Faith – Treasure Up The Word

Becoming Children of God

“And now, these are the words which king Benjamin desired of them; and therefore he said unto them: Ye have spoken the words that I desired; and the covenant which ye have made is a righteous covenant. And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.” (Mosiah 5:6-7)

In my last post, I talked about how we are all born to this earth as children of men. So then, How Do We Become Children of God?

It’s all well and good to talk about becoming, but that’s one of those metaphysical, non-practical words that doesn’t really mean anything by itself. We can’t stand still and look to heaven and start becoming just because we really, really want it. So then, what is required?

Let’s start with the basics.

“I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, even as many as will believe on my name, that they may become the sons of God.“ (D&C 35:2)

We must believe on His name. To do that we must believe that despite the fact that we are trapped in a darkened, telestial world, Christ will help us overcome it. If we were to rely only on justice, then each of us would have earned death and damnation. But when we believe in the words of Christ, we believe that in His mercy, He has made intercession and satisfied the demands of justice.

“And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men—

Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.” (Mosiah 15:8-9)

After we learn to believe on his name, then what?

“And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men. For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of their parents.” (2 Nephi 2:21)

We need to repent. And repentance isn’t a one time fix. “I’ve repented and come to Jesus, and now I’m saved!” No, repentance is something we do over and over and over. Because as we experience life and learn more about God, we will recognize that we’ve started to veer off the path. We will have to make course corrections. Big ones, small ones, day after day. We will need to turn and face God each time we realize that our feet are taking us away from him.

Mosiah 27 says we “must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness.”

What is righteousness? When you boil it down, righteousness means that whatever the Lord asks us to do, we do it. Obedience to God is righteousness. So first we must become acquainted with the voice of the Lord so that we will recognize it, and when we do, we must be willing to do everything he asks of us.

So, let’s say we’ve believed Christ’s words, and have taken the time and effort to become familiar with His voice and have learned to obey it. Say we’ve learned to repent, and we are pointed in God’s direction, heading down that narrow path. Then what can we expect? How can we know that we have become a child of God?

In my last post, I quoted Romans 9:8 which said “the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” What promise?

Psalm 2:7 states “The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” These words are a promise. These words are a covenant. They are spoken by the mouth of the Lord to those whom he adopts into His family.

When we receive the promise from God that we have become His son or daughter, then we will be a child of the promise. We will be a covenant member of God’s family.

That is the Lord’s purpose. His work and his glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man, to exalt all the children of men who rise up to become children of God.

All these references to being born again aren’t just about the symbolic act of being baptized. Baptism is an essential step, but to truly be born again, we have to enter into a family that we had not been a part of previously.

Think about the records we have in the Book or Mormon. All of the righteous prophets that recorded their experiences have one big thing in common. They sought the Lord, they heard His voice, and His voice gave them a promise of eternal life—a life dwelling with God, in His house, as part of His family.

What happens if we don’t rise up and become a child of God?

“And it came to pass that Enoch continued his speech, saying: Behold, our father Adam taught these things, and many have believed and become the sons of God, and many have believed not, and have perished in their sins, and are looking forth with fear, in torment, for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God to be poured out upon them.” (Moses 7:1)

Fear and torment and the wrath of God. That’s what awaits those who do not rise up. When reading over all of these references to becoming children of God, you’ll notice that none of them say that everyone will become sons/daughters/children of God. They say “many have,” not “all have.” They say “ye may become,” not “you will become.”

This isn’t a guarantee. It’s conditional. We have our agency and we must use it well.

“Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons. Amen.” (Moses 6:68)

God is no respecter of persons, so the opportunity is there for everyone.

So then, where does that leave us? How should we proceed?

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.” (Moroni 7:48)

Pray. Pray with true intent. Pray with all the energy of your soul. Ask hard questions. Praise his name. Ask for miracles. Ask that your heart be filled with love. Tell Him about your day, about everything that you care about. Get to know the Lord.

On the one hand, it’s so simple. On the other, it can feel impossible. That’s because there needs be opposition in all things. The Lord wants to know you, and Satan wants to prevent it.

Do it anyway.

SaveSave

Children of God or Children of Men?

“For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit. And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;” (Mosiah 27:24-25)

Are we children of God?

“I am a child of God, and he has sent me here…”

I grew up singing those words. For me, the fact that I was daughter of God was a given. It was something innate and irrefutable.

