Walking on the Sea

 Matthew 14:22-33

When they first saw Christ walking on the water they thought He was a Ghost and were terrified. Immediately Christ reassured them that it was Him,their Savior.

  When Peter was comforted he asked Christ to allow him to walk on the water towards Him. Peter wanted to show Christ that he had faith in Him. Peter had faith and stepped out of the boat and walked on the water. Peter's faith was strong as long as he kept his eyes on Christ. The moment Peter looked away he began to fear because of the storm around him. When he saw the waves and winds all around he started to doubt, that is when he began to sink into the water. 

Peter cried out to the Lord for help and Christ did not hesitate, He immediately saved his friend from drowning in the deep water. 

As followers in Christ we want to show our faith in Jesus Christ but sometimes obstacles distract us and cause us to sink into despair and doubt. This is when we need to call out for Christ help. I know He will always be there to help us and save us. I think we can all learn from Peter's experience. We have to remember that no matter what is around us, we have to keep our eye single to the glory of God.

Doctrine and Covenants 88:67 states that if we have an eye single to the glory of God we will be filled with the Spirit (light). When we have this light we have no desire to do evil (darkness)and evil can not be found in us. Having this "light" we will be able to understand all things even the mysteries of heaven.

Parables of Jesus Christ

Matthew 13: 24-48 The Lord Often Taught with Parables

One of the teaching methods that Christ used was telling stories and using parables to teach heavenly principles.  Receiving knowledge of the spirit is a gift from God and not everyone is prepared to accept this gift. The requirements for understanding these stories is having a humble heart and being in tuned with the Holy Ghost. The bible dictionary explains why Jesus taught in this way " It was to veil the meaning. The parable conveys to the hearer religious truth exactly in proportion to his faith and intelligence; to the dull and uninspired it is a mere story, “seeing they see not,” while to the instructed and spiritual it reveals the mysteries or secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Thus it is that the parable exhibits the condition of all true knowledge. Only he who seeks finds."

Parable of the Tares

 24 ¶Another p put he forth unto them, saying, The^bkingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good ^cseedin his field:

 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed ^atares among the wheat, and went his way.

 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.30 Let both grow together until the ^aharvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together ^bfirst the tares, and bind them in bundles to ^cburn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

I feel this parable has to do with living in a world of good and evil. We have to stay strong until the day of harvest. We have to keep the commandments so we will not be separated into the tares and be burned in the fire. This is teaching people to separate themselves before the judgment day and not be confused with the evil in the world.

Parable of the Mustard Seed

   The mustard is so small but grows into such a big tree. I think this is a parable that can be taken in 2 different ways. It can be applied to our personal faith in the Jesus Christ and the Gospel as a whole. Our faith starts off small and it doesn't take much faith to believe in Jesus Christ. If you give Christ just a small chance to make a change in your life He can perform miracles. All you need is a tiny seed of faith and great miracles can happen through the power of the Atonement.
  The other way this parable can be understood is that the church started off so small and has grown very quickly over the past 180 years. The church now covers the world and is growing every year. The work of the Lord can not be stopped and that is evident through the growth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.


Parable of the Net

47 ¶Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and ^agathered of every kind: 48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. 49 So shall it be at the ^aend of the world: ^bthe angels shall come forth, and ^csever the wicked from among the ^djust...

               I relate this paprable to missionary work. Thousands of missionaries are sent out all over the world  to gather the elect into the Gospel. Thousands of people join the church every year. Unfortunately, not everyone stays faithful to the covenants they have made and they fall away. I feel this parable is talking about all the people that are gathered by missionaries and only a few are faithful and only endure to the end. I also feel it is speaking of the judgement day of the Lord. We have to be  prepared and faithful so we can be chosen to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for eternity.

Pearl of Great Price

This parable is about a merchant that found a pearl of great price. This merchant instantly knew the worth of this pearl and gathered all he owned to buy this pearl. I think this is a beautiful parable. The pearl of great price represents eternal life, we as latter-day Saints should know the worth of having eternal life. Are we willing to give up all we have to in order to receive this gift from God? Are we willing to give up all our sins to have the gift of the Holy Ghost? If  not , I don't thing we see or understand  the worth of eternal life and salvation. What are you willing to give up for the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

The Sermon on the Mount

The sermon the mount were teachings that Jesus Christ wanted to clarify and explain to those that were willing to follow Him. At this time people were keeping the commandments and living by the law of Moses. Jesus Christ came to the people with new commandments, new laws to live by. When He gave this sermon He spoke in parables, He did this so that those with a willing and open heart could understand the teachings from Heaven. Those that did not understand these new commandments were not yet ready in their hearts to receive guidance from Heavenly Father. The Chapter that I am going to mention is Matthew 5.

                                                                               



  He starts off by defining who will be blessed and what they will be blessed with. Those who are poor in spirit shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. He using the worldly words such as "poor" and "kingdom". The natural man thinks of temporal things such as money so Jesus Christ uses words that we will understand with our natural mind but we have to  listen with our spirits. Those that are poor in spirit will become rich. Being lowly of heart and beggars of forgiveness and mercy is what kind of poor I think Jesus is referring to.


