January 26 Devotional--Scripture Study

I had the assignment to give the leadership devotional this month based on topics that the mission president was concerned about.  This month, he wanted us to remind the missionaries how important it was to study the actual scriptures and not just rely on the many other books, Facebook groups, and YouTube/podcasts about the scriptures. 

I started off by talking about brownies and showing pictures and videos of brownies and asking if that was as good as eating an actual brownies.  Below is one of the pictures I used in my PowerPoint of Jena eating a brownie.

Then I gave the following message:

"Now, you all know that my devotional message is not about brownies.  In fact, because I asked for your input in preparing, you know that I am talking something about scriptures….and you might be a bit confused about this whole brownie discussion.

We are going to talk about scriptures.  Thank you for sending me some of your favorite scriptures especially on short notice.  I have sent an email with the attachment of our favorite scriptures to each of you in the zone.  I may send an addendum if I get more “favorite scriptures” in the next few days.  We will also post it on our SharePoint group.  Some of you attached some of the whys or stories related to your scriptures.  I didn’t not include those, but now I know that you all have a scripture to share and a story to tell so devotionals should be a “piece of cake—or maybe that should be a piece of brownies” for you.  Thanks for sharing them with me and with the zone.

I am going to share by sharing one of my favorite scriptures in 2 Nephi 32:3:

I found this photo of President Nelson studying his scriptures..so sweet.  He said:

“To feast means more than to taste. To feast means to savor.  We savor the scriptures by studying them in a spirit of delightful discovery and faithful obedience.  When we feast upon the words of Christ, they are embedded ‘in the fleshy tables of the heart’ [2 Corinthians 3:3]. They become an integral part of our nature.”         

President Russell M. Nelson

I wish that we could all have a discussion about hints and ideas which have help you refine your own process of scripture study and all have much to teach me, because while I have the habit of study and I have learned to love the scriptures—often my daily study is not “a feast.”

I am going to share a few ideas that I found as I reflected and researched on this topic—maybe they will be helpful , maybe not—but hopefully, you will get one idea whispered to you that you could do differently or better:

1. 

Fi1. First and deserving to be at the top of the list—we must be in the scriptures—the actual scriptures daily.  This was our assignment from the mission president this month—make sure that your study times includes reading scriptures.  There is so much out there that is good and supportive –books, Facebook groups, and YouTube videos which can expound and enhance our study of the scriptures.  However, they are not a replacement for actually reading the scriptures! You can use those other sources to answer questions or seek additional insight.  However, the most important teacher is the Holy Ghost.

2. 2. Prepare to study the scriptures by inviting the Holy Ghost to be a part—Elder Packer said that as you start a meal with prayer, so could you start your feasting on God’s word with a prayer.  Another thing I do is try to take some calming breaths to mark the change from daily life into the scriptures.

3. 3. Have variety in the way that you study—

a.    Read from start to finish. Use the footnotes.

b.    Use the Topical Guide and the Bible Dictionary and research specific topics.

c.    Get a fresh copy of scriptures.  Sister Julie Beck mentioned this once in a talk that she got a new set of scriptures with a new calling so that she could focus on what was most meaningful at this time of her life.  I love using new copies of the Book of Mormon.

d.   Pick a theme and focus on that as you read.  A man I knew read the bought a new paperback Book of Mormon each time he started to read it again.  He would write a theme or topic that he was going to focus on as he read and would mark related scriptures.  He actually numbered each of the books from the first copy he read as a convert and then he would give that copy away when he was finished with it and start again. Remember President Nelson asking us to focus on verses referring to Christ in our reading of the Book of Mormon.  Since the change to “ministering” in the Church, I have marked versions of that word in the scriptures.  It is everywhere in the Book of Mormon.

e.    I like the journal editions because there is more room to write notes.  I will make notes during Sunday School classes of comments and stories other share to remind me in later times when I am studying that book again.  When I started using the journal edition for the Book of Mormon, I started dating where I was reading and sometimes I make related notes such as “earth quake in Utah.”

f.    With Come Follow Me, we have an opportunity to study together in a way that hasn’t happened in the prior years of Gospel Doctrine.  It is a great thing to watch.  But don’t forget as we study the Old Testament to find a way to be in the Book of Mormon in a regular way during the week.  I have this experience prior to Come Follow ME last time that we studied the Old Testament in 2018.  I was teaching Primary at the time and I decided that it was time for me to read the Old Testament again from cover to cover.  Although I had read parts of it as part of Sunday School study over the years, I had only read it cover to cover three or four times in my life.  So I focused my study completely on that task.  By about the end of February, I mentioned to my dad that I wasn’t really enjoying my scripture study much.  His response was, stop reading the Old Testament and read the Book of Mormon.  I took his advice and immediately I felt that familiar spirit of that Book.  I still read the parts of the Old Testament related to my Primary lessons but my personal study returned to the Book Of Mormon.  Since then I have tried to continue to read the Book of Mormon while studying the other scriptures for Come Follow Me.

g.  While it is important to read and ponder the scriptures and there is no prize for how fast we finish a book of scriptures, I would offer one other suggestion:  Read the Book of Mormon or other scriptures from “cover to cover” like you might read another book for pleasure. 

I would like to close by sharing a time when a scripture made the difference in my life."  

I then shared an experience that happened years ago.  I wrote it down afterwards and I decided to put it in the next post, so read on if you dare.......