Seeking for riches

Jacob 2:18-19 is today's scripture mastery:

 18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.

 19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.

This goes hand in hand with the oft quoted "money is the root of all evil" scripture (1 Timothy 6:10).  Though that verse is most often misquoted above (as I purposely just did above)  here is the full verse:

10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Note that Paul is teaching Timothy here that it is the love of money that is the root of all evil (not the money itself).  Jacob clarifies this for us with his teachings from today's scripture mastery.

Basically, if we have our hearts in the right place, i.e. in seeking after the kingdom of God, in serving the poor and the needy, and in helping our fellow man--money and riches can be a good thing.  After all, it is much simpler to help many suffering people if you have the financial means to do so. . .

To go along with these teachings is the church's teaching about fast offerings.  Fast offerings are one of the ways that the Lord has set up to help the poor and the needy within (and even outside of) the church.  Every month, on a designated fast day, the members of the church are encouraged to fast (i.e. skip meals for 24 hours while praying for a specific need.)  Along with that, they are encouraged to give to the church at least the cost of those skipped meals, but what is given can be much more than that.  Those funds that are gathered are used to help the poor and the needy in the local area.  The funds are dispersed by the local bishop.  If the funds that have been gathered are more than is needed in that local area, they are then given to the church headquarters, where they can be redirected to those areas with a greater need.

The importance of prayer

2 Nephi 32:8-9 is today's scripture mastery.  It comes from the same sermon that Nephi gave to his people in yesterday's scripture mastery:

 8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

 9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.

Prayer is one of the most important ways that we have to communicate with God.  Through prayer, we come closer to God, and come to rely on Him.  If we take Nephi's council here, and pray to God before we take any action, we will find that we are helped and led by His hand.

On the other hand, if we do not pray daily, we are doing exactly what the enemy to all righteousness wants us to do. . .Satan is real, and he wants us to be miserable.

Now--it is important that we don't pray to be seen of others.  Christ taught us that in Matthew 6:5:

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Christ continued to teach us additional truths about prayer in verses 6-13:

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

 11 Give us this day our daily bread.

 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

We are taught that prayer does not have to be spoken, or while on our knees.  In the book of Mosiah, there is a story of some people who were being persecuted for their belief in Christ.  Those that were persecuting them had threatened to kill any who prayed to God.  But they knew that God could hear their thoughts (Mosiah 24:12-13)

 12 And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.

 13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

The prophet Zenos also taught about the importance of prayer (Alma 33:4-11).  He said:

4 For he said: Thou art merciful, O God, for thou hast heard my prayer, even when I was in the wilderness; yea, thou wast merciful when I prayed concerning those who were mine enemies, and thou didst turn them to me.

 5 Yea, O God, and thou wast merciful unto me when I did cry unto thee in my field; when I did cry unto thee in my prayer, and thou didst hear me.

 6 And again, O God, when I did turn to my house thou didst hear me in my prayer.

 7 And when I did turn unto my closet, O Lord, and prayed unto thee, thou didst hear me.

 8 Yea, thou art merciful unto thy children when they cry unto thee, to be heard of thee and not of men, and thou wilt hear them.

 9 Yea, O God, thou hast been merciful unto me, and heard my cries in the midst of thy congregations.

 10 Yea, and thou hast also heard me when I have been cast out and have been despised by mine enemies; yea, thou didst hear my cries, and wast angry with mine enemies, and thou didst visit them in thine anger with speedy destruction.

 11 And thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my sincerity; and it is because of thy Son that thou hast been thus merciful unto me, therefore I will cry unto thee in all mine afflictions, for in thee is my joy; for thou hast turned thy judgments away from me, because of thy Son.

 Prayer is a powerful tool that we have to get the help we need from God.  Let us not neglect it!

How to know what to do.

Have you ever had a time where you didn't know what choice to make?  Today's scripture mastery (2 Nephi 32:3) tells us what we should do:

3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

There are 2 key parts to this verse.  First is the Holy Ghost.  All members of the church have received the gift of the Holy Ghost.  If they are living righteously, and trying to follow Christ, they will be able to hear the promptings and teachings from the Holy Ghost.  That is perhaps one of the greatest blessings we have been given here on earth.  We do not have to fend for ourselves in everything.  The Holy Ghost, as a member of the Godhead, is there to help us navigate through life.  We only have to listen to His promptings, and act on them.  The Holy Ghost has different titles.  He can warn us of danger.  He can teach us what we need to know (as He knows all things).  He comforts us when we need comforting. And finally, He teaches us about Christ.

The second key part is that we should feast upon the words of Christ--that means that we should take time each day to read and ponder in the scriptures.  There have been many times in my life where I have been trying to figure out what I should do with a particular problem that I have been facing.  I have often found the answers I have been looking for in the scriptures.

God is aware of each of us.  He has the answers we are looking for.  He often only waits for us to ask Him before he gives the answer (though sometimes we must wait a bit before the answer comes).  I like this description of receiving answers found in the Bible Dictionary in the entry on Prayer:

As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7–11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.

 So, in summary, if we listen to the Holy Ghost, and if we study and ponder the things we read in the scriptures--and if we ask the Lord in prayer.  We will be able to know the answers to all things that we need to know.  Try it!

Eat, Drink, and be Merry

2 Nephi 28:7-9 is today's scripture mastery:

 7 Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.

 8 And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.

 9 Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark.

