The Last Week of Saviors Mortal Ministry

This weeks topic of study is the last week of the Saviors mortal ministry.  Here are the important events that took place each day.
Day 1: He went to the temple
Day 2: He challenged the Jewish religious leadership
Day 3: Jesus stopped teaching in public and only taught the twelve
Day 4: There is nothing recorded for the 4th day.
Day 5: Jesus introduced the ordinance of the Sacrament. He prophesied of his death and indicated who would betray him.  Jesus then went to the garden of Gethsemane and plead with the lord to let this cup pass over him, but said bus as thou will. Christ suffers the pain of all men.  Once Jesus rejoined the apostles he is taken by his betrayer.
Day 6: Jesus is tried in order to discredit him, and is put to death by crucifixion. 
Day 7: In spirit Jesus ministered to the departed spirits.
Day of the Resurrection: Christ has risen and shows himself to Mary.

Become as Little Children

In Matthew 18:1-14 Christ teaches us that we should strive to become like little children.  The qualities that of little children that Christ is teaching us about is, to be meek, humble, teachable, innocent, full of love and to believe in Christ.  We need need to have open minds, that allow us to be taught the teachings of Christ so that we can inherit the kingdom of god.  We need work on ourselves and teach ourselves that we need to not focus on our will but on the will of Lord.

Definition of Parable

To me a parable is story used by Christ or others to teach us a lesson, while making us think about the meaning.  We better understand when we research, think and ponder on what we are reading.  Christ often taught us through parables, so  that we would have examples to reflect on.

The "Be" Attitudes

This week for class we are asked to give thought on the  Sermon from the Mount in Matthew 5:2-11.  We are to pick three that we have had an experience with or believe that  if you live it will help you to be happy.  I have chosen the following three Be Attitudes that I love.  It was hard to choose what attitudes to write about as they all flow together and each lead you back to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  If we are poor in Spirit, our hearts and minds are open to the teachings of Christ.  When we follow those teachings then we are able to inherit the kingdom of heaven.  It sounds easy but as Satan is always trying to tempt us, it is more important than ever that we choose to be poor in spirit, so we can be open to the promptings from the holy ghost. 

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  The dictionary defines being meek as patient, long-suffering, or submissive in disposition or nature; humble.  I think for this post I will focus on the last word humble.  Again, when we are humble our hearts and minds are open to the teaching of the lord.   When we are humble, we have love and compassion for others.  Our minds and our hearts are open to doing the work of the lord. 

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.  This past month I have had the opportunity to witness many  members and non members have mercy on complete strangers who have lost everything. One of the words used in the definition of mercy is compassion for others. Having compassion for others helps you to recognize the good in life. 

Matthew 3:13-17 The Holy Ghost Descending like a Dove.

The scriptures in Matthew 3 13-17, we are taught about John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.  One of the questions we are asked to consider while reading this assignment is what evidence is found in Matthew 3:16-17 that the father, son, and holy ghost are three separate personages in the god head.  In verse 16 we are told that when Christ came up out of the water that the gates of heaven opened and the spirit of god descended down in the form of a dove. In verse 17 we hear the voice of the lord who says he is well pleased in the choice that Jesus has made. If the god head was one then we would not have heard the lords voice or seen the representative of the holy spirit in the form of the a dove.  There would not have been the need.

Student Choice Assignment

School has started again, and this semester I am taking a religion class. This class encourages you to read your scriptures, and report what principles you might have taken from those readings. Another part of this class is report report back on an assignment that we choose.

For the first assignment I choose to report back on Matthew 1-2 and Joseph's response when Mary became pregnant with Christ.
Joseph had two options when he found out that Mary was pregnant. He could have brought Mary up on trial that could have ended in death or he could quietly have their betrothal annulled. Joseph was in love with Mary and didn't want her to die, so he was going to choose the second option and have their betrothal annulled.

Matthew 1:20 tells us that an angel came to Joseph and assured him that all would be okay, and that he should take care of Mary and make her his wife. Joseph was in love with Mary and went ahead and took Mary as his wife. Joseph was in tune with the spirit and was willing to follow the guidance of the angel.

School

Ok so its been a quiet awhile since I last posted but I have been pretty busy. Last summer I decided that I really needed to go to school and take advantage of the opportunities that I have been given. As I was just getting ready to go to my local county college and register, a very heavenly opportunity came. BYU-Idaho was offering a program that would allow for me to go to school there but stay in New Jersey and commute to NYC every Thrusday night for a portion of class and the rest would be done online. I felt like this was perfect for me as I could get an education from a church school.

I was a more than a little nervous going back to school after 15 years and this program has put the majority of those fears aside. It is nice to know that there are 20 other people in the area who have an idea of how I feel and who understand what I am going through when the links for class don't work and that it isn't me just not knowing what it is that I am doing.

A lot of hard work was put in this semester, I learned that I can go to school and work full time, I discovered that I enjoy learning, that going to the city once a week didn't ever feel like a chore as I thought it was going to. I am proud to say that I finished this semester with an A in my college success class, which taught me skill that I will be able to use to succeed in my other classes. I also got an A- in my Heber J. Grant class, which taught lessons that will help me to succeed not just in school but in my life as well. I am looking forward to this next semester where I get to use my brain even more. Wish me luck with MATH!! aghhhhh