2:11 - "...now the people of Amlici were distinguished by the name of Amlici, being called Amlicites; and the remainder were called Nephites, or the people of God..."
What name do we take upon ourselves? Do we take upon us the name of Christ? What other names? Are those names worth having?
In my case, I am absolutely happy with the names I have. While I was given some of the names at birth, other ones I have taken as I have lived here on Earth. So far I think my favorite one is "husband", followed closely by "father"...but I also am happy with "son", "brother", and any of the family-related names that I have. I am also happy with my given names - Adam, being named after the first man on Earth, and Gedeborg, our family name. I also am happy with my middle name, Lee, which has taken on more meaning as my wife has family that also have the name of Lee.
One of the most important names that I have taken upon myself is the name of Christ - which I did when I was baptized in 1992.
We should be happy with the names we have taken on ourselves...if we aren't, then perhaps some changes to our lifestyle should be made.
2:28 - "...nevertheless, the Nephites being strengthened by the hand of the Lord, having prayed mightily to him that he would deliver them out of the hands of their enemies, therefore the Lord did hear their cries, and did strengthen them..."
The Lord is ready and willing to help us to succeed...we just need to put our faith in Him and cry unto Him. Then we need to trust Him. Sometimes He will help, sometimes not...but we need to be ready to do a lot more than we expect. Of course, it depends on the situation, but still we need to work hard and trust the Lord.
2:30 - "...and it came to pass that Alma, being a man of God, being exercised with much faith, cried, saying: O Lord, have mercy and spare my life, that I may be an instrument in thy hands to save and preserve this people..."
When we strive to be men and women of God, and have a righteous cause, our faith will be stronger in being able to ask God for help in relation to this cause. Our will becomes His will, through faith.
1:25 - "...now this was a great trial to those that did stand fast in the faith; nevertheless, they were steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of God, and they bore with patience the persecution which was heaped upon them..."
We receive trials of our faith so that we can grow and come closer to Christ, becoming like Him. It does take faith, which is the point. We will go through tough times, but if we stay strong, we will come closer to Christ.
1:26 - "...and when the priest had imparted unto them the word of God they all returned again diligently unto their labors; and the priest, not esteeming himself above his hearers, for the preacher was no better than the hearer, neither was the teacher any better than the learner; and thus they were all equal, and they did all labor, every man according to his strength..."
Wee should not think that we are better than our teachers, but rather look to build each other up, no matter who or where we are. As we do so, we gain so much more of the Spirit of Zion.
1:29-31 - "...and now, because of the steadiness of the church they began to be exceedingly rich...and thus, in their prosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were naked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon riches..."
Normally when the people got rich, they became wicked. However, in this case, they still kept the commandments and a more eternal perspective. As we work to keep our own eternal perspective, we will come to realize that riches are absolutely pointless...unless our lives are in order. Then we will use those riches to help others and build them up, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and help others to come unto Christ.
Really...just about anything is pointless unless our lives are in order.
29:5-39 - "...and he also unfolded unto them all the disadvantages they labored under, by having an unrighteous king to rule over them..."
King Mosiah outlined lot of good points about government, but the key, in my opinion, really comes in verse 35, where he unfolds the disadvantages.
When we go to make a decision, we need to look at all the sides of the decision - the advantages and the disadvantages. Then we are more able to make an informed decision, and then take the decision to the Lord for confirmation. This is what is meant by the phrase, "Study it out in your mind (D&C 9:8-9).
29:12-13 - "...for the judgments of God are always just, but the judgments of man are not always just..."
If we could always have righteous people to lead us, then a King is the perfect choice. That's somewhat how it will be like with the Lord and the Millennium. Granted, the hierarchy will also include leaders and reporting back, I'm sure...but it all comes back to Christ, who accomplished the atonement for us.
When judging others...we really should forgive them and let God do the judging as much as possible. There are situations where we are still called upon to judge (such as a judge in Court, or a Bishop / church leader). However, if somebody has wronged us personally, we should forgive and leave the judgment to those who should do the judging.
29:19-20 - "...and were it not for the interposition of their all-wise Creator, and this because of their sincere repentance, they must unavoidably remain in bondage until now..."
The Lord had brought them out of bondage because they repented. Until we repent, we will remain in our own personal bondage. We should repent as quickly as possible and stop wallowing in that bondage.
28:1-2 - "...that they might impart the word of God to their brethren, the Lamanites..."
The sons of Mosiah went to preach to the Lamanites. This would take a lot of faith...the Lamanites were "ferocious." However, when we act in faith, especially for seemingly difficult or impossible tasks, we will see miracles happen in our lives.
28:3 - "...they could not bear that any human soul should perish..."
This is the attitude that we should all have...if we have the attitude that we cannot bear that anyone should perish, then we will treat everybody in the best possible way...doing all we can to help them return and live with God. This includes our 'enemies' as well as our 'friends.'
