Oh so many thoughts for this weeks reading......first, Lamen and Lemuel were so angry with Lehi and Nephi that they plotted to kill Lehi and tried to kill Nephi. Whey did they not just go back to Jerusalem? Did they maybe believe some of their father's and brother's words but were to proud to admit and obey?
Second thing, 1 Nephi 11:21-23 The fruit of the tree is the love of God and is most desirable and......most joyous to the soul. I never realized that, weird I know, if I am not happy and any aspect of my life it is because I am choosing to not feel the love of God. If I am having issues with people in my life I need to treat them with the love of God and show that love to them/see them the way God does, so that I can have peace and joy in my life.
i didn't comment on last weeks reading, does that mean i have to comment twice for this week?
i love chapter eight - lehi's vision of the tree of life. everytime i read this chapter i feel that there is so much to relate to. i could take various parts of my life and really compare it to what lehi saw and what it all meant. i think this chapter also refocuses my views in life and makes me think... okay... hold to the rod... ignore the great and spacious building... move forward.
chapter 8:37 lehi's feelings about laman and lemuel; "with all te feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words" ; wow! i only have a 2 year old and that verse makes me want to burst into tears.
the chapters this week were filled with alot of information. I love that I can relate the scriptures to my life in one way or another. It brings them to reality and I think in a way we can all make our own stories out of it.
i love the repeated adjective/verb use in the book of mormon. Words can make such a great impact. for instance, today we might say, "I told you never, never, never ..." in the Book of Mormon for this week i found the words rebellion, hard, hardness, hard in your heart, hearken not, forgotten, rejected, angry, wroth all used in describing the state the Lamen and Lemuel were in at this time. what a picture it makes for me. yet, i too, could use these words to describe myself at various times in my life - probably each of us could. the lesson for me to learn is to not stay "there". i need to excerise faith and get back where i need to be as in 1 Nephi 7:12 where Nephi promises that the Lord will do all things according to His will, if it so be that they excerise faith in him.
also, i am quite suprised at the amount of stuff going on in Nephi's vision. he goes between his fathers own vision and the lords birth and ministry with lightening speed. plus, he's getting the "meaning" of the dream at the same time and the vision even continues into the next weeks reading. he must have been exhausted.
So I guess I was thinking more of how Nephi again goes to the lord for conformation of the things that Lehi has been telling him. Like last weeks reading he asked the lord to know for himself. Same with Lehi's vision of the tree of life. He goes to the lord and prays to see what his father saw. I guess I just think to myself how many times has the prophet said something and I have gone to the lord and prayed to know for my self, or how many times I just say to myself he is a prophet of God, so it must be true. I need to be more like Nephi, then maybe I would have visions like the prophet!:) I guess it just comes down to having the faith that I can receive the same inspiration and confirmation that others do, if I ask in faith.
"and I know that the lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring them down again unto us in the wilderness"(1 Nephi chapter 5:5). Clearly a key message of the book of Mormon is that of Divine protection. The book or Mormon supplies us with a plethora of types to follow. In this instances as well as the others where divine protection is enjoyed, divine protection comes because Lehi at all times obeys and fulfills the Lords commandments, and his sons, however reluctant, obey him. This is the formula or covenant that accompanies divine protection. Never in scripture has the loyal son of a righteous father not been protected. " Honor thy father and mother that thy days may be long upon the land" This covenant is still in force in our day. It says a lot that Lehi could protect even his rebellious sons through the exodus, wandering and crossing of the sea. In fact it is a miracle. Miracles are necessary to save them . Lehi's righteousness warrants their temporal divine protection but Lehi couldn't save them spiritually. In his vision they wouldn't partake of the fruit of the tree. A father who fails to understand and live up to his covenants with God forfeits his protective role as a father and forfeits blessings of protection for his family. Not to mention fails to intercede on behalf of others and fails to become a Savior on mount Zion. A child who doesn't obey his father runs the risk of losing divine protection. Surely the future will bring added instances where divine protection is necessary if we wish to usher in the Savior. It is probably worth discussing again another time.
