Isaiah 62

1 For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name⁠, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.

3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord⁠, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken⁠; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah⁠, and thy land Beulah⁠: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.

5 ¶ For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord⁠, keep not silence,

7 And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

8 The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured:

9 But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord⁠; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness⁠.

10 ¶ Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway⁠; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.

11 Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world⁠, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord⁠: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken. (Isaiah 62)

Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence

I watched a YouTube video this morning that brought me a lot of joy for a lot of reasons! One reason was that it reminded me of an analogy I have used before in teaching people, but hadn't thought to include in this post about Hebrews 10:35-36. You don't need to watch the video as a prerequisite to reading this post, but I highly recommend you do, because it presents such great ideas about the ways in which people don't live the gospel, how others think they are living the gospel, and how God intends for us to live his gospel. Here's the link. You should really check it out.

For many years, my children took lessons to play various musical instruments. Primarily, they took violin lessons, but they also took lessons to learn how to play the piano and drums, and they learned, on their own, how to play many more.

The instructor who taught my kids how to play the violin is AMAZING at what she does! As you can imagine, she wasn't hired as an instructor just so my kids could watch her play and praise her for how good she was. She loves the art, and she teaches her students well by laying down and building upon good foundations. She genuinely loves to share everything she knows with her students so that they can become as good as or better than she is. She loves to teach students who are desirous to learn everything they can from her, and she will drop students who consistently demonstrate they aren't, in favor of those who are.

My kids were always eager to start taking lessons from her. They were confident in her ability to teach them. She is an incredible violinist herself, and she had proven to be an exceptional teacher with previous students (some of them siblings). With every investment they made into diligently following her instructions, my kids made progress. There were, however, times when my kids were far less than as diligent as they should have been.

It was always a sad day when lesson day rolled around and one of my kids hadn't practiced what they should have. Apparently, a failure to practice musical instruments affects one's immune system, because, invariably, the kid that didn't practice would come down with some kind of physical issue that they would try to convince me prevented them from taking a lesson that day. Funny how that works. 😂 

It's not like their instructor gave them anything they weren't capable of doing. In fact, she would make sure that the kids knew they were capable of doing exactly what was asked of them by running through it with them a few times during their lesson. She even made allowances for other things that came up in life that were out of their control or that temporarily had to take an agreed-upon higher priority, so when there weren’t any circumstances that contributed to their inability to practice, they knew they had to own it. They knew that the guilt and shame (and whatever actual stomach ache) they felt at the idea of facing their instructor was simply (and only) the consequence of their own choices.

Whatever she asked them to practice was always the very next thing they needed in order to become a more proficient musician. And while it's true that she could give them another week to work on that thing, their progress was completely halted in the meantime.

In any field of discipline, there isn't a way for a student to truly be a disciple without exerting the effort to become as the instructor. This is especially true within the context of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. True and honest discipleship begins with sincere repentance—the decision to, at that moment and in every moment thereafter, believe that God has nothing but your greatest joy in mind and to align everything you increasingly understand about yourself with everything you increasingly understand about him through his Son, Jesus Christ. The natural consequence of sincere repentance is a forgiveness of sin––a state of sinlessness––and an outpouring of God’s spirit. This forgiveness and outpouring is tangible to one’s body and spirit and, therefore, undeniable evidence, internal to the individual, of God’s reality, faithfulness, mercy, justice, and love.

35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. 

36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. (Hebrews 10)

After being endowed with that increased awareness of and confidence in God’s character and in his ability to effect a state of sinlessness in you, what would you have to do to “cast it away?”

(This is the part that none but the truly honest in heart want to hear.)

The only thing you would have to do is sin again.

The point of my last post was to convey the idea that, though entirely possible, “casting down the accuser” is a harrowing experience. It requires a level of honesty that very few people obtain because most “Christians” are, foundationally, content to believe that, as long as they mentally or verbally call Christ their Lord, they can continue to choose to sin (which is to do less than what you are capable of imagining God would do in your place) and he will “save” them from the consequences of their own decisions. The Jews’ and Romans’ mocking of Christ at his crucifixion was not nearly as cruel, and they will, one day, realize that that belief is completely false. It's like believing that you can become a great musician by saying that you have a great teacher and by praising his/her talent, without following the instructions the teacher gives you to become what you are intended to become. Not only is that completely absurd, it's a mockery of his/her efforts made on your behalf.

