How do you strengthen your faith and hope in Christ?
"20 And again, that same God has brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem, and has kept and preserved his people even until now; and behold, it is because of our iniquities and abominations that he has brought us into bondage.
21 And ye all are witnesses this day, that Zeniff, who was made king over this people, he being over-zealous to inherit the land of his fathers, therefore being deceived by the cunning and craftiness of king Laman, who having entered into a treaty with king Zeniff, and having yielded up into his hands the possessions of a part of the land, or even the city of Lehi-Nephi, and the city of Shilom; and the land round about—
22 And all this he did, for the sole purpose of bringing this people into subjection or into bondage. And behold, we at this time do pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites, to the amount of one half of our corn, and our barley, and even all our grain of every kind, and one half of the increase of our flocks and our herds; and even one half of all we have or possess the king of the Lamanites doth exact of us, or our lives.
23 And now, is not this grievous to be borne? And is not this, our affliction, great? Now behold, how great reason we have to mourn.
24 Yea, I say unto you, great are the reasons which we have to mourn; for behold how many of our brethren have been slain, and their blood has been spilt in vain, and all because of iniquity.
25 For if this people had not fallen into transgression the Lord would not have suffered that this great evil should come upon them. But behold, they would not hearken unto his words; but there arose contentions among them, even so much that they did shed blood among themselves." (Mosiah 7: 20-25)
"14 And now, it came to pass that after Limhi had heard the words of Ammon, he was exceedingly aglad, and said: Now, I know of a surety that my brethren who were in the land of Zarahemla are byet alive. And now, I will rejoice; and on the morrow I will cause that my people shall rejoice also.
15 For behold, we are in bondage to the Lamanites, and are ataxed with a tax which is grievous to be borne. And now, behold, our brethren will deliver us out of our bbondage, or out of the hands of the Lamanites, and we will be their cslaves; for it is better that we be slaves to the Nephites than to pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites.
16 And now, king Limhi commanded his guards that they should no more bind Ammon nor his brethren, but caused that they should go to the hill which was north of Shilom, and bring their brethren into the city, that thereby they might eat, and drink, and rest themselves from the labors of their journey; for they had suffered many things; they had suffered hunger, thirst, and fatigue.
17 And now, it came to pass on the morrow that king Limhi sent a proclamation among all his people, that thereby they might gather themselves together to the atemple, to hear the words which he should speak unto them.
18 And it came to pass that when they had gathered themselves together that he aspake unto them in this wise, saying: O ye, my people, lift up your heads and be comforted; for behold, the time is at hand, or is not far distant, when we shall no longer be in subjection to our enemies, notwithstanding our many strugglings, which have been in vain; yet I trust there bremaineth an effectual struggle to be made.
19 Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your atrust in bGod, in that God who was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and also, that God who cbrought the children of dIsrael out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the eRed Sea on dry ground, and fed them with fmanna that they might not perish in the wilderness; and many more things did he do for them.
20 And again, that same God has brought our fathers aout of the land of Jerusalem, and has kept and preserved his people even until now; and behold, it is bbecause of our iniquities and abominations that he has brought us into bondage.
21 And ye all are witnesses this day, that Zeniff, who was made king over this people, he being aover-zealous to inherit the land of his fathers, therefore being deceived by the cunning and craftiness of king Laman, who having entered into a treaty with king Zeniff, and having yielded up into his hands the possessions of a part of the land, or even the city of Lehi-Nephi, and the city of Shilom; and the land round about—
22 And all this he did, for the sole purpose of abringing this people into subjection or into bondage. And behold, we at this time do pay btribute to the king of the Lamanites, to the amount of one half of our corn, and our barley, and even all our grain of every kind, and one half of the increase of our flocks and our herds; and even one half of all we have or possess the king of the Lamanites doth exact of us, or our lives.
23 And now, is not this grievous to be borne? And is not this, our affliction, great? Now behold, how great reason we have to amourn.
