Choose The Lord

In Joshua chapter 10 the Lord fights for Israel’s cause. In verses 12-14 it suggests that the sun stood still. If we read in the Book of Mormon we can come to the conclusion that it was not the sun that stood, but it was indeed the earth. In the Old Testament student manual it says, “So here we have the words of a Book of Mormon prophet confirming the fact that God can—and would, when necessary—cause that the earth should stop in its rotation to lengthen a day. And since on the occasion in question he was fighting to bring victory to Israel, this was one of his means of doing so.” I would explain this phenomenon to someone who wouldn’t believe the Bible as stating that we don’t understand all the workings of the Lord. The Lord is so far above us in knowledge and power that we, as mere humans, cannot comprehend all that the Lord does. In these particular verses we realize that Joshua was a prophet and not a scientist, so it is a human error. And people in those days did not have the knowledge that we have now and it would be quite hard to explain this phenomenon to someone who didn’t have any knowledge of the ways of science.

Israel’s Successes

Defeats Ai

Defeats Amorites and allies

Divers kinds and cities destroyed

Two kings on east of Jordan & 31 on West conquered

Israel’s Failures

Defeated by people of Ai

I think that the major theme of Joshua was that we should be choosing now whom we are going to serve. There are two great forces that are present here on the earth and they are both vying for our allegiance. It is our duty and responsibility to choose now who we are going to be and which side we are going to follow. Jeffrey R. Holland said, “The future of this world has long been declared; the final outcome between good and evil is already known. There is absolutely no question as to who winds because the victory has already been posted on the scoreboard. The only really strange thing in all of this is that we are still down here on the field trying to decide which team’s jersey we want to wear!” How true this quote is. We all know that the outcome with be in the favor of the Lord, but sometimes we seem to forget that and start to side with Satan. We need to choose this day whom we are going to serve and stick with it.

“Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes”

·         Hittites

·         Amorites

·         Canannites

·         Perizzites

·         Hivites

·         Jesbusites

The Lord commanded Israel to stay away from these nations and not to “meddle” with them. He also told them that He would deliver them unto the Israelites and that they should destroy them and show no mercy unto them. The Lord goes on to command the Israelites to destroy their homes, altars, pillars, groves, graven images and their names from out of the place.

When the Lord told the Israelites to destroy these nations he was actually fulfilling a promise that he made to Abraham when he told him that his seed would inherit the land of Canaan. This is where these nations originated from and dwelt. At this time they had become such a wicked people that it was said that to “let  them survive would have proven to be the spiritual downfall of Israel” (Student Manual 226).Because the Canaanite nations were caught up in idolatry, prostitution, homosexuality and other wicked practices they were too far gone to ever come back to righteousness and they were actually proud of what they were doing. This type of unrighteousness is not pleasing unto the Lord and his punishment was for them to be destroyed at the hands of the Israelites.

If we look at our own world today we can see most of these same sins taking place. It is really scary to think that we have become such a people. We read about these people in the scriptures and it is easy for us to point fingers and judge, but it is a lot harder to do when we recognize the same things going on in our world. The best thing that we can do is to make sure that we are doing what we need to be doing. If we are with the righteous we will not fear and we will be able to be among those favored of the Lord. 

Look to Him

In Numbers 21, the children of Israel began to murmur against God and Moses, so God sent the curse or the “fiery serpents.” Elder Boyd K. Packer said of this matter, ““‘How silly,’ some must have said. ‘How can such a thing cure me? I’ll not show my stupidity by paying any attention,’ and some would not look. . . .“And today many say, ‘How silly! How could accepting Christ save me?’ They will not turn their

heads to look nor incline their ears to hear. They ignore the great witness that comes from these

conferences. We ought to, indeed we must, heed the counsel of these men, for the Lord said, ‘What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.’” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1968, pp. 75–76.) Today, there are people that won’t look to Christ, even though, like the brazen serpent, it is so simple.

In our daily lives as we position our lives to mirror that of the Savior we are showing to our Heavenly Father and our Savior, that we are trying to follow them and in turn that we are “looking” to them to save us and heal us. In today’s world we see people turning to other people such as doctors, shrinks, themselves or other people in general. There are those that worship nature, idols or money. The whole world is a major distraction from the Savior. People go to these different outlets and think that they will be healed or saved through their own power, but we have learned and been taught that it is only through our Savior Jesus Christ that we can be saved. It is through the basic primary answers of prayer, scripture study and church that we are healed through our Savior Jesus Christ.

