More Wisdom from Peter

2 Peter starts with some very wise counsel that is not really new, but is needed. Peter also puts it in a new way that can sometimes seem more inviting. In the first few verses Peter explains how we have been given everything we need to find eternal life and become "partakers of the divine nature" of God. He then invites us to escape "the corruption in the world" (2 Peter 1:4). That is all nice and dandy to read, but can we really apply it? I believe that escaping the corruption of the world comes in small steps. The next few verses go over the attributes that we will need to help us overcome the world, but I wonder what the application is for myself. I once went to a forum where the man speaking encouraged us to make a list of things that we will never ever give up, that we will do every day. He had small ones that he kept in his wallet and he checked it off every day. I made this list and I put it in my church journal, but the problem is that I recently have not been following it. Reading this has made me realize that I need to be following it if I wish to escape the corruption of the world. So that is how I will apply it.

We then read through a list, which Peter has created, of attributes to acquire in our search for eternal life. These include faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, kindness, and charity. Looking in Doctrine and Covenants 4 you can find almost the exact same list, but they add humility, hope, and an eye single to the glory of God. Also, the way that Peter presents it makes it more of a progression where you can work on one attribute and then the next until you reach charity. It makes it seem more reachable to develop all of these attributes. There are many things you can do to work on each of these attributes, but for me I would like to start with charity. I have learned that we must pray for charity and then earnestly seek it throughout our day if we wish to acquire it. So this will be my goal, I will pray and then seek.

Then Peter makes an interesting promise. He tells us if we do these things (develop these attributes) then we will not fall. He will continue to remind us of the attributes so that we can remember them. But if we truly acquire them in abundance then we will not fall, which is what we are all trying to do to escape the corruption of the world.

Why else would we need these attributes? In John we are told that if we come to know Christ then we are on our way to eternal life. In 3 Nephi we are told to become like Christ. If we try to become like Christ then we will come to know him better because we will be like him. Being like him will bring us eternal life because he was the greatest example and showed us the way. We must work on these attributes.

In 2 Peter 1:10 Peter mentions something a little curious. He tells us to diligently work "to make your calling and election sure". There is a final promise that God can give us. This is that promise. After we have worked hard and overcome the world and are consistently doing what is right then there may come a time when we will not go astray and that is when we can receive this promise of our calling and election made sure. It is a promise of the highest level of the celestial kingdom. It is a promise of eternal life. This is what we all seek. We must work diligently to become  like Christ so that we can receive the promise of eternal life.

Finally, in Peter chapter 1 Peter speaks of the scriptures. He tells us that the scriptures do not come by the will of man, but rather they come to men as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost. These scriptures will come in the time that the Lord wants them to come, not when we want them to. However, this means that to understand and interpret them then we must have the Holy Ghost because as Paul taught us, we cannot understand the things of the Holy Ghost without the help of the Holy Ghost. We turn to prophets and apostles for correct interpretations of scriptures. They will show us the way and what we need to know. We can come to understand a scripture ourselves though. In high school I often wondered about how to get rid of my pride. I found a scripture that I don't remember making sense at all when I first read it, but I knew that it would help me. So I kept looking at it and I waited patiently to understand. One day, I did understand. I was taught what I needed to know. I now turn to Alma 26:12 all the time to see that I have no need for pride because I do nothing of myself, it is all given to me by God. He has given me all of my talents and earthly possessions. I am nothing by myself. I learned for myself.

Overall, I think Peter is fantastic. I really enjoy reading his works and wish he had written more. However, I am given what I need, I just need to work now.

Peter's advice

A phrase that is often heard in this life is that life is not fair. Many people exclaim this phrase in frustration of the many trials they may be going through. It seems as if all they do is try to do good, but they become persecuted for  it and they are put through what feels like the heat of the fire. The truth is that life isn't fair. Everyday we each face something that seems to proclaim this to our lives. This makes things difficult. However, I testify that things will be better. We have the witness of Peter to help.

One of the best known lines from Peter is from 1 Peter 3:15, which says, "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." I love this line. Peter knows that we will be tempted and tested on every hand. But he also knows that we have a hope that can explain why we have become what we have become. So why are we still able to continue through trial? The simple answer is faith.

Each one of us knows the truth that after this life we look to a better one through Christ. We know that this life is not all there is; there will be more. We know that the Lord will bless us beyond belief if we are willing to do His will and follow Him. This becomes difficult not only because we have to defeat the natural man within us, but because the natural men around us persecute us. Often times those who are doing what is right are mocked and scorned because what they are doing is not popular. However, if they stay strong in their faith in Christ then they will be able to continue on. Peter tells us that the trial of our faith is much more precious than gold (1 Peter 1:7). If we are able to prove our commitment to the Lord then we will be blessed beyond compare. This is why we are tried. This is why life seems unfair at times. This is why it's worth it. This gospel is amazing. We are so blessed, but we take it for granted so much. The Lord loves us and wants the best for us. He will not try us beyond what we are able to bear. We only need to have faith and things will turn out alright. This is difficult in the moment, but always worth it. Never forget who you are or what you are trying to do. It is worth it.

