Today's Favorite Verse: Ether 4:4-6

Today's Favorite Verse: Ether 4:4-6
"Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw; and there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared.
Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to write them; and I have written them. And he commanded me that I should seal them up; and he also hath commanded that I should seal up the interpretation thereof; wherefore I have sealed up the interpreters, according to the commandment of the Lord.
For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord."

I cannot wait for the Lord's own due time when this record is given to us. I say it to my family all the time. I want to live to see that day. I want to read the sealed portion. The Nephites had them since the time Jesus Christ appeared to them after His resurrection, until all had dwindled in unbelief and Moroni was commanded to sealed them up. I really hope we don't have to wait for the millennium as a people to repent, exercise faith in the Lord and become sanctified and clean.

In Doctrine and Covenants we are told a little more on the conditions of being able to receive the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon.

“And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—
Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.
And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.
And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written.”
(Doctrine and Covenants 84:54–57)

President Benson was good about telling the church that we are under condemnation for treating the Book of Mormon lightly and not reading and living it. His words encouraged me to read, ponder and study the Book of Mormon. For now I live by faith, and that one day we will receive more.

"And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken.
And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.
And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.
Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people."
(3 Nephi 26:8-11)

Day 3567

Today's Favorite Verse: Ether 3:26

Today's Favorite Verse: Ether 3:26
"For he had said unto him in times before, that if he would believe in him that he could show unto him all things—it should be shown unto him; therefore the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could show him all things."

When did the Lord tell the brother of Jared that he would show him all things, if he believed in Him? I went back in the two earlier chapters and didn't see this mentioned. Maybe it was during those 3 hours the Lord stood in a cloud and spoke to him. I pondered on how the Lord telling you something like that would certainly make me strive to be worthy. It was a promise the Lord knew the brother of Jared could obtain. The brother of Jared must have been pondering on this while he was preparing those 16 stones out of molten rock. That pondering on what he believed the Lord capable of increased the brother of Jared's faith. That is why he could say to the Lord, "Behold, O Lord, thou canst do this." (vs 5) When asked by the Lord, "Believest thou the words which I shall speak? (vs 11)

"And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie.

This is why the Lord could minister unto the brother of Jared for "he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting." (vs 19)

The Lord will not appear to man if they doubt or want to consume it on their lusts. You need faith where it matters not if you see Him, for you already believe.

Day 3566

Today's Favorite Verse: Ether 2:24

Today's Favorite Verse: Ether 2:24
"For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth."

It was the part about the rains and the flood being sent forth that made me stop and ponder. The Lord uses natural laws to fulfill his words and purposes. I thought of the weather patterns around the world. The Lord had already prepared this great storm needed to drive the Jaredite barges to the promised land. The timing was His, he prepared the storms and the way to preserve them from them.

Even though I didn't pick the verses in this chapter about the holes placed in the top and bottom of the barges for air, I did want to note an interesting theory on how they worked. Once again its founded on natural laws.

Day 3565

Today's Favorite Verse: Ether 1:43

Today's Favorite Verse: Ether 1:43
"And there will I bless thee and thy seed, and raise up unto me of thy seed, and of the seed of thy brother, and they who shall go with thee, a great nation. And there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of thy seed, upon all the face of the earth. And thus I will do unto thee because this long time ye have cried unto me."

I love this verse, for it shows the power of prayers, and receiving answers even if what we pray for is over a very long time. I looked at how his prayers fit the needs at the time. Jared asked his brother to cry unto the Lord that their language would not be confounded. Then it was that their friends language was not confounded. Next it was to inquire if they were to be driven out of the land, and if so maybe to a choice land as their inheritance. Then he is given where they were to go and in what manner. The conversation the brother of Jared had with the Lord was an intimately one. He listened and obeyed. This made me think about my prayers and how much better I could be in talking to the Lord.

"The Lord explained to the brother of Jared that blessings had come to his people as a result of prayers offered over a long time. Enduring obedience coupled with frequent and persistent prayers is powerful. In an 1839 discourse in Commerce, Illinois, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “God is not a respecter of persons, we all have the same privilege. Come to God weary him until he blesses you &c we are entitled to the same blessings” ([recorded in Willard Richards Pocket Companion, 78–79] cited in The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph, comp. Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook [1980], 15).
President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) similarly taught that we must put great effort into our prayers and that we must pray frequently:
“Do you get answers to your prayers? If not, perhaps you did not pay the price. Do you offer a few trite words and worn-out phrases, or do you talk intimately to the Lord? Do you pray occasionally when you should be praying regularly, often, constantly? Do you offer pennies to pay heavy debts when you should give dollars to erase that obligation?
“When you pray, do you just speak, or do you also listen? Your Savior said, ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.’ (Rev. 3:20.)
“… Should we ever fail to get an answer to our prayers, we must look into our lives for a reason” (“Prayer,” New Era, Mar. 1978, 17).
(Book of Mormon Student Manuel, Chapter 50: Ether 1-5, "This Long Time Ye Have Cried unto Me")

Day 3564

Today's Favorite Verse: Mormon 9:14

Today's Favorite Verse: Mormon 9:14
"And then cometh the judgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still."

We don't magically become happy when we cross over the veil, or when the Savior comes again. If we are in a state of unhappiness we will continue to be in that state. Wickedness was never happiness, no matter how fleeting it maybe. This is a resting state of peace or not. It's important to find it in this life, because to find it is walk with God.

"I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order. Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ, that the soul of man should be restored to its body, and that every part of the body should be restored to itself."
(Alma 41:2)

"Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world."
(Alma 34:34)

Day 3563