Jeff's Scripture Study Notes

Joy is why we are here

2010-01-03T15:46:00.000-08:00

2 Nephi 2:25

One more favorite.
Before Lehi’s death, back in 2 Nephi, he gathered his sons and blessed them. When blessing his son, Jacob, he spoke words of direction as well as prophetic declarations of God’s plan for His children. In verse 24, he spoke of Adam’s fall and how all things were done “in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things”, then he declared: “Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy.”

Joy. It is, in fact, why we are here on the earth.

My Life and My Light

2010-01-03T14:47:00.000-08:00

Alma 26:35-6; 3 Nephi 17:15-20

The records were passed down generation to generation until about 385 A.D. when they were given to Mormon, a young righteous Nephite who the people chose to guide their armies in many battles. As most of the Nephites were turning away from God and “ripening in iniquity” they began to lose their battles against the Lamanites and, as God had warned them from the beginning, they were entirely swept off the land (see Ether 2:9; Moroni 9:20-24; Mormon 6). Before he died in the last great battle, the prophet Mormon gathered the many plates together and chose from them the most sacred and prophetic writings as he was inspired by the Holy Ghost. He handed down this abridged record to his son, Moroni, who, as the sole survivor of the Nephites, finished the abridging and added a few words as directed by the Spirit. He buried the record in the ground around 421 A.D. to eventually be unearthed and translated by a prophet in our day.

My last two favorites on “Enjoying Life” come from earlier in The Book of Mormon, the first from the visit of the Lord Jesus Christ to these people soon after His resurrection. After descending from heaven, healing their sick, and expounding His gospel to the people, Jesus knelt with them and prayed unto the Father in their behalf. They bore record of the “great and marvelous things” he spoke and explained that “no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father” (3 Nephi 17:15-20). We also can have joy in the great and marvelous things that Jesus Christ has done for us. It is because of His sacrifice and love for us that we have access to pray to the Father as He did. Our souls may also be filled with joy as we contemplate our potential to return to our Father someday.
About 80 years before Christ’s birth, a Nephite named Ammon was reflecting on the blessings from proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ among the Lamanite people. He explained to his brethren that they had great reason to rejoice and then he got “carried away” in his joy “even unto boasting in my God” (Alma 26:35). After expounding God’s power and wisdom and mercy, Ammon said:
“Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, bless is the name of God, who has been mindful of this people.” (verse 36)

I finish this theme with my own rejoicing. I rejoice in the love of our Father in Heaven to watch over me and to His send His Son, Jesus Christ, to give my life hope and meaning. I rejoice in His gospel and I thank Him for my happiness, for this also is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation!

God’s Unchanging Plan for Our Salvation

2010-01-02T12:28:00.000-08:00

Mosiah 3:3-13

Nephi passed the sacred record to his brother, Jacob, to write “a few things which I considered to be most precious” which included “preaching which was sacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying” for, as Jacob explained it, “…we also had many revelations, and the spirit of much prophecy; wherefore, we knew of Christ and his kingdom, which should come” (Jacob 1:2, 4, 6). The plates continued to be passed down to sons and brothers until about 420 years after Jacob had received them, when the current caregiver, “having no seed, and knowing king Benjamin to be a just man before the Lord” gave the records to the righteous king of the Nephite people (Omni 1:25).
Before his death, King Benjamin gathered his people together and exhorted them to remember the Lord. He recounted the words of an angel that had visited him the night before, focusing on the mission of Christ, our indebtedness to Him, and then he encouraged them to “rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even as though he had already come among them” (Mosiah 3:3-13, entire sermon found in chapters 2-5; see also Alma 4:14).
These children of God, far from the land of Jerusalem, and struggling through their own unique trials and challenges, were dependent – as we are – on God’s word through His chosen prophets in their midst. These people, still living after the law of Moses (yet looking forward with faith to the coming of Christ and the fulfilling of His law), offered sacrifice and burnt offerings and thanked the Lord for delivering them out of the hands of their enemies and appointing “just men to be their teachers…that they might rejoice and be filled with love towards God and all men” (Mosiah 2:3-4; see also 5:2-5).
We know of Christ in the same way: by God’s word through His chosen servants, the prophets (see Amos 3:7) and the confirmation of these words by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; Galatians 5:22-23). Though they lived 100 years before Christ’s coming and we live over 2,000 years after His miraculous birth, the message is the same, the method is the same, and our God is the same. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He promised on the last pages of the Old Testament, “For I am the Lord, I change not” (Malachi 3:6) and the apostle Paul confirmed, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8).
We can have joy in God’s promises and in His unchanging plan of salvation – that Christ’s power of redemption is available to all! All will be resurrected and live again, and all who heed His words may have eternal life.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T21:11:00.001-08:00

2 Nephi 8:3

After sailing across the sea, Nephi and his family landed on the shores of America and began a new life. The Lord commanded Nephi to keep two records on metal plates: on the first he recorded secular information about his people and the details of their wars and kings, etc.; Nephi used the second for "the more part of the ministry" which included the spiritual things and prophecies of Christ (1 Nephi 9:2-4).

On this second record, Nephi quoted many words of Isaiah and likened them to his people (see 1 Nephi 11:1). Among these words I point out one verse that has particular meaning to this day of Thanksgiving.

For the Lord shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. 2 Nephi 8:3

The day will come when Jesus Christ will return and bring a time of peace to this world. We will be thankful and raise our voices in His praise. Though the time is not yet here, we can still be thankful and rejoice because He has not abandoned us. The Lord will comfort each and every one of us and make the best of our lives. I know joy and gladness can be found in my every day – if I will turn to the Lord and live with a heart of thanksgiving.

