Do I delight as did Nephi?

2 Nephi 11

Nephi is writing, but Jacob has been talking.  Nephi, Jacob and Isaiah have all seen the Lord.  Nephi’s soul delights in proving the truth of the coming of Christ, the covenants of the Lord, grace, justice, power, and mercy in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death, aka bondage.

Do I delight as did Nephi?  I am constantly pondering the truths I read and desire that others would just read or listen to them as well.  How could you possibly disbelieve them?  Right?  I delight in my covenants with the Lord.  Every day when I dress, I give thanks for the covenants I’ve made with my Heavenly Father and I feel His love in return.  Every day I marvel at my own deliverance from bondage.  It was a miserable world I had subjected myself to, and through the grace of my Savior, I was rescued.  I wonder how I found the courage to make the changes as I see others close to me struggle to give up their weapons of rebellion.  It’s not an easy thing, yet it seemed very natural to me once I included the Lord in my efforts.

I delight in Heavenly Father’s power – in the power of the Atonement, to rescue those I love from their poor choices.  Yes, it will be hard for them, but when they turn it over to their Savior and do as He has asked, they too will glory and delight in His power to overcome their adversities. 

I delight in His eternal plan.  I know He has a plan for each one of us and it is our task to discover that plan. 

What are my instructions from reading this morning?  I am going to try ever so hard this time through the Isaiah chapters to apply them to me.  I tend to get buried in the words and don’t dig as hard for their meaning.  Maybe I’ll get my book out “Understanding Isaiah” this time.  

We are free to choose.

2 Nephi 10

I love this chapter as it talks about America being the land of liberty.  No king shall rule.  America can’t be free if it’s people are not.  What makes the people not free?  Sin!  When we sin, we become burdened and lose our freedom to choose. 

Toward the end of the chapter – the last three verses, in fact, we are told to “cheer up [our] hearts”.  We are free to act for ourselves – to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.  In order to do this, we must reconcile ourselves to the will of God.  What does that mean?  What is God’s will?  One could probably start with keeping the commandments.  If we would diligently just keep these basic commandments, our world would be much improved.  But then we are reminded that even if we do the basics, it is only through the grace of God that we are saved - in other words, the Atonement. 

Nephi tells us not to yield to the will of the devil and the flesh.  Interesting that the flesh is used synonymously with the devil.  The devil doesn’t have a body, yet he knows so expertly how to get mankind to succumb to his temptations.  How does he do this?  By appealing to the weaknesses of the flesh.  Think about the array of sins?  Aren’t they all a weakness of the flesh?  As I examine my own life and the lives of those close to me, it is the flesh that is the weak link.  How does one overcome the flesh?  Although hard, for me it was one checkpoint at a time.  I would see something in myself that needed correcting and I would work on it.  It was a conscious thing and I’m still in the process, although not to the extent I was in the beginning of my “coming to myself” (Luke 15:17).  Russell M. Ballard’s conference talk “That the Lost May Be Found” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbrEMY7nCl4, made reference to that chapter, so I read it this morning. 

So where am I going with these thoughts this morning?  What is the nugget I will chew on this day?  I suppose it would be that we are free to choose.  Choosing wisely will preserve that freedom.  It is in making a wrong choice that we limit our choices.  The need to repent and the option is always there.  I guess this is why the brethren counsel us to repent quickly.  The longer we take, the more we feed the flesh and it becomes strong and harder to let go of guilty pleasures – those pleasures that would take our freedoms away from us.

I love my scriptures!

2 Nephi 7 & 8

Isaiah speaking.  I’ve been to classes where these chapters were explained.  I’m still learning.  These chapters are difficult for me.  But there are words I do understand and in the latter days, I know there are certain things we can expect.

Chapter 7 v10-11 I find interesting – probably because I’m witnessing it in a daughter.  Isaiah asks the question “Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light?”  That’s a little confusing to me since if we fear the Lord and obey the voice of his servant, how can we walk in darkness?  I have a note in the margin that the darkness is spiritual darkness.  Then v11 answers the question.  It is he who kindles his own fire.  They make up their own rules and disbelieve the prophets, scriptures and basically the gospel.  This is still a little confusing to me because how can you obey the servants of the Lord and make up your own rules at the same time?

I don’t know that anything I have to write this morning could be enlightening to anyone, as I come away having more questions than answers.  However, I know the Book of Mormon is truth and filled with guidance.   Some day I will understand the words of Isaiah.  As I’ve read these chapters numerous times, I have to say it gets easier and some things I’ve learned about them pop up quickly when I read them.  Maybe it is this that I’ve learned:  The more we read and ponder the scriptures, the more the language becomes familiar and rings true.  I love my scriptures!

Wait Upon the Lord

2 Nephi 6

What does it mean to “wait upon the Lord”? (v13)

Genesis 49:18 “I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.”

Psalms 25:5 says “Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.”

Proverbs 20:22 “Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.”

Proverbs 27:18 “Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.”

Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

1 Nephi 21:23 repeats what Jacob has just said about Kings and Queens being nursing fathers, and mothers.  “. . . for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.”  I wrote “trust” in my margin

D&C 98:2 “Waiting patiently on the Lord for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testament – the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted.”