24 Yea, I say unto you, great are the reasons which we have to amourn; for behold how many of our brethren have been slain, and their blood has been spilt in vain, and all because of iniquity.
25 For if this people had not fallen into transgression the Lord would not have suffered that this great evil should come upon them. But behold, they would not hearken unto his words; but there arose contentions among them, even so much that they did shed blood among themselves.
26 And a aprophet of the Lord have they bslain; yea, a chosen man of God, who told them of their wickedness and abominations, and prophesied of many things which are to come, yea, even the coming of Christ.
27 And because he said unto them that Christ was the aGod, the Father of all things, and said that he should take upon him the bimage of man, and it should be the cimage after which man was created in the beginning; or in other words, he said that man was created after the image of dGod, and that God should come down among the children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face of the earth—
28 And now, because he said this, they did aput him to death; and many more things did they do which brought down the wrath of God upon them. Therefore, who wondereth that they are in bondage, and that they are smitten with sore afflictions?
29 For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not asuccor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a bstumbling block before them.
30 And again, he saith: If my people shall sow afilthiness they shall breap the cchaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison.
31 And again he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the aeast wind, which bringeth immediate destruction.
32 And now, behold, the promise of the Lord is fulfilled, and ye are smitten and afflicted.
33 But if ye will aturn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all bdiligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage." (Mosiah 7: 14-33)
"19 Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your trust in God, in that God who was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and also, that God who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the Red Sea on dry ground, and fed them with manna that they might not perish in the wilderness; and many more things did he do for them.
33 But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage." Mosiah 7: 19, 33)
And here's the commentary entitled: "Jesus Christ has the power to deliver me." :
"Meeting Ammon gave King Limhi hope, and he wanted to pass that hope on to his people. Maybe his words can give you hope too. For context, consider reviewing the situation of Limhi’s people in Mosiah 7:20–25. Then ponder these questions as you read Mosiah 7:14–33:
What did Limhi say to strengthen his people’s faith and hope in Christ?
What phrases help you feel hope? (see verses 19, 33).
What experiences have helped you trust that God can and will deliver you?
See also “Redeemer of Israel,” Hymns, no. 6."
To strengthen his people's faith and hope in Christ, King Limhi reminded his people of Israelites' deliverance from their bondage in Egypt by the power of God and the many things which He did for them which could only be done by Christ's power.
All the phrases in verses 19 and 33 help me feel hope. I'd love to remember these words so that I could make the choice to always have hope no matter what.
My experiences have indeed helped me trust that God can and will deliver me whatever I'm going through in different areas of my life--whether in health, relationship, professional, financial, whatever my situation be--even when I was facing a spiritual stumbling block, the Lord did come to my rescue during those moments in my life when I needed Him the most.
The phrase "our useless cares from us to drive", hit me as I was listening the other day to the hymn I decided to put in this blogpost, "Come, Come Ye Saints." We all have the tendency to worry. And it's natural for us to feel this way at times when we don't know exactly what is gonna happen. And this phrase describes our worries as "useless cares". "Tis better far for us to strive, our useless cares from us to drive; Do this and joy your hearts will swell. All is well. All is well." This more complete line gives us more perspective.
"33 aFear not to do bgood, my sons, for whatsoever ye csow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow dgood ye shall also reap good for your ereward.
34 Therefore, fear not, little aflock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are bbuilt upon my rock, they cannot prevail.
35 Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and asin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you.
36 aLook unto me in every bthought; cdoubt not, fear not.
37 aBehold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the bnails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall cinherit the dkingdom of heaven. Amen." (Doctrine and Covenants 6: 33=37)L
The words, "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not," came to my mind this morning after I said my prayer. Decided to search it up and I found that the verses before and after beautifully go along with it so decided to share them here. There's nothing for us to fear. There's nothing to worry about. "If God be with us, who can be against us?", a Bible verse says, going along with "if ye are built upon my rouch, they cannot prevail." With God, we can rise above all our challenges in different areas of life. We already have overcome a lot. We have come a long way. We can just keep going.
No comments:
Post a Comment