Colossians 3:15-21

Unit 3 Choice 7

I am a musician and I love the hymns.  I love to memorize the words of the hymns because I know that those words are very powerful.  In Colossians 3:16 we learn the the singing of hymns is a way to learn.  The only qualification is that we sing with grace in our hearts.  There is no qualification that we sing beautifully or in tune.  One of my favorite hymns:

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.       
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me"
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

Music is the way that I express my testimony best.  It is so powerful and can really invite the spirit in to any event.
                                                
Colossians 3:18 tells us that wives should submit to your husbands.  I am sure that this is a very controversial scripture in the world today.  This is what Joseph F Smith said; "Let us begin by saying that a Latter-day Saint husband or father presides over his wife and family in much the same way a bishop, stake president, or elders quorum president presides over the specific group to which he is called. Each acts with counselors and seldom makes decisions without carefully consulting hose whom he calls to assist him."

This scripture has nothing to do with the husband being more important or powerful than the wife but everything to do with order in a home.  This order also is the way of the Lord and will help a family function better.

Verse 19 goes on to tell husbands to love their wives.  Elder Nelson said this: "Honor the special sisters in your lives, brethren. Express your love to your wife, to your mother, and to the sisters. Praise them for their forbearance with you even when you are not at your best. Thank the Lord for these sisters who-like our Heavenly Father-love us not only for what we are but for what we may become. Humbly I thank God for my mother, my sisters, my daughters, granddaughters, and for my special sweetheart, companion, and friend-my wife! ("Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women," Ensign, May 1999, 40)


                                             

It is Thanksgiving time and three words really caught my attention when I first read this assignment.  BE YE THANKFUL was found in verse 3.  I have so much to be thankful for and many blessings that I am not aware of that I need to be thankful for.  I am thankful for all that the Lord blesses me with and that includes that trials and hard parts of life too.  I recently watched the new Mormon message about the refiner's fire.  I had the opportunity to find out more about the family that shared their story in this message and they are truly incredible people.  The Lord is trying to refine us in to the best that we can be and sometimes that means trials for us.  We can get upset about our trials and not become who the Lord knows we can become, or we can let the Lord mold us through our trials and reach our divine potential.  I am thankful for His molding!

Romans 1:15-20

Unit 1 Choice 2

Romans 1:16 is such a special scripture to me.  I won't go in to why on this blog but just know that it is special.  That is why I choice this for one of my student choice assignments.  With this assignment I got to read more than just the most familiar scripture in chapter 1.  It is clear that Paul has a solid testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We learn the following about his testimony:

Paul wants to share the gospel with everything in him.
The gospel is the key to salvation to those that believe in it.
Those that believe need to live by faith.
He knows that our Heavenly Father is angry with those that know the truth and use it righteously
Each of us can see the beautiful creations that have been made for his through his priesthood and we have no excuse to not believe because it is before us every day.


When it comes to Romans 1:16 this is my favorite quote:

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.  A power that can make of earth a heaven and of man a God.  (Robert Millet)

From these passages I know that I need to share my testimony as freely as Paul did.  If we live in faith and we know the truth we should have no problem sharing the truth.  The Lord has not hidden the truth from the world.  The power of his creations are something that we all see and enjoy ever day.  That is proof to us all of his power and majesty.  How can we deny who He is?

These are some of my favorite creations.....

    

How to deal with adversity.....by Paul and Timothy

Unit 2 Choice 2
How did Paul and Timothy avoid despair despite being troubled, perplexed, persecuted and cast down?? We find the answer in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 and 4:5-17.   Their example touched me and helped me to have a better perspective.  Paul says that they had suffered "light afflictions".  Those "light afflictions" were things like being beaten, stoned, shipwrecked and put in prison.  Wow - I don't consider any of those things light by any means!

Paul talked about the mercies of the Lord and that He comforted them in ALL tribulations.  And he comforted them so that they could comfort others.  To me this means that they can understand the suffering of others and by their experience can offer comfort to others who are struggling.  So your trials aren't just for you but to help others.  They talked about how they preach the gospel for Christ's sake and they carry the light of Christ in their hearts.  They remember the resurrection and the gift that was given by the  Savior and that helps them remember that life is eternal and these things are just for a short time.  In chapter 4 verse 11 they say that they are willing to die for His sake.  Another thing that helps them avoid despair while they are suffering is to remember that their afflictions are nothing compared to the Lord's eternal plan.  They are helping that come about and that is bigger than anything they would suffer.

You can tell that they truly understand and have a testimony of the Plan of Salvation.  They understand that this life is short and that what comes after this life is much more important.  They understand the sacrifice and suffering that Christ went through and the gift of the resurrection.

This ties in well with what Brigham Young said.  "Every trial and experience you have passed through is necessary for your salvation."

Like I said......a whole new perspective.

Unit 1 Choice 5

1 Corinthians 10



Jesus Christ is referred to as "The Rock" in the scriptures.  Rocks are strong and solid.  If the wind blows hard rocks don't move.  When we build a house we build it on strong rocks.  Rocks make good, sturdy foundations to build on.   I think these properties apply very well to Christ and how can be in our lives.  He is solid and a great foundation to build on.  When the wind storms of the world are flying, His gospel does not move and sway with the wind.  We can count on it to be the same always.

