God's Prophet Today

I have some really great news for you guys. We have a modern prophet today! He is called of God to declare His word to us.

No, no, no, wait. Didn't God stop calling prophets after Jesus Christ came? Aren't the days with prophets over? No. Why would they be over? Why would God call prophets for thousands of years and then all of a sudden stop calling them? If God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, then doesn't that mean His ways don't change? God has always given His children prophets to lead and guide them and tell them God's word. 

Each of God's prophets is unique and came from different circumstances. In the Bible, no two prophets were the same. Adam was the first man on earth, Noah was 600 years old when he was called to build an ark, Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son as a test, Moses was raised with Egyptian royalty and was called to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Samuel was chosen as a boy to be a prophet, Jonah was swallowed by a whale, and Daniel was thrown into a Lion's den. I will go ahead and let you all know right now that although each prophet is called of God, none of them are perfect. Only Jesus was perfect. Don't act so shocked. 

There have been many periods of time when there was no prophet on the Earth because of the people's unbelief but God loves us and always calls another prophet when the people are ready. You can find this pattern all throughout the Bible. The last time that this happened was when Jesus was born. The people rejected Him and His apostles and killed them. After this, the Earth didn't have any prophets for many years because of wickedness and because people simply weren't ready to have a prophet again. When the world was ready to once again have a prophet, one was called and Jesus Christ's church and authority was restored to the Earth after being lost and altered for so many centuries. This prophet was Joseph Smith. 

After Joseph Smith died, God continued to call prophets through revelation. The next prophet was Brigham Young. Then we had John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, Joseph F. Smith, Heber J. Grant, George Albert Smith, David O. McKay, Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee, Spencer W. Kimball, Ezra Taft Benson, Howard W. Hunter, Gordon B. Hinckley, and now Thomas S. Monson.

Today instead of wearing robes and crying repentance in cities, the prophet wears a suit and carries a brief case and speaks to the world about following Jesus Christ. Even though they live thousands of years apart, they were all called of God to bless His children and to do a specific work here on the earth. 

The way that a new prophet is called is inspired of God. These men were chosen before they were born to be one of God's prophets. "And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; 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 3:23).

President Monson was born in 1927 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He graduated from the University of Utah in 1948 with a degree in business management and later received his MBA degree from Brigham Young University. He also served in the United States Navy near the close of World War II. He married his wife, Frances Beverly Johnson, in 1948 and they have three children. He also has had a distinguished career in publishing and printing. He is a past president of Printing Industry of Utah and a former member of the board of directors of Printing Industries of America. 


President Monson also has served faithfully in the Church his whole life. He served as president of the Church's Canadian Mission from 1959 to 1962. He also served as a Bishop of a ward in Salt Lake City. He was called to be an Apostle in 1963 and was later called to be a counselor to three prophets. In 2008, after President Gordon B. Hinckley's death, he became the next prophet of the Church. 

Each prophet is a humble man who has done his best to serve God. Every calling in the Church is voluntary and that includes the calling of the prophet. President Thomas S. Monson is not paid for his service and neither are the apostles, bishops, missionaries, or Sunday School teachers. A prophet is not voted for by the people. When a prophet dies, the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles becomes the next prophet. If Thomas S. Monson were to die today, President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles would become the next prophet. 

Although the process of "becoming" a prophet may seem simple, it is divinely inspired of God. No one will become a prophet unless he is called of God. Everyone who is called to be an Apostle of Prophet serves for the rest of his life. They are faithful, God-fearing men who do their best to serve God and His people. We are promised that if we follow the prophet, we will never go astray. Following the prophet is always right, even when it isn't generally accepted. Anyone who has picked up a Bible can attest that following the prophet has never been a popular decision. However, it has always been the correct decision that has led to peace and salvation. 

I love President Thomas S. Monson. He is a true disciple of Jesus Christ and he has spent his whole life trying to serve him in the best way possible. I know that heeding the words of God's current and past prophets will bless us and help us to know God's will. 

Go here to read President Monson's recent sermons from last month. 

"Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea"(Jacob 4:6).


Amen.

Repentance

The word "repentance" is intimidating. When I was younger I always thought of repentance as being in trouble and being reprimanded by my parents. However I have learned that repentance isn't something to be nervous about, it's a good thing! It's how we become better and draw closer to God.

None of us are perfect. We all do stupid things. We all have regrets. We all need to be better. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"(Romans 3:23). None of us can return to live with God in our sinful state. It's a good thing our loving Heavenly Father provided a Savior for us! Because of Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven of our sins and return to live with God again!

As we learn more about Jesus Christ, we can increase our faith in Him. You can read my post about faith to learn more about that. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, we will want to follow Him. Our faith in Christ and our love for Him lead us to repent, or to change our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that are not in harmony with His will. As we repent, we improve ourselves and become more Christ-like. 

