Abundant Life

A very wise man I know once said that a blessing doesn't have to be a temporal gift like money, but that it can also be protection. I tried to keep that in mind while reading these scriptures.

The old testament scriptures seem to talk a lot about temporal blessings, and I was conversing with this wise man I knew and we came up with the idea that back then, temporally being well off means something different than now. Back then, having a roof over your head, plenty to eat and your family around you was seen as being well off. Now-a-days, people seem to have a different definition of being temporally well off - so maybe that is why later scriptures focus more about seeking the kingdom of God and such.

In the end, I think the scripture that sums up what it means to have "abundant life" is from Psalms 144:15:

15 Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.

That is what it really is all about. Finding real happiness, and you can have that type of happiness in a nice house or a hut as long as your focus is on God. Happiness is the best blessing of all.

Abundance

I don't think I mentioned this before, but you can click on the title of each entry and it will take you to the reference page for the scriptures I'm studying.

I'm trying to find peace and balance in my life - because if you're full of noise how will you be able to hear whisperings from Heaven? So I'm attempting scripture study with light, ambient music in the background to try and keep my mind from wandering unproductively. Plus, it also calms me down, which I can't see as being anything but a plus.

The idea that I want to touch on today is summed up in Luke 6:45

45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Imagine a cup, and you pour water into it until it over flows. What comes out of the cup? Water, right? Now say you pour water into your cup 3/4 of the way, and oil the rest of the way and keep going. What comes out of the cup? This time it will be oil. Why? Because physically oil is less dense then water and will always "float" to the top. Metaphorically speaking, what you fill your heart with will be what comes out of you in your words, actions and thoughts. Likewise, if you have a lot of good in you, but you have something else that is of a higher priority, then that is what will come out of you instead of the good.

I think the next few verses in Luke 6 are an important refresher in what this all boils down to:

46 ¶ And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:

48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

When we claim to be disciples of Christ, and don't do what He says, it is like filling yourself with a lot of water, but then you think that is enough and you feel content pouring oil the rest of the way the rest of your life. This isn't good enough. Both of these men in the parable above had the knowledge of how to build a good, strong house - but one didn't follow through with his construction plans and suffered the consequences of it. I don't want to seem all doom and gloom, because it isn't like I'm doing an amazing job all the time at being righteous, but I think being aware of what is inside you and what your priorities are is a fair warning and a fair goal to keep in mind.

Abstain, Abstinence

Topics without scriptures: Abram, Absalom

One of the most obvious things to take away from this list of scriptures is that worshiping idols is bad. That may seem pretty basic - but there are still a lot of religions out there that still worship idols, so be careful not to put on your christian-american goggles. This is still a doctrine that needs to be taught.

But then there are the less obvious idols. These include a car, clothes, and other material objects. Then there are the even LESS obvious idols. These include a job, what others think of you, even an illness. An idol is basically anything that takes the place of God in our hearts and minds. That doesn't mean that we should not CARE about any of these things, it simply means to honestly re-evaluate how we treat and feel about the things that matter most to you or that you put time into. A lot of people say that if a gun was put up to their head they would still choose God, but I think what matters to God more than a fantasy in our heads is how we actually live out our lives hour by hour.

Another point that they bring up is that setting an example is important. So even if you're fine, you still probably shouldn't do it just in case someone who wouldn't "be fine" follows your example and gets into trouble. When I was little, my older sister and brother were walking along the back of the couch. I wanted to do it too so I climbed up on the back of the couch, made it almost all the way, lost my balance and broke my collar bone. I'm not saying that my siblings were sinning or leading me away into dark paths of destruction, but there is a lesson in this story of the influence of example and how others can be hurt.

I guess the final point I want to touch on is what happens to us when we abstain from things of the world. In Thessalonians 4:3 it says:

3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

And then in Alma 38:12 it says:

12 Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love; see that ye refrain from idleness.

Though these two scriptures are touching on abstaining from sexual sin, I like the idea that abstaining from evil sanctifies us. Dictionary.com says that to sanctify means to make holy, set apart, and to consecrate. When we abstain we are consecrating our lives to God, not just with our words or our intentions, but with our lives.

Abrahamic Covenant

Topics without scriptures: Abraham, Abraham's Bosom.

I once heard about a Bishop who wouldn't sign off on the application to serve a mission until the applicant could explain to him what the Abrahamic Covenant was. After that, and because I hear it mentioned so often in church, I got the impression that this covenant was important.

Some background (kind of watered down)! Abraham was a guy who was the only person of his religion in town (aka, not worshiping idols). After almost getting sacrificed to these idols himself, he and some of his family ditched town. While he was out there, God made a covenant with him that his descendants would be numerous and that all the Earth would be blessed through his descendants - specifically all the FAMILIES of the Earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:3).