But then, why does the verse above speak of becoming His sons and daughters? Are we children of God or not?

No, we’re not. At least, not yet.

I know that feels completely contradictory to our fundamental beliefs, but I promise it’s worth considering, because becoming a child of God in this life is what it’s all about.

That’s not to say that it’s inappropriate for us to call God our father. He is the creator of our spirits and he loves us as his children, but to become a literal son or daughter of God, there is more required.

If you search the scriptures for the phrase “become a child of God” or “become a son of God,” you’ll probably be just as surprised as I was to discover how often it’s used.

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” (John 1:12)

“And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the sons of God; and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name…” (3 Nephi 9:17)

“…our father Adam taught these things, and many have believed and become the sons of God.” (Moses 7:1)

“…that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him.”Moroni 7:48

“Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons. ” (Moses 6:68)

“…as many as would believe might become the sons of God.“(D&C 34:3)

“…that they may become the sons of God, even one in me as I am one in the Father” (D&C 35:2)

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If not children of God, then what?

The scriptures describe those who are not children of God as children of men or children of the flesh.

“And our spirits must have become like unto him [the devil], and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.” (2 Nephi 9:9)

“Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved.” (2 Nephi 2:9)

Paul, the Apostle of the New Testament distinguishes between the children of the flesh and the children of God, in the book of Romans:

“That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” (Romans 9:8)

It goes right back to the allegory of the olive tree. When we have a covenant with God, then we become part of His family. Just as Paul said in the verse above, the children of the promise (those with a covenant) are counted for the seed (or counted as offspring) of God, while the children of men are not.

All were born to this mortal earth through mortal parents, making us children of mortality. The atonement of Christ gives us the opportunity to choose to be born again, to become children of the promise.

“Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God.” (Mosiah 27:25)

“And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.” (2 Nephi 2:26)

Christ stretched forth His arms of mercy, and if we are willing to accept Him fully, to choose to be obedient to Him and Him alone, then we can be born again as part of His Family, as a child of God.

When we’ve spent our entire lives believing we are already children of God, it’s easy to feel abandoned and confused when we realize that we don’t yet qualify. But just the fact that the Lord has given us this opportunity to become His, is evidence of His incredible love. The Lord wants us to be like Him, and I don’t know about you, but I am far (and I mean FAR) from being like Him. I have so much to learn before I will feel as though I’ve moved even one step toward being where God is. Yet, He wants me to do it. He wants US to do it. He’s given us this opportunity for learning and growth—this opportunity to become HIS. This dark and dreary world is our school and our testing ground, because this mortal experience is the only way for us to learn godly attributes. Here, separated from His presence, we have the chance to exercise faith. Here we have the agency to choose God.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

God wants us to be like Him. That is His purpose, His work, and His glory. It is God’s desperate wish that we will each rise to the occasion and come to know Him, so that we can BE HIS.

*In my next post I’ll be talking a little bit about how that is done.

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Thy Faith Hath Made Thee Whole

“I will tell you of the wrestle I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.” (Enos 1:2)

I was reading in Enos (short, but packed full of the pathway leading back to God), and one phrase jumped out at me. The Lord has just forgiven Enos of his sins. His guilt is lifted and he asks the Lord how it was done. In response, the Lord tells him:

“Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.” (Enos 1:8)

Thy faith hath made thee whole. These are the exact words that Jesus uses during three separate encounters in his mortal ministry.

Mark 5, Luke 8, and Matthew 9 all tell the story of the woman who was plagued with the issue of blood. She is healed when she touches the hem of Christ’s garment, and each account agrees that the Lord 1) addressed her as “daughter” and 2) said the words “thy faith hath made thee whole.”

“And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace and be whole of thy plague.” (Mark 5:34)

The second instance of this phrase being used is in Mark 10. A blind beggar hears that Christ is near and calls out to Him. People try to shush him, but he persists. Christ asks what he would have Him do, and when the man asks that his sight be restored, Christ answers:

“Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.” (Mark 10:52)

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The third is in Luke 17. Ten lepers ask to be cleansed. The Lord tells them to go show themselves to the priests. On their way, they are all healed, but only one returns to thank Christ. Christ responds:

“Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” (Luke 17:19)

What does it mean to be made whole? On the surface, when looking at the examples from the bible, it seems to refer to being physically whole. So then why use the same words in Enos?

