Scripture Study - Prepare/Preparation

 1/25/24 – Prepare/Preparation

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1-3)

For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. (Alma 34:32) … I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them. (1 Nephi 3:7) For he is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; and the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto him. (1 Nephi 10:18)

… the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of his coming – (Alma 16:16) But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Cor. 2:9) Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble? That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins? Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life. Behold I say, is there one among you who is not stripped of envy? I say unto you that such an one is not prepared; and I would that he should prepare quickly, for the hour is close at hand, and he knoweth not when the time shall come; for such an one is not found guiltless. And again I say unto you, is there one among you that doth make a mock of his brother, or that heapeth upon him persecutions? Wo unto such an one, for he is not prepared, and the time is at hand that he must repent or he cannot be saved! Yea, even wo unto all ye workers of iniquity; repent, repent, for the Lord God hath spoken it! Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you. (Alma 5:27-33)

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; (Eph. 6:13-18)

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting; a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God; (D&C 88:119) … if ye are prepared ye shall not fear. (D&C 38:30)

Then shall the King (Christ) say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matt. 25:34-36, 40)

Insights: It’s fascinating to me that preparation is required from both us and the Lord. The Lord prepared everything for this life ahead of time. Not only did the creation of the physical earth need preparation, but He also prepared for all eventualities that may occur to us individually. Ultimately, He prepared to send His perfect Son to Atone for each and every one of us. Not only were preparations made for this life, but God is also prepared to reward us for our efforts in the eternities.

It is our responsibility to prepare during this life to return back to God. We do this by keeping His commandments which He has already prepared ways for us to do. We do this by serving others in love and kindness. We do this by ridding ourselves of all unworthy attributes such as pride and envy, hate and ridicule. It is through the blessing of repentance that we can purge ourselves of these offending traits. And once we have repented, we arm ourselves with God’s Gospel – based on faith, prayer, study, love, etc. We need to fill the hole left by the unrighteous with those things that are good, otherwise, we leave a space available for Satan to creep back into our lives.

Being OCD, I love the idea of organizing ourselves with the promise that if we are prepared, we don’t need to fear. I am supremely grateful for the ability to escape fear! Fear disables our ability to move forward and closes our minds to hearing whisperings of peace; so being able to push that fear away through faith in following the Lord, is an incredible blessing.

And then in the end, we will be rewarded with all that the Lord can give us based on our personal choices. These rewards are more than we can even begin to imagine. What a way to end this mortal experience!  

Scripture Study - Full/Fulness

 1/23/24 – Full/Fulness

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. That (Christ) was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:1-5, 9-17)

The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. (Ps. 24:1) … the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. (Ps. 33:5) The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy: … (Ps. 119:64) For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves. (D&C 104:17)

… for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, … (Isa. 11:9) … ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:24) … he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full. (Alma 12:10) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Eph. 4:11-13)

And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care. (D&C 12:8) That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with the fulness of God. (Eph. 3:16-19) Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. (Ps. 16:11)

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. (John 15:10-12) And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his (the Lord’s) commandments. He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things. (D&C 93:27-28)

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts. (Jacob 6:5) … let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him (the Lord) continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you. (Alma 34:27)

Insights: What a varied find today has been for the topic of “full”. We learn that Christ is full of grace and truth as well as His purpose on coming to the earth – to teach all how to grow in strength and knowledge of the Lord to return home to our Heavenly Father presence.

We learn that the earth was prepared by the Lord and is full of His goodness and mercy as well as all things needed by man, and that there is more than enough for all. I love that we have the opportunity to be “agents unto ourselves” to see how we will treat what the Lord has created for us. It reminds me of families I saw growing up that would jump on couches and beds and treat them fairly poorly, needing to replace them frequently; compared to those families that taught their children how to respect and care for possessions, allowing them to last much longer. When I worked with Habitat for Humanity, one of the key precepts was the requirement for those receiving a home to spend a certain amount of time working with the volunteers in building the home. The idea was to give them a sense of investment which would hopefully give them a greater sense of ownership and responsibility in the upkeep of their home. How am I showing my love towards the Lord’s earth in my daily actions?

We also learn that knowledge brings joy – specifically knowledge of a spiritual nature. If we stay humble, meaning teachable, we will be allowed to comprehend more knowledge, eventually being allowed to comprehend all knowledge and thus become like God. And with the knowledge that we gain, we are commissioned to share it with others so that they may have the same joy. We don’t need to be scared to do this and feel we are inadequate, for the Lord won’t leave us alone in this directive. He will endow us with the words He wants if we will put our faith in Him and open our mouths.

