Escaping Materialism with Principles of Stewardship

Our world has a big problem with materialism. You don’t have to look far to find manifestations of it. Debt and waste and pollution and poverty and excess are common problems. We can preach against materialism all we want, but until we learn righteous principles ourselves and teach them to our children, we will continue to have troubles with it.

I went through the scriptures and I found that the Lord has given us these principles of stewardship to follow so that we can overcome materialism.

1) Everything on earth belongs to the Lord and we are all His stewards.

And again, a commandment I give unto you concerning your stewardship which I have appointed unto you.
Behold, all these properties are mine, or else your faith is vain, and ye are found hypocrites, and the covenants which ye have made unto me are broken;
And if the properties are mine, then ye are stewards; otherwise ye are no stewards. (D&C 104:54-56)

Yes, we worked for the money to pay for what we have, but who helped us get the job? Who helped us with our education? The Lord is behind it all.

2) We need to be diligent in preserving what we have to be accounted wise stewards.

Thou shalt be diligent in preserving what thou hast, that thou mayest be a wise steward; for it is the free gift of the Lord thy God, and thou art his steward. (D&C 136:27)

One benefit of this diligence is that we will get to learn how things work and learn how to fix things, which is is a talent in itself.

3) Everyone will have to account to the Lord for the use of their stewardship.

That every man may give an account unto me of the stewardship which is appointed unto him.
For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings, which I have made and prepared for my creatures. (D&C 104:12-13)

But let him remember that his stewardship will I require at his hands. (D&C 124:14)

Our tithing settlement interviews should prepare us for the final interview with the Lord when we will be asked to account for how we’ve used our money, property, time, talents, space, and so on.

4) We need to do our part to help the poor and needy in order be accounted just and merciful stewards. The unjust, unwise, unmerciful stewards will have their stewardships taken from them and they will be tormented in hell.

Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment. (D&C 104:18, see also Luke 19:20-24)

The Lord wants us to do our part for the poor, because it is what He would do if He were in our place. As stewards, we are His agents.

5) The just, wise, and merciful stewards will have all things given to them, as well as receiving the stewardships of the unwise.

And behold, he that is faithful shall be made ruler over many things. (D&C 52:13)

For ye are the church of the Firstborn, and he will take you up in a cloud, and appoint every man his portion.
And he that is a faithful and wise steward shall inherit call things. Amen. (D&C 78:21-22)

And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.
(And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. (Luke 19:24-26)

And whoso is found a faithful, a just, and a wise steward shall enter into the joy of his Lord, and shall inherit eternal life. (D&C 51:19)

And this shall be my seal and blessing upon you—a faithful and wise steward in the midst of mine house, a ruler in my kingdom.
(D&C 101:61)

6) There is more than enough on earth for everybody, because the Lord prepared it that way, but he also gave us choice of what to do with it.

For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves. (D&C 103:17)

This completely contradicts the first thing anyone learns in economics—that there is scarcity. When we have the Lord telling us that there is more than enough for everyone, that means that any scarcity we have on earth has been created by man. I believe that we create scarcity when we require too much.

7) Providing for the saints must be done in the Lord’s way, not the world’s way. The Lord’s way of providing for the saints is to exalt the poor by humbling the rich.

But it must needs be done in mine own away; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low. (D&C 104:16)

The world is always trying to look for ways of exalting the poor without the rich having to sacrifice anything. The world espouses “trickle down economics”, thinking that giving benefits to the rich will eventually benefit the poor. The Lord plainly tells us that is the wrong way to go about it. Those of us who are blessed beyond our needs must sacrifice our surplus.

8) The Lord wants us to be equal in temporal things. If we are grudging about it, the Lord withholds the abundance of the Spirit’s manifestations.

Nevertheless, in your temporal things you shall be equal, and this not grudgingly, otherwise the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld. (D&C 70:14)

This is very interesting. The Lord doesn’t want us to hold back in any way. He wants us to be perfectly willing to do this and He will withhold an abundance of spiritual manifestations from us if we are grudging about equality. How many miracles and spiritual gifts are we missing out on?

9) We need to be careful to discern what is just and needful for our stewardships. No favoritism.

And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties, for the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just— (D&C 82:17, emphasis added)

How do you know if your wants are just? You have to learn to analyze and debate just how much you need something for your stewardship. I’ve found that it is usually best to counsel about it with a close friend (who isn’t afraid to tell you that you don’t need something) or your spouse. Counseling helps you keep from being impulsive and helps you keep focused on meeting your needs.