Let Brotherly Love Continue

At the end of his epistle to the Hebrews Paul gives them some fantastic advice. He begins with telling them to "let brotherly love continue". That seems to be the general advice of the chapter and is demonstrated throughout the chapter.
The first thing Paul addresses is how to treat strangers and those who are in bonds. We are given the advice to treat them well because you never know what they will be able to give to you. A stranger may turn out to be an angel to you. I truly believe this. There are angels all around us who are there to help. We often miss them because we aren't willing to be kind to everyone. However, if we truly are kind to everyone then we will reap the benefits.
We next learn how important marriage is. It is an honorable thing and should be treated well. There are things that pertain to marriage that should be kept sacred to keep marriage honored. I believe that this is advice that the whole world would understand and I wonder why the world doesn't listen to it. Why do we not find marriage as sacred anymore?
Then we are taught to not be covetous. The way we are taught to not be covetous is interesting though. Paul reminds us that the Lord will  never leave us, nor forsake us. If we know that the Lord is with us and there for us in all we do then we will not want for anything more. It turns out that the Lord is truly all we need. Why would we covet something else if we have what is already great and will help us reach eternal life? With the Lord we shall not fear, but we will be content and faithful. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It is through his blood that we are sanctified. He is constant and saving.
So how should we treat those who rule over us? We should listen to them and obey them. We should submit ourselves to helping them. I take this in the idea of a bishopric or even just our parents. They are watching out for us and want us to succeed. They may also be able to see farther than we can so they are worth listening to. As a result we should pray for them. We should pray for apostles and prophets. We should try to help those who are constantly trying to help us.
Mostly we just need to remember the Lord and those around us. If we love others and the Lord then we will be able to help each other throughout this life. We will keep our eyes on the goal and be able to do the Lord's will. Thank you Paul for this advice!

What's with Titus?

Titus has always been one of those curious books in the Bible to me. It seemed as if it would be really cool because of it's name, but I never took the time time understand what's in it. Now I have.
Before really studying the book of Titus we should know who Titus is. He is a faithful man who was left in Crete by Paul to set things in order and to ordain elders. In fact, he was converted by Paul, traveled with him, carried the Corinthian letters to Corinth, often visited Paul in prison, and was sent on missions. At this point I am surprised that I have never heard much about Titus. Oh well. This letter is to help Titus get the saints in Crete in order. Titus is made a bishop and given many instructions from Paul.
Paul goes through a list of qualities that a bishop should possess. I think it would be a good idea if all saints possessed most of these as well. It's like a list you can go to when you know you need to work on something. Here it is: blameless, not self-willed, not easily angered, not given to wine, not abusive, not given to filthiness or greediness, loves hospitality, loves good men, sober, just, holy, temperate, holds fast to the word, subject to principalities and powers, obey magistrates, ready for good works, don't speak evil of man, gentle, shows meekness, is baptized and receives the Holy Ghost. What a list! My favorite point is to be ready for good works. I feel like sometimes in my life I am not ready to serve. I think, "oh I can serve later. I don't have time or thought for that now." This shouldn't be. We should always be ready to serve and help each other whenever we can. We just have to make the time.
As it turns out Titus was given a pretty steep job. The Cretans were not the kindest of people. In fact, sometimes their name is still used to describe someone who is greedy or seems inhuman in their actions. Some problems listed are: unruly, vain talkers, deceivers, teaching false doctrines for money, liars, evil beasts, slow bellies, defiled and unbelieving, deny God in works, and disobedience. Learning more about slow bellies we find out that they would get as much money as they could so they wouldn't have to do anything and could just sit around and eat, giving them large bellies. This sounds awful familiar to me... I feel as if we often have many of the same problems in our world today. It's like Titus was sent to us.
So Paul gives him some counsel. He tells him to speak of sound doctrine that it may make the aged sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, charity, and patience. The hope then is that the aged will teach the young. He believes that this can happen through sound doctrine. That's amazing! It's just like President Packer says, that true doctrine changes behavior. I love this! I am learning about the doctrines of the gospel right now and it's true. They make me want to change what is wrong in my life. Especially after I learn about Christ's sacrifice. As it turns out, he sacrificed himself for me. He saved me. I cannot be saved except through his mercy, it is the only way. If he was willing to do that for me, how much more should I be willing to do for him? That's what I take away from this doctrine. I love what I have learned through this gospel!
This is mostly what I found Titus to be about. It is some very good advice from Paul. I don't know a lot about history, but someday I hope to know how well Titus succeeded. He must have been a great man spending so much time with Paul. I'm grateful for his willingness to serve even in difficult circumstances. It inspires me to serve more.

