REL A 250 - Overcoming the World

This week I was re-listening to talks giving during General Conference a few weeks ago and I was really impressed by Elder Neal A. Anderson’s talk “Overcoming the World”. It seemed to echo some of the thoughts and feelings I have had lately about where I am in life right now. Elder Anderson talked about a vision that President David O. McKay had while he was sailing on a boat to Samoa. President McKay said that he beheld a beautiful white city and that there was a great concourse of people dressed in white approaching the city. Jesus Christ was at the head of the group of people. The city was the City Eternal.

Elder Anderson explains that those who were in that city were “[those] Who Have Overcome the World!”

In John 16:33 it says, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

And in D&C 64:2 it says, “For verily I say unto you, I will that ye should overcome the world; wherefore I will have compassion upon you.”

Overcoming the world is the same as rendering ourselves entirely to Christ. Christ overcame the world by submitting himself to the will of the Father. If we wish to overcome the world we need to let go of all the worldly things that hold us back. That could be having better Sabbath-day observance, being more honest/kind to those around us, avoiding un-wholesome media, etc.

I want to be numbered among those in the City Eternal, and that requires overcoming and letting go of the world.

REL A 250 Sons of Thunder

This past General Conference weekend was really enjoyable for me and I especially look forward to re-reading and re-listening to the talks. One talk in particular stuck out to me because it had a lot of relevance to my life and even a few of the class discussions that we have had in REL A 250.

President Uchtdorf’s General Priesthood Session talk was entitled “The Greatest among You”. In his talk he references the nickname given to James and John, the “Sons of Thunder”.

He says, “You don’t get a nickname like that without an intriguing backstory. Unfortunately, the scriptures don’t provide much explanation about the nickname’s origin. However, we do get brief glimpses into the character of James and John… On one occasion, as the Savior prepared to make His final journey to Jerusalem, James and John approached Him with a special request—one perhaps worthy of their nickname.  ‘We want you to do for us whatever we ask,’ they said. I can imagine Jesus smiling at them as He responded, ‘What do you want?’ ‘Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.’”

President Uchtdorf goes on to explain that this request is not too dissimilar to us when we seek earthly or temporal power, he goes on to say, “you can’t get honor in the kingdom of heaven by campaigning for it. Nor can you ‘power lunch’ your way to eternal glory.”

Christ taught, “whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.”

This scripture should apply to all of us in some way. All of us at some time or another will have the opportunity to work in a leadership position. That may be at work, school, in a club, or in the church. I believe that as we seek to fulfill these roles in a spirit of servitude we will be better off and blessed for exercising humility. I can only imagine how different the world would be if the world leaders practiced this kind of Servant Leadership.

REL A 250 - What Lack I Yet?

While listening to conference this weekend and during my scripture study in Jesus the Christ I have heard the scripture Matt 19:20-21 several times. The scriptures says, “The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me” (bold and italics added).

I feel that the young man in this scripture did not as Christ this question to challenge the Savior, but he truly asked because of a sincere desire to know what he needed to do better. The fact that he asked “what lack I” shows that he must have felt something was missing, that he was not whole, complete, or perfected yet. And Christ perceiving this responded appropriately, “If thou wilt be perfect…”

One of my goals recently has been to seek the kingdom of God in all that I do. Although I do not have large amounts of worldly possessions like the young man in this scripture I realized that there are activities in my life that are less-than-productive. When I ask the question “what lack I yet” while praying I normally find something that I could be using my time better, and, often I feel overwhelmed like the young man; I know what I need to change is going to be difficult. This doesn’t have to be the case, however. We can know that the Savior wants us to improve and be perfected in him.

We all should ask on a regular basis, “what lack I yet”. I believe that as we do this we demonstrate humility, but we should also learn from the young man and recognize that the Lord will likely ask us to do something difficult. We should especially ask “what lack I yet” during this conference weekend. I know as we seek counsel from the Lord and strive to do His will, we will come closer to the Kingdom of Heaven and the perfection that is our goal. 

