Principles

This week's reading was fantastic. I found lots of scriptures that I simply love. We are asked to find principles every week  and reflect on them. This week (and maybe I'll start making a habit of this) I am sharing my findings with you. Enjoy!

Philippians 4:6-7

“6. Be careful for nothing

(GREEK MEANING: don't be unduly concerned 

about anything); but in everything by prayer 

and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be 

made known unto God.

7. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,

 shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Principle: Don’t let yourself become overly concerned about the world. Ask God, and he will answer your questions.

        In this world, so many people become obsessed with correct facts and knowledge. This isn't bad, however in the world, when you simply have faith in God, people look down on you. They tend to think that you are “blindly following” religion and you don’t know anything.  It is okay to not have all the answers. We are all on this earth to learn and gain stronger knowledge. I find things every day that concern or trouble me and that don’t seem to match with the teachings of the gospel. However, if I turn to the Lord, he will provide me with the understanding I need. He may not always give me the answer, because that may be something I have to search out and study for. He will, however, provide me with a feeling. Either a feeling of peace and comfort to know that what I am reading is true, or a feeling of discomfort that leaves me feeling unsettled which lets me know that it is not true. I find this true for even things that I don’t necessarily agree with. I have found when I don’t agree with something, and yet it is right, I feel peace that things are going to be okay.  

Live As Saints Should Live

1.    Review Romans 13:11 and look for what is “nearer.” Read Ezekiel 3:20; Doctrine and Covenants 14:7; and explain in writing what we must continue doing to work out our salvation.

      what is “nearer”: salvation. When we strive to keep the commandments and remain in righteousness we can find true salvation. We must strive for righteousness and not turn from it or deny it. 


2.    In Romans 12-13 Paul gave much counsel that leads to salvation. Read each of the following verses and list what Paul taught would help lead to salvation:


• Romans 12:1 – “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

     To me, this is saying that we must be baptized and take upon us the name of Christ. And make sacrifices in our lives in order to live with him again.



• Romans 12:2 – “…be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

     To me, the scripture is saying that we must not adapt to the world’s standards, but to Gods. It is also saying that we must strive to find knowledge and to educate ourselves, but to do it with the Holy Ghost, so that we may know what is true and what is false. We need to pay attention to what the Spirit is telling us as we dig through information the world has to offer. 



• Romans 12:9 – “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”

       To me, this is saying that we should love people without any fakeness, or without having a secret expectation or desire for reward. We should love as Christ loves. We should avoid the evil things people teach or practice and stick to the good that God has taught us. 



• Romans 12:13 – “Distribute to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.” 

    I’m pretty sure this is a reference to the Law of Consecration. Where we give our excess to those who need it. It is not important to have more than we need. Also to show hospitality to others without wanting gain or benefits.



• Romans 12:16 – “Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend (GREEK MEANING: conforming willingly with the humble.) to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.”

       It is important to note that the “condescend” used in this context does not mean to patronize or humiliate, but to follow and imitate the humble. We must strive to not let our knowledge make us conceited or think extremely highly of ourselves to the point that we think others are lower, or dumber than us. That is Satan’s definition of “wise”, but not God’s.



• Romans 12:21 – “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” 

This one is self-explanatory I think. Do not let Satan trick or deceive you. Instead, overcome his guiles with thoughts of doing good to others and to lift the hearts of men.



• Romans 13:1 – “Let every soul be subject (GREEK MEANING: be submissive, render obedience) unto the higher powers. For there is not power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

       To me this says; listen to God, and to his counsel, the only real power on earth is God’s power (such as the priesthood power) and only God can ordain them. 



• Romans 13:3 – “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same.”

    This one was harder for me to understand, but what I think it is saying is that good people are not scared of rulers (Maybe rulers meaning God?) but people who are being evil are scared of them. At the end I think it is saying that when we are good we shall become rulers ourselves. 



• Romans 13:8 – “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law”
   
   Do not go into debt (and also possibly, do not let people go into debt to you?) but instead show love and kindness to those you meet.



• Romans 13:9 – “…Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” 

     Self-explanatory, he tells us what we should not be doing, and what we should be doing. I think it is important to note that when we love our neighbors we are, for most things, not going to participate in the things Paul names. 


3.    Review Romans 14:1-13; 15:1-3. Then write answers to the following questions:

• What cautions did Paul give about judging? 
     That we should not judge each other just because we have different views or opinions. 

    
• People may have different opinions and practices, but what is most important to remember?
    That in the end, everyone will stand before God in the last days and confess the truthfulness of God. 

• What additional insight comes from reading Doctrine and Covenants 38:25-27?
    It further illustrates the message by saying that God loves us all equally because we are his children, and what parent, being perfect, puts one child over another or loves one more than another? None. We must loves each other like brothers and sisters and do no evil towards each other.

4.    Review Romans 15:25-26, 31; 16:2, 15. Write the term Paul frequently used to refer to members of the Church in his day.

              Saints

God Loves Us All

I wrote this the other day, I had only posted it on Facebook, but I want to share it on here as well. This is not part of my class it is something I wrote on my own.

"This really irritates me, and I'm going to say something about it.  Remember, these are MY thoughts, this is how I feel. People that believe in God may not agree with me, but that's their deal.

People like to say:

"Bad things happen to people, why would God allow that to happen? He must not be a loving God."
or
"God is the source of so many wars and bloodshed, so he must not be a good God or he must not be real."  

       God influences us solely through the spirit via scriptures, revelation (prophets, your own personal revelation, etc). He rarely ever steps in for a cause unless it is absolutely necessary to further his work. The whole purpose of being on this earth is to make our OWN choices. He is The Great Scientist, and he lets nature and science do their thing. He is all knowing and usually knows when certain things are going to happen, science-wise, and people's decisions. Because just as a parent knows their child pretty well, God knows us even better and can better predict the choices we will make, but can't completely foresee them, We don't quite understand how this works because we are human.

             We are here to use our OWN agency, and make our OWN choices. God doesn't MAKE us a certain way. Bad (and good) things happen to good (and bad) people because 1) nature and human (bodily) imperfections have affected us (earthquakes, fires, cancer, deformities etc.), 2) Humans make choices that affect people and we make choices that affect us (murder, domestic violence etc). This goes for bad AND good choices. If a child is out playing, he might fall and scrape his knee (he may even be pushed by another kid and fall and get hurt). His mother can not change this, but she can put a band aid on it, kiss and comfort her child and send them off. She doesn't WANT these things to happen, but she can't smother her child and make him sit on the couch all day. She has to let him learn and grow on his own. If we are listening to the spirit, or plain just trying to be good people and show love towards others, we are doing things God would have us do. Hence, it is influenced by God's commandments and we are grateful for those people who listen to God. If people do not listen to the spirit or don't even simply try to be  good people, chances are they will mess up (and EVERYONE messes up, religious people are NOT exempt from this or better than others) and as humans are wont to do they can hurt someone. Some people blatantly make bad choices and it is wrong. God doesn't LET these things happen. The truth is we are here to make our own choices and he knows this. God provided a way to come back to him and to repent. He provided us a way to be cleansed and be comforted. In the end we will all be judged by the people we've become and not solely by all of our actions, Because if we were judged solely by our actions and not by our hearts we would all be in the Lowest of kingdoms. (Although actions still make a difference because they build us into who we become.)   

         People also say science disproves God. There is no evidence of this. When you put science AND religion together it is a beautiful thing. Religion is the WHY, science is the HOW. I'm still working on developing details of my thoughts on this.
        My God loves me, he talks to me when I listen, He is always there to comfort me from the hurt of this world. I don't expect him to interfere personally because I know that's now how He works. However, I know that he can whisper to others to help me. His good works come through OTHERS. He tries to get people to help each other. In the end EVERYTHING is from each others actions, and we are imperfect, so some of those actions will eventually be the wrong action.I Love God. I know he loves you, whether you believe in him or not. I have felt him strongly in my life and I have seen his influence. When I listen to his teachings I am filled with a state of mind of happiness. Not just the emotion of happiness, because you can be emotionally happy, and not be really happy within your mind. I know this. Even when I am emotionally sad, if I'm doing whats right I feel peace and comfort in my heart and I know that I have a state of mind built with happiness.

          So people try to make God the enemy, and make him evil. I'm sorry, but you will never convince me. I know people have called me "closed minded" because I don't want to hear the other opinion . However, they are so wrong. I will listen to other opinions, but just because I sometimes disagree on the spot does not make me closed minded. I've worked very hard to stay open minded about people's opinions and I have definitely changed my opinions on things. ITS OKAY TO CHANGE YOUR OPINION. People act like you're a hypocrite if you do, but that's ridiculous. It is only hypocrisy if you say one thing and do something else, but not if you say one thing, do it, and then change your mind and start doing that. 

        Also I am a firm believer that you know why you don't do something and not just blindly say you don't.  I'm saying this because people in the past tell me that I blindly follow my religion. Of course there is some faith involved and I'm okay with that. But I like to do my own personal thinking and decisions as well, with God's help. so in case anyone was curious feel free to ask me why I don't do certain things, and I would love to answer.  