In my own life I have seen the healing powers of the Lord in my daily life. Sometimes it is just that peace within me that allows me to get through the day. Other times it is a beautiful sunrise or sunset that let me know through the spirit that the Savior loves me and I feel the burdens of the world falling away. I often think of a quote that my teacher told me and that is: “When we put our trust in the Lord, the things in your life will fall in place or they will fall out of your life.” This has helped me make it through a lot of rough patches. Just knowing that by turning to the Lord and looking to him I will receive strength is enough power and evidence for me to continue to look to my Savior and be healed.

 

The following link is a Mormon Message that shows various people and the beautiful reactions they had after turning to the Lord and “looking to” Him.

More Holiness Give Me

In the Bible dictionary holiness  is defined as “ things or places were holy that were set apart for a sacred purpose; the opposite of holy is therefore common or profane; Similarly a holy person meant one who held a sacred office. The Israelites were a holy people because they stood in a special relationship to Jehovah. The word holy therefore came to refer to moral character” (704). Sanctification is the removing power or sins and the stains that they cause, enabling us to become as "white as snow." We need both to be holy, but we also need the sanctifying power of Christ to help us with those mistakes that we will make. 

Jehovah commands his followers to be holy so they are worth to obtain the blessings that he has in store for them. When we follow the commandments and do what we are asked to do we are proving ourselves worthy to the Lord and showing Him that we are trying our best to remain worthy to keep our side of the covenant and that we are trying to remain worthy to be able to receive the blessings He has in store for us. The Lord wants us to be able to become more like Him. He repeatedly states, “Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.” He is the ultimate example and wants us to become like Him.

In today’s world there are many things that distract us and can harm us from obtaining the blessings the Lord has in store for us. It is our responsibility to make sure that we don’t allow these distractions to take hold of our lives and bring us down. The ways of the world are strong and they beg for our attention, but we have to make sure that our goals and lives are in line with the commandments of the Lord. It has been said that it is easier to be righteous 100% than 98%. 

The following is a list of commandments found in Leviticus. The green highlighted ones are ones that I personally think that the world is struggling with today. Some more than others, but I think that a lot of the world doesn’t recognize commandments and strive to follow them. The ones highlighted in blue are the ones that I feel like I need to do better on. I realize that tithing helps out the less fortunate, but I feel like there is more that I can do. I also need to do better on judging and gossiping and being able to love everyone.

Obey they mother and father

Do not worship any idols or other gods

Do not lie, cheat or steal

Do not use the Lord’s name in vain

Do not fraud your neighbor

Extend charity to the less fortunate

Judge righteously

Love one another

Do not commit adultery

No cuts or markings on body

Do not prostitute your daughter

Keep the Sabbath day

Do not seek our wizards and such

Do not commit homosexual acts

The follow is a clip from Jeffrey R. Holland that talks about being sanctified and about being holy and worthy.

Sanctify Yourselves

Seeing God

From Joseph Smith’s translation corrections of the Bible and through Joseph Fielding Smith we come to the knowledge that indeed man can see God “face to face” and live. It is through the experience of Joseph Smith being able to see the son and Father that the world first began to realize that indeed there is a God and He is of flesh and blood and also that He is a distinct and separate being from His son, Jesus Christ. We also learn that man can come face to face with God and live. In different scriptures in the Bible it states that man cannot see God and live, but Joseph Smith corrected those same verses adding that “except them who believe.”  Joseph Fielding Smith stated, “There are too many passages which declare very definitely that God did appear, ‘face to face,’ with his ancient servants. Therefore, passages which declare that no man has seen him, must be in error. For instance, the passage in John 1:18, . . . is likely due to the fact that a translator in more recent years did not believe that God was a Personage and therefore could not be seen. This notion has come down to us since the introduction of the Athanasian Creed in 325 A.D…” From both of these great men we learn that indeed if a man is willing, believes and is a righteous person they can indeed see God face to face and live.

 

Saved

The children of Israel were both physically saved and spiritually saved by fire and water in their exodus from Egypt.  It is clear that by walking through the sea on dry land they were saved from their captors.  The Lord sent a pillar of fire as well to shield the children of Israel from the Egyptians that were pursuing them. Thus we see that fire and water physically saved the children of Israel. In a more spiritual sense we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verses 1-4, “1  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” Through these verses we come to the knowledge that through this escape the children of Israel were baptized by the saving water of Christ and were also saved by the fire of the spirit. Back in Exodus in chapter 14 verse 31 it reads, “And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses.” It is through this verse we see that this experience was a testimony to the children of Israel that the Lord will save those righteous, and contrastingly he will destroy the wicked that fight against him. This experience strengthened the children of Israel’s testimony of the Lord and spiritually save them as well. 

Marriage in the Covenant

In Genesis chapter 24, we read that Abraham was worried about his sons marrying outside of the covenant.  Abraham knew that if his sons married outside of the covenant they would lose their reward and “crown” as Brigham Young warned. He was worried for their eternal salvations while they were only worried about their temporal happiness. Prophets speak about this same problem that is taking place today. Spencer W. Kimball talked about how hard it is to raise children when the parents differ in religion. He talks about all of the promised blessings that we forfeit when we do so and also the heartache that comes with it.

Contrastingly, we see the example of Rebekah. She was a hard worker fair, a virgin, charitable, loving, compassionate and obedient and most importantly she was born under the covenant (Gen. 24: 15-67). When Rebekah’s sons are looking for marriage it troubles her that they might marry outside of the covenant and lose the great blessings that the Lord has promised them.

In Genesis 29 we see the ultimate example of love and hard work. Jacob works for 14 years to marry Rachel. “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her” (Gen. 29:20). As I read this about Jacob I realized that we should be willing to do whatever it takes to marry inside of the covenant.  I know from experience that this is harder said than done. All of my close guy friends happen to be nonmembers and I find that a lot of the members here aren’t the best examples of the church. I have come to realize that in order for me to marry in the covenant I would have to most likely leave here to find someone to marry. I do know that like Jacob I would be willing to do whatever I have to in order to marry in the covenant and be able to be worthy of those blessings both for myself and my future family. 

King of Righteousness

Melchizedek was a man of faith who sought after righteousness. He reigned as the king of Salem. Having received the priesthood through the lineage of his father’s down until Noah. Melchizedek exercised mighty faith while ruling an evil people. With great faith and priesthood power Melchizedek was able to preach repentance unto his people in a way that they understood and listened to. His people were now restored into a more holy people and he was now called the Price of Peace.


Being a man of great stature and a king of righteousness the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God was renamed out of respect to the Melchizedek Priesthood. He was one of the greatest high priests. It is said that no high priest was greater than him.

A Meeting Of Abraham And Melchizedek

Whom God calls, He qualifies

This past week I was called on a mission to Thailand.  I will be speaking Thai and as soon as I read that I knew immediately that I was going to need more than earthly help. It was at that moment that I had to put my total trust in the Lord and know that if I am doing what I need to be doing, He will qualify me.

In Moses 6, the Lord talks to Moses about Enoch’s people. He describes them as  having their “hearts waxed hard, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes cannot see afar off…” (verse 27).  He continues about how they have left God and have gone astray. After hearing all about this people Enoch tells the Lord that he doesn’t know why He has called him. He explains that he is slow of speech, too young and he is afraid that the people will hate him.

In the following verses the Lord tells Enoch how He will strengthen Enoch. He tells him that if he goes and does what the Lord has commanded the Lord will “open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good” (verse 32).  He reassures him that the spirit will be with him and he will be able to fulfill his calling in the way that the Lord would see fit, if only Enoch would obey the Lord and trust in him.

I have seen this same thing happen in the lives of missionaries that I know. Some of the missionaries I have seen I would just wonder how in the world they were going to go out and be able to teach people in a language. I have also seen that when they have returned they are humbled and they were able to convert many souls, because of their obedience to the Lord. Over and over I have heard them testify that if we obey we will be blessed. I know that at this time in my life that is exactly what I must do. I feel exactly like Enoch in the fact that I am worried about the language, the people and being adequate enough to teach the people in Thailand. I have a testimony that if I do what I am told I will be blessed and enabled through Christ.