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Friday, March 11, 2011

2 Nephi 9:51 - What does "hearken" mean?

The Lord says to "Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken." What does hearken mean?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines hearken as "listen" or "give respectful attention." The archaic definition is "give heed to" or "hear."

We are to listen / give respectful attention / give heed to / hear the words of the Lord with diligence. This means that we must apply the words of the Lord into our lives with perseverance. We must constantly be listening to Him, and this requires consistent, individual effort. We need to be looking for His words and acting upon those words so that we can remember them. It is easier to remember something with which we have a personal connection.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Moroni 10:3 - What are some examples of times when God has shown mercy?

The Lord says to "remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts." It seems that "it" refers to God's mercy, and He commands us to ponder "it" in our hearts. What are some examples of times when God shows mercy?

Deuteronomy 5:10 - God is merciful to those who keep His commandments.

Deuteronomy 7:9 - The Lord loves us, and when we make covenants with Him he keeps His end of the covenant and shows mercy to those that love Him and keep His commandments. 

Isaiah 16:5 - In the Millennium when Christ comes to rule on earth, His throne will be established "in mercy." He will remove the captivity of the people.

Isaiah 54:7 - In the latter days (our day), God's "great mercies" allow for the gathering of Israel.

John 8:11 - Jesus was merciful unto the adulterous woman; He forgave her completely of her sin.

Titus 3:5 - Through God's mercy, we are able to be saved through baptism by water and by "fire." Our sins are washed away and we are given the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide us.

1 Peter 1:3 - God's "abundant mercy" gives us a "lively hope" for resurrection from the dead and for salvation.

1 Peter 2:9-10 - The early saints of the church obtained God's mercy because they praised God and sought His light and direction. They became people of God, "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people."

1 Nephi 13:33 - God will be merciful unto the Gentiles in the great and last judgment day.

2 Nephi 1:2-3 - God was merciful unto Lehi and his family because he warned them that Jerusalem would be destroyed.

Alma 9:10-11 - God delivered His people out of the hands of their enemies many times, and He preserved them from being destroyed. "If it had not been for his matchless power, and his mercy, and his long-suffering towards us, we should unavoidably have been cut off from the face of the earth long before this period of time, and perhaps been consigned to a state of endless misery and woe."

Alma 15:10-11 - God showed mercy unto Zeezrom by healing him from his burning fever (Zeezrom had previously sought to accuse Alma and Amulek in order to get gain and to destroy that which was good). Because of God's mercy and Zeezrom's faith, Zeezrom was healed and baptized into the church, and he began to preach the truth unto the people.

Ether 11:8 - The Lord was merciful unto the Jaredites according to their repentance.

Moroni 8:19 - Little children cannot repent, so God shows pure mercy unto them. "They are alive in him because of his mercy."

Doctrine & Covenants 1:29 - Joseph Smith was able to translate the Book of Mormon through the mercy and power of God.

D&C 101:9 - In the "day of wrath", or the Millennium when Christ comes to rule and reign on the earth, He will show mercy towards the saints, despite their transgressions. God will have compassion towards the saints; He will gather them and comfort them.

D&C 128:19 - "Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven. . . . How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and that say unto Zion: Behold, thy God reigneth!"

Friday, March 4, 2011

Alma 34:27 - How does God expect us to pray?

I have noticed a pattern of prayer in the scriptures. In Alma 34:27, God tells us to pray for our own welfare, and then to pray for the welfare of those around us. This pattern also appears in Enos 1:4-9, where Enos cries unto the Lord "in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul . . . all the day long" and then, once his sins have been forgiven, he pours out his "whole soul unto God" for the welfare of his brethren. It appears that God wants us to take care of ourselves first so that we can better serve those around us.

Alma 34:18 - What is the meaning of the phrase "mighty to save"?

In Alma 34:18, we can see some of Christ's "mightiness" in His miracles: healing the sick, raising the dead, and forgiving repentant sinners. He has the power to save us all, but that grace depends on our willingness to turn to Him. Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and without Him we would be unable to repent of our sins so that we could be worthy to live with Him again.