I also think the “equal claim” term in the above scripture is neat. In the world today, businesses give top priority and attention to serving those who are willing to pay the most. The Lord’s way seems to be that everyone gets equal priority, because we are all His children.

10)Those who consecrate their labor are worthy of some sort of benefit. Consecrate in spiritual things, and you get extra spiritual manifestations.

He who is appointed to administer spiritual things, the same is worthy of his hire, even as those who are appointed to a stewardship to administer in temporal things;
Yea, even more abundantly, which abundance is multiplied unto them through the manifestations of the Spirit. (D&C 70:12-13)

11)Everyone has the responsibility to improve his stewardship to gain more talents, with the surplus to go to the church.

And all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be cast into the Lord’s storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church— (D&C 82:18)

12) Everyone also needs to seek the interest of his neighbor and the glory of God, and not just looking out for number one.

Every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God. (D&C 82:19)

13) The Lord gives us the privilege of organizing ourselves according to His laws.

And thus I grant unto this people a privilege of organizing themselves according to my laws. (D&C 51:15)

I think this is really neat, because it gives us the opportunity to be proactive. It’s so that we can figure out how to live by correct principles in our own particular circumstances.

Also, the Lord knows that living the Law of Consecration can’t be forced upon us, even if it is a commandment; we have to organize ourselves in such a way that we are prepared to do it and then start doing it on our own.

Some ways that doctrines of stewardship have helped us:

About six months ago, I needed a new Mac laptop to replace my six year old one. My husband and I analyzed together what I should get to replace it. For about two days I was convinced by Steve Job’s reality distortion field that I should get a MacBook Air, but when I tried to justify it to my husband, I eventually saw that it really didn’t fit my needs and a MacBook would do the job just as well at about 2/3 the cost. When I got my new computer, I gave my old one away to someone who needed a computer but couldn't afford to get one.

Another example. When gas prices started really zooming up at the beginning of the summer, we found that we could not afford to drive both our cars. Devon had floated the idea of getting a scooter before, but when gas was cheap it seemed like a scooter would just be a toy. Now something with better gas mileage was a necessity. So we got our motorcycle licenses, and then we put a lot of effort into researching what kind of scooter to get that would best fit our needs. We were able to find one that had the cargo accessories we needed and which didn’t cost an arm and a leg.

I've also written extensively about stewardship in my book here.

Talents and Divine Nature

I was thinking about how I managed to build all the talents I have. What drove me to do it? What caused me to feel that I could try and succeed?

One thing that encouraged me was when my Mom would say to me every so often, “You’ve inherited this talent from your grandmother.” Or “You’ve gotten this talent from your father.” Or “You’ve gotten this talent from your great great grandfather on your Dad’s side.”

I never questioned her statements, but I began to wonder recently, Can talents be passed along in our genes? This does not seem to me to be quite possible, yet I have to admit that what my mother said was in effect a self-fulfilling prophecy, because no sooner did she note that my abilities were inherited, than I began to try to develop them, partly because I subconsciously wished to strengthen my personal connection with the relatives whose abilities Mom said I inherited, and mostly because Mom said those abilities were in me.

My Mom was very clever, perhaps without knowing it. It is hard to try new things without knowing if you have a talent for them, but it is easy to try new things after you’ve been told you have inherited a special talent for it. It causes you to go into it with a confidence you will succeed eventually. That confidence is particularly helpful in the beginning stages when it is difficult. Mom made it easy for me to try new things.

But back to the question... Is talent really inherited from our parents and ancestors? I haven’t reached any conclusion on this, but in thinking about it, I DID realize that because I am a spirit daughter of God, I have the potential to become as He is. That means I have inherited all His talents and they are in embryo in me. This empowers me much more, because every good talent is one He possesses, which means I also possess them too, in embryo. I just have to develop them.

Ah, I finally understand divine potential better! And it has freed me! I have a talent for everything good! And so do you! We just have to develop them! It’s a good thing I have eternity after this life to do this, because otherwise I’d feel like there was too little time, and that would be depressing.

Why does the Lord chasten us?

Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I love I also chasten that their sins may be forgiven, for with the chastisement I prepare a way for their deliverance in all things out of temptation, and I have loved you— (Doctrine & Covenants 95:1)

It looks like chastening happens as a result of His love for us.

The Lord chastises us so that we will be brought to contrition and repentance. When we repent, He can then forgive us and then provide a way to escape the sin in the future! And when we are forgiven, we achieve purity, and we can then make progress toward holiness!

Chastening leads to holiness! Awesome!

