Tag Archives: Life

Moses 3

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Moses 3: First Spiritually, Then Naturally

 

Day 7: God Rests

“And on the seventh day I, God, ended my work, and all things which I had made; and I rested on the seventh day from all my work, and all things which I had made were finished, and I, God, saw that they were good; And I, God, blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it I had rested from all my work which I, God, had created and made.” (Moses 3:2-3) God created the heavens and the earth in 6 days and on the 7th day He rested… and so shall we also labor 6 days and rest on the 7th.

God then explains to Moses how the plan for the world was created;

“…every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth…” (Moses 3:5) So here we learn that God created the blueprint (Spiritually) and then Jesus Christ created the world under God’s direction.

God goes on to explain how man was formed and how the Garden of Eden was created for man to dwell.

“…I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth… And I, the Lord God, planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there I put the man whom I had formed. And out of the ground made I, the Lord God, to grow every tree, naturally, that is pleasant to the sight of man; and man could behold it… And I, the Lord God, caused a river to go out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into fourheads. And I, the Lord God, called the name of the first Pison, and it compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where I, the Lord God, created much gold; And the gold of that land was good, and there was bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river was called Gihon; the same that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river was Hiddekel; that which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river was the Euphrates.” (Moses 3:7-7-14) God breathes life into man and places man inside of the Garden of Eden which had four rivers running around it; Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates.

God tells Moses that He placed man in the Garden of Eden to dress it, and commands Adam that they man eat freely of the entire garden, except that they forbid them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But, God made it a choice for Adam to obey and tells them that they may choose for themselves, but in the day that they shall eat of the fruit, they shall die. This death would be the spiritual death that would keep them from being in the presence of God. “And I, the Lord God, took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden, to dress it, and to keep it. And I, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Moses 3:15-17)

God gave Adam the ability to choose for himself, his obedience was based on his own choice. But God warned him of the consequences, that he would ‘surely die’. This death would cast him out of the Garden of Eden and bring upon man the physical death.

“And out of the ground I, the Lord God, formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and commanded that they should come unto Adam, to see what he would call them; and they were also living souls; for I, God, breathed into them the breath of life… And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but as for Adam, there was not found an help meet for him.” (Moses 3:19-20) God commands all of the animals to come to Adam to be named, and Adam names them, and whatever name he chose for them, they would be called. God also explains to Moses that every animal was also a ‘living soul’, meaning that Animals have souls like humans have souls.

“And I, the Lord God, said unto mine Only Begotten, that it was not good that the man should be alone; wherefore, I will make an help meet for him. And I, the Lord God, caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and he slept, and I took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in the stead thereof; And the rib which I, the Lord God, had taken from man, made I a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said: This I know now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Moses 3:18; 22-25) God asks His Only Begotten if it is good for Man to be without a Woman and He responds that it is not. So God creates a woman from the rib of man and commands that neither should be without the other. Man and Women, through marriage become ‘one flesh’.

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Revelation 2

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Revelation 2: Overcome the World = Eternal Life

                John writes a specific letter to each one of the seven churches throughout Asia, in verse 2 he covers 4 of the church and he starts each one off with; “Unto the angel of the church of ______” (Revelation 2:1;8;;12;18) It is interesting to note that in the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible “angel” is changed to “servant”, which is probably more accurate considering John was writing to the leaders of each one of the branches of the churches throughout Asia.

This is the counsel that is given to these churches by John;

“I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:” (Revelation 2:2) John explains that sometimes leaders will fall away or will lie completely to say they are leaders. However only those authorized by God to teach, shall teach.

                “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7) Those who overcome the temptations of the world will obtain the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

                “Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have tribulation ten days; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life…. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.” (Revelation 2:10-11) Often times we will be tried, but if we overcome we will receive the crown of Life and be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father and we will not be hurt by the second death (the spiritual death)

                “I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first” (Revelation 2:19) God knows us all, therefore it is important that we do good in the sight of others as well as when we are in private… for God knows.

