Patterns in Scripture

"Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance.."

— Alma 26:22

Throughout the scriptures are patterns. This particular verse shows an excellent example of an if/then pattern — IF you adhere to a gospel principle, THEN you receive a blessing.

Let's look at this scripture to find the IF portion of the pattern.

"Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance.."

This pattern has four gospel principles that are essential for the pattern to work:

1. Repentance — This is a very important, yet simple gospel principle. When you do something wrong, or sin, you must realize that your actions were wrong, apologize, and make things right. Three simple yet crucial steps.

2. Exercise faith — In Ether 12:6 it says, "I would show the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for he receive not witness until after the trial of your faith." God will not bless us until we show we have faith in Him and his power. This must happen first before He can bless us.

3. Bring forth good works — If you are exercising faith, then you are bringing forth good works. Did you catch that second pattern? If you have faith in Jesus Christ, then it is the natural result that you are acting on it. For example, if you have faith that God answers prayer, then naturally you will pray for help from God when you need it. The cause (faith) will bring its own effect (good works). Good works don't save you, because they are the natural result of faith. It's the faith that saves you. If you truly have faith in Jesus Christ, you will naturally be drawn to prayer, scripture study, self sacrifice, good thoughts, etc. You won't be perfect at it, because the natural man is corrupt. To perfect yourself, you will have to work at these things, but your faith will naturally bring these effects, and the stronger your faith becomes, the greater the good works will manifest themselves in your life.

4. Pray continually without ceasing — again, this is one of the natural results of having faith in Christ. It is a habit that does need practice, but the greater your faith, the more willing you will be to turn to God in prayer at anytime and in any circumstance.

Let's review and focus on the THEN part of our scripture—

"Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance.."

There are three blessings here that are a result of the four gospel principles we have discussed:

1. It is given to know the mysteries of God

2. It is given to have things revealed that have never been revealed before

These first two I have listed together because they both require personal revelation. This scripture states that God can reveal mysteries to us, things we have never known before. How does he do that? By the power of the Holy Ghost. Moroni 10:5 states, "By the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." That is the job of the Holy Ghost — to manifest truth to us, whether it is truth we have already heard or not. I have personally experienced this blessing as I have read the scriptures. The Holy Ghost will speak to my mind and help me understand what I read (mysteries). I will suddenly see different facets and aspects of the words I read that I have never seen before (things revealed), and see ways to apply the words to my life or find answers to prayer as I read.

Isn't this just a wonderful blessing? A promise to receive understanding and knowledge and wisdom from God – and all just by exercising our faith day by day, bit by bit. What a powerful promise!

3. Bring thousands of souls to repentance — This part of the pattern brings it around full circle. Do you remember what the first part of the IF statement was? That's right, repentance! And now that you have been through the entire pattern, you have the opportunity to bring others through the pattern, and let it repeat and repeat unendingly. How amazing is that! I personally have not brought thousands to repentance, but I always pray that my blog is a vehicle or instrument in the Lord's hands to bring about His will. Who knows? Maybe this message will touch one person's heart today and bring them to act on the pattern, then they will touch someone else, who will touch someone else....

Today I challenge you to work on this pattern in your own life, and look for more patterns in scripture. See how many ways you can enrich your life today.

With love,

Sweet & Simple Thursday (SAST Link-Up)

Today I'm blogging from my mother's house in Draper, Utah. Having a great vacation with the kids (and eating WAY too much fast food!) I hope everyone's summer is going well. Thank you to everyone who has linked up at SAST in the past couple weeks. And I apologize for the little snafoo with last week's link up. Hopefully this week's link up party will go much better :)

Enjoy!

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Salt Of The Earth

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men."

– 3 Nephi 12:13 (see also Matthew 5:13)

Salt is used to bring out the flavor in dishes, and also used as a preservative. It is a valuable mineral, and has been used in some ancient cultures as a form of money. So when Christ teaches us to be the salt of the earth, what does this mean? 

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we have the good news of the gospel to share with the world. We can share a spiritual flavor with those around us, and season our speech, our actions, and our lives with spirituality. We become the salt of the earth as we study the word of God, keep the commandments Christ has given us, and strive to live a life of worthiness. 

How does salt lose its savor? Have you ever really thought about this? You can keep a canister of salt on your shelf almost indefinitely, and the salt stays salty and potent indefinitely. You can mix salt in food, and it will increase the flavor and savoriness of the dish. It doesn't lose its savor. The only thing that makes salt lose its savor is mixing it with dirt.

So think about that for a minute. As God's spiritual salt, we can lose our spiritual savor when we allow filthiness into our lives. There are so many different kinds of filth that can damage our spirituality - what we say, what we do, who we associate with, things we pursue for entertainment, the list can go on and on. We have to be careful and show discretion about these things. If we do this, we will not lose our spiritual savor. 

Personally, I don't want to be cast out and trodden under God's foot, worthless to Him. There is nothing I want more than to be valuable in my Lord's eyes and to be put to good use for Him. I am made for Him and His service, and I long to stay that way.

With love,

Sweet & Simple Thursday (SAST Link Up) - FIXED LINK UP!

The Rock of Our Redeemer

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that 

it is upon the rock of 

our Redeemer, 

who is Christ, 

the Son of God, 

that ye must build your foundation; 

that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, 

yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, 

when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, 

it shall have no power over you 

to drag you down to 

the gulf of misery and endless wo, 

because of the rock upon which ye are built, 

which is a sure foundation, 

a foundation whereon if men build 

they cannot fall."

– Helaman 5:12

Gone Swimmin' (SAST Link Up)

As you read this, I am officially on my summer vacation. Yeehaw! So my posts will be a little sparse for the next several weeks. In the meantime, keep visiting for my weekly link-up, and happy summer to you!

With love,

Jean

Trust That God Loves You {SAST Link Up}

In high school, I memorized what would become one of my favorite scriptures of all time –

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and He shall direct thy path."

– Proverbs 3:5-6

Usually when we read this verse, we think about trusting God's will for our lives, and that He has a better plan for us than we can ever know. But have you ever thought of this idea: Trust in God's love for you. Trust that He loves you so much He will NEVER let you down. He will never be fickle or untrustworthy or false as a friend. He will never betray you.

Lean not unto your own worldly understanding of relationships. God does not love you by these 'rules.' He loves you by a higher, heavenly law. He loves you so much He died for you. Put your trust in Him and know that your trust is well-founded.

Sometimes it's hard for people to put this kind of trust into anyone, especially someone we cannot see or hear except in our hearts and minds. Some people have been so hurt by others they have chosen to never trust again. It's so sad to see people hurt so badly like this, it can make people bitter and resentful, and the end result is they scare away would-be true friends.

Our Savior is not scared away by your bitterness. He does not ever harbor doubts about loving you. He is always there for you, through the good and the bad. He wants to share your triumphs and cry with you in defeat. He wants to love you more than you can ever comprehend.

Trust that God loves you, and your life will be transformed.

With love,

Jean

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It's time for Sweet and Simple Thursday! One of my favorite times of the week!

There were some fun and though-filled links this last week. Thank you everyone for making SAST so successful!

Jenni at Thrive @ Home Thursday shared a beautiful post about how to create a loving atmosphere in your home. Her post really resonated in my heart.