33j - The Resurrected Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America

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In the Garden of Gethsemane -by Harry Anderson

On the Cross at Calgary -by Harry Anderson

To read TODAY'S THEME I want you to read the scripture  just below this paragraph. It gives an account of the time when our Savior, Jesus Christ instituted His sacred ordinance of the Sacrament among His Nephite followers. He taught them the meaning of the Sacrament. These two paintings remind of us of that sacred meaning. (For maximum effect I suggest you use the Listen feature of LDS Scriptures.)

III Nephi 18:1-39

In that which you just read (and most likely listened to) you learned that the Lord Jesus Christ attached the utmost importance to His followers taking the Sacrament and doing so as worthy, baptized members of His church.

You are welcome to read and listen to that again right now if you feel you haven't really yet felt the strong impact of what was taught by our Savior to one of His "flocks", the Nephites of ancient America.

In those verses the Savior was speaking to the people of the Nephite Nation who were blessed so greatly that their righteousness extended through their posterity for about 200 years. Taking the Sacrament (of the Lord's Supper) worthily was certainly one of necessary factors in bringing that great history about.

The Lord, Jesus Christ in our day (in 1830) had His first latter-day prophet, Joseph Smith, translate the Book of Mormon for our use which includes the use of those descendants of Father Lehi in our day who have been baptized as members of the Lord's re-established church, whose ancestors had fallen away from the truth after those blessed (approximate) 200 years. Leaders and other authorized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was organized in the same year the Book of Mormon was published, learned from the Book of Mormon these sacramental prayers and used them regularly (They were the same sacramental prayers that were offered by His Nephite disciples and others authorized by them.)

Here is the prayer Jesus taught them (and us through the Book of Mormon) in blessing the bread:

Moroni 4: 3 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

And in administering the wine:

Moroni 5:2 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

Later, the Lord revealed to His latter-day prophet, Joseph Smith, these identical words of the Sacrament prayers as He did to the Nephites as described above. However, the Prophet Joseph Smith was later instructed, by the Lord for wise purposes, to use water instead of wine.

Having grown up in an active LDS family(See my Post 28) taking the Sacrament has been an important weekly event for me all my life. At just less than one month from my Seventy Seventh birthday I can tell you that my determination to do what the Lord expects of me has been regularly reinforced by the effect the regular partaking of the Sacrament, has had on me. I know why the Lord emphasized the importance of this ordinance from my own personal experience.

While my wife, Melva and I served as senior missionaries for the LDS Church in Finland from 2004 to 2006 we learned to appreciate much more the crucial importance of the sacrament from our experiences we had with Brother Kale Kokkonen, a faithful church member. Because of age-related physical problems,Veli (Finnish for the word, Brother) Kokkonen couldn't attend church at all. We arranged to meet with him in his apartment in Iisalmi, Finland (which is about 70 miles North of Kuopio where we were living and where the nearest branch of the Church to him was located) monthly, whenever it was possible because of our schedule.

Because Veli Kokkonen held the Priesthood as I do, he was able to offer one of the sacramental prayers while I offered the other. There were always tears of gratitude trickling down from his eyes after we had finished the sacrament.

All active members of the LDS Church would tell you the same thing that Veli Kokkonen would, "taking the Sacrament of the Lord's supper is such a privilege." He may not be living now, but I'll always remember blessing and partaking of the Sacrament with him during those special occasions. And I look forward to getting together with him again after I too have passed through the "veil" after dying.

If you are not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ask a member of this Church, inactive or active presently, how important a blessing it is to partake of the Sacrament. I can't fully predict what the inactive members will say, but I think most of them will reflect to you the feeling that it is an important blessing to those who are worthy of it.

Blessing the Sacrament -photo by lds.org



Passing the Sacrament -photo by lds.org

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DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.


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TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX, To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or An Item Which Refers To Any Other Blog Post You May Desire To Access), After Reading All of This Paragraph Please Click on the Following: (The Resurrected) Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America -Post 33j. When You See the Picture of Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please, Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use The Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed.)

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"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.


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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you will find very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish: Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch

33i - The Resurrected Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America. A Continuation!

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

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TODAY'S THEME

Jesus the Christ -by Del Parson

TODAY'S THEME

III Nephi 17:14 And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and said: Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel.

15 And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.

16 And after this manner do they bear record: The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father;

17 And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.

In total amazement at the greatness of that sacred description of that prayer uttered by our Savior Jesus Christ we fully and prayerfully think about those words above which were written by the prophet Nephi who was right there and recorded all of that which was happening during our Savior's ministry among them, and then about 350 years later were incorporated into the Book of Mormon by the prophet, Mormon, how can we feel anything but deep-soul-gratitude for Him who is our Savior. I feel very incapable of expressing what I ought to express after reading those words in blue above.