Titus 1

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Titus 1: Eternal Life Promised before the World was

                Paul writes to Titus, and explains to him that eternal life was “…promised before the world began;” (Titus 1:2) Paul explains that a bishop has stewardship over the flock of God; “…a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, not given to filthy lucre. But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort [urge] and convince the gainsayers.” (Titus 1:7-9)

Paul explains that a Bishop must be all of those things, because of men who try to change the truth and lead people away by the “…commandments of men…” (Titus 1:14) For these people “…profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient…” (Titus 1:16)

2 Corinthians 6

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2 Corinthians 6: Today is the day to Repent!

Paul opens this letter by explaining that we as believers in Jesus Christ should not take His grace in vain. Essentially, Jesus died for our sins and made it possible for us to return and live with our Heavenly Father; we should not abuse this grace. We need to be actively engaged in doing good. We need to work hard through our afflictions and trials and learn from them! Paul delivers a wonderfully written piece that we can all live by day to day:

“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;  As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” (2 Corinthians 6:1-10)

Paul then reminds the believers in Christ, to be around people that share their beliefs. Light and darkness should not coincide, righteousness cannot fellowship with unrighteousness.

“Be ye no unequally yoked [attached, coupled] with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14)

Essentially, Paul is telling us that we need to choose our friends and our spouse carefully that we might; “…come out from among them, and be ye separate…” (2 Corinthians 6:17) Separate from the world, but still living in the world. We should never cave into the temptations of the world, just because it is being “accepted”. If we do these things, Paul promises that God; “…will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:18)

 

2 Corinthians 4

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2 Corinthians 4: Trials of the Earth are Nothing

                Paul explains that he, as an Apostle of the Lord does not act with craftiness or deceit. He explains that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is often blinded (veiled) from those who are perishing, from those who really need the Gospel.

Paul tells the Saints in Corinth that “…we preach not ourselves, but in Christ, Jesus the Lord…” (2 Corinthians 4:5) When we speak about the Gospel of Jesus Christ we need to remember that it is His Gospel, and we are only His servants. As Saints, we will be; “…troubled on every side, ye not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed…” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9) Paul explains that even with all the trials we have on this earth, it is never more than we can handle. We may see them as being the end, or may see them as being too hard for us to bear, but the Lord will guide us! The Lord God will raise us up, just as He was raised from the dead.

We need to; “…look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18) While we are on this earth, we will not understand everything in its entirety. Science discovers new things daily, which should not be discredited. God created science and gives us the tools, thoughts and abilities to design, build, invent and discover the things that make our lives easier. Evolution is real, Creationism can coincide with science! After all, God created science! Paul just reminds us that the things we don’t see are the eternal things. Often times we are required to walk by faith and not by sight.

John 12

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John 12: Receive Christ = Receive God

                Jesus comes to Bethany, six days before the Passover begins. He goes to the same place where He raised Lazarus from the dead, and there they make Him dinner. Mary took out ointment of spikenard and begins to anoint the feet of Jesus and wipe it with her hair. Judas Iscariot asked why this very expensive ointment wasn’t sold and the money given to the poor. Judas said this; “…not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bad, and bare what was put therein.” (John 12:6) Essentially the money given to the ‘poor’ was put in a bag that he usually had control over. His concern was not getting his cut of the expensive ointment. Jesus tells Judas to calm; “…Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.” (John 12:7-8)

                Many of the people who had heard about Jesus and how He raised Lazarus from the dead come to see, and believe on Him. Many people attended the feast and this made some Jews uncomfortable, so they plot the death of Jesus and Lazarus. Jesus continues moving forward, riding on a Colt into town as the crowd came to Him, saying; “…Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.” (John 12:13)

Jesus teaches that the “…the hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified.” (John 12:23) and continues by stating; “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” (John 12:25) We learn from this, that whatever state you leave this world, you will enter the next. If you lived a happy life and tried to look at the positive, even during the bad… you will have that mindset in the next life. If you are grumpy in this life, you will be grumpy in the next, and so forth. Jesus knew that His hour had come and knew that He was going to be dying for the Sins of all mankind.

