2 Nephi 11:5 And also my soul delighteth in the covenants of the Lord which he hath made to our fathers. Yea, my soul delighteth in his grace and his justice and power and mercy, in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death.
I will be given the help I need if I ask for it.
And he that fighteth against Zion shall perish, saith God.
Brother John says that the key to becoming a Zion person is to obey promptings without debate, doubt, or delay.
I should embrace the promptings He sends me.
O my beloved brethren, remember my words. Behold, I take off my garments and I shake them before you. I pray the God of my salvation that he view me with his all-searching eye. Wherefore ye shall know at the last day, when all men shall be judged of their works, that the God of Israel did witness that I shook your iniquities from my soul and that I stand with brightness before him and am rid of your blood.
I should live in such a way that I want Him to see me because I know He will be pleased.
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 it not, for they love the truth and are not shaken.
I should never fear the truth.
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; wherefore they shall perish.
I should make time to seek his counsel daily.
and forgettest the Lord thy maker that hath stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?
Where is it? Nowhere that can harm me if I am living the gospel.
"[when you have family prayers] do you go through the operation like the [grinding] of a piece of machinery, or do you bow in meekness and with... sincere desire to seek the blessing of God upon you and your household?"
In prayer, I should sincerely desire to seek the blessing of God upon myself and those I pray for.
"With some, the association lasts for years. with others, the association is very brief. But in either case, we can make the pattern a beautiful one by making our encounter a kindly one."
I should strive to have kindly encounters.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look upon the earth beneath, for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke and the earth shall wax old like a garment. And they that dwell therein shall die in like manner. But my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
What is salvation? What am I being saved from? What am I being saved to do, instead?
I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
If I am doing the right thing, I have nothing to fear.
And after that they have hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks against the Holy One of Israel, behold, the judgments of the Holy One of Israel shall come upon them. And the day cometh that they shall be smitten and afflicted.
The judgments don't come until after the hardening, but you always have the chance to soften before they come, avoid the judgments, and receive blessings instead.
Nevertheless I speak unto you again, for I am desirous for the welfare of your souls. Yea, mine anxiety is great for you. And ye yourselves know that it ever has been, for I have exhorted you with all diligence. And I have taught you the words of my father, and I have spoken unto you concerning all things which are written from the creation of the world.
When I speak, it should be out of a desire for the welfare of the listener's soul.
And it came to pass that they would that I should be their king, but I Nephi was desirous that they should have no king. Nevertheless I did do for them according to that which was in my power.
I can't do everything, but such kind things as I can do, I should do.
I am encompassed about because of the temptations and the sins which doth so easily beset me.
I should make plans beforehand to strengthen me to be able to fight foreseeable temptations, and I should use my godliness to look ahead to discover foreseeable temptations.
And out of weakness he shall be made strong in that day when my work shall commence among all my people, unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.
I should be willing to let go of my weakness. If I do, He will replace it with strength.
Wherefore the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself; wherefore man could not act for himself save it should be that he were enticed by the one or the other.
There are always two paths. I should choose the godly one.
My heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time, for I have feared, lest for the hardness of your hearts, lest the Lord your God should come out in the fullness of his wrath upon you, that ye be cut off and destroyed forever,
The only thing I have to fear is hardness of heart. At the first sign of it, I should come to Him in prayer, lest the growing veil between us becomes a wall.
But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell. I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.
If I have witnessed His transformative power, then I also have a sure witness of His love.
Wherefore he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fullness of his wrath must come and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore the righteous need not fear, for thus, saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire.
I was not meant to live in fear. When I feel it, I can give it to Him.
"Call my fears out in prayer and make them stand before God."
For the time soon cometh that the fullness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men, for he will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous.
I should strive to be righteous by following a prompting today.
But behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. But he will shew that he hath not.
I should come to Him with my doubts and sorrows and fears, letting Him take them all away, leaving only peace, strength, and courage behind.
Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel my called. For I am he, and I am the first and I am also the last.
I should do the things I am prompted to do.
And as for they which are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, they shall be scourged by all people, saith the prophet, because they crucified the God of Israel and turned their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders and power and glory of the God of Israel.
He wants to help me. I should not turn my heart aside.
And on the fourth day which we had been driven back, the tempest began to be exceeding sore.
I should not delay praying for counsel.
Wherefore they knew not whither they should steer the ship, insomuch that there arose a great storm, yea, a great and terrible tempest, and we were driven back upon the waters for the space of three days. And they began to be frightened exceedingly lest they should be drowned in the sea. Nevertheless they did loose me not.
When I am having troubles, I can pray to know what to do.
And I Nephi did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord shewed unto me great things.
The more I pray, the more He can show me.
And ye also know that they were fed with manna in the wilderness.
I should be grateful for the blessings in my life.
Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy.
The are determined to be unhappy. They claim they COULD have been happy if it hadn't been for [insert thing to blame]. Unhappy people find excuses to blame their unhappiness on others, instead of looking for ways they can be happy now, in spite of their problems.
And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael did begin to murmur exceedingly because of their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness. And also my father began to murmur against the Lord his God; yea, and they were all exceeding sorrowful, even that they did murmur against the Lord.
All murmuring leads to sorrow, so I should strive to cut off my murmuring before it takes me there.
And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael did begin to murmur exceedingly because of their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness. And also my father began to murmur against the Lord his God; yea, and they were all exceeding sorrowful, even that they did murmur against the Lord.
Murmuring isn't a thing unto itself. All murmuring is murmuring against the Lord, because whatever actually happens is God's will.
And sometimes Gods will is to let us hash it out between ourselves.
And it came to pass that I Nephi spake much unto them concerning these things; yea, I spake unto them concerning the restoration of the Jews in the latter days.
When I speak, my purpose shold be to uplift and edify both myself and those around me.
For he truly spake many great things unto them which was hard to be understood save a man should inquire of the Lord. And they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto the Lord as they had ought.
I should ask Him about what I need to do, then go do it.
And it came to pass that after I Nephi had been carried away in the spirit and seen all these things, I returned to the tent of my father.
God has told you what to do. Now go do it. (Previously notated in scripture 12-19-18)
And as there began to be wars and rumors of wars among all the nations which belonged to the mother of abominations, the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold, the wrath of God is upon the mother of harlots. And behold, thou seest all these things.
I should not be afraid to see things as they truly are, as He will use this truth to guide my path.
For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men, a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other, either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds, unto their being brought down into captivity, and also unto destruction both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil of which I have spoken.
And I saith: I know not.
And I Nephi also saw many of the fourth generation which did pass away in righteousness.
And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the spirit. And after that she had been carried away in the spirit for the space of a time, the angel spake unto me, saying: Look!
Yea, even my father spake much concerning the Gentiles and also concerning the house of Israel, that they should be compared like unto an olive tree whose branches should be broken off and should be scattered upon all the face of the earth.
And upon the other plates should be engraven an account of the reigns of the kings and the wars and contentions of my people. Wherefore these plates are for the more part of the ministry, and the other plates are for the more part of the reigns of the kings and the wars and contentions of my people.
Ministering - learning of and attending to others' needs.
And I also beheld a straight and narrow path which came along by the rod of iron, even to the tree by which I stood. And it also led by the head of the fountain unto a large and spacious field, as if it had been a world.
"In order to be happy there are lessons we must invariably learn while in this life. We can either learn them with joy or with sorrow."
"...if people are really going to learn something, they need more than an explanation; they need an experience."
When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.
For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved.
And also a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah;
"Learn to be satisfied. It is just as easy as being dissatisfied - and much more pleasant."