As I was reading through this, these are the questions that were going through my head: It seems so basic, what's the catch? What made Abraham's family so special that they got to be God's chosen people? Why is it important to learn about this? How does this relate to me and my journey back to Heaven?

What I came up with is that the Abrahamic Covenant is all about choosing God as your god, and everything that actually means. Abraham was alone in his convictions until he left his home city, and he was pretty much all his life. He had to make a choice, and then live that choice for the rest of his life. Back then choosing a god to be devoted to meant being willing to kill your son (Abraham's dad and Abraham himself), not todays definition of religion that is more of a "well, it makes me feel good and I agree with most of what it teaches."

I guess the follow up to this is that an LDS belief is that if a couple have been married or Sealed in the Temple, then all of their children who were born after that time are said to be "born under the Covenant" and don't need to be sealed to their parents in a ceremony because they are already sealed to them. I always thought that meant the covenant that the parents made when they were married - but now I wonder if it also could mean under the Abrahamic Covenant. Back in old Jewish times when a male was born, the parents would make a sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem that had, among its purposes I believe (I could be wrong), the purpose of dedicating that son's life to God. Maybe when someone is born under the covenant it means that when their parents were sealed, they promised to God their offspring in sort of the same way. Note, this is NOT doctrine, this is just musing of Marinda and I could be completely wrong AND I don't know anything about the marriage/sealing ceremony - I'm just assuming that covenants are made because I've been taught all my life that the Temple is a place to make them. But this is such a deep and dense doctrine that unless we take a little time to muse and a lot more time to study and pray, I don't think we'll learn anything. Asking questions is important, but like G.I. Joe says - It's only half the battle!

Above

One summer, at a church camp, one of the speakers talked about a sign he once noticed while leaving the Salt Lake Temple. You have to go underground to actually get inside the temple, and while leaving there is a stairwell with a sign that said "Up Only". He later found a copy of that sign and kept it in his office.

Why did he do this? Because he wanted to be reminded to do everything in his power to keep moving up towards God. Now, I don't really believe that Heaven is up above us somewhere - currently I'm more of the philosophy that Heaven is all around us - but I think the symbolism is important. I am always amazed at how much more you can see around you, just from going up two or three stories in a building. As God knows and sees everything, it is logical to have him symbolically higher than we are.

Another, and I think more important symbolism, is that it take work and effort to go up something. Since becoming ill, I've learned how difficult going up even a few steps can be. It was never meant to be easy - because if it was then the people who made it to the top would be a mixture of people who cared and people who didn't care but decided to follow the crowd. There is nothing more frustrating then trying to put on an event and to have given assignments to people who didn't care - and when it comes to building up the kingdom I don't think that God wants to put himself in that position.

Maybe even more important of a reason for having this symbol of height is that as we climb up, we become stronger. When I was little my family use to go to Disneyland, and my father would force me to go on Splash Mountain with him. As a little girl, I was positive that this ride was going to be the death of me, but my father insisted that I ride it once every time we visited the park. Terrified and convinced that my dad secretly had it in for me, I would smash myself against him and would cry my head off at we ascended that final hill. Remarkably, I survived every time - and now that I'm older I'm not afraid of it.

The reason why my father made me ride that horrible attraction was because he wanted me to grow as a person, and he knew that I would never grow if I stayed in my comfort zone. God, like my father, wants to help us to become the best we can be, and that includes giving us experiences that make us stronger. Strangely enough, every time I had to go on that ride I would have a small moment of peace right when we reached the top and I could see the incredible view. For the smallest moment, my fear would leave me at the brilliance of what I could see. In a spiritual sense, we'll never become willing to make the climb and receive the rewards that our Heavenly Father has in store for us until we somehow get over our own personal fear of heights.

Abound

I really liked Romans chapter 5 - in short it is on the Atonement. The scripture that has the reference is Romans 5:20 which reads:

20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

In a lot of ways, this one verse sums up what the Atonement is - it is a message of hope. Earlier in the chapter there is this verse:

4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

With the new year coming along, I've thought a lot about the past and have spent a couple of late nights talking to my mother over a mug of hot chocolate about how I should perceive my past. In many ways, I've been through quite a bit of sludge as far as life experiences go, but I've also been through quite a bit of good times that I can't help but smile when I look back on them. Both the good and the bad can be placed under the category of experience, and according to this verse the point of experience is to build up our hope. A hope in ourselves, a hope in our future, a hope in other people, and most importantly a hope in Christ.

Being at home is a good reminder that at one point everything that has happened in my past since I left home was once my future - and you know what? I'm doing ok, even though the future happened. The hope comes in when I realize that five or ten years from now, I can look back to this moment and have the same feelings about what lays in store for me tomorrow that I now have about my first steps out of the comfort zone of my house.

I would like to end with a scripture from Ether chapter 12:

4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.