Alma 32 v. 1-20

We don’t kick people out of church for looking dirty and poor, but I suspect sometimes we want to. Something to be aware of.

Alma knew the people were truly humbled because they came and asked what to do. They were ready to act. I have been thinking about that every since the lesson on prayer a few weeks ago, where effective prayers requires a willingness to act. The people didn’t just come and say, what do you think about poor people, it wasn’t just curiosity, they wanted to worship God and wanted to know how.

When the scriptures describe these people as poor in heart, and humbled, I am sure they were feeling really bad about the situation. They didn’t even seem to be mad, but just depressed about it. How many times when life is going wrong (like being cast out of the synagogue for these people) and it feels so terrible, is it really, as Alma said, a blessing?

Alma 32:1-20

Alma 31

Reading about Alma’s sorrow because of the wickedness of his people gives me an idea of the weight of increased responsibility in the church. As the Beehive advisor, my realm of responsibility is relatively small, but I feel so sad when they are making choices that I know will hurt them. I have felt how when the Lord calls you to serve people he changes how you feel about them. With all the other responsibility that comes with leadership callings, I bet that sorrow is heavy to bear.

When I was in college verse 5 really struck me, that the preaching of the word had a greater tendency to get people to do what is right than punishment. I am always excited to find that scripture again, and to be reminded. It feels important to me as a mother, to teach rather than punish; another thing that would be greatly helped by not getting angry.

In the Zoramites apostasy, it was not wanting to keep the commandments that led them astray. In my own life, I have seen a tendency to want to change my beliefs to what I wanted to do, instead of giving my will to God and changing what I want to do to what he wants. I have been reading a book the last few days that had some really immoral parts. I kept feeling like I should stop, but the story was interesting, so I kept justifying that it was okay to keep reading it. As I read this passage, and realize what it means I am so grateful I finally returned it this morning.

The other thing that led them astray was not praying daily. I don’t know why it is so easy for me to fall into this category, but I am grateful for this reminder and warning.

Here again, Satan’s trick is to lead them away from Christ. They would say they still believe in God, but not Christ. I feel like it is so important to keep our focus on Him. Even know Satan uses the same traps and tricks. The world believes that you don’t need Christ to have a relationship with divinity, and that a vague idea of God is enough. And even, as the Zormaites are saying here, that a belief in Christ takes us away from God—that Christians are somehow less holy. It is the same trick again. And it is a good trick. It doesn’t matter what else we believe, if we don’t come unto Christ, and participate in His atonement, we are lost.
The Rameumptom is such a crazy idea, the holy stand to get up on and talk to God. But when I think about how it applies to my life, I wonder if my pride, specifically when I think I am more righteous than other people, isn’t that stand anyway. Sometimes we lift ourselves up in our hearts and thank God that we are more holy. Is that any different? I am very prideful, and it is hard sometimes for me to be humble and remember that we are all beggars before God.

Would Alma be sad about our hearts being set upon the things of the world? That is such a hard thing for me.

This is such a beautiful prayer: “O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me,”, it speaks to my soul like poetry, and it feels like truth. And the answer to the prayer is beautiful to: And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Where true peace and joy is found.

Alma 31

Alma 30

Sometimes the idea of an anti-Christ seems so foreign and complicated. But really, it was preaching against the coming or divinity of Christ. It feels like, really, a lot of the world is anti-Christ right now. And that is very sad.

First trick of anti-Christ, call believing foolish and try to make you feel dumb for being traditional.

Second trick, ask for proof.

Third trick, call believers crazy (fanatics).

Then, after making you feel dumb and foolish, get you on their side by telling you it’s not your fault, you were deceived (by your parents, by the church….)

Next he gets into moral relativism and no absolute right and wrong, and what you get in this life you get by your hard work (pride vs. gratitude and acknowledging God in all things).

Another lie, when you die that is all there is—so why worry about being good. Enjoy it while you’ve got it.

I appreciate that many women, and men, were committing whoredomes, and that for God it isn’t just the women, but when men do it, it is abominable, too.

I love that the answer is why do you interrupt their rejoicings. I feel like a lot of time that is what people forget when they are choosing whether or not to be believers. They let Satan deceive them and then they miss out on the rejoicing and the peace and love that comes with the gospel. And when people fight against other people believing, that is what I always think… why do you want to take away their peace and faith? Let them rejoice.

And then comes another lie of Satan in verse 23, that obedience to the commandments brings us down and doesn’t lift up our heads, puts us into bondage and lets people have power of us. When in reality, the opposite is true.

And then Satan does what he does and twists the truth about the fall saying we teach we are guilty because of Adam’s fall, when in reality we teach we are guilty for own sins and the fall gave us the chance to choose to sin or not.

And let’s not leave out the dichotomy of how could you know the will of God to tell people what to do, and also there is no God.

It is also interesting to me that he had to make up a reason why the leaders would lead the people away, saying it was so they could live rich off of them, even though it was completely untrue—they worked for their own living. I have noticed this a lot in politics and at school, and in social policy arguments lately, that people say things that are totally untrue, and people just believe them without knowing the facts. It allows the argument to be completely skewed.

It is beautiful that the strength of Alma’s conviction prevents him from feeling foolish or even being caught into argument about the gospel. He just knows—and lives his life in such a way that the Holy Ghost can constantly reveal the truth of God to him through every piece of the world and his life.

As I read I also appreciate for the first time that Alma was not contentious with Korihor. He kept talking to him, and didn’t withhold any part of the truth, even that it was better to lose his soul than a bunch of people’s, but he just said it like it was, with no malice or fighting. There are a lot of situations lately, where I have been trying to just calmly talk about what I thought was true instead of getting worked up and emotional. I think I am learning that is the Lord’s way—and he is line upon line teaching me how to school my emotions while still standing for the right. I have a long way to go, but I can see that it is so much better.

The part where Korihor talks about an angel coming to him to tell him there is not God always seems so silly to me. Where do angels come from then? But when I think about it, a lot of the worldly stuff I hear makes this little sense. And it really doesn’t matter if it makes sense, people believe what they want and what they are ready for. Arguing won’t change a heart that doesn’t want to hear.

The thus we see from this chapter has always stuck out to me. The devil will not support his children, but speedily drags them down to hell. He was only ever using Korihor, and once he had lost his usefulness he was on his own. And that is how it will always be.

Alma 30

Alma 29

Alma is talking to me this morning, about doing the best I can where I am at, instead of wishing I could be in charge of everything. The Lord has given me a call and a responsibility, and to honor him, and trust him, it is my job to fulfill what he wants me to do, not what I want to do. This is a recurring message for me the last two days. This is what I got out of the Sunday School lesson about Eli and his sons yesterday as well. To honor the Lord is to worry about what he wants, not what I want or what other people want. I forget to let that guide me in everything I do… stuff at school, and with my family and friends. I read a quote recently about our goal should be to be completely let by the Holy Ghost in every moment of our life. At the time, my pride rebelled against it, but today I see that in order to be always doing the Father’s will, we have to know what it is all the time. And the Holy Ghost is the way we can know that.

I feel like in some things I have forged ahead without finding out if what I am doing is the right thing, or is His will for me. I am grateful that he is merciful and that even if I find myself in a mess I created by not listening, he still loves me and will help as soon as I will truly listen. I pray to be humble enough to be worthy of that help without having to learn to be humble by suffering through consequences. But I know that whatever happens, as long as I am trusting him, that it will be what needs to happen for my growth.

Alma 29