No Coincidences

Tag: bible

  • Ministering of Angels

    Ministering of Angels

    I read something from Hugh Nibley recently that stood out to me. It was very simple, but it jumped out at me. I think there is a profound truth about our existence in the vast universe behind this simple realization.

    What I was reading was a lecture from Nibley’s Book of Mormon class in the 1990s.

    Hugh Nibley asked a question:

    What is it that angels do when they minister to an individual?

    His answer – “It’s quite simple. They talk to them.”

    When Christ was on the mount of transfiguration with Peter and John and He was ministered to by angels, what did they do with Christ at that time? They spoke to Him.

    When Nephi was taken up in vision atop a mountain and spent time with an angel, what did the angel do? Talk to him.

    When Daniel was in the Lions’ Den, the angel shut up the mouths of the lions, but what else did he likely do? Do you imagine the angel and Daniel just sat there looking at each other? I think not. I think it likely the angel was talking with Daniel while they were in the den together.

    Same goes with Shadrach, Meshach , and Abednego who were thrown in the fiery furnace. Do you imagine the angel was standing and staring at them? I don’t.

    What is the significance of this?

    What is the ministering of angels? The ministering of angels is quite often angels simply conversing with mortals.

    What is the point?

    Angels come from another realm to visit mortals, and what do they do? Talk.

    Yet we’re surrounded by mortals all day every day. How often do we really talk?

    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a ministering program. I think this program gets overcomplicated. All the program really asks is for us to talk to each other. Angels come from other dimensions to do it. We can pull out a phone and have someone on the other end of a line in seconds. We can be angels every day. All it takes is talking to people.

    I think this a profound thing to consider. All it takes for you to be someone’s ministering angel is to reach out and talk to them. This can be the difference in someone’s life.

  • Why is the Book of Mormon Needed?

    Why is the Book of Mormon Needed?

    In honor of General Conference this weekend, I’m going to post a short and simple message.

    I know that we take the Book of Mormon for granted. I know that there are infinite purposes and benefits to us having the Book of Mormon on earth.

    Why do we need the Book of Mormon? Below is one critical reason.

    The Lord declared that there would be a sign before the gathering of His people, and before He started to establish Zion.

    The Book of Mormon is that sign. It is God’s sign that the Abrahamic covenant is still in force. The elect of the Lord are being gathered. This has been prophesied.

    This is why we need the Book of Mormon.

    “In fact, if there were no Book of Mormon, the promised gathering of Israel would not occur.”

    -President Russell M. Nelson

    Or else where are people gathering? Do we see any other gathering in the world today? Surely it must be happening. God can’t be a liar.

  • Wheat and Tares

    Wheat and Tares

    Christ gives the parable of wheat and tares in Matthew 13:24-30:

    24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

    25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

    26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

    27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

    28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

    29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

    30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

    In Doctrine and Covenants section 86 Christ gave an explanation of this parable. Here are His words:

    1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants, concerning the parable of the wheat and of the tares:

    2 Behold, verily I say, the field was the world, and the apostles were the sowers of the seed;

    3 And after they have fallen asleep the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore, even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign—behold he soweth the tares; wherefore, the tares choke the wheat and drive the dchurch into the wilderness.

    4 But behold, in the last days, even now while the Lord is beginning to bring forth the word, and the blade is springing up and is yet tender—

    5 Behold, verily I say unto you, the angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the fields;

    6 But the Lord saith unto them, pluck not up the tares while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you destroy the wheat also.

    7 Therefore, let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe; then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be burned.

    Quick rundown:

    Verses 1-3 explains the great apostasy that occurred to the church after the apostles “have fallen asleep” (aka were killed).

    Verse 4 reminds us that we’re now speaking of our day.

