Read: Alma 50-51
Mark: Alma 50:19
"Mormon wants to teach what will be of most worth to us, and his use of the words thus and thus we see make the lessons easier to recognize and understand. Pay close attention to the 'thus we see' phrases in the Book of Mormon. Here Mormon wants you to understand that the Lord is keeping His word to Lehi and blessing the Nephites with prosperity when they keep the commandments." --Elder Henry B. Eyring
To ponder:
In what ways has the Lord kept his word to you?
I just don't have very much to say tonight! :) As I read through the scriptures, the one thing that really stood out in my mind was in Alma 50:23, where we find that "there never was a happier time among the people of Nephi..." I think this is amazing and I know it is because they were keepings the commandments, no matter what was going on around them. This is an example that we can all follow--to keep the commandments when it is both easy and difficult to do so.
ReplyDeleteAlso important to me in today's reading is the promise made to each one of us in Alma 50:19, that the Lord will keep all of his promises (and words) that he makes to us. He will not leave us or let us down so long as we do our part--which doesn't mean we have to be perfect! It means we need to do our best!
And thus we see!!! I do love it. God always keeps his promises, but they're contingent upon our obedience! And we see this so perfectly as it all falls apart in chapter 51. That's the crappy thing about living in a society--people all have their agency, and sometimes other people make terrible choices that affect everyone. I highlighted SO MUCH in Alma 51 tonight!
ReplyDeleteThe first think I noticed was in Alma 51: 2-3. Only a PART of the people wanted something changed, but boy were they loud about it! It sounds really familiar to me! We have a lot of this stuff going on today. But I love that Pahoran, who is righteous, stands his ground and doesn't suffer the law to be altered.
And then we see the division of the people between "king-men" and "freemen". And gosh... verses 13-16! Yeah. Unacceptable! What is wrong with people! The king-men were HAPPY that the Lamanites were coming down and refused to defend their country. Wow. That's pretty pathetic and low, especially considering how stupid and unrighteous their cause was. They just wanted power. Moroni was SO mad. "His soul was filled with anger against them." YIKES! That is NOT a man I would want to make angry! And he was given permission to make them fight or to kill them. I don't care who you are, when you're country is at war it is NO time to be fighting petty causes that ultimately don't matter (at least not compared to the bigger problem at hand). And we see, in verse 22, that Moroni was so busy "breaking down the wars and contentions among his own people... [that] the Lamanites had come into the land of Moroni".
We pay, as a people, when we aren't united. We NEED better unity in our land! I don't particularly side with one political party over another because I think its stupid to even HAVE parties. We really should just do away with them. It's a big game to politicians and they're all just pushing their own agendas with no real regard to actually making anything better. The parties fight with each other all the time, and even if a good idea is presented, it won't be voted on by the opposing side. And if it IS voted on by someone from the opposite party, that person is scorned. Geeze people... get a life! I really hate politics. And I truly believe our country is going to fail in the future unless we can unite and focus on what's important.
When I have prayed for peace to soften others' hearts, the Lords has done that. When I have prayed for patience and the right words to say in difficult times, He makes sure my words are clear with the Holy Spirit's help. When I think about a prayer for patience, I realize how patient Heavenly Father has been waiting for me to figure things out. My life has changed in so many in such a very short period of time. And all for GOOD! He has shown me that obedience is truly rewarded. I have had difficulties in the past with having faith in my faith. I have experienced the blessings that Heavenly Father has brought to my life. I am beginning to get it. FINALLY.
ReplyDeleteChapter 50: We create our own drama. Sometimes others share their drama, but we always have a choice - do we deflate the drama, or do we adopt it & escalate?
ReplyDeleteLearn to love peace! Find better ways to get entertainment, excitement, and that adrenaline rush!
Chapter 51: Take care of conflicts within before worrying too much about external conflicts. Violence is not always the answer. Sometimes reason via firm reminders actually works!