Jesus calls us to follow him—to learn to think, feel, and live as he would—and to become more like him in the process. He maintained a state of sinlessness his entire life, and he “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” (Luke 2:52) In calling us to follow him, he calls us to attain a state of sinlessness through repentance and then to maintain the same through faithful obedience to the instructions he gives us through our individual conscience from that point on. As verse 36 states, our patience is exercised while doing the will of God. If you don't do his will, you cannot have confidence in his presence. The truthfulness of the accusations against you and your own guilty conscience will not allow it. And if you don’t have confidence in his presence, will you want to be in his presence? Nope. You won’t, any more than my kids wanted to have the next lesson with their violin teacher.

Do not give in to the temptation to believe that God will think you are ready to be his disciple and forgive you of your sins if you are unwilling to commit to complete obedience in keeping his commandments to you. Don't give in to the temptation to believe that, once you are forgiven of your sins, all you really have to do is praise him and that he will turn a blind eye to you anytime you do less than what you imagine he would do in your place. He didn’t die on the cross so that you can praise him for allowing you to remain in your unrealized potential. Confidence in his presence can only come as your potential to become like him is realized through your obedience to him, so don’t cast it away.

Casting Down the Accuser

This post has been in my drafts for quite some time. I didn’t intend to spend any time on it today, but I think it’s pretty appropriate since it’s Yom Kippur today, and I also think I can more effectively say what I would like to say about another scripture in Hebrews by expounding upon Revelation 12:10-11 first.

10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,  Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 

11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. (Revelation 12)

When God gives us direction, he is giving us the means to encounter the best possible outcomes. That inherently means that he is also giving us the means to avoid all outcomes that are less-than-best. How sincerely we align ourselves to our current and increasing understanding of the existence and value of those outcomes, of the reasons why we value them, and of the importance of honestly basing our decisions upon those reasons determines the quantity and quality of peace and joy we will experience here and hereafter.

This is because God’s just. There is an “accuser,” and there is also this thing called accountability. In affording us agency, God also grants us responsibility for the choices we make, with all of the consequences that come with them, whether positive or negative. He’s not in the business of waiving negative consequences away when we find ourselves in a tight spot after we have made a decision that we know is not best, anymore than he is in the business of arbitrarily withholding just rewards when we have made decisions that are the best.¹

Ultimately, this leaves us to ourselves in the Day of Judgment. Having provided a means of escape from the negative consequences of decisions made in ignorance, God grants us the ability to stand on the merit of our alignment to him or to fall on the basis of our own willful disobedience.

Joseph Smith said:

A man is his own tormentor, and his own condemner; hence the saying, they shall go into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. The torment of disappointment in the mind of man is as exquisite as a lake burning with fire and brimstone— I say so is the torment of man. (History of the Church, Vol. E-1, pg. 1976)

The lake of fire and brimstone is regret. Joseph Smith was not the least bit inaccurate in the above quote. God sets a standard of righteousness. Our understanding of that standard sets the bar for what we must choose in every decision we make. Any decision to choose anything less makes us unable to quench the “fiery darts of the adversary.” Those “fiery darts” are not just temptations. They are accusations. How do you expect to stand against “the accuser” when you absolutely know in your heart that you made decisions that were less than the best God made available to you through your conscience? You can’t. You cannot lie to God. You will not be able to believe the lies you presently believe when you enter his presence. You will shrink. Your own beliefs, desires, and decisions—your character—will stand as a witness against you. It will torment and condemn you, and there will be nothing, on your own, that you can do about it. (see Alma 5:14-25)

Even those who repent and then constantly do what they believe to be best and who, therefore, maintain a state of sinlessness will, at some point, be brought to stand before God, and they will be subjected to the same accusations of wrong-doing. I cannot accurately describe what this is like. The description of those accusations being made “day and night” is spot on. They are unrelenting. They are, in function and form, an attack on and rejection of the truth, and the pain that accompanies that is like having whips laid across your back or having your heart pierced with a blade. What you experience in coming up against them is gaslighting that is orders of magnitude more intense than one could possibly imagine without experiencing it. It is being subjected to so many lies that the only truth that remains is the peace of conscience that comes from knowing you have made every decision in accordance with your best understanding of God’s character. And this is precisely why it is SO important to intentionally discover and live according to what you understand about God and his purposes.

