My Scripture Study Aid

Scripture Study Aid

1.      Provide Context:  Ask yourself the following questions…

-        Who is speaking?

-        Whom is that person speaking to?

-        What is he or she speaking about?

-        What is he or she responding to?

-        Why is he or she saying this?

2.     Liken the scriptures to yourself.

3.     Read Aloud.

4.     Use Study Helps

-        Bible Dictionary

-        Footnotes and Cross-References

-        Maps

-        Topical Guide

5.     Mark and highlight themes, stories and principles so they will be easy to find.  Make notes in the margins.

6.     Link similar scriptural passages together.

7.     Look up words you don’t understand

Spiritual Self Reliance

This is a lesson I gave in Young Women's that many people have told me helped them a lot, so I want to save it for another time.  Most of it came from the Come Follow Me manual, however I drew a lot from a book I was reading at the time that changed my life and taught me how to learn how the Lord communicates with me.  It's called: Hearing the Voice of the Lord, by Gerald Lund

This lesson is going to talk a little more about the importance of being spiritually self reliant. 

What is self reliance? 

Strength of the Youth:

When you are self-reliant, you use the blessings and abilities God has given you to care for yourself and your family and to find solutions for your own problems. Self-reliance does not mean that you must be able to do all things on your own. To be truly self-reliant, you must learn how to work with others and turn to the Lord for His help and strength.

You have been blessed with the gift of agency, and are learning how to set your own course and find answers to your own problems in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Part of using our agency wisely and being spiritually self reliant, involves being able to follow the Spirit in making good decisions. 

I want to share a powerful tool to develop a greater understanding of revelation and how to receive it.  First, we need to consider how to distinguish revelation from other noise in our heads.

The Voice of Our Mind – The first voice we hear is the loudest, the voice of our own mind.  We hear ourselves think.  We ask questions, debate, doubt.  We analyze the events of our lives and make decisions.  This voice is almost always unsure.  It wonders about everything and questions, “Why did that happen?”, “What should I do now?”  “What does that mean?”  “How could I be so dumb?”.  This is all our own thinking and reasoning.  The easiest way to identify this voice is that often it references, “Me” and “I”. 

Examples:  “I think I’m in trouble,” is from your own mind.  “I’m hungry” or “Why is this happening to me?”. 

The Holy Spirit – The easiest way to identify this voice is that it always leads us to do something good and to believe in Christ.  It rarely asks questions.  It clearly distills a thought or pure concept into our minds and heart:  “Don’t do that”  “Put it back”  “Pick it up” “Go to church”.  “Help that person”.  “Be loving to your sibling.”  These are all examples of the voice of the Spirit. 

Moroni 7 tells us that by learning to hear the voice of the Spirit, we can tell good from evil as clearly as the daylight from the dark night: 

"15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.

 16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.

 17 But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.

 18 And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged.

 19 Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ."

This concept is so important. 

EVERYTHING that invites you to do good – including ideas for good that pop into your head – is inspired of God and Is revelation.  Choosing to be obedient to such promptings will dramatically increase your spiritual strength and self reliance. 

Promptings are most often just thoughts or impressions that come into the heart and mind, usually when you least expect it.  To some they come as visual images or flashes of pictures or sudden insight.  But we can tell without a doubt that they come from Christ when they lead us to do something good.  Even if that good thing is mundane and annoying as a thought to drive the speed limit. As the scripture says, ALL good things are inspired of God. 

The Voice of Evil – The final voice we hear is the voice of evil.  We are all quite familiar with temptations, they most often appeal to our flesh, pride, or vanity.  They try to get us to go  contrary to righteous promptings.  When there is a prompting to do good, the adversary will immediately rant against it, railing with many reasons why we should do otherwise. 

An example of these three voices operating in our lives probably just happened to a lot of us during Fast and testimony meeting.  The voice of the Holy Spirit might have prompted you to bear your testimony.  The opposition, keenly aware of what is going on, and knowing you and your weaknesses, would immediately counter with a barrage of clever arguments, tailor made for you.  “You won’t know what to say. It will be embarrassing.  You will just start crying.  Leave the time for other people.  Nobody really cares about what you think anyway,” and similar lies.  Your mind then says,

“Oh my goodness, what should I do?”  When we are able to identify these three voices correctly, then we don’t need to ask ourselves what we should do because we should bear our testimony.  The real question is, “Will I be obedient and share my testimony?”  Or will I be obedient to follow that prompting to say hi to that person? 

In your journal, write down when you receive a prompting and every time you hear a temptation.  Be as specific and detailed as you can.  Record at the end of the day whether you hearkened to that which was good, or if you succumbed to that which was evil.  Record the results of your decision – how did it work out for you when you were faithful, what happened?  Whose lives were changed?  Were you happier because of your obedience?  When you failed to obey, what were the consequences? 

