For me what stood out today was V22 "and the Holy Ghost giveth authority that I speak these things and deny them not" I know for me when I speak because the Holy Ghost has prompted me is when I learn the most! Never mind who I might be speaking to... V1 "and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me" Powerful!!! Not sure if I have ever quite felt good enough or worthy enough to have something revealed to me. I've read this probably 20 times and it's never hit me like it did just now. I LOVE Nephi's faith. His confidence in the Lord!! He BELIEVES and it happens.
I think that is how we often times feel "I am not good enough or worthy enough to have something revealed to me." Say the words again. Would the Savior say that? No he wouldn't. Sounds a little more like Satan. Nephi admitted to being a "wretched man" and unworthy. What does Nephi BELIEVE in...not himself or his own worthiness. He BELIEVES in the Savior. Nephi laments that he is not worthy even after all of his amazing experiences, then it always go back to faith in the Savior, faith in His worthiness. Not ours. In 2 Nephi 4 after lamenting about his own worthiness he fans the fire of his faith by saying "
19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.
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.
The cool thing, is the Savior offers this gift to all of us...not just prophets. And He offers it through our faith on Him--because of His worthiness. Not ours.
Sorry I have to add one more thought...in vs. 19 (above) Nephi says "And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted." What he doesn't say is "nevertheless at least I am doing better than my brothers" or "nevertheless I have been a pretty good prophet" or "nevertheless I have at times shown charity" or "I have always been obedient" or "oh yeah remember when I was faithful even when my dad murmured and I helped save my family from starving" or "that was a pretty awesome boat we built." It has NOTHING to do with him, Nephi. It has EVERTYTHING to do with HIM, the Savior. And the same goes for us...in the end it is not because of us or all about us...it is Because of HIM and All About Him. Nephi says "I know in whom I have trusted." If we seek Him, we will find Him--and He is mighty to save.
Thank you for the above comments.... I totally needed to read this today. I too often think about my worthiness or my faith but I love how you stated Nephi doesn't need to believe in himself, he believes in the Savior. In some ways that takes a lot of pressure off trying to be perfect and focusing on being faithful. Thanks, I love this!
I tend to get the most revelation when I diligently.seek to repent and change. I just got a new calling so I liked what Sis. Beck said about searching for inspirAtion about how to do our calling. This is probably especially true a out our calling as parenthood. Our daily question behind our question.might be. 'What can I do a little differently, a little better today Lord.'
I want to be like Nephi and "see and hear and know". See - read the scriptures and all the words of the prophet. Hear - listen to the voice of the Lord speaking to me as I read. Know - acting upon what I have learned will bring confirmation of the spirit. And I need to do this over and over because the "course of the Lord is one eternal round".
I love the reminders of the simplicity of the Gospel in this section that we read today! -As I increase my faith in the Savior the power of the Holy Ghost will be with me always! -Nephi ponders upon the things that his father taught him and as he does he is caught up in the spirit. -Often times I feel too rushed to even take time to just sit and listen for what the Spirit has to teach me. -Communication is key! - As I take the time to communicate with my Father in Heaven, and open the gift of the Atonement the spirit will guide me to what is best for me and my family at the time. It may not be exactly what I want, but it will always be what is best for me. Great lessons taught today! I am so grateful for The Book of Mormon and all that I am reminded of each time I open the precious book!
I can totally relate with feeling too rushed to ponder. But over and over in the scriptures we read about how a spiritual manifestation happens while one is pondering. It would be silly to be sitting next to a friend and ask him/her a bunch of questions and then just run off and do something else before they can answer. Yet that's what we do sometimes with our prayers.
I agree that pondering is important... I think sometimes it is hard for me to continue to sit and ponder right after a I say a prayer... However, I think it is incredibly important to set aside quiet meditation time where you sit and think about what you have been praying for, or what you have been studying in the scriptures.. I have found that when I am allowing myself to be in a quiet room (no music, t.v. phones) but just allow myself to think and ponder even if it's while i'm doing dishes.. I often receive thoughts and feelings that are answers or guides to my life.