                  He speaks of those that hunger for righteousness, he says they will be filled. If people want to have Jesus Christ in their lives and they strive to follow Him, he is going to teach them and guide them. One that brings comfort to those that are persecuted and killed for Christ's sake, they will inherit the kingdom of heaven. Those that fight for Christ know that they are fighting for the right and they can not lose.                                                                  
  A light set on a hill can not be hid. If we have the knowledge of the Savior we need to get out there and share it. We need to be missionaries and share the blessings of the Gospel with the whole world. This is now a commandment give by Jesus Christ. He is telling us to do what He is doing by opening our mouths and being good example and sharing through service and actions.
                  He also addresses the topics of adultery and marriage. he gives new commandments on how we should treat our spouses. One of my favorite is about when someone hurts you that you are not suppose to hurt them back but to turn the other cheek. This is something very difficult but Jesus Christ wants everyone to be prepared to enter into the kingdom of God. These commandments will help us become more perfected and ready to enter His presence.

The Baptism of Jesus

I think this picture is a beautiful depiction of how powerful the moment was when the Savior came out of the water fulfilling all righteousness. He became the most perfect obedient person that has ever lived. In this moment it was recorded that there was separation from God , Jesus and the Holy Ghost. This is a doctrine that has been misunderstood through time.




Why was John hesitant to baptize the Savior?
        John did not feel worthy to baptize Jesus Christ. John understood how perfect and holy the Savior was and he knew that Jesus had never sinned before.
What it is taught here about the Holy Ghost?
        The Holy Ghost came to testify of God and His purposes. The Holy Ghost was present to show that this was the work of the Father and that Heavenly Father was very pleased with Christ.
The 3 reasons Christ was baptized: It is a commandment from Heavenly father and , the only way you can enter heaven is by going through the gates of baptism. The Lord was baptized to set an example for us to live our lives and to be baptized.
What evidence is giving that shows that Jesus Christ , the Holy Ghost and Father in Heaven are all different beings?
Jesus Christ was on earth, the dove came as the Holy Ghost and they could hear God's voice.

This is a wonderful time in history that shows the importance of being baptized by the proper authority and the proper way, by immersion. This represents death and a new live. A new life with the comfort of the Spirit.

The Birth of John the Baptist

 

The account of John’s birth is recorded in Luke 1. I have always loved this story from the first time I read it. Zacharias and Elizabeth were good people. They were faithful followers of God and His commandments and Zacharias worked in the temple diligently. Elizabeth was barren but they desperately wanted children. I imagine they prayed everyday to have a child. Even though they had not been able to bare children they were still faithful in the gospel, they never blamed God for their trials.

            While Zacharias was working in the temple the angel Gabriel appeared to him, Gabriel had to comfort him because Zacharias was terrified from being in his presence. Gabriel comforted him by telling him that his prayers were heard. What great comfort that would be, to have an angel from heaven tell you that God has been listening to you. The angel tells Zacharias he is going to have a son and his desires would be fulfilled. Gabriel told Zacharias that he not only would have a son but that his son is going to prepare the way for the Lord. He told him that his name would be John. John was preordained to turn the hearts of fathers to their sons. He was to teach the gospel to people and bring them into the waters of baptism. John was preordained to baptize the Savior of the world.

            When Zacharias heard these things he did not believe them, he doubted what Gabriel was telling him. He doubted because his wife was too old to bare children, his faith was weak. He lacked the faith that God could perform such a miracle. When he expressed his doubts to Gabriel, he was struck dumb until the birth of his new son. I think this is the most perfect punishment. I think Zacharias needed to take time and think about his faith in God and not speak so soon. He was too worried about earthly problems instead of rejoicing in the miracle that was happening right before his eyes.

 Mary came to visit Elizabeth and when they met, the little baby John leaped for joy within her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. Elizabeth called Mary “the mother of my Lord” She received a conformation from God that Mary truly was carrying the son of God. This was a beautiful moment and I am grateful that it was recorded in the scriptures.

After 8 days of the baby being born it was time to circumcise and name him. When they came to name him they wanted to name him Zacharias because it is tradition and custom to keep the name in the family. When Elizabeth told them no, his name is John they did not accept that and they turned to Zacharias and had him write down what the baby’s name would be. Zacharias wrote down that the baby’s name would be John.  At that moment Zacharias could speak again and he praised God and prophesied of his son’s mission to prepare the way of the Lord. That moment when Zacharias could speak again was a beautiful miracle in itself, not only did they have a baby, but Zacharias’s faith was strengthened in the Lord."John the Baptist said that while he baptized with water, Jesus baptized 'with the Holy Ghost' (John 1:33). Nothing in this life is of greater worth than the supernal gift of the Holy Ghost." -Lawrence E. Corbridge