Life

23 FEB 15

In 3 Nephi 13:3-4 we are told to give our alms in secret. Tithing and other offerings should of course be given without fanfare but I think we can also expand this principle to acts of service. While sometimes it can be good to broadcast doing service activities to get others to join in, I find that there is a certain joy in helping others without much fan fare. During a conversation at a pathway gathering we discussed some of the ways we can secretly serve others. One of the ways I like is doing small acts of service for neighbors without them knowing. Another of the students in my group told of how she has paid ahead for groceries of a family she was prompted was in need and left before they could see she did it. There are many ways we can serve God and others in secret. Have you been the recipient of some secret act of service like I have mentioned? If anyone is actually reading my blog please comment below.

In 3 Nephi 13-14 it talks about forgiving “men their trespasses”. This is one I actually struggle and think about often as a principle in my life. I was abused by my parents and later placed in foster care. Have I forgiven them of their trespass or am I too emotionally indifferent to them after all these years to really feel a trespass from them? It’s a difficult area for me to be introspective of myself on. I often look at my pass divorced of emotion in a third person observer view. I hope I have done well enough in this area to acknowledge the need to forgive them.

24 FEB 15

Mote or beam in eye. (3 Nephi 14:3-6)

This scripture is a nice reminder to not be too judgemental of others. We all have things we can do better in our lives. When we become judgmental of others, we also display a level of pride that can blind us to the pride and other things we need to fix in our own lives. In many ways the pride itself that we display when we are unrighteously  judgmental of others can be the whole beam in our eyes itself.

By their fruits ye shall know them. (3 Nephi 14:15-20)

This scripture tells us how we can identify a true prophet by the fruits that they bring forth. I think we can apply this same principle to other things in our lives. One example would be relationships. There are positive relationships and some can be negative. We can tell them apart by the fruits of the feelings they create. When a person is in a relationship that causes mistrust or fear, it is most likely a negative relationship and that should be evaluated. If the relationship breeds love, comfort, trust and other positive feelings, then that is a relationship to cherish and nurture.

25 FEB 15

In 3 Nephi 15:18 we learn about the direct connection between belief and understanding or as the verse puts it unbelief and not understanding. I think part of this can be due to the teaching nature of the Holy Ghost when we are humble and prepared to listen. I think the other part of what causes this connection is the closed mindedness that comes with self assurance and not being open to learning. When a person thinks they already know something they will often discredit evidence to the contrary, even when it’s not logical. This creates a large difference when comparing the learning potential of those who are open to believing and those who are closed to it.

Here is a good quote another student shared with me this week on this subject.

Joseph Smith said, “As far as we degenerate from God we descend to the devil and lose knowledge, and without knowledge we cannot be saved.” Shared by Toni Maxwell.

27 FEB 15

In 3 Nephi 16:7 it talks about the fulness of the truth coming out to the Gentiles. It’s interesting to catch these prophetic words of our day. The gospel has been restored and is spreading across the earth. I had the chance to serve a mission. After my mission I have even been blessed with an opportunity to bless and baptise a person while I was deployed in Iraq. We currently have 84,000 missionaries serving across the world. To put that in perspective that’s more people than the total number that serve in Australia’s military and numerous smaller countries. There is a spiritual army of God spreading the gospel across the earth.

28 FEB 15

In 3 Nephi 17:4 Christ tells us he is going to speak to the lost tribes of Israel. I wonder if this was literal or if he meant less literally in that the people didn’t know they were of the lost tribes. I suppose when he spoke to the Nephites and Lamanites he was speaking to one branch that new their lineage. When he spoke to others, did they know their lineage was of the lost tribes. We we have a chance to read more about this one day? Those are some questions I have about it.

What were the great words spoken of in 3 Nephi 17:16-17? It makes me wonder if it was something like some of what is taught in the temple and they considered the exact words too sacred to share in a direct written record. Hopefully we will find out in our own way one day.

2,500 souls (3 Nephi 17:25)

I wonder how much time did it take for Christ to minister individually to all the children in that group? That is a lot of time when you think of it. What a sweet blessing it must have been to those children and their descendants.

 

I’d like to say another big thank you to all those who showed up for picking up trash at the park today. I know Nina Alejandro took a good group photo so I hope she can share that here later. It took us less than an hour and we picked up several bags of wrappers, cigarette butts, firework casings, broken glass and many other random pieces of trash in the area.