    Verse 5 tells us, “the angels are crying unto the Lord… to reap down the fields.” That can be interpreted different ways but basically the angels want to start with the harvest. The harvest can be considered the gathering of souls at the end of times. This leads to

    Verse 6 where the Lord tells the angels to hold off on the harvest because He doesn’t want to destroy the wheat. The wheat are the righteous, those followers of the Lord. The tares are those who oppose God.

    Verse 7 we learn that wheat will grow alongside tares until the end. Then the wheat will be separated from the tares, and the tares will be burned.

    I believe the most telling part of those verses is in verse 6 where it says, “for verily your faith is weak.”

    The Lord doesn’t want to pull up the tares because the wheat is still “tender” with weak faith.

    I’ve heard this parable many times but for the first time a thought occurred to me. What would it mean for the angels to reap the harvest and pull up the tares while the wheat is still weak? The tares being pulled up signifies the evil people of the world being taken away. The wheat would be too weak to handle this, the wheat is too intertwined with the tares. Wheat and tares, of course, represent people. What does it mean that the wheat is too tender for the tares to be taken? The thought that occurred to me was that the wheat, or faithful people, would have their faith shattered if the tares around them were taken. Could this represent the tares of some friends, family, and people we care about? What if God let loose the angels and took up the tares. How many faithful people would lose loved ones? 

    Are you a wheat or a tare?

    Is our faith weak or strong?

    In Matthew 13:38 Christ says

    “The good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one”.

    Christ doesn’t detail the ok seed or the middle ground seed. We are good seeds or we are tares. We are working for Christ or working against Him. We are faithful or we lack faith.

    One day the wheat will be separated from the tares and the end will come. When that day comes, which side will we be on? The side of the wheat or the side of the tares? It’s not enough to be lukewarm as the adversary intensifies his attack. Wheat is nourishing, tares are not. There’s no middle ground. You are either a wheat or a tare.

    Which are you?

  • Sickness

    Sickness

    I’d like to share a poem by Boyd K Packer.

    In ancient times the cry “Unclean!”
    Would warn of lepers near.
    “Unclean! Unclean!” the words rang out;
    Then all drew back in fear,

    Lest by the touch of lepers’ hands
    They, too, would lepers be.
    There was no cure in ancient times,
    Just hopeless agony.
     · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
     But there was One, the record shows,
    Whose touch could make them pure;
    Could ease their awful suffering,
    Their rotting flesh restore.
     · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
     The day He made ten lepers whole,
    The day He made them clean,
    Well symbolized His ministry
    And what His life would mean.
     However great that miracle,
    This was not why He came.
    He came to rescue every soul
    From death, from sin, from shame.
     · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
     What must be done to make us clean
    We cannot do alone.
    The law, to be a law, requires
    A pure one must atone.
     He taught that justice will be stayed
    Till mercy’s claim be heard
    If we repent and are baptized
    And live by every word.
     · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
     If we could only understand
    All we have heard and seen,
    We’d know there is no greater gift
    Than those two words—“Washed clean!”

    Leprosy was a terrible disease. The skin rotting before the afflicted’s own eyes.

    One day we will stand before Christ and feel how unclean we really are. How grateful will we be for the Atonement in that moment? I’m grateful that we can be washed clean from all our misdeeds, errant thoughts, unkindness, and mistakes. All because He suffered our folly for us.

    While I’m not overexcited to see all my shortcomings, it will be a powerful moment to truly see and understand what Christ did for me. I have an idea now. One day I’ll see and know.

    He died for me.

  • Thou Shalt Not Covet a Perfect Day

    Thou Shalt Not Covet a Perfect Day

    *This was written in 2022. No I did not forget about my other daughters or Bengie’s death.

    The morning of the 4th of July I woke up to a disaster. Our dog, Bengie, was not feeling well, and despite letting him out a combined 9 times between Beth and myself throughout the night, there was dog poop everywhere in our house. Everywhere. Bedroom, dining room, living room, by front door, bathroom. It was insane.