While the healing of the leper, the blind man, and the woman were wonderful example of mercy and the miracles that Christ can perform, I don’t think that’s the most important part. The nine lepers who were healed but did not return were made just as physically fit as the one who did return. So then, what is the significance of the Lord’s words to that one leper?

What is the significance of the woman being called ‘daughter?’

What is the significance of the blind man using his sight to follow Jesus in the way?

The faith of these people didn’t just allow their infirmities to be healed. Their faith resulted in purification, because they saw beyond what Christ could do for them physically, and saw the value of following in his path.

They didn’t wait for Christ to come and offer them a miracle. They cried out to Him, touched His garment, thanked Him. Just as Enos cried out to the Lord in mighty prayer and received forgiveness, these others took action. They acted in faith.

It’s one thing to say we have faith, but acting on our faith brings power.

I believe the Lord recognized the sincerity of their faith. He knew their hearts, and in telling them that their faith had made them whole, he was forgiving their sins, offering purification, and pointing them in the direction they needed to go.

Our Lord is always there, eager to forgive us, to teach us, to bless us. But it will be a struggle. Enos tells us of the ‘wrestle’ he has before receiving a remission of his sins. In verse 11, he “prayed unto Him with many long strugglings.” The woman, the blind man, and the leper all struggled with serious physical ailments. What is your struggle? And how will you use it to cry out to the Lord in mighty prayer so that he can help you overcome it?

May our souls hunger, and may we cry out to Him who can save us so that we will one day be called blessed and be able to say, like Enos, “I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest.”

Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear

There is No Fear in Love

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18 )

We all wish to be perfect in love, but we cannot do that if we fear, and unfortunately, we can be afraid of anything. As a teenager, I started making a list of everything that I feared. Drugs, alcohol, being unloved, being unwanted, messing up, needles, spiders, etc…

After filling a couple pages, I realized that the exercise could go on forever. There is no limit to the things we can fear. We can be afraid of everything. Satan knows that better than anyone. Fear hath torment. No one leverages that better than Satan. If he can cripple us with fear, he has won.

So how do we get rid of fear? Love. More love. More love for God and more love for those around us, because we can’t love God if we don’t love our brothers and sisters here.

“We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” (1 John 4:19-21)

Do We Choose to Love Our Brother?

We cannot truthfully claim a deep love of God if we hold on to hate for those around us. Many years ago, I met a girl who proudly ticked off on her fingers all the people that she hated, including her mom, her brother and one of her step-parents. I remember at the time wondering if she realized what she was saying. She seemed so proud of it. As if hating them made her powerful. Did she mean what she said? Did she really hate them?

Words are a powerful thing. We mortals like to abuse words. We like to say we hate something, when often what we really mean is that we don’t understand it, or that we were hurt, or confused, or offended, or that we just don’t agree. But the more we claim that hate, the more we’ll believe it’s true. Let us choose to set aside hate. Misunderstandings can be cleared up. Hurt can be healed, offense can be overcome, but the only way to get rid of hate is to choose to set it aside, to choose love instead.

Fear and hate do not make us powerful, they make us weak.

2 timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Fear is not Godly. Power does not come from fear.

In Helaman 5, Nephi and Lehi are imprisoned for their preaching and converting. After they are encircled about by fire and a voice is heard from the heavens, those who witnessed the miracle went about telling of their experience and converting even more souls. The result of this conversion was this:

Helaman 5:51 “And as many as were convinced did lay down their weapons of war, and also their hatred and the tradition of their fathers.”

They laid down their hatred. They didn’t demand retribution, or even an apology, they just laid it down. That is our choice. We can choose to lay down our hatred, our anger, our hurt, and all our broken pieces. We can choose to lay them down at the Lord’s feet.

We have agency and we must use it well. That means not only choosing good and taking responsibility for our choices, but it means respecting the agency of others. Even if you are completely right about something, that does not give you license to force your view on someone else. It’s ok to disagree. It’s ok to walk different paths. It’s not ok to use force or unrighteous dominion. It is not ok to compel. Choose truth. Teach truth, and let others make their choice.

2 Nephi 10:23 “Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves–to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.”

Do We Choose God?

How else can we love God? How else can we choose God?

Moses 7:33 “And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood.”