Joy During Trials

2009-09-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

1 Nephi 8:7-12

In facing hardships, we can sometimes become bitter, hardened, exhausted. This is why it is crucial to rely on the love of God and the Atonement of His Son to remain whole.
Soon after leaving Jerusalem, Lehi had a dream where he was in a “dark and dreary waste” (1 Ne 8:7). He traveled in the darkness for many hours before he found a solution: he began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on him, “according to the multitude of his tender mercies.” After praying, he emerged from the darkness and saw a tree with fruit designed to make one happy. The tree represents Jesus Christ and the love of God in providing a way for eternal life to His children. The fruit is the saving principles of the gospel and is truly the way we can find peace and happiness, even during the worst of times.
When I am feeling dreary, I must remember to pray for mercy and God will show me my blessings and help me find that which will make me happy. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is not just for the aftermath, the cleanup, the repair of damaged souls. It is also for the here and now – for the constant support and lasting endurance of God’s children through our daily trials.

Later in the first book of Nephi (20:21) he quoted Isaiah 48:21, reminding us that God led the children of Israel through the deserts and provided water for them. God will lead me through the deserts of my life also. That is what the gospel is about – the here and now! So often I look forward to the “day of gladness when Jesus will come again” but His love is available to me NOW. He will carry me through the rottenest of days.

Truly, through Jesus we can have peace and joy – even during trials.

Comprehend Joy

2009-03-01T14:00:00.001-08:00

1 Nephi 17:2, 6

After Nephi retrieved the brass plates, his family traveled to the seashore and God directed him in building a ship to travel across the sea. The difficulty of the trek provided opportunity for inner growth.

Imagine the challenges associated with 8 years of: Middle Eastern heat, wilderness, raw meat, living in tents, walking miles a day - some of them carrying and bearing children...

Nephi, in his positive hindsight, reflected how "great were the blessing of the Lord" in guiding them through and helping them "bear their journeyings without murmurings" (verse 2). He related that despite their afflictions, they were "exceedingly rejoiced" when they came to the seashore (verse 6).
Think how much they appreciated those shining waters! Would they have rejoiced if they were transported there directly somehow? Maybe they would have simply compared living in tents on the shores to their comfortable homes in Jerusalem and found reason to complain. But they rejoiced because they had been through hard times and they had survived. They had relied on God and had grown.

Without adversity, we would not grow. Without the trials we face we would not be able to comprehend the highest peaks of joy that can be experienced in this life.
I am not the kind of person that is "thankful" for trials. But I am very grateful for a God that loves His children so extremely that He allows them to experience adversity on Earth in order to truly know joy.

Look For the Good

2008-12-02T06:49:00.000-08:00

1 Nephi 2:11-12

Nephi's oldest brothers, Laman and Lemuel, murmured (complained) constantly about their circumstances and the choices of others. Nephi explained that they "did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them" (verse 12). Instead of working through their negative emotions and focusing on the many good things in this world, they were lazy and complained - even while doing service!

Their complaining made it difficult for them to stay (or become) motivated and to follow through with God's commandments. When God sent Nephi and his brothers back to Jerusalem to get the brass plates (the record of the Jews and the genealogy of Lehi's forefathers, including prophecies from the holy prophets such as Moses, Abraham, Isaiah, and Jeremiah) the constant murmuring of Laman and Lemuel made the errand near to impossible. Fortunately, Nephi had a positive view on everything and knew that if God asks us to do something, He will prepare a way for us to accomplish it (1 Ne 3:7).

I know this is true. God will guide us and give us power to accomplish the things he commands us (see 1 Ne 5:8). As we look for and spread the GOOD in life we will have the right frame of mind to see the "dealings of God" and we will have JOY in every day.

Tender Mercies

2008-10-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

1 Nephi 1:20

After reflecting on the hostility the people of Jerusalem showed God's prophets, Nephi reassured us that "the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."
Elder David A. Bednar, an apostle chosen by God in our day, described the Lord's tender mercies as "the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ." (Ensign, May 2005, 99)
Because of these blessing from heaven, I can be made "mighty unto deliverance." I don't need to worry or be sad or depressed. God will deliver me!
So relax, smile, enjoy life!

I know that if I have faith God will show His tender mercies even in my life and I will try to leave each day with that trust.

Things I See

2008-09-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

1 Nephi 1:14-15

While still living in Jerusalem, around 600 B.C., the prophet Nephi's father, Lehi, was "carried away in a vision" (verse 8) and was shown a book that explained that Jerusalem would be destroyed (11-13). He was later warned and directed to leave Jerusalem and journey to the Western hemisphere. But in his vision he also saw the Savior descending out of the heavens and he praised God for the great and marvelous things he had seen.
Like Lehi, I can rejoice in the things that I see - the things which the Lord shows me. I can enjoy beauties, miracles, love, mercy, smiles, laughter, kindness. There is so much God has placed in this world to bring me happiness and to help me remember Him.

For Me As For My Fathers

2008-09-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

Title Page

Joy in the knowledge that God has done great things for my fathers. Realize that He will do them for me also. And because of Jesus and the covenants I’ve made by virtue of His atonement I am not cast off forever, but can live close to God with peace and JOY.

ENJOYING LIFE

2008-09-24T15:35:00.000-07:00

Since 2001, each time I have read The Book of Mormon, I have studied it with a "theme". I do this in order to learn more about specific topics and to help me pay more attention. This focus in my studies has helped me avoid just "going through the motions" as I read and has aided my desires to receive inspiration through the Holy Spirit's guidance.
As I began The Book of Mormon again in August, I considered several themes: faith, obedience, covenants, honesty, self control, choosing the right, being dependable, sacrifice, enjoying life, living with joy, balance, hope, and more.
I decided to focus on the joy in life because I want to do better at living each day with joy (noticing the little things). So the theme: "Enjoying Life"