Jacob 2: We all need a good smiting sometimes or at least a good ol' fashion admonishing

Wouldn't it be crazy if the bishop called you in his office and told you that you haven't broken any commandments yet but that he can tell that you have been thinking about it! Jacob is talking to them about pride and I know that Ezra Taft Benson spoke a lot about the dangers of pride in our dispensation.

Jacob 2

4 For behold, as yet, ye have been obedient unto the word of the Lord, which I have given unto you.

5 But behold, hearken ye unto me, and know that by the help of the all-powerful Creator of heaven and earth I can tell you concerning your ^athoughts, how that ye are beginning to labor in sin, which sin appeareth very abominable unto me, yea, and abominable unto God.

That's why conference is awesome, we not only get the admonishing talks but also the consoling talks, funny how most of the admonishing talks happen in the priesthood sessions, what does that say about men?

8 And it supposeth me that they have come up hither to hear the pleasing ^aword of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul.

9 Wherefore, it burdeneth my soul that I should be constrained, because of the strict commandment which I have received from God, to ^aadmonish you according to your crimes, to enlarge the wounds of those who are already wounded, instead of consoling and healing their wounds; and those who have not been wounded, instead of feasting upon the pleasing word of God have daggers placed to pierce their souls and wound their delicate minds.

I wonder how often the Apostles wish the Lord would just go ahead and smite us so that we would remember the importance of following the commandments. How often is a good smiting a blessing. Its like disciplining your children, sometimes they just need a good smiting for their own good :)

15 O that he would show you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his ^aeye he can smite you to the dust!

16 O that he would rid you from this iniquity and abomination. And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not this ^apride of your hearts destroy your souls!

Once we are rich, we should seek to enrich all of our brethren ie give them business loans etc. We should make our first priority magnifying our calling and only then seek riches because we will seek them for the right reasons ie clothe the naked. I personally am sick of all the naked people walking around and would love to be able to buy them all pants :) Maybe we should use our riches to fight immodesty after all, many women walk around mostly naked. Do you think that using riches to be a successful politician so you can cut taxes and revitalize the economy counts as liberate the captive? Afterall aren't we all slaves to our tax burden and subject to the oppressive King Recession? When I am wealthy I want to start a TV show where stars show us their favorite charity and why and then match the donation made by the viewers

17 Think of your ^abrethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your ^bsubstance, that ^cthey may be rich like unto you.

18 But ^abefore ye seek for ^briches, seek ye for the ^ckingdom of God.

19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to ^ado
good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted

It is interesting that the Lord makes the point that Polygamy in any form is always abominable unless the Lord specifically commands us to "raise up seed unto him." So the only reason that Abraham, Jacob (and sons), etc had multiple wives was because the lord wanted to form a people and could do it faster if each righteous man had as many children as possible (each wife can only get pregnant so often). Because lets face it, righteous men are hard to come by sometimes. Same reason the Lord commanded Joseph Smith and the brethren at the time to practice polygamy, the saints may not have survived otherwise (also the Lord tests us to see if we are willing to subject to all things like when he commanded Abraham to kill his son)

24 Behold, David and ^aSolomon truly had many ^bwives and concubines, which thing was ^cabominable before me, saith the Lord.

25 Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a ^arighteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph.

26 Wherefore, I the Lord God will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old.

27 Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any ^aman among you have save it be ^bone ^cwife; and concubines he shall have none;
30 For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up ^aseed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.

Faith = Power to serve

I am trying to fathom having so much faith that the veil could not prevent me from seeing the Lord like in Ether 3:6-9. Imagine what prayers would be like! Note that the brother of Jared had the "exceeding faith" first and not the other way around.

Some people demand proof of the existence of Jesus Christ so that they can have "believe". The Lord could easily provide proof but that would not teach us faith. Later in Ether 12, Moroni teaches us "ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith. Why do you think that is? Why is it so important for us to learn faith first and be rewarded with a witness after?

It might have to do with the fact our Savior loves us and wants to to be happy. Happiness comes in service to others and faith gives us power to do all things necessary to help our fellowman. In Moroni 7 we read "Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me." What is more expedient in Christ than service to our fellowman?

Ether 12

9 And the Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me ^aflesh and blood; and never has man come before me with ^bsuch exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have seen my finger. Sawest thou more than this?

10 And he answered: Nay; Lord, ^ashow thyself unto me.

11 And the Lord said unto him: ^aBelievest thou the words which I shall speak?

12 And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and ^acanst not lie.

13 And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord ^ashowed himself unto him, and said: ^bBecause thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my ^cpresence; therefore I ^dshow myself unto you.

The Lord lights our path by igniting the torch we make

The Lord always takes the opportunity to teach us how to become more like him. I love how the Lord challenged the brother of Jared to come up with suitable suggestions for lighting their barges. The Lord could have easily named countless ways to light the barges but that would not have taught the brother of Jared the principle of hard work.

As parents, we would never tie a shoe that can be tied by the wearer (unless we are in a big hurry :). We want our children to learn to do things for themselves as much as possible because we know it will help them be more successful in the long run. There is a great feeling of empowerment that comes with figuring things out and solving problems.

Of Course, the lord does not expect us to "run faster than we are able", just as fast as we can. The brother of Jared did everything he possibly could by himself. He didn't ask the Lord to molten the stones for him. He got the stones completely ready and then suggested that the Lord need only to touch them. Dont just ask the Lord for solutions, show him some well thought out solutions and He will touch the right ones to light your path.

23 And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have ^awindows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire.

24 For behold, ye shall be as a ^awhale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the ^bwinds have gone forth ^cout of my mouth, and also the ^drains and the floods have I sent forth.

25 And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?

Recapture your testimony daily!

I find it interesting that the lord chastened the Brother of Jared because he didn't "call upon the name of the Lord. " in Ether 2. I wonder if the Brother of Jared had been calling upon him every step of the way up until that point and forgot or the Lord had just been freely giving directions that all the sudden stopped and no one thought, "maybe we should call him up?"

I think it must be the later, because in the prior, why stop? The fact that the Lord waited 4 years to come unto the Brother of Jared before he chastened him shows the great importance of this lesson, otherwise a couple of months would've sufficed.

It is the same lesson that Elder Uchtdorf shared with us in his talk "Hold On a Little Longer". He spoke about the saints in Kirtland who saw miraculous things like angels and a pillar of fire that landed on the roof of the temple. Shortly thereafter many of those same saints left the church and some were even in the mob that killed Joseph Smith, the Prophet.

How could these saints leave the church? Even though they experienced a recession, the bank of Kirtland failed and they were ridiculed for their beliefs. How can you see a pillar of fire and leave? How could the Children of Israel start worshiping golden idols shortly after God protected them with a pillar of fire and parted the Red Sea on their behalf?

Elder Uchtdorf said "One of the great, enduring lessons of the Kirtland period is that our spirits need constant nourishment." He then quoted President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973)

“Testimony isn’t something that you have today and you keep always. Testimony is either going to grow and grow to the brightness of certainty, or it is going to diminish to nothingness, depending upon what we do about it. I say, the testimony that we recapture day by day is the thing that saves us from the pitfalls of the adversary.”6

Or in other words, as the lord said "my ^aSpirit will not always ^bstrive with man." If we don't recapture our testimonies daily then we will invariably leave the faith. And How is it that we recapture our testimonies daily? "call upon the name of the Lord. " is one way that we learn from the book of Ether.

14 And it came to pass at the end of four years that the Lord came again unto the brother of Jared, and stood in a cloud and ^atalked with him. And for the space of three hours did the Lord talk with the brother of Jared, and ^bchastened him because he remembered not to ^ccall upon the name of the Lord.

15 And the brother of Jared repented of the evil which he had done, and did call upon the name of the Lord for his brethren who were with him. And the Lord said unto him: I will forgive thee and thy brethren of their sins; but thou shalt not sin any more, for ye shall remember that my ^aSpirit will not always ^bstrive with man; wherefore, if ye will sin until ye are fully ripe ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And these are my ^cthoughts upon the land which I shall give you for your inheritance; for it shall be a land ^dchoice above all other lands.

Are Americans Ripened in Iniquity?

Today I read out of Ether 2. Moroni tells us how the lord was guiding the soon to be Jaredites from the confusion of the Tower of Babel to the Promised Land or the Americas. He then starts a tangent about the requirements of living on the Promised Land and how a people thereon who are ripened in iniquity shall be swept off. I wonder if Americans are ripened in iniquity. What do you think? If not, what more would ripen us? If yes, why and how will we be swept off?

7 And the Lord would not suffer that they should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness, but he would that they should come forth even unto the ^aland of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had ^bpreserved for a righteous people.

8 And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should ^aserve him, the true and only God, or they should be ^bswept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them.

9 And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be ^aswept off when the fulness of his ^bwrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ^cripened in iniquity.

10 For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be ^aswept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the ^bfulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are ^cswept off.

11 And this cometh unto you, O ye ^aGentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God—that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the ^bwrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done.

12 Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be ^afree from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but ^bserve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.

Day One - Daily Specialization - Handstand Push -Ups

So I kicked up against the door to a handstand and lowered my head close to the ground (I think) and back up. When I lowered myself a second time I lost my balance and came down to my feet. I have been trying to do daily specialization on handstand push-ups for a while without much success on the daily part. So if you are trying this as well, don't be discouraged if you cant do even one. Try as hard as you can and set a goal to improve tomorrow. I will post more about why daily specialization on a later date and share success stories. Tonight I expect to do one again and tomorrow I plan on doing two.

Day one - Early Rising

I felt great getting up this morning at 3am! I prayed the night before that I could get up and when I woke up I felt great! It must be because today is the first day of a new life long habit :) I will let you know how the rest of the day goes tomorrow morning but so far so good!

Keep me Accountable!

Today is the first day of my blogging adventure. Ive decided to blog because I believe it will give me just enough motivation to accomplish my goals, ie I think if I announce my plans to cyberspace then I will feel accountable to my potential readers and not want to bail :)

For example, today is my first day of waking up at 3am (You may see me refer to it as early rising). That is to say I have wanted to consistently get up at 3am for a long time but today is the first of a 30 day experiment of getting up everyday at 3am and not sleeping again till 10:30pm. I will detail my feelings every morning of how I am feeling and my collective experience from the previous day, in light of early rising.

This is also a first for my daily specialization. My goal is to do 10 one-handed hand stand push ups. I will start my specialization with handstand push-ups against the wall, then away from the wall, and finally one handed.

And as you can see,today is also the first of 30 days of consistent blogging. I will share my experiences and what I have found to be successful. Many a year, one of my new year's resolution has been to journal every day. I figure that blogging is essentially a journal that you publish for all to see. I have never been too private, so here I am if you care to see!