Read: 2 Nephi 2-3
Mark: 2 Nephi 2:25, 27-28
"Happiness is the object and design of our existence, and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God." --Joseph Smith
To ponder:
What brings you true happiness?
There are so many great and wonderful things Lehi mentions in these chapters to his youngest sons. What amazing words of wisdom! We truly are here to have joy in this life. We have to work for it, but that's the measure of true happiness. When we work hard and live righteously, we put ourselves in a greater position to act, and not be acted upon (2 Nephi 2:16 & 26). Our agency allows us to make choices, but we can't choose the consequences. If we act in sin, we eventually decline into a position where we are no longer calling the shots in our lives (addictions, imprisonment, cycles of sin). But as we act righteously we gain true freedom, and God grants us richer blessings for our efforts.
ReplyDeleteIn 2 Nephi 3 I especially enjoy verses 19-21. I love the simile of the ancestors crying from the dust. I have heard stories of people who have worked on translating The Book of Mormon into other languages who say that when they were in that process they could almost hear the people speaking--crying from the dust! It gives me chills! And it makes me think of family history and temple work. Can't you just imagine what your ancestors might want to tell you? What advice would they have? What warning would they give? What would they want you to know them for? I have a testimony that as you work on family history and takes those names to the temple that you can foster a deeper connection to your past and that the veil between heaven and earth becomes thinner. I'm so grateful and happy that I had this opportunity to read and share my thoughts today (even though t took three times as long to type one-handed!).
Jenny, I'm so glad you were able to share your thoughts too! Typing one-handed is hard!!! Hope you are doing better each day! Thank you for sharing your testimony of family history and the importance of temple work and likening it to our ancestors calling out to us from the dust. I needed this important reminder!
DeleteSeveral things stood out to me this evening as I was reading: 1) I noticed that in 2 Nephi 2:17, Lehi says "according to the things which I have read"--this is so cool to me! So Lehi was reading the scriptures just like we are and he was learning from them and sharing what he had read! I love this!!! It also stood out to me that Heavenly Father wants us to act for ourselves while Satan wants us to be acted upon. Such an important distinction. Probably what stood out the most to me this evening was 2 Nephi 3:12, where it talks about the two different books that will come forth and I know these to be the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I love that this scripture says "...shall grow together until the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions..." Most important to me is that the Bible and the Book of Mormon work together!! I'm thankful for my testimony and knowledge of this!
ReplyDeleteI read these chapters to my daughters at breakfast yesterday and throughout the day we had a dialogue going about choosing Jesus or choosing Satan. When one of my daughters was rather grumpy before bed, her sister said she was choosing Satan and that she was choosing Jesus (oh boy!). But, we had such great discussions, and even ended the night talking about what service is and how we can perform different services for people or they can do service for us.
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha... that's too funny! I bet that was fun to sort out.
DeleteLove this! It's amazing how amazing our little ones are and how deep their understanding can be of the weird of God of we but give them the opportunity to hear it! Keep up the good job!
DeleteWhat will bring me true happiness is when I realize my worth for the first time.
ReplyDeleteFocus on the worth of others and you'll soon find your own feeling of worth increase! You're already worth more than can be measured sometimes we have to forget ourselves to figure that out.
DeleteI definitely see the worth in others. I am so thankful for the people Heavenly Father has blessed me with in my life. I question my worthiness to Heavenly Father's love and grace. I strive to be Christ like to feel worthy of that love. My self worth was lost many years ago. I am slowly gaining it back. Coming back to the church and figuring out my place there and in Heavenly Father's plan has brought me out of a very dark place!
DeleteYou're awesome! You are doing some very hard things and you're MORE amazing for that. Heavenly Father has already decided you're worthy. He loves you already - whether you feel worthy of it or not. Thank goodness He knows we're crazy already and loves us anyway! I'm glad you are here today and on this pondering path with us!
DeleteIf there was only good in the world we wouldn't be able to enjoy it because we wouldn't know it! There must be opposition in all things. If there was only one or the other our choice would be taken away. Our freedom would be lost. Our opportunity to grow would be lost. If we are able to except that there will be bad days, events etc AND decide that we will still show ourselves as disciples of Christ we might find ourselves better able to handle those events when they come our way.
ReplyDeleteI find true happiness when I see anyone (but especially my girls) get an unexpected surprise. I find true happiness when I see someone "get it" with any truth of the gospel. I find true happiness when I've been stressed over something and doing what I can and miraculously things fall into place in the most unexpected ways and it's so clear to me that God really loves me and is looking out for me.
I think that was God's purpose in Adam and Eve's fall. How would they ever understand how wonderful they had it if there was nothing to compare it. I completely agree with you. To see people truly hear and begin to understand the gospel and God's love is a wonderful feeling. To hear people's testimonies of such moments gives me goosebumps!
DeleteI'm so glad you mentioned Adam and Eve. So many people in the world give Eve such a hard time because she made the choice to partake of the fruit that she was commanded not to partake of. She made the hardest choice - she was given two conflicting commandments (for a very good purpose) and she made the right one. I don't know if any of us could have been strong enough or selfless enough to make the choice she made. I look forward to meeting her one day - she already seemed to have apiece of the right kind of knowledge before partaking of the fruit. I imagine she was brilliant afterwards when her eyes were fully opened! Adam was smart to tagalong :)
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