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Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Qualities That Qualified

I'm reading the Book of Mormon slowly from the beginning so I can, go into greater depth, lay things out, and find more patterns.  This morning, I noticed qualities that qualified Nephi to receive from God the answers to the questions he was seeking:

  1. Nephi did NOT think his father's visions were foolish imaginations.
  2. Nephi did NOT murmur or complain about leaving everything behind, he trusted that God was leading them.
  3. Nephi believed that even the strongest cities can fall and their hometown was no exception. (1 Nephi 2:11-13 & 16)
  4. He had "great desires to know the mysteries of God" so he took these desires to the Lord in prayer.
  5. He received a witness through the power of "the Holy Spirit" that his father's visions weren't crazy, that he indeed was inspired by the Lord, and bore testimony immediately of this to his brothers.
  6. Nephi had incredible faith.
  7. He relied on God for spiritual answers to his spiritual problems NOT the intellect or "wisdom of the world". Instead he "sought [the Lord] diligently with lowliness of heart."  (I looked up the word lowliness in the 1828 dictionary and I love the description: "Freedom from pride"as if to illustrate the chains of bondage, the slavery that pride really is!)(1 Nephi 2:17)
  8. He obeyed every command of God without whining or complaining because he knew and trusted in the character, the faithfulness, love, wisdom, and power of his Father in Heaven.
  9. He didn't let fear of man or things that seemed impossible stop him. He knew God was stronger.(1 Nephi 3:7, 14 &15)
  10. Unlike the popular majority, Nephi took the prophet's counsel seriously. (1 Nephi 3:18)
  11. His priorities were straight and he clearly understood what truly mattered most. He knew the scriptures and records of those who had gone before were far more precious than any amount of money could ever buy. Even when he was mocked and beaten for this belief. (1 Nephi 3:19,20 & 28,29)

Some things I'll be thinking about today...
More thoughts to come in my journey to study this awesome book again.
-Alicia
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