I have a study guide to the Book of Mormon that I have been reading since summer. I usually read a chapter in the Book of Mormon and then read that same chapter in the study guide with all the extra notes and information in the study guide.
I read 2 Nephi chapter 4 and was blown away. I found the scriptures in that chapter to be absolutely beautiful. I then read about it in my study guide. The study guide says verses 16 to 35 is known as the Psalm of Nephi. The study guide also says the Psalm of Nephi is not only one of the most beautiful pieces of scripture ever written but also, and unfortunately, very underused in the Church.
16 Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.
17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.
I know how Nephi feels. My heart sorroweth too because of my iniquities. I wish I did not sorrow but I sure do.
18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.
Me too! And some of those sins sure do EASILY beset me. More so the small sins that the large ones.
19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.
Yep, I groaneth also. I know in whom I have put my faith in. I'm not sure I have 100% trust tho. I want to trust Father and Jesus 100%. That is one of my goals. But right now, I think I'm at 75% trust. Lots of time I am totally lost and without hope. All I have is Father and Jesus. I guess those are times I have 100% trust. When I pray I frequently ask Father to increase my Faith, Hope, and Charity.
20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.
21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.
22 He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.
23 Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time.
I know Father hears my cries. I know he hears my cries like he heard the cries of Enos when he was in the forests.
24 And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me.
25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them.
26 O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?
The above verse is the heart of this post. I'm asking myself the same questions. If I believe in Father and the Lord, and I do, then why does my soul linger in the valley of sorrow and negativity? Why do I get so easily saddened about the trials and tribulations I face when I know Father is always watching over me and Jesus is my Shepard and never leaves me? Why can't I be a happy person instead of a negative depressed person?
27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?
Why am I angry because of mine enemy? That's a good one. I have been angry in the past over my enemies. It sure solves nothing and creates no solutions. The only thing it causes is more depression.
28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.
I love 28 above. I printed that out and carry it in my pocket.
29 Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions.
30 Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
Nephi is right. We should all say O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yeah, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
31 O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?
32 May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!
Absolutely beautiful. Father, will you make me shake at the appearance of sin?
33 O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy.
34 O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.
35 Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.
And I know that if we strive to be worthy and righteous, Father will give us what we desire and need. Our desires will be given to us if they are worthy and righteous desires. On his time table but, they will be given and we are and will be taken care of, if we do our part.
I’m sorry for such a negative post. I do have faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. I also have faith in the scriptures and the Prophets. But, as Nephi said - And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted. Yep, I desire to rejoice. I wanted this post to be a happy and uplifting one. But, right now my heart groaneth because of my little trials and tribulations.
I’ll be glad when Sunday comes and I can take the Sacrament. I do think I’m worthy to take the bread and water and I will partake of it.
Tags: Trials Tribulations Problems Nephi Psalm
I drove one hour and thirty minutes one way to Plainfield Indiana today. I had to meet my brother who lives on the other side of Indiana. I was delivering a package to him. I drove to Plainfield on the Interstate - I70 to be exact. On any interstate, or any major road for that matter, there are on-ramps and off-ramps. Those on-ramps and off-ramps let you get on the road or off.
I consider myself still a new member of the True Church. But here is how I see Baptism. There have been many people baptized in other churches. Those baptisms are good in that they show the person being baptized was willing to make a commitment to the Lord. However, those baptisms will not get you to the Celestial Kingdom and they will not help you return to your Heavenly Father. Those baptisms are like an on-ramp to a major interstate. Those people who are baptized in other churches use that baptism as an on-ramp to a road that they believe will lead back them back to Heavenly Father. If you are one of those and if you think your destination on that road will be a city called Heavenly Father, you are on the wrong road; you took the wrong on-ramp. Sorry, but your baptism will not help you return to our Heavenly Father. There is only one true on-ramp back to our Heavenly Father. That on-ramp's name is "Baptism in the LDS Church."
We have two choices when it comes to baptism. We can chose one of the many wrong churches, the wrong on-ramp, and end up on a road that does not lead us to Heavenly Father but leads us to other places like Chicago, Miami, New York, etc... Or, we can use the True on-ramp - be baptized in the True Church of our Brother and Savior Jesus Christ. When we take that on-ramp we will be on the right road that leads to the city called Celestial Kingdom and we can live with Heavenly Father forever.
I'm grateful that I took the right on-ramp in March and was baptized in the LDS Church and given the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I hope those of you that have not been baptized yet will make the right decision and join our Saviors church. You will not find this on-ramp on a map or atlas. You will find it thru prayer and reading the Book of Mormon. It is your choice but the option is there for you to always take.
The road we get on after baptism has a name, and you already know that name. There is only one way (road) back to our Heavenly Father. And that road is called Jesus Christ. There will be bumps, road blocks, detours, accidents, snow and rain storms, and a lot of other bad things along the way to the Celestial Kingdom. But Jesus always watches over His road. He knows where every car is. He is the ultimate mechanic. When a car breaks down, he will fix it in His own way so we can get moving again. Don’t worry about the speed of your car. Don’t worry if it seems like you are going in reverse more than forward. If you make a mistake and crash, don’t’ worry about paying for the repair bill – Jesus has already paid it for you; all you have to do is ask Him. As long as your car is pointed in the right direction, you are doing just fine.