We can return to live with God the Father only through Christ's mercy, and we receive Christ's mercy only on conditions of repentance. It is only by grace that we are saved, but we are still expected to do our part in order to access that grace. 

So how do we repent? It's very simple. Actually it's as easy as ABC...and D. Here are the steps of repentance in their most basic form: 

A. Admit. We need to recognize and admit to ourselves that we have sinned. 

B. Be sorry. We need to feel remorse or godly sorrow. We shouldn't feel bad just because we may have gotten caught or have negative consequences. We should feel bad because we know what we did was wrong. This is true for any sin -- big or small.  

C. Confess. Next we confess our sins to God. We also confess very serious sins to God's authorized Church leaders, who can help us repent. We ask God in prayer to forgive us.  

D. Don't do it again. Finally we need to commit to not do that sin again. We also do all we can to correct the problems our actions may have caused; this is called restitution.  

And there you go! Now you have successfully repented of your sin(s). You may have noticed that for Confess I mentioned that you only need to confess to Church leaders if it's a serious sin like a crime or adultery. Repentance is between you and God and you have every right to go directly to God to ask for His forgiveness. You will know you are forgiven when you feel His love and peace come over you and you no longer have guilt.

Repentance brings a change in us. As we repent we can feel God's forgiveness and His peace enters our lives. We realize that we really our His children and that He loves us and is always waiting for us to repent and turn back to Him. Our guilt and sorrow are swept away. We feel the influence of His Spirit in greater abundance. And when we leave this life, we will be more prepared to live with our Heavenly Father and His Son.

We never need to feel like we aren't worthy of His love or can't go to Him because that will never be true. We can always go to our loving Father in Heaven for forgiveness, direction, and love. "And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!"(D&C 18:13) 

Even after we have accepted Christ and repented of our sins, we may fall short again. We should continually repent and try to correct these transgressions. That means repenting every day. I think most of us don't commit gross sins every day, but we all need God's help to become better. As we repent every day, we will find that our lives will change and improve. Our hearts and behavior will become more Christlike. We will find joy in repenting daily. 

I'm grateful for the opportunity that I have to repent. Repentance has allowed me to overcome some of my bad habits and helped me to feel relief from my guilt over past wrongs. Repentance allows us to be cleansed from sin and become even more like Jesus Christ. Repenting is awesome. 

The Prodigal Son

"Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more"(D&C 58:42).

Amen. 

Book of Mormon Stories - Nephi and His Family Cross the Ocean

Time: 600 BC
Place: The wilderness, the ocean, and the American continents
Reference: 1 Nephi 17, 18
Characters:
Lehi: Father of the family and a prophet.  He enjoys fearlessly preaching repentance to the Jews, receiving death threats, reading books obtained in strange ways, dreaming crazy dreams, trekking through the wilderness, and dwelling in tents.
Sariah: Wife of Lehi and a worried mother.  She enjoys spending time with family, bearing children in the wilderness, matchmaking, and gardening.
Nephi: Legendary younger brother and heroic prophet.  He enjoys archery, playing with swords, building ships, hiking to high mountains, writing poetry, and confounding his brothers.
Sam: Faithful but sometimes forgotten middle child.  He enjoys long walks through the wilderness, campfire stories, sailing, and playing with God's compass.
Laman and Lemuel: The two peas in a pod rebellious older brothers.  They enjoy antagonizing their brothers, eating raw meat, making new friends, dancing with hot women, and uttering tribal cries.
Zoram: Promise-keeping servant of Laban. He enjoys playing hide-and-seek in the dark, hitch hiking, reading in the libraries of Laban, and skinning beasts.
Ishmael: Adventure-seeking Jerusalem father. He enjoys playing matchmaker, listening to stories, going on trips with his family, and building camp fires.
Sons of Ishmael: Strong, rude, party animals. They enjoy bullying, building alliances with others, practicing robe knotting, and arm wrestling. 
Hot daughter of Ishmael: Sweet, spiritual, beautiful woman. She enjoys shopping for clothes, saving people's lives, and being married to Nephi.
Writer: Nephi
Background information: Nephi and his family were commanded to leave Jerusalem before it was destroyed by the Babylonians. After traveling in the wilderness for 8 years, they arrived at the ocean. In this popular story, Nephi builds a ship, confounds his brothers again, and they sail across the ocean and arrive in the promised land despite Laman and Lemuel's attempts to stop their progress.
Previously on Book of Mormon Stories: After Nephi and his brothers brought back Ishmael and his family, Laman and Lemuel and some of the sons of Ishmael tried to rebel and turn back. Thanks to the power of God and Nephi's hot future wife, they were all able to return to Lehi in the wilderness and the day was saved. Lehi had a dream about the Tree of Life which he relayed to his family. Nephi was confused about the dream so went and prayed and an angel of the Lord appeared to him and explained it to him. Now we all know that we need to find this delicious fruit and I graciously let you know that it's right here in the gospel of Jesus Christ ready for you to enjoy. You're welcome. (Click here to read the full story.) 


