President Gordon B. Hinckley on the Book of Mormon

"I take in my hand the Book of Mormon. I read its words. I have read Joseph Smith's explanation of how it came to be. To the unbelieving it is a story difficult to accept, and critics for generations have worn out their lives writing books intended to refute that story and to offer other explanations than the one given by Joseph the Prophet. But to the open-minded, this critical writing has only stimulated them to dig deeper; and the more deeply they dig, the greater the accumulation of evidence for the validity of Joseph Smith's story. Still, as has been demonstrated for a hundred and fifty years, the truth of the Book of Mormon will not be determined by literary analysis or by scientific research, although these continue to be reassuring. The truth about the origins of the Book of Mormon will be determined today and tomorrow, as it has been throughout the yesterdays, by reading the book in a spirit of reverence and respect and prayer."
(Praise to the Man, Ensign, Aug 1983, 4)

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Day 11 - 1 Nephi 19-20

As testified in Institute Tuesday evening, the Lord calls prophets to lead His people. Prophets prophecy blessings and warnings and reveal the word of the Lord. Prophets testify that Jesus is the Christ; that we must repent and call upon the Lord in faith.

"The Atonement of Jesus Christ was an indispensable part of our Heavenly Father’s plan for His Son’s earthly mission and for our salvation. How grateful we should be that our Heavenly Father did not intercede but rather withheld His fatherly instinct to rescue His Beloved Son. Because of His eternal love for you and for me, He allowed Jesus to complete His foreordained mission to become our Redeemer. The gift of resurrection and immortality is given freely through the loving grace of Jesus Christ to all people of all ages, regardless of their good or evil acts. And to those who choose to love the Lord and who show their love and faith in Him by keeping His commandments and qualifying for the full blessings of the Atonement, He offers the additional promise of exaltation and eternal life, which is the blessing of living in the presence of God and His Beloved Son forever." - Elder M. Russell Ballard, Apr 2004 G.C.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Sometimes we face difficult challenges in life. This is no surprise to those seek to know God. But we have a choice. We can either choose to be miserable and upset and murmur for every little thing that may not be according as "it should be". Or we can choose to patiently endure well the trials in our lives and live as Nephi writes later in 2 Ne. 5:27: "...we lived after the manner of happiness." Thus in 1 Ne. 20:10, we see the Lord at work: "For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."

“In reading any of the standard works of the Church it is well to ascertain the literal meaning of the passage read first, and the lesson it was intended to convey to those to whom it was first communicated. And then it might be well to ask, What lesson does it convey to my time and age? To my nation? My community? My family? Or to myself?” (Reynolds and Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 1, p. 206)
Posted by Caleb at 7:30 AM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)