Sermon on the Mount

I love the higher law. When Christ teaches the people that they need to away with their old traditions, I'm sure they were not expecting that. Christ came in with some radical ideas that were new the ears of those people at that time. I admire him for his confidence while preaching those things. He knew this is what would make people happy. I'm sure it was a hard adjustment to get used to though. I thought it was interesting that in the Bible Dictionary, it talked about how it didn't seem as hard for the Nephite people to live the higher law, as opposed to the people at the time of Jesus. It mentioned that that could have been because they didn't have as many changes to the original law. It is so interesting that Christ got to teach the Sermon on the Mount twice, once in the Book of Mormon and once in the Bible. He taught it very similarly. This shows me that he truly knew the doctrine and taught it from his heart. Some variance is expected, but it is very little. I love learning about the higher law because it helps me stretch to be a better me. On my mission, I learned a lot about trying to live the higher law. Another example of this for our modern day is that we need to be converted, not just have a testimony. Conversion will lead us to do amazing things. It leads us to exaltation. Testimony is a lesser form, although testimony is needed for conversion.

This week in New Testament class, we talked about how Satan tried three times to tempt Jesus Christ. We read this straight from the scriptures. I have found that when we read directly from these holy words, we are so much more able to feel the spirit. The Spirit helps guide us as we read straight from the pages of the scriptures. We talked in class about how Satan tempted Christ to do things that would allow him temporary and immediate pleasure. One of them was to turn a rock into bread after his fast. Another was to throw himself off the building and then command the angels to save him. In all the temptations that Satan threw at Christ, he was pleading with the Savior to give up greater blessings by taking a current satisfaction now. This can happen to us a mortals too, even if we seek to always follow Christ. We have to make a conscious effort to avoid the buffetings of Satan. This was a really important lesson for me to relearn so that I can look more to avoid the temptations I face each day.

New Testament- CALM THE TEMPEST

New Testament Week 1

While starting the semester project to read both Mark and Luke, I came across a scripture that really meant a lot to me. It came from the story of when Jesus calmed the tempest in Mark chapter 4. In verse 39, Jesus calms the sea after the request from his apostles. One could stop right there and ignore the rest of the chapter and still gain great insight on the character of Jesus Christ. But, if continued, more can be learned about the nature of both Christ and his apostles. In the last verse of the chapter, it seems that the apostles are shocked and amazed at the the miracle Jesus just preformed. It is quite interesting to note that even these apostles who have now been journeying with him for some time now are still in awe at the miracle Jesus performs here. Maybe they had never seen a miracle in this context before. Maybe they were reminded of the power and authority Christ has in every aspect of life. Whatever their reasoning, it is obvious to me that a principle of hope and testimony lie rich in these verses.

Relating that to my own life and to others, Christ is willing to help us in our darkest times. We need not be in a literal storm for him to help us calm our hearts and minds. When the apostles asked him to help them through their trial, he was more than willing to. I believe he did it with gladness. It gave him a chance to bear testimony of the power and strength he had. Through this experience, Christ strengthen the hope and the testimony of his apostles. Just as the apostles could later recall this experience in times of doubt, we too can remember times where Christ helped us through our own refiner's fire. As we remember those sacred and precious moments where the Savior protected us, we will gain increase faith and hope in the process.

The Lord loves us so much and is so willing to grant us safety and peace. He does want us to ask for it though. It is incredible that he has such an amazing amount of love for us. We cannot even comprehend it. As we strive to better understand that love Christ has for us, we will be in awe over and over again at the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.