I don't know everything. I am okay with that. I am okay with the fact that I will eventually learn things if I strive to. I'm okay saying "I don't know yet".

But this I do know. I love my God, I love what he teaches. Do I still have issues? YES. Am I perfect? NO. Am I sometimes a big jerk/idiot/selfish person. YES. However, This I will always know, God is real and he loves everyone.

I love you all. Normally I don't like to spout my beliefs or opinions. I don't care today. I want you all to know what I believe. If you have any questions, you may talk to me.

 TL;DR : I love God! He's so cool!

Love, Néna Grace"

Baptism

1.    Review Romans 6:1–13 and answer the following questions in writing: 

• What must be done with sin before baptism can occur? We must repent of our sins and no longer desire to partake in them.

• What events from Christ’s life are symbolized in baptism?  His death and resurrection.

• Considering this symbolism, why couldn't someone be baptized by sprinkling? Because when you die, you are buried underground and your body is covered completely. So since baptism is suppose to represent your death and resurrection then you need to be fully submerged under water in order to represent you coming out of the water (resurrection).

• What do these verses teach us about how we can maintain the “newness of life”? In verse 13 it says "but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

• According to Mosiah 3:19, what part of us would ideally die at baptism?  Our "natural man" which is the "enemy to God".

2.    Study Romans 6:14–23. Write a paragraph that describes how we know whose servant we are. Then write a statement identifying the true source of freedom.
              Those who we obey and follow we are servants to. In the case of these versus, we are either following and obeying Christ, or Satan. When we do the things that Christ has asked us to do, and we follow his gospel, we are his servants. We know our hearts and who we truly desire to serve.
True freedom is freedom from sin, when we follow Christ we have the ability and chance to be truly from from sin.

As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Reap

Choice 6: Galatians 5

   Review Galatians 5:13-26 Then explain in what these verses say about how to better enjoy the fruits of the Spirit rather than works of the flesh and how you can apply this in your own life specifically

Essentially the scriptures are saying this: Serve and love one another. When we are doing this we can have the spirit with us, and in turn will more likely avoid the temptations of Satan. The scriptures often say the “fruits of the spirit” which is how I interpret to mean, the consequences of us listening to the Spirit. So when we are listening to the Spirit and striving to do what is right, then we are going to be filled more with love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.  In a circular motion, when we have these traits in our hearts we are even less likely to want to partake of worldly influences.

When I think about applying this directly to me instantly I am filled with primary answers. I can read my scriptures, say my prayers. However there are many other things that I can do to fill my life with the Spirit and try to be cautious of Satan’s temptations and these verses discuss that. The most important thing I think I can do is to serve those around me. For me personally that would mean that I could do my visit teaching, stop by and visit family, friends and acquaintances and see how they are doing. I could offer to babysit or help someone get work done around their house. I could give up some of my personal free time to help someone else. Whether it is to help them get things done, or maybe just help them by being good company and providing my friendship. 

Satan wants us to have traits that stem from the “me” factor. He wants us to put ourselves in top priority. When we make ourselves top priority, then we are lacking the pure love of Christ, or Charity.  When we don’t have charity towards others how can we expect to love and serve them? Without kindness and compassion how can we expect to have the spirit linger in our hearts? I’m not just talking about outward actions, but what about inwards? I know my biggest problems are when I am thinking things that are not correct or looking down on someone in my mind. The spirit will warn us that, that is not correct but if we do not listen, he won’t hang out in our heads for us to be inspired by him. 

Personal Journal- Week 3

             This week I really felt like the scriptures were speaking to me. I got a lot of scriptures that talked about not judging others, and although I like to think I'm a good person, I know that I struggle with my emotions and I get pretty frustrated with people. In doing so I tend to judge harshly and it doesn't leave me feeling happy with myself. I definitely feel like the Lord was telling me to work on that about myself, and that if I do so I will be happier for it. I especially like that scripture 1 Cor. 5:13 that basically says it like it is: if you are judging someone then you are doing it without God in your heart. That was the scripture that hit me the hardest because If I were to be honest with myself I would say that I definitely think I judge people correctly sometimes. However, this scripture makes no mistake in telling me that, no, I am not right in any way.

                I also found that although I was definitely scolded, I was also provided with a lot of comfort this week. especially with 1 Cor 14:10. I have been struggling a lot lately with feeling like I do not have a lot of purpose in what I'm doing with my life and it has really brought me down. however this scripture really helped me cope with these feeling. It gave me the impression that everyone's voice and actions are significant and I can be a significant purpose for good. It was a very nice read this week and I got a lot of personal revelation out of it.