The old adage "Seeing is believing" isn't always true. We are very good at rationalizing away inconvenient facts. We need to follow the example of the five Nephites who ran to the judgment seat to test Nephi's prophecy, and "when they saw they believed."
A Great Division
Jesus wants us to have peace, but there were divisions among the people who saw and heard Him. Sometimes our words provoke division. Sometimes winning an argument is more important to us than the topic. We should heal divisions, not exacerbate them.
Gehazi and Gifts
In the book Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely discusses the problems that come from mixing social norms with market norms. As humans, he said, we make some decisions in purely financial terms—How much is this activity worth? Does the benefit justify the cost?—but we make other decisions in terms of relationships. Applying a market lens to... Continue Reading →
Confounded
After prophesying of difficult days ahead, the prophet Isaiah foretold a time of prosperity and peace, when the children of Israel would be protected from both physical and verbal abuse: No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of... Continue Reading →
What Is the Sealing Power?
About 20 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, a prophet on the American continent had a remarkable experience. His name was Nephi, and he had previously served as the chief judge—the highest political office in his nation. But he had resigned from this position to serve as a missionary with his brother Lehi (Helaman... Continue Reading →
What’s Wrong with Seeking Signs?
The prophet Zenos foretold a sign which would coincide with the Savior's death hundreds of years later. Some members of the house of Israel, who would be living on "the isles of the sea," would experience three days of darkness (1 Nephi 19:10). Just five years before the Savior's birth, a prophet on the American... Continue Reading →
I Am an Honest Man – Helaman 9:36
36 And then shall he say unto you, that I, Nephi, know nothing concerning the matter save it were given unto me by the power of God. And then shall ye know that I am an honest man, and that I am sent unto you from God. (Helaman 9:36) Nephi's neighbors were highly resistant to... Continue Reading →
There Were Some of the Nephites Who Believed – Helaman 9:39-41
39 And there were some of the Nephites who believed on the words of Nephi; and there were some also, who believed because of the testimony of the five, for they had been converted while they were in prison.40 And now there were some among the people, who said that Nephi was a prophet.41 And... Continue Reading →
Ye Ought to Begin to Howl – Helaman 9:21-22
21 But Nephi said unto them: O ye fools, ye uncircumcised of heart, ye blind, and ye stiffnecked people, do ye know how long the Lord your God will suffer you that ye shall go on in this your way of sin?22 O ye ought to begin to howl and mourn, because of the great... Continue Reading →