LINE UPON LINE

by President Joseph F. Smith

“As a boy … , I would frequently go out and ask the Lord to show me some marvelous thing, in order that I might receive a testimony. But the Lord withheld marvels from me, and showed me the truth, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, until he made me to know the truth from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and until doubt and fear had been absolutely purged from me. … By the whisperings of the still small voice of the Spirit of the living God, he gave to me the testimony I possess. And by this principle and power he will give to all the children of men a knowledge of the truth that will stay with them, and it will make them to know the truth, as God knows it, and to do the will of the Father as Christ does it” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1939], p. 7).

2 Nephi 28:30  “For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.”

Doctrine and Covenants 98:12 “For he will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept; and I will try you and prove you herewith.”

~ Sister Tiffany Birrell

The King of the Jews

This excerpt is taken from ScriptureKIT Book 1 Information Pages (IP).

 

IP-16

” ‘At the time of the Savior’s birth, Israel was ruled by alien monarchs.  The rights of the royal Davidic family were unrecognized; and the ruler of the Jews was an appointee of Rome.  Had Judah been a free and independent nation, ruled by her rightful sovereign, Joseph the carpenter would have been her crowned king; and his lawful successor to the throne would have been Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.’  (JC, 86-87)”

 

IP-16 can be inserted into your scriptures on page 1278 of the New Testament.

 

Luke 3:23-38

~ Brother Bruce Barton

The Law of the Mall

You know about God’s Law of the Harvest, right?  We reap what we sow. When we sow, we prepare the ground to receive the seed. We plant the seed and then water and fertilize . . . weed, water, wait . . . weed, water, wait . . . weed, water, wait . . . for a long time until the seed grows and then finally the harvest comes.

But in our day, we seem to want to live by the Law of the Mall—“I see it, I want it, I’m getting it! NOW!”
Instant gratification. It doesn’t even matter if you don’t have the money.  Use your credit card! Everything about our day is fast!  Fast food!  Breaking news!  Fast cars! Communication at our very fingertips!  We get impatient when we have to wait for anything.

Does the Lord work that way?  Not usually.

Why not?

Isn’t there more to be gained when we work for something over a period of time?  We value the things we give our effort to.  The things of the spirit are valuable, godly even, and not to be trifled with or disrespected or unappreciated.  God needs to see how badly we want those things.  Are we willing and patient enough to plant the seed in our heart then water, weed and wait . . . “wait upon the Lord.”

Choose ye this day which law you want to follow.

God’s harvest is not now.  But it will be worth the wait!

Scripture references to sowing and reaping

2 Kings 19:29: “This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.”

Job 4:8: “Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.”

Psalms 126:5: “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.”

Proverbs 22:8: “He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.”

Hosea 10:12: “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

John 4:36: “And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.”

2 Corinthians 9:6: “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”

Galatians 6:7-8: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

DC 6:33: “Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward.”

~ Sister Pat Barton

Defenders of the Covenant by Angie Lofthouse

This August at the LDS Booksellers Convention I met author Angie Lofthouse who has just published her first novel, Defenders of the Covenant.  Sci-Fi is never my first choice when choosing a book, but I had some time and started reading her novel the same day.

The book takes place sometime in the future.  Earth has been taken over by alien invaders.  Groups of refugees have hidden themselves underground and lived all their lives without seeing the light of day or knowing what Earth looks like, really.  The book tells the story of one particular group of people who are LDS.  Even though they have been warned all their lives of the dangers of leaving their refuge, four teens run away from their hiding place to discover for themselves what has happened to Earth.

The aliens capture the four of them and separate them and they each face individual struggles with the aliens – and with themselves as they now have to figure things out on their own.  Three of them use their religious beliefs and training to guide them.  One boy, Jeremy, rebels and his thought processes were never very clear to me.  It seemed he joined the dark side and became evil very quickly and easily.

There is plenty of drama and action and pretty good character development.  I struggled with the believability factor a bit, but as I said, I don’t often read sci-fi novels and a certain suspension of reality is probably requisite.

It’s an interesting idea to take aliens, Mormons, the Salt Lake Temple, faith, prayer, android soldiers, pig-people and even a bit of a love story and weave them together.  The book is probably suitable for ages 10-12 and up and will most likely appeal mainly to Mormons. It is 350 or so pages long, but a quick and easy read.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

The following are excerpts from

ScriptureKIT Book 1 Information Pages 

called Importance of General Conference.  We hope you will take the time to prepare to hear God’s word for you today.

