The Pathway of the Covenant

 

It began before the Earth was.  God, the Father, called His children into a Heavenly Council to present to them His plan for their further eternal progression. He outlined His plan, explaining what He would do for His children and His expectations of them.

It would later be called the Abrahamic Covenant, but it predated Abraham.  God taught Abraham:

The Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was, and among all these there were many noble and great ones; God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them and he said: These I will make my ruler; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast* chosen before thou wast* born. (Abraham 3: 22-23)

God's plan included:

• The Creation of a world into which we could be born;
• A mortal body which would then be eligible for eternal progression:
• His guidelines for happiness and growth;
• Our agency so that we could choose for ourselves to obey or to disobey; with consequences for our choices;
• A Savior to redeem us from our unwise choices so that, through repentance, we could one day return to live with Him.

This was His part of the covenant.

God also taught Abraham:

 and he said unto those that were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon they may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom as those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever. (Abraham 3: 24-26)

We will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them. That is our part of the covenant: we are to do whatsoever the Lord commands.  

He is the Father of our spirits and we are His children.  On earth, He is our God and we are his people.

* [thou wast = you were]

Its a New Year . . .

 ... and I'm hoping to resurrect this blog. I have become so frail that doing things in my apartment - like writing - is about the only thing I can still do. Even that has become cumbersome.  I love to write, but I hate trying to "market" that writing, even for free.  A bishop told me once that most people are through listening to me before I'm through talking to them.  So be it.

I have one project close to done - a daily devotional for the Book of Mormon study.  I'm also thinking of doing something with the study and history of covenants, since this is The Covenant Keepers. Even writing is becoming problematic as I am now 79 years old and in ill health.

Remember me in your prayers.

Daily Devotional Day 6, Jesus Christ is the Light of the World

In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shone in the darkness; and the darkness knew it not. (John 1: 4, 5) Jesus said: I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)

 

Jesus Christ is the Light of the World

When you were a child, do you ever remember waking up from a nightmare in the dark and feeling afraid? I do! Even now, I keep a small flashlight by my bed so that I can see where I am going, so I don’t fall.

We are living in a world that if often dark and frightening.  There may be times it even feels like a nightmare. For those times, I keep my spiritual light close by – Jesus Christ. When I pray to the Father in the name of the Son, I receive answers through the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Godhead. The ancient prophet, Moroni, said of the Holy Spirit:

And by the power of the Holy Ghost[1] you may know the truth of all things.         (Moroni 10: 5)

I don’t need to stumble or fall in darkness. How can you personally use the Light of Christ to avoid falling?

---

[1] Ghost in this context means Spirit

PERSONAL WORSHIP:

My testimony of Jesus Christ

 

ACTIVITIES:

I've done my budget and identified my needs

I've talked about investments with Shane

 

NOTEWORTHY:

I repaid Shane all of the expenses of the sale of my home.

I visited Brandon and made him some Campbell's Tomato Soup (which he has been craving)

 

TO DO: Today I will. identify my wants for the budget

Get a quote on supplement insurance for Shane

Set up pictures where I want them hung

Take photos for anyone in the family who might want pictures I plan to give away.

Set up daily devotional booklets for Ian, Brooke, and Cohen (early Christmas presents) 

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Daily Devotional, Day 5: Agency is a gift from God; Christ honors agency; Lucifer does not.

Satan/Lucifer] came before me, saying – “Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, . . . wherefore give me your honor.” (John 1: 5) . . . But my Beloved Son. . . said to me – “Father, thy will be done, and the glory be yours forever.”  . . . Satan sought to destroy the agency of man. . . [and was] cast down. . . (Moses 4: 1-4)

 

God’s Gift to Man – Agency

 

Why is life sometimes so difficult? Satan’s plan was to bring everyone home, so why was that bad? Because in so doing he would rob us of our agency – our right to choose for ourselves; our right to learn and grow, from our good choices and our poor choices.  Jesus, on the other hand, followed the Father’s plan. He respected us enough to give us that right to choose.  When we choose wrong (as He knew we would), He offered to give His life for us that we might retain our freedom yet still have the ability to repent and return home. 

 

This is how the Prophet Lehi explained the need for agency, even though it makes life difficult. What do Lehi’s words mean to you? How do they fit in your life today? How can you access God’s gift of repentance and return to Him?

 

For the must be an opposition in all things. If not so righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. . . . [If not] there would have been no purpose in . . . [Earth’s] Creation.                          (2 Nephi 2: 11, 12)

Personal Journal

DEVOTIONAL:

Watched News of the Church; Ministering and humanitarian work of Church; Universal love of mankind; feeding sheep

 

MEALS:

Ate all meals at home Tuesday. Restaurant is now seating only a few people at a time and you are required to wait until seated.  I understand why they are trying it because the wait staff has been overwhelmed; nevertheless, I don't like it.  It feels controlling and manipulative and I will not be controlled nor manipulated.  Because of this and other factors, I chose to avoid the restaurant yesterday.

 

ACTIVITIES: 

Missed Maurine.  She was sleeping and I was late

Visited with Susan

Spent time with Brandon; read from the Bible to him (see personal and private notes)

Wrote my budget

Examined my expenses

Began process to change insurance to a supplement plan, even though it is more expensive

TO DO:

Today I will put budget on computer and send it to Shane.

 

October 5, 2021

DEVOTIONAL: Feed my sheep

God is keeping me on this earth for a purpose and that purpose is not lying in bed, playing games on my phone, and watching the Hallmark channels!

 

MEALS: Cookies and Coke for breakfast. (hand slap!)

 

ACTIVITIES: Shower

Ministering - Maurine, Susan, Brandon

 

TO DO:

Today I will take soup and Bible to Brandon

Today I will do my budget for Tunk

Today I will get a shower

Today I will eat lunch at home and dinner in restaurant

Today I will set up a weekly Bible study with Enclave, perhaps on Wednesdays

 

Daily Devotional Day 4: Jesus Christ is the Life

 

In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1: 4) I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me. (John 14:6)

 

Jesus Christ is Life

 

Our Heavenly Father’s plan is perfect and it all centers on, Jesus Christ; He implements the Father’s Plan. It is as if the Father is the Architect and the Son, the Creator.

 

We come to know the Father as we come to know His Beloved Son.  [One of the] grand objectives of mortality is not merely learning about the Only Begotten of the Father but also striving to know [the Father]. [1]

[Jesus] proclaimed that the doctrines He taught were given to Him by his Father.  He took no credit for Himself. Jesus said: The Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself does. (John 5: 20)[2]

When I am troubled, I pray to the Father in the name of the Son, for they are distinct as to substance, but one as to purpose – to bring us home to our Father when this life has been completed. He is more that the Way; He is the only Way. How can you invite Jesus into your life?

---

[1] Elder David A. Bednar October, 2016

[2] Elder Delbert Stapley, 1977

Conference Sunday

 

There were so many things that spoke to me today that I cannot write them all.  As I revisit the talks these next few weeks, I hope to process more of what the Spirit wants to teach me.  Getting 10 hours in two days is a little like drinking water from a fire hose!

FOOD: 

I ate breakfast in my room and Terri brought me a Cobb salad for lunch.

ACTIVITY: 

Visited with Terri and got a great foot rub.  

Baked brownies.