Isaiah on Consequences

18 And none to guide her
among all the sons she hath brought forth;
neither that taketh her by the hand,
of all the sons she hath brought up.
19 These two sons are come unto thee,
who shall be sorry for thee—
thy desolation and destruction,
and the famine and the sword—
and by whom shall I comfort thee?
20 Thy sons have fainted, save these two;
they lie at the head of all the streets; as a wild bull in a net,
they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God.
(2 Nephi 8:18-20)

I know lots of people believe these verses prophesy of the two prophets that will testify in Jerusalem before the Second Coming of Christ, and I agree with it, but I also see something additional in these verses.

In verse 19, “who shall be sorry for thee” seems like it should be a separate question which is repeated later in the verse in the form of “by whom shall I comfort thee?”

The two sons seem to be “desolation/famine” and “destruction/the sword”. In the sense that our acts give birth to consequences, Israel’s acts have given birth to two sons—“desolation and destruction”, also known as “famine and the sword”. And no one is sorry about it (except for the Lord and the righteous).

“Thy sons have fainted, save these two” seems to mean that all other consequences have ended or been used up except for those two, and the Lord is just barely keeping the consequences in control, like a wild bull is barely kept from running amok by netting it.

“They are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God” seems to be saying that the purpose of the desolation and destruction is to rebuke Israel for its wickedness.

In verse 18, “none to guide her among all the sons she hath brought forth” seems to mean that none of the consequences born of Israel’s actions are good, and so she can’t use those to guide her to what to do. (If the consequences were good, Israel would know she had done something right and that would guide her.)

The verses that follow the very depressing ones above are a call to repentance.

21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted,
and drunken, and not with wine:
22 Thus saith thy Lord,
the Lord and thy God pleadeth the cause of his people;
behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling,
the dregs of the cup of my fury;
thou shalt no more drink it again.
23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee;
who have said to thy soul: Bow down, that we may go over—
and thou hast laid thy body as the ground
and as the street to them that went over.
24 Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion;
put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city;
for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised
and the unclean.
25 Shake thyself from the dust;
arise, sit down, O Jerusalem;
loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
(2 Nephi 8:21-25)

“drunken, and not with wine” – I think this is like saying someone is drunk on sin. Certainly sin makes us do really stupid stuff.

“the Lord and thy God pleadeth the cause of his people” This tells us how Christ is our advocate with the Father.

In my Book of Mormon class at BYU with Byron Merrill, he explained “the cup of trembling” as a cup full of sweat wiped off the face of a person who is so mad that they are trembling. Another idea I have is that it could be a cup full of blood that was sweat by Christ during his trembling and suffering for our sins. Until we repent of our sins, we can expect that kind of suffering.

“I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again” – Once we have repented of our sins, we don’t have to experience that suffering any more.

Then we are told to shake ourselves from the dust, which we can take to mean brushing the filth and sin out of our lives, and we are told to awake and put on our strength and beautiful garments, which we can take to mean we must put on the power of God, put on God’s grace to do good works, and put on the beautiful garments of charity so that we can sit down in the kingdom of God.

Balaam and the Talking Donkey

When I was little my Mom would read books to me with scripture stories of the Bible. There was one book with a black cover that had a selected stories from the Old Testament in them and my absolute favorite story in that book was that of Balaam and his talking donkey. This was better than Doctor Dolittle!

Recently I reread through it and while thinking about it I noticed and realized some things that I hadn’t before.

And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.
And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. (Numbers 22:2-4)

Background: Israel has left Egypt and after the 40 years in the wilderness they are now entering the promised land and the current inhabitants are getting swept off. King Balak knows what’s coming.

He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me:
Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. (Numbers 22:5-6)

All King Balak knows is that whenever Balaam says something will happen to someone, it happens. (We know this as the gift of prophecy) Balak doesn’t have any idea that the Balaam’s God is also Israel’s God; he just hopes that he can pay Balaam to say something bad will happen to Israel.

And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.
And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam.
And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee? (Numbers 22:7-9)

I think it is cool that even though the Lord knew exactly who and what those men were doing visiting Balaam, He still wanted to hear Balaam tell Him about it. This indicates that the Lord liked to hear from Balaam and talk to him. If the Lord liked to hear from Balaam, the Lord must like to hear from us too. From His perspective, our thoughtful and sincere prayers must be very important and interesting to Him.

And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying,
Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth: come now, curse me them; peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out.
And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you. (Numbers 22:10-13)

Note that Balaam clearly says why he will not go. The LORD has not given him permission. Maybe if he had been more clear that the Lord had blessed Israel and would not curse them, then future requests would have been nipped in the bud.

