Entry - Two
Hello, I hope you found my first entry helpful. I wont’ normally write that long, but it will depend on the story I’m dealing with at the moment. This week I will finish with the Story of the Creation, and Adam and Eve. Again, I won’t comment on every chapter all the time; just things I’ve noticed as I read. Here we go: Here are a couple of words we need to consider as we read the scriptures:
We all look for excitement when we read a book. Well, the scriptures have it. To read the scriptures we need to understand the difference between Thinking and Meditating or Pondering:
Thinking is a faster process than Meditating or Pondering. When we Think, tons of question come to our mind. We literally are looking for an answer in our minds; like scrolling down a list of questions; like a computer when it’s searching for a topic we’ve requested. It can be overwhelming at times. Our minds can get boggled up with questions, with trying to weigh things out and try to reason as to why? It puts pressure in our minds and can give us headaches or just tiredness. It’s like a mental preoccupation. Get the idea? I hope so.
To Meditate or Ponder is a lot slower process. The mind is caught up in a specific moment of time. Reflecting, contemplating that specific moment. Or person. Or thing. The mind is relaxed with no pressure. To Meditate or Ponder is to contemplate, to dwell on a subject of intrigue to us. To engage ourselves in that subject in our mind. What ever it may be.
When we read a book we like, we often engage ourselves into the story. We try to imagine what is going on in the story; to picture the place in our minds. We lose ourselves in what we are reading. We are not thinking, we are just contemplating the moment that we see in our minds. We also try to understand the characters by putting ourselves in their place and wonder why they did what they did? ... We literally engage ourselves in the story. We play it out in our minds. That’s why reading can be so enjoyable, frustrating, thrilling, exciting, and relaxed in our minds. We get involve mentally, and let the author carry us into his/her world. Well, the scriptures are no different. We need to dwell, get engage in the story we are being told. Dwell, and be engaged in the characters and try to see why they acted the way they did. Not judge them, or criticize them...just play it out in our mind, and let the author carry us back in time, and tell us the story or stories..
The scriptures uses the words Meditate, and Ponder: that means they want us to reflect, to dwell, to engage ourselves in what we are reading. To play the story out in our minds. With that in mind.... Not just read.... Ponder Genesis.
To Rule over someone or some things is not the same as to have Dominion over someone or something. Here is the difference: In the America Heritage Dictionary one of the definitions says “Rule... Governing power..” Same dictionary: “Govern ... guide; direct; regulate...”
To have Dominion : Same dictionary. “Control,..Ownership of property, especially of land, and the right to its disposition.”
Help: “To give assistant; to aid... To contribute to in some way.... To give relief.”
Meet: “To come together. To come into conjunction; be joined...fit..”...”Fit... To be appropriate or suitable.”
GENESIS
In Genesis we read about the creation... Don’t think,.. dwell, play it in your mind... to see how amazing, (for lack of words).. How incredible it is! Imagine, how the Lord commanded the elements to unite themselves, one by one... and they obeyed him.. He did it with care. He took his time organizing them to be just right for us to dwell in. Before he added more elements, he made sure he approved and liked what he saw. You can tell by the wording he uses and the explanations he gives after he had added each element. Genesis 1:3-4, 16-18 ..”And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness....... And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light up on the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.” If we read the world ‘Rule over’ with the meaning that I mentioned above... It simply means that the greater and lesser light are there to govern as to what part of time we are in.. Among other things. After the elements were in place he created the living things; all kinds of creatures to live in the water and on land. Try picturing the Lord creating all those weir, strange, ugly, beautiful, scary, amazing looking animals and so forth... When I think about some of the creatures and how the Lord created them; I think of his great creativity, and imagination and how much he must’ve enjoyed creating them; plants, and trees and all kinds of creatures; and seeing them roam around the earth. It is fascinating! It gives me a glimpse of his character and how much he loves us to create all of these just for us. He loves everything he created. When he created the creatures; He blessed them.. Genesis1:22 ..And God blessed them, saying Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the fowls multiply in the earth." It wasn’t just a command. It was a blessing he was giving them to create life; That implies that he loved them. He cared about them.
