All Is Well

Come on Nephi?!? Did you really have to be so literal?

2 Nephi 28:21,25

21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.


 25 Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!


Helaman 13:28

 28 Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him.

https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/all-is-well?lang=eng&HPWE071614334


There are all sorts of beautiful gems in this one. Enjoy.

It is no wonder that 160 years later we still commemorate their achievement with songs, speeches, parades, fireworks, commemorative treks, pins, balloons, banners, and T-shirts.

If they were here with us today there is no doubt in my mind that they would tell us we can be gloriously happy even if our favorite TV show is cancelled, traffic comes to a crawl, the rain spoils our picnic, or the fast food worker forgot to include straws or packets of ketchup at the drive-through window.

When we cover our face with our hands and complain that someone else got the promotion, someone else got the part, someone else got the biggest slice of pizza, it might be helpful to remind ourselves that there is a difference between the profound and trivial. 

Fast and Testimony Meeting

A fast and testimony meeting you may recognize.

 2 Nephi 28:21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

 1 Nephi 17:22 And we know that the people who were in the land of Jerusalem were a righteous people; for they kept the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments, according to the law of Moses; wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people; and our father hath judged them, and hath led us away because we would hearken unto his words; yea, and our brother is like unto him. And after this manner of language did my brethren murmur and complain against us. 

 Alma 31:17 But thou art the same yesterday, today, and forever; and thou hast elected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell; for the which holiness, O God, we thank thee; and we also thank thee that thou hast elected us, that we may not be led away after the foolish traditions of our brethren, which doth bind them down to a belief of Christ, which doth lead their hearts to wander far from thee, our God.

 Alma 31:18 And again we thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen. 

 Alma 31:22 Now, from this stand they did offer up, every man, the self same prayer unto God, thanking their God that they were chosen of him, and that he did not lead them away after the tradition of their brethren, and that their hearts were not stolen away to believe in things to come, which they knew nothing about.

26 And he lifted up his voice to heaven, and cried, saying: O, how long, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that thy servants shall dwell here below in the flesh, to behold such gross wickedness among the children of men?

 27 Behold, O God, they cry unto thee, and yet their hearts are swallowed up in their pride. Behold, O God, they cry unto thee with their mouths, while they are puffed up, even to greatness, with the vain things of the world.

 28 Behold, O my God, their costly apparel, and their ringlets, and their bracelets, and their ornaments of gold, and all their precious things which they are ornamented with; and behold, their hearts are set upon them, and yet they cry unto thee and say—We thank thee, O God, for we are a chosen people unto thee, while others shall perish. 

A fast and testimony meeting I would like to see.

Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

 Luke 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

 Luke 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

 Luke 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

 Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

 Luke 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Mosiah 4:1 And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them.

 Mosiah 4:2 And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men. 

 2 Nephi 25:26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

 2 Nephi 25:27 Wherefore, we speak concerning the law that our children may know the deadness of the law; and they, by knowing the deadness of the law, may look forward unto that life which is in Christ, and know for what end the law was given. And after the law is fulfilled in Christ, that they need not harden their hearts against him when the law ought to be done away.

 2 Nephi 25:28 And now behold, my people, ye are a stiffnecked people; wherefore, I have spoken plainly unto you, that ye cannot misunderstand. And the words which I have spoken shall stand as a testimony against you; for they are sufficient to teach any man the right way; for the right way is to believe in Christ and deny him not; for by denying him ye also deny the prophets and the law.

 2 Nephi 25:29 And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out. 

Unbelief

I have often thought about writing a blog(I started this in August 2013), but then I realized that these are just my words and that is not what we should want. What worth is my opinion? Not much. Nevertheless, in this one case that I will detail below, I believe I was asked to write about it on this blog. I don’t know if there is more in the future, but I imagine there will be.

I had read Daniel Roger’s testimony on his Second Comforter experience in December and it had a lasting impact on me. There are several lightning rods in it. I detail one below.

http://thesecondcomforter.com/

Here is the line that struck me

“I have also learned that if Angels have not come to you, then it is because of some unbelief that you are holding onto. Unbelief is more than not believing, it also includes belief in errors or incorrect belief.  You may not even be aware of what it is.  You may think it is truth when it is not.”

Wow. Powerful.

The concept of unbelief is very powerful. It is believing in things that are false. We can be profoundly dedicated to a belief, but if it is false, it will not produce desired results. Our unbelief is like blind spots. We don’t know that we have them. They have to be shown to us. The first step is to realize that we have them. I have not seen angels, yet, so I must conclude I have unbelief. I desire this fervently.

