Flooding My Life with the Book of Mormon 2.0

2 Nephi 4:32 May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road! If I want the gates of hell closed to me, I need a broken heart and a contrite spirit. C.S. Lewis says that the gates of hell are locked from the inside. God doesn't lock hell's doors; the residents do.  Hell is outer darkness, the abode of fallen angels and the sons of perdition, and they do not want to be disturbed. 

2 Nephi 4:27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy? Sin destroys peace. Disobedience puts me in conflict with God. Conflict is the opposite of peace. As long as I sustain conflict, I cannot know peace.  Repentance and forgiveness restore peace. When I am in harmony with God, I cannot be in serious conflict with man. Others may be in conflict with me, but I do not have to be in conflict with them. My peace can disarm others' conflicts with me. The best way to keep Satan out of my heart is to fill it with the love of God and my neighbors so Satan can find no room in my heart for him. He is anxious to fill any void he can find in me. I must offer him no open space in my life and my heart for him to get a handhold.  The only way to ensure I have no holes for Satan to enter is to fill every inch of my heart a...

2 Nephi 4:15 And upon these I write the things of my soul, and many of the scriptures which are engraven upon the plates of brass. For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children. Nephi pondered the scriptures not just with his mind but with his heart. Understanding the scriptures was more than a mental exercise for Nephi; it was an exercise of faith. He not only wanted to know the scriptures, but he also wanted to feel them, or rather, he wanted to feel God's power and blessing through them. He wanted to go beyond the words on the plates to the deeper spiritual meanings. Nephi wanted not only to understand the words of God but also to understand the mind of God. He wanted to know not just the writings but the Author. The phrase "learning and profit" appears in various forms in several places. It seems that learning is important, but more so when it yields a profit, meaning when it is p...

2 Nephi 3:15 And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation The value of the Book of Mormon is its ability to bring us unto salvation by establishing and enriching our faith in Christ. Not even the Bible has the power to bring us to Christ the way the Book of Mormon can.  The Book of Mormon was not an afterthought, a Plan B, when God saw that the Bible created more division than unity. The Book of Mormon, predating by nearly seven hundred years the authoring of the New Testament, was always in God's plan for the saving of His children in the last days.

2 Nephi 3:5 Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; A promise is God's half of a covenant. I make the covenant, and God makes the promise. My covenants are always based on faithfulness, but God's promises are sure. Or rather, His promises are also based on my faithfulness. God's promises never fail, but if I fail in keeping my covenants, God may withdraw His promises.

2 Nephi 3:1 And now I speak unto you, Joseph, my last-born. Thou wast born in the wilderness of mine afflictions; yea, in the days of my greatest sorrow did thy mother bear thee. In speaking to his son, Joseph, Lehi reveals an intimate truth. The journey in the wilderness was no piece of cake for Lehi. He received revelation that Laman and Lemuel would reject salvation. He saw Nephi suffer greatly at the hands of his older brothers. He saw his older sons attempt murder and lie and deny that they had seen an angel and heard the voice of God. Their constant murmuring made his life miserable.  The contention his older sons and the sons of Ishmael brought into the family caused Lehi to despair of life as they crossed the ocean under what, even in the best circumstances, must have been very trying conditions. Lehi had been hungry and fatigued right along with the rest of his family. Despite marvelous revelations, glorious visions, and the miracle of the Liahona, Lehi had not escaped the...

2 Nephi 2:27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland once said that Lucifer is a miserable man. He is eternally unhappy that he lost his station in the premortal world and lost the war in heaven. He was not satisfied with the third of the spirits who chose to follow him. He wanted every spirit to be his.  He wanted God's throne. In fact, he could have had it through obedience leading to salvation and exaltation, but he forfeited it because he was not willing to share it with the rest of us. He wanted to be the only exalted being. And because of his selfish pride, he will never be exalted. Instead, he faces eternity in outer darkness.  Out of spit...

