Today's Favorite Verse: Mosiah 14:2

Today's Favorite Verse: Mosiah 14:2
"For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him."

I remember pondering on this during sacrament one time. I could not imagine that Christ had no physical beauty to look upon him. I could understand why we shouldn't look for the Messiah in such a physical manner, but I could never imagine him ugly or without any beauty. Then my heart began to understand, Christ has no worldly beauty. His pureness is not a desirable attribute to those that love the world. He was not adorned as a king in his mortal life. He would not show himself a warrior to fight their battles. His humility did not make him desirable to the natural man. Then I thought of those that have pride and arrogance in their mannerism and how some are drawn to that, but I am not.

Comeliness - The word comeliness comes from the adjective "comely," which means pleasurably conforming to notions of good appearance, suitability, or proportion.

Jesus Christ would not look suitable to be their Messiah when they looked upon him. To those that knew him he would be everything he should.

Day 3429

Today's Favorite Verse: Jeremiah 4:22

Today's Favorite Verse: Jeremiah 4:22

"For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge."

This made me think how without the scriptures as a guide you would have no knowledge or understanding of God. You would only have the wisdom of the world that would lead you to evil. For the natural man is an enemy to God.

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

(Mosiah 3:19)

"And now behold, my brethren, what natural man is there that knoweth these things? I say unto you, there is none that knoweth these things, save it be the penitent.

Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance."

(Alma 26:21-22)

Day 2908

Today's Favorite Verse: Ecclesiastes 1:10

Today's Favorite Verse: Ecclesiastes 1:10

"Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us."

As I have pondered on the frailties of man, his sins and his weaknesses I see that man is the same throughout all time. Doesn't matter what dispensation or period someone lived the natural man is the same. I have also come to see that the spirit never teaches me something new. It is only new to me. This comes into the law of witnesses and how I can understand what I have learned is truth because I will see if confirmed through other talks, scriptures or lessons. Every person that has walked on this earth has the same opportunities for sin and sorrow, pride or humility, happiness or pain. We all will be accounted for how we followed the laws of God, or the light of Christ that would guide us.

Day 2819

Today's Favorite Verse: Psalms 131:2

Today's Favorite Verse: Psalms 131:2

"Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child."

I thought about being a child and having to quiet yourself. It takes a lot of will power and self-discipline because its against your nature. Everything in you wants to run free and make noise. There is a lot of struggle until you mature and grow, and can sit quiet and behave. The rewards are great when you can accomplish this. It really is part of overcoming the natural man. Then I thought about how its really about overcoming the world. President Nelson spoke about that this general conference.

"Now, overcoming the world certainly does not mean becoming perfect in this life, nor does it mean that your problems will magically evaporate—because they won’t. And it does not mean that you won’t still make mistakes. But overcoming the world does mean that your resistance to sin will increase. Your heart will soften as your faith in Jesus Christ increases. Overcoming the world means growing to love God and His Beloved Son more than you love anyone or anything else.

How, then, do we overcome the world? King Benjamin taught us how. He said that “the natural man is an enemy to God” and remains so forever “unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord.” Each time you seek for and follow the promptings of the Spirit, each time you do anything good—things that “the natural man” would not do—you are overcoming the world...

As we strive to live the higher laws of Jesus Christ, our hearts and our very natures begin to change. The Savior lifts us above the pull of this fallen world by blessing us with greater charity, humility, generosity, kindness, self-discipline, peace, and rest. "

(Russell M. Nelson, "Overcome the World and Find Rest", Oct 2022 General Conference)

Day 2768

Today's Favorite Verse: Omni 1:26

Today's Favorite Verse: Omni 1:26
"And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and prayer, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved."

I love these words and it is my desire too. The words that stand out to me is "offer your whole souls". When I ponder on what that means to me, all I can think is my complete will. To submit my will to God and give up the natural man within. I turn to Christ with complete faith and devotion. It is asking a lot, but didn't Christ do more than this?  He was the sacrificial lamb on the altar for my sins. All that he sought was to do the Father's will, and I must follow his example. Now I must give up all my sins and lay them on the altar and let them be consumed and made clean. Having been given the gift of agency, my will really is the only thing totally mine that I can give back to God. Fasting and prayer helps to strengthen me. Enduring to the end is how I come to to have a personal relationship with Christ.

Day 1828

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Nephi 16:11

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Nephi 16:11
"Then said I: Lord, how long? And he said: Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate;"

This sounds like a terrible verse at first, but really it is most beautiful. Isaiah is asking how long much I preach to the people. He is told until there is no one left standing. Everyone must hear the invitation to repent and turn to the Lord.

Then I looked in Isaiah 6 from which Nephi is quoting and I see this note.
"The prophet wonders how long men will be so, and the Lord answers: until mortal man is no more."

So I ponder on a new thought about the nature of man, and how the natural man is an enemy to God. He will always go astray when left to his own devices, unless he turns to the Lord and is born again.