To love one another and to choose God go hand in hand. We are commanded to do both. No matter how diligently we seek the face of God, if we hold on to our hate, we are not choosing God.

Being commanded to love is one thing, actually doing it is another. But how do we love those who have hurt us? Or rejected us?

Overcoming Hurt with Love

We have all suffered offense and hurt. And in the midst of that hurt, it’s easy to lose sight of our relationship with the Lord if those who should be loving us unconditionally have decided to set us aside. So while we seek God’s love in order to forgive, we must also remember that despite the choices of whatever group we identify with, nothing can stand in the way of our relationship with Father and with Christ. If you feel you have been cast out—by your friends, or your family, or your church—do not let that come between you and the Lord.

Remember your agency. You are free to choose.

Alma 33:2 “And Alma said unto them: Behold, ye have said that ye could not worship your God because ye are cast out of your synagogues. But behold, I say unto you, if ye suppose that ye cannot worship God, ye do greatly err, and ye ought to search the scriptures; if ye suppose that they have taught you this, ye do not understand them.”

The lord does not require a synagogue for us to worship in. What the lord has asked of us is a broken heart and a contrite spirit. He’s asked us to believe in him and be baptized.

3 Nephi 11:33 “And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

The only person who can keep us from God is ourselves. That’s the beauty of Joseph Smith’s legacy. When we lack, we go to God. When we hurt, we go to God. When we anger, we go to God. When we are confused, we go to God. We have to stand at the door and knock. No one else can do it for us. We can’t send a messenger. We can’t ask a priest to do it for us. We have to stand at that door and ask for entrance.

Knocking

2 Nephi 9:42 “And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches–yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them.”

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We want the Lord to open the door for us. But he cannot if we are puffed up. What are we puffed up in? Because we’re all puffed up in something. Is it our knowledge? Do we think we know it all? Is it the image we project to those around us? Are we striving to LOOK righteous instead of BE righteous? Are we puffed up in our money, or a special talent we possess? Whatever it is, we have been told to cast it away. Because if we show up, knocking at the door, still clinging to our pride, he cannot open the door.

It can be frightening to give those things up. They make us feel secure and in control in this uncertain world. It’s the same way with our unbelief.

And what is unbelief? I used to think that unbelief was the same as non-belief, but that’s not the case. Unbelief is false belief. It’s a belief in something that simply isn’t true. And no matter how passionate we are about defending our beliefs, if they aren’t true, they’re not going to help us. That goes right back to Helaman 5:51 and laying down the traditions of our fathers. We all inherit traditions, but it’s our responsibility to determine whether or not they are true. It can be a frightening thing, but the Lord has asked us to seek the truth anyway.

2 nephi 9:40 “O, my beloved brethren, give ear to my words. Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against the truth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken.”

We should not fear truth. We all like to be right—we hope to be right. It’s just another part of our mortal nature. But in order to learn truth from God, we have to stop being afraid of discovering that we were wrong. We have to practice letting go of falsehoods. Take satisfaction in identifying truth and letting those truths replace your unbelief. Reviling against the truth isn’t going to make it false. The Lord speaks against all uncleanness. We can cling to our unbelief as tight as we want, but truth will still condemn us. So instead of being mad that our uncleanness is being condemned, let us strive to be rid of it. Choose to let it go. Lay it at the Lord’s feet.

God is a God of truth, and if we fear truth, then we will fear Him. And we know that fear hath torment.

2 nephi 27:25 “Forasmuch as this people draw near unto me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men—”

It is the precepts of men that teach us to fear God. It is the teachings of men that tell us we cannot go to the Lord ourselves. Men convince us to praise God with our words but hide our hearts from Him out of fear. The truth is that we should continue to honor the Lord with our words, but ultimately what the Lord really wants is our hearts. He wants us to come to a point where we can declare like Moroni, “I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear.” (Moroni 8:16)

Fear God?

Now there’s a little quandary, because many writers in the Book of Mormon state that they DO fear God. Or they preach that others SHOULD fear God.

“Work out your salvation with fear before God.” (Alma 34)

“The Nephites did not fear them; but they did fear their God.” (3 Nephi 4)

“I do not fear your power nor your authority, but it is my God whom I fear;” (Alma 60)

How do we reconcile that? We’re not supposed to fear, but these men of God are admitting fear and sometimes encouraging fear.

