The Glory of the Lord

 The Scripture Citation Index (scriptures.byu.edu) caught me this morning (again.)

I was thinking about President Nelson's talk in General Conference last October when he quoted Isaiah 40:5, “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

This morning, I'd been reading in Doctrine and Covenants section 29:9, a kinda scary verse. "I, the Lord of Hosts, will burn them up," He warns the "proud and those who do wickedly." The final phrase is "that wickedness shall not be upon the earth."

I never really thought about what that would look like, other than scary. 

But, after looking up that phrase from Isaiah in the Scripture Citation Index, and compiling multiple sources mentally, it seems that the Lord's very Being is the fiery cause.

Exodus 24:17 states: "And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel."

In other words, the appearance of the LORD is the fire. President Nelson suggested in his talk that, by contrast to what Doctrine & Covenants 29 warns, "That day will be full of joy for the righteous."

What makes the difference?

Immediately my mind goes to the chosen text from Handel's Messiah: "But who may abide the day of His coming?" Malachi 3:2. The remainder of that chapter in Malachi suggests several actions we can take:

* "return unto Me"

* bring tithes and offerings to the LORD's storehouse

* return to His ordinances

* keep His ordinances

* walk humbly before God

* don't make the mistake of calling the proud "happy"

* fear the LORD and speak often with those who also fear Him

* think upon His name

* have your name (by doing the above) written in the "book of remembrance"

* belong to Him, like a son or daughter, to be spared

* return and discern between the righteous and the wicked

* serve the LORD

All of these make me want to look them up on the Scripture Citation Index and dig even deeper--but they also give me a chance to examine whether I'm keeping His ordinances. 

Three Simple Steps to Getting More From the Scriptures

This morning as I was reading the scriptures, I came across the phrase "feasting upon the words of Christ" as a suggestion for how we can press forward with faith.
As I saw it, I thought about how that's even possible. I mean, some days I'm reading and I know it's more of my standing at a buffet while I'm on some wacky diet, where I can only snag a floret of raw broccoli or a tablespoon of bacon bits--and yet I know all that is there and available to me, but I just am not partaking.
So how can I FEAST?
I remember hearing this formula over the years, and it's so simple, like reaching for more food at the buffet, and eventually allows me to fill up my plate.

1) Make a list of my biggest concerns/challenges today--stuff that perplexes or troubles me.

Maybe it's a problem with parenting, or with other relationships. Maybe it's health or financial challenges. Maybe it's a spiritual worry or doubt creeping up. Maybe it's a doctrinal question--something that has been challenged by my interactions with the world.

2) Pray about the thing(s) on the list.

3) Open the scriptures and actually search for answers.

If the topic doesn't readily appear in the daily reading I'm doing, I can use one of the indexes of topics, or maybe follow a footnote, or pray to know where to read.


That's it. Maybe the full answer to the perplexity won't TA-DA! appear all at once, but I've never done this where I didn't at least come across a portion of a solution, whether it's just a sense of peace that helps me hang on while the answer is still percolating.


It seems almost too simple to be effective, but literally YEARS of doing this has shown me that it's real and that it works. I will admit to not using it consistently, and to floundering in darkness or despair until I remembered aha! to get back to the basics of feasting on the words of Christ to solve my dilemmas.


I'm so thankful for the feast that the scriptures are to my soul. Especially when I come hungry to them, I am always filled.

Reading Between the Lines, Opening the Books and Opening our Souls

Today as I was reading some chapters in Isaiah, after a very stressful few weeks, I found the message that seemed to seep into my heart to detox from all the stress I've been feeling was that I needed to spend some time outside, to look at the sky and at God's beautiful creation, and also that I should bring some order to my home.


These brought me peace, as reading the scriptures frequently does, and as I followed the inspiration things in my life felt much healthier, for lack of a better word.


However, after a while, I decided to go back and look at the verses that had inspired me, and there's really nothing about the beauties of nature, nothing about bringing order to my home, nothing about any of that.


All I can think is that the Holy Ghost prompted my mind to see things that weren't really there, things that could bring me peace and healing, showed me between the lines.