When he created Adam and Eve he said: Genesis 1:26, 28: “ “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth...... And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Right here in these verses He place BOTH Adam and Eve in charge of “every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” He gave them the earth to subdue it ( to subdue is to conquer,.. To bring under control by physical force or persuasion): dominion over all living things on the earth. The Lord also blessed Adam and Eve. It wasn’t only a command, but a blessing to create life and to care for it. Before he created Eve; Adam was by himself in the garden, it doesn’t say how long. He wanted Adam to have a connection with the creatures he created, that he may appreciate and loved them like he did. He let Adam name the creatures... When we are ask to name a person place or thing, we usually don’t take it lightly. It makes us more thoughtful of the person, place or thing we are naming. It causes us to care... Think about it... Genesis2:19-20 “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet...” How amazing is that? To have all these different creatures come to you for a name? Imagine that! The last sentence implies that the creatures came in pairs; for why would it say “but for Adam there was not found an help meet...” One doesn’t just say that to say it; unless everything seemed to be in pairs except for Adam.? After this event, the Lord created a “help meet” for Adam. So Eve was to join him and come together in aid.
Eve was not an after thought; she was in the creation plan from the beginning. She was created last... Think about this! There are people that believe that women are secondary to men. Ponder this pattern: God created everything in order; first things first: He needed to create the land and the atmosphere before he placed the light in the right place: He need to create this before he created the waters and separate them from the land: He need to do this separation before he brought out the plants, and after that; the creatures both in water and on land. So, every step he created was a preparation for the next thing to come or live. No different than when we move into a place to live: We usually make sure the place is ready, livable; everything running properly before we move in. After the creation was done; Adam was created, and after everything was set and ready Eve was created. So ask yourself; Was Eve second to Adam? Everything was complete when she came along, and Adam was already extremely familiar with the garden and God had already given him instruction on what to eat and not eat. The Lord himself introduce Eve to Adam; and Adam received her as someone precious to him; to love, honor, to protect and be faithful to her. (Throughout time the human body has been sacred; therefore we protect it, and honor it and care for it the best possible way we can). Adam receive Eve as such and more. Genesis 2:23-24 “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave (To cleave means to adhere; to stick fast or being glued. To cling, to be faithful. To be devoted) unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh...." How romantic is that? He thought a great deal of her. Ponder this obvious example: Throughout time; when someone of importance walks into a room full of people...people tend to stand up out of respect, right? Well, when a woman walks into a room men tend to stand up or when she sits down at a table; a man usually helps her to her seat.... women are not required to do that for men. That’s a manner that can be trace back in time.... So again, I ask, Was Eve second to Adam?
If we read the scriptures with the definitions of the dictionary... Eve was not second to Adam she was his love, his heart. She was very much part of him, and every part of ones body is essential and crucial to its proper function. She completed him. He consider both of them as“One flesh.”
Well, I didn’t think I was going to write this much. As I read these two chapter I thought about all of these things I wrote, but writing it down is a whole different thing... it takes much longer. Well, I hope you find this entry intriguing. I have about one more entry on Adam and Eve, before I move on to Noah. Thank you.
JC
Monday, February 22, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Understanding Scriptures - First Entry
This is my first entry. I'm planning on writing once a week for now.
I love reading. I have always like reading a little bit of (almost) everything. There was a time, when I was a teenager, that when it came to the scriptures, I was always intimidated by them. The books seemed too thick, the pages too thin and the print too small. They literally overwhelmed me. Especially “The Old Testament.” Genesis was okay, it could hold up my interest somewhat, but the following four books (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), man, they‘d put me to sleep every time. Somehow my brain would go blank immediately after I’d read one of their chapters . I’d tried to read them on many occasions, but to no avail. Even after my mission I had a hard time-- I could never get through them without getting bored or dead brained. My brain would not function-- It would literally shut down to the point that I couldn’t even remember the first word I’d read. There are other books in the Old Testament (OT) that have the same kind of effect in my brain. True, there are parts of the books that were interesting and that I could understand, but over all—they would lose me mentally. Uuughh. It was just easier to avoid reading it sequentially. It was safer to read only the stories that everyone new, such as: Noah’s Ark. Or Joseph of Egypt. Or Moses (just the part of his birth ‘til the part where he leads the Israelites out of Egypt, like in the movie. Or Jonas and The whale... But even then it could get confusing reading them chapter by chapter. It was actually better when someone else would tell the stories.
After many years of reading the “other” scriptures such as: The New testament (NT), The Book of Mormon (BOM), The Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) and the Pearl of Great Price (PGP), which I love and feel fairly comfortable with them. I finally decided to tackle reading the Old Testament once again. To my wonderful surprise, I am truly enjoying reading this intimidating, overwhelming and scary book this time around. I can now, honestly say that I love reading “all” of the scriptures… thus far. I still haven’t finish reading the Old Testament. Reading the “other” scriptures has prepared me to know how to read what I am now reading. I’ve read the scriptures (other than the Old Testament) many times, and every time I’ve read them I’ve never been bored. I’ve always learned something new,-- well, not always new, but, some things seen from a new perspective.