Our story continues as Lehi and his family continue their journey through the wilderness. We learn that the children of Ishmael marred the children of Lehi which was one thing that Laman and Lemuel did't complain about. Unfortunately, Ishmael died along the way and was buried in the land of Nahom. (To learn about evidence for The Book of Mormon that comes from this, go to this post, point number 5.) 

As they took their journey into the wilderness, Nephi tells us that their women bore children.  They also lived off of raw meat but the Lord blessed them with strength "and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings." Yuck. I think if this was written from a woman's perspective instead of a man's it would've said: "And it came to pass that my husband is making me eat raw meat while I'm pregnant and breastfeeding in the middle of a wilderness and I'm supposed to be grateful and feel blessed by the Lord. And I esteemeth my husband as crazy and I gave him the silent treatment for 2 weeks."

Eventually they arrived in a land they called Bountiful, "because of its much fruit and also wild honey." Yummy. They pitched their tents there and were "exceedingly rejoiced" to be there at the seashore after their many difficulties. 

After many days, the voice of the Lord came to Nehpi and told him to get into into a mountain. He obeyed and went up there to converse with God because this is now a normal thing for him. The Lord said to him: "Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters." And Nephi, bless his heart, said: "Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?" He didn't even question the Lord but just right away was like, "k cool, tell me what to do." What a stud. 

The Lord then told Nephi how to construct the ship and he right away got to work. Unfortunately, Nephi has some really annoying older brothers. Laman and Lemuel found out what he was doing and started making fun of him, saying: "Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters. And thou art like unto our father, led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart;"

 

"And thus my brethren did complain against me, and were desirous that they might not labor, for they did not believe that I could build a ship; neither would they believe that I was instructed of the the Lord."

Nephi then testified to his brothers that he had been instructed of God and that they are being thick-headed: "Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time...but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words...O, then, why is it that ye can be so hard in your hearts? Behold, my soul is rent with anguish because of you, and my heart is pained; I fear lest ye shall be cast off forever."

Surprisingly, Laman and Lemuel weren't happy about being accused of doing iniquity and being cast off forever. They were "desirous to throw [Nephi] into the depths of the sea" but "as they came forth to lay their hands upon [him]" Nephi said to them: "In the name of the Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not, for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh; and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed." That scared them.

For the next couple of days Laman and Lemuel avoided Nephi out of fear. ("Our brother is insane, for he thinketh he can electrocute us.") The Lord then said to Nephi: "Stretch forth thine hand again unto thy brethren, and they shall not wither before thee, but I will shock them...and this will I do, that they may know that I am the Lord their God." Nephi gladly obeyed and shocked his brothers. Laman and Lemuel were adequately freaked out and humbled. They then acknowledged that God is with Nephi and from that point on they helped him build the ship. 
  
After the ship was finished, everyone loaded in and they set sail. After many days, Nephi's brothers, the sons of Ishmael, and their wives "began to make themselves merry, insomuch that they began to dance, and to sing, and to speak with much rudeness." When he writes "dance" and "sing" here, he's not talking about this:   

He's talking about this:

In a boat. With a bunch of men who haven't showered. Sounds like a party. Whatever they were doing exactly, it wasn't OK and it wasn't in line with the Lord's commandments. 

Nephi started to get nervous and was like "the commandments! the commandments! we need to keep the cOmAnDmEnTs!" The party-goers weren't impressed. "Behold they were angry with me, saying: We will not that our younger brother shall be a ruler over us." And then they proceeded to bind him with cords "and they did treat [him] with much harshness." Nice, right? 

After they bound him, their compass which the Lord had given them stopped working so they didn't know which direction to go. To make matters worse, a huge storm started. For three days they "were driven back upon the waters...and they began to be frightened lest they should be drowned in the sea." Laman and Lemuel threatened anyone who would help Nephi and not even the tears of Nephi's wife or children softened their hearts. 
 
Eventually, Laman and Lemuel realized that there was a higher power at work there and that they were going to die. They released Nephi and he grabbed the compass and started praying to God. "And after I had prayed the winds did cease, and the storm did cease, and there was a great calm."

Nephi guided the ship and after many days they arrived in the promised land (the American continents). There they settled and planted seeds and hunted. And that is how Nephi and his family arrived in Jerusalem. Cool story, right?

Although Nephi went through a lot of hardship, he never complained to the Lord. He trusted in Him and was willing to obey Him even when it seemed crazy or hard. Nephi is a prime example of keeping the commandments and we can all learn from him.

Next time on Book of Mormon Stories we will learn how the problems between Nephi and his brothers escalated until they separated and grew into two huge civilizations that battled each other for 1000 years. Talk about sibling rivalry.

"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love"(John 15:10). 

Amen.