I think reading the scriptures, whether the very printed words answer our deepest concerns or not, opens us up to the inspiration we need in our lives.


So, I guess it could be a couplet, of sorts:


OPEN THE SCRIPTURES and
OPEN YOUR SOUL TO DIRECTION FROM GOD.

The End Result of All this Commandment Stuff

In July I was asked to speak in church. It's one of the big, scary things about being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: we have no paid ministry, and the lay members of the church have the "opportunity" to speak in front of the congregation from time to time. Seeing the bishop's number on your caller ID can strike fear in the heart.


Well, my turn rolled around again. This time, the topic was charity.


Sure, I thought. Charity. That's really a nice topic. It's love. I love love. I think about love all the time.
But as I studied, I realized that charity was so, so much more than just plain love.


I'm not going to copy and paste my entire talk into this blog wholesale. (You're welcome.) Instead, I'm going to just note one scripture that I found. I'd been trying to dig around in the scriptures and find out just what a person can do to develop charity (because if you've done much reading on the subject, you know that "without charity" man is "nothing." And that's in there frequently enough to give you a little bit of a scare, if you start to think about it very much.) So, how do I get it?


I Timothy 1:5
 5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:


Mainly, the first phrase is what struck me. That "the END of the commandment is charity." I think it's meaning the end result. And I think the word commandment might be singular to sound poetic. So, my interpretation of this is that the end result of my obedience to God's commandments is the development of charity in my soul.


Well, that...sounded interesting. So I started delineating a few commandments as I put it to the test.


For instance, the commandment to forgive. Yes, obviously! If I forgive, it's my way of thinking that Christ's atonement and love are BIG ENOUGH for EVERYONE, and that there isn't anyone I'd deny that great love to. (And the corollary of this, is that when I do not forgive, it's my way of saying to the Lord, sure. Forgive me because I deserve it. But that guy? He's doesn't. The Atonement isn't big enough for THAT guy. Uh, that doesn't sound good when I put it that way, right?) Anyway, the end result of forgiving others is, voila, charity.


But what about fasting? We have a commandment to fast. (See Isaiah 58 if you want an incredibly beautiful treatise on fasting. Ahhh, it fills me.) When we fast, we also donate the amount of money we would have spent on food that we fasted from to the bishop so he can use it to bless the poor. That's developing self control, giving of ourselves, sacrifice, and loving others more than we love our own passions. Charity.


Extrapolate this with commandment after commandment. It holds up.


And so, I guess the point is, if we want to measure up with charity at the last day and have things be "well with us," to paraphrase Moroni 7:47, a great place to start is by ramping up our obedience to the commandments of God. For all commandments are, if we look closely, attributes of God, the greatest of all being LOVE.


I love how cohesive the scriptures are. How beautiful and rich is the doctrine of God.

How Can I Strengthen Others?

Like I posted a few weeks ago, I have seen lots of friends and family around me lately facing trials--some that almost seem too much to bear. This morning I just pondered on that for a while and asked the question, "How can I strengthen others?"


I know that I can't stop someone's illness. I can't take away the pain of the loss of a child. I can't fix the big heartbreaks. It's not in my power. I'm just...me. And I have my own little muddles I'm working through, and I have kids to care for and their muddles.


Still, I wish I could somehow lighten others' loads.


So this morning I turned to the scriptures to see if there was some way I could help. I started by checking the index under the word "strengthen."


One verse stuck out to me:


5 Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees. (Doctrine and Covenants 81:5)


A lot of my dear ones right now have hands which hang down. But how could I lift them?


The next verse I found was in the Book of Mormon.


3 And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them. (1Nephi 17:3)


Of course *I* wasn't going to do the strengthening, and this made it clear. God does all the strengthening. And according to this verse, the promise is that He will strengthen His children when they keep the commandments. Maybe I could help my loved ones keep the commandments. Just exactly how to do that isn't clear. But I did have a chance to take a young friend to church (after a while of being away) a couple of weeks ago, where she was embraced by friends, and since then I've seen so much strength come into her life. Maybe something like that. Not sure. Maybe something else will come to me.


