Finding and matching pieces

Okay so after that last post, your going WHAT! Nice story but what are you talking about Brother B. I want to show you an example of how the pieces of the puzzle are scattered through out the scriptures.

I remember reading the Book of Acts and coming across the phrase "The Promise of the Father". Acts 1:4 Luke 24:49 I remember stopping and thinking what is the promise of the father? My initial thought was this was written before the Day of Pentecost and so he is referring to the Holy Ghost, which hadn't been given the apostles, but had been promised. So I read on thinking I had answered that question.

So in one of the reference books that I have been reading for the New Testament the author pointed to D & C 95: 8-9 which states that the promise is the endowment. I was excited to read this as I had always heard that the early members of the church had the endowment, but I wasn't familiar with the a scripture that made reference to endowment. Now I have one.

Hope you found that interesting.

Brother B

Puzzles

An analogy that I have developed with the help of the spirit is based on a memory of my mother.

In Salt Lake we had a large basement and we inherited a kitchen table from one of our Great Grandparents. Since we had a kitchen table Mom and Dad put the table in the basement. Over the years it was used for a lot of things, but one of the activities I like the most were puzzles.

Mom loved puzzles and it wasn’t unusual that there was a puzzle in process at all times. As kids we loved to participate but found some puzzle too difficult for us to do. Mom would purchase easier puzzles and then teach us how to assemble them. I remember those times distinctly. She would dump the puzzle out and then start turning the pieces over. She would separate out the edges and start sorting the other pieces by color and other similar characteristics. She would then assemble the edge.

We soon learned that the edge was probably the simplest part of the puzzle and we would scramble to find the pieces and put them together as once the edge was done there was a sense of accomplishment that would push us to complete the rest of the puzzle.

We would then look for patterns and similar pieces and begin the process of matching. We often became frustrated when the pieces where hard to find and wouldn't assemble the way we wanted them to. Mom would calm us and tell us to be patient and to keep looking. She seemed to find the pieces with ease, almost like she knew every piece personally. In time the pace of the puzzle would pick up and near the end it almost put itself together.

It was always fun to look at the finish puzzle and admire it and feel a sense of pride for helping to assemble the pictures. Once completed we would tear it apart piece by piece but it in the box, shake it up and then dump it out. In time the puzzle became familiar and we could put it together with ease. We would then tired of it and want another challenge so Mom would buy us another puzzle. One with more pieces.

Each new puzzle present new challenges and were always harder to put together. Some were so difficult that most of us kids would give up and then wait for Mom to finish it. She was always patient and would sit for hours studying the pieces and finally putting the puzzle together. From time to time us kids would try and help and we would find it too difficult and quit. We would pick up pieces and try and make them fit and Mom would instinctively know that it wasn’t the right pieces. She was amazing.

I feel that our scriptures studies are like puzzles. God who is the master puzzle builder has devised the greatest puzzle ever and it is found in the standard works of the church. They are the basis and the foundation of our Gospel knowledge. There are multiple levels or puzzles that one can put together and they testify of the same thing.

Some are very simple and are design for our primary children. They are easy to assemble and simple to understand and help those who have assemble to prepare for greater learning. But at times we look at the finished puzzle and have more question then answers and we have to graduate to harder puzzles that challenge us and push us to a greater understanding. I would say that is the puzzle that our youth use to understand. Much of that understanding comes from seminary and through their youth they put it together. Once completed they have a stronger testimony of Christ and his mission and they have a desire to serve. 

Somewhere in the young adult years they will find the puzzle once again has only provided more questions than answers and then embark on perhaps the most difficult puzzle of their life. Fortunately God doesn’t leave us alone to our own understanding but gives us the temple as a key to that understanding. This puzzle is so complex that the time to assemble this puzzle is considerable lengthy and can consume a whole life time.

In my scripture studies I now spend time searching for the many pieces that are available on any topic. Once the process is completed the picture becomes clear and provides new meaning. So here is a key. You need to search out all the information on anyone topic before you can come to a true understanding.

Try it and see!

Brother B

Key of Knowledge

I love the song “Oh my Father” which is found in the LDS hymn book. The thoughts are so clear and empowering. I love to sing the song. I was first introduced to the phrase “Key of Knowledge” in this song. For years I have wondered what the key might be. For a time I thought it was the Book of Mormon, then I thought it was the Gift of the Holy Ghost and finally while I think they are all keys, I decided that it was living Prophets. In Amos 3:7 we are told “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealed his secret unto his servants the prophets.” That knowledge is very assuring, as we listen to the prophets we will never be lead a stray.

A couple of Sundays ago I went looking to see how many times the phrase is used in the scriptures. It only appears three places. D & C 84:19 teaches us the Melchezidek Priesthood holds the keys of the knowledge of God. D & C 128.14 teaches that the keys of the kingdom are part of the keys of knowledge. Then the final one is found in Luke 11:52 where the Lord indicates that the lawyers (I think he is talking about the Pharisees) have the keys of knowledge and they hide them from the people. They themselves don’t use them and then if someone tries the keys they stop them.

So what could he be talking about? The Jews didn’t have the Book of Mormon. They didn’t have the Gift of the Holy Ghost and they persecuted anyone claiming to be a prophet. We can only speculate to what they are talking about.

 I believe that they Jews had a unique way of writing. They taught like Christ did in parables. All the stories told in the scriptures have some meaning that only those that are given the keys will understand.

The disciples approached Christ and asked him why he spoke in parables. He explained to them they were to have the mysteries of the kingdom revealed to them. When he taught a parable he would explain to them what the images in the parable meant. When he told the story they would understand the higher meaning of the parable. Those that were not told what the keys were would just hear a story and would not understand.

To understand what is taught in the scriptures we need to have the keys. We need to understand what the Savior meant and when we do we see the deeper meaning. It dawned on me since we do have living prophets, additional scriptures and the Gift of the Holy Ghost, we should understand the scriptures differently than those that don’t. If we interpret the scriptures the same way that most do then we are missing the deeper meaning.

The purpose of this blog is to show you some of the keys that I have discovered and how they make the scriptures clearer to our understanding. I will outline them as we go and I would encourage you to use them as you study the scriptures and see how it changes your understanding.

Happy Easter!

Brother B

I never thought I would do this!

Writing isn’t my forte. I have always struggled with it. But lately I have had this overwhelming desire to share what I have been learning with friends and family.

So I am going to try my hand at this. Please be patient with me! There will be mistakes and if you feel inclined you may email me a list and I will correct them.

The information I will be presenting are my thoughts and are works in progress . If you feel that I have neglected something or you have something to add, feel free to let me know. 

I won’t be using my real name on this blog. I am not hiding nor am I ashamed of what I have to say. Just thought it would be fun to obscure my identity, kind of like the neighbor on Home Improvement.

I plan to keep my posts short and to the point. I felt this would be better for me to structure my ideas and develop the thoughts that I have had.  You will need to stick with me for a while to get the whole picture. I welcome all comments! I hope you enjoy the journey and learn something from this experience.

Thanks!

Brother B