Alma 38

 

How are you helping your family and friends find strength in Jesus Christ?

"The commandments of Alma to his son Shiblon.

Comprising chapter 38.

CHAPTER 38

Shiblon was persecuted for righteousness’ sake—Salvation is in Christ, who is the life and the light of the world—Bridle all your passions. About 74 B.C.

1 My son, give ear to my words, for I say unto you, even as I said unto Helaman, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence.

2 And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that endureth to the end.

3 I say unto you, my son, that I have had great joy in thee already, because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence, and thy patience and thy long-suffering among the people of the Zoramites.

4 For I know that thou wast in bonds; yea, and I also know that thou wast stoned for the word’s sake; and thou didst bear all these things with patience because the Lord was with thee; and now thou knowest that the Lord did deliver thee.

5 And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

6 Now, my son, I would not that ye should think that I know these things of myself, but it is the Spirit of God which is in me which maketh these things known unto me; for if I had not been born of God I should not have known these things.

7 But behold, the Lord in his great mercy sent his angel to declare unto me that I must stop the work of destruction among his people; yea, and I have seen an angel face to face, and he spake with me, and his voice was as thunder, and it shook the whole earth.

8 And it came to pass that I was three days and three nights in the most bitter pain and anguish of soul; and never, until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto him and I did find peace to my soul.

9 And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness.

10 And now, as ye have begun to teach the word even so I would that ye should continue to teach; and I would that ye would be diligent and temperate in all things.

11 See that ye are not lifted up unto pride; yea, see that ye do not boast in your own wisdom, nor of your much strength.

12 Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love; see that ye refrain from idleness.

13 Do not pray as the Zoramites do, for ye have seen that they pray to be heard of men, and to be praised for their wisdom.

14 Do not say: O God, I thank thee that we are better than our brethren; but rather say: O Lord, forgive my unworthiness, and remember my brethren in mercy—yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times.

15 And may the Lord bless your soul, and receive you at the last day into his kingdom, to sit down in peace. Now go, my son, and teach the word unto this people. Be sober. My son, farewell."

And here's the commentary entitled: "Sharing my testimony of Jesus Christ can strengthen people I love." : 

"Alma’s words to his son Shiblon provide a good example of how to strengthen and encourage people we love in living the gospel. Studying Alma 38 might give you some ideas for helping family members and friends find strength in Jesus Christ. Write down what you find."

As you can see almost 100% of the words in Alma 38 as I am sharing in this post are in pink--they are the ideas I found in this chapter for helping family members and friends find strength in Jesus Christ. One thing that stood out to me is this: 

"9 And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness."

Alma told his son Shiblon to learn of him as he would teach him about Jesus Christ. The video in this post is entitled, "Learn of Me". The Lord is the one saying these words in this song. We can help family members and friends find strength in Jesus Christ as we follow his example of teaching his sons about the Lord and as we, ourselves, consistently study the Lord's word. When it's not possible to teach the people we love in person or face to face, we can use the technology to do so. We're so blessed to have the internet now and the many platforms online that we can utilize to share what we know,  what we're learning about, and the blessings we enjoy because of our personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Alma 37: 35-37

 

How have you been blessed so far because of honoring, listening to, and obeying your parents or those who acted as your parents? 

"35 O, remember, my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God.

36 Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

37 Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day." (Alma 37: 35-37)

And here's the commentary entitled: “Counsel with the Lord.” : 

"In Alma 37:35–37, look for Alma’s invitations to his son Helaman. Which of these invitations do you feel prompted to act on? For example, you might ponder what it means to “counsel with the Lord” (verse 37). How have you tried to do this? How has He directed you for good?"

I've always believed that parents always want what's best for their children. And even though I'm not a perfect daughter myself (I didn't really listen to my parents all the time), I've always wanted my parents' blessing so when it comes to making big decisions in life like in terms of career and in marriage, I would choose to obey them as much as possible. Most of all, I want my parents to be proud of me. 

I love Alma's invitations to his son Helaman. Counseling with the Lord makes so much sense to me. If we want to keep our needed connection with the Lord while we are living in this troubled world, we truly need to counsel with the Lord regularly, throughout the day every day. I've been doing this myself and I feel so blessed for doing so because I've been seeing how the Lord is truly involved in the details and the details and the details and the details of our lives. He does make even simple miracles happen for us. We see them happening more often and they bring us more joy when we are more aware of them. When you are expressing gratitude to the Lord throughout the day, you'll see more miracles happening. Today, a simple miracle happened to me. I didn't have to go back to get my glue gun from my former staffroom at school (Grade 1-2 staffroom) because the opportunity for me to go there came up as I got asked by my Thai teacher to accompany our Thai Assistants to the main campus of our school to pick up some stuff we're using during our Thai Mother's Day Activities next week. So, I was able to glue up to fix and strengthen the craft I'm using during our Morning Time activity on Monday. I didn't have to do it right before we start doing our activity at 7:30AM. I didn't have to be at the Nursery building 15 minutes before the time at the most because the things I'm using for our Morning Time activity no longer needed some fixing and strengthening--I already got it done today so I'm just picking them up on Monday.

