David Journal

Category: Scripture Notes

  • God Loves His Children

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    David
    in

    We solemnly proclaim that God loves His children in every nation of the world. God the Father has given us the divine birth, the incomparable life, and the infinite atoning sacrifice of His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. By the power of the Father, Jesus rose again and gained the victory over death. He is our…

  • Gifts to teach

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    David
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    I don’t often consider the implications of the gift to teach words of wisdom and the gift to teach words of knowledge. The gift is not simply to have them, to understand them, or to speak them—it is to transmit them (wisdom and/or knowledge) to the understanding of others.

  • Notwithstanding their hardness

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    David
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    And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of…

  • Redemption cometh to them that have no law

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    David
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    This is the opposite of a works-based theology. Of course we provide baptism for any that we can identify who lived long enough to have been accountable but if we understand the doctrine we would also understand that they will only be held accountable to whatever portion of law they had been exposed to (which…

  • “The rest of the Lord”

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    David
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    I am fascinated by the way Mormon introduces his discourse. He talks of being permitted to speak into them which makes me think this was after the period where the spirit constrained him not to preach. He also says: I would speak unto you that are of the church, that are the peaceable followers of…

  • “As oft as they repented”

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    David
    in

    Christ is the center of the gospel but the defining feature of His church is this statement that as often as the people of the church sincerely repented they were forgiven. That tells us an important characteristic of the plan of happiness—it is built around the premise that our weaknesses and shortcomings do not define…

  • The full Christmas story

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    David
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    The value in Christmas isn’t in the virgin birth, nor in the witness of the shepherds or the wise men. Those were signs, but the value was in the mortal life that began with that birth. The Christmas story is the mortal birth of the son of God and the covenants he made and kept,…

  • The office of thy calling

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    David
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    These words spoken to Emma are instructive. The office of her calling was to be a comfort to Joseph. That is certainly a unique calling but it illustrates generally that callings can be unique and specific and also that they can be outside of any ecclesiastical structure. Emma was also called upon to serve as…

  • Renewing covenants (part 2)

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    David
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    We take the bread in remembrance of the body of Christ and express a willingness to take His name upon us. We take the water in remembrance of the blood of Christ and witness that we do always remember Him. Until today I never considered that the body is what Christ laid down to break…

  • Renewing covenants (part 1)

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    by

    David
    in

    We renew our covenants by witnessing a willingness to take the name of Christ upon us and always remember Him and keep His commandments.