Because we do not yet understand everything about God, the accuser will use this to his advantage and accuse you of not doing things that you could have, and there are only two honest defenses against that—your own ignorance in not knowing what would have been better or the honest reasons you had to believe that what you did was best. Being diligent in your pursuit of a better understanding of God’s character gradually eliminates the ignorance, and intentional living supplies all of the reasons required to defend your decisions. This is the only way you can grow to become surrounded in the everlasting burnings of reality and remain unscathed.

How is the accuser cast down? He is cast down when one quenches his fiery darts through sincere repentance (“the blood of the Lamb”) and through one’s diligence in following Jesus Christ (“the word of their testimony”). He is cast down when his darts have no ability to overcome because “they loved not their lives unto the death.” He is cast down as one lives in complete accordance to his understanding of God in all things. He is cast down when he shrinks, and not you.

When does this happen? Has it happened already? What happens when it does? Has it happened in your life? Can it? What effect would you expect it to have in your life and in the last days, in general?

Good questions, all.

1.  See Psalm 62:12, Proverbs 24:12, Matthew 16:27, 2 Corinthians 11:15, Revelation 20:12-13, 2 Nephi 29:11, Mosiah 3:24, Mosiah 16:10-12; Alma 33:22, Alma 41:3, Helaman 12:23-24; D&C 19:3, D&C 137:9, and others that clearly state that God judges us according to our works.

 

The More Earnest Heed

1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 

2 For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; 

3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with diverse miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? (Hebrews 2)

It’s that time of year again—the time of the Fall Feasts—and I have undertaken a deep dive into the book of Hebrews. What an amazing book! Yesterday was Yom Teruah, and starting the season with a study of the first few chapters of that book didn’t disappoint. I’ve written a little about the Fall Feasts in prior posts (this one, in particular), and I won’t spend a lot of time further elaborating on the symbolism found in them, but I did feel impressed to mention a few points about this idea of “giving heed” to things found in the verses above.

God is constantly trying to introduce ideas to us. We are, at all times, immersed in light. Most people just don’t comprehend it. They don’t take it in, which is what “comprehend” literally means. Why don’t they? Because they don’t make any extra effort to notice it, much less give heed to it. “To heed” is “to mind; to regard with care; to take notice of; to attend to; to observe.” It’s not accidental. It’s intentional. It entails an active search for and integration of light and truth.

Symbolism is layered, and it can mean different things to different people based on the layer they are prepared to understand and/or to which they are paying attention. Overall, that comes with some downsides, but the pros far outweigh the cons for honest seekers of truth. Never be satisfied with your current understanding of things. If you keep your aim focused on Christ, he will always give you the next increment of light and truth towards a deeper understanding of him, and you should always receive it with gladness.

As God gives you ideas, show him that they are valuable to you by expressing them in a physically tangible way. I don’t even mean electronically or on paper, though you can and should, because there are definitely benefits to doing that. More importantly, you should write things in your heart and mind (see Luke 2:19), and there are spiritual practices that can help you do this, such as pondering, prayer, meditation, and goal-setting in making a way to practically implement those ideas into your life. As you adhere to the things God teaches you, and as you increase your understanding of him by building upon the things he teaches you, you will accumulate a body of evidence of his goodness towards you that is just as sure as the collection of items kept in the Ark of the Covenant. If not, more so.

Giving “the more earnest heed” is key to our “escape” and “salvation.” In his mercy, God has given us the Fall Feasts and so many other things to help draw our attention to aspects of reality that would otherwise go unnoticed by us. Studying them with the intent to interpret symbolism and to recognize patterns and principles is a very fruitful undertaking. 

Principles of Intelligence

Let’s further extend our study of “this life” and read a couple of verses in D&C 130:

18 Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.

19 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. (D&C 130)

After spending the last few posts entertaining the idea that “this life” can refer to something other than the singular state of existence in which we find ourselves, let us switch gears, once again, and return to that understanding in order to derive the greatest benefit from these verses.

Whatever “the world to come” may look like, it is clear that any advantage one may have in it with respect to knowledge and intelligence will be a consequence of that person’s diligence and obedience in “this life.” Outcomes in the future are predicated upon our decisions in the present. This is an eternal principle, and, in terms of “time” of both short and long duration, it is how we grow in “intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth”—which is synonymous with “the glory of God.” (D&C 93:36)

Diligence and obedience in this life begin with true repentance—a forsaking of ALL one’s sins—and they continue as we incorporate each additional God-given increment of light and understanding about His character into ours.

