A Divided People

These last 2 days I finished up chapter 14 and 15. For chapter 14, there was one other topic in the manual I thought was interesting. It talks about verses 1-5 and "a divided people." This is what Brigham Young said about this:

"The Gospel of salvation in perfectly calculated to cause division. It strikes at the root of the very existence of mankind in their wickedness, evil designs, passions, and wicked calculations. There is no evil among the human family, but at the foundation of which it strikes effectually, and it comes in contact with every evil passion that rises in the heart of man. It is opposed to every evil practice of men, and consequently it disturbs them in the wicked courses they are pursuing."

There is so much I want to say about this and about the world we live in today, but I can't figure out how I want to put it...I will say this, I think that all of us that truly believe in the gospel principles and the standards of the church should stand up for them more often. I am definitely a non-confrontational person so I am speaking to myself when I say this too. :)

The Suffering of the Righteous

Well, I am finally back to my everyday scripture study, after weeks of weird schedules on vacation and preparing for my lesson last week. Today I am reading Alma chapter 14...


I am a little worried. Yesterday there was a comment made during the lesson about how sometimes when you attend the temple your family may not be safe and it doesn't mean you are a bad person. Then, today the first thing that jumped out to me from my manual on chapter 14 was the section about how bad things happen to good people ("The Suffering of the Righteous.")


I really hope that the Lord isn't trying to prepare me for something...


Alma 14:8-11 Talks about how Alma and Amulek had the power to bring down punishment on the men who killed the believers of God, but didn't because he said that God permits the righteous to suffer for a purpose.


It says this in my manual:


"...if all sick were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended. If pain, sorrow, and total punishment immediately followed the doing of evil, no soul would repeat a misdeed. If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil-all would do good and not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, no Satanic controls...no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or death...an absence of joy, success, resurrection, eternal life. and godhood.

Temporal and Spiritual Knowledge

Alma 12:10 "...he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him it is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full."

I had cross referenced D&C 130:18-19

"Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come."

I have been wondering about this lately...with my limited amount of time to study, I am sometimes torn between reading to increase my temporal knowledge and reading the scriptures. I searched "knowledge" on lds.org for some answers. The first 24 articles about knowledge were spiritually related, here is what #25 said (New Era > February 1972 Q&A's):

“Is religious education more important than academic education?”

"...we cannot neglect our academic learning if we are to follow the counsel of the Lord...The academic knowledge we gain will benefit us in our temporal pursuits but the knowledge we gain of spiritual and eternal truths will prepare us to live happily in this life and throughout eternity in the kingdom of God. Our eventual goal is to gain all knowledge necessary to be like our Eternal Father. We can move in that direction only if we devote our energies and abilities to gaining knowledge of God and his laws and incorporating into our lives eternal truth wherever it is found."

So, from this I am feeling that I should use most the time I have gaining spiritual knowledge, but when I can I should also try to gain more temporal knowledge, especially that will benefit me and my family in this life.

Well, I missed a day...so today I am writing the second I get a chance...Allie is watching Wonder Pets. Usually she lasts about ten minutes so hopefully I'll have time to finish. :)

I'll do some more scripture mastery to make it quick:

Deut. 7:3-4: Do not marry outside of the covenant ( I read the Bible Dict. on Marriage too)

Joshua 1:8 - Meditate on the scriptures day and night.

Reading this scripture actually gives me an idea. For days like yesterday, when i just cannot find the time to sit down and study the scriptures, I can just grab them and read one scripture. I don't have to be sitting down, I can be feeding Allie at the same time, and it will literally only take one minute. I figure as long as I have something to be thinking about, I can lengthen my scripture study throughout the day. Scripture study doesn't always have to be sitting down with your scriptures and other books laid out, pen in hand. You can see gospel principles in action if you are looking for them in every day life. Meditating isn't always sitting cross-legged on the floor in silence. It can also happen while you are taking care of a crying baby, with noisy cars driving by and obnoxious toys going off at the same time! Wow Allie has almost watched a full episode of Wonder Pets.