Ether 4

7-8 And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them ALL MY REVELATIONS, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are. And he that will contend against the word of the Lord, let him be accursed; and he that shall deny these things, let him be accursed; for unto them will I show no greater things, saith Jesus Christ; for I am he who speaketh...

6 For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord.

Heleman 8

1 And now it came to pass that when Nephi had said these words, behold, there were men who were judges, who also belonged to the secret band of Gadianton, and they were angry, and they cried out against him, saying unto the people: Why do ye not seize upon this man and bring him forth, that he may be condemned according to the crime which he has done?

2 Why seest thou this man, and hearest him revile against this people and against our law?

3 For behold, Nephi had spoken unto them concerning the corruptness of their law; yea, many things did Nephi speak which cannot be written; and nothing did he speak which was contrary to the commandments of God.

4 And those judges were angry with him because he spake plainly unto them concerning their secret works of darkness; nevertheless, they durst not lay their own hands upon him, for they feared the people lest they should cry out against them.

5 Therefore they did cry unto the people, saying: Why do you suffer this man to revile against us? For behold he doth condemn all this people, even unto destruction; yea, and also that these our great cities shall be taken from us, that we shall have no place in them.

6 And now we know that this is impossible, for behold, we are powerful, and our cities great, therefore our enemies can have no power over us.

7 And it came to pass that thus they did stir up the people to anger against Nephi, and raised contentions among them; for there were some who did cry out: Let this man alone, for he is a good man, and those things which he saith will surely come to pass except we repent;

8 Yea, behold, all the judgments will come upon us which he has testified unto us; for we know that he has testified aright unto us concerning our iniquities. And behold they are many, and he knoweth as well all things which shall befall us as he knoweth of our iniquities;

9 Yea, and behold, if he had not been a prophet he could not have testified concerning those things.

Helaman 8:1-9

Blog: To the remnant

Real good stuff  here:

http://www.totheremnant.com/2014/07/dwindling-in-unbelief.html?m=1

Speaking of Dreams...

The scriptures talk about dreams.  I honestly haven't paid that close attention to my dreams throughout my life, but about a year ago I had a friend who talked a lot about dreams and their significance.  And I remembered a talk by Elder Scott where he also mentions dreams.  Those two things made me pay closer attention to my dreams, and in the past couple of years, I've had a handful or two of what I consider to be really significant dreams, that were given to me-I believe, as personal revelation.

"Revelation can also be given in a dream when there is an almost imperceptible transition from sleep to wakefulness. If you strive to capture the content immediately, you can record great detail, but otherwise it fades rapidly."
-Elder Scott

I have found that to be true--that revelation can come through dreams, and recording right away is very helpful if not paramount.

I keep debating whether or not I should share one or any of these dreams of mine.
I think I'll pray about that and see.  But I do believe that dreams can be significant, and the interpretation of those dreams can be given to us by God.

I also know that false spirits are out there, and are waiting to deceive.  That will always be the case.

"You will encounter false spirits, as well as true ones if you will persist. You need to be familiar with both in order to choose. These opposing forces are part of the process of becoming competent and adept. No one lacking knowledge of these things can be saved. "A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power." (TPJS, p. 217.)"

That's Denver quoting Joseph Smith.  It's from yesterday's blog post, and it's fantastic! I recommend reading it.

Happy Dreaming :)

Our God IS an awesome God!

I'm loving this song right now. Best with headphones, 

and where you can do this if given the urge: 

http://youtu.be/smZwG-auxC8

5 Myths Debunked

I felt inspired to read 1 Nephi chapter 1, so I did. It was amazing to me the things that stood out and contradict foolishness. All in the very first chapter of the beautiful, Book of Mormon.

Myth #1. Don't seek the mysteries.

"yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God,"
(1 Nephi 1:1)

Myth #2. There's only one prophet on the earth at a time.

"and in that same year there came many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent,"
(1 Nephi 1:4)

Myth #3. God doesn't use dreams to tell us things that are important.

"And now I, Nephi, do not make a full account of the things which my father hath written, for he hath written many things which he saw in visions and in dreams;"
(1 Nephi 1:16)

"For behold, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even in a dream," (1 Nephi 2:1)

"2 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness."
(1 Nephi 2:2)

[Wow. He considered it the "word of The Lord" even though it came to him in a DREAM.... And he was even obedient to it!  Probably the hardest and most important thing that's ever been asked of him by The Lord, was asked in a dream. ]

Myth #4. Only the leaders of the church can prophesy. 

"and he also hath written many things which he prophesied and spake unto his children" (1 Nephi 1:16)

"behold he went forth among the people, and began to prophesy and to declare unto them concerning the things which he had both seen and heard. (1 Nephi 1:18)

Myth #5. The true church would not cast out and reject a messenger from The Lord.

"And it came to pass that the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified of them; for he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations"
(1 Nephi 1:19)

"And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away. (1 Nephi 1:20)

And a little bit of Matthew, for good measure:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!...

30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Matthew 23:30-31

Dream--Joseph Smith

The Prophet's Dream of his Kirtland Farm

"I was back in Kirtland, Ohio, and thought I would take a walk out by myself, and view my old farm, which I found grown up with weeds and brambles, and altogether bearing evidence of neglect and want of culture. I went into the barn, which I found without floor or doors, with the weather-boarding off, and was altogether in keeping with the farm.

"While I viewed the desolation around me, and was contemplating how it might be recovered from the curse upon it, there came rushing into the barn a company of furious men, who commenced to pick a quarrel with me.
"The leader of the party ordered me to leave the barn and farm, stating it was none of mine, and that I must give up all hope of ever possessing it.
"I told him the farm was given me by the Church, and although I had not had any use of it for some time back, still I had not sold it, and according to righteous principles it belonged to me or the Church.

"He then grew furious and began to rail upon me, and threaten me, and said it never did belong to me nor to the Church.

"I then told him that I did not think it worth contending about, that I had no desire to live upon it in its present state, and if he thought he had a better right I would not quarrel with him about it but leave; but my assurance that I would not trouble him at present did not seem to satisfy him, as he seemed determined to quarrel with me, and threatened me with the destruction of my body.

"While he was thus engaged, pouring out his bitter words upon me, a rabble rushed in and nearly filled the barn, drew out their knives, and began to quarrel among themselves for the premises, and for a moment forgot me, at which time I took the opportunity to walk out of the barn about up to my ankles in mud.

"When I was a little distance from the barn, I heard them screeching and screaming in a very distressed manner, as it appeared they had engaged in a general fight with their knives. While they were thus engaged, the dream or vision ended."

Joseph was killed shortly after.