It cannot be overstated that this is how the “goodness” in God’s “kingdom” is both increased and perpetuated.

Now you may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances death confound the wise. (Alma 37:6)

Worlds without end.  

 

This Life—Part III

What is the cost of “this life?”

“This life” is a gift, and any time a gift is given, the giver of a gift pays a price for the ability to obtain the gift and to give it to its recipient.

As a recipient of this gift, can you imagine what that price is? You cannot. The recipient of any gift never truly understands the value of the gift until he or she has become the person who has obtained it themselves and who, therefore, has the ability to give it to another.

In the scriptures, admonitions abound to not waste “the day of this life,” though they may not use that exact phrase. Scriptures warn of the misery and regret that individuals will experience if they do, and this will come not only from a realization of opportunities lost, but also from a realization of the ways in which they trampled under their feet the giver of the gift.

People underestimate what Jesus offered to mankind in coming here to earth, and they grossly underestimate the price he had to pay to offer it.

Submit yourself to him in all things, and he will give you a greater comprehension of both.

This Life—Part II

One obvious reason for the literary use of “day” and “night” is to show contrast. One could argue that there are very few things in life that are starker in their most immediately noticeable properties being opposite to each other. The intense light and warmth of the day easily contrasts with the cool darkness of the night. The contrast is so obvious that Mormon uses the concepts of “day” and “night” to facilitate our understanding of how to distinguish between what is “good” and what is “bad.”

15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.

16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man⁠, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.

17 But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.

18 And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged.

19 Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ. (Moroni 7)

Life and death, however, stand in pretty stark contrast as opposites themselves, and so, going back to Alma 34:32, there are a few questions that should come to mind. Why did Amulek say “the day of this life” in Alma 34:32? Why does he say that even after he has already said, “this life”—as if to provide some sort of additional insight and meaning? Is there another property of “day” and “night” that he intends for us consider?

One thing I find interesting about the concepts of “day” and “night” is the fact that they are iterative. Here on earth, cycles are a part of life, many times over. It’s built into the system. We are able to measure the passing of days, months, and years, using elements native to our external environment. Of these, each iteration of day and night takes up the smallest increment of time, and so we are able to observe that cycle repeat itself most frequently. Within the shortest time period, days and nights are defined by the most dramatic changes to our physical environment. Consequently, they are also the earliest and easiest cycle to be noticed of the three mentioned above. The iterative nature of days and nights should be something we factor into our consideration of analogies and parallels whenever they are used in the scriptures. Using the verses from Moroni 7 as an example, do our determinations of “good” and “evil” happen only once? Good heavens, no! We should be constantly searching within the light of Christ. We should be cognizant of changes in the information that, at one point, led us to believe something was good or evil. Any changes should invite us to reconsider our position in that regard so that we may ever have an accurate ranking of what is best.

If Amulek’s use of “day” and “night” is meant to lead our minds to the idea of iterative “days” and “nights,” then what is it about “this life” that makes it “this life?”

Mortality provides us with unique opportunities to take advantage of God’s mercy and grace as we learn to exercise faith in his word. Truly, it is a probationary time, and while we can easily see that increments of time are bounded, we can also see that there are greater increments of time which consist of iterations of lesser ones. “This life” is not just a singular life. It is a kind of life that is iterative. It exists within a larger framework of our existence, and it is designed to benefit us if we will align ourselves with our honest, sincere, and increasing understanding of God’s purposes and of reality.

“Progress Requires Pain”

Rob Smith released a fantastic video yesterday called, “Progress Requires Pain” on his UpwardThought YouTube channel, so I’m going to take a quick detour around my “This Life” series and put in a plug. I highly recommend watching the video here, as this post will just be my own thoughts about it, as opposed to a re-hashing of it.

The processes God uses to both abase and exalt us, as described in the video, are accurate, and they are not one-sided. So many people think that “salvation” is effected by God alone and that we are non-participants after claiming a “belief” in Him. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Salvation requires action. It requires, at a minimum, our active internal participation in the process of improvement, which will always affect both our internal and external selves and our external environment. Even when action looks like inaction, there will still be a conscious decision made to that end based on the information we are given about what would be best in any given situation.