And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said, Balaam refuseth to come with us. (Numbers 22:14)

Note that the princes of Moab only gave King Balak part of that partial message Balaam gave them from the Lord. Perhaps they do not believe it was the Lord that instructed Balaam not to go. Maybe they think Balaam is just being stubborn and is blaming his God for it to save face.

And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they. (Numbers 22:15)

Because King Balak hasn’t been told that 1)the Lord told Balaam not to go and 2) Israel is not cursed but blessed, he thinks Balaam is being stubborn and he figures he just needs to use a bigger carrot.

And they came to Balaam, and said to him, Thus saith Balak the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: (Numbers 22:16)

Balak wants to make sure that inconvenience hasn’t been a factor in Balaam’s refusal.

For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people. (Numbers 22:17)

How many of us have been offered practically a blank check to do something we’ve already been told we shouldn’t do? I hope this never happens to me, but if it did, I really really hope I would be faithful.. (Sheesh! Why can’t people offer us a blank check to do what we know we SHOULD do?!)

And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.
Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more. (Numbers 22:18-19)

Balaam's words sound righteous, but he had already been told once by the Lord to not go with them and had already been told not to curse Israel. At this stage he should have said, “I’ve already told you that the Lord told me ‘No!’” I can only suppose that since the first messengers had left he had been thinking a lot about what he had lost by not going to Balak and that was a factor in not immediately refusing. Instead, he stalled to buy time.

And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do.
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. (Numbers 22:20-21)

The Lord knew Balaam was weakening, so the Lord was trying to work in a way that Balaam would be able to handle. The Lord gave Balaam a specific sign to look for that would tell him whether he should go with the messengers—“if the men come to call thee”. Unfortunately, Balaam seems to have lost it at this point. It seems Balaam was so excited that there might be a possibility that he could go with the men, that he ignored the condition completely, got up, got ready to go, and went with them.

But about this sign. I don’t know what it was customary for a host to do when sending travelers on their way in the morning, but it seems to me that the Lord carefully crafted this sign. It seems to me that the men would only have come to call Balaam in the morning if they had really honestly believed him to be a prophet and wanted to hear what the Lord would say. But wait, if they honestly believed him to be a prophet, then they would already have realized that the answer would still be the same “No Curses Allowed”, so they probably would feel like they didn’t even need to ask what the answer was. I bet that if Balaam had waited in bed, he would have waited in vain.

And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.
But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.
And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.
And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. (Numbers 22:22-27)

Balaam’s donkey feared and obeyed the angel more than Balaam. Its loyalty went to the higher authority. Balaam should have feared and obeyed God more than King Balak and his messengers.

And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?
And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee. (Numbers 22:28-29)

A talking donkey! Amazing! But does Balaam bat an eye? No! You’d think animals talked to him every day! Actually, because Balaam was a man of God, he must have been thoroughly acquainted with miracles of all types and perfectly comfortable with wonders to the point that he expected them. But the thing he couldn’t stand here was that his donkey was messing with him. Of all things for the donkey to ask when it starts talking is, “What have I done? Why have you hit me these three times?”

Balaak is even madder that the donkey is asking what it did wrong. Hel-LO! You’ve gone off the road and you’ve smooshed my foot and you’ve lain down for no good reason and now you’re asking me what you’ve done wrong?! YOU KNOW what you’ve done wrong! “You’re making fun of me! I wish I had a sword right now so that I could kill you!”

And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.
Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face. (Numbers 22:30-31)

The donkey says, “Have I ever done something like this to you before?” We can imagine Balaam thinking about this and saying, “Noooooo..” and right when he is starting to think about what could be causing the donkey to act so strangely, he SEES. The angel. With a sword. And Balaam drops like a sawed tree.

Why was Balaam so scared when he saw the angel with the sword in his hand?

He realized that at the same time that he was mad enough to kill his donkey for leaving the road and crushing his foot and refusing to move, the Lord was mad enough to kill him for disobeying by going with King Balak’s messengers when he wasn’t supposed to. Balaam remembered that he told the donkey he wanted to kill it with a sword, and here was an angel standing there with a sword, all ready to dispatch Balaam. (“with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged..”)

And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: (Numbers 22:32)

If Balaam thought the donkey’s way was perverse, his own way was worse. If Balaam hit his donkey for disobeying, what would the Lord do to Balaam?