Our Savior, Jesus Christ is no respecter of persons and if any of us were to have the broken hearts and contrite spirits of those Nephites, we could fully share in what they felt and desire to be like them inasmuch as they firmly decided to live their lives as Jesus desired and not to be numbered among those of the house of Israel whose wickedness troubled Him to the extent that he "groaned within Himself." See verse fourteen of the scripture above.

Is this He who was born in the Bethlehem manger without having an earthly father? He who was found by Mary and Joseph teaching and asking questions in the temple as a twelve year old boy? He who in the garden of Gethsemane not long before He died on the cross, was suffering for the sins of all mankind, including yours and mine, to the extent that He sweat drops of blood?

Luke 22: 42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Yes, it was Him, Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer.

I would like you to now review Chapter 17 from the Book of III Nephi from the Book of Mormon which I had requested you read and listen to at the end of the previous post. The "Today's Theme" above is a part of that scripture. I'd like you to prayerfully read and listen to all of that again now:  III Nephi 17:1-25

Jesus With Nephite Children with Angels Descending from Heaven Above -by Robert T. Barrett

The event pictured just above is described in the last two verses of that scripture I just asked you to read.

By the way I am deeply grateful for these artistic renditions of events both in the Book of Mormon as well as in the New Testament that we are given have free access to. I think they help us visualize these very significant events so very well. I have obtained them from lds.org.

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DISCLAIMER

This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.

____________

TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX, To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or An Item Which Refers To Any Other Blog Post You May Desire To Access), After Reading All of This Paragraph Please Click on the Following: (The Resurrected) Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America -Post 33i. When You See the Picture of Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please, Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use The Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed.)

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"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.

_____________

I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you you will find very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch

33h - The Resurrected Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From The End of This Post

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Jesus Healing Nephite-Lamanite Children -byTed Henninger

TODAY'S THEME

III Nephi 16: 7 Behold, because of their belief in me, saith the Father, and because of the unbelief of you, O house of Israel, in the latter day shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fullness of these things shall be made known unto them.

In this picture Jesus is demonstrating His great love for the children of His flock, the Nephites, by healing their sick children.

We have learned that the believing among the Nephites were part of Jesus' flock because of the long history their people had in following Him by believing in the words of His prophets who were among them. More than that, they were the survivors of a great seismic cataclysm which was brought about personally by the Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. Please read: Please read and listen to III Nephi 9:1-5


That cataclysm destroyed the more unrighteous among those who were saved from destruction because they believed in the words of Jesus' prophets, Samuel the Lamanite and Nephi (among others).

My question of you blog readers at the end of the last post was: "Are you and I part of His flock?" A partial answer to that question is given in TODAY'S THEME above. In that scripture the Lord, while speaking to His Nephite flock refers to the Gentiles (us) in the Latter-days. He tells them that in the Latter-days (in our time) He will bless the Gentiles because of their faith and that He is blessing them (us) because they believe in Him while their (the Nephites') future descendants would no longer do so.

Jesus by the power of the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation that emanates from Him knows that although the Nephites He is visiting with then will have great success in strengthening their posterity in living His Gospel for about 200 years, there will be a total falling away.

He also knew by His holy and perfect knowledge that the Gospel would be brought back in our day and that their record, The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ, would be one of the main instruments He would use in bringing that about.

Please now read again carefully and thoughtfully the scripture I asked you to read and listen to at the end of the last post (Listening will work well because this begins with verse 1)

III Nephi 16:1-20

This prophecy of the Savior really answers the question I asked you at the end of the last post: Can you and I count on being included by the Lord Jesus Christ as a part of His flock. The answer is a very strong, YES. But as He warned, we must remain as strong believers, doing what He asks of us. That clearly, according to His words in the Book of Mormon, is that He expects us to become members of His Church, through baptism into His church which He re-established through His latter-day prophet, Joseph Smith, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Lord established His church during His mortal life and assigned His apostles to see to it that it remained strong. After the apostles and other strong believers were killed or died, men changed His church so it was not what it was when He established it.

The Lord then waited until after the Great Reformation for a time when many people had become open and prepared for the re-establishment of His church. That church came into being on April 6, 1830 in Fayette, New York, in the U.S.A.

It was through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that the Book of Mormon was added, by the Lord, to His other scriptures, the Old and New Testaments.

