Old Testament #2

Here is another post about the Old Testament. First I just want to say how much I'm loving the chance that I have to bear my testimony on principles of the gospel. So here we go…

(a) Read the following scriptures and list the miracles the Lord performed through the prophet Elijah in each case:

• 1 Kings 17:1- Elijah seals the heavens or causes a drought/ famine in the land. He states "not be dew no rain these years", so no rain.
• 1 Kings 17:2–6 The Lord had ravens bring Elijah bread and meat when he hid from those that rejected him. 
• 1 Kings 17:8–16 The Lord was able to provide flour and oil for many days when there was only enough for one meal. 
• 1 Kings 17:17–22 Elijah was able to bring the widows son back to life. 
• 1 Kings 18: 31–38 The fire of the Lord came down… so I think this is fire came from Heaven or just poof there was fire and consumed the burnt offerings. 
• 1 Kings 18:41–45 Elijah was able to cause a storm to come to bring rain to drink. 
• 1 Kings 21:17–19; 22:34–38 Elijah foretold the future. He said the dog would lick the blood, and they did. 
• 2 Kings 1:9–14 Fires from Heaven were called down and consumed many soldiers. 

(b) Write a paragraph that gives examples from what you read of how the sealing keys can both bless and curse.

One of my favorite lines in the scriptures is what is bound on Earth is bound in Heaven. I love this line because it gives so many opportunities to keep what we have in this life in the next life. The power to seal families is one of our greatest blessings. That was one thing that really drew me to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love my family so much I want to be with them for eternity (well sometimes… haha) Another great blessing from the sealing power is the covenants that I make are bound. I have promised Heavenly Father a few things and he has promised me a few things well those things continue because they are bound. There is only one draw back to sealing keys that I can think of and that is if I don't do my part I don't get the blessings. Really if you think about it that makes sense, but lets say one of my family members doesn't do their part… then they don't get the blessings and I kind of lose them too, because I won't be able to be with them.

Old Testament

As this being my last semester at BYU-Idaho I decided to take advantage of the great religion classes and take the second half of Old Testament. Here are a few questions and my answers from what we studied this week. We studied 1 Kings. 

Why do you think Solomon asked for an understanding heart? Why do you think his choice was pleasing to the Lord? What would more worldly people have asked for?

I feel that Solomon asked for an understanding heart because the task before him seemed very daughtning and he wanted to make sure that he was doing it to the best of his ability. I know for myself I make my own judgements about people without really thinking about it I just judge them, so to have an understanding heart would help me just as a regular person I can't imagine how it would help a king. I feel that the choice would be pleasing to the Lord because he saw he true desires of Solomon's heart. Just as it states in 1 Kings 3:11 Solomon didn't asks for a longer life or riches, but he asked for a way to help his people through his judgements. More worldly people would have asked for riches or a longer life.  How did Solomon demonstrate that he had received this spiritual gift at the beginning of his reign? 

Solomon demonstrated that he received his spiritual gift through his judgements with the two mothers. He used wisdom to determine that the true mother would not want to hurt he child so she would give it up to save it. He understood the heart of a true mother. How could this spiritual gift help you in your life? What do 1 Corinthians 12:31 and Doctrine and Covenants 46:8, 28, 30 explain about how you could develop more gifts of the Spirit?  

I feel that this gift would prevent me from making judgements on someone I don't know. I also think it would help me slow down and think about people and their situations. I feel that it is so easy for us to get mad and upset at people without really knowing the whole situation. In fact I had an experience this week dealing with just that. I had to tell a friend that I didn't know the whole situation, so I couldn't make a judgment. In 1 Corinthians 12:31 it says to covent the best gift, so strive for the best gifts. There is no reason we can't have an understanding heart. In fact you can ask the Lord for an understanding heart and he will probably help you. Again in Doctrine and Covenants it say to seek out the best gifts and to ask for them. How do 1 Kings 4:1–25 and 1 Samuel 11–20 relate to each other?

Solomon used the sons of Samuel's court as his court. 1 Samuel lays the foundation for Solomon's court. 

From this section of scripture I learned a lot about my self and how I need an understanding heart. I feel like this is something that the whole world needs actually. I feel that now one understands each other, and we make judgements about situations and people with out really thinking about it. I hope that I can be more like Solomon and have an understanding heart.