57:21-22 - "...yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness..."
These sons of Helaman were obedient with exactness to what their mothers said and also to their leader, Helaman. It was their efforts and faith in the Lord that opened the Nephites up to being blessed with a victory.
Obedience is essential, and so is honoring parents. They have more experience than us, and have wise insights.
57:26 - "...and now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power..."
This shows the importance in giving credit where credit is due, as well as being grateful for the help. This will lead to humility.
When we are humble and give that credit where it is due, we will open ourselves up to seeing and recognizing more and more of the hand of God in our lives.
57:26 - "...and now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power..."
Faith is a great power. If we have faith, we act differently. We trust differently. And we can be guided differently.
If we want to be guided by the Lord, we must act in faith, keeping the commandments to open ourselves up to more of the gift of faith.
56:10-11 - "...for behold, his army had been reduced by the Lamanites because their forces had slain a vast number of our men, for which cause we have to mourn. Nevertheless, we may console ourselves in this point, that they have died in the cause of their country and of their God, yea, and they are happy..."
Good people die, too. Life is eternal, so death is only a small separation. Many times people have given their life so that other people may have freedom. We must have this attitude as we move forward, being willing to give our life for others.
56:46 - "...Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall..."
These 'sons' had faith in God. Great faith. They knew that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. This is the kind of faith that we need to have and teach to our own sons and daughters, and we will have that deliverance.
56:47-48 - "...now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it..."
Sister Julie B. Beck talked about this in the November 2007 Ensign, pg. 76-78. "The responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. More than at any time in the history of the world, we need mothers who know...When mothers know who they are and who God is and have made covenants with Him, they will have great power and influence for good on their children."
We must understand true doctrine, apply it, and teach it to our children.
If I want to have a spouse who knows how to teach our children through instruction and example, I must do the same.
55:23 - "...and thus they saw that the Nephites had power over them; and in these circumstances they found that it was not expedient that they should fight with the Nephites..."
Not expedient...? No kidding - you're surrounded! The Lamanites recognized that they would not win, so they delivered up their weapons of war, asking for mercy.
Sometimes we need to realize that our situation makes it unwise to continue in our activity. We need to realize when it is "not expedient" to continue. Perhaps at that time we're trying to run faster than we have strength. We must be careful to have the Spirit with us at all times so we can avoid those situations.
55:31 - "...but behold, the Nephites were not slow to remember the Lord their God in this their time of affliction. They could not be taken in their snares; yea, they would not partake of their wine, save they had first given to some of the Lamanite prisoners..."
If the wine would poison a Lamanite, it would also poison a Nephite. We need to keep this in mind as we look at movies, music, media, an other similar situations. If it will poison a kid, it can also poison an adult.
We need to put ourselves and our homes into situations where we will not be poisoned.
55:31-32 - "...but behold, the Nephites were not slow to remember the Lord their God in this their time of affliction..."
When we have faith in the Lord and are not slow to remember Him, then we will have the help we need to recognize and avoid temptation.
54:9 - "...and now behold, we are prepared to receive you; yea, and except you withdraw your purposes, behold, ye will pull down the wrath of that God whom you have rejected upon you, even to your utter destruction..."
This sounds very unpleasant! Moroni was a firm witness of God - making sure that the Lamanites understood that they should fear God more than the Nephite armies.
Meekness is power under control, for which Moroni was a good example. We must also be meek and bold.
54:10 - "...for we will retain our cities and our lands; yea, and we will maintain our religion and the cause of our God..."
When you're fighting for a righteous cause, it's a lot easier to have faith that you will be sustained in this cause.
We just need to make sure that if we're taking sides in a battle that we're on the Lord's side - even if that means removing ourselves from the battle.
54:21 - "...and as concerning that God whom ye say we have rejected, behold, we know not such a being; neither do ye..."
This was very similar to what Korihor taught (Alma 30:48). It is interesting to see how much Satan tries to teach and have people teach that there is no God or no Christ. If there is no God, there is no law, or no reason to have the law and commandments.
We must correctly understand the doctrine of the Character of God, which means that we have the potential to become like Him. When we have this understanding, we will do what we can to keep the commandments and reject teachings that say that God does not exist and that we can't know that He is there for us.
53:9-10 - "...yea, because of dissensions and intrigue among themselves they were placed in the most dangerous circumstances..."
With the dissensions and intrigue and iniquity, they were in dangerous circumstances. We see many examples of people, even today, trying to use secret combinations to get gain and intrigue. This places them in dangerous circumstances, as well as those around them.
We must live the opposite lifestyle in order to come unto Christ and live in better circumstances.
Iniquity => Total Honesty
Dissension => Unselfishness, Equality
Intrigue => Proper Communication
As we live these opposites, we will see the difference in our lives.
53:15 - "...and Helaman feared lest by so doing they should lose their souls; therefore all those who had entered into this covenant were compelled to behold their brethren wade through their afflictions, in their dangerous circumstances at this time..."
The people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi put their covenants above the problems. It's an issue of faith. Do we trust the Lord enough to keep the covenants we make with Him?
These men had made a covenant to not lift up their swords, but were tempted to break the covenant for a seemingly good cause - to help their brethren defend themselves!
We must be careful to not break our own covenants, even if it seems to be for a good cause at the time. Having that faith will help us to keep the rest of the covenants and commandments and help us develop more faith and obedience.
53:20-21 - "...and they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him..."
These sons of Helaman were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted, because they were taught to keep the commandments, and they did!
We must take their example and keep the commandments. It's not enough to know that the church is true - we must also be true to the church and the Lord, who is the leader of that church.
52:1 - "...they also saw that Teancum was ready to give them battle on that day..."
Teancum stood ready to give battle.
We must always be ready to defend ourselves against Satan and his followers.
52:19 - "...Moroni and Teancum and many of the chief captains held a council of war..."
This shows the importance of organizational meetings. We need a good plan of attack or plan of procedure. Some people may complain about too many meetings, but if we are not organized before starting on a project or venture, it will take longer.
52:37 - "...now Moroni seeing their confusion, he said unto them: If ye will bring forth your weapons of war and deliver them up, behold we will forbear shedding your blood..."
Moroni was not bloodthirsty, and he had faith that if he gave them the chance, the Lamanites would choose life.
We must seek to give other people similar chances, even though these chances will most likely not mean sparing somebody's life, but giving them the opportunity to remove themselves from destructive behavior.
51:2 - "...there were a part of the people who desired that a few particular points of the law should be altered..."
A few points of the law to be altered?? They wanted to change the law to allow a King! That's much more drastic than altering the law to allow, say, free trade of obsidian or something like that.
The Brother of Jared said that having a king would lead to captivity (Ether 6:23). And it does.
We must be careful to carefully review when people say they want to change a "few particular points of the law" - that these alterations do not lead us down a path of captivity.
51:36 - "...and [Teancum] caused that his armies should stand in readiness..."
Teancum realized that the Lamanites could come upon them at any moment, so he had his armies stand in readiness.
We need to stand in readiness at all times against Satan and his followers, because temptations can come at any time.
51:36 - "...and [Teancum] caused that his armies should stand in readiness..."
This is another act of faith. Teancum had just done what he could to break up the Lamanite leadership, and then realized that he had to stand ready in case of retaliation. He realized that if he stood prepared that by acting in faith, the Lord would help them withstand any attacks or possibly avert them. In this case, they avoided an attack because the Lamanites ran off.
If we act in faith and stand in readiness, we will be prepared for whatever the outcome may be.