And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive. (Numbers 22:33)

Here the angel puts Balaam’s sins into perspective. If the donkey had disobeyed the warning of the angel and had gone on anyway, the angel would have had four choices:
1) Kill both disobedient Balaam and disobedient donkey.
2) Kill the disobedient Balaam and save disobedient donkey.
3) Kill disobedient donkey and save disobedient Balaam.
4) Kill neither the disobedient Balaam or disobedient donkey.
The angel says he would have killed Balaam and saved the donkey, because Balaam’s knowledge and responsibility was much, much greater than the donkey's, so his sin of disobedience was much much greater and deserved the penalty of death more than the donkey did.

And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again. (Numbers 22:34)

Perhaps Balaam hadn’t been able to see the angel, because he had stopped paying attention to the Lord’s guidance. He let himself only hear what he wanted to hear when the Lord told him the required condition for going with the messengers, so he had been deafening his own spiritual ears and blinding his own eyes. But now he's finally willing to go back home and stay.

And the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that thou shalt speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. (Numbers 22:2-35)

At this point, there is probably a part of us that is saying, “So…Balaam got his way, right? He finally got to go like he wanted!” Well, this wasn’t a joy ride. He would not be able to anticipate any honor and praise and riches and promotion coming out of this errand, because he knew that the Lord would not allow him to curse Israel.

Maybe Balaam wanted to go see what it was like in the big time with the big shots. (Who wouldn’t find it an honor to be asked to come and do something for the president of the United States or a king!) The problem with being excited to meet the big shots is that it is too easy to be awed and want to do what they ask you to do, even when it is wrong. It’s too easy to forget where your loyalty lies. Perhaps the Lord had wanted to save Balaam from this temptation at the beginning.

So why was Balaam now instructed to go?

Having disobeyed, as part of his repentance he needed to make restitution, which meant he needed opportunities to demonstrate absolute obedience to the Lord.

Also, King Balak needed to be taught that it was not possible to bribe a prophet to curse or bless whomever he wanted. Perhaps Balak would have figured this out sooner if Balaam had been firm and continued to refuse to as he should have, but now the lesson was coming for sure. (The blessing process is very interesting. Numbers 23 & 24.)

We know from Numbers 23 and 24 that Balaam was obedient to the Lord and blessed Israel three times. Naturally Balak was disappointed. He said to Balaam, “I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times. Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee unto great honour; but, lo, the LORD hath kept thee back from honour.” (Numbers 24:10-11)

This was a thrust—"the Lord is keeping you back from honor". But with an eternal perspective we know that the Lord wanted to bestow much greater honor on Balaam in the resurrection than Balak could ever give in mortality. To his credit, Balaam withstood Balak’s jab by prophesying of the Messiah. (Numbers 24:17-19) This teaches us that our testimonies can help us withstand the fiery darts of the adversary.

If Balaam had just stuck to his guns after that, all would have been well. But evidently he couldn’t stand the long-term disapproval of Balak or the prospect of returning home empty-handed, because it was he who gave the Moabites the idea to go and tempt Israel into idolatry and sexual immorality.

But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. (Revelation 2:14, emphasis added)

And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.
And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?
Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor… (Numbers 31:14-16, emphasis added)

Leading people into temptation was a worse sin than disobeying. It made him into one of a generation of vipers.

And what was the end of Balaam? Remember the angel who stood in his way ready to smite him with a sword?

Balaam also the son of Beor, the soothsayer, did the children of Israel slay with the sword among them that were slain by them. (Joshua 13:22)

Definitely a cautionary tale. Balaam wasn't immune to temptation, even as a prophet. Neither are any of us.

(Image credit - members.aol.com/JAlw/balaam.html)

"Christ Will Come"

In trying to capture the anticipation of the Second Coming, I wrote this poem:

Though some say he’s belated
Our God can’t be frustrated
To prideful world inflated
Christ will come, Christ will come

The gospel outward flowing
The angel trumpet blowing
The lightning striking showing
Christ will come, Christ will come

In whirlwinds descending
Oppression and sin rending
All righteousness defending
Christ will come, Christ will come

The wicked burnt to cinder
No more our joy to hinder
Or stress our kith and kinder
Christ will come, Christ will come

Despair and doubt dispersal
A glad cry universal
Great mysteries rehearsal
Christ will come, Christ will come

Continue hope igniting,
And all to Christ inviting
Until He comes, reciting,
“Christ will come! Christ will come!”

What must we do to become like the stripling warriors?

I made a study of their characteristics and what I found was amazing.

“they became now at this period of time also a great support” (Alma 53:19) Anyone who is in favor of truth and makes that known, anyone who is willing to do what is right becomes a support, one who can be depended on, and the more we are willing to do to help the church, the more of a support we become.

“they were men of truth and soberness” (Alma 53:21) They were serious about the things that were sacred. We are the same way when we are serious about keeping our bodies sacred and treating with respect all the sacred things we have learned.

