Give us this day our daily bread

Sorry for the long layoff - traveling for business.

So, I'm officially as stressed about work/life as I've ever been. There is so much to do, and I don't know how I can get it all done.

Luckily, I just listened to Elder Christofferson's talk about the Lord providing daily bread.

http://lds.org/broadcasts/languages/ces-fireside/2011/01?lang=eng

It was the best explanation of "give us this day our daily bread" and why that is important and necessary. It was very helpful.

Speaking of that, this weekend we get to hear from the Apostles and Prophets themselves. That helps sustain as well. In the New Testament the Apostles are told that they "will do even greater things than these (things Jesus did)."

Elder Holland has commented on this and said that perhaps the only way he could do something greater than the Savior is that he could spread the message further than Christ did during his time. If we have ears to hear, those messages will provide living bread and water.

Enjoy conference. Here's a couple more verses about listening to the prophet:

4Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give ^aheed unto all his words and ^bcommandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all ^choliness before me;

5For his ^aword ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.

6For by doing these things the ^agates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of^bdarkness from before you, and cause the heavens to ^cshake for your ^dgood, and his name’s ^eglory.

7For thus saith the Lord God: Him have I inspired to move the cause of ^aZion in mighty power for good, and his diligence I know, and his prayers I have heard.

8Yea, his weeping for Zion I have seen, and I will cause that he shall mourn for her no longer; for his days of rejoicing are come unto the ^aremission of his sins, and the manifestations of my blessings upon his works.

D.C. 76

Skipping back to D.C. today:

This is in the preface to D.C. 76:

“Upon my return from Amherst conference, I resumed the translation of the Scriptures. From sundry revelations which had been received, it was apparent that many important points touching the salvation of man had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled. It appeared self-evident from what truths were left, that if God rewarded every one according to the deeds done in the body the term ‘Heaven,’ as intended for the Saints’ eternal home, must include more kingdoms than one. Accordingly, … while translating St. John’s Gospel, myself and Elder Rigdon saw the following vision” (History of the Church,1:245). It was after the Prophet had translated John 5:29 that this vision was given.

Joseph had an incredibly open mind about doctrinal topics. It's an interesting conclusion to make: "the Bible is missing a lot about salvation, there's got to be more to the story." I think Joseph Smith gives another good example here about how to learn.

D.C. 76:1

1^aHear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, and rejoice ye inhabitants thereof, for the Lord is ^bGod, and beside him there is^cno ^dSavior.

Interesting that heaven was supposed to hear this revelation as well. That doesn't happen too often.

D.C. 76:5-10 - This is kind of long, but it's very powerful. Think about these promises for those who serve the Lord to the end:

5For thus saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am ^amerciful and gracious unto those who ^bfear me, and delight to honor those who ^cserve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end.

6Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their ^aglory.

7And to them will I ^areveal all ^bmysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come, will I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom.

8Yea, even the wonders of ^aeternity shall they know, and things to come will I show them, even the things of many generations.

9And their ^awisdom shall be great, and their ^bunderstanding reach to heaven; and before them the wisdom of the wise shall ^cperish, and the understanding of the ^dprudent shall come to naught.

10For by my ^aSpirit will I ^benlighten them, and by my ^cpower will I make known unto them the ^dsecrets of my ^ewill—yea, even those things which ^feye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man.

Armor of God

I'll post a bit on this over the next couple weeks since that's our Sacrament speaking topic in two weeks. I think the most useful thing I could do is try to take this idea that can be somewhat abstract and make it as tangible as possible. How do we put it on? What are the results of putting it on? Or not putting it on?

Here's the verses in D.C. 27 (also in Ephesians 6)

15Wherefore, ^alift up your hearts and ^brejoice, and ^cgird up your loins, and take upon you my whole ^darmor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to^estand.

16Stand, therefore, having your loins ^agirt about with ^btruth, having on the ^cbreastplate of ^drighteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the ^egospel of ^fpeace, which I have sent mine ^gangels to commit unto you;

17Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the ^afiery darts of the wicked;

18And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of my ^aSpirit, which I will pour out upon you, and my word which I reveal unto you, and be agreed as touching all things whatsoever ye ask of me, and be faithful until I come, and ye shall be ^bcaught up, that where I am ye shall be ^calso. Amen.

I'm not sure how to work it in yet, but there's got to be a reason this comes in the same section that principally talks about the Sacrament including the Sacrament meeting that will be held with the Savior at Adam-ondi-Ahman.

Here's a good quote about the armor of God by N. Eldon Tanner.

“Examine your armor. Is there an unguarded or unprotected place? Determine now to add whatever part is missing. … Through the great principle of repentance you can turn your life about and begin now clothing yourself with the armor of God through study, prayer, and a determination to serve God and keep his commandments.

It comes from this Ensign article: it's got some good thoughts:http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=588cb9b658f5e110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

Repeating verse 15 again:

15Wherefore, ^alift up your hearts and ^brejoice, and ^cgird up your loins, and take upon you my whole ^darmor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to^estand.

I think "whole armor" is an important word. How many people have we lost because they were unprotected in a couple of areas? My aunt's husband was a great guy in many areas but had a weakness for thinking about other women. My good friend from home was good at a lot of things, including serving in his callings and he was very sharp and easy to talk to, but he was not good at scripture reading or being with his wife and made a couple big mistakes. The kid one year older than me in my ward that I thought was most likely to serve a mission out of his family of all his brothers (i.e., bore his testimony a lot; really loved the church) did not because he had a long-time girlfriend and married her instead. Recently I noticed he got a tattoo.

Jesus talks about the whole armor in the sermon on the mount. Throughout Matthew 5 he mentions living what we often refer to as "the higher law". I don't know that I love that characterization. He's essentially helping people avoid the "larger mistakes" listed in the 10 commandments by saying, "don't do things that get you on the path to breaking these larger commandments."

Also, the whole armor of God is definitely necessary "that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to^estand."

I'm not exactly sure what the "evil day" is. Perhaps it's these days in general b/c they're a time where wickedness is very easy to find. Or perhaps, it's the very last days in which evil will be so bad the Lord will decide to come to save the righteous from faltering. Or perhaps, it's referring to our specific, individual "evil days". We all have days where difficult or even evil things happen to us or around us and we need to be able to withstand on that particular day.

I think I'll try to mention the different aspects of life that we need to protect that are mentioned by the armor of God section, and how we protect them. Stories will be important to illustrate points. I think this topic in particular can easily be too abstract and not help an individual as much as it otherwise could.

Enjoy your Sunday.

LaDon