Friday, August 26, 2016

To Stir Our Remembrance- 1 Nephi 18:13


REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT GOD EXPECTS YOU TO BECOME”

1 Nephi 18:13
A painting by Jerry Thompson showing Nephi standing and tied with thick rope to a pole while his wife pleads with his older brother to untie him.
To Stir Our Remembrance

What
13 Wherefore, they knew not whither they should steer the ship, insomuch that there arose a great a storm, yea, a great and terrible tempest, and we were  driven back upon the waters for the space of three days; and they began to be frightened exceedingly lest they should be drowned in the sea; nevertheless they did not loose me.

Why
They say that misery loves company! They were stubborn and mean and even though they were afraid they did not want to repent and release Nephi from the cords. That would mean they would have to admit that they were wrong.

Pattern
Here are two other times when a great storm came for the Lord's purposes.

Johah 1:4
4  ¶But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

Matt. 8:24
24  And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.

Mosiah 1:17 (King Benjamin is speaking of this occasion when Nephi was bound and he tells why)

17  Therefore, as they were unfaithful they did not prosper nor progress in their journey, but were driven back, and incurred the displeasure of God upon them; and therefore they were smitten with famine and sore afflictions, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty.

Christ
We might remember the incident in Matt. 8:24 When Christ calmed the sea as we read this scripture. He has all power over the elements.

Conference
2016 President Monson-
A Sacred Trust
pause to consider the consequences. Remember who you are and what God expects you to become. You are a child of promise. You are a man of might. You are a son of God.

2010 Bp. Keith B. McMullin,
Our Path of Duty

This is a troubled world. Discord and disaster are everywhere. It sometimes feels as though mankind itself may be hanging in the balance.
Foreshadowing our day, the Lord said, “The heavens shall shake, and also the earth; and great tribulations shall be among the children of men, but my people will I preserve.1  Moses 7:61 emphasis added.] We should take great comfort in this promise.
Though disasters completely disrupt “the even tenor of [our ways],”2 [Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. (1939), 156.] they do not have to leave our lives forever shattered. They can “stir [us] up in remembrance,”3  Mosiah 1:17 “awaken [us] to a sense of [our] duty to God,”4  Alma 7:22 and keep us “in the path of [our] duty.”5  Helaman 15:5

I bear my witness that our path of duty is clearly marked by an undivided faith and belief in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the power of prayer. This path is to be traveled by all of God’s children who love Him and desire to keep His commandments. For the young, it leads to personal achievement and preparation; for adults, it leads to renewed faith and resolve; for the older generation, it leads to perspective and endurance in righteousness to the end. It equips every faithful traveler with the strength of the Lord, protects him from the evils of the day, and endows him with the knowledge that “the conclusion of the whole matter [is to] Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.26 emphasis added.] In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.  

April 2016 Gong

Always Remember Him

 Drawing on the nearly 400 scripture references to the word remember, here are six ways we can always remember Him.
First, we can always remember Him by having confidence in His covenants, promises, and assurances.
The Lord remembers His everlasting covenants—
Second, we can always remember Him by gratefully acknowledging His hand throughout our lives.
The Lord’s hand in our lives is often clearest in hindsight. As Christian philosopher Søren Kierkegaard put it: “Life must be understood backward. But … it must blived forward.”9
Third, we can always remember Him by trusting when the Lord assures us, “He who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.”11
Sometimes life tests our trust in Christ’s mercy, justice, and judgment and in His liberating invitation to allow His Atonement to heal us as we forgive others and ourselves.
Fourth, He invites us to remember that He is always welcomingus home.
We learn by asking and searching
Fifth, we can always remember Him on the Sabbath through the sacrament. 
As Amulek teaches, we remember Him when we pray over our fields, our flocks, and our households and when we remember the needy, the naked, the sick and afflicted.23
Finally, sixth, our Savior invites us to always remember Him asHe always remembers us.
Apply-
Sometimes we do not know where to steer the ship we are on in this life. Life tosses us to and fro also. Our trials become overwhelming. If we are stubborn and deny that God lives or that He can help us in our dilemma then He will not. As with Laman and Lemuel, He can not guide us because we are not listening. We will be tossed and torn and those troubles can serve to remind us that He lives and has all power. If we turn to our Savior, Jesus Christ and cast our burdens on him then we will be able to accomplish all things through Him.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
I have personally put this scripture to the test many times and experienced the courage I needed to carry on, to have faith and trust in Him. Our trials will help us to become better, stronger, happier people. Ask yourself, “what am I to learn from this” How can I use my agency to make better choices.” We can only control our own thoughts and how we will react to life's situations. We cannot control others actions but we can remember that God loves all His children. Being Christlike in all our thoughts and actions will help to calm the stormy seas of life and see us through to a brighter day.
Hymns
110- Cast Thy Burden on The Lord 22  Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Children
120- Nephi's Courage





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