Believing

Today as I went to the temple I decided to ponder about one scripture in particular. The scripture is in Mosiah 4: 9-10. Within these two verses the word "believe" is used seven times. As I was reading this scripture I saw it as a list of the most important things that we should believe. First, we need to believe in God and that he created all things. We need to believe that He has all wisdom and power. Which ties in to the next one that we should believe that man doesn't understand everything, nevertheless the Lord does. The second verse continues to give us another list, but with an important command at the end. The verse starts by stating we should believe that we must repent of our sins and forsake them entirely. We need to also humble ourselves before God and ask Him with sincerity for forgiveness. Whats more is that it concludes by saying "if you believe all these things see that ye do them." (Mosiah 4:10) Therefore if we truly believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ then we must act upon that belief. By doing so we can receive a fulness of joy through repentance and a greater faith in God.

Reading

  This word Bible has to be one of the most misunderstood words. The word itself comes from the word bibliotec which means a collection of books and in Spanish biblioteca mean library. So, the word Bible actually means a small collection of books or a small library. The Bible is in fact a collection of several different books from about 2500 BC to about 95 AD written by different apostles and prophets, each taking place on the African, Asian or European continents. All of these books teach of Gods plan and ultimately the Bible testifies of Jesus Christ. Often times when people here of The Book of Mormon as another testament of Jesus Christ their first response is "We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible." (2 Nephi 29: 3) Now that the word Bible has been defined, doesn't it seem strange that people would restrict themselves to only one "library". Furthermore they are restricting God himself, however God is no "respecter of persons" (Acts 10: 34) God loves everyone, not just certain groups on certain continents, and He reveals His word, or His teachings, to everyone no matter where they are. "Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?" (2 Nephi 29: 7) Undoubtably God called other prophets and apostles on different continents at similar times in which the Bible took place. This is where the Book of Mormon comes in, just like the Bible, The Book of Mormon is also a collection of books written by prophets, the biggest difference is that The Book of Mormon takes place in the ancient American continent. Together the Bible and The Book of Mormon support one another and help to clarify many of Gods essential teachings. God is our loving Heavenly Father and He wants what is best for each and every one of us. Therefore he continues to reveal His teachings nowadays, just as He did in the past, to all of His sons and daughters no matter where they are.

Seeing

   I have always though Isaiah's scriptures to be interesting. The funny part is that I have never really understood his writings. However, this week I learned how to better interpret the writings of Isaiah. I could go on about all I learned this week, but I wont. I will focus on one aspect of Isaiah's writing, he is almost always referring to three different times periods: his time, Christ's time and our time. Therefore, Isaiah becomes more relevant to us but also makes us think of how it applies in the past. I will quote one scripture to clarify how Isaiah can apply to all three time frames. In 2 Nephi 13: 1, a quote from Isaiah says: "For behold, the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem, and from Judah, the stay and the staff, the whole staff of bread, and the whole stay of water-". In Isaiah's time, Jerusalem and Babylon came under siege by Assyria. During the siege the people had to surrender as they had no food source, they ran out of both bread and water. Furthermore, we read in the scriptures how Christ was referred to as the bread of life and the living water. At the end of Christ's ministry He was crucified but He did return as a resurrected being. Nonetheless after forty days He returned to His father, who took Jesus away from Jerusalem. Finally, in our time we attend Sunday services to partake of the bread and water in the sacrament. Yet, if we make a serious transgression we are advised to not partake of the sacrament. In this scripture especially I know that I must do my best to be worthy of the bread and water, if not the Lord of Host will take it away. Ultimately, I know that Isaiah's prophecies have, are, and will be fulfilled. As I continue to read and study I will see the application Isaiah's writing has in my life and other's lives.

The Price

   The price of salvation is not cheap. We do not and will never fully understand the price that was paid. Only one was worthy enough to be chosen to pay such a steep price. His preparation goes beyond what we can fully understand. Even before His mortal life He had been preparing for the biggest moment in the history of mankind and the whole universe itself. The task at hand was not an easy one. From the beginning of his life to the end of it He was a man like no other. He, the great creator of all the earth came down and was brought below the all other creatures. The ultimate price for each and everyone of us was paid by Him. The Alpha and the Omega, the great I am, even Jesus Christ
  Christ's life is an example to each and every one of us. Moreover His perfect life lead up to one great moment. The moment when that great debt which had been accumulating, and would could continue to grow, had to be paid. Justice demanded that the price of mans' sins be paid. His whole life lead up to the most crucial moment for Him and for all of us and it took place in the Garden of Gethsemane and the Cross on Calvary. He had volunteered for this unfathomable task long before the Earth and its inhabitant had been created. The salvation of all of mankind rested upon Christ at this very moment. The full wrath of justice would have been unleashed on mankind if he failed. Mankind had no plan B, we would have been in a bitter and hopeless state. Christ truly was our only hope Jesus Christ knew what had to be done but even so the pain he experienced caused "even God the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit" (D&C 19: 18). And in His moment of bitter agony he requested that God "take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt" (Mark 14: 36).  He submitted to the will of the Father and fulfilled He had come to do. He experienced everything that each and every one of us faces in this life: sin, temptation, infirmities (both spiritual and physical), shame, guilt, pain, remorse, hunger, fatigue, the list goes on. Despite the heavy weight that was being placed upon Him, he came out victorious!
   Christ suffered ALL infirmities for us. Thanks to Him the demands of justice have been met by the mercy and grace of Christ. All we have to do to qualify for the grace of God is to follow His gospel. His gospel is simple: have faith, repent, be baptized and confirmed, and enduring to the end by staying true and faithful. As we do this we will continue to feel His love, learn of His marvelous plan, and ultimately be able to return to Gods presence.