I’d also like to say thank you to those that got some of their neighbors to come. We ended up with a larger group than I imagined for the first time doing this. It felt nice to do something positive in the area.

Edit: Added photo’s from Nina.

16 FEB 15

Nephi translated. (3 Nephi 1:3).

When I die this is the way I prefer to go. As I understand it when prophets walk off like this it is to be translated directly. That seems much nicer than the normal process of death.

Voice of the Lord telling of upcoming birth. (3 Nephi 1:12-13).

I went back to note on this after another student mentioned it. I think Christ had a bit of a different birth and was connected to the body later than others.

Curse taken away (3 Nephi 2:15-16).

This is an interesting scripture. The Lamanites became lighter after becoming righteous. I wonder why the Lord doesn’t do this today. Has it been too long for the symbol to matter in this way?

17 FEB 15

I found it interesting that among the Nephites they had a custom to choose someone that had the gift of revelation and prophecy (3 Nephi 3:19). I wonder how that would change things today if we had men of similar qualities in similar leadership positions? We definitely wouldn’t have some of the scandals that have occurred in recent years with some of the military leaders in the US. I wonder what the US government would look like if we had more leaders with genuine faith and integrity? I could imagine the gift of inspiration and prophecy must have been a great strength to those Nephite leaders.

They were “strong with armor” (3 Nephi 3:26).

I’ve had to wear armor several times in my life. This was a picture from some pre-deployment training before I went to Iraq. It can be a pain to wear but it will protect you. This also makes a good spiritual story if you relate it to wearing the whole Armor of God.

18 FEB 15

Reverse siege (3 Nephi 4:4) and (3 Nephi 4:20).

As a past logistics guy in the Army I love this. You can only go so far living off the land. As Napoleon said “An Army marches on it’s stomach”. The foresight and planning ultimately helped the Nephites to success.

Prayer before battle (3 Nephi 4:8).

We should pray for success in all we do. Even if it is grim work. It almost seems like they were praying for forgiveness for the slaughter they would soon be forced to give to the other armies.

Hanged him until he was dead (3 Nephi 4:28).

Here I thought that sort of phrase was just a Texas thing. I see that phrasing used for any sort of homicide in the news here. I guess this is one example that capital punishment is justified in some instances.

19 FEB 15

In chapter six we are reminded that the Nephites could prosper continually if they did not fall into transgression (3 Nephi 6:5). What a great blessing and how quickly was that blessing squandered. This was said just a few verses before pride, boasting and riches began to lead to another fall. How quickly the pride cycle starts sometimes. How can we avoid falling into this same trap today? We are also promised many great blessings if we don’t fall into iniquity. To answer my own question I think the falling into iniquity is a much more personal thing now days. We don’t see the large groups of the church falling away but we do see some individuals fall away. Some of the things I think that will help us most to stay away from transgression are the simple things. Prayer, reading our scriptures and avoiding even coming close to temptation are all things that can help preserve us from destruction.

20 FEB 15

Angry at the power of Nephi (3 Nephi 7:18-20).

How can someone be so hard hearted that when they hear the truth with power, they still turn away. This is when you repent and say sorry and change your ways. Not a time to be angry and revile against the Lord.

No light (3 Nephi 8:19-23).

Not having the sun rise would be pretty disturbing but not having the ability to even light anything would be even worse. I’m pretty prepared with flashlights all over the house for emergencies. I imagine if I had been a Nephite, I would have had tinder and fire-starters prepared in a safe place. To not even be able to use those types of tools would have been pretty disheartening. Having to use only voice and touch to find others would have been difficult. I can’t even imagine how difficult it would have been to comfort my son in that sort of situation.

Baptism prayer (3 Nephi 11:25).

So the Lord has come and is now teaching. I find it interesting that one of the first principles he teaches is about baptism and the manner to do it. It seems like he is going through the missionary discussion principles and expounding on some parts.

 

9 FEB 15

Ponder, think and pray (Helaman 10:1-4)

In Helaman 10 Nephi is sitting pondering the things shown him by the Lord and it’s a great time of division among his people.  He gets a very powerful visit and blessing from the Lord. I think this is highlighted here to remind us to ponder the words of the Lord more to receive personal revelation of our own. I am making a goal to do better to remember to wait for answers when I pray.