One other matter from the scripture that you reviewed again while reading this post. The Savior Jesus Christ mentioned other sheep which were not of their fold. He told the Nephites that the day would come when these other sheep's records would be available to us. That day has not come yet. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, expect some day we will know about those other sheep and read the records they made. That, however, is for a future day.

I look forward personally to that day and so, I believe, you will too as each most likely will become other Testaments of Jesus Christ along with the New Testament and the Book of Mormon.

To allow you to prepare your minds for the next post please read this next scripture. You will be deeply touched by the feelings expressed and shown by our Savior as you read and listen to this record written by the prophet, Mormon.

III Nephi 17:1-25

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"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.

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DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.

____________


TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX, To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or An Item Which Refers To Any Other Blog Post You May Desire To Access), After Reading All of This Paragraph Please Click on the Following: (The Resurrected) Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America -Post 33g. When You See the Picture of Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please, Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use The Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed.)




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I deeply appreciate your readership and very much hope you you will find that which was presented to you in this blog post, very beneficial.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch

33g - The Resurrected Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America. His "Sheep" Continue Their Preparations For His Eventual Visit Among Their Descendants.

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

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Jesus the Christ -by Del Parson



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TODAY'S THEME

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

This scripture is very beautiful and deeply meaningful to me. It is perhaps one that can help us all as we seek to understand why some groups of people are classified by the Lord as His sheep and others are not. This following scripture offers keen clarification:

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

We can assume that these two scriptures, which were written by the same apostle of Jesus, inform us that Jesus' sheep are those who truly love and believe in Him and most significantly, they keep His commandments.

In this blog I have emphasized fairly recently that a strong, core group of prophets who testified of the future coming of Jesus Christ to visit their descendants, after His death and resurrection, lived over the centuries, from 600 B.C. to 34 A.D., among the posterity of Lehi, who was led with his family out of Jerusalem to their promised land in the Western Hemisphere in what is probably known now as Central America.

They were ancestors of the people we will continue to study in this series of posts whom Jesus termed, "His sheep" when He visited them in 34 A.D.

These prophets not only testified of Jesus Christ, but also kept His commandments. They served Him by serving others.

In reading the writings of Lehi's descendants, it is clear that a good number of them followed the example of Lehi and his fourth oldest son, Nephi and fifth oldest son, Jacob and Sam too, in choosing to believe in the future coming to earth of Jesus Christ, the son of God to atone for the sins of mankind and to bring about a universal resurrection in due time. They lived true to their faith in Jesus Christ.

Father Lehi, Nephi and Others View the Liahona -by Arnold Friberg

All of these prophets starting with Lehi, testified that Jesus Christ's birth in Jerusalem was to occur in about 600 years from the time Lehi and those with him left Jerusalem and while journeying received direct guidance from the Lord along the way through an amazing device called, the Liahona.

Please see my Post 8, entitled: Way Before Computers, The Lord Provided Something Better.

Below is a list of these prophet-record keepers I have come up with along with the approximate years they were living and prophesying of Jesus Christ.

The books listed below in which these prophets' writings can be found, are all sub-books of The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

1. Lehi (between 588 and 570 B.C.) See II Nephi 1-3,
2. Nephi (between 559 and 545 B.C.) There are many of his writings in I Nephi. See I Nephi 11. Also see much of II Nephi.
3. Jacob, (about 544 to 421 B.C.) See Book of Jacob. See II Nephi 11:3
4. Enos (544 and 421 B.C., See Book of Enos
5. Omni (279 to 130 B.C.) See Book of Omni
6. Abinadi (148 B.C.) See Book of Mosiah, Chapters 11-17
7. Benjamin (about 124 B.C.) See Book of Mosiah 1-6.
8. Alma the Elder (147 B.C. See Book of Mosiah, 12-26.
9. Alma the Younger (about 92 B.C. and 76 B.C.) Book of Alma.
10. Amulek (92 B.C. to 76 B.C.) See Alma, 16 and 34.
11. Samuel the Lamanite (6 B.C.) See Helaman, 13-15.

There were others, but these I have listed were those whose testimonies of the coming of Jesus Christ to the Nephite people are perhaps the best known and most often referred to from the Book of Mormon, to my knowledge.



Joseph Being Sold into Egypt -by Ted Henninger

 Lehi and his posterity were descendants of Joseph Who Was Sold Into Egypt. That Joseph, like his father, Jacob, who was also named, Israel (Let God Prevail) by the Lord, chose to follow the Lord.

They prophesied of the coming of the Lord by The Gift of Prophesy and Revelation, which is the testimony of Jesus according to the apostle, John. (New Testament: Revelation: 19:10)

As promised at the end of the previous post, (33f), I will now make some comments about the scripture I suggested that you read and listen to.