Purging what cannot ascend requires God’s grace. God’s grace is not a one-time absolution of our sins—past, present, and future. God’s grace consists of undeserved information that gives us the opportunity to attain more of his character. It is incremental, but it can be given to us as constantly as we completely incorporate that information into ourselves.

Abasement is painful, but I have found it to be a lot like post-workout pain. At first, it may be difficult to see it in anything but a negative light. You may interpret it so negatively that you may write off ever working out again. But if you can interpret it as the very means by which you are being re-fashioned into something better, you learn to love it. It becomes a signal to you that you are becoming something better than you were before. You trust the process, and you increasingly trust God because he is the One behind the process.

I will make mention of one quote from the video:

The law of God’s justice puts you in a place where, when you’re abiding in him (which means you’re keeping…you’re living exactly as he would in your place, as far as you understand), he will send you things that seem unfair, that seem painful, that seem like afflictions. And if you’re true and faithful through that, that is the rocket fuel that brings about a state of exaltation, but this isn’t a one-and-done situation. He’s got multiple rounds of this prepared for you, but almost no one goes very far in this process. Why? Because they have an absolute limit on how much they are willing to suffer, and there is no way to describe that limit, except to include the fact that it is also the limit of your trust in God. How much you’re willing to suffer, when you don’t deserve it, is how much you trust God, and it also determines how much he can bless you. (22:10 - 23:36, emphasis mine)

This is true. Learn to love it, and you will see God’s goodness unfold to you in ways you never could have imagined. 

This Life—Part I

Speaking of pronouns, let’s talk about the demonstrative pronoun, “this.” Like many words, it can play the role of different parts of speech, depending on the context in which it is placed. Like all other pronouns, “this” plays the role of a pronoun when it takes the place of a noun, as in the sentence, “This is my favorite movie.”

But “this” can also function as an adjective, as it does in the following verse:

For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God;… (Alma 34:32) 

What is it about “this” life that makes it “this life?”

Growing up, I was taught that it was the singularity of this life that made it “this life”—that you could say, “…this [singular] life is the time for men to prepare to meet God…” and that that would align with Amulek’s intention in making the statement. As my understanding of God’s character grew, however, that interpretation became untenable, especially in light of other things said by Amulek. Continuing, he says:

…yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. (Alma 34:32)

What is “the day of this life?” Does it have an opposite? It does. It is “the night.”

33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world. (Alma 34) 

Now if you’re paying attention, these verses should generate a lot of questions. Here are some you might ask: “Why does Amulek use the imagery of “day” and “night?” If he has already introduced the idea of “this life,” why doesn’t he continue, using “death” (overtly, anyway) as its opposite? Wouldn’t that be simpler? Is there something that would be lost on us if he did? What do we know about “day” and “night” that would expand our understanding about “this life?”

I’ll hit “pause” here to give the reader some time to ponder these questions before moving on to part II.

 

Never Assume Pronouns

You know, pronouns are so under-appreciated. They are these little words that hold so much hidden meaning. They stand in the place of the names of other, more specific people, places, things, and ideas whose overuse would make language much more monotonous if we employed them all of the time. For example, if I were to read you a story about a boy named John and I used his name every time I mentioned him in the story, you would probably beg me to stop after just a few pages.

Pronouns blur the repetition of specific information so that a reader or listener can move past being introduced to the same thing over and over again and can focus on other pieces of information that add depth and dimension to the story. Having been introduced to one thing, the reader can assume that certain pronouns refer to that one thing and can tuck that understanding away while he/she is introduced to something else.

There’s just one problem: a reader can make an incorrect assumption about what a pronoun represents, and because, in God’s language, specific nouns can symbolize many other things, the meaning of a pronoun can be even further removed from the understanding of the reader. Very quickly, one can completely misinterpret what God is trying to convey in both breadth and depth, at worst, or at best, he/she can understand something very superficially when, in reality, much deeper meanings exist.

Knowing this, one can very easily and effectively develop a fruitful strategy for scripture study: Never assume you know what a pronoun represents. You’re initial assumption of what it represents may be pretty accurate, or it might not, but pronouns, at the very least, provide an opportunity for you to check in with God and ask him if your understanding is less than what it could be.

And remember, there are quite a few pronouns. There are subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they), object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, them), possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs), reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves), demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those), and more.