I love that diligently seeking begins with desire. This word occurred 4 or 5 times in the reading today, and when the Spirit of the Lord appears to Nephi he doesn't ask, "Are you worthy to see what your father saw?" "Are you ready to see what your father saw?" "Have you done enough to qualify to see what your father saw?" He simply asks, "What desireth thou?" I think the Lord is often asking us the same question - "What desireth thou?" It is a good question for me to ponder as I diligently seek. I am so grateful for a God who knows my heart and is interested in my desires. Those desires motivate my seeking, and when they wane, the scriptures can remind me why I should desire the things of righteousness. (In Alma's teaching about planting the seed of the word in our hearts, he teaches that the first step is desire - in Alma 32:27 "But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.")
Wow! Such an inspiring thought...The Lord doesn't say "Have you done your visiting teaching this month? Have you gone to the temple? Were you completely patient with your children?" You can see how our own faulty thinking (and satan's lies) are a huge barrier between accepting all our Father in Heaven and the Savior desire to give us--if only it is our desire as well.
Awesome comment, I love that you pointed out that The spirit doesn't ask about our worthiness or qualifications but our desire. I think we too often forget how loving and Kind our Heavenly Father is and get so caught up in the daily tasks and check off lists. God loves us, he wants us to be happy, He wants to speak to us. Thanks for your insight!
I've been thinking about this question all day - "what desirest thou? " Am I focusing on the important stuff or getting lost in the misty stuff? I'm glad the Lord will look at my desires first. Thanks for your thoughts.
I love this. I also have begun to give myself permission to be human as I have asked the question. Did I put my best effort into what I just did, not was I perfect.
Diligently seeking...reminds me of one of my mom's favorite sayings when she was asked the question "Where's my....?" Her response "Have you looked?" My response "Yes." Her next response "Did you look with your hands?" Meaning-- was it just a passive,half hearted, casual, if I don't see it in next 10 seconds scanning with my eyes? (This was usually the case and I was counting on my mom to jump in and find it for me). Or, did you dig in and actually use other resources besides your eyes such as your hands, your mind, your feet etc. Seeking diligently is knowing exactly what you are looking for---not just a random--let's see what we find. It takes action and faith and it is done with open eyes, willing hands (and feet), and contrite heart. It is done with all our heart, might, mind and strength-trusting that what we are seeking is truly there as promised and it is just a matter of time before we find it.
Great comments from everyone I love learning by the spirit from the blog! In Preach my Gospel it says that diligences is "steady, consistent, earnest, and energetic effort in doing the Lord’s work. It goes on to say that it is an expression of your love for the Lord and His work." From that quote and from what I read today, diligence to me goes hand in hand with the first principles of the Gospel, faith and repentance. Faith leads to action. Exercising faith in Jesus Christ motivates the desire to change or repent. Seeking leads to repentance because when we realize that we want to change and do better, we are moving forward with faith and not looking back. This causes a fresh view about God, ourselves, and the world. I don't know if any of that made sense so I apologize!
I think to diligently seek means to really make the effort to look for personal application in the scriptures, in General Conference, when we attend Sacrament mtgs & our other classes. It's bridging the gap between thinking "that's a cool concept" and thinking "how does this/should this change my life? Change the way I view things? Change the way I interact with others?, etc.". Seeking answers is obviously a big part of our ongoing personal conversions. I love that Nephi wanted to know for himself!
I love in 11:1 it shows an outline of how to gain knowledge. First Nephi desired to know, and then he believed that he COULD know and then took time to ponder and think it through and THEN was he able to have the experience that he had. I also loved that he was taken to a high mountain--which many times in scripture references the temple--a great place to diligently seek. For me, I know when I want an answer, I want the fast food version: Hot and now. I don't want to wait. However, as I have thought about this all morning, I realize the wisdom in God giving us knowledge as we work for it. As we obey a principle to gain a testimony of it. As we do our part He gives us what we are seeking line upon line. We appreciate and care for something so much more when it takes time, consistency and hard work. I remember as a 7th grader, my parents told me that I needed to be responsible to buy my own clothing. I still remember the shirt that I saved up for, and bought with my own money. I took really good care of that shirt. I hung it up after I wore it, I made sure it was sorted in the right pile for laundry and that it didn't get left in the dryer. I was invested in that article of clothing because it was mine. I owned it. I feel that as we take the time to invest and diligently seek and make sacrifices to gain our testimony it will be OURS. We can finally have our own knowledge of what is true and not rely on our parents--just as Nephi did in these verses.