Daniel gives us some good advice.

“Ask the Lord to show you what unbelief you have.  If you ask with a sincere heart, He will answer you.”

I decided to do this. When I asked the Lord to show me my unbelief in December, He gave me a simple, but unexpected answer. I expected a big show. The answer I received was to search the scriptures. He would reveal my unbelief via the scriptures. The fervency faded after a short while. I was rereading Daniel’s testimony on Monday night with my wife and the same things impacted me. As I drove to work on Tuesday morning I offered a fervent prayer to the Lord to show me my unbelief and again the same answer. I don’t know why I expected a different one. I believe this was added to the answer.

                “That is the purpose unto which they were given.”

I have been praying for angels to come to me, knowing that this was the most probable path to receive the Second Comforter. All of this is probably an answer to that prayer.

Just as I reached my car after work, the following thought came to me. This is the spirit of the message as I remember it. “You know Gary, if the Lord told you that the answer to your unbelief was searching the scriptures, you might try asking Him where in the scriptures that unbelief might be revealed.” Wow. Lightning bolt.

I pondered on this as I drove home. I intended to lay out my scriptures in front of me and ask. The answer came very differently. My son had an orchestra concert at his future junior high school. The gym was absolutely packed with over 100 orchestra students from several schools and their parents and siblings. Lots of noise was present. Somewhere in the process of returning to the gym after keeping an eye on my restless seven and four year old boys, I received clearly in my mind Moroni 7. I was taken aback. I quickly asked if that was the chapter. It was confirmed. Then something unusual happened that I didn’t put together until later that evening. I was leaning against the stage and I suddenly received this feeling of charity for everyone in the gym. It didn’t knock me off my feet, but it was substantial. I looked at the whole crowd and then several individuals one by one as I felt this moment of charity for them.

Later that evening as I read the chapter, I saw 100 times more in it than I ever previously had seen. Some of it I will detail below.

I had received my answer in the most marvelous ways. We tend to think that God answers prayers in one way. This is not true. He can and does answer prayers in an unlimited myriad of ways. Ponder the many forms of plant life on this planet. His answers are as perfect and diverse. When He organizes events to form an answer, it leaves an unmistakable knowledge that indeed He has answered. He is the Master. I don’t know how he can organize events, but he does. I worship Him. Glory to Him and only to Him.

I had had an indication of my lack of charity, but now it is solidly crystalized in my mind.  The Lord in His mercy has shown me this and that obviously He desires me to seek from Him an increase in it.

In the description of charity there are 13 items listed. There is lots of positive symbolism with the number 13. We have 12 apostles plus Christ. The devil has twisted it as he does everything that he can.

           1. Suffereth long

  2. Is kind  
  3. Envieth not   
  4. Not puffed up
  5. Seeketh not her own
  6. Is not easily provoked
  7. Thinketh no evil
  8. Rejoiceth not in iniquity
  9. Rejoiceth in the truth
10. Beareth all things
11. Believeth all things
12. Hopeth all things
13. Endureth all things

Many things to ponder here. What is the meaning in the order? Where do I break each one of these and how do I fix it?

Anyway, the importance of this message is the process I went through to have my unbelief revealed to me, not my particular unbelief.

Let's Roll...

I love the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I awake in the morning thinking about it. It consumes my thoughts throughout the day. In the evening, I fight sleep that I may continue to seek truth and at night I pray that I may dream about its glorious precepts.

I hunger and I thirst. I can’t get enough.

I don’t want to receive knowledge it in dibs and drabs. I want it poured out on my head to where it consumes my whole body, right up to my lower lip. When I learn to navigate that knowledge, I want the process repeated.

I seek to crush all of my idols, that I may worship the True and Living God, even the Lord Jesus Christ with all of my might, mind, strength and my whole soul.

I rigorously seek truth, virtue and revelation. I have neither the patience, the time, nor the tolerance for any false idea, belief or thought that I hold, entertain or think. In the pursuit of truth I seek to ruthlessly discard, eradicate and exterminate any falsehood, falseness or deception that holds me captive.

This forces me to read the scriptures without preconceived notions and to face the verses that contradict, confront and challenge us as individuals and as a Church.

Truth can be difficult to find, discern and accept. It takes work, patience and diligence.

This blog is dedicated to my brothers and sisters, whom too, find themselves in this quest.

Gary Gibson

Doctrine and Covenants 52:14

And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived;