Flooding My Life with the Book of Mormon 2.0

1 Nephi 2:14 And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the valley of Lemuel, with power, being filled with the Spirit, until their frames did shake before him. And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did as he commanded them. Any power I may possess to teach or testify comes through the Holy Ghost. God's power is the only true power of conversion. Evil people may be mighty in words and clever in expression and charismatic in personality, and they may sway our thinking when we use only our mortal powers of reasoning, but God's power not only changes minds but changes hearts. God's power never fades or gets overridden by someone with fancier speech or more logical reasoning. To have the power to change hearts and invite people to repent and come unto  Christ, I must have the power of the Holy Ghost in me. The Holy Ghost can make even a poor speaker powerful in testimony. When the Holy Ghost operates in both the speaker ...

1 Nephi 2:12 And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them. If I am to avoid the mistakes of Laman and Lemuel, I must understand the dealings of God. The church, the scriptures, and the Holy Ghost teach me of God's dealings. If I don't know God, I will find myself fighting against Him. God created me so that I could have a relationship with Him. He wanted me to be more than a disembodied intelligence floating through dark space. So, He began the process of creation. He is my Father, the One who has shepherded me through the stages of life, from spirit being to mortal being. And He will continue to lead me through post-mortal spirit life, to resurrected life,  and on to eternal life and exaltation. He wants to associate with me as an equal, even if getting me to that position takes an eternity. If I see God only as a ruler or a task master or a judge, but fail ...

1 Nephi 2:11 Now this [Lehi] spake because of the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold they did murmur in many things against their father, because he was a visionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart. To murmur is to grumble and complain in a low, indistinct, but continuous way. Murmuring is the sound of discontent. A murmurer is unhappy with how things are going but lacks the courage or the power to change what he doesn't like. Murmuring is a weakness. It is an infectious virus that can quietly spread from one person to another in a group until the entire cohort is affected. It destroys morale, undermines leadership, and saps the strength of the individual and the company. It's like putting pebbles in your shoes and sandpaper in your underwe...

1 Nephi 2:10 Photo by Q. Hưng Phạm Father Lehi yearned for his two oldest sons to walk in faith and righteousness. While the family camped in a valley near the Red Sea, Lehi employed the majesty of the surroundings to inspire his son Lemuel to greater faithfulness. And he also spake unto Lemuel: O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord! The commandments are imperatives intended to train us to stay on the strait and narrow path back to God. When we deviate, we lose our way. The Holy Spirit constantly prompts and entices us to obey. As we learn to follow those promptings, we will become immovable, steadfast, and sure footed.

Photo by Anthony Simmons 1 Nephi 2:9 And when my father saw that the waters of the river emptied into the fountain of the Red Sea, he spake unto Laman, saying: O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness! Lehi and his family have camped for while in a small valley through which a river runs to the sea. Before leaving the valley to continue their trek, the prophet-father took the opportunity to use their surroundings as an object lesson for his oldest son, who seemed to be ever wavering between faithful obedience and rebellion. Lehi wanted Laman to channel his energies into following God, the fountain of all righteousness. Note that God does not pour righteousness into Laman, any more than the river takes water from the ocean. Rather, the river joins itself to the sea. Laman must join himself to God to experience the righteousness Lehi wanted so badly for his son.