Scriptures

I was reading the SS lesson tonight, and one thing impressed me in Luke 4:16-21:

"16¶And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

"17And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

"18The ^aSpirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath ^banointed me to ^cpreach the ^dgospel to the ^epoor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to ^fpreach ^gdeliverance to the ^hcaptives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at ⁱliberty them that are bruised,

"19^aTo preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

"20And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

"21And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture ^afulfilled in your ears."

I noticed how Christ read directly from the Old Testament. He didn't paraphrase, he didn't summarize. He read, and then he testified, and he discussed. This shows us just how important it is to use the scriptures.

Another thing that I was excited about was when Christ referred to Elias in the Old Testament, I remembered Elijah (Elias in NT), and I remembered the story surrounding this reference. I am so impressed with how all the books work together, and when you understand the OT, it's easier to understand the NT. And the B of M, too.

Scripture Study

Last night I gave a FHE lesson on Mighty Scripture Study, and I talked about how it was important to Pray, Meditate, Write, and Teach when we are studying the scriptures, so this is my attempt at writing what I learned tonight.

Tonight as we were doing our family scripture study, I came across something that hit me really hard. In 3 Ne. 18:10, the Savior has just introduced the sacrament to the people, and he said "...and this doth witness unto the Father that ye are willing to do that which I have commanded you." What I realized was that as I partake of the sacrament, I am renewing a covenant that I will do whatever is commanded of me. So when the prophet asks me to do something, I have made a covenant at baptism, and I renew that covenant each week when I take the bread and water, that I will do what the prophet asks (...whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.").

It is extremely important to read and study the scriptures. When I have questions about anything, or when I don't know how to proceed in my life or get through my struggles, or become confused by the teachings and logic of the world, I must find my answers from the scriptures, which includes the current prophet's and apostles' teachings. The answers to all of our questions can be found in the scriptures.

If only everyone would study the scriptures, there would be a lot less confusion in the world.

Matt. 6:3

"But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth."

Wisdom

I've been studying "wisdom" lately. That's my new topic for my scripture journal. I was blessed with wisdom (as per my Patriarchal Blessing), or at least the potential, so I wanted to learn more about it. More than just the "Solomon had wisdom" things, but what truly is wisdom, and how do we get it?

So here are a few things I've learned so far from LDS.org:

• "Wisdom is the ability or gift from God to judge correctly."
  

Ok, so that's a little heavy to carry. I started thinking, am I judging correctly? Do I make good decisions?

• "A person gains wisdom through experience and study and by following God's counsel. Without God's counsel, a man does not have true wisdom."

To be wise, we must be humble. We must rely on God to have wisdom. It is through personal revelation that God gives us wisdom. Without the Spirit, we wouldn't be able to make good decisions, to judge correctly.

Without scripture study, we wouldn't be able to be wise. I think part of that is learning from the experiences of others in the scriptures. Making them personal, "likening" them to ourselves.

I think also we can learn from friends and family who have special insights and experiences with certain things, trials they have gone through, mistakes they have made and the knowledge they have learned as a result, or decisions they have made that kept them out of trouble.

I hope that I can develop wisdom and make good decisions, so that I can be an example to my children and help them to make good decisions as well.