Tags: Baptism True Church Interstates Roads
So, this is my first post to this blog. Yesterday, Sunday Sept 14, the Bloomington Stake had a Stake Conference. I went to the sessions Saturday evening. But Sunday I did not go. Instead I was at the inaugural United States MotoGP motorcycle race at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I feel bad about going to the motorcycle race instead of the Stake Conference on Sunday. I know I should have gone to Bloomington. I can offer no excuses. But if I am to give an excuse or two, here they are – one of my sisters bought me these tickets to the race before I was a member of the Church, even before I started going to services. The tickets were for reserved seating and cost $100.00. I had three tickets. If I would have skipped the race for the Stake Conference I think my sister would have been very upset. Plus, no one else in my family are part of the True Church, it is just me (and my Mom and Dad who are across the veil who I had baptized in the Kentucky Temple this year.)
I was told by a member of the Ward that it was ok to go since I was spending time with family members and that is what the Church wants people to do – spend time with family members. I kept that in mind that Sunday but it still did not get rid of the bad feeling that I should have been in Bloomington.
Anyway, this post is more about the weather and current problems I have and how I view them. Sunday at Indy, the weather was horrible. The wind blew hard and it rained most of the day. My two brothers and I had one umbrella and that was it. We got very wet when the rains came. It was rather miserable. But even tho the wind was blowing us around and rain was hitting us in the face, I was laughing most of the time. I was thinking to myself – this is what makes life memorable! Yes, I’m disappointed we are getting bad weather, but this weather will make this day stand out more because of the bad weather than other days. I was laughing and my other two brothers cracked smiles saying – ugh, there is not way they are going to run the main race today! They did run the main race and we got to see it. That rain and wind made the day more fun for us, even though my other two brothers were disappointed with the weather, all three of us were humble and accepted it.
For those of you that do not know – I’m trying to finish my degree after a ten year lay-off. Recently I learned from my advisor that I will probably have to take two semesters of a foreign language to finish my degree. I have always wanted to learn and foreign language and actually was looking at this as a blessing. But, last week I learned that I will probably have to take an English class and a Multicultural class plus the foreign language classes to get my degree. I was extremely disappointed. I was so disappointed, I felt depressed all weekend. My soul cried on the inside. I was asking – why is Heavenly Father making me take these other classes? I went back to school during the summer and took the class I thought I needed to graduate. Then I was told I will have to take a foreign language. I was humble about that. Last Wednesday I went to an interview for a job and in the evening I went out with the Missionaries and visited an investigator. I thought Heavenly Father was happy I did those things. Thursday I visited my advisor. I figure Heavenly Father would be happy I did that. Then my advisor tells me – I need a foreign language and two other classes! Ugh, I do not want to take those two other classes! I’m mad and disappointed! I was asking, why is Heavenly Father doing this to me when I’m trying to make myself a better person?
After I had the weekend to cool off, go to the Saturday Stake Conference, and Sunday MotoGP race in Indy in the bad weather, I am asking myself – why did I view the bad weather as fun and something memorial and why do I view the news that I will probably have to take an English class and Multicultural class as something bad? The weather was something I had to contend with. These new classes are something I will have to contend with. I knew I would stick it out in the bad weather and stay for the main race at 3pm. Why is it that I do not have the same feeling for those other classes I must take? Even if I can not pass those classes, shouldn’t I attempt to pass those classes like I attempted to stay for the main race at Indy during that bad weather? I had faith that my brothers and I and most of us at the track would be safe in the bad weather. Why is it that I do not have faith in my Father and Brother that they will be with me while I try to contend with those classes?
Hmm, I think I have the right views on some things (the time at Indy in the bad weather) but the wrong view on some other things (feeling like Father is punishing me by making me take those other two classes.)
I know Father is not punishing me though. I know all the trials and tribulations are here for my benefit, for me to learn and grow. I tell myself that. Some times, lots of times, my soul seem not to believe it. And if I find rainy windy weather as fun, why can’t I find those classes as fun too? Those classes will push me around like the wind. I’m sure those classes will hit me in the face like the rain. And yet the weather makes me laugh and the other puts me in despair.
What can I do? I know – keep praying. Keep having faith in Father and Jesus. Remember Abinadi and Alma and the Anti-Nephi-Lehies and the faith they had.
Note - around 1:30pm we were sitting in the stands under cover. It was still raining and windy. I said a quite prayer in my mind asking Father to please let the rain stop so the main race will run. I told him I'm asking this not for selfish reason. Not because I simply want to see a race. I told him I'm asking this because many people have traveled long distances to see this race and it's possible that if they see this race, it will make them happier people, and that could lead to better and brighter things in their lives, maybe even to the True Church of Jesus Christ. I know praying and asking for good weather to simply watch a race is wrong. Again, I prayed that Father would end the rain so all those thousands of families and friends at the track could see what they wanted to see and have a good time together as family and friends. Around 2:30pm the rain let up and at 3pm the race started - a wet track but no rain. The race was scheduled for 28 laps I believe. They got in all except eight laps when the rain came back and the race was ended. But, we did get to see twenty or so exciting laps featuring the best motorcycle drivers in the world.
I'm not sure if Father cleared the weather because of my payer or not. I know he was listening tho. And I'm thankful he let us travel there, watch the race, and return safely.
Do I now that the Priesthood can change the weather? I know Jesus created the world thru the powers of the Priesthood. Yes, the Priesthood can change the weather.
Tags: Perspectives Views Overcoming
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