Fear of God may be used as a tool in some cases, but before I talk about that, I want to point out that if we are motivated by fear of anything but God, we’re going to get ourselves into trouble. Fear of man leads either to worshipping them as idols, or allowing ourselves to be manipulated by them, or both. It strips us of our agency and enslaves us to this world. Fear of men will lead us away from God, not toward Him. Fear of men puts man between us and God and acts as a barrier.

So then how can fear of God be a good thing? How can it be recommended by prophets throughout the scriptures? Enos used fear of the Lord to motivate his people to not completely destroy themselves.

Enos 1:23 “And there was nothing save it was exceeding harshness, preaching and prophesying of wars, and contentions, and destructions, and continually reminding them of death, and the duration of eternity, and the judgments and the power of God, and all these things—stirring them up continually to keep them in the fear of the Lord. I say there was nothing short of these things, and exceedingly great plainness of speech, would keep them from going down speedily to destruction.”

When a society has fallen into wickedness and chaos, sometimes it’s necessary for a prophet of the Lord to pound the fear of God into them. And even then, the only thing this accomplished was to prevent their utter destruction. It did not lead to salvation or raise them to a higher plain, it only restored a little order.

Fear of God cannot exalt us, and it will not bring us into the presence of the Lord. In order to rise up to meet our Savior, we must get rid of our fear.

And the way that we do that is to replace it with love. Perfect love casteth out fear.

Let me ask: who is perfect love?

Christ is perfect love.

When we invite Christ into our lives, when we do His will, when we fill ourselves with the light of Christ, our fear will be cast out.

He will cast out our fear. And when that fear is gone and we are made whole in Him, then we will have no more reason to fear God because—like King Benjamin’s people—we will have no more disposition to do evil.

Mosiah 5:2 “And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”

We must allow the Spirit of the Lord to cause a mighty change in us. We must continually seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing the light of Christ to work within us.

And THEN we can be filled with perfect love, with love unfeigned.

Loving Like a Little Child

The Lord has good reason for commanding us to be as little children.

3 Nephi 11:37-38 “And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things. And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.”

Little children love without limits, they forgive easily and they are very often fearless. Little children have perfect love because it comes without judgement and without reserve.

We have a story in my family from before I was born and my parents only had two kids. They were driving on I-15, along a long stretch of desert road when a biker gang came up behind them. My dad could see in the rear view mirror that they were Hells Angels and that they were passing the other cars very aggressively, almost like they were picking a fight. This made him more than a little nervous and he told my mom that they needed to just look straight ahead, don’t make eye contact. He didn’t want any trouble. But as this big group of bikers came up behind them and started passing, he noticed that most of them were waving. He and my mom were utterly flummoxed, but they didn’t dare wave back.

Finally after all the bikers has passed, my oldest sister, who was about 3-years-old at the time, says, “Daddy, those were nice mens! I was waving at them and they waved back!”

She wasn’t afraid of them. She didn’t know that men who rode motorcycles were supposed to be tough and dangerous. She didn’t judge them for their leather jackets or tats. They were just people, and she treated them with the loving enthusiasm of a child.

1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

Love others. Don’t just act like you love them. Don’t love them only when you are in direct communication, but love them always—even if they post something dumb on Facebook, even if they refuse to understand you—strive to have loving thoughts about them. Love them even when they aren’t affected by it. Love them when you speak of them to others. Love them when you disagree. Love them when they make huge mistakes. Love them when you are ashamed of your own mistakes.

2 Nephi 9:41 “O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.”

1 John 4:11 “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”

Let Christ into your heart. Let his perfect love cast out your fear.

Fire Dwelt on a Rock

“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.” (1 Nephi 1:6)

There came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him.

Why did it dwell on a rock before Lehi? Why mention the rock, instead of just saying “the ground,” or simply, “it dwelt before him?”

I think the answer rests in the action that preceded the fire.

He prayed unto the Lord.

Lehi lived in a time when the Law of Moses was in full affect. We know from 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.) that Lehi was in the habit of either building altars or finding other suitable places to make sacrifice and call on the Lord. So we can guess that this rock that the fire dwelt on was an altar. Lehi prayed and offered sacrifice, and the Lord answered his prayer in a miraculous way.

Pillar of fire.