28:18 - "...now this account did cause the people of Mosiah to mourn exceedingly, yea, they were filled with sorrow; nevertheless it gave them much knowledge, in the which they did rejoice..."
This account refers to the Jaredite record, which could be pretty depressing to read, considering that an entire nation of people was destroyed through wickedness. However, it depends on our attitude while reading and the content while reading. If we are gaining in knowledge, often it will be a cause for rejoicing. However, if the content of the account includes some very sad materiel, then it could be a cause for great sorrow.
It would be great if all that we read caused us to rejoice...but we can still learn from the sorrowful accounts.
27:14 - "...he has prayed with much faith...for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God..."
There's much we can do through our prayers if we pray in faith. Many times the blessings are thre and the only reason they don't come is because we don't pray in faith. The more we do pray in faith and see the blessings come, the more faith we will have.
27:20-24 - "...and he caused that the priests should assemble themselves together; and they began to fast, and to pray to the Lord their God that he would open the mouth of Alma..."
Alma prayed for his son...and I'm sure he did so very often.
Sister Mary N. Cook talked about this in the November 2007 Ensign, pg. 11-13. She said that in order to strengthen our home and family, we should ask ourselves, "Who in my family could benefit from my personal prayers?" Sometimes it's pretty obvious, such as the case of Alma the Younger. Other times it's not very obvious, but just as desperately needed. We need to be ready at these times and at all times to listen to the Spirit, pray as directed at times, and help those who need our help in other ways, as directed. This will strengthen our homes and families.
27:25-27 - "...all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again..."
Not only is it a good thing to be born of God...it is essential. If we do not repent, we will be cut off. If we do repent, then we can inherit the Kingdom of God. It's really our choice...and we make the decision through our attitudes and behaviors.
27:36 - "...they were instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer..."
It is our glory to be instruments in the hands of God (Alma 29:9). We should always seek to be instruments in the hands of God in order to help those around us in the way He wants us to.
26:3 - "...because of their unbelief they could not understand the word of God; and their hearts were hardened..."
If we continue to doubt the Word of God, it makes things worse, because doubt and fear cannot exist at the same time.
If we want to progress and learn more, we must work on developing more faith and eliminate doubt.
26:24 - "...if they know me, they shall come forth...in my name are they called..."
We show that we have taken upon us His name by "knowing" him...or in other words, by coming forth and acting on our knowledge. If we do this, we will have a place eternally at His right hand.
26:31 - "...ye shall also forgive one another your trespasses..."
If we do not forgive one another, we do not have true faith. We are telling the Lord that we don't believe Him when He says that the sinner can repent. This can be dangerous, because with the same judgment that we "mete", it shall be "meted" upon us.
We must have faith enough in the Lord that He will forgive sinners and have faith enough in our fellow man to also forgive them.
Some may say, "Well, this person has done something horrible, and I don't want them near my family." There is a difference between natural consequences and forgiveness. In the case of child molestation, for example, while it is definitely possible and essential to forgive the transgressor, it would not be wise to let them be alone with children.
Each circumstance is its own circumstance, and we cannot give a blanket judgment over all similar situations. However, it is important to realize that we must forgive, even if the consequences may put us in a situation that it may look like we have not forgiven the person. God will look on our hearts and at the last day the judgment will be just.
25:15-16 - "...Alma did speak unto them...preaching unto the people repentance and faith on the Lord...[and] that they should remember that it was the Lord that did deliver them..."
An integral part of faith is remembering. We should remember that it is the Lord who delivers us, and we can have faith that He will deliver us was we are working and striving to be a true disciple. Often this doesn't mean that our trials will be taken away from us, but that we will be strengthened in our afflictions and trials.
We must have faith that all things will work for our good.
25:16 - "...he did exhort [them] that they should remember that it was the Lord that did deliver them..."
We need to remember that it is the Lord who delivers us, as we make the appropriate actions. There is no way that we can do it all on our own. We need His help, and we should be humble as we remember this. Grace is not a safety net that will catch us if we fall...it is an enabling power that makes it so we can walk in the first place. Calling it a safety net implies that we can make it on our own, and we can't. It is impossible. Through the grace and atonement of Jesus Christ, we are able to have the possibility of returning to God and living with Him forever.
We must do our part, yes, but we cannot save ourselves even after "all we can do."
25:22 - "...notwithstanding there being many churches, they were all one church..."
It is fantastic to go to another chapel anywhere in the world and see the same doctrines and principles being taught. The way the church coordinates the lessons and teachings is fantastic, as it encourages learning but also avoids a lot of false teachings.
We need to realize that while the teachings at different chapels is very similar all over the world, each person receives revelation differently. We may have the same lesson topics, but each person receives a different message from the Holy Ghost.
It's the same...and it's different. That's how it works.
We must always follow the Spirit so we receive the revelation intended for us.