Another little story in the Book of Mormon helped me think of another thing. These people had been pretty wicked, and just as they were in the process of repenting and getting their lives back on track, a group of bad guys swooped in and enslaved them. So they were praying. A lot. And then things got worse:


11 ...he put guards over them to watch them, that whosoever should be found calling upon God should be put to death.

 12 And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.

 13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

 14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

 15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

 16 And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage (Mosiah 24:11-16).

But like this says, after the people prayed anyway, even if only in their hearts, with great earnestness, a miracle occurred. Prayers were answered and God strengthened their backs, which made their burdens light.

I can pray for those I love who are in trials. I can pray with them. I can encourage them to keep praying. Prayer is key. I've seen this in reality in my own life.

Finally, since I was running out of scripture time this morning, I flipped to the Old Testament, where I found one of the coolest answers to my question. It wasn't that I meant to look for it. It just happened to be in the chapter I was in my daily reading, 2 Chronicles chapter 20.

In the story, Jehoshaphat had been preparing the people of Judah for a huge battle against the Syrians and Ammonites. To prepare them he set his mind, declared a day of fasting, gathered his people at the temple, and prayed with incredible humility and strength, putting all his trust in the LORD.

Then came the thing that surprised me. He appointed SINGERS. Singers? Yep. He put them out in FRONT of the troops who were lining up to battle They went before the front line, singing songs of praise and strengthening the resolve and faith of those who would fight.

God fought their battle. All their enemies fell before them--and it seemed like the enemies turned on each other and started wiping each other out. Jehoshaphat's army prevailed through the Lord.

Music. Maybe I can find good, uplifting music to share with these loved ones of mine to help them get through.

It's hard to feel so helpless as I witness suffering, but maybe there's even a little something I can do. The scriptures really are full of incredible answers to even the small, everyday questions.

How to Read the Scriptures: A Seven-Step Pattern

I was reading a book this morning by Clay Christensen, a professor at Harvard University. It covers a lot of different topics, but one thing he wrote really struck me. He said that we get trained in school how to read textbooks and novels, and they are mostly a "start to finish" read-through. However, he said, reading the scriptures is a very different skill set. When reading the scriptures, the most effective way to read is to look for answers to questions we may have.


Then there's a seven-step pattern: pray, read, write; pray, read, write; pray.


When we study the scriptures, the best way is to start with a question. For instance, what about original sin or infant baptism or what happens when a loved one dies.


Then it's like homework, but spiritual homework.


The first step is to PRAY. I find it effective to first pray and express to Heavenly Father my gratitude for the scriptures, for those who sacrificed so much to make them available to me in my language, and to God for his goodness in giving them to me to guide me. Also in the prayer, I talk to Him about my question, the things that concern me, the things I've reasoned out, and the thing that still puzzles me.


The second step is to find and READ scripture passages that apply to the question. (Use the index or topical guide, or ask a missionary or friend if you don't know where to look for the answer.) Read and ponder what is in the passage.


Then get a notebook and WRITE down what insights you've gained through reading the scripture, how your understanding has changed, and so on.


Next, PRAY again. Express gratitude for the understanding gained. Also ask if there's further insight and understanding God might have beyond what was gleaned in the first reading and writing.


Then, READ again, looking for further enlightenment.


WRITE down anything else you might have learned.


Finally, a PRAYER of thanks is in order, plus a COMMITMENT in the heart that we will live true to the truth gained from this study.


Maybe the commitment to live according to truth is the most vital. If the only reason we want to know is to satisfy curiosity, it's not as likely that God will answer these inquiries. However, if we truly intend to live and follow this truth, and we prove to Him that we will by DOING so, then our future study of the scriptures can result in great spiritual insights.


I am so glad I read about this pattern this morning. While I've spent a lifetime studying the scriptures and attending Sunday School classes, I still have questions, and lack understanding of the mysteries of God. I plan to make this pattern a part of my morning study routine. Doing this will slow me down in my study--exactly what I've been intending to do.