Here is that scripture again, in case you would like to re-familiarize yourself with it.

3 Nephi 15:1-24

After having read that scripture once again, why do you think that Jesus chose to visit the Nephites over all other nations of people on the earth after having lived His mortal life among the Jews in Palestine?

Could it possibly be that He chose them because they and their ancestors before them had, as a group, chosen Jesus Christ, and labored long and hard, going through much tribulation, to teach their people (Jesus' followers) and keep His commandments even before He was born into mortality?

Are there those in our day who are listed as His sheep? Are you and I part of His flock? Please read this next scripture thoughtfully and prayerfully in order to prepare to to answer those questions in post 33h.

III Nephi 16: 1-20

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DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.


____________


TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX, To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or An Item Which Refers To Any Other Blog Post You May Desire To Access), After Reading All of This Paragraph Please Click on the Following: (The Resurrected) Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America -Post 33g. When You See the Picture of Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please, Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use The Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed.)



____________

"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.

_____________

I deeply appreciate your readership and very much hope you you will find that which was presented to you in this blog post, very beneficial.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch

33f - The Resurrected Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

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TODAY'S THEME

The Book of Mormon, Alma 34:32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.



The Resurrected Jesus Christ Instructs the Faithful Nephite-Lamanites -by John Scott

 As promised, I will review soon that which the Lord told the Nephites (and all readers of the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ) in the last linked scripture in post 33e, III Nephi, Chapter 14.

First, however let me say that the meaningful statement given in the THEME FOR THE DAY above would probably be said by many in our day: "Don't procrastinate your repentance!"

Which one helps you most? I like both, but I appreciate especially the words of the Book of Mormon prophet, Amulek, given in that scripture. It has more feeling to it and is a more specific definition. What's your preference? I suggest that if you want to voice your opinion, you make a comment at the end of this post where it says: COMMENTS. That word, turns from blue to red when you click on it in case these matters are new to you like they have fairly recently been to me. You are welcome to use that blog feature whenever you have anything to say about anything you have read in my posts. Or feel free to contact me more privately through my e-mail address which is found in the end section of each of my posts. If you do that I won't share your e-mail address with anyone. You can count on that! I live by the words of that thought for the day so you can count on me.

I read Chapter 14 of Third Nephi that you may have read and listened to when you read the previous post. I used especially my tip 2 from the previous post (33e). I'm sure you'll agree with me that were we to live by Jesus' guidance given then, which was given basically in the same words to those who heard Him teach in Palestine during His earthly ministry, that we would be at great peace with our God and ourselves. I'm quoting the last four verses.

24 Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock—

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand—

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

Now after I finished reading Chapter 14, I re-read and listened to chapter fifteen of Third Nephi. I have just the last few days read it more than once. I think I read it three times altogether. Then I read chapter sixteen several times. Then I kept going at this one sitting which I am still in and read and listened to each chapter from 17 through 30 which is the last chapter of Third Nephi. As I read all of them I was fully involved emotionally and spiritually. I will cover those chapters with you in later posts. They are very exceptional chapters and I believe you will marvel over what is written in them.
Those three tips I gave you in the previous post were really working for me. I was totally non-bored and very deeply touched by our Savior's words even though I have read them many times before.

My wife, Melva, and I have read continuously through the entire Book of Mormon for eighteen years, through easy and through difficult times. I know this book is the word of God, written by one of His holy prophets, Mormon, using the records of many other prophets who preceded him, and finished by his faithful son, Moroni who hid the golden plates, upon which the Book of Mormon was written, in New York State (U.S.A.) in a place where he led young Joseph Smith, Jr. to view them and then a few years later to take them out of their centuries long hiding place in order to translate them.

Moroni Delivers the Plates of Gold to Joseph Smith -by Kenneth Riley

As you have read, Moroni prepared Joseph to translate them. Joseph was successful in doing that and it was by the gift and power of God that he he was able to do so. I again refer you to the Daniel Peterson video which is available in posts four and eight in this blog. The evidence is clear that young Joseph Smith translated the words of the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God through the scriptures referred to by me in this blog, I'm sure you recognize that which was written, was true history and no young, uneducated man, could have ever made it up.

Dr. Daniel Peterson, of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute of BYU, in his video (mentioned above) demonstrates clearly that all the evidence shows that there were no other records available to Joseph Smith from which he could have taken his translation. This information comes from reliable witnesses who were often in and around the house where the translation took place.