Then Sings My Soul!

                In our lives we are always told to feast upon the words of Christ to know what we should do (2 Nephi 32:3). I believe that this is one of those things that we all know we should do, but we don’t do as often as we should. The truth is that the scriptures contain the answers to some of life’s hardest questions. In my New Testament studies this week I took just a few of life’s hardest questions and tried to address them. This is about what I found.

                First question: What do we do about arguing over petty matters in our lives? Is that ok? In Philippians chapter 2 we are given some advice from Paul. He tells us that we should have love for one another. We need to become of one mind and one accord through our love for one another. If we are constantly bickering and complaining about small petty matters that don’t mean much then we will never become one. We must love each other enough to listen and to take advice from each other. We must be humble in our dealings with each other. If we are not humble then we will not listen and we will find ourselves better than others. This draws us away from the unity we need. Also, I believe the biggest thing is to realize Christ. Realize who he is and what he has done. There is a bigger picture than whether the dishes are put away in your own apartment. There are lives to be touched and friends to be lifted.  “Do all things without murmurings and disputing” (Philippians 2:14). The words of Paul speak for themselves.

                Second question: Is it ok to live on a “borrowed” testimony from your parents? How do I help my children understand that they need their own testimony? This can also be answered in Philippians chapter 2. In this chapter the Lord lets us know that He wants to work through us. However, the Lord cannot work through us if we do not know Him. How are we to help in the work if we do not know the Lord and have a testimony for ourselves of His divinity and love for each of us? Also, one day we all must stand before God and be judged. We will not be able to rehearse our “borrowed” testimony and just check it off. Heavenly Father knows us. He knows who we are and what we have become. He will know if we are simply living off of what we have been able to glean from our parents or whether we know it for ourselves. We cannot lie to the Lord. We must become.

                Third question: What do you tell an investigator who wants to join the church, but will be disowned from his family if he does? Paul’s advice to this can be found in Philippians chapters 3 and 4. Paul gives his own thoughts on the things of this world compared to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul has lost everything and it is surprising that he is even still alive, so I believe he is worth listening to. Paul tells us that all things are dung compared to Christ. This seems harsh at first. He just called family dung! He just called a career dung! He just called absolutely everything that we may have sought for in this life dung! Can we really listen to this man?! This is where I give a resounding YES! Don’t get me wrong, I love my family very, very much! However, compared to what Christ offers and is willing to give me they begin to pale. He offers freedom! He offers forgiveness! He offers understanding! He offers the way to eternal life! What more could one want? If we must live without a family here on Earth then it will be very difficult, but to live as God lives for eternity is worth it. In Philippians 4:13 we read, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Christ has the power and ability to help us through anything. He is there not only for repentance, but to help strengthen us in our trials. He builds us up when we fall down. He takes who we are and makes us better and allows us to conquer all of the challenges in the world. We must have faith and then he will help us stand. We may be in the dark corners of the world and feel as if we do not have the strength to stand or go any farther and our Savior will pick us up and carry us to the sunlight where we will find hope and the ability to go on. Nothing is impossible with the Lord on our side. This is what we need to remember. It may be difficult now, but it will be better and we will receive strength.

                Every day of my life I turn to the words of the Lord for guidance. I can testify that they will truly lead you to where you need to go. If you truly wish to find help then you will not be denied. That is the blessing that Nephi was speaking of. I know what to do because He has helped me. He has told the world and I have found what He wanted me to find. The gospel is truly amazing!

In Romans we receive a lot of good advice from Paul. He tells the saints, which is what he often called the members of the church, what they need to know. One important thing that he tells them is that salvation is nearer than we may think (Romans 13:11). So if it's so close how do we attain it? The answer sounds simple: we must continue in righteousness. However, when we read Ezekiel 3:20 this sounds much less simple and even more necessary. Ezekiel tells us that as soon as we turn from righteousness we begin to doom ourselves. If we turn away and then unexpectedly die our righteousness will not be remembered, it is what we have become that counts, not what we used to be. However, if we endure to the end we will have eternal life. Thus, it is important to endure to the end. The going will get tough, but we must keep going!
In Romans 12-13 Paul gives us a list of things that will help lead us to salvation. Here is what I found:
12:1  Present our bodies as a living sacrifice (dedicate our lives to Him)
12:2  Don't conform to the world
12:9  Love sincerely. Abhor evil and cling to good.
12:13  Give to the saints in need
12:16  Be equal to all. Be humble.
12:21  Overcome evil with good
13:1  Be subject to the power of God
13:3  Do that which is good
13:8  Love one another
13:9  Love thy neighbor as thyself. Keep the commandments
 This list isn't long, but it has plenty to work on. Each one is a matter of becoming something and will not happen in a day. So I believe that Paul has provided us with a list that will keep us busy for quite some time.