“they would that Helaman should be their leader” (Alma 53:19) Since they were men of truth and soberness, they wanted a leader who was also a man of truth and soberness, so they chose the best that they could find—a prophet of God. We are like the stripling warriors when we choose a prophet to be the one we will follow.

“they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives” (Alma 56: 47) They didn’t just want liberty for themselves, they wanted liberty for their fathers and families. We are like them when we want liberty for others more than we care for our own lives.

“they covenanted that they never would give up their liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage” (Alma 53:17) They actually made a promise to God that they would not just argue and fight to protect themselves, but also others from captivity.

“we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus” (Alma 56:46) They were even protective of other armies. They would not allow someone else to be ganged up on. We are like them when we defend others from verbal or moral or physical attack.

“they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity” (Alma 53:20) Not only were they brave and strong, but they were extremely active. They were up and doing, more than anyone else. These were hard workers.

“never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites” (Alma 56:45) My dictionary defines courage as “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty” and it says that courage “implies strength in overcoming fear and in persisting against odds or difficulties”. If the stripling warriors felt fear, they overcame it with their faith in Christ and so they were willing to try anything good, they would persevere through difficulty and resist evil. Their faith in Christ gave them greater courage then any of the Nephites. We can be like them if we trust that Christ wants us to do and succeed at anything that is righteous and He will help us.

“they never had fought, yet they did not fear death” (Alma 56:47) They knew that if they died, they were saved in the kingdom of God and if they didn’t die, they were saved to live another day and continue to do good. We can be like them if we remember that the gospel of Christ saves us whether we die or live. If we are pure we are prepared for either event.

“they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them” (Alma 56:47) Such an empowering doctrine!

“they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers” (Alma 56:48) Not only did they remember the words of their mothers, they rehearsed them to each other and their leaders so that all could be strengthened. They were unashamed of having been taught by their mothers and they were not ashamed of what they had been taught and they were willing to share it with others when times were difficult. We are the same way if we share the good things we have been taught by our parents with others who are going through the same difficulties.

“We do not doubt our mothers knew it.” (Alma 48) The stripling warriors also bore testimony to the testimonies of their mothers. They were willing to take the word of their mothers and even stake their lives on it. We are the same way when we can take the word of our parents and leaders about what they know is dangerous or what they know is safe.

“they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power” (Alma 56:56) Because of their covenant with God to protect liberty, their efforts to fight for it were attended by God’s special power. We can enjoy the same kind of miraculous strength and power from God when we fight hard against temptation to keep our baptismal covenants.

“as the remainder of our army were about to give way before the Lamanites, behold, those two thousand and sixty were firm and undaunted” (Alma 57:20) Having covenanted to fight for liberty in all cases, retreat would be unthinkable. We are the same way when we are firm and undaunted at upholding our standards, even when others feel like giving up.

“they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted” (Alma 53:20) They didn’t have to be nagged to do something; they were dependable and did whatever good thing they were asked to do. We are the same way if people can ask us to do things and know that that they don’t have to worry about it any more.

“they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them” (Alma 57:20) They made sure they understood what it was they had to do and then they did an excellent job at it and if they didn’t get it right the first time, they worked until they got it how it should be. We are the same way when we do our best job all the time so that it is what people want done.

“their minds are firm” (Alma 57:27) No feeble minds here. They were educated, careful thinkers who, once they got the right idea in their mind, they would hold onto it and never let it go.

“they do put their trust in God continually” (Alma 57:27) They knew that if they kept the commandments they would be prospered in the land, so they constantly trusted God would pour out blessings.

“they do observe to keep his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments continually” (Alma 58:40) They did what they could to bring the blessings of God to their endeavors.

“and their faith is strong in the prophecies concerning that which is to come” (Alma 58:40) They believed in the coming of Christ.

“they have received many wounds; nevertheless they are strict to remember the Lord their God from day to day” (Alma 58:40) Even when their valiant efforts resulted in painful wounds, they still did what they could to keep the commandments. Our lives are the same way in that we will endure many hurtful wounds from enemies of truth and sometimes even from our friends when we are trying to do what is right, but we will be like the stripling warriors if we continue to remember and trust the Lord even when we are spiritually wounded.

“And it came to pass that there were two hundred, out of my two thousand and sixty, who had fainted because of the loss of blood; nevertheless, according to the goodness of God, and to our great astonishment, and also the joy of our whole army, there was not one soul of them who did perish; yea, and neither was there one soul among them who had not received many wounds.”(Alma 57:25)

To me, this is the greatest example. The stripling warriors were so determined to fight for freedom, that even when they were wounded, they continued to fight on. Other soldiers might get a wound and decide they were done fighting, but not these warriors. They fought on and on until their bodies simply could not take it any more and they collapsed. By the end of the battle, all of them had many wounds, and yet they still fought determinedly.