In Helaman 10:7 Nephi has the sealing power bestowed on him. I had previously highlighted this section as I realized that the words concerning “seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven” related to authority to seal couples and families. What I didn’t realize was what was pointed out in the student manual. I didn’t realize that this same authority was similar to Elijah’s authority to literally seal the heaven’s for several years so that it didn’t rain. I just previously hadn’t made the connection that it was the sealing power that allowed him to do that. I had previously only understood it to be limited to families but now I realize that limitation isn’t given anywhere. It makes me wonder of other ways the sealing power could be used. Could the prophet seal someone to the earth so that they wouldn’t die for a time? This isn’t really pertinent to our salvation but it was just a thought I had as I read about the sealing power.

10 FEB 15

Famine instead of the sword. (Helaman 11:4)

Elijah barred the heavens with the sealing power and it seems that Nephi did something similar in this instance. I guess he had enough of war being the instrument used as the tool to humble the Nephites and Lamanites. War as a humbling tool doesn’t always work well as the Nephites find out later when they are not humbled and are destroyed.

Humbled (Helaman 11:7)

Nephi’s plan works. The people are humbled and turn to the Lord. Unfortunately this is just another turn of the Pride Cycle for them as this humble state never lasts long.  It seems to normally take near destruction to get the Nephites humbled.

Lehi like brother in righteousness (Helaman 11:19)

It’s good that Nephi had a strong brother that supported him. I could imagine it being lonely being a prophet. Having a brother, friend and supporter in the work must have been a great blessing to Nephi. At least that is what I thought when I read this.

Rise of Gadianton robbers. (Helaman 11:26)

That short lived humility, righteousness and prosperity I spoke of earlier… yeah these guys are here to throw that all off. These guys also never seem to never go away. I think of Hydra from the popular Marvel movies and comics. Both are evil and when you cut off a head, two grow back. It’s insidious.

11 FEB 15

Prosperity (Helaman 12:1-2)

I am thankful for the time of relative prosperity that we live in. It’s truly a blessing to live in the world we have today… well more so the developed nations but the gospel is rolling forth and prosperity and happiness can be found in many parts of the world.

Wickedness (Helaman 12:4-6)

Some of this is what I fear for us today. Are we prideful? Are we ripening for destruction? While the gospel will not be taken from the earth again, there was no promise of this country remaining intact or that famines and scourges wouldn’t waste the land.

Power of God (Helaman 12:7-14)

It’s amazing to think of the overwhelming power of the Lord. He can truly command all things by his voice. Hopefully I won’t live to ever see it used in a manner to humble us.

12 FEB 15

Samuel the Lamanite (Helaman 13:4)

I was looking for a good picture to use of Samuel like in the lesson for this week but it seems some of the best ones (except for official church ones) have restrictive copyrights attached. I try to keep copyrights in my posts and I share my journal here on paul.darr.org. In my search I found a couple blog pictures like this that I have to remember the idea for future family home evening lessons. We all know the story so I won’t regurgitate it but I have a great deal of admiration for a guy that gets kicked out and then preaches on a wall while getting shot at. That’s some faith there.

In Helaman 14:30-31 Samuel talks about our agency to do good and evil. I am surprised this section wasn’t mentioned in the manual. I have found it to be an interesting scripture. I like how it explains that the negative impact of poor choices are us just inflicting things on ourselves. At least that’s what I gather from the statement “whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself”. Sometimes our poor choices also impact others but generally they impact us the most. When it comes to repercussions; I see it less as the Lord punishing us and more as us punishing ourselves at the last day.

We have knowledge of good and evil. Either we can choose the good or choose the evil. Often when we choose evil we receive an earthly reward. If we have patience and choose good; our reward will come later.

13 FEB 15

Restoration of Lamanites. (Helaman 15:13)

The restoration of the Lamanites has been ongoing in our day. It’s amazing to see the growth has had in South America. Someday I wouldn’t be surprised if there were many more in the apostles who came from that area. I have also had Native American and Polynesian friends that are part of the church as the Lamanites have been reclaimed.

Believe and be baptized  (Helaman 16:1,3,5)

Samuel saw success in his difficult mission. I picked over a few scriptures I thought were important in tracking the faith, repentance and baptism of those who chose to follow the teachings of Samuel.

Reason into hell (Helaman 16:17)

I was struck by the word reason into this scripture. We can easily reason and justify ourselves into false doctrines and hell. It takes brutally honest self reflection to avoid this path.