Flooding My Life with the Book of Mormon 2.0

2 Nephi 6:5 And now, the words which I shall read are they which Isaiah spake concerning all the house of Israel; wherefore, they may be likened unto you, for ye are of the house of Israel. And there are many things which have been spoken by Isaiah which may be likened unto you, because ye are of the house of Israel. Just as the Nephites were commanded to study Isaiah because they were of the house of Israel, I likewise am under the same commandment, for I too am of the house of Israel. I can liken them to myself, meaning that I can relate to them. Isaiah wrote to me as well as to the ancient Israelites.

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.

1 Nephi 19:6 Nevertheless, I do not write anything upon plates save it be that I think it be sacred. And now, if I do err, even did they err of old; not that I would excuse myself because of other men, but because of the weakness which is in me, according to the flesh, I would excuse myself. To be sacred is to be connected to God and used for religious purposes. Nephi therefore wrote about what he thought was related to God, and he intended his words to help us worship God. Thus, he filtered everything he wrote through this lens of sacredness, and we should read his writing through the same lens.  We should ask what is sacred about everything we read in the books of Nephi. Even the verse we often take lightly--"And my father dwelt in a tent" ( 1 Nephi 2:15 )--had sacred significance to Nephi. The tent represented the sacrifice that his father Lehi was willing to make to be obedient to God. Lehi had left his home and all his possessions to travel through a wilderness and live ...

1 Nephi 15:24 And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction. The key to avoiding apostasy is daily immersion in the scriptures. Each time I open and read in the scriptures, I attune myself to the influence of the Holy Ghost. God pours His spirit into me as I study His word. Now, another way to read this passage is to recognize that Jesus Christ is the Word of God. When we hold fast to Christ, we cannot go far astray from His gospel. He will use His power to protect us and guide us.

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 8:19 And I beheld a rod of iron, and it extended along the bank of the river, and led to the tree by which I stood. The sequence of events is worth noting. Lehi reached the tree without the rod of iron or the strait and narrow path. He simply followed the man in the white robe, i.e., the Holy Ghost. Sariah, Nephi, and Sam reached the tree by obeying Lehi, i.e., the living prophet. Only when Laman and Lemuel refused to obey did Lehi see another way, namely, the iron rod (the scriptures) and the strait path (the law). Our leaders today emphasize the scriptures and the commandments in the hope that they will lead us to the prophet, who will lead us to the Holy Ghost, who will escort us to the tree of eternal life.

1 Nephi 6:5 Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world. The litmus test of whether I am of the world or attuned to God is how pleasing the Book of Mormon is to me. If I am truly seeking God and want to please Him, I will love the Book. And I LOVE  the Book of Mormon.

1 Nephi 5:21 And we had obtained the records which the Lord had commanded us, and searched them and found that they were desirable; yea, even of great worth unto us, insomuch that we could preserve the commandments of the Lord unto our children. Do we see the scriptures, as did Nephi, to be of great value and worth to us? Do we treasure them? Are they more precious to us than gold and silver? When I take time with the scriptures that I might otherwise have spent turning a profit, I demonstrate their value.

1 Nephi 5:14 Photo by Barbara Olsen And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his household from perishing with famine. Our journals and personal histories can be as scripture to our descendants. They may not be pronouncements for the church, but they can give guidance and strength to our families.