Who could use some good advice? 2 Kings 16–25 has advice from the Lord to the Southern Kingdom of Israel. And the good news for us is that praying, going to the temple, seeking counsel from the prophet, and more advice found in these chapters are timeless wisdoms. Whatever you are going through we can find solace in the words of the scriptures.
The Book of Mormon prophet Mormon asked the question, “Has the day of miracles ceased?” President Oaks answered in our day, “Many miracles happen every day in the work of our Church and in the lives of our members. Many of you have witnessed miracles, perhaps more than you realize.” If miracles are happening today then maybe in order to see them, we need to seek the faith that Elisha had when he prayed on behalf of his fearful young servant: “Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see”
The House of Israel is in total disarray. This week’s discussion of 1 Kings 12–22 will teach us what the Lord did for His people living on both sides of a conflict. Miracles didn’t cease and God proved it to whoever would listen to both the boasting of confident faith and a still small voice.
Would you say that with age comes wisdom? What about with experience comes wisdom? How about with the imperfections of others, comes wisdom? The Book of Mormon prophet Moroni said, “Give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been” (Mormon 9:31). Today’s discussion of 2 Samuel 11–12 and 1 Kings 1–11 contain stories of the imperfection and contrition which when combined, can definitely make us all “more wise than we have been.”
This week’s Come Follow Me lesson ends with David becoming king, being favored of the Lord, wanting to build the Lord a temple, and some dancing. To find out how he got there, we have to go back and discover who the young boy David was before becoming a young king. 1 Samuel 17–31 and 2 Samuel 1–7 show the heart of young David and the story he’d like to be remembered for.
David and Saul came from different backgrounds and appeared different at first glance. But both led Israel, were favored of the Lord, and also had secrets they tried to hide. But as we learn in 1 Samuel 8–16, God looks past our outward appearance and sees our heart.
Ruth and Hannah were strong figures in the Old Testament who demonstrated faith and established a righteous lineage. This week we are paying special attention to what we can learn about God’s pattern of revelation in Ruth and 1 Samuel 1-7. Sometimes the Lord asks hard things, but when we know it comes from God, it makes it worth it to obey.
The Book of Mormon prophet Jacob had wise words concerning those that look “beyond the mark” (Jacob 4:14). This week’s discussion from the book of Judges contains an important truth about hitting the mark and never missing. There is even a Hebrew word that changes the way we think about hitting the proverbial bullseye of the gospel.
After 40 years the Israelites have arrived at their destination, but without Moses they were in need of a new prophet and leader. Enter Joshua. The Book of Joshua contains his words to his people, battles, and the continued fulfilled covenants from the Lord.
“The more we know these prophecies, the more we can step forward with courage and strength and do hard things and help gather Israel.”
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The final words of Moses can be summed up in Deuteronomy 2:7 “He knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee.” God is with us in wilderness and He will still be with us in our Promised Lands. We are going to study the book of Deuteronomy through a different lens today, and in the words of our guest hopefully “learn heaven through art.”
The wilderness can mean different things to different people. Maybe you first think of mountains, desert, beach, or just a Motel 6. Whatever you imagine, today’s wilderness in the book of Numbers is wild. And the stories from the wilderness not only teach us life lessons, but the word wilderness interestingly enough is a lesson on life itself.
When God wanted to dwell with His people anciently, he asked them to build a place of holiness in the wilderness—a tabernacle. When we want to be closer to God today we can visit the temple too. Exodus 35–40 and Leviticus teach the Israelites details of their one traveling tabernacle, and if we read closely we can see the similarities to our hundreds of temples all over the world.
The Come, Follow Me scriptures this week contain commandments and promises from the Lord to the children of Israel. The 10 Commandments and the subsequent instruction from the Lord are a lesson in obedience and commitment. Today we are relaying stories of what it takes to follow the commandments of God, and what it means to Latter-day Saints to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
After countless miracles leading to the people of Israel leaving bondage, the Lord continued to bless his people in the wilderness. They received food and water, and deliverance from their enemies. As we study Exodus 14–18 look for how God supports us, as we sustain our faith.
Exodus chapters 7–13 contain the ten plagues of Egypt. Although we won’t likely see frogs, lice, and flies infesting our livelihoods day after day, there is a lot of sorrow and disaster in the world. And it seems to affect both God’s people as well as those who aren’t following Him. But our faith grows as we learn to look for small miracles instead of focusing on the plagues.