D&C 133:45 “. . . O God, besides thee, how great things thou has prepared for him that waiteth for thee.”

In 2 Nephi 6:13 it says “ . . . For the people of the Lord are they who wait for him;”

Recompense as a verb is synonymous with reward or repay.  So that verse leads me to understand that we will not be rewarded for our evil, but we should wait on the Lord and be saved.

I’m intrigued that the fig tree is used as a metaphor.  I did a search for how long it takes a fig tree to ripen.  It was a bit fascinating.  It varies depending on the location, soil, container, etc.  But raising a fig tree obviously requires patience.  One man said his was going in the garbage this season if it didn’t produce a fig.  This also implies that not many ripen.  Isn’t that just like people?  Some ripen in the gospel quickly; some take f o r e v e r!  But if we will wait on the Lord, we will be honoured.  (Be regarded with respect.  By whom?  I guess the Lord, our Savior?  Not real certain, as I don’t think we are to aspire to be respected.  Isn’t that like being puffed up?) 

Those who wait upon the Lord trust Him and His ways.  They don’t give up when things get rough.  They keep trying over and over again.  They know a loving Heavenly Father who knows and cares about them is hearing their prayers.  They start over and over as many times as it requires, and they hang in there for the duration regardless of the outcome.  This can seem a little tough for some who feel they have not been so blessed.

This is a little fragmented, but I wanted to pursue my initial question.  What does it mean to wait upon the Lord?  Know that He has a plan for each of us and that the ultimate goal is for each of us to return to His presence when we leave this earthly existence.  Wait patiently upon the Lord (D&C 98:2) might be a better way to put it.  Patience and faith are key words.

Live After the Manner of Happiness

2 Nephi 5

Nephi gathers those who want to live righteously and they travel several days away from those who do not want to keep the commandments of the Lord and are causing them grief.  Thus begins the Nephites and the Lamanites.

Once they reached the place where they were going to call home (and they called it the land of Nephi), they began to live “after the manner of happiness”.  What is it to live like that?  In verses 15-18 it defines it as an industrious people who worked with the tools they were given, i.e. wood, iron, copper, brass, steel, gold, silver, etc.  They built a temple, so obviously they “worked” at worshipping there.  They labored with their hands; in v14 they made weapons of defense.  They did not have a king (v18).   They grew their food (v11).   

I found this all very interesting this morning because of a friend of mine who is an excellent example of living after the manner of happiness.  She is a young widow and lost one of her daughters 10 days within the date of her husband’s death.  This is a situation that could take a lot of people down.  I have noticed she lives after the manner of happiness.  She showed me her garden the other night.  It is beautiful, big and will feed an army and it keeps her busy.  She works as an ordinance worker in the temple weekly as well as attends regularly.  She is a substitute teacher and is very involved in her church calling.  She is busy. 

Conversely, I see a young woman who is about as miserable as anyone I have ever known.  Happiness seems to elude her.  She is single and can’t seem to find a relationship that works for her.  She has no hobbies or outside interests.  Her main focus is exercise.  Well, you can’t do that all day long.  She is self-serving and talks of little else but herself, her woes, her accomplishments, her loneliness, and when you are with her, you just listen.  She is not living after the manner of happiness and she is definitely NOT happy.

Yes, this chapter is a handbook for living after the manner of happiness.

Psalm of Nephi

2 Nephi 4

Lehi finishes blessing his children and dies.  It wasn’t long and the brothers started making more grief for Nephi.  (Isn’t that just like life?  Things don’t stay comfortable for very long.)  It is this chapter where Nephi cries to the Lord for his own sins.  His sins?  Are you kidding?  The man was so very good.  He was a prophet.  But he sinned in his feelings towards his brothers at times.  A sister in RS once said this psalm is evidence of some depression as well.  This sister is a psychologist. 

Of course, I had my Carli filter on as I was reading today.  If she could only read this with the intent to have it help her.  Yesterday she was fired from her employment that she absolutely loved and lived for.  The path she is on is dangerously destructive and I fear for her like a mother does.  What verses screamed at me this morning?  Easy.  “. . . why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul?” v27

“Awake, my soul!  No longer droop in sin.  Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.”  V28  My advice to anyone is to define the enemy of your soul.  Of course, it is Satan, but he has minions who work for him – not the least of which are our own weaknesses.  Define those weaknesses.  Begin to conquer them with the help of your Savior.

Another verse:  “Yes, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh v35.”  For crying out loud, just ask!  He is there for you.  You are not the first one to feel as though you are in the depths of hell and you will not be the last.  Reach out for help.  The Lord loves you and will have someone there to help you.  You must make the first move though.  And maybe even the second, third or fourth move, but the Lord will send someone.  You will begin to see His hand in your life.  This was my experience.  I’ve heard others give similar testimony and I know it is the plan.  The Lord has a plan for each of us and it is not to wallow in despair at the the destructive mess we create from sinning.  He wants us to return to Him, and He has provided a way for that.  Our Savior, Jesus Christ, has paid for our sins.  We do not have to keep paying for them and stay planted in them.  We can move forward and I pray like I’ve never prayed before that you will have the courage to reach out. 

Hmmm.  I guess I made this a bit personal today, didn’t I?  To me, reading the scriptures is a very personal thing.