There are very many factual accuracies in the Book of Mormon such as the accurate description given in III Nephi Chapter 8 of the seismic cataclysm that destroyed the more unrighteous portion of the Nephite Nation prior to our Redeemer's arrival there.

Please refer to my post 32b, page 4, fourth paragraph, to read what modern scientists had to say about the accuracy of the description of that disaster given us in that chapter of III Nephi, cited above. They are experts on such events because they, using modern instruments have studied similar relatively rare events in our day throughout the world.

I have to reflect back, right at this point, to the PBS video, "The Mormons" that was presented on Television in May of 2007. I referred to that in my first two posts which are still available to you, to the "so-called scholar", who actually said something to the effect, that every time he picks up the Book of Mormon and reads it, he knows he is reading the words made up by an unschooled farm boy who was basically very ignorant of scholarly things. You, having read much of the book of Mormon while reading my blog posts, know that his statement is false. That which is written in the Book of Mormon could never have been made up by an unschooled farm boy!

I have always questioned that this man had even ever read anything in the Book of Mormon. I agree with that "so-called" scholar, however, that Joseph Smith, particularly at the age when he translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God, in great measure, was basically ignorant of scholarly things.

That doesn't concern me and millions upon millions of faithful Latter-day Saints, among the living and among the dead who have read the Book of Mormon many times in their lives and received guidance in living as Jesus Christ desires all of us to live in order to be prepared for Eternal life, His greatest of gifts for mankind.

Our Savior also re-established His church, through Joseph Smith, which He originally had established during His mortal ministry. This was needed because men had changed the church and its teachings which had been established by Jesus Christ during His mortal existence and then brought by his apostles to the near-Asian world of their day with much zeal and inspiration and with much success, particularly among the Gentiles.

After the time of the death of Jesus' apostles, including the great apostle Paul, the church was changed by men according to their whims and desires and therefore no longer was Christ's church. They had the Holy Bible and a form of godliness, but they denied the spiritual power of Christ's true church. That is why you never hear about the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation from any other church, except when they are reading about that from the scriptures, which includes the Book of Mormon. That Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation was such a crucial part of the original church. Many churches today teach that direct revelation from God is no longer needed.

That great Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation is an integral part of the church re-established through the Prophet Joseph Smith and led by subsequent LDS prophets to this day and will continue being so until the Lord comes at His Second Coming to meet His people who will be anxiously waiting for Him. I look forward to seeing many of you, my blog readers, among that number.

You may find the following scripture, Chapter 15 of Third Nephi to be particularly interesting. I would like you to read and listen to it (I will discuss this important chapter with you in the next post. III Nephi 15:1-24
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I deeply appreciate your readership and very much hope you you will find that which was presented to you in this blog post, very beneficial.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch

33e - The Resurrected Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

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TODAY'S THEME

HOW WE CAN MAKE SCRIPTURE READING NON-BORING.
(Reading through this post will lead you to my three special tips, Each highlighted in blue)

The Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ Descends to Meet with Faithful Nephites -by Intellectual Reserve, Inc.

This picture is an unknown (to me) artist's depiction of Jesus as He descended from Heaven to meet with that portion of the Nephite people who lived sufficiently worthy lives to survive the devastating disaster that had killed a very large number of people in their land in ancient Central America.

After the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ had been with these very blessed Nephites for just a relatively short time. He had the divine love and patience to invite each one of the approximately 2,500 people there with Him to personally "thrust their hands into His side, and feel the prints of the nails in His hands and in His feet." (III Nephi 11:14-15)

Jesus then called twelve men to serve as his disciples or apostles, special witnesses of Jesus Christ in their part of the world. I just have to comment on what I just told you Jesus did.

He didn't ask to interview all of the potential disciple-apostles before choosing them. He didn't ask for a resume from any of them. He just knew, because of the divine gift of Prophecy and Revelation which emanates from Him, His Father and the Holy Ghost (the Holy Godhead) who He should call to that very important calling.

Jesus had been teaching the Nephites principles that he had taught during His mortal life in Palestine, such as in His "Sermon on the Mount" and in His "beatitudes." He also taught them that contention "is of the devil" and that they should be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost.

His teaching those same principles to the Nephites in the Americas which He had taught in Palestine, emphasizes the importance of those principles to us.

He is not a changing God, He is consistent. If He had met with us or if one of His authorized representatives had met with us, we would be told that we shouldn't dispute with with one another and should be baptized by those truly authorized by Jesus Christ and receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by men who are authorized by Him.

