Come Follow Me Mosiah 18-24: Insights By Gogo Goff

I hope you enjoy some insights from my Come Follow Me Mosiah 18-24 (If you missed last week’s insights for Come Follow Me Mosiah 11-17 click here). Save this pin to read later.

A Covenant People.

“And they were called the church of God, or the church of Christ, from that time forward. And it came to pass that whosoever was baptized by the power and authority of God was added to his church.”
Mosiah 18:17

From the Garden of Eden to the present, the Lord’s people have always been a covenant making and covenant keeping people. It is a non-negotiable aspect of his Church on earth.

The way to distinguish the true church of God from a counterfeit is simple, the counterfeits still employ the same ideology of the Sadducees and Pharisees, both groups fought against Jesus Christ.

The Sadducees were the only group of Jews that claimed the Priesthood Authority in a line from Aaron. The Sadducees used said Priesthood to administer ordinances. But they also used their claim to the Priesthood to defile the Temple, by turning into a “den of thieves”.

Many of the Jews did not like how the Sadducees ran things so a group protested and named themselves Pharisees. The Pharisees had no claim to Priesthood, and no authority to administer ordinances. So they taught a gospel devoid of ordinances and focused on reading the scriptures and “fellowship”. Teaching that that was all we needed to do.

In today’s Christian world those two philosophies still exist. We have Churches of ordinances without covenants, and then the rest of Christianity protesting them, living a gospel without ordinances or covenants. And just like in times of old the true Church of Jesus Christ has both Priesthood Ordinances and Covenants.

The righteous are merciful.

“And now Limhi was desirous that his father should not be destroyed; nevertheless, Limhi was not ignorant of the iniquities of his father, he himself being a just man.” Mosiah 19:17

It is an easy trap that many fall into, when we see grave injustices we seek for God to punish the wicked and to destroy them. But the Book of Mormon teaches us a theme… The Righteous do not seek the lives of the wicked, even it would be just and ok. From Nephi to Limhi, to the Anti-Nephi-Lehi’s to Captain Moroni. The righteous do not desire the wicked to die, even if the deserve it.

The big question is “Why not?” The Book of Alma contains the answer: “Now, they were sorry to take up arms against the Lamanites, because they did not delight in the shedding of blood; yea, and this was not all—they were sorry to be the means of sending so many of their brethren out of this world into an eternal world, unprepared to meet their God.” Alma 48:23 They are merciful. They desire and seek the welfare of the souls all men, even their enemies.

Fighting like Dragons.

“And it came to pass that the people of Limhi began to drive the Lamanites before them; yet they were not half so numerous as the Lamanites. But they fought for their lives, and for their wives, and for their children; therefore they exerted themselves and like dragons did they fight.”
Mosiah 20:11

When the Lamanites came to destroy the people of Lemhi, the people of Lemhi defended their wives and children, and they fought like Dragons. This is a common theme in the scriptures, the righteous defend their families, and when they do, they fight like Dragons.

We are not fighting against Lamanites, but there are forces just as evil who seek the destruction of our families. The largest destroyer of families in my experience is addictions. It does not matter if it is porn, alcohol, drugs or any other addictive sin, they all destroy families.

Are we fighting like Dragons against addictions? Do we talk about the damaging effects of porn/drugs/alcohol with our kids, friends, and family? Do we also teach them what can overcome these addictions? Each of these addictions numbs us to the Spirit, But there is hope, addictions can be conquered by the Atonement!

The Hand of the Lord

“And now the afflictions of the Nephites were great, and there was no way that they could deliver themselves out of their hands, for the Lamanites had surrounded them on every side.”
Mosiah 21:5

In our lives the Lord works in one of two ways. One is far less common than the other.

He will wait until there is no other way, hope or chance. Like the Nephites in this verse, they knew the only hope of deliverance was from God. And when He does deliver them He leaves no doubt it was Him. (Like Moses and the Red sea, the stripling warriors, when the star appeared and saved all the Christians from death).

That is the less common way. Most of the time God’s hand is in the details. Often overlooked and not noticed, but it is there. If we take a step back from our busy lives we will start to see tender mercies from God that guide our lives and show us His hand. Take to heart this counsel.

Refugees

“13 And after being many days in the wilderness they arrived in the land of Zarahemla, and joined Mosiah’s people, and became his subjects.
14 And it came to pass that Mosiah received them with joy; and he also received their records, and also the records which had been found by the people of Limhi.”
Mosiah 22:13-14

The Book of Mormon shows us multiple examples of what to do with refugees. The people of Limhi and later the people of Lamoni. Both were accepted into the land and became subjects to the government.

It is important to remember that throughout the history of even the Church we have been refugees multiple times if it was not for the goodness of the citizens of Quincy Illinois thousands could’ve died during the extermination orders of Governor Boggs.

So let us also act in faith and welcome those into our lands that seek refuge, after all, are they not our brothers and sisters?

“Being a refugee may be a defining moment in the lives of those who are refugees, but being a refugee does not define them…but our response will help define us.”
Elder Patrick Kearon (April 2017)

Do you trust Me? (Short story)

Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.
Nevertheless—whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people.
Mosiah 23:21-22

Life is difficult. Just when things seem to be going good a trial happens that throws everything upside down. The most recent trial my family is facing is not Coronavirus like most of the world, a month and a half ago, in the midst of Coronavirus my mother in law was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, this is on top of my father-in-law being diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer at thanksgiving.

Everything has happened so quickly that everyone still has a bit of shock. But we take peace in the knowledge that God has a plan, not just a plan, but a plan of happiness. A plan for our personal eternal happiness. I gained my testimony that His plan when I was told by my Mission President in a Priesthood Blessing to go to college. I had never been to any public school before (I was homeschooled), so I was required to take placement tests.

I took a placement test and I failed to place into English 1010 (Intro to Writing). It was frustrating because I feel like writing is one of my stronger areas. I mean, I did just have an article I wrote for LDS Living published.

I was upset, I turned to God in tears of anger and frustration, and dejection. I thought, first dating, now school, every time I try to obey and do what an “RM” should do, it blows up in my face?

I decided I needed to go to the Temple, in the temple I felt the peace that I needed. And the thought that came to my mind was a scene from Aladdin. When he says “Do you trust me?”
And I had to think, “Do I… Do I really trust Him?

I had to decide, I do trust Him… No matter the outcome. So I retook the test, not only did I get the needed score to place into the class, I scored 30% more than I needed to make it into the class.

The lesson I learned was God has a plan, not just for my schooling, but for my whole life everything will work out in the end, and in the end if I’ve trusted and followed His plan my story will be a happy story!

Jesus Christ. Our Deliverer and Hope.

“And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.”
Mosiah 24:13

Times will get crazy before the Savior comes again, the Prophets have told us of wars, both abroad and that will come to our shores. But more personally we have trials and burdens the wars we are fighting personally.

Many of the battles are bitter, and in despair of soul, we like the people of Alma cry (literally) unto God for deliverance. The things we are bearing are hard, they are crushing our soul, and we are about to lose hope. Let us take comfort in whom we have put our trust. Jesus Christ, the Deliverer. Our Deliverer. When our trust is in Him, we can find hope in tomorrow!