Gems missed

2 Nephi 10

A few gems I missed. The last few days I've read my scriptures from my iPad. The advantage is that I have have my scriptures nearly anywhere I go. The disadvantage is I miss some of the “gems”. One is 2 Nephi 9:39. SMILE=Spiritually Minded is Life Eternal. I love that thought. Those who have their focus on the Lord, doing His work here on earth and keeping the commandments DO smile more than those who are, as Jacob puts it in chapter 10:24, yield to the will of the devil and the flesh.

This is the first time I've thought about it. The devil and flesh are used in the same breath. Why? The devil never has had a body of flesh. Yet he knows the weakness of the human family. It is the flesh! As I look at it, nearly any sin I can think of is a fleshy one. Drinking, drugs, pornography, sex outside of marriage – the list goes on. That was just an interesting thought to me this morning.

Going back to the SMILE, in Ch10, v23 it says: “. . .cheer up your heart. . .” The Lord wants his people to be happy. Last night in the temple a member of the presidency spoke to us before our endowment session. He mentioned several references to “resting upon the Lord”. What is that rest? It is the peace/rest we find by keeping our covenants in an upside-down world. The world is whacked and it's not going to get better. In fact, prophecy tells us that the world will be worse then Sodom and Gomorrah before the Savior returns. We can see it is headed in that direction, yet those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ and hold strong to the covenants they have made with the Lord and prepare for his coming, somehow find peace/rest and manage to have joy in the gospel. It is an amazing thing.

How do I apply this to myself this morning. Well, the last few days I have let myself dwell on the self destruct of a precious daughter. I know I need to give it to the Lord. I can't fix it and it isn't mine. He will work his miracle with her just as he did with me. I need to find rest in that belief and focus my attention into building his kingdom as I have covenanted to do. I will say that I actually asked the Lord to take this one from me last night. I've done this before, but I for some reason decided to take it back. This is not a good thing. I gave it back to Him and I will move forward. I can love without being consumed in the poor choices of someone else.