Alma 37: 1-14

 

What are the small and simple choices that you made so far that are making a big difference in your life?

"1 And now, my son Helaman, I command you that ye take the records which have been entrusted with me;

2 And I also command you that ye keep a record of this people, according as I have done, upon the plates of Nephi, and keep all these things sacred which I have kept, even as I have kept them; for it is for a wise purpose that they are kept.

3 And these plates of brass, which contain these engravings, which have the records of the holy scriptures upon them, which have the genealogy of our forefathers, even from the beginning—

4 Behold, it has been prophesied by our fathers, that they should be kept and handed down from one generation to another, and be kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord until they should go forth unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, that they shall know of the mysteries contained thereon.

5 And now behold, if they are kept they must retain their brightness; yea, and they will retain their brightness; yea, and also shall all the plates which do contain that which is holy writ.

6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

8 And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, they have enlarged the memory of this people, yea, and convinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls.

9 Yea, I say unto you, were it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have convinced so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of their fathers; yea, these records and their words brought them unto repentance; that is, they brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer.

10 And who knoweth but what they will be the means of bringing many thousands of them, yea, and also many thousands of our stiffnecked brethren, the Nephites, who are now hardening their hearts in sin and iniquities, to the knowledge of their Redeemer?

11 Now these mysteries are not yet fully made known unto me; therefore I shall forbear.

12 And it may suffice if I only say they are preserved for a wise purpose, which purpose is known unto God; for he doth counsel in wisdom over all his works, and his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round.

13 O remember, remember, my son Helaman, how strict are the commandments of God. And he said: If ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land—but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from his presence.

14 And now remember, my son, that God has entrusted you with these things, which are sacred, which he has kept sacred, and also which he will keep and preserve for a wise purpose in him, that he may show forth his power unto future generations." (Alma 37: 1-14)

And here's the commentary entitled: “By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.” : 

"Sometimes we may feel like our problems are so big and complicated that the solutions must be big and complicated too. But that isn’t always the Lord’s way. As you read Alma 37:1–14, consider what impresses you about how He does His work. Then you can ponder and record ways you’ve seen this principle in your life.

If you were going to teach this principle to someone, what examples from nature or everyday life would you use to illustrate it? You can find some in President Dallin H. Oaks’s message “Small and Simple Things,” (Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 89–92).

What are some small and simple things that bring you closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?

Often, our “small and simple” choices make large differences in our lives. Consider picking a topic from For the Strength of Youth: A Guide to Making Choices and asking yourself questions like these: How do my choices about this affect me and the people around me? What small and simple changes can I make that will lead to greater peace and happiness?

See also Michael A. Dunn, “One Percent Better,” Liahona, Nov. 2021, 106–8; Gospel Topics “Agency,” Gospel Library."

The air that I breathe, my ability to continue breathing until this very moment, the little things that happen daily like consistently being able to continue to get up before 4 AM, being able to get to work an hour before the time, being able to enjoy my work more than ever before, being able to learn and transform to become my better version, having more joy because of making the choice to align my thoughts, words, and actions to the Lord's will more than ever before, even while facing challenges-these are the small and simple things that bring me closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

Today I'm grateful for the feedback I received from my Thai teacher because I see it as something that will help me to improve. Thought of the Lord came to my mind during those moments after I got her feedback. I recalled the lyrics of the song, "Oh Lord, my Redeemer": He did not revile them back, and wondering I asked, "Who was this man so humble?" The Lord did come to my rescue as the lyrics of this some flow in my mind. The Lord was treated so harshly even though He's perfect. I am not perfect so I'll be criticised and be given feedback for sure. We are truly healed through His stripes. He carried all our loads, our pains, and our sorrows. And when we remember Him during our trying moments, it gets easier to follow His example of not reviling back. So, instead of feeling negative about the criticism or feedback we receive, we feel gratitude for it. And when we feel gratitude, we feel more peaceful and happier. 

Because of the feedback I received today, I choose to be in the present moment more, more observant, and alert in taking action to help my students and my Thai teacher as she's teaching and while students are having activities. I believe these small and simple changes will lead to greater peace and happiness.