Tuesday, November 15, 2016

God Shall Wipe Away All Tears- 1 Nephi 20:21

1 Nephi 20:21
God Shall Wipe Away All Tears
What
 21 And they athirsted not; he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the brock for them; he clave the rock also and the waters gushed out.

The Lord takes care of His people

Why
Because He loves them.

Pattern
Ps. 107:33 (33–37)
33  He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;
34  A fruitful land into barrenness, for the 
wickednessof them that dwell therein.
35  He turneth the 
wildernessinto a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.
36  And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation;
37  And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.

Isa. 41:18 (17–20)
17  When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18  I will open 
rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
19  I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the 
shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
20  That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath 
created it.

Ex. 17:6
6  Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come waterout of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Num. 20:11
11  And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rocktwice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

Christ
Christ is the water which quenches the thirst. He is the Savior and Redeemer.
Conference
OCTOBER 2016 | God Shall Wipe Away All Tears
As we exercise our faith in the Savior, He will lift us up and carry us through all of our trials and, ultimately, save us in the celestial kingdom.
As part of our Heavenly Father’s plan, He allowed sorrow to be woven into our mortal experience.1 While it seems that painful trials fall unevenly on us, we can be assured that to one degree or another, we all suffer and struggle. It is my prayer that the Holy Spirit will guide us to a greater understanding why this must be so.
When we view the difficult experiences of life through the lens of faith in Christ, we are able to see that there can be godly purpose in our suffering. The faithful can experience the truth of Peter’s seemingly contradictory counsel. He wrote, “If ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye.”2 As we apply our “hearts to understanding,”3 we can increase in our ability to both endure our trials well and learn from—and be refined by—them. Such understanding provides an answer to the ageless question “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
Everyone listening today is acquainted with some measure of loneliness, despair, grief, pain, or sorrow. Without an “eye of faith”4 and an understanding of eternal truth, we often find that the misery and suffering experienced in mortality can obscure or eclipse the eternal joy of knowing that the great plan of our Father in Heaven really is the eternal plan of happiness. There is no other way to receive a fulness of joy.5
God invites us to respond with faith to our own unique afflictions in order that we may reap blessings and gain knowledge that can be learned in no other way. We are instructed to keep the commandments in every condition and circumstance, for “he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.”6 And as we read in scripture, “If thou art sorrowful, call on the Lord thy God with supplication, that your souls may be joyful.”7
The Apostle Paul, himself no stranger to affliction, drew from his own experience to teach with depth and beauty the eternal perspective that comes when we endure well and with patience. He said, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”8 In other words, we can know in the midst of our afflictions that God has provided an eternal compensating reward.
In an intimate and reflective passage, Paul tells us of an unnamed “thorn” in his flesh, which caused him great pain and brought him three times to his knees, begging the Lord to take it from him. In answer to Paul’s prayers, the Lord did not remove the thorn but did speak peace and give understanding to his heart, saying, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” With new understanding, Paul was able to accept and be grateful for the thorn he was given. He said, “Most gladly therefore will I … glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”12
As we acquire this eternal perspective in our lives, our capacity to endure grows, we learn how to succor those in need of succor,13 and we come to appreciate and even express gratitude for the experiences God allows us to have as tutors in the path to eternal life.
(this whole talk is excellent on how the Lord blesses us through our tribulation just as He did with Moses.
certain forms of suffering, endured well, can actually be ennobling. …
“… Part of enduring well consists of being meek enough, amid our suffering, to learn from our relevant experiences. Rather than simply passing through these things, they must pass through us … in ways which sanctify [us].”18
I have observed in the lives and examples of others that exercising strong and abiding faith in Jesus Christ and His promises provides the sure hope of better things to come. This sure hope steadies us, bringing the strength
Apply
This talk gives me a new outlook on trials. It brings about a change of attitude to let those trials sanctify us. Instead of complaining,and begging that the trial be taken away, we should be asking for peace and understanding.
We should always recognize our blessings and give the credit to God who blesses us with everything we have. Jesus Christ is the water, it is through him that we received the sustaining blessings of life just as Moses smote the rock and water came out, so we need not thirst because we have the pure water which nurtures the thirsty and sustains our spiritual life.

Hymns
103-Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer

Children

74 I Feel My Savior's Love

No comments:

Post a Comment