Jesus looks to the heavens and says; “Father, glorify thy name.” (John 12:28) Then a voice from heaven came down saying; “…I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” (John 12:28) Jesus explains to the crowd that the voice came down, for their benefit and not for the benefit of Jesus. This was another sign that was given to the believers. Many of the chief priests also believed that Jesus was the Christ, however; “…they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (John 12:43) and because they loved the praise of man more than God, they did not want to lose their influence over the people. The chief priests saw Jesus taking their glory and they wanted it all. We can learn from this, by wanting spiritual things, instead of wanting the things of the world.

John 11

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John 11: Lazarus

                In the town of Bethany there was a sick man by the name of Lazarus, who was the brother of Mary, the one who anointed the feet of Jesus. Upon hearing this news that He was sick, He stayed where He was for two days, then He told His Apostles that they should go down into Judea. But having been recently rejected from that are, the Apostles were confused as to why Jesus would want to go there again. Jesus teaches them; “…Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is not light with him.” (John 11:9-10) Essentially if we don’t have the light of God with us, we will always stumble among the world of darkness. We should always walk among others of good crowd, so that the light from all can shine together.

Jesus tells them that “…Our friend Lazarus sleepeth…I go, that I may awake him out of a sleep.” (John 11:11) Later Jesus told His Apostles, that Lazarus was indeed dead. When they arrived to meet Lazarus, they learn that four days had passed since he was laid to rest in his tomb. When Mary and Martha (Mary’s sister) find out that Jesus has come, Martha runs to meet Him, and says to Jesus; “…if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” (John 11:21) But she knew the power of God and the miracles that Jesus had performed and says; “…I know, that even not, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.” (John 11:22) Jesus reassures her; “…Thy brother shall rise again.” (John 11:23) Martha knew of the Resurrection and explains that she knows he would one day rise again, in the last day. Jesus then tells her; “…I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on my, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25) Jesus asks Martha if she believe this and she responds that she does. Jesus then calls for Mary and she came running out of the house, those who were gathered with her followed her, thinking she was going to the tomb of Lazarus.

When Mary met Jesus she fell at His feet and cried, those Jews who followed her out of the house also wept, even “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35) The Jews and all those gathered said to “…Behold how he loved him!” (John 11:36) and those same people wondered if Jesus could perform such a great miracle of raising someone from the dead. Jesus asked to see where Lazarus was buried and before entering the tomb, lifted up His eyes and said; “…Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always; but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.” (John 11:41-42) This is very interesting, because the people believed in Jesus, they were given signs. Throughout the scriptures people have asked for signs to believe, but it doesn’t work that way. Signs follow those who believe, and that is evident here. You don’t have to KNOW, you just have to BELIEVE and by BELIEVING, God will give you signs and wonders, to make you KNOW!

Jesus then “…cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” (John 11:43) At that very moment, Lazarus came forth, bound in his grave clothes. Jesus commanded that those around him go and loose him from those bands. Many of the Jews gathered did believe on Jesus.

Some of the Jews who did not believe went their ways to tell the Pharisees, and they held a council; “…What do we? For this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.” (John 11:47-48) The Chief Priest Caiaphas came to the conclusion that Jesus must die for the nation, so that only one many perish and not the entire nation. Jesus knew of their desires and fled from the Jews, no longer teaching among them. He and His Apostles continued to teach in a city called Ephraim. During this time, the Feast of the Passover was occurring, and the Jews waited for Jesus to show, so they could capture Him.

