Isaiah saw our day.

     I have been doing some searching and studying about Isaiah.  I want to understand the words better and I can't do it alone.  One of the things I found was in order to understand Isaiah, you need to understand that Isaiah is mostly talking to and about the Covenant people in our day.  He is talking to and about Jesus Christ's Church which was restored to this earth through Joseph Smith, whom I blogged about here.  So in order to understand Isaiah better, you need to understand The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (aka Mormon or LDS Church) and to understand the Covenants made by the members of this church.  It is also important to note, the members of the LDS church are descendants of  the house of Israel: Jacob, Abraham, Isaac. 
    He (Isaiah) also prophesies of the gathering of Israel.  The gathering of Israel has began and those of us who are members of the LDS Church have been found, gathered, and have received the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ so that we may also make Covenants and receive the blessings promised to our Fathers for us, but the gathering is not over.  It is just beginning, and this is also what Isaiah saw and prophesy's about!!

Book of Mormon:  2 Nephi 14

     So in 2 Nephi 13, Isaiah talks to the Covenant women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and let's them know what will happen if they are more obsessed with looks more than inner beauty.  Chapter 14 focuses more on the Latter Day Saint Women when they do focus on inner beauty instead of just their outward appearance.  

 1 ^aAnd in that day, seven women shall take hold of one man, saying: We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by thy name to take away our ^breproach.

      What happens when a woman gets married?  The woman takes om the name of the man and makes promises with that man to stay true to him.  Well in this scripture (verse 1) this is what the women are doing with the Lord.  When we make Covenants with our Savior, we promise to be true to those covenants and we take His name upon us.  

      For example, when I turned 8, I was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I promised to take His name upon me and to pattern my life after the way He lived His.  

 2 In that day shall the ^abranch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious; the fruit of the earth excellent and comely to them that are escaped of Israel.

     When we take His name upon us, we become pleasant people.

 3 And it shall come to pass, they that are ^aleft in Zion and remain in Jerusalem shall be called holy, every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem—

     So I read the footnote for "left" and it talked about how the Lord was going to come and destroy all the filthy parts of the House of Israel and all that would be left would be the beautiful parts, or in other words: wicked people would be destroyed and the righteous would be preserved and experience great joy in that day.  Then the righteous people who are left will be Holy people and will live that way for 1000 years.   

     To understand these words I have had to dig deep, but I am loving Isaiah more and more!!

Love,
    Becky joy

Who are you without the glitter?

Okay so my baby is asleep, my 3 year old is at Grandma's house and I am going to do my blog now instead of right before bed when I am more than ready for my dreams to be the only thing I am thinking about.

Book of Mormon:  2 Nephi Chapter 13


11 Wo unto the wicked, for they shall perish; for the reward of their hands shall be upon them!

     Isaiah of course, can't just say consequence.  He has dig deeper, he has to be poetic in his writing, and he uses the word "reward".  What is your reward/consequence for your actions.  We are given choices.  Every single day we are faced with choices, and with those choices comes reward.  Are your rewards good or bad? 
     What is the reward of outward beauty?  The short term rewards may include looking beautiful, looking rich, looking sought after physically, but does it give you anything more than just being looked upon???  If you removed the glitter, now I'm being fancy hehehe, or the earrings, high heels, expensive clothing, will people still look at you and think anything great or is your reward gone?
     In verse 17 below, it reads, "the Lord will discover their secret parts".
     Or in other words, he will look past the worldly things and look at their hearts.  Something people can't see with the human eye.  He will look at the love they have for Him and others.  He will look to see purity.  He will look to see meekness.  He will look to see charity.  He will look beyond the cauls, ornaments, bracelets, and mufflers.  He will look to see if there is beauty not only on the outside, but also on the inside. 
     When He comes again, all the prideful things of this world will be destroyed.  So what would be left, what would your reward be?  
      Be beautiful.  Not only on the outside, but on the inside, so when your secret parts are discovered you are still beautiful.
    

 16 Moreover, the Lord saith: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet—

 17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts.

 18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments, and cauls, and round tires like the moon;

 19 The chains and the bracelets, and the mufflers;

 20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the ear-rings;

 21 The rings, and nose jewels;

 22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping-pins;

 23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and hoods, and the veils.

 24 And it shall come to pass, instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle, a rent; and instead of well set hair, baldness; and instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth; burning instead of beauty.

 

      The other morning while I was reading at the table, my little Sagie girl set some pretzels next to me.  I didn't really pay much attention until I heard her little voice say, "Mommy, I put these pretzels here for you"   She is the sweetest little girl ever.  She is beautiful inside and out.  I hope I can be more like her when I grow up.

 

 

    Love,

        Becky joy

The Headings Help...A lot.

Book of Mormon: 2 Nephi 13

     Well it's official, I have caught something.  Tonight I am experiencing aches all over my body with a sore throat as it's accompanist.  BOO! I can't be sick, I have to take care of babies!!  But I suppose life happens.
     Tonight while I was reading chapter 13 of 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon, I felt pretty confused.  I still need to take time and study it better and maybe find some sources to help me understand the deeper meaning to Isaiah's writings, but for now all I have is some sort of nasty sickness and the scripture heading which helps me a lot.  So apparently these scriptures are talking about the Jews, but what really matter is if I liken the words to myself.  I will study these scriptures better tomorrow (hopefully), but for now I am going to bed.

Good night.