Purpose of General Conference

“Among the purposes of these general conferences are, in summary, as follows:

“(1) To inform the membership of general condi-tions—whether the Church is progressing or retrogressing, economically, ecclesiastically, or spiritually. (2) To commend true merit. (3) To express gratitude for divine guidance. (4) To give instruction ‘in principles, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel.’ (5) To proclaim the restoration, with divine authority to administer in all the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to declare, quoting the Apostle Peter, that ‘there is none other name under heaven given among men’ than Jesus Christ ‘whereby we must be saved.’ (Acts 4:12). (6) To admonish and inspire to continue in greater activity.” (Pres. David O. McKay, 10-1954 CR)

Importance of Conference

“A general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is far more significant than most people realize…it is one of the most important events of the present day. Many do not so regard it, even among the Latter-day Saints. But for those who appreciate its true significance, it is of transcending importance, for in it PROPHETS OF GOD SPEAK, living prophets.” (Mark E. Peterson, Why the Religious Life, 203)

Preparation for Conference

“In a few days there opens another general conference of the Church. The servants of the Lord will counsel us. You may listen with anxious ears and hearts, or you may turn that counsel aside. As in these devotions, what you shall gain will depend not so much upon their preparation of the messages as upon your prepara-tion for them.” (Boyd K. Packer, “Follow the Brethren”, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year, 10)

DC 1:38
DC 20:61,63
DC 26:1
DC 28:10
DC 58:56
DC 72:7
DC 73:2
DC 124:88,144

Temple
Holiness to the Lord
A Haven In a World of Turmoil
by Vaughn J. Featherstone

The season of the world before us will be like no other in the history of mankind. Satan has unleashed every evil, every scheme, every blatant, vile perversion ever known to man in any generation. Just as this is the dispensation of the fullness of times, so it is also the dispensation of the fullness of evil. We and our wives and husbands, our children, and our members must find safety. There is no safety in the world: wealth cannot provide it, enforcement agencies cannot assure it, membership in this Church alone cannot bring it.

As the evil night darkens upon this generation, we must come to the temple for light and safety. In our temples we find quiet, sacred havens where the storm cannot penetrate to us. There are hosts of unseen sentinels watching over and guarding our temples. Angels attend every door. As it was in the days of Elisha, so it will be for us: “Those that be with us are more than they that be against us.”

Before the Savior comes the world will darken. There will come a period of time where even the elect will lose hope if they do not come to the temples. The world will be so filled with evil that the righteous will only feel secure within these walls. The saints will come here not only to do vicarious work, but to find a haven of peace. They will long to bring their children here for safety’s sake.

I believe we may well have living on the earth now or very soon the boy or babe who will be the prophet of the Church when the Savior comes. Those who will sit in the Quorum of Twelve Apostles are here. There are many in our homes and communities who will have apostolic callings. We must keep them clean, sweet and pure in an oh so wicked world. There will be greater hosts of unseen beings in the temple. Prophets of old as well as those in this dispensation will visit the temples. Those who attend will feel their strength and feel their companionship. We will not be alone in our temples.

Our garments worn as instructed will clothe us in a manner as protective as temple walls. The covenants and ordinances will fill us with faith as a living fire. In a day of desolating sickness, scorched earth, barren wastes, sickening plagues, disease, destruction, and death, we as a people will rest in the shade of trees, we will drink from the cooling fountains. We will abide in places of refuge from the storm, we will mount up as on eagle’s wings, we will be lifted out of an insane and evil world. We will be as fair as the sun and clear as the moon.

The Savior will come and will honor his people. Those who are spared and prepared will be a temple-loving people. They will know Him. They will cry out, “Blessed be the name of He that cometh in the name of the Lord; thou are my God and I will bless thee; thou are my God and I will exalt thee.”

Our children will bow down at His feet and worship Him as the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings. They will bathe His feet with their tears and He will weep and bless them for having suffered through the greatest trials ever known to man. His bowels will be filled with compassion and His heart will swell wide as eternity and He will love them. He will bring peace that will last a thousand years and they will receive their reward to dwell with Him. Let us prepare them with faith to surmount every trial and every condition. We will do it in these holy, sacred temples. Come, come, oh come up to the temples of the Lord and abide in His presence.  (Incomparable Christ: Our Master & Model, 3)

 

Doctrine and Covenants 110:7  “For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.”

[submitted by Sister Pat Barton]

“The scriptures that are never read will never help us.”

(Elder L. Tom Perry, Ensign, May, 1985, p.23)

Romans 15:4 “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were writtenfor our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”
2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”

[Submitted by Brother Bruce Barton]

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