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Oh so many thoughts for this weeks reading......first, Lamen and Lemuel were so angry with Lehi and Nephi that they plotted to kill Lehi and tried to kill Nephi. Whey did they not just go back to Jerusalem? Did they maybe believe some of their father's and brother's words but were to proud to admit and obey?
Second thing, 1 Nephi 11:21-23 The fruit of the tree is the love of God and is most desirable and......most joyous to the soul. I never realized that, weird I know, if I am not happy and any aspect of my life it is because I am choosing to not feel the love of God. If I am having issues with people in my life I need to treat them with the love of God and show that love to them/see them the way God does, so that I can have peace and joy in my life.
~melissa
i didn't comment on last weeks reading, does that mean i have to comment twice for this week?
i love chapter eight - lehi's vision of the tree of life. everytime i read this chapter i feel that there is so much to relate to. i could take various parts of my life and really compare it to what lehi saw and what it all meant. i think this chapter also refocuses my views in life and makes me think... okay... hold to the rod... ignore the great and spacious building... move forward.
chapter 8:37 lehi's feelings about laman and lemuel; "with all te feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words" ; wow! i only have a 2 year old and that verse makes me want to burst into tears.
the chapters this week were filled with alot of information. I love that I can relate the scriptures to my life in one way or another. It brings them to reality and I think in a way we can all make our own stories out of it.
i love the repeated adjective/verb use in the book of mormon. Words can make such a great impact. for instance, today we might say, "I told you never, never, never ..." in the Book of Mormon for this week i found the words rebellion, hard, hardness, hard in your heart, hearken not, forgotten, rejected, angry, wroth all used in describing the state the Lamen and Lemuel were in at this time. what a picture it makes for me. yet, i too, could use these words to describe myself at various times in my life - probably each of us could. the lesson for me to learn is to not stay "there". i need to excerise faith and get back where i need to be as in 1 Nephi 7:12 where Nephi promises that the Lord will do all things according to His will, if it so be that they excerise faith in him.
also, i am quite suprised at the amount of stuff going on in Nephi's vision. he goes between his fathers own vision and the lords birth and ministry with lightening speed. plus, he's getting the "meaning" of the dream at the same time and the vision even continues into the next weeks reading. he must have been exhausted.
So I guess I was thinking more of how Nephi again goes to the lord for conformation of the things that Lehi has been telling him. Like last weeks reading he asked the lord to know for himself. Same with Lehi's vision of the tree of life. He goes to the lord and prays to see what his father saw. I guess I just think to myself how many times has the prophet said something and I have gone to the lord and prayed to know for my self, or how many times I just say to myself he is a prophet of God, so it must be true. I need to be more like Nephi, then maybe I would have visions like the prophet!:) I guess it just comes down to having the faith that I can receive the same inspiration and confirmation that others do, if I ask in faith.
If any of that makes sense.
-candice
"and I know that the lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring them down again unto us in the wilderness"(1 Nephi chapter 5:5). Clearly a key message of the book of Mormon is that of Divine protection. The book or Mormon supplies us with a plethora of types to follow. In this instances as well as the others where divine protection is enjoyed, divine protection comes because Lehi at all times obeys and fulfills the Lords commandments, and his sons, however reluctant, obey him. This is the formula or covenant that accompanies divine protection. Never in scripture has the loyal son of a righteous father not been protected. " Honor thy father and mother that thy days may be long upon the land" This covenant is still in force in our day. It says a lot that Lehi could protect even his rebellious sons through the exodus, wandering and crossing of the sea. In fact it is a miracle. Miracles are necessary to save them . Lehi's righteousness warrants their temporal divine protection but Lehi couldn't save them spiritually. In his vision they wouldn't partake of the fruit of the tree. A father who fails to understand and live up to his covenants with God forfeits his protective role as a father and forfeits blessings of protection for his family. Not to mention fails to intercede on behalf of others and fails to become a Savior on mount Zion. A child who doesn't obey his father runs the risk of losing divine protection. Surely the future will bring added instances where divine protection is necessary if we wish to usher in the Savior. It is probably worth discussing again another time.
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