him."

And that - 

"The foundation is the part of a building that connects it to the ground. A strong foundation provides protection from natural disasters and many other destructive forces. A proper foundation also distributes the weight of a structure over a large area to avoid overloading the underlying soil and provides a level surface for construction.

A strong and reliable connection between the ground and a foundation is essential if a structure is to remain sturdy and stable over time. And for particular types of construction, anchor pins and steel rods can be used to attach the foundation of a building to “bedrock,” the hard, solid rock beneath surface materials such as soil and gravel."

In my mind, the foundation is our ordinances and covenants.

“Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.”

Thursday, May 16, 2024

Mosiah 16

 Abinadi testifies of the Savior's victory over death - 

"Even this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption, and shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their works whether they be good or whether they be evil—

11 If they be good, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of endless damnation..."  (Mosiah 16:10–11)

Immortality is not necessarily happiness.  Eve testified "the joy of our redemption".  That is happiness.

Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Mosiah 13

 AfterAbinadi refers to the ten commandments and the law of Moses, he explains to Noah's wicked priests -

"...that salvation doth not come by the law alone; and were it not for the atonement, which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the law of Moses."  (Mosiah 13:28)

"by the law alone" does not suggest that it is not a requirement.  It does the suggest that it alone will not bring salvation.  Both the atonement and obedience to eternal laws are required .

"We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."  (Articles of Faith 1:3)

Monday, May 13, 2024

Mosiah 12

 When the wicked priests of Noah's court asked Abinadi - 

"...What meaneth the words which are written, and which have been taught by our fathers, saying:

21 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings; that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth;

22 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion;

23 Break forth into joy; sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem;

24 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God?"  (Mosiah 12:20–24)

Obviously, they consider what Abinadi was teaching was "hate speech". not being kind.  I couldn't help but think of the many arguments of laws and philosophies of today as many - 

"...call evil good, and good evil..."   (Isaiah 5:20)


Friday, May 10, 2024

President Henry B. Eyring - All Will Be Well Because of Temple Covenants


President Eyring taught - 

 “The safest place to be spiritually is living inside your temple covenants!”

“Everything we believe and every promise God has made to His covenant people come together in the temple.”

“Each person who makes covenants … in temples—and keeps them—has increased access to the power of Jesus Christ.”

He also taught that “once we make a covenant with God, we leave neutral ground forever. God will not abandon His relationship with those who have forged such a bond with Him. In fact, all those who have made a covenant with God have access to a special kind of love and mercy.”

We have been promised, “Because of our covenant with God, He will never tire in His efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust His merciful patience with us.”

Thursday, May 09, 2024

Mosiah 10

 After explaining that the Lamanites felt they wronged, which they weren't, and a victims, Zeniff states - 

"...thus they have taught their children that they should hate them, and that they should murder them, and that they should rob and plunder them, and do all they could to destroy them; therefore they have an eternal hatred towards the children of Nephi."  (Mosiah 10:17)

Sounds much like the attitude of today of oppressor/opressed where many hate the Jews of today.

Tuesday, May 07, 2024

Mosiah 9

 Zeniff confesses that he was "over-zealous" to inherit the land to the point that he made a deal with king Laman later admitting - 

"...it was the cunning and the craftiness of king Laman, to bring my people into bondage, that he yielded up the land that we might possess it."  (Mosiah 9:10)

We have been warned by our Church leaders to avoid being over-zealous in acquiring our desires and possessions with overpowering debt being brought into much bondage.  Lesson learned.

Monday, May 06, 2024

Mosiah 8

 Ammon explains - 

"...that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God.

17 But a seer can know of things which are past, and also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed, or, rather, shall secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to light, and things which are not known shall be made known by them, and also things shall be made known by them which otherwise could not be known.

18 Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings."  (Mosiah 8:16–18)

We sustain the First Presidency and members of the Quorum of the Twelve as prophets, seers and revelators.

In my mind, "The Family - A Proclamation to the World" is evidence of seers in our day.

Friday, May 03, 2024

Elder Ulisses Soares - Covenant Confidence through Jesus Christ

 Elder Soares taught - 

"Dear brothers and sisters, those who gain genuine confidence in the covenants made in the house of the Lord through Jesus Christ possess one of the most powerful forces that we can access in this life."

"Nephi beheld the influence of this type of confidence, writing, “I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, … and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.”"

"...President Russell M. Nelson, reminds us about these vital principles by saying: “The temple lies at the center of strengthening our faith and spiritual fortitude because the Savior and His doctrine are the very heart of the temple. Everything taught in the temple, through instruction and through the Spirit, increases our understanding of Jesus Christ. His essential ordinances bind us to Him through sacred priesthood covenants. Then, as we keep our covenants, He endows us with His healing, strengthening power. And oh, how we will need His power in the days ahead.”

Thursday, May 02, 2024

Mosiah 7

 Limhi taught his people - 

"For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not succor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a stumbling block before them.

30 And again, he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison.

31 And again he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth immediate destruction."  (Mosiah 7:29–31)

As we pray for our country and our safety, we should also remember this truth.