I ran across these verses that I
think perfectly capture the process by which reading the scriptures regularly
builds our faith and testimony.
6 Wherefore,
we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of
prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith
becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and
the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.
7 Nevertheless,
the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace,
and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do
these things. (Jacob 4:6-7)
So first, we read the scriptures and search
the prophecies in them. In the
process of doing that day after day, the Holy Ghost gives us daily revelation
and even prophecies of Christ (testimonies of Christ).
Those revelations and prophecy join
with the scriptures to become a cloud of witness to us, certifying that those
things are true. Then we obtain a hope of a future day that we will be rewarded
if we diligently obey God’s commandments as written in the scriptures. We also hope for something better than
the present.
With this hope, we act with faith and
over the process of time our faith becomes unshaken through our diligence.
And with unshaken faith, anything
becomes possible, even (according to Jacob) commanding the elements that they
obey. Verrrrrrrry intriguing.
And yet, our reading (and revelation)
shows us also our weaknesses and we realize that we still have so much to
learn. We see that none of these things is possible without the power of
Christ.
It is neat to see this process all laid
out for us in black and white.
Without it, we have a hard time articulating exactly what the blessings
of studying the scriptures are. And in fact, we can see that there is much more
to be gained than simply a knowledge of the gospel or a testimony. We see hope, faith, and even power over
the elements through the grace of God.
Those are blessings to look for and strive for.
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