What do we know about pillars of fire? Or pillars of light? In Joseph Smith’s first vision, we know that a pillar of light brought Joseph in contact with Father and Jesus. Pillars of fire in scripture are often conduits that bring mortals in contact with heavenly beings (Moses 1:17, 3 Nephi 17:24). So it stands to reason that a heavenly being was included in the pillar of light that Lehi saw. This makes sense considering what happened.

He saw and heard much.

Much. I love imagining what that little word encompasses. If he was in conversation with an angel from the Lord, what sorts of things do you suppose are included in that tiny description of “much?” Whatever it was, it exhausted him to the point that when he went home, he fell on his bed and from there ended up being carried away in a vision and having his throne room theophany.

“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.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.” (1 Nephi 1:7-8)

Apparently once he pierced the veil, a veritable flood of godly information came to him, first through the messenger and then through the vision. When the Lord finds someone who is willing to do the work required to pierce the veil, He doesn’t skimp on answering their questions.

So what was it that made this prayer so powerful? I’d wager there were a lot of reasons, but I think one of the main reasons that this prayer elicited a flood of spiritual knowledge to fall on Lehi is because it was an intercessory prayer.

In Behalf of His People

“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.” (1 Nephi 1:5)

Lehi had heard the warnings from the other prophets of the time about the coming destruction of the jews (Verse 4). And because he cared about the people of Jerusalem, he was filled with such compassion that he poured out his soul in mighty prayer on behalf of his people. That is a Christlike response. He saw the danger his people were in and so he pleaded with the Lord on their behalf. He made intercession. There is great power in praying for others, and it’s something we should all do more of.

There is a myriad of lessons to be learned from these records. I love that these early verses introduce us to one of the great themes that repeats throughout the Book of Mormon. Eight verses into 1 Nephi and we already have an account of Lehi piercing the veil and entering the Lord’s presence. There is tremendous hope in that.

Faith of a Mustard Seed

And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. (Luke 17: 6)

“…Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:20)

I’ve always been a little confused by the idea that having faith like a grain of a mustard seed can pluck up trees or move mountains. I’ve never felt like I had the ability to ask something so profound of God’s creation and for them to obey me. And yet, I’ve always thought that I had faith, certainly enough to compare to the size of a mustard seed, right? I mean, mustard seeds are tiny. When they are described as grains of mustard seeds, that’s very accurate. They are barely bigger than a grain of salt or a grain of sand. That’s tiny. Surely I have at least that amount of faith. So then, where is my ability to tell a mountain to move and have it be done?

Then I realized something. These verses don’t talk about having faith the size of a mustard seed. They talk of having faith as a mustard seed. Wait, seeds have faith? That took some pondering. So, let’s think it through.

What does a seed want to do? It wants to sprout.

What are the conditions in which it needs to sprout? It is buried in the wet earth, in the dark.

How long can a sprout survive without sunlight? Not long.

So, if you are a seed—not just a seed, but a tiny mustard seed—and you are planted in the ground, with only a finite amount of energy inside of you, would it be intimidating to sprout? How much faith would it take to break out of your shell (essentially destroying yourself), knowing that you would be surrounded by darkness. How much faith would be required for you to reach upwards in the hopes that the tiny amount of energy contained inside of you would allow you to break through the surface and find sunlight? Because if you run out of energy and stop growing before you reach the surface, you will perish. It is imperative that you reach the light.

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Makes a little more sense, doesn’t it? Having faith the size of a mustard seed isn’t going to endow us with the power to move mountains. What we need is faith like a mustard seed—the faith that if we do everything within our power to reach upwards toward the light, that we will be received into that light and empowered by it.

“And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.” ( Alma 32:21 )

When a seed sprouts, it must have a hope that the sunlight required to nourish it is there, even though it cannot see it, because the truth is that it is there. We have been planted here on this earth, separated from the light of God. We have been given the tools that we need to sprout and reach upwards to reconnect with God, but it will take everything within us.

“Let us here observe that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.” (Lectures on Faith. Lecture Fifth, paragraph 6)

We can’t stay safe and warm inside our shell if we hope to return to our Lord. We must have the faith to seek God’s face. Even if we have to give up everything—our time, our talents, our job, our social standing, our good name—and give our will over to the Lord.

If we are willing to do that, then the Lord will embrace us in light and glory. And that is worth everything.