Because we are privileged to gain an insight into what God's only Begotten Son thinks mortals should hear, we should know that we should pay strict attention to what Jesus Christ is teaching these Nephites. But, you may be thinking, "I've read all of that before and to do so again would be boring!"

My First Special Tip: When reading the words of the Savior, try this, imagine what it would be like being right there, with the Nephites. You would see the glow in His features that comes from the love that he has for them and for us, love that led Him to suffer for the sins of all Humanity. 

Now, before reading Chapter 13 from III Nephi I've provided below, I suggest that you fold your arms, close your eyes and say a short prayer asking Heavenly Father to help you really feel Jesus' love as you read and hear His words to the Nephites. Try to imagine like I suggested in the previous paragraph the pure glow on His face. (Also I suggest that when the scripture is on your computer screen, scroll up and on the left click on the word, Listen. That will help you better focus on these important and sacred matters.) III Nephi 13:1-34

(Practice by focusing earnestly on this verse of scripture: Luke 22:44: "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.")

Hopefully when you practiced focusing on that verse you felt as if you were right there observing what Jesus suffered for each of us (for all mankind).

Before working hard in devising these three tips beginning Saturday, yesterday, (It's Sunday evening now) to help you make scripture reading non-boring, I read and listened, to III  Nephi Chapter 13 three times. I found that I had to struggle to really absorb what Jesus taught the Nephites. I've read those teachings so many times in my life, mostly from the New Testament, but also from the Book of Mormon, so I have to wonder why I didn't sense the strong impact I think that should have had on me right then. After having read this paragraph you might tell me to follow my own advice I gave you above in my first tip. - I'm sure You are Right on!

In trying to answer why I wasn't reading with intensity and understanding, (this is leading us to Tip 2.)  I remembered that when I was about ten or eleven, living in Roseville, California when those teachings of the Savior to the Nephites might have meant much more to me at that time of my life than a few years later (despite my relatively young age of ten or eleven). It was in about early 1942.

World War II was the big news then and was of very great concern in this (U.S.A.) and in many other nations. I had lots of personal concerns. One of my serious concerns was that my father might be drafted to serve in the U.S. armed forces. My mother had mentioned this possibility to me and my two brothers, one who is two years younger than me and one who had been born in 1940.

Neither of my brothers, were really old enough to know much about what World War II could mean to them. With me being almost ten I had really began feeling strongly about what the war meant to us as a family.

I continued worrying about my father being "drafted" to serve in the military, but after awhile, my father was able to discuss that concern of mine with me, when he finally had the time to talk with me. (He worked so much overtime with there being so many troop trains and war supplies being shipped by railway in those days.)

My Dad helped me significantly lessen that concern by telling me that, as a Southern Pacific Railroad clerk in a very key railroad terminal in the American West, (it was the largest railway terminal in the U.S.A. west of the Mississippi River at that time and most likely still is) his skills were a vital part of the war effort and he wouldn't be "drafted." That brought peace to my mind on that worrisome subject.

Another matter, that was often talked about on the radio (there was no TV then), was that the Japanese might invade our state, California, which at that time was the most westerly of all the 48 states in the U.S.A. Our state was then the nearest to Japan with Hawaii not yet being a state.)

In my young mind I, at times, imagined Japanese troops sweeping into Roseville which is only about 110 miles from San Francisco. That big concern kept coming back to my mind, but finally went away. It was very sad to see newscasts at the local movie theater (no TV then) showing the deaths of soldiers of both Japan and the U.S. in the islands of the Pacific Ocean.

About that time there was a Sunday afternoon radio broadcast that I was drawn to. Hold on: I just now stopped typing and involuntarily cried silently for several minutes while thinking about what I was going to type next. I think what I have to tell you now may have value to each of you who have just read the Savior's teachings to the Nephites in that chapter I just asked you to read and listen to.

But first let's go back to my telling about that Sunday afternoon radio program.

(Tip 2): Please Put yourself mentally and emotionally, to the best of your ability, in the place of the people or individual about which you are reading in a scripture. In other words, pay attention to the details of what is going on.

Focus intensely on the details of the teachings or experience which is being presented in the scripture you are reading. Try to really understand it very well. (Suggestion: This tip may assist you to be non-bored as you read the scripture you will be reading after clicking on the scripture linked below.)

I was strongly drawn to a certain radio program for quite a few months after discovering it on a radio station when I was nine or ten years old. I'm not sure who was sponsoring it. The title of the program might have been: "Our Savior's Voice." Events from the New Testament were acted out over the radio. When the man who was to speak what the Savior had to say, which were exact quotes from the New Testament, we would hear a special sound effect to his voice which made listeners pay more attention to what He had said through the man playing His part. The ten year old me really paid close attention to every word that was read by the actor playing the part of our Savior. I had a good reason to pay close attention, because I was drawn emotionally and spiritually to the Savior.