To me it means to have a desire and if our desires are righteous, then the things of our heart will be made manifest unto us. In Sister Beck's talk, My Soul Delighteth in the Scriptures, which was just what I needed to read, she says, the scriptures are so important that Nephi risked his life to obtain a copy of them. He wanted to “see, and hear, and know” (1 Ne. 10:17). He “searched [the scriptures] and found that they were desirable [and] of great worth” (1 Ne. 5:21). As Nephi, I too am experiencing that with this new year as my desire is to read the Book of Mormon which I have done many times but this time to read it every day and to really study, ponder and pray. I can't even express how grateful I am for this blog. I just love the questions and the wonderful conference talks that allow me to dig deep. I know that when we have a righteous desire that the lord blesses us ten fold. I was telling someone about it and how I accidentally came upon it and then I thought, there are no accidents when we seek diligently and have a righteous desire. I love learning from all of you and from the spirit. These last couple of weeks have been life changing and it's just amazing how meaningful the scriptures have become to me and how I look forward to reading them every day. I'm just so thankful that the Lord truly is mindful of all of us and knows what we need..what I need!
For me what stood out today was V22 "and the Holy Ghost giveth authority that I speak these things and deny them not" I know for me when I speak because the Holy Ghost has prompted me is when I learn the most! Never mind who I might be speaking to... V1 "and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me" Powerful!!! Not sure if I have ever quite felt good enough or worthy enough to have something revealed to me. I've read this probably 20 times and it's never hit me like it did just now. I LOVE Nephi's faith. His confidence in the Lord!! He BELIEVES and it happens.
ReplyDeleteYou just proved you have had things revealed to you. Your testimony can only come through personal revelation.
DeleteI think that is how we often times feel "I am not good enough or worthy enough to have something revealed to me." Say the words again. Would the Savior say that? No he wouldn't. Sounds a little more like Satan. Nephi admitted to being a "wretched man" and unworthy. What does Nephi BELIEVE in...not himself or his own worthiness. He BELIEVES in the Savior. Nephi laments that he is not worthy even after all of his amazing experiences, then it always go back to faith in the Savior, faith in His worthiness. Not ours. In 2 Nephi 4 after lamenting about his own worthiness he fans the fire of his faith by saying "
Delete19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.
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.
The cool thing, is the Savior offers this gift to all of us...not just prophets. And He offers it through our faith on Him--because of His worthiness. Not ours.
Sorry I have to add one more thought...in vs. 19 (above) Nephi says "And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted." What he doesn't say is "nevertheless at least I am doing better than my brothers" or "nevertheless I have been a pretty good prophet" or "nevertheless I have at times shown charity" or "I have always been obedient" or "oh yeah remember when I was faithful even when my dad murmured and I helped save my family from starving" or "that was a pretty awesome boat we built." It has NOTHING to do with him, Nephi. It has EVERTYTHING to do with HIM, the Savior. And the same goes for us...in the end it is not because of us or all about us...it is Because of HIM and All About Him. Nephi says "I know in whom I have trusted." If we seek Him, we will find Him--and He is mighty to save.
DeleteThank you for the above comments.... I totally needed to read this today. I too often think about my worthiness or my faith but I love how you stated Nephi doesn't need to believe in himself, he believes in the Savior. In some ways that takes a lot of pressure off trying to be perfect and focusing on being faithful. Thanks, I love this!