We learn that by keeping the Lord’s commandments, we will have a fullness of joy. His three greatest commandments are to love God, and then to love other’s as you love yourself. Too often the third commandment is overlooked here: 1) love God, 2) love others, 3) love yourself. Frequently we find ourselves being cruel to ourselves. Our internal thoughts and words are ones we would never utter out loud to someone else, yet we bandy them about our heads like we deserve to be diminished. Christ never condemned, but showed only love even to the sinners – especially to the sinners. We need to show that same love and kindness to others, but also to ourselves. We are not perfect, and never will be in this life; but we are journeying toward the better and we need to stay motivated to continue to walk the path towards better. That won’t happen when we are berating and belittling ourselves. Don’t be your worst enemy! I’ve always felt that you treat a person as they could be, and more often than not, they will reach to become that person. Do the same for yourself.

Which leads us to the final lesson learned today. Though we make mistakes, we can repent and change. We can call upon the Lord for forgiveness and strength to overcome. The Lord’s greatest pleasure is in forgiveness and giving His children what they need to succeed. We never have to carry the burden of sin, mistakes, sorrow, pain, worry, and anything else that weighs us down, alone. He has given us His Son, Jesus Christ, who specifically pleaded, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30) We can yoke ourselves to the Savior and share the burden with One perfectly able to understand and supremely strong enough to carry us through. I know this to be true. I have felt His power in my life when I could no longer stand on my own and have cried out for help and mercy. He will be there for you; of this I promise!

Scripture Study - Bring

 1/22/24 – Bring

And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. (Luke 2:10) For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Pet. 3:18)

… I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens … and I will rid you out of … bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, … (Ex. 6:6-7) Wherefore, he will bring them again out of captivity, and they shall be gathered together to the lands of their inheritance; and they shall be brought out of obscurity and out of darkness; and they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel. (1 Nephi 22:12) And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places wither thou goest, and will bring thee again …; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. (Gen. 28:15)

For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out…, and gather them …, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them … I will feed them in a good pasture, … there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed … I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: … (Ezek. 34:11:16)

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; … (Heb. 13:20-21) Yea, he saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely; Yea, come unto me and bring forth works of righteousness, and ye shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire – (Alma 5:34-35) I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. (Isa. 42:6-7) 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! (Isa. 52:7)

Insights: The birth of our Savior was heralded by angels bringing the good news. News of a Savior from both temporal and spiritual death. Christ not only overcame physical death through His resurrection, but he overcame spiritual death through His Atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane. Only through these acts could He then bring us back into the presence of God the Father through grace and repentance – if we choose to utilize Jesus’ sacrifices in our own lives.

Jesus offers to find us when we are lost, to care for us as we are broken, to set us on the right paths to eternal redemption. He is the ultimate Good Shepherd! He has issued the challenge to follow Him, to do righteousness, to not come to Him alone. He will be with us the whole way – our wingman, our strength, our guiding star. We don’t have to be perfect in doing His work, His will. We just need to be willing and He will use us to the best and beyond of our abilities. As we willingly allow Him to work through us, we will be blessed beyond measure!

I want to talk about why I love this particular image so much. It is my favorite of images of Christ and sheep. I look at this sheep and imagine it is me. There have been times that I have felt like the black sheep (notice the black face of the sheep), yet even then my Savior loves me. There have been times that I have been broken (notice the broken leg of the lamb), and I have felt my Savior bind up my wounds and heal me. Not often immediately, but more frequently over time. Too many times I have felt alone and in darkness (notice there are no other sheep in the picture and the darkness behind the Savior), but if I allow it, my Savior will find me, gather me up, and carry me back to His fold where I am not alone. None of us will go through life without mistakes, sorrows, feelings of inadequacy or loneliness. Yet through it all, if we allow Him, Christ will be beside us, and steady us, and comfort us, and strengthen us. We don't have to be alone! And we don't have to let anyone else be alone either. When we are feeling stronger, we can be His hands to seek, find, bind up, and bring others. How beautiful is that? How precious is the concept of walking in the Savior's footsteps to heal someone else? What a marvelous chance to do so. May you see those opportunities and step boldly into them.