It was during this time of my life when the World War seemed so very threatening to the ten year old me, that the teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ which I heard on that Sunday program each week began to really cause me to "feel" (a key word which will help you utilize my "three tips" is the meaning of what I heard Jesus' "voice" telling me. I wish that feeling about what He had taught had stayed in me as strongly while going through my teen-age concerns, etc. My weeping today mentioned above came because I remembered the feelings I had when listening to that radio program. I realized I was strengthened when listening to someone taking the part of our Savior. The special sound effects, mentioned above, helped. He had become real to me. I attended church regularly with my family, but radio had a greater effect on me then than my Sunday school and primary teachers. My parents didn't really notice the radio program I was listening to.

Now those experiences early in my life is what helped me realize that the Nephites, listening to the resurrected Savior's voice, having just barely survived a great cataclysmic destruction that had killed huge numbers of their people, some of whom were close relatives to one another, helped me to become emotionally and spiritually prepared by what they had just been through for what He was to soon teach them.


Like me and my concerns about how World War II might be effecting me and my family, those Nephites, the Savior was teaching, had deep emotions that had come to the surface in their lives. In other words, the Savior came to them at a very teachable point in their lives. As we read these coming words of the Savior, our lives are probably proceeding rather normally so perhaps we won't find it easy to pay attention mentally and emotionally to these hugely significant words of His. But those Nephites paid attention. We too can pay better attention by drawing on those deep feelings that are surely somewhere perhaps deeply within ourselves!

As we continue reading through the written record in III Nephi, we will learn that our resurrected Savior's visit had a tremendously positive effect on the lives of these Nephites and on the lives of their posterity for about two hundred years. Think of that: For Two Hundred Years! You'll read more of that later.

Hopefully, my tips applied fastidiously to what I have just written has prepared you to read this next scripture with more feeling and intensity than when you read the previous scripture. I hope so. I have already read and listened to this next one two or three times late yesterday after remembering my concerns about how World War II was making me as a youngster worry, and that really helped me feel more intensely about what I was reading. (Please consider clicking on the word, Listen located in the upper left hand side of your screen after you have clicked on the next scripture below:

Are you and I at a very teachable point in our lives? A good question to answer.

Recalling times during which you were very emotionally and perhaps actually spiritually involved, could help you become more actively involved (instead of being bored) as you read scriptures, especially those involving our Savior and His prophets and followers. It does require effort on your part!

Tip 3 Seek the Lord in sincere and earnest prayer asking Him to guide your thoughts and your feelings by His Spirit so as to help you understand and apply in your own life the principles taught in the scripture you are reading. I have listed this last, but surely it ought to be #1 on my list of tips.

I have listed my three closely related tips here as a summary of what you have just read in this post: I have listed them here in order of importance in my opinion!

SUMMARY LIST OF TIPS:

1. Pray for Heavenly Father to help you feel the spirit while reading a particular scripture.

2. Put yourself in place of the story--imagine that you are there.

3. Focus intently on the details of the teaching.


(Suggestion: Try applying my 3 tips to the best of your ability after reading this scripture! III Nephi 14:1-27 Perhaps I will review some of that with you in the next post.

I trust that your spiritual and emotional involvement in reading that chapter was at a significantly higher level by having applied those tips of mine. Hopefully they are now, each of them, a regular part of your scripture reading skills! I think they are each now functioning more fully as a part of my scripture reading skills.

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DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.




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TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX, To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or An Item Which Refers To Any Other Blog Post You May Desire To Access), After Reading All of This Paragraph, Please Click on the Following: (The Resurrected) Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America (A Twenty Post Series) -Post 33e. When You See the Picture of Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please, Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use The Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed.)

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"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.
_____________

I deeply appreciate your readership and very much hope you you will find that which was presented to you in this blog post, very beneficial.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch

33d - The Resurrected Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America. - Some Background Information!

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

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TODAY'S THEME

Father Lehi Prophesying in 600 B.C. -by Del Parson

In this recent series of blog posts we have been learning from the words of the prophet, Mormon, who, on instructions from the Lord, Jesus Christ, compiled the Book of Mormon using records others had written beginning about one thousand years before his time.

You have been learning that our Savior, Jesus Christ follows a divinely wise plan in guiding all His willing followers to salvation and Eternal Life. You are seeing that He is successful. He does His part perfectly and then we are called upon to do our part to the very best of our ability in keeping His commandments and being guided by His Holy Spirit, thus showing our profound gratitude for the grace He grants us through His atonement and the promise of our resurrection.