We really do ourselves a disservice when we gloss over these seemingly insignificant words.

Strait, Straight Up

What seems like an eternity ago, I wrote a series of blogposts on the topic of “the strait and narrow path.” If you haven’t read those, I suggest you do. I won’t re-visit them here. This blog will just share some follow-up thoughts.

First, the Lord wasn’t kidding or mistaken when he used the word “strait,” and not “straight.” It’s like driving around the Ozarks. Sometimes, a road is cut straight through one of the hills. Other times, the best road is built up over the hills, down in the valleys, or around a body of water. There are so many constraints, in both us and the world around us, and God knows how to navigate them perfectly. Not only does he facilitate safe passage through this world we live in, he also knows where the best overlooks and vantage points are—where everything around you is exactly what you need in that moment to teach you more about him, if you will let it.

Which brings me to my second point. I want to just briefly state how stupid the whole concept of “saved by grace” is. Is grace a thing in the gospel? Absolutely! Not going to say it’s not. Without grace, what a wretched state we would all be in! But this notion that works are not as necessary as grace is just inane! God doesn’t drag you along the path while you shout praises to him! He calls you to walk the path, and he makes you capable of doing just that because he has done it and has shown us the way. Those who have truly partaken of God’s grace perform works that are commanded by him. They don’t have reason to boast because they know that, without his guidance, direction, and example, they would still be floundering in this world instead of improving and becoming like him, which is the whole point of this life. God is good not only because of who he is, but also because of what he does (which is, actually, an extension of who he is, but I think it’s nice to tease those apart to make it more easily recognizable). He improves things, and his greatest miracle is to take us, who start as individuals unlike him, and to change our perspectives about reality such that they become like his and we become like him in all things. If you have ever tried to permanently improve the perspectives of another human being in a fundamental way, you know how difficult and painful that endeavor is, you know how great a miracle it is when you are successful, and you know how good God is for all that he does and for how long he does it. People are saved through a combination of grace and works, both of which we could neither experience nor comprehend were He not the source of both.

And that’s probably a good segue into the last part of this post. In the past, I have been accused of boasting of myself, and anyone who truly knows me knows that this is something I could never do with the understanding I have about God and my relationship to him. In fact, God showed me in a dream once how, without him, I was just a worm (an interesting topic for study, btw). Of all the things he has taught me, that was one of the easiest things for me to believe, and so I will end with a few of Ammon’s words from the book of Alma:

Yea, I know that I am nothing⁠; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things⁠; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever. (Alma 26:12)

A Prophet Like Unto Moses—An Unplanned Part II

I wasn’t planning on making this a series, but recent experiences in my life have spurred me to say a few more words about Joseph Smith and about servants of God, in general.

One of the things a servant of God can pretty much count on is to be misunderstood by others. To the degree that he/she is like God, anyone less like God will misunderstand his/her thoughts, feelings, and actions. This implies a continuum on which every individual can be found, and because most human beings do not like to see themselves in a negative light, they will typically and incorrectly assume that anyone different than the way they are is less like God than they are. They will assume and believe the worst things about an individual before they even take a moment to honestly investigate the possibility of the other individual’s greater likeness to God.

Living in the Bible Belt, I have had the very sad experience of seeing many people reject the Book of Mormon out of hand. With that, comes the rejection of Joseph Smith as a prophet of God and all the slander and defamation of his character that accompanies that rejection.

Even sadder has been the observation of people who once claimed (or still claim) to believe in the Book of Mormon and who also defame the character of Joseph Smith to justify their unbelief in any or all of his other teachings. Quite a travesty.

Servants of God are sent by God to help us aim better—to teach us more of reality and of God’s character so that we may become more like Him. Joseph Smith is not an exception.

What prompted my last blogpost was a realization of just how critical some of Joseph Smith’s teachings are to understanding parts of the Law of Moses. The feasts and sacrifices, in particular, are designed to teach us about aspects of reality, and there are things that Joseph Smith taught that are preliminary and foundational to understanding things that were given to the Israelites through Moses, such as the Day of Atonement and the sacrifice of the Red Heifer.

Mark my words. In the future, people will be surprised by the correct meaning of these things because they will have refused to believe other, more foundational, ideas based solely on the fact that Joseph Smith taught them.

Sprinkling, indeed.