DeleteI tend to get the most revelation when I diligently.seek to repent and change. I just got a new calling so I liked what Sis. Beck said about searching for inspirAtion about how to do our calling. This is probably especially true a out our calling as parenthood. Our daily question behind our question.might be. 'What can I do a little differently, a little better today Lord.'
ReplyDeleteI want to be like Nephi and "see and hear and know". See - read the scriptures and all the words of the prophet.
ReplyDeleteHear - listen to the voice of the Lord speaking to me as I read.
Know - acting upon what I have learned will bring confirmation of the spirit.
And I need to do this over and over because the "course of the Lord is one eternal round".
I love the reminders of the simplicity of the Gospel in this section that we read today!
ReplyDelete-As I increase my faith in the Savior the power of the Holy Ghost will be with me always!
-Nephi ponders upon the things that his father taught him and as he does he is caught up in the spirit.
-Often times I feel too rushed to even take time to just sit and listen for what the Spirit has to teach me.
-Communication is key!
- As I take the time to communicate with my Father in Heaven, and open the gift of the Atonement the spirit will
guide me to what is best for me and my family at the time. It may not be exactly what I want, but it will always
be what is best for me.
Great lessons taught today! I am so grateful for The Book of Mormon and all that I am reminded of each time I open the precious book!
I can totally relate with feeling too rushed to ponder. But over and over in the scriptures we read about how a spiritual manifestation happens while one is pondering. It would be silly to be sitting next to a friend and ask him/her a bunch of questions and then just run off and do something else before they can answer. Yet that's what we do sometimes with our prayers.
DeleteI agree that pondering is important... I think sometimes it is hard for me to continue to sit and ponder right after a I say a prayer... However, I think it is incredibly important to set aside quiet meditation time where you sit and think about what you have been praying for, or what you have been studying in the scriptures.. I have found that when I am allowing myself to be in a quiet room (no music, t.v. phones) but just allow myself to think and ponder even if it's while i'm doing dishes.. I often receive thoughts and feelings that are answers or guides to my life.
DeleteThanks. I really need to Linder more after I pray.
DeleteI love that diligently seeking begins with desire. This word occurred 4 or 5 times in the reading today, and when the Spirit of the Lord appears to Nephi he doesn't ask, "Are you worthy to see what your father saw?" "Are you ready to see what your father saw?" "Have you done enough to qualify to see what your father saw?" He simply asks, "What desireth thou?" I think the Lord is often asking us the same question - "What desireth thou?" It is a good question for me to ponder as I diligently seek. I am so grateful for a God who knows my heart and is interested in my desires. Those desires motivate my seeking, and when they wane, the scriptures can remind me why I should desire the things of righteousness. (In Alma's teaching about planting the seed of the word in our hearts, he teaches that the first step is desire - in Alma 32:27 "But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.")
ReplyDeleteWow! Such an inspiring thought...The Lord doesn't say "Have you done your visiting teaching this month? Have you gone to the temple? Were you completely patient with your children?" You can see how our own faulty thinking (and satan's lies) are a huge barrier between accepting all our Father in Heaven and the Savior desire to give us--if only it is our desire as well.
DeleteAwesome comment, I love that you pointed out that The spirit doesn't ask about our worthiness or qualifications but our desire. I think we too often forget how loving and Kind our Heavenly Father is and get so caught up in the daily tasks and check off lists. God loves us, he wants us to be happy, He wants to speak to us. Thanks for your insight!
DeleteI've been thinking about this question all day - "what desirest thou? " Am I focusing on the important stuff or getting lost in the misty stuff? I'm glad the Lord will look at my desires first. Thanks for your thoughts.
DeleteI love this. I also have begun to give myself permission to be human as I have asked the question. Did I put my best effort into what I just did, not was I perfect.
DeleteDiligently seeking...reminds me of one of my mom's favorite sayings when she was asked the question "Where's my....?" Her response "Have you looked?" My response "Yes." Her next response "Did you look with your hands?" Meaning-- was it just a passive,half hearted, casual, if I don't see it in next 10 seconds scanning with my eyes? (This was usually the case and I was counting on my mom to jump in and find it for me). Or, did you dig in and actually use other resources besides your eyes such as your hands, your mind, your feet etc. Seeking diligently is knowing exactly what you are looking for---not just a random--let's see what we find. It takes action and faith and it is done with open eyes, willing hands (and feet), and contrite heart. It is done with all our heart, might, mind and strength-trusting that what we are seeking is truly there as promised and it is just a matter of time before we find it.
ReplyDeleteI'm totally stealing this - "have you looked with your hands?" And I love how you relate this to seeking diligently. Thank you.
DeleteGreat comments from everyone I love learning by the spirit from the blog!
ReplyDeleteIn Preach my Gospel it says that diligences is "steady, consistent, earnest, and energetic effort in doing the Lord’s work. It goes on to say that it is an expression of your love for the Lord and His work."
From that quote and from what I read today, diligence to me goes hand in hand with the first principles of the Gospel, faith and repentance. Faith leads to action. Exercising faith in Jesus Christ motivates the desire to change or repent. Seeking leads to repentance because when we realize that we want to change and do better, we are moving forward with faith and not looking back. This causes a fresh view about God, ourselves, and the world.
I don't know if any of that made sense so I apologize!
It does make sense and I really like how you explained it.
DeleteI think to diligently seek means to really make the effort to look for personal application in the scriptures, in General Conference, when we attend Sacrament mtgs & our other classes. It's bridging the gap between thinking "that's a cool concept" and thinking "how does this/should this change my life? Change the way I view things? Change the way I interact with others?, etc.". Seeking answers is obviously a big part of our ongoing personal conversions. I love that Nephi wanted to know for himself!
ReplyDeleteI love in 11:1 it shows an outline of how to gain knowledge. First Nephi desired to know, and then he believed that he COULD know and then took time to ponder and think it through and THEN was he able to have the experience that he had. I also loved that he was taken to a high mountain--which many times in scripture references the temple--a great place to diligently seek. For me, I know when I want an answer, I want the fast food version: Hot and now. I don't want to wait. However, as I have thought about this all morning, I realize the wisdom in God giving us knowledge as we work for it. As we obey a principle to gain a testimony of it. As we do our part He gives us what we are seeking line upon line. We appreciate and care for something so much more when it takes time, consistency and hard work. I remember as a 7th grader, my parents told me that I needed to be responsible to buy my own clothing. I still remember the shirt that I saved up for, and bought with my own money. I took really good care of that shirt. I hung it up after I wore it, I made sure it was sorted in the right pile for laundry and that it didn't get left in the dryer. I was invested in that article of clothing because it was mine. I owned it. I feel that as we take the time to invest and diligently seek and make sacrifices to gain our testimony it will be OURS. We can finally have our own knowledge of what is true and not rely on our parents--just as Nephi did in these verses.
ReplyDeleteLike. :-)
DeleteI loved this Suzanne!! I also loved the story of you buying your own clothes. Great insight.
ReplyDeleteTo me it means to have a desire and if our desires are righteous, then the things of our heart will be made manifest unto us. In Sister Beck's talk, My Soul Delighteth in the Scriptures, which was just what I needed to read, she says, the scriptures are so important that Nephi risked his life to obtain a copy of them. He wanted to “see, and hear, and know” (1 Ne. 10:17). He “searched [the scriptures] and found that they were desirable [and] of great worth” (1 Ne. 5:21). As Nephi, I too am experiencing that with this new year as my desire is to read the Book of Mormon which I have done many times but this time to read it every day and to really study, ponder and pray. I can't even express how grateful I am for this blog. I just love the questions and the wonderful conference talks that allow me to dig deep. I know that when we have a righteous desire that the lord blesses us ten fold. I was telling someone about it and how I accidentally came upon it and then I thought, there are no accidents when we seek diligently and have a righteous desire. I love learning from all of you and from the spirit. These last couple of weeks have been life changing and it's just amazing how meaningful the scriptures have become to me and how I look forward to reading them every day. I'm just so thankful that the Lord truly is mindful of all of us and knows what we need..what I need!
ReplyDelete