Between 588 and 570 B.C., Lehi prophesied regarding a part of our Savior's plan which directly deals with the eternal destiny of many of his own posterity and the rest of us who live in our day and time. After reading (and listening to) this following scripture I will provide you with a summary of key items from Lehi's prophecy, II Nephi 3:1-25

1. Lehi and his family are descendants of Joseph who was sold into Egypt.

2. The Lord promised that Joseph that He, the Lord, would appear to his descendants in their promised land (in the Western Hemisphere) after His death and resurrection.

3. The Lord promised to raise up a choice seer to help Lehi's descendants in the latter-days.

4. That seer would only do the work the Lord gave him to do.

5. That seer would, like Moses, deliver his people, Israel, from bondage.

6. That seer would bring forth the Lord's word, (the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ) which will confirm the truth of a first book of scriptures, (the Holy Bible.)

7. Lehi told his youngest son, Joseph, that religious confusion would be stopped among their descendants in the last days, when those two scriptures are used together.

8. The Lord told the ancient prophet, Joseph, (who had been sold into Egypt) that the efforts of others to destroy that seer of the latter-days would be prevented until that seer had finished the work assigned him by the Lord.

9. This promised seer would also be named Joseph as would his father.

10. The work done by this promised seer will bring salvation to this ancient Joseph's descendants as prophesied, and bring about the gathering of righteous Israel.

11. The Lord promised the ancient Joseph that his posterity would last forever.

12. The ancient Joseph's descendants' words shall "cry from the dust" to be heard by his posterity in the latter-days. The golden plates containing the Book of Mormon have and will continue doing that.

I am beginning this post on Christmas Day 2008, after all the visiting children and grandchildren have left. Its been a very good day. Family is special!

Joseph Smith Sees the Father and His Son Jesus Christ -by Del Parson

Two days ago there was a birthday for the latter-day prophet mentioned in Father Lehi's prophecy above. Joseph Smith, Jr.'s 203'rd birthday was December 23, of this year, 2008.

Joseph Smith, Jr. is such an important and crucial link in the development of our Savior, Jesus Christ's work plan to bring about "the immortality and eternal life of men" in our day, through the gifts of the spirit given him, beginning with his special assignment in translating The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

The Painting above is an LDS artist's conception of Joseph Smith's First Vision which occurred when he was almost fifteen years old. Later in this post you will have the opportunity of reading of that sublime experience and about that which came from it.

We have been celebrating our Savior's birth in these blog posts for at least this past month and clearly showing how He continues to lead His great work personally through prophets whom He has called and continues to guide in our day and time.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints celebrate with the rest of the Christian World, December 25th of each year, as the Savior's birthday. However, through the Spirit of Prophecy, the testimony of Jesus, (Revelation 19:10), He has informed us through His first latter-day prophet, Joseph Smith, that His birthday was actually April 6th.

That juggling of the date of Christmas occurred years after all of Jesus' apostles from Palestine were either killed or died, after which His Holy Church and teachings on the Eastern Continent were changed by men. This was true too regarding His Church in the Western Hemisphere among the Nephites, but His Church was eventually re-established in 1830 by the Savior, through His modern day prophet, Joseph, to whom He gave great responsibility.

Please read this Latter-day scripture. This is longer than usual. As usual, using the Listen function will make your reading more enjoyable. If you decide to read it in portions you will not be able to used the Listen function because the reading voice always begins at the first verse of the chapter. I will add pictures of various connected events and circumstances to make your reading and listening more interesting.

 js h/1/1-75

Joseph Smith Sought to Find True Religion by Searching the Bible -by Dale Kilbourn 

The Angel Moroni Appears to Joseph Smith -by Tom Lovell

Joseph Smith Receives the Golden Plates from Moroni -by Kenneth Riley

Joseph Smith Translating the Book of Mormon -by Del Parson



Emma Smith, Joseph's Wife -by Lee Greene Richards



Joseph Smith the Prophet -by Alvin Gittins

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DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.


____________


TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX, To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or An Item Which Refers To Any Other Blog Post You May Desire To Access), After Reading All of This Paragraph Please Click on the Following: (The Resurrected) Jesus Christ's Ministry in Ancient America - Post 33d. When You See the Picture of Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please, Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use The Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed.)

____________


"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.

_____________

I deeply appreciate your readership and very much hope you you will find that which was presented to you in this blog post, very beneficial.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch