Faith isn't faith if it demands specific outcomes. Faith does invite miracles, but it does not guarantee that we will receive the exact miracles we want exactly when we want them. King Nebuchadnezzar was proud of a gold statue, about 90 feet tall, which he had commanded to be built. He wanted everyone in the... Continue Reading →
Past Performance Is Not Necessarily Indicative of Future Results
The Lord commanded Ezekiel to teach a challenging principle to the children of Israel: No matter what you have done in the past, what really matters is what you are doing today. When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be... Continue Reading →
A Tree of Life
Multiple scriptures discuss "the tree of life," referring either to the second named tree in the Garden of Eden, representing immortality (Genesis 2:9, 2 Nephi 2:15, Alma 12:22-26, Alma 42:2-5) or to the focal point of Lehi's dream, representing the love of God as manifest through Jesus Christ (1 Nephi 8:10, 1 Nephi 11:25, 1... Continue Reading →
The Book of Psalms and the Book of Mormon
The brass plates which Lehi and his family carried from Jerusalem contained a lot of content which overlaps with the Old Testament. Nephi describes three categories of writings, which correspond with three of the four groupings of books in the Old Testament: "The five books of Moses" - The Law (Genesis through Deuteronomy)"A record of... Continue Reading →
Overcoming Temptation: Lessons from David and Corianton
We are all tempted. Lehi taught that there is a devil and that he "seeketh that all men might become miserable like unto himself" (2 Nephi 2:27). Alma identified Zeezrom's combativeness as "a snare of the adversary, which he has laid to catch this people" (Alma 12:6). And King Benjamin warned his people, "beware lest... Continue Reading →
A Prophet
When God called Moses, He didn't say, "I will make you a prophet." Instead, He described the work He needed Moses to do: tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, and tell the children of Israel that God had sent him to lead them out of Egypt. (See Exodus 3.) He said, "I will be... Continue Reading →
Hardened Hearts
Why would the leader of a nation continue to pursue a harmful course of action in the face of increasing punishments? I'm not talking about Vladimir Putin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine in spite of severe international sanctions; I'm talking about Pharaoh's unwillingness to let the Israelites go free while his country was pummeled by plagues.... Continue Reading →
In Process of Time
Growth is gradual. We all know this, but it can be hard to maintain our effort and enthusiasm over time, especially when our progress is indiscernible. When Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, God prevented them from accessing the tree of life. (See Genesis 3:24.) Alma later explained that this was necessary because... Continue Reading →
An Help, Meet for Him
After Lehi and his family left Jerusalem but before they began their journey to the promised land in earnest, the Lord told Lehi that his group was incomplete. He said "that it was not meet" for Lehi to "take his family into the wilderness alone; but that his sons should take daughters to wife" (1... Continue Reading →
Glory
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.Psalm 24:9-10 What is glory? The word appears 225 times in the King James Version of the Old Testament,... Continue Reading →
Book of Mormon Study Notes 