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Showing posts with the label King James Bible

a peculiar people (John Taylor)

There are many things associated with the Church and kingdom of God that are very peculiar : it differs from all other churches, and is dissimilar to all other kingdoms. There is a spirit and wisdom associated with it that the world knows nothing of, and there is a power accompanying it to which mankind are entire strangers without that spirit. There is generally a great amount of obloquy and reproach associated with it; people are apt to treat the servants of God with contempt; yet there is a spirit, and power, and intelligence imparted by the gift of the Holy Ghost; that sustains his people under all circumstances, in all places, and among all nations... President John Taylor, Journal of Discourses 7:118 (emphasis added), compare with Deuteronomy 14:2  " For  thou  art  an  holy  people  unto  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  the  Lord  hath  chosen  thee  to  be  a  peculiar  people  unto  himself,  above  all  the  nations  that  are  upon  the  earth." Deuteronomy 14:2 (

prosperity is a promised blessing that follows belief (faith) and obedience (2 Chronicles 20:20; 2 Nephi 4:4)

"... Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe in His prophets, so shall ye prosper ." 2 Chronicles 20:20 " Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence ." 2 Nephi 4:4

Scriptures should give us hope

"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." Romans 15:4 "And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses...for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning...hear ye the words of the prophet, which were written unto all the house of Israel, and liken them unto yourselves, that ye may have hope..." 1 Nephi 19:23-24

eye hath not seen (Isaiah 64:4)

For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, Oh God, beside thee, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him. Isaiah 64:64 But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. 1 Corinthians 2:9

Israel’s God is incomparably great; wings of eagles (Isaiah 40:28-31)

  28  Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard,  that  the   everlasting  God, the  Lord , the  Creator  of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?  There is  no searching  of His understanding.   29  He giveth power to the faint; and to  them that have  no might He increaseth strength.   30  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:   31  But they that  wait  upon the  Lord  shall  renew   their   strength ; they shall mount up with wings as  eagles ; they shall  run , and not be weary;  and  they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31

Lessons from Jonah and the great fish, the omniscience and omnipotence of God (Jonah; D&C 3; Joseph Smith; Maxwell)

15  So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.   17  Now the  Lord  had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish  a three  days and three nights. Jonah 1:15, 17 Consider what this incident from the life of Jonah teaches us about the Lord, about His omniscience and His power to accomplish His purposes.  The great fish that swallowed Jonah would have been "prepared" many, many years previously by the Lord, whether through His use of evolution, genetics, etc. or otherwise.  In other words, we may safely assume that this fish was NOT just magically "poofed" out of nowhere just prior to its appearance in the water at the moment it swallowed Jonah.  Rather, it was born and grew to maturity, over the course of many years... In addition, consider the fact that this "great fish" was in the exact place and at exactly the right time to be able to swallow Jonah, save Jon

the works of men will fail and God's purposes will all be fulfilled (Acts 5)

Those intent on persecuting the Church of God today would do well to remember wise counsel given anciently:   34  Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named  a Gamaliel , a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;   35  And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men...   38  And now I say unto you,  Refrain  from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of   men , it will come to nought:   39  But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it;  lest  haply ye be found even to  fight  against God. Acts 5:34-39 (emphasis added)

"Abide in Me" (Holland)

Christ  said, “I am the true vine, and … ye are the branches.”   2   “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”   3 “Abide in me” is an understandable and beautiful enough concept in the elegant English of the King James  Bible , but “abide” is not a word we use much anymore. So I gained even more appreciation for this admonition from the Lord when I was introduced to the translation of this passage in another language. In Spanish that familiar phrase is rendered “permaneced en mi.”  Like the English verb “abide,”  permanecer  means “to remain, to stay,” but even gringos like me can hear the root cognate there of “permanence.” The sense of this then is “stay—but stay  forever. ” That is the call of the gospel message to Chileans and everyone else in the world. Come, but come to remain. Come with conviction and endurance. Come permanently, for your sake and the sake of all the generation