2 Nephi 2:26 And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given. Satan cannot force me to do anything I do not choose to do, and God will not force me. I am not an object, not a pawn on a great chessboard that God and Satan manipulate. Satan cannot push me into hell, and God will not push me into heaven. I choose.  Now, sometimes I choose to do nothing, and let the current take me where it will. Because in this world Satan's currents are broader and swifter than God's, if I become complacent, it's usually the devil's riptide that sweeps me into deep water. But even then, it was my first choice that put me in harm's way.  Choosing to get out of the ri...

2 Nephi 2:18 And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind. Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. Eve did not know the difference between truth and lies. No one had ever lied to her before. So when Lucifer contradicted God and told her she would not die, she had no way of knowing who was right. She eventually learned that God told the truth and Lucifer lied, but she had to learn by experience. Satan's goal for me is misery. He tempts me with promises of happiness, but his version of happiness is temporary. It soon turns to ash, and I am left with double misery, for I mourn the lost happiness I thought I had, and eventually I recognize the true happiness that will never be mine.

2 Nephi 2:12 Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God. God is intelligent and purposeful. He does not create the stars, galaxies, solar systems, and Earth simply to enjoy the act of creation. Everything has a purpose with God. I may not know all the purposes of God, but when I see His creations working together, they make sense. Nothing is random, accidental, or coincidental with God.  I am most blessed that through the restored gospel and the gift of revelation, I have learned the purpose and reason behind God's magnificently creative work: to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of His children. If all around me does not make sense, it is because I am either ignorant or rebellious. If I am ignorant, I should seek learning; and if I am ...

 2 Nephi 2:10 And because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God; wherefore, they stand in the presence of him, to be judged of him according to the truth and holiness which is in him. Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement. Because of the Atonement, I am judged on Christ's perfect character rather than on my own imperfect character. It is His truth and holiness, not mine, that answers the judgment. The end or ultimate objective of the law is punishment. In other words, if I keep the law perfectly, the best I can hope for is no punishment. The end or ultimate objective of Christ's atonement, on the other hand, is happiness. Happiness is more than the mere absence of punishment. It is an addition and enhancement to my existence. Thou shalt not kill, commit adulte...

2 Nephi 2:8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise. The message of the Book of Mormon is that Jesus is the Messiah, Redeemer, and Savior. The resurrection is both my hope and my sign that Jesus is, in fact, the Savior. If He could bring Himself back to life, He can do everything else He promises, including bringing me back to life, washing away my sins, and delivering me whole and worthy before the Father. The Resurrection is the proof of the Atonement. The two must go hand in hand, however. Redemption without resurrection would be incomplete, because I would be an incomplete being. A physical ...

2 Nephi 2:7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered. At the final judgment, when it comes to atonement, sanctification, and justification, I will be either in or out. I will not be partially forgiven or partially saved. Either I will be redeemed from the fall and my sins, or I will not. Thus, the concept of a binary state--heaven or hell. No gray area exists between the two. Either I accept Jesus's payment for my sins, or I pay for them myself. Remember, once a person is cast into prison, he cannot come out until he has paid the last farthing or senine. And can he pay any farthings or senines while in prison? No. Punishment does not redeem a person or pay their debt. While the debtor is in prison, the lender remains unpaid, justice is unfulfilled, and they are in an eternal stalemate.  How foolish to reject the atonement of Chr...

2 Nephi 2:6 Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth. To be redeemed has many meanings, all positive and beneficial:  To be bought back so we can be returned to our rightful owner To be freed from something detrimental, such as freed from captivity or extricated from something detrimental To receive help in overcoming a problem To be released from blame or debt  To change for the better To restore or repair To be freed from a lien or debt To make good on a promise To redeem always involves an exchange of value and recovering from a worse state to a better state. In every one of these ways, Christ is my Redeemer. He is the one who returns me to God, frees me from the captivity of hell and death, helps me overcome my weaknesses and mortal nature, releases me from the guilt of sin, changes me into a better person fit for God's presence, restores my lost relationship with the Father, releases me from the demands of justice, an...