What you will find is that you receive dozens of revelations every day.  You will see that your life is literally submerged in promptings.  You will see that with every decision whether right or wrong, you knew what you “should” have done.  You will also find that the voice of opposition is very informed.  It is specific and intelligent.  It is your enemy and giving you hundreds of reasons to disobey.  Every person who tries this is flabbergasted by the volume of information received each day.  You will be delighted at how clearly Christ is leading you and amazed and dismayed at how thoroughly evil opposes any truth and all light. 

Does anyone have an example of a time when they were able to understand that something was a prompting?  Did they notice opposition to that prompting?  Did they follow it and what happened? 

Close with the parable of the ten virgins

Matthew 25:1-13

Some people say that the virgins should have shared with the unwise virgins.  But spirituality cannot be shared, it has to come within one ‘s self.  Spiritual self-reliance takes work and discipline. 

Parting Testimony to the Mia Maids

I loved the girls I served, and the presidency I served with in Young Women's in the Mountain View Ward.  Just before I was released because we were moving out of the ward, I felt inspired to write them my parting testimony.  I'm including it here on the blog because it has another story that helps to complete my conversion story. 

Dearest Mia Maids,

I wanted to take a moment and share how much I have loved feeling your sweet spirits each week, sharing moments with you both spiritual and fun, crying with you, laughing with you and growing with you.  You are all doing infinitely better in life than I was at your age and I’m so impressed with your testimonies, your good choices and your desires to serve the Lord! 

There are so many things I still want to teach you, but I’m positive that you have taught me far more than I have taught you this past year and a half.  Nevertheless, I still want to leave you with my parting testimony. 

Knowing that “perilous times are ahead of us”, the most important thing I could encourage you to do is to strengthen your faith and testimonies.  Build your houses (i.e. your lives) upon the rock of Christ.  But, there are a few things that in order to have a solid testimony you MUST have! 

These things are what will make the difference when your faith or testimony is challenged. Here’s what they are… (quoting Gerald Lund of the Seventy)

You must know for yourselves with a SURETY that:

-       God is your Heavenly Father and you are his literal child

-       He and His Beloved Son want you to be happy and eventually come to a fullness of joy

-       They know you intimately and love you infinitely

-       They want to bless you, and they actually take great joy in doing so

Do you know these things for yourselves?  If you don’t, or if you need to be strengthened in this area, ASK HIM TO HELP YOU.  Pray that you can know these things with a surety and at a time that is expedient, He WILL answer. 

There once was a time in my life when I had no clue that there was even a God in heaven, never mind that he actually knew and loved me.  As my faith as increased, I know it is true, but even so, it isn’t always easy for me to know with a surety that Heavenly Father is aware of me.  Sometimes Satan or the world blinds me to this truth and I have to ask for help.  When I have prayed for help with these things, I am blessed to notice the tender mercies of the Lord in my life.  Elder Bednar said,

            I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence.  Often the Lord’s timing of his tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them.  The Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ…I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are available to all of us and that the Redeemer of Israel is eager to bestow such gifts upon us.  Each of us can have eyes to see clearly and ears to hear distinctly the tender mercies of the Lord as they strengthen and assist us in these latter days.

Elder Gerald Lund commented on this in his book Divine Signatures (I highly recommend, it’s available at the library):  Did you notice that Elder Bednar repeats the same point twice?  He says that the Lord’s TIMING of His tender mercies can help us discern them, acknowledge them, and treasure them.   This is a very significant observation.  I would add one other aspect.  Sometimes, in addition to the timing, the blessings come with such a unique combination of circumstances that it becomes very clear they are from the Lord.

Young Women, as you pray to know for a SURETY that God knows you and loves you, look for those tender mercies, those coincidences that let you know it has to be from the Lord.  I will give you an example from my life:

When I was investigating the church back in Virginia, I had reached a point where I had been going for a while, and I thought it was nice and all, but I really didn’t want to become a MORMON!  Mormons were weird!  Many people where I am from thought they were a cult.  I thought they were like the Amish or polygamists or something.  They were so super religious and wholesome.  I didn’t want to pay a tenth of my income, I didn’t want to give up drinking coffee, I didn’t want to go to church for three hours every Sunday, I didn’t want to change my entire wardrobe to dress modestly, and I certainly didn’t want people to think I was weird.  I didn’t want to be baptized. 

I had decided that I wasn’t going to go back to church or do any more missionary discussions.  Thanks for the interest in me, but no thanks.  It was in this frame of mind that my friend (the one who had introduced me to the church) and I decided to go to the park on a Saturday afternoon.  We went to a park I rarely ever went to, then decided to go exploring through the woods and find a spot by the river.  We forged ahead, not knowing which way we would go, weaving through the woods in the middle of nowhere until we found a quiet spot on the banks of the river. 