I know that I have heard many who teach these false doctrines.  They either say that God doesn't exist, so it doesn't matter what we do in this life.  Others say that we can participate in the wickedness of the world--we can cheat and lie and do other things like that, but that we will still be saved.

Please do not be fooled by those who teach such things!  They may sound good, and the things that they are teaching may seem fun at the time, but remember that it will only bring misery in the end. . .

It is true that Christ has atoned for our sins, but we must remember that he has given it freely only to those who repent. See Helaman 5:10-11

 10 And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins.

 11 And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.

Let us always follow Christ.  It is only through Him that we may be saved.  He only asks that we keep His commandments and repent when we fall(and since we are all imperfect, we all fall sometimes. . .)  

True Wisdom

Today's scripture mastery is 2 Nephi 9:28-29:

 28 O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.

 29 But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.

This scripture has always been one of my favorites.  It helps me to put my pride in check.  When I remember the teachings of these verses, I am able to put my trust where it belongs--with God.

All truth comes from God.  Let me repeat that.  All truth comes from God.  That includes all the many wonderful advances that have been discovered in all the sciences.  Those great truths that have, and continue to come forth have all come from the inspiration of God--even if the people who "discovered" those truths don't know it.

There are many in the world who act as the people described in verse 28 above.  Some even go so far as to mock and deride those who even profess a belief in God.  Others go the other way.  They refuse to accept or use the scientific method.  I believe that the way God wants us to go is someplace in the middle of these two extremes.  We must remember that God has not yet revealed all truth, and so some things that we don't yet know may be confusing.  That goes for both science and for things that are not scientific--We don't yet know all there is to know about either.  Sometimes the things that we may think we know seem to contradict each other from the two.  But I believe that pure truth found in both science and religion do not conflict with each other.  In fact, there are many famous scientists who are members of our church.  For a brief list of some of them see these two links from the http://famousmormons.net website: Famous Scientists, and Famous Physicians and Surgeons.  If you look through those lists you will see that two of the current 12 Apostles are on that list: Richard G Scott was a Nuclear Engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Russel M. Nelson was one of the developers of the Heart Lung machine that made heart surgery possible.

God has much more to teach us, and wants us to continue to learn and to find new truth.  However, we must not forget to continue to put our trust in Him.  We must continue to follow the commandments, and repent when we sin.  If we do that, all our learning that we are able to get in this life will be a benefit to us (and to others).  Remember this verse from Doctrine and Covenants 93:28:

 28 He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.

We are free to choose for ourselves according to today's scripture mastery (2 Nephi 2:27)

 27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

This scripture goes hand in hand with yesterday's scripture mastery.  We are free to have joy--if we choose to follow Christ.  Now that doesn't mean that life will be a life of luxury or ease.  We will continue to have difficult times and difficult choices to make throughout our life even if we do choose to follow the Savior.  

However, if we don't choose to follow Christ, and keep his commandments, we can often bring unnecessary pain and suffering on ourselves or those that we love.

There are many who think that keeping the commandments of God is something that is restrictive and limiting in our lives.  They see those who are not keeping the commandments of God, and are seemingly having a good time, and wonder why they can't join in the fun.  The key is, I think, that the "fun things" that Satan tries to get us to participate in are usually things that bring only temporary pleasure.  They are most often addicting in one way or another.  They are things that Satan uses to captivate and trap those that do them.

For example, if everybody followed the 10 commandments, think how much less suffering there would be in the world.  And think of the "word of wisdom" which is unique to our faith--that states that we should not drink alcohol.  Alcohol is addicting.  Not everybody who drinks it becomes an alcoholic--but the danger is there to become addicted.   If we avoid it, we don't have to worry about Satan capturing us in that way and making us miserable because of that.  We can see the pain and suffering caused by the misuse of alcohol--the consequences of it can go even to the loss of life of innocent people (drunk driving accidents for example.)  The same council goes for avoiding pornography.  It is addictive.  It is demoralizing and demeaning to those who are involved.  It causes unnecessary pain and suffering.  That suffering is not only for the person who views the pornography, but also to many innocent people. 

Now, Satan would have us believe that if we have become trapped in one of his traps, that we are done--that we cannot ever be happy again.  He would have us believe that we can never regain the trust of those around us.   He would have us believe that we can never be forgiven.  That is a lie!  If we stop doing those things that bring us down, we can be forgiven!  Christ has the power to cleanse us of the sins that we have.  He has the power to help us to forsake the sins that we have, and to repent.  The heavy burden that we carry because of sin can be taken from us (Matthew 11:28-30):

 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

It is up to us if we choose to take advantage of that great gift that Christ offers to us all.  Let us not carry the heavy burden of sin and guilt any longer than we must!  Let us repent, and come unto Christ.  Let us partake of the happiness and joy that Christ offers to all that repent and follow Him.

True Joy

God wants us to be happy.  Today's scripture mastery is 2 Nephi 2:25

 25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

The joy that God wants us to have is the lasting joy--not the fleeting kind that is brought by temporary diversions and "instant gratification."   The materialism of the world is not the way that we can gain true joy.  "Things" don't bring true happiness.  So what does?  Christ is the way to happiness.  If we keep His commandments, and follow His example, we can have true joy.

If we serve others, we can help to bring that joy to others.  We should do as Christ taught in Matthew 5:16:

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

I was reading some other scriptures about joy, and I really liked this one, found in Doctrine and Covenants 128:22-23, it is referring to temple work (The work that we do in temples is a work that we can do to help those who can't help themselves.):

22 Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free.

 23 Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers!