Come Follow Me 2 Nephi 1-5: Insights by Gogo Goff

I hope you enjoy some insights from my Come Follow Me 2 Nephi 1-5. (If you missed last week’s insights for Come Follow Me 1 Nephi 16-22 click here). Save this pin to read later.

Liberty to sin?

“Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them…”
2 Nephi 1:7

One of the great lies of Satan is that freedom and liberty are about being able to freely sin. That is not true, true freedom is the ability to obey. Sin always takes away liberty and freedom, our choices are only limited by following Satan. The more we follow Jesus Christ the closer we come to God, following God has never limited someone’s freedom or liberty.

Satan seeks to make us miserable, he wants us to destroy our freedom by choosing sin and therefore damnation. God sent His son Jesus Christ to liberate us from Satan and to enable us to fulfill our potential!

For more about the lies Satan tells us about agency see this article I wrote.

“Freedom and liberty are precious gifts that come to us when we are obedient to the laws of God . . . Obedience to them makes us truly free to reach the potential and the glory which our Heavenly Father has in store for us.”
James E Faust.

Trusting God.

“But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.”
2 Nephi 2:24

Often it is easy to feel like our world is falling apart. We may even feel like Adam and Eve getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden as we are being denied blessings that we so badly wanted. This verse brings comfort.

All things are done in the wisdom of a loving God. Including His timing. Everything has been calculated to help us return home and become like Him. If we but have the faith in His plan and Timing!

“The issue for us is trusting God enough to trust also His timing. If we can truly believe He has our welfare at heart, may we not let His plans unfold as He thinks best?”
Neal A. Maxwell

From The Dust.

“And they shall cry from the dust; yea, even repentance unto their brethren, even after many generations have gone by them….”
2 Nephi 3:20

The Prophets of old speak to us through the scriptures, when they do this it is referred to as “crying from the dust” as from dust we have come, to dust we return. They have sen our day, they know our trials and if we but are willing to read their words we will be able to heed their warning.

“As with voices from the dust, the prophets of the Lord cry out to us on earth today: take hold of the scriptures! Cling to them, walk by them, live by them, rejoice in them, feast on them.”
Robert D. Hales

Overcoming Sin.

“O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?”
2 Nephi 4:31

The process of overcoming sin is actually simple. We have already done it for many sins. For example, you have overcome the desire to commit murder and therefore the sin is no longer a temptation.

But just like Nephi, we have sins that beset us. The promise of the Atonement is that as we repent, confess and forsake sin will become more and more undesirable to us. And eventually, just like the sins of murder, we will overcome all desire to sin through Jesus Christ.

“Our spiritual purpose is to overcome both sin and the desire to sin, both the taint and the tyranny of sin.”
David A. Bednar

Temples!

“And I, Nephi, did build a temple…”
2 Nephi 5:16

Temple building has always been a sign of the true Church in past dispensations as well as during the time of the Nephites. We know of at least 7 temples built during the Book of Mormon, with 3 being named for sure.

Land of Nephi (2 Nephi 5:16)
Land of Zarahemla (Mosiah 1:18)
Land of Bountiful (3 Nephi 24:1)
Land of Nephi-Lehi/Shilom (Mosiah 7:17)
Other Lamanite Temples (Alma 23:2)
Other Temples in the “Land Northward” (Helaman 3:9,14)

And in this dispensation, we stand at over 167 temples (with 7 being renovated), and an additional 50 temples either announced or under construction.

“Every foundation stone that is laid for a temple, and every temple completed according to the order of the Lord has revealed for His holy priesthood, lessens the power of Satan on the earth, and increases the power of God and godliness, moves the heavens in mighty power in our behalf”
George Q. Cannon