That is not the end of Paul's advice in Romans though. In chapter 14 he instructs to some length about judging. It seems as if his first instruction is to not judge someone that isn't under your own jurisdiction. This means that we cannot decide someone's salvation if we have not been given that power so we shouldn't judge them in this matter at all. Christ is our judge and if we judge someone and by doing so give them a stumbling block then we have overstepped our judging boundaries. So we must always be careful in judgement that we are not tearing someone down. We shouldn't worry so much about how "Joe" looks before the judgement bar because we will all stand before God and account for what we have done and Christ will be our judge. He will judge righteously and with all knowledge, which is one thing that we lack for one another. We don't know everything about a person's circumstances. We cannot judge what we do not know. In Doctrine and Covenants 38:25-27 we learn that we must become one. We cannot become one if we are constantly thinking of each other as better or worse than another. We must not do this, but only build each other up. If you see something that should be fixed you help try and fix it. Don't think you are better than the problem and would have never had the problem yourself, give a hand to try and fix the problem with the guidance of the Holy Ghost. If we can do this then we will be on our way to becoming one without making improper judgements.

Faith and Abraham through Paul

In Romans 3-5 we learn a lot about faith, grace, and good works. In these chapters we learn that man is justified through faith and not through works. It is purely through faith in Jesus Christ and what he has done that we can come to stand before God and be justified, wiped clean. However, we cannot discount works. Romans 2:13 tells us that doers of the law shall be justified. We are not justified because of our workings in the law but rather because what we have done has caused us to have faith unto repentance to become justified. Paul tells us "glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good works" (Romans 2:10). Through faith in the grace of Christ we can become rid of the fallen man, but through good works we can become like unto God. So it's not that we only need either faith or good works. We need both. However, we must realize that none of it is possible without the grace of Jesus Christ. Without his sacrifice we would be no where and have nothing. We would be fallen and the Plan of Salvation would not have been realized. It is essential!
While teaching about faith Paul used the example of Abraham. First of all, Abraham was a righteous man and had faith without being circumcised, which would have been a good point for their arguments back in that time. However, Abraham plays another important role in faith. When Abraham was about 100 years old and his wife about the same he was told that he would have seed through his wife Sara, who was close to the same age. Sara had never been able to have children. So how could it be? Paul tells us that Abraham "staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in the faith, giving glory to God"(Romans 4:20). Wow! This is why Abraham is used as an example! Most of us can in some way relate to this story. We have known those who have been unable to bear children and we can see how it may be easy to lose faith that you will ever have children. The circumstances of Abraham and Sara are amazing! They still believed! Abraham and Sara to me are the ultimate example of faith. What more could you want? They are simply amazing!
So how does this story (Romans 4:19-22) relate to my life? I actually have a recent experience relating this story to my life. Not too long ago there was an article in the Ensign with this story. I had skipped over the article, but one day one of my roommates told me how much she had enjoyed the article. So I skimmed through it. I reached the story of Abraham and Sara and decided to read it. In my life for the past little while I have been given a challenge. I have come upon a situation that I have often tried to get out of because it sometimes causes me pain. To get out of it I would just have to push it from my mind and move on, which of course is much more difficult than it sounds. However, the pain I have felt has been great enough that I have been willing to do it. So I often pray for strength in pushing this from my mind if it is right. I have made decisions and proceeded and begun on my course. However, within just a few moments of these decisions and prayers I have received the knowledge that it is not time for me to move on and push things from my mind despite the pain I feel. I feel that things will be ok. The hard part is that I don't know how. The situation doesn't seem like it will ever work out in any way that will be ok with me continuing. I ask myself why and how. I cannot see the end. This is where Abraham and Sara come in. They could not see the end. They did not understand how, but they knew that it must be and that the Lord would keep His promises. So they had faith! They had faith that the Lord has power to do all things! Even when it seems impossible He can come in and make it possible! I do not know how or even what is supposed to happen in my life, but I can testify that the Lord knows. He has a plan that sees a lot farther than I can. His plans began a long time ago and they may continue well into the future. However, because of the faith of Abraham and Sara I can say that His plans will be fulfilled. I can have faith! I can know that no matter how I feel now the Lord has a plan for me. I feel assured that it is a plan of great joy and happiness for I know that there is opposition in all things and the only thing that can follow such pain for such a period of time can only be great happiness. I don't know how or in what form that happiness will come, but just as Issac came I know that it will come. That is why the story of Abraham and Sara means so much to me.