The scriptures are not necessarily a mystery. They are simply sacred. Prayer is crucial. ALWAYS pray for the Spirit to help you understand them. I don’t consider myself a scripture expert, but I feel I have a good grasp on them . I won’t pretend that I understand them perfectly, but I understand them for my personal life. The beauty of the scriptures is that it has an over all instructions and meaning for all of us--, but it also has a personal, and individual one for each and everyone. That’s what makes them unique and hard to interpret one way. There is the history, the symbolism, and the teachings that can be interpreted, depending on how much knowledge we have of that period of time…. Then, there is the interpretation of the Spirit. AAhh, these two ways go hand in hand: we need both for a clearer understanding of them. They are both essential to understanding those periods of time. The Interpretation of the Spirit also tells us how these sacred writings can apply in our daily lives; how our Heavenly Father can actually speak to us through them; He can also give us visions, a sense of feeling of what the people back then were truly like, and so forth…. Reading with the Spirit, I’ve learned to be more open minded. Why? Because the Lord doesn’t think or see things the way we think and see them. His thoughts are way high above our mental capacity. The Spirit is our interpreter of His thoughts. Through him, we can see glimpses of what Our Heavenly Father wants us to see through his eyes and what he wants us to know and understand.
I love growing older. I never thought I would ever, ever say that. But I do, I truly love growing older because most of the years of my past has been an opportunity to learn, to experience the things that I now know and understand, that without that time… I wouldn’t know and understand. There is a difference between Knowing and understanding. We can know of many things through reading, seen, people telling us about it etc… But to understand, to understand even a little, we must experience it or experience something similar or close to it. We know things in our minds, but we understand them with our hearts. Our mind is logical. Our heart is emotional. We need both to experience life. To understand our Heavenly Father’s plan for us. They both play a big role in the scriptures and in our lives.
What I’m writing here is solely my opinion, my understanding and my perceptiveness of the scriptures. I’m sure that we all have our own opinions. But I also know that we can all learn from each others' opinions as wells… I know I have. I’m not trying to interpret them. I’m just “sharing” my own perspective of them in the hope that I can give my children, or the reader a deeper love for them. Or make them more curious, and excited to read them. They are truly intriguing. Amazing. Magical. Because they are true. The stories are real. The Miracles, or magic is real I’ve read Harry Potter to my children, and I’ve read portions of The Twilight saga to them as well. They love the magic in them; the animals, plants and places. They loved the wolves in the Twilight saga and the battles that both series went through. They told me that they wished there were some magic now, like in those series. I told them that “the Scriptures are full of them and the best part is that those records are real. Unlike the characters of these two series; the people in the scriptures did existed: By the power of God Moses did parted the sea, he cause Aaron to turn a rod into a snake; he cause the sky to rain fire and hail; frogs, lice, flies; and locus. Those are pretty darn scary rains if you ask me There was also evil magic like those of Pharaoh’s Magicians”. I would mention other accounts, like the donkey that reproached his master Balaam for mistreating him. .Or the power of the Savior. The miracles that he performed. Walk on the water, stopping the storms, and the winds: Being able to resurrect. How cool is that? That we are spirit children of our Heavenly Father and we lived with him in another world; that we are strangers with amnesia and a costume we agreed upon on this land, striving to earn our way back home as we search to remember who we really are; where we come from; why we’re here and where we’re going after this life is over. The knowledge we gain and what we do with that knowledge will determine if we earned the rights to sit on his right side, to live with him again, but this time, as kings and queens to reign with him forever That is an amazing, and incredible reality I could go on and on,… and I have done so. This is why I want to write about them. That my children as well as others may see the reality, the magic, the great treasure we have in them and how real they are. They are the key to our existence … So here I go.
First of all, we need to understand that the word “Bible” means library or a more accurate word bibliotheca (a book collection; library. A catalog of books), from Medieval Latin (biblia), from Greek biblia, “(The) books”, from Spanish biblia derive from biblioteca (bibliotheca).
So, with this in mind. We know that Bible means 'Many books' (Sacred books).
I want to write about each book in the Bible. Review some specific scriptures, but not all. Give you an idea of the simplicity of the stories. Sometimes we read the scriptures like scriptures... something very serious, which they are, but... They are also true stories, histories of ancient people, people like you and me. Sometimes we read them like there is a big mystery to solve. Yes, there are a lot of things that we can meditate upon. Things that can be very deep and intense... But really, some are a lot simpler than we think. We can read and analyze more than what it’s actually there. The scriptures are simple. If we just read them to know the characters and the people involved and find the moral of their stories, and how they apply to us: That’s the beginning of understanding them. Just relax and read them to know the characters of the stories. Be prayerful, and open minded. The Spirit will do the rest.
