In the past, I would have gone to BYUTV for Book of Mormon commentary. Now I see that there are wonderful videos at lds.org https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/categories/book-of-mormon?lang=eng
On life's journey, it takes two hands
To find and taste the love of God
For such deceptive darkness lands
Satan's flames appear to be gone
In one hand, firmly hold God's Word.
Stand tall and absorb the hot fiery darts.
In the other hand, hold aloft
Faith's quenching shield till Satan departs.
Don't melt low in this fire
Despair or run away in fear.
Hold firm and rise up, higher
Douse it with water pure and clear.
See the heat for what it is
Satan's attack
Have faith, press on, and know this
God has your back
Always hold in balance
God's Word and your faith
Satan won't stand a chance
With God as your strength
In the heat of temptation's power
Pour forth all the faith you have
Heed God's Word, for therein is power
And press on along the path
I am picturing holding to the rod to keep your balance as you rise up, tall, to pour all the faith you have down on the fiery flames that try to overpower. Elder Maxwell has such a mastery of the scriptures and of words in general that I struggled to picture what he said till I understood quenching flames means extinguishing them, (so quenching thirst means putting an end to your thirst), why we would want to absorb the flames (to see them for what they are), and aloft (I thought meant hold away from you. But, it means high like a loft in a home.)
The constant and most recurring question in our minds, touching every thought and deed of our lives, should be, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6.) The answer to that question comes only through the Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost. Fortunate are those who so live that their being is filled with both.
Christ’s great gift to us was His life and sacrifice. Should that not then be our small gift to Him—our lives and sacrifices, not only now but in the future? A few years ago my colleague Elder Boyd K. Packer said this: “I’m not ashamed to say that … I want to be good. And I’ve found in my life that it has been critically important [to establish this intention] between me and the Lord so that I knew that he knew which way I committed my agency. I went before Him and said, ‘I’m not neutral, and you can do with me what you want. If you need my vote, it’s there. I don’t care what you do with me, and you don’t have to take anything from me because I give it to you—everything, all I own, all I am—,’ and that makes the difference.” (“To Those Who Teach in Troubled Times,” address delivered at seminary and institute conference, Summer 1970, Salt Lake City.)
Always I want to be good
And stand up for Jesus Christ,
To live my life, as He would
With His Spirit as my light.
Murmuring can be contagious,
And suspiciously outrageous!
Be patient. Wait for the facts.
Keep your faith. Goodness attracts!
I am thinking about Lehi's wife repeating the complaint the the two older son's had that Dad was a visionary man. She was afraid Lehi had sent them back to Jerusalem to perish.
1 Nephi 5
The aloof rebel set his heart as sand
And drifted with the changing of the wind
He found while shifting it was hard to stand
And swiftly fell on his face in the end
With problems ever so real I come to church each week And pray that the Lord will heal And bless me where I am weak "We come to church not to hide our problems but to heal them." @UchtdorfDF #BestDay
Wash your hands of the problem
Like you would an ablution
Pray that your heart will soften
Believe in a solution
1 Nephi 2:
16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.
17 And I spake unto Sam, making known unto him the things which the Lord had manifested unto me by his Holy Spirit. And it came to pass that he believed in my words.
18 But, behold, Laman and Lemuel would not hearken unto my words; and being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts I cried unto the Lord for them.
19 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart.
A visionary man
Gets carried away
To a place where he can
See clearly, The Way
5 Wherefore it came to pass that my father, Lehi, as he went forth prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people.
6 And it came to pass as he prayed unto the Lord, there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him; and he saw and heard much; and because of the things which he saw and heard he did quake and tremble exceedingly.
7 And it came to pass that he returned to his own house at Jerusalem; and he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with the Spirit and the things which he had seen.
8 And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God.
9 And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster was above that of the sun at noon-day.
10 And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament.
11 And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and stood before my father, and gave unto him a book, and bade him that he should read.
12 And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord.
13 And he read, saying: Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations! Yea, and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem—that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof; many should perish by the sword, and many should be carried away captive into Babylon.
14 And it came to pass that when my father had read and seen many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord; such as: Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!
15 And after this manner was the language of my father in the praising of his God; for his soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled, because of the things which he had seen, yea, which the Lord had shown unto him.
The purpose of the altar
Is to thank the Lord on high
And, through sacrifice, offer
A faithful effort to try
1 Nephi 2: 7 And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God. https://www.lds.org/media-library/images/adam-eve-angel-rane-1339141?lang=eng image source
Pray for Christ's words which confound
And shake those who utter against Him
Who are rebelliously bound?
Pray they might heed what He commands them
1 Nephi 2:14 And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the valley of Lemuel, with power, being filled with the Spirit, until their frames did shake before him. And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did as he commanded them.
con·found
kənˈfound/
verb
1.
cause surprise or confusion in (someone), especially by acting against their expectations.
"the inflation figure confounded economic analysts"
Thank you for your hard work in 2015. Together, we laid an important foundation upon which we can build this new year – fighting for key issues from dignity for women to the sanctity of human life.
But the Left is still threatening the values we hold dear, so there’s no time to rest.
That’s why I ask that you join me in covering this new year in prayer.