REL A 250 3/23/2017 - Christ the Vine

This week in our religion class Bro. Griffin mentioned something that I thought was interesting and decided to investigate a little more. He mentioned that Christ taught that He was the vine and that we are all branches and that branches that don’t bring forth fruit are cut away and branches that bring forth fruit are also cut (so they could bring forth good fruit). I thought it was interesting that both types of branches were cut so I decided to read the parable on my own.

In John 15: 1-7 it says,

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you”

I feel like Christ’s message is that we are wholly dependent on him and that is pointless to try to “make it” on our own because He provides us with life (spiritual and physical).

I have thought a little bit about how we might separate ourselves from Him or not “abide in [Him]” in our lives. I feel like, for me, one way I become vulnerable and detached is when I forget to pray often and sincerely. In order to strengthen our individual branch and our connection with the life giving vine we need to be exercising that connection frequently and meaningfully through prayer.

I know that if we strive to build our connection with the vine of life, we will be able to receive Christs promise, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

REL A 250 3/17/2017 - Prayer

This week I was studying from the Book of Mormon in one of my favorite chapters, Helaman 10. In this chapter the prophet Nephi is discouraged because of the wickedness of the Nephites, but a voice came to him and said,

“Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.

And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.” (Helaman 10:4-5; italics and bolding added).

This chapter meant a lot to me as a missionary because I felt that I could often relate to and look up to Nephi’s example. There were times that I felt overwhelmed by the difficulty of the work, but at the same time I felt encouraged by Nephi’s example to always seek to do the Lord’s will.

From these verses we can learn a lot about prayer and how we should pray. Nephi always sought to do the Lord’s will and as a result the Lord promised him all that he would pray for because he would never pray for anything that was contrary the Lord’s will.

In the “Guide to the Scriptures: Prayer” it says, “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 we must ask for in order to obtain.”

I believe that if we wish to be most effective in our prayers we should always seek to pray for the things the Lord wants to happen (and not necessarily what we want to happen). In doing so we can obtain the promise of having “all things done according to [our prayers]”, because they are align with God’s will.  

REL A 250 3/11/2017 - The Wise Virgins

Studying the parables this week in our religion class has been especially thought provoking. I have enjoyed exploring all of the different layers of meaning in the parables and how each might apply to my life.

While studying the parable of the Ten Virgins we discussed that Christ, in this instance, was referring to the “good” people of this earth by using ten virgins which are a symbol of purity. We also discussed, however, what set the five wise virgins apart from the five foolish virgins; the bridegroom speaks to the unwise virgins at the door and says, “Verily I say unto you, ye know me not” (Matthew 25:12 JST translation, italics added). The defining trait that caused the difference between the wise and the foolish virgins was “knowing the Savior”.

This caused me to reflect on my own life and how well I feel that I know the Savior. There have definitely been times (like the mission) that I have felt more dependent on him and closer to him, and others when I have strayed (like we all do at some point in our lives).

My question of application for this scripture is then, “How do we come to know the Savior?” I found the answer in 1 John 2:3-5, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.”

We can come to know the Savior by keeping his commandments. As we keep the commandments we fill our lamps with the precious oil (testimony, faith, consecration, etc.) that will keep us close to the door of Heaven.

REL A 250 3/6/2017 The Storms of Life

REL A 250 The Storms of Life

In our class this week we have been discussing the miracles of Christ. One that always seems to speak to me is Christ calming the tempest. We used Matthew’s explanation in class so I decided to read Mark’s on my own. In Mark 4:36-41 we read,

“And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

One unique thing to note from these verses that Mark provides is that there were other ships with that had joined the disciples. There were likely many people on the water that feared for their lives. This scripture always brings peace to me, knowing that the Savior has the power to calm both the tempests in our lives and in our hearts, and I have felt that power many times.

The principle I think we should take away from this scripture is that often times we can forget in the midst of the tempest (like the disciples did) who we have in our boat with us. When the Lord is on our side our boat will never sink. That doesn’t mean that bad things won’t happen though. Death, sickness, stress, loneliness are all parts of life, but it should be comforting to know that the Savior has the power to rebuke any storm we may face. The trials of this life are temporary, and whether it is a physical, spiritual, mental, or emotional storm that we face, the Lord will calm the storm in his timing.