In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul warned the saints about temptations they needed to avoid:
lust after evil
worship idols
spend their time eating and playing and not doing things that are eternal or matter
brake the law of chastity
tempt Christ
murmur


When I read through these verses looking for the things that Paul listed, all of these things could apply to the time that we live in.  So many people lust after people and things in this world.  There are also so many idols such as; money, cars, work, and many others.  They may not be a gold statue but there are many idols being worshiped on the earth at this time.  Many people in the world today spend their time worshiping those idols and they aren't doing things that really matter.  They are not adding to their treasure chest in Heaven.  The Law of Chastity is something that a good portion of the world has broken and they see nothing wrong with it.  There are those that do tempt Christ.  They know what they are doing is wrong, yet they want to see how far they can go or simply think that He will forgive any sin.  Murmuring is a form of ingratitude and I have been guilty of that sin.

In 1 Corinthians 10:13 we are given a reassuring promise that tells us that we will only be given temptations that we can handle.  The Lord knows each of us and knows what we can handle.  That still doesn't mean that it will be easy to avoid those temptations but knowing that I have it within me to rise above the temptations is very reassuring.

Alma 13:28 adds to this verse in Corinthians when it tells me exactly what to do in order to stay strong against temptations.  I need to pray continually and keep watch.  This verse also tells me the kind of person that I need to be and the characteristics that will help me overcome.  I need to be humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and long suffering.

The Day of Pentacost

Unit 1 Choice 3

What is the Day of Pentacost?

It is a celebration and a feast of the first fruits or harvest.  It is held 50 days after the feast of the Passover.  It is also a festival of pilgrimage and so there are many people from many different nations and languages that attend.

What happened at the Day of Pentacost as recorded in Acts 2?

All 12 Apostles were gathered in one place at this time.  Everyone heard the sound of a mighty wind and so they gathered where the Apostles were.  The brethren prophesied and the Spirit was present and manifested in the form of cloven tongues like as a fire.  Those teaching spoke in tongues and all could understand them despite the fact that they all spoke different languages.  Peter taught about Jesus and about the scriptures.

Peter as Prophet

Peter was the President and Prophet of the church at this time and one of his roles is to be a special witness of Jesus Christ.  On this special day he fulfilled this role by teaching and testifying of Christ.  He also told people what they needed to do in order to live with Him again.

Gifts of the Spirit

The people were in tune with the Spirit and were taught by the Spirit.  The people also recognized the sound of the rushing wind as the Spirit.  The people were able to understand words that were not in their language.  The people had the desire to follow Christ.

How did the people respond to what happened?

After hearing the words spoken they simply said, "What shall we do?"

I have not studied about the Day of Pentacost since I was in Seminary and so it was interesting to read and study about this subject.  What a great demonstration of the gift of the Spirit that the Savior had given people.  Before he was crucified He told them that they would have this gift after He left the earth and this day was such a powerful way for them to know about this priceless gift.  Pure teaching went on and the Spirit must have been so strong that all felt and saw it's presence.  After all of that "drama" my favorite part of this story happens.  After seeing and hearing amazing, heavenly events the people simple asked what they needed to do.  And then Peter told them very specifically that they needed to repent and be baptized.  Three thousand souls were baptized that day!

Unit 2 Choice 6 - First Student Choice Assignment

1 Thess 3:12-13; 4:1-12; 5:1-22, 2 Thess 3:106; 11

Attributes that Paul counseled the members to improve on.

Increase love to one another
Keep His commandments
Keep the Law of Chastity
Be honest with your fellow man
Be holy
Love one another
Be self sufficient
Be diligent
Don't worry about the 2nd Coming, just keep watch
Put on the Armor of God
Listen to your leaders and love them for what they do for you
Take care of one another
Be patient with each other
Rejoice
Pray
Be grateful
Listen to the Spirit
Listen to the prophesies
Prove all things
Hold on to good things
Stay away from the appearance of evil
Pray for the leaders of the church
Stay away from those who might draw you away from the Lord
Don't gossip

I could really improve on all things on this list but I will choose the following:

Put on the Armor of God:  I think I do pretty well at putting on my armor everyday but I need to inspect my armor on a regular basis.  I need to spend more time in considering what I need to improve on and how I can be doing more to increase my spirituality.  One of the things that I will do is add a question to my daily journal; how is my armor today?

Hold on to good things:  We have some traditions in our family and just because it is a tradition does not mean that it is good.  Those things are so hard to get rid of!  One of them that really bugs me is watching football on Sunday.  I may have to disconnect the satellite but I really want to change this family tradition.

Pray for the leaders of the church:  I have never been a person who does this very often.  As I have served in a stake calling, it has become something that I know really helps me.  I can tell when I have the support and prayers of the sisters.  I want to include prayers for my local, stake and general church leadership on a regular basis.

1 Thes Chp 5

Paul was such an awesome missionary.  After he left an area, he continued to write and check on the members.  That is what you read in 1 Thessalonians.  I wanted to write about Chapter 5 because it relates to a conversation that I had recently with a nonmember friend of mine.  Paul was talking to the members about the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ.  It is so interesting that people have been waiting for this event for so many years!!  Here are some of the things that stood out to me about what Paul said:

Christ will come as a thief in the night.  However, Paul tells them that they are not in the dark.
We shouldn't sleep, as others do, but keep watch.
Whether we are living or dead, we will be able to live with Christ again.
Comfort one another and teach one another.
BE AT PEACE

I also love when they give lists in the scriptures.  I am a list person and so I look for those lists.  Paul gives us a nice list of things that we should do and take note of the first thing he mentions:

REJOICE Evermore
Pray without ceasing
Be grateful
Don't quench the Spirit
Despise not the prophesies
Prove all things
Hold fast to good things
Abstain the appearance of evil

My friend and I were discussing how the world is not taking notice of the signs that the 2nd Coming is so close.  She is so excited for it to come and is truly rejoicing at seeing her Savior.  She is such an inspiration to me in how she knows and loves her Savior.