They do start murmuring on the way back though, in fact, in 1 Nephi 7:6 it says they 'rebel' along with some of Ishmael's family and want to return to Jerusalem. Nephi tries to talk to them. Among other things, he reminds them how the Lord helped them get the plates of brass from Laban. I like verse 12 when Nephi says:
"Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him."It reminds me of our family scripture, chosen because I love it and, because of its length, it is easy for little ones to memorize. Philippians 4:13 states:
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can help us accomplish things that seem too hard. The Spirit can help us find meaning in things that seem too tedious to bear but are part of our responsibilities (like laundry). They can help us with things that are huge, like selling a house for the first time and things that are small like how to discipline a child that won't sit up and share the couch during family home evening without losing the spirit.
I know I received help yesterday as I listened to Elder Richard G. Scott's talk from Oct. 2011 General Conference. It is called The Power of Scripture and in it Elder Scott says:
"The scriptures provide the strength of authority to our declarations when they are cited correctly."It made me feel silly for worrying that I had no business discussing the scriptures in this blog as I sometimes do. I guess I just need to be careful and seek the spirit as I always try to do in studying the scriptures. Elder Scott also had another quote that caught my attention because it reaffirmed what I had written about last week, about the scriptures helping with comfort and confidence. He says,
"Scriptures can calm an agitated soul, giving peace, hope, and a restoration of confidence in one’s ability to overcome the challenges of life."Today I feel very grateful for the modern day revelation we receive through the General Conference addresses as well as the standard works.
I agree...discussing, studying, pondering together can be edifying if the Spirit is with both participants. That's the key, and I think we all know that at any given moment there is always the possibility that the Spirit won't be with either one or the other, but we are all trying here. I can't think of a better reason for a blog. :) I've loved reading your thoughts. There is always a new way to look at things, and the way I see it, the more angles you look at something from, the more likely you are to be able tune into the right angle. I'm always tweaking my radar. :) I LOVED that Elder Scott talk - it was one of my RS lessons. One thing I wanted to discuss more in class, but it just didn't go that direction, was his statement about the scriptures being able to accelerate physical healing.
ReplyDeleteSo many of Nephi's words to his brothers are soooo common sense to me. I fall into the Laman/Lemuel attitude often...and when that happens, I love to use Nephi's words to knock some sense back into myself. I especially like 1 Nephi 15:8 "Have ye inquired of the Lord?" One little short 6 word sentence. or "How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord?" or "How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts?" Nephi's questions are awesome. :)
Elaine--I agree. You mentioned one of my favorites. I love when Nephi asks Laman and Lemuel if they have inquired of the Lord when they are complaining about not understanding the tree of life vision! Such an awesome lesson! I can hear the voice of so many, including me, in their reply which in modern words is probably equal to something along the lines of--No, He doesn't tell us stuff like that. I'm not sure that they ever see their lack of faith as the obstacle that is standing in their way.
DeleteElder Scott's talk mentioned so many of my favorite things in the scripture: the charity scriptures, what happens with Peter as he denies Christ, and that one about 'obedience is better than sacrifice.' When he mentioned the accelerated physical healing, I assumed it had to do with being a consequence of all the emotional help and calming effect. What do you think? Is there more to it?
GATE (Gospel according to Elaine). There is literal healing in His Word. It takes faith to search and assimilate His word into our hearts and souls. The fruit? Healing in all of it's varieties. I have personally experienced this on many different levels. I think the first part of that is the emotional help you mentioned. But I don't believe it was meant to stop there. Matt 8:8 - "speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed" (spoken by the centurion to Christ). Christ is the Word. The Word is Christ. By Christ we are healed. Healing may not be what we expect. We may be "appointed unto death". Healing may be a release from our mortal bodies. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteThat is an interesting thought. I guess I always associated physical healing with the power of the priesthood and hadn't thought much about it otherwise. I do think sometimes the answer to physical suffering is a release from our mortal bodies. Heavenly Father has that eternal perspective that we sometimes fail to see.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic. it poses the question about Priesthood power outside of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Priesthood has been in existence for eternity. By this power the worlds were formed. Lectures on Faith teaches us that the worlds were formed by faith. So, faith and priesthood are intertwined? Does my logic fail, somehow? I have struggled with understanding it all, but it's fun to think about.
DeleteThere are healings outside of the LDS church. Is that because of faith? What about the priesthood? How much does priesthood affect the every day life of a member of another faith? That leads us to power vs. authority, and the lesson D&C 121 teaches us: that authority does not necessarily equate to power. Personally, I tend toward the feeling that healing is possible to all of God's children because of belief and faith in His word. Does that mean that priesthood power is available at times THROUGH His word? He works through men that have authority, but what about those healings where we don't see where the authority came from? Does it comes straight from God? More questions than answers.
Very interesting to think about. I think there are so many marvelous people out there that are not in the church, and so do not have the priesthood, and yet they see wonderful things occur as they exercise faith in Jesus Christ. It is so interesting to think about.
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