    Needless to say, my day wasn’t starting the way I wanted it to. I was hoping to sleep in a little and I was up at 7am cleaning dog poop everywhere. Literally everywhere.

    As I was walking around cleaning up, and fuming, I realized I was headed toward a ruined day. I was so upset. I realized my day was going to be horrible if I let it. A ruined day. I immediately tried to change my mindset, but it was so hard. I just couldn’t let it go. Stupid dog! I didn’t mean that, I love Bengie, but ugh. Ruining my day off!

    Finally, I got everything cleaned up and I realized I was not getting over this frustration. It was so embedded in my mind. I couldn’t stop being mad.

    I usually meditate first thing in the morning. Since my routine was so crudely interrupted, I hadn’t yet. I went to do my normal meditation. At the end of the meditation, I asked God to please help me get over my frustration and not let it destroy my day. I asked Him to help me to move on and be able to enjoy my day with my family.

    I came out of the room after meditating and Beth and Ivy were both on the couch. I was happy. I can’t explain it. The craziest part was, I forgot about it. I know it’s hard for someone reading this to understand, but this thing that was eating away at my mind and happiness, this gripe and frustration that I couldn’t let go of, was gone. I didn’t realize it until I said my prayer before bed that night. I knelt and started to say my prayer. I was thanking Heavenly Father for how great the day was and how much fun I had with Beth and Ivy and how much we got done around the house and that’s when it hit me. I remembered how the day started. The ordeal had literally been wiped from my mind. I hadn’t even remembered it happened until that moment. And then I got to thank God for allowing me to move passed my frustration that morning.

    It’s not normal to just forget starting your day with 90 minutes (not joking) of cleaning up poop in your home. But it had completely left my mind after that morning prayer and meditation. I realized what God had done for me. I’d asked for help moving on and not being frustrated, and He had removed it from my mind. I was able to have joy that day, not dwelling on how it didn’t start just how I wanted it to. In the grand scheme, was that morning clean-up that big a deal? It could have been. If I let it sour and ruin a great day with my family. Again, I know someone reading this might not understand. But that is an answer to prayer. And I’m grateful for it.

    It wasn’t until typing this, and trying to put the timeline together, that I remembered something else about that morning. I was on call that day for work. After finishing cleaning up after Bengie, I had a work emergency that I had to spend 90 more minutes on. 3 hours of cleanup and work on my Fourth of July. I had completely forgotten about it. It ended up being a great day. My mood, by an actual miracle, was not affected.

    What is the power of positive thinking?

    What is the power of prayer?

    I was recently reading about the Ten Commandments in True to the Faith. The Tenth Commandment said this:

    “‘Thou shalt not covet’ (Exodus 20:17). Coveting, or envying something that belongs to another, is damaging to the soul. It can consume our thoughts and plague us with constant unhappiness and dissatisfaction.”

    I could have “coveted” a perfect morning. I could have coveted sleeping in and waking up to a beautifully cleaned home for a great day of swimming and playing with Ivy. Mornings are rarely perfect, and houses are seldomly beautifully clean. I could have let it “consume [my] thoughts and plague [me] with constant unhappiness.” That was where I was headed. Luckily, I turned to my Father. He gave me the tender mercy of forgetting and moving on. Move on from a mess to the bright sun and pool.

    During my meditation today, it said,

    “As we navigate our emotions, our choices have a reinforcing affect. Irritation strengthens irritation, patience fortifies patience. So, when you notice yourself repeating a habit of frustration or impatience… make a conscious choice of which quality you want to grow.

    As Thich Nhat Hanh said, ‘Every feeling is a field of energy. A pleasant feeling is an energy which can nourish. Irritation is a feeling which can destroy. Under the light of awareness, the energy of irritation can be transformed into an energy which nourishes.’”

    We can control our minds and attitudes. Even when we can’t, there is prayer. When we turn to prayer and trust that He can wipe our minds of irritation and unhappiness, we realize how truly powerful our Heavenly Father is, and how much He loves us.