We are like them when we refuse to give up the battle for truth and decency even when our feelings have been hurt. Some people, when they have been insulted, will immediately withdraw to lick their wounds, but when we continue to uphold good standards, even with multiple insults and putdowns, we are like the stripling warriors.

Generation of Vipers

I always wondered just what that phrase meant and why it was so bad. John the Baptist used it to refer to the Pharisees and Saducees who came to his baptisms but wouldn’t be baptized themselves. (Matt. 3:7) and Christ used it when He was telling off the Pharisees for their hypocrisy:

Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? (Matthew 23:33)

Interestingly enough, I ran across a Youtube video of a comedian—Brad Stine—who threw just enough light on the matter that I was able to figure the rest of it out.

He pointed out that our culture for some reason seems to like to insult people by calling them the son of a dog--no, he did not say the real phrase--and Christ called certain people sons of a snake. Instantly I remembered that phrase Christ used—“generation of vipers”.

It flashed through my mind like lightning that when Christ calls people a “generation of vipers” (sons of a snake), He didn’t mean just any old snake. He meant THE snake. The snake from the Garden of Eden. Satan.

He was calling them children of the devil. A generation of devils. That’s the worst thing that Christ could call them, and that's exactly what they were. They were a generation that tempted people to do evil, just like Satan does.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. (Matthew 23:15)

This when they were supposed to be a good influence.

Do any of our words or deeds tempt others to do evil? How good is our example? Is there anything we try to rationalize and justify as being "not that bad" and then invite others to do it too?

A more excellent faith

And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. (Matthew 8:5-13)

It strikes me that if Jesus marvels at someone’s great faith, it would behoove me to study very carefully to see just why that faith was greater than what He had previously seen in Israel among 'the chosen people'.

What was different about this healing?

In so many other healings, Jesus was sent for to come and touch the sick person. The sick peoples’ faith to be healed was such that they required his presence and touch, which they must have believed was the effective thing.

But in the centurion’s case, Jesus didn’t actually go to the sick person and touch them. Instead, because of the centurion’s faith in Jesus’s power to heal, Jesus could just speak the word from wherever He was, and regardless of the distance, the healing would occur. Long-distance faith.

The centurion told why he had this faith. He had long had the assurance that because of his authority, if he issued commands to his servants, whatever he commanded would be done. He didn’t have to be there to make sure it happened.

The centurion must have extrapolated from his own experience. He must have said to himself, If this Jesus really has the authority and power he says he has, then he should be able to command people to be healed and not have to be there for it to be done. If he is what he says he is, he should have even more assurance of being obeyed than I do. He would be obeyed at any distance!

Now THAT is great faith.

There is something else about the above story that seemed odd to me when I read it today. Why, after marveling at the centurion’s faith, did Jesus say the following before doing the healing? :

And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

What does the long-distance faith have to do with people from the east and west being able to sit down in the kingdom of God? And what does it have to do with the children of the kingdom being cast out? For what fault are they being cast out?

The answer, I realized, lay in the fact that there is more than one kind of healing. There is physical healing of the body, and there is the healing of the soul that comes from having our sins forgiven. I suspect that this healing—forgiveness—was what Jesus was most anxious to give.

The Israelites were not only unable to be physically healed without Jesus being there and touching them, they had troubles believing that he had the power to forgive them of their sins. He was there with them doing miraculous things and teaching doctrines more holy than anything they had heard before and yet too many had troubles believing He could take away their sins. How would they ever manage to believe it when He was gone?

If the Israelites, the children of the kingdom, couldn’t have the faith that Christ could forgive them while He was there with them, or if the best they could do was believe their sins were forgiven only if He was there telling them so, once Christ was ascended to heaven, none would be saved from their sins.

The lesson from this is that the centurion’s long-distance faith is exactly what we need to have today. It takes long-distance faith to believe that a Being whom we have never seen in the flesh in this life has suffered for our sins. It takes long-distance faith to believe that this Being has the power to forgive us when we repent of our sins and pray for forgiveness.

This is why the resurrected Christ said to Thomas, “because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

How do I study the scriptures and apply them in my life?

My goal is to be a scriptorian. I’ve wanted to be one ever since my early 20s when my Dad told me that my Mom was one. I’m not exactly sure how a person becomes a scriptorian, but the following is my idea of what must happen.