We sat still and listened to the sounds of nature.  I think my friend took a nap, and I sat there meditating how I was pretty sure I was going to stop investigating the church.  Suddenly, we heard leaves rustling.  We looked over by the river and saw a young man riding his dirt bike along the river.  I want to remind you that this was IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.  He could barely even ride a few feet before stopping to jump over a log or weave around a tree or bush.

“Who would be riding their bike out here?” we asked each other in disbelief.  He was heading in our direction and as he drew closer we realized we knew him.

“Is that Tommy Nolan?  It is!  What are you doing out here?”  He said that he had just decided to go ride his bike down by the river.  We invited him to sit down and join us, still amazed that not only had someone entered our fortress of solitude, but that it was someone we actually knew. 

Tommy was a recent convert from our home ward who was loved by all because no one could NOT be touched by his miraculous conversion.  He began to tell me,

“When I was investigating the church Satan worked on me SO hard!”  Then he proceeded to tell me all of the things Satan attacked which were basically the exact same things I was struggling with.  That conversation struck me to the core because I knew in my heart of hearts that Satan did not want me to join the church.  And if Satan didn’t want me to join the church, then it must be exactly what I need to do.  At that moment my stubbornness kicked in and I decided that I was NOT going to let Satan stop me from going back to church!

What are the odds we would run into Tommy Nolan by the river, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the afternoon, and at the exact moment I decided I wasn’t going to go back to church, and that he would tell me how Satan worked on him in the same way?  A million to one at least.  Not a coincidence!

The TIMING and the COMBINATION OF CIRCUMSTANCES let me know that it was from the Lord, that he knew I was struggling with this, and he sent someone with a message.  Also, Heavenly Father could have just prompted one of my LDS friends, or the missionaries to say something like that to me, but instead he chose to prompt Tommy Nolan to ride his bike by the river when He knew I would be there, then prompted him to say what he said.  Thinking about it in this way, I realized that Heavenly Father WANTED me to know that it was from HIM, by the way he chose to do it.  It was His way of giving me a heavenly nudge in the right direction.  How or why would He have done that if He wasn’t aware of me?

Look for the tender mercies in your lives!  He knows you!  If Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know when a sparrow falls, or the lilies of the fields and how they grow, they know you!  Yes you!  Don’t let Satan fool you into thinking any differently. 

If you don’t feel close to your Heavenly Father, pray that you can.  Ask him to help you.  YOU are His work and his glory! 

Have you ever heard of the expression, “It was his/her life’s work?”  It means, it is the work that is most important to you and to which you give a lot of time and effort.  “Her garden was her life’s work,” for example.  Most of you know that I used to study in Italy, which is also where my husband served his mission, is where we met, and why we have a daughter named Sicily (after the island).  While there, I studied the works of the artist Michelangelo, who spent a lifetime creating the Italian Renaissance’s most famous pieces including the Pieta, The Last Supper and the statue of David.  He painstakingly painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (the place in the Vatican where new popes are elected) over the course of 4 years, each day standing up with his arms above his head, painstakingly and meticulously creating a work of art. With a total of 38 sculptures, 15 paintings/drawings/or murals, architect of 12 buildings, I should say he was probably very proud of his life’s work.

Moses 1:39 states:  “For behold, this is my work and my glory – to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”  That’s YOU!  That’s us!  WE are his ETERNAL life’s work.  In order to do that, wouldn’t he have to know you, and hear you, and be there at all times and in all things and in all places? 

I testify that He does, and He is.  It is my prayer that you know it with a SURETY. 

Something amazing happens when we turn ourselves over to Christ, and our Heavenly Father.  I’d like to quote Elder Lawrence Corbridge of the Seventy:

Just give it up. Surrender…to Him. Unconditionally. Withhold nothing. Turn it all over to Him; all of your desires, wishes, dreams and hopes. Be true and faithful in your head and in your heart, not just in your behavior. Trust in Him. Trust Him who knows all things. Trust Him who has all power. Trust Him whose love for you is perfect. Trust Him, who alone suffered, paid and atoned for your sins, and for your weaknesses as well. Trust Him that He will make of you, immeasurably more than what you will ever, in all eternity, make of yourself. He will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge. You will create an ordinary [wo]man. He will create a God.

That is the promise.  Trust the Savior with everything, give yourselves to him, and He will create a version of yourselves so beyond what you could have ever dreamed.  Will He take away your problems and trials?  Probably not.  But with them and other defining moments in our lives, he will sculpt an amazing work of art that takes everyone’s breath away. 

Make your choice.  It could not be clearer in my mind.  Wholeheartedly living the Gospel of Christ will take you and me farther than any other path offered by the world.  It has led me to where I belong.   I wish the same thing for you, and I pray for you. 

Call me anytime!  I may be released from Young Women’s but I’ll never be released from being your friend.   With much love,