Flooding My Life with the Book of Mormon 2.0

1 Nephi 15:21 And it came to pass that they did speak unto me again, saying: What meaneth this thing which our father saw in a dream? What meaneth the tree which he saw? Laman and Lemuel were smart enough to know that Lehi's dream was filled with symbols. I think they avoided asking Lehi the meaning of the symbols because they didn't want to look stupid in their father's eyes. When one is proud, to ask a question is to admit a lack of knowledge or understanding, which might mean weakness. But God wants us to be weak and humble.  Laman and Lemuel also did not ask God about the meaning of the symbols, probably because they didn't think they would get an answer. They assumed God spoke only to dreamers and visionary men like their father, not to practical and worldly men like themselves.  So, they asked Nephi. He was not as worldly and concrete as they were, but he had also not yet shown himself to be a visionary man like their father. They could admit their ignorance to Ne...

1 Nephi 15:11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you. President Nelson has said, "God will do His own teaching." If we need to know anything that affects our salvation or our happiness, whether it's about the temple, the scriptures, the church, the gospel, the commandments, or our behavior, God will reveal it to us if we ask with a genuine desire and the intention to act on what we learn.  God does not respond to idle curiosity, but He never leaves a true desire unfulfilled when properly petitioned. He is both a loving Father and a master Teacher. According to His own will, and in His own time and way, He will surely give us what we truly need for our salvation and happiness. 

1 Nephi 15:8 And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? The key to learning is inquiring. The Lord will not tell us about what we do not ask. Inquiring requires faith, patience, and work. Idle curiosity is not enough. We must want to know with real intent to act on the knowledge we receive. We have to believe God can and will answer in His own due time, and we must be willing to wait on him and not despair if the answer is delayed. We must be willing to forge ahead with our limited knowledge while we wait for further light. God allows problems to crop up in our lives to stretch us and to draw us to Him. He loves action, and He wants us to work on our own, but He also wants to help us. We work to the limit of our abilities, and then we turn to God to increase our limits. If we learn from our problems, they are not roadblocks but stepping stones. Because God is our Lord and Master, we can ask Him anything. And because He is omniscient, He knows the answer. He may not be willing ...

1 Nephi 14:14 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory. This verse makes two points about the Lord's "covenant people." 1. Our covenants rather than our lineage determine whether we are the Lord's people. We become the children of Christ through making and keeping covenants. 2. Nephi saw the power of God come upon the covenant keepers. God wants to give His covenant keepers great power to perform His work. His power is manifested all around us. We will encounter His power, however, only if we are engaged in His work and not our own. If I want power, I must inquire what impossible thing God wants me to do and then do that thing in faith and diligence. 

1 Nephi 14:3 And that great pit, which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church, which was founded by the devil and his children , that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell—yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it, unto their utter destruction, saith the Lamb of God; not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no end. The great and abominable church is not atheism or materialism or some variation of Christianity; it's paganism.  Only two fundamental belief systems exist in the world. Since Adam and Eve, people have either believed in the one true God or they have not. God initiated each dispensation to restore the truth about Himself and His Son. Each dispensation kindles a light in a world of darkness. We call that darkness paganism.  Paganism is a belief in anything other than the true God. It strips people of dignity and what Chris...

1 Nephi 13:42 And the time cometh that he shall manifest himself unto all nations, both unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles; and after he has manifested himself unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles, then he shall manifest himself unto the Gentiles and also unto the Jews, and the last shall be first, and the first shall be last . Two distinct dispensations: the dispensation of the Jews, which culminated in Christ and the Apostles, and the dispensation of the Gentiles, which began with Joseph Smith and will culminate in Christ's second coming. The purpose of a dispensation is to dispense or share. Thus, the Jews shared with the Gentiles in their dispensation, and the Gentiles will share with the Jews in theirs. Those who think they should be the first into the kingdom may be the last to enter because of their pride, while those who feel unworthy may enter first because of their humility. 

1 Nephi 13:37 And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day , and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be. I have until the very end of time itself to get my act together. God has given me ample time to repent and grow. If I procrastinate, however, time will eventually run out. There really is a last day , and when that day arrives, the time to change will be past. I will have to move on and shift from my probationary mortal state to my final state. My trial will be over, and real life--my eternal life--will commence. Those who have passed the test will be raised up to a higher sphere by the power of Christ. He will reach down from His throne and pull them up to where He is. I cannot climb up on my own. Christ...

1 Nephi 13:27 And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men. The ways of the Lord are right and true. He does not lie or trick us. His ways lead us straight to Him.  The wicked men of the great and abominable church did not try to discredit or destroy the right ways of the Lord, but rather, they corrupted them. They wanted to make it harder, if not impossible, for good, honest people to find their way to God by altering the original truths. They took a few key points (precious truths) out of the scriptures and mixed in a few lies to make the map harder to follow. The result was dead ends and misdirections that have caused those who wanted to follow the path to God to stumble and get lost along the way.  The perverted way seemed so much like the right way that people could not easily detect the changes. After a couple of generations, all memory of the right way was lost...

1 Nephi 13:26 And after they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away. Partial truth is no better than a lie, and partial doctrine is false doctrine. We need the whole truth and the whole doctrine of Christ. Plain (understandable) and precious (valuable) points of doctrine were removed from the scriptures by conspiring and evil people. These truths did not get lost accidentally, nor were they omitted by well-meaning but error-prone scribes. They were intentionally withheld to confuse and confound honest seekers who want to believe.  Joseph Smith restored many of the missing and corrupted points of doctrine through his Inspired Translation of the Bible , but not...