2 Nephi 31
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Verse 3: ...for He speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding...
I was watching a talk by Sheri Dew the other night and she shared a story about how, when she was younger, she went through a very difficult time. She asked a friend to give her a blessing. Before he did, they talked, and she told him how she felt very alone, and wished God would answer her prayers. He then asked her something that caught her off-guard, but that she has never forgotten.
He asked: Have you asked God to teach you the language He uses to answer your prayers?
She thought about that for a long time, and came to the understanding that, just as there are thousands of different languages on the earth, the Spirit speaks to people in thousands of different ways. It is up to us to find out which way the Lord communicates to us through the Spirit--which language the Spirit speaks to us.
She said she had always asked God for answers, but had never asked Him to teach her how to hear His answers.
I love that, and have since made that a part of my daily prayers, because He does speak to us according to our language--the language of our spirits and hearts.
******
Verse 10: And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?
Verse 12: ...follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.
So many see following Jesus as merely 'accepting' or acknowledging Him as their Savior--but it is more. We need to do as He did, and He lived His Father's will and kept His commandments.
Disciples do.
******
Here is something very special and sacred: Only a little more than a handful of times do we actually hear God--Heavenly Father--speak. And in verse 11, we get to hear Elohim testify of His Son to us:
Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.
Then The Son follows with His own testimony:
He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.
Nephi is the third witness to the divinity of baptism and the Savior:
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ by baptism--yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to His word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.
Out of the mouth of three witnesses. . . . very interesting.
Then The Son testifies of what Nephi said, and added to it in verse 14.
Then, the voice of God sealed their testimonies with His: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful He that endureth to the end are saved.
Nephi finished the chapter with his his testimony of following the example of the Savior and enduring to the end.
I am not sure there is an example of a more powerful teaching companionship than in this chapter, where God, the Savior, and a prophet of old are the teachers, and we--you and are--are the students they are teaching.
It isn't a story of someone else's conversion (like Enos, Alma the Younger, King Lamoni). This is our story--our conversion.
They are speaking to us.
And what will we do with it?
******
And of course, I need to give a shout out to everyone's favorite verse--verse 20. It really says it all in a nutshell!
Verse 3: ...for He speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding...
I was watching a talk by Sheri Dew the other night and she shared a story about how, when she was younger, she went through a very difficult time. She asked a friend to give her a blessing. Before he did, they talked, and she told him how she felt very alone, and wished God would answer her prayers. He then asked her something that caught her off-guard, but that she has never forgotten.
He asked: Have you asked God to teach you the language He uses to answer your prayers?
She thought about that for a long time, and came to the understanding that, just as there are thousands of different languages on the earth, the Spirit speaks to people in thousands of different ways. It is up to us to find out which way the Lord communicates to us through the Spirit--which language the Spirit speaks to us.
She said she had always asked God for answers, but had never asked Him to teach her how to hear His answers.
I love that, and have since made that a part of my daily prayers, because He does speak to us according to our language--the language of our spirits and hearts.
******
Verse 10: And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?
Verse 12: ...follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.
So many see following Jesus as merely 'accepting' or acknowledging Him as their Savior--but it is more. We need to do as He did, and He lived His Father's will and kept His commandments.
Disciples do.
******
Here is something very special and sacred: Only a little more than a handful of times do we actually hear God--Heavenly Father--speak. And in verse 11, we get to hear Elohim testify of His Son to us:
Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.
Then The Son follows with His own testimony:
He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.
Nephi is the third witness to the divinity of baptism and the Savior:
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ by baptism--yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to His word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.
Out of the mouth of three witnesses. . . . very interesting.
Then The Son testifies of what Nephi said, and added to it in verse 14.
Then, the voice of God sealed their testimonies with His: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful He that endureth to the end are saved.
Nephi finished the chapter with his his testimony of following the example of the Savior and enduring to the end.
I am not sure there is an example of a more powerful teaching companionship than in this chapter, where God, the Savior, and a prophet of old are the teachers, and we--you and are--are the students they are teaching.
It isn't a story of someone else's conversion (like Enos, Alma the Younger, King Lamoni). This is our story--our conversion.
They are speaking to us.
And what will we do with it?
******
And of course, I need to give a shout out to everyone's favorite verse--verse 20. It really says it all in a nutshell!
I was a support person for a group of hikers a couple of years ago. They were trekking the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier in 3 days. It was the second night and after midnight when a few of us hiked out several miles in the dark to meet the stragglers. They had been on the trail since 0600 that morning and had another 5 miles or so to get to the camp to eat and rest before the final day. They were so tired. To the point that if we did not walk beside each one, talking and encouraging, guiding and pushing, they would either sit and refuse to get up, or take the wrong trail out of utter confusion and exhaustion.
ReplyDeleteWe kept telling them, it's only a little further. You can take ten more steps. Let's go. We are almost there. They were bruised, blistered, and past the point of making rational decisions. But they were willing to listen to us and keep pressing forward.
I thought about that part of the hike this morning as I read this chapter. I know I often feel like one of those hikers. I am grateful the Savior is by my side, encouraging me, pushing me, telling me it's only a little further. The spirit often whispers... just ten more steps. You can do that. 10-steps and this part will be over.
To me, 10-steps... that means to press forward with faith.
I love this Ang! Thank you so much for sharing this story :)
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