I must familiarize myself with the scripture stories. I must know the stories forward and backward. I must also know the names of the people in them, so that if someone mentions a name from the scriptures, I can immediately have a story come to mind. (I notice this seems to happen as the number of times we have read the scriptures increases over the years.)

You can give your children a headstart in this by reading them the simplified scriptures with all the pictures in them. That’s what my mom did with me. Because of this I was very familiar with the major stories by the time I got halfway through junior primary.

I must know where to find scriptures without using a reference. I must know who in the scriptures said something in particular.

What else do I do in my scripture study?

I look for cause and effect. It is a little bit of a hobby of mine to find out what blessings are attached to which commandments.

I ask “why” and “how” as often as possible.

I examine each verse to see if there is an insight I can get from it.

How do I apply the scriptures in my life?

I usually have some kind of personal problem going on, and whenever I read, I keep that problem in mind, looking for anything and everything that speaks to me about it.

I choose people who are great and when they are described, I highlight those places and make goals to copy them as best as I can. For one example, the stripling warriors were obedient in whatsoever thing they were entrusted with, and according to their faith it was done unto them. I think that is sooo cool! So I’m trying to copy them. As another example, the Anti-Nephi-Lehis were distinguished for their zeal. That is something I’m trying to achieve too, because I admire that. Another example is Mormon, who was very observant. His “and thus we see” statements are marvelous for their insight. I want to be that discerning, so I’m trying to notice things like he did.

I notice people who were terrible and when they are described, I highlight whose places in red (red = bad) and study them and why what they did was so bad. I try to think about my life to see if there is anything in my life that is similar and if there is, I know exactly what to repent of and try to change. One example is King Hezekiah who got smacked down by the Lord for showing off all his stuff to the Babylonian ambassador (Isaiah 39, I think). I realized that I was quite a showoff too, so I had to repent of that and ask for the Lord to change my heart.

I’d say that the most useful tool I have that helps me improve my study is asking myself questions. Questions give direction to my study and pondering.

Studying by topic is a great way to enhance understanding of a particular subject. I’ve done this two different ways. 1) I look it up in the Topical Guide and read all those scripture fragments without looking them up in the scriptures. This is a very fast way. 2) I keep the topic in my mind and skim the scriptures extremely fast looking for everything that remotely applies to the subject. I also have the online scriptures open and when I find something, I cut and paste it directly into a word file. When I’m done I have a whole bunch of stuff and then I amuse myself trying to organize the verses by what they emphasize on the topic. Very fun. This technique was how I built up all the scriptures to write about in my book about Isaiah.

The newest study technique that I have added to my bag of tricks is to write about the verses that stick out to me. There is twice as much spiritual power in writing about the scriptures as there is in just reading them, because it requires us to organize our thoughts and when we present our own feelings on it, in some mysterious way that connects us to the spiritual gift of prophecy by which all prophets wrote about Christ and gospel principles. I have experienced this again and again and I know it is real. (Note: This doesn't mean we are prophets for the church. We can only be prophets for our particular stewardship.)

I first started studying the scriptures every day when I was seventeen years old, just before my senior year of high school. It caused my testimony of the gospel to sprout like Jack’s magic beanstalk.

A few years later, I discovered something terribly shocking and disturbing—I was starting to get bored of reading the scriptures! (gasp) I felt ashamed about this and finally I confided in my Mom about it.

She assured me that she experienced the same thing from time to time and she had figured out that feeling meant that she had to find some new way to study. She suggested that I study by topic and told me how it helped her. But studying by topic didn’t sound very appealing to me at the time and it was only after I had gone through several other stages that I got to the point that studying by topic was interesting. Something I’ve learned since then is that we can pray for inspiration on what kind of study method to use next that will best help us to progress. Heavenly Father wants us to study the scriptures and He will certainly help us kick it up a notch.

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them.
And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things. (1 Nephi 16:28-29)

It is the same thing with reading the scriptures as with the Liahona. No matter how many times we’ve read, as long as we are faithful and diligent, heeding what we’ve learned, we will read new things plainly out of what we’ve seen so many times before, things that will help us with our current problems, things that will give us knowledge about the Lord’s ways so that we can become like Him, and by these small means great changes will occur in us.

So, when you find yourself getting bored of the scriptures, don’t worry. It doesn’t mean you are a bad person. It means you may have exhausted the insights from your current method of study and you need to find a different method to use. It means you have progressed. Ask Heavenly Father to help you find a new method that will teach you. Ask other people how they like to study. You’ll find something.

How do you like to study the scriptures? What techniques work for you?