Love,
   Becky joy

A more excellent way.

Book of Mormon: 2 Nephi Chapter 12

 5 O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord; yea, come, for ye have all ^agone astray, every one to his ^bwicked ways.

    When I looked at the footnote for the word wicked in verse 5 it said, "turned to his own ways".  That is how Satan became the Father to all iniquity.  Our Heavenly Father had a plan for us that included growth and Satan wanted a different plan to made him look good but there would be no growth.

     Who's plan are you following?  The Lord's or are you trying to do your own thing?  Remember the Lord's plan gives us the ability to gain power like He has.

 6 Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and hearken unto ^asoothsayers like the ^bPhilistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

 7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their ^atreasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots.

 8 Their land is also full of ^aidols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.

 9 And the mean man ^aboweth ^bnot down, and the great man humbleth himself not, therefore, forgive him not.

    The wicked people may have lots of money and they spend their time worshiping idols or being idol (valuing something over God, wasting time).  But where will the money and idols get them??  Read on:

 18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.

 19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the ^aglory of his majesty shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

 20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which he hath made for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;

     No where.  The money and Idols are worth nothing to God.  When He comes, those things will be worth nothing.  I am going to repeat verse 5 but this time focus on the beginning of the verse instead of the ending:

 5 O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord; yea, come, for ye have all ^agone astray, every one to his ^bwicked ways.

     "walk in the light of the Lord".     When we bury ourselves in idolatry and money, we cannot see the big picture.  When we allign our will with God we can see, we walk into the light and suddenly things worldly accomplishments (like being rich) won't matter, and we will see a much happier path to pursue. 

Love,

     Becky joy

P.S.  I am tired.  I feel like this post could have been much better if I didn't wait until the last minute to read my scriptures.

P.S.S.  I like him.

Isaiah sees the Temple.

   Okay so I am not sure how I accomplished this but I accidentally published my post on 2 Nephi 12 on my other blog, and so I don't have to get all the links ready again, I am just going to leave it on there.  You can read that post by clicking here, this will take you to my other blog that is more about my life, but it will have my scripture study on it.  :)  Sorry.

Love,
    Becky joy

Search these things.

Book of Mormon; 2 Nephi 11

 2 And now I, Nephi, write ^amore of the words of ^bIsaiah, for my soul delighteth in his words. For I will liken his words unto my people, and I will send them forth unto all my children, for he verily ^csaw my ^dRedeemer, even as I have seen him.

     Tonight as I read and reread chapter 11 of 2nd Nephi, I find it interesting how important the words of Isaiah were to Nephi.  Today when anyone mentions Isaiah, everyone gets scared and confused, so why did Nephi like him so much?  
     I looked at the footnote for the word Isaiah in MY Book of Mormon and it lead me to the scripture 3 Nephi 23:1 which reads:
     1  And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.

     I am excited to search the words of Isaiah diligently!    I invite you to do it with me.  If Nephi thought he needed to be quoted so much and if the Redeemer appeared to him, his words, as confusing as they are, must be vital for me to have throughout my life.

Love,
    Becky joy

Overcoming the will of the body.

Book of Mormon: 2 Nephi 10

 23 Therefore, ^acheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are^bfree to ^cact for yourselves—to ^dchoose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.

 24 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, ^areconcile yourselves to the^bwill of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the ^cgrace of God that ye are ^dsaved.

     It's interesting to me how it mentions the flesh, or our bodies, in the same category as the devil.  In fact, it counsels us not follow the will of the devil or our body, but to align our will with God.  

     This world teaches quite the opposite.  Our bodies are designed to have sexual desires and pleasure.  The Lord designed them that way, but His will for us is to have the fullest amount of joy that is possible, and so He knows if we use our body incorrectly by giving into sexual pleasure outside of marriage, the result is unhappiness and trial.  He also knows when we choose one person and make promises with that person to cling unto one another while building a family and growing together then we can experience joy in it's fullness.

     If we overcome the flesh and what the world teaches and  align our will with our Father in Heaven, who knows best, we will be saved and have Eternal Life with Eternal fulfillment and joy.  It will take sacrifice, but this sacrifice will protect us and our posterity as they will enter the world into a family with a strong foundation, instead of a single parent who struggles because they are alone.  I feel strongly about this.  Children are ENTITLED to enter this world in a home with a Loving Father and Mother who are working together to provide and nourish them.  It is unfair to them when we use the power God gave us to create children out of the bounds He has set.    

     My husband and I chose to overcome the flesh and the devil's temptations (because they were strong and real feelings) and to wait to have sexual relations until we got married and to share this experience with only each other.  We got married in an LDS Temple where we made promises with each other and Covenants with the Lord that will help protect our family and give our children a strong foundation that can also help them overcome the devil, the flesh, and the world.  This was very important to me to give my future children.  It was hard for a time while we were dating, but it was WELL WORTH THE WAIT!!  I am so glad of the sacrifices I made for these beautiful children:

     I am so thankful I chose God over the devil when it came to the flesh.  I am so thankful for my beautiful children and God has shown me how to give them a beautiful life.  As it said in verse 22, we have the power to choose for ourselves and I chose Him.

     You can choose Him too.

25 Wherefore, may God ^araise you from death by the power of the resurrection, and also from everlasting death by the power of the ^batonement, that ye may be received into the ^ceternal kingdom of God, that ye may praise him through grace divine. Amen.

Love,

       Becky joy