John 6

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John 6: The Bread of Life

                Jesus goes to the sea of Galilee, which is known as the sea of Tiberias, where a great number of people followed Him to hear from Him. Jesus calls for His Apostles to find food for everyone there, but they only could find a boy with five loaves of bread and two small fishes. Jesus said to His Apostles; “…Make the men sit down… And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were sat down… When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost… and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves.” (John 6:10-13)

                The 5,000 men that had just been fed were so astonished by this miracle that Jesus just performed, they desired for Him to be a King. Jesus, knowing their intentions of forcing Him to be a King, departs into the mountains to be alone. Meanwhile the Apostles depart by ship over the sea to Capernaum. The sea begins to rise from the wind and just off in the distance they saw Jesus walking on the water and were afraid. Jesus reached out to them saying; “…It is I, be not afraid” (John 6:20)

The next day in Capernaum, the group that Jesus had fed, followed Him to Capernaum seeking Jesus. He tells them that they only seek Him, because He fed them. Not because of the miracles Jesus had performed. Those gathered asked Jesus how they could obtain the very same manna that Moses and his people ate. Jesus explains that the work of God is that “…ye believe on him who he hath sent.” (John 6:29) and that the bread that they seek is only of this world. Jesus offers them true bread from heaven; “…I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I say unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.” (John 6:35-36)

                Jesus explains that anyone who partakes of the bread of life, the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ shall have eternal life. Essentially we need to actively pursue a good life, follow the commandments, receive a baptism by the proper authority, receive other ordinances which comes with covenants and promises, then actively partake in the Sacrament [water and bread] to keep renewing those covenants.

Jeremiah 1-2

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Jeremiah 1-2

Chapter 1: Jeremiah Foreordained

Jeremiah is the son of Hilkiah, of the priests of Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. He prophesied from the days of Josiah to the captivity. The Lord tells Jeremiah that he was ordained to be a prophet and that he knew him before he was born.

“Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

This tells us two things; God can preordain someone and you must be ordained of God to be a Prophet, you can’t just assume that role. Secondly, we learn that there IS a life before this earth life, where we lived with God… because he knew us before we are placed in the womb.

Jeremiah is anxious he is a child, and cannot speak. The Lord touches his mouth, so he will be a prophet unto the nations. The Lord’s plans are compared to the branch of an almond tree – comes to fruit quickly. Jeremiah sees a boiling pot facing the north – an evil shall break forth from the north against the inhabitants of Judah. Jeremiah will be protected as he prophesies.

Chapter 2: The Jews reject everything

Although pious when it first entered the Promised Land, Israel has forsaken the Lord and gone after other gods. Its own retreat from God will be its punishment. From a right seed, Israel has become a degenerate vine. They say to stock [wood], “…Thou art my father…” and to a stone, “…thou hast brought me forth [birthed]…” (Jeremiah 2:27)  Israel sinfully presumes itself to be innocent.

The people of Israel say: “…Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned. Why gladdest thou about so much to change thy way? …” (Jeremiah 2:35-36)

                We need not to forget that God has His ways and we cannot turn our backs on what we know… sinning with knowledge and then think that God will forgive us, because we are “innocent” and that we have made a mistake. Surely God will forgive, but if we knowingly sin and then just think we will ask for forgiveness and that will be the end, we are slapping God in the face.

Isaiah 37-38

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Isaiah 37-38

Chapter 37: Hezekiah and Isaiah

Hezekiah tears his clothes and covers himself with sackcloth. Isaiah speaks words of assurance to Hezekiah, and tells him that Rabshakeh’s blasphemy will be repaid. The Ethiopians move against Assyria. Hezekiah prays, and Isaiah further prophesies against Assyria and gives assurances that the Lord will protect Jerusalem. The angel of the Lord strikes 185,000 Assyrian soldiers dead. Sennacherib is killed by his sons back in Assyria.

Chapter 38: Hezekiah’s Life is added to

The sick Hezekiah is given an assurance by Isaiah that he will not die, but live a further fifteen years. The shadow on a sundial goes backwards (10 degrees), as a sign to confirm the promise. Hezekiah thanks the Lord for his deliverance.