Day 1801

Today's Favorite Verse: Luke 6:46

Today's Favorite Verse: Luke 6:46
"And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"

I pondered on how the gospel is not passive, but requires action. You cannot confess the Lord and then sit back thinking you are saved. That is just a small part that just barely opened the gate on the path to eternal life. I have to do as the Lord did. I must be baptized by one with authority. Yet, there is still more. I must shake off the natural man and temper myself to do as Jesus would do. That is a lifetime of actions. It is so worth every effort put into it. Because that's how I come to know the Lord, and he will call me his.

Day 1554

Today's Favorite Verse: Matthew 15:8

Today's Favorite Verse: Matthew 15:8
"This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me."

Sometimes you wake up and realized your heart is far from God. The beautiful thing about that is, when you realize it, you're ready to come back.

Last night and into the morning, I had a long talk with myself and with God to find out what the problem is. Why do I feel so distant? Yesterday, was the first day in forever that my pain started to subside. Inspiration had came Wednesday night on what I needed to do and I obeyed. I see the miracle and have found relief. Now my eyes have been opened up about what I have done through my pain. Deep, deep down I sought comfort in food and not completely in the Lord. Oh, I did mercifully continue to pray, study and worship Him. I turned to Him in my darkest hours and he comforted me. Then when I divorced the spiritual from the physical I ate to comfort myself. I see now I can't do that. I cannot serve two masters.

What the natural man desires causes more pain, not healing.

"The natural man is an enemy to God." (Mosiah 3:19) That is what I turned to.

The Guide to the Scriptures describes the Natural Man as:
"A person who chooses to be influenced by the passions, desires, appetites, and senses of the flesh rather than by the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Such a person can comprehend physical things but not spiritual things. All people are carnal, or mortal, because of the Fall of Adam and Eve. Each person must be born again through the Atonement of Jesus Christ to cease being a natural man."

What I learned is it doesn't matter where I am on the path to eternal life. The natural man can turn my heart from God if I let it control me. The longer and further I let that happen the darker things become. Soon I would no longer seek or desire God. I am so grateful my eyes have been opened, right now where I stand. I am grateful God judges me on my heart and lets me change it.

Day 1519

Today's Favorite Verse: Moses 2:2, 5, 14, 16, 18

Today's Favorite Verse: Moses 2:2, 5, 14, 16, 18

"And the earth was without form, and void; and I caused darkness to come up upon the face of the deep; and my Spirit moved upon the face of the water; for I am God.

And I, God, called the Light Day; and the darkness, I called Night; and this I did by the word of my power, and it was done as I spake; and the evening and the morning were the first day.

And I God, said: Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and for years;

And I, God, made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the greater light was the sun, and the lesser light was the moon; and the stars also were made even according to my word.

And the sun to rule over the day, and the moon to rule over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and I, God, saw that all things which I had made were good;"

In this chapter God reveals to Moses the creation of this earth. My, my, my, what an explosion of thought. I can only attempt to explain my thought process on it. I did so much pondering on light and darkness. The very first act of the creation of this earth was light and darkness and each stage of creation became one creation day, or period. Yet it isn't until the 4th day that the sun, the moon and the stars are created to rule over the light and darkness. This would be what I know as a period of 24 hours making a day. So I have to conclude that the light and darkness period called a creation day is not the same. Meaning God didn't complete the creation of the earth in 6 physical days of 24 hours. He created it in a period of light and darkness, called a day, which could be any length of time.

So now I pondered on what this light and darkness was. What did he put here first to make darkness? Was it the earth's spirit or some other thing? Then it came to me that the natural man is an enemy to God. So, is the darkness the natural earth? I know there are people that worship the earth or mother nature, leaving God out of their lives. What and who is mother nature? Then I thought about how the earth also needs to go through baptism of water and by fire, just like me. The baptism of water was during the great flood. The baptism of fire will happen at Christ's coming. What is the earth repenting of? Is it its natural element? 

I noticed for the first time the phrase repeated during the creation "And I, God, saw that all things which I had made were good."  It made me pause and ask myself "Is there a distinction of something here?" I had to wonder was someone or something else creating things too? So I wondered if the light period was the beginning of God's creation, and the darkness period was the natural earth's creation period. Was the natural earth an active participant in its own creation, similar to how a baby grows? Couldn't the creation periods be any length of time then? If that is true, than each creation period is called a day, because it went through a period of both light and darkness. I could then see how physical evidence on the age of this earth can completely go hand in hand with what God said he did when creating it. They fit. Even evolution fits (to a point) because there would have been a period of darkness after God's light.

There is so much, much more I pondered on over the creation. I know I am just seeing a tiny part of it. There is so much to learn by the spirit. I do love this earth. The natural part of it can be extremely powerful and destructive and cause much darkness and sadness. Though I think there is something here about not worshiping it. The part in God's hand is most glorious and light. I know I have much, much more to learn about this light and darkness, but I know all things come in time.

Day 561