Here is an example of plain and simple, yet many have made it into a big mystery:
GENESIS:
Some people find it hard to believe that God has a body like ours? The Scriptures indicates that he does. In Genesis 1:26-27 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:….. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” In The American Heritage dictionary it says that image, likeness is like the reflection, reproduction, copy or the double …. of someone or something: in this case of someone. In Genesis 5:3 “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his own image; and called his name Seth.” The word likeness is the same as reflection. In the first scripture God uses the word image first, then likeness: Image is more like an appearance than a reflection; so, if I was to read these scripture using the dictionary’s meaning of these words; it would mean that man was created according to what God looks like with arms and legs and so forth… On the second scripture likeness is used first to describe one of the sons of Adam. Now,’ likeness’ is more of a copy, than it is an image. So Seth must’ve looked so very much like his father, like the double of Adam in a younger version. In reading these verses It is a very clear cut reading that God has a body with arms and legs and so forth. He is not a mist, or energy floating in us or around us. He is a Supreme being with a body like ours. The dictionary clarifies the wording. Our own spirits and bodies bear witness of that truth as well....
Well, this is all I will write for now. Next week I will pick up where I left off in Genesis and continue from there. Thank you.
JC
I love reading. I have always like reading a little bit of (almost) everything. There was a time, when I was a teenager, that when it came to the scriptures, I was always intimidated by them. The books seemed too thick, the pages too thin and the print too small. They literally overwhelmed me. Especially “The Old Testament.” Genesis was okay, it could hold up my interest somewhat, but the following four books (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), man, they‘d put me to sleep every time. Somehow my brain would go blank immediately after I’d read one of their chapters . I’d tried to read them on many occasions, but to no avail. Even after my mission I had a hard time-- I could never get through them without getting bored or dead brained. My brain would not function-- It would literally shut down to the point that I couldn’t even remember the first word I’d read. There are other books in the Old Testament (OT) that have the same kind of effect in my brain. True, there are parts of the books that were interesting and that I could understand, but over all—they would lose me mentally. Uuughh. It was just easier to avoid reading it sequentially. It was safer to read only the stories that everyone new, such as: Noah’s Ark. Or Joseph of Egypt. Or Moses (just the part of his birth ‘til the part where he leads the Israelites out of Egypt, like in the movie. Or Jonas and The whale... But even then it could get confusing reading them chapter by chapter. It was actually better when someone else would tell the stories.
After many years of reading the “other” scriptures such as: The New testament (NT), The Book of Mormon (BOM), The Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) and the Pearl of Great Price (PGP), which I love and feel fairly comfortable with them. I finally decided to tackle reading the Old Testament once again. To my wonderful surprise, I am truly enjoying reading this intimidating, overwhelming and scary book this time around. I can now, honestly say that I love reading “all” of the scriptures… thus far. I still haven’t finish reading the Old Testament. Reading the “other” scriptures has prepared me to know how to read what I am now reading. I’ve read the scriptures (other than the Old Testament) many times, and every time I’ve read them I’ve never been bored. I’ve always learned something new,-- well, not always new, but, some things seen from a new perspective.
The scriptures are not necessarily a mystery. They are simply sacred. Prayer is crucial. ALWAYS pray for the Spirit to help you understand them. I don’t consider myself a scripture expert, but I feel I have a good grasp on them . I won’t pretend that I understand them perfectly, but I understand them for my personal life. The beauty of the scriptures is that it has an over all instructions and meaning for all of us--, but it also has a personal, and individual one for each and everyone. That’s what makes them unique and hard to interpret one way. There is the history, the symbolism, and the teachings that can be interpreted, depending on how much knowledge we have of that period of time…. Then, there is the interpretation of the Spirit. AAhh, these two ways go hand in hand: we need both for a clearer understanding of them. They are both essential to understanding those periods of time. The Interpretation of the Spirit also tells us how these sacred writings can apply in our daily lives; how our Heavenly Father can actually speak to us through them; He can also give us visions, a sense of feeling of what the people back then were truly like, and so forth…. Reading with the Spirit, I’ve learned to be more open minded. Why? Because the Lord doesn’t think or see things the way we think and see them. His thoughts are way high above our mental capacity. The Spirit is our interpreter of His thoughts. Through him, we can see glimpses of what Our Heavenly Father wants us to see through his eyes and what he wants us to know and understand.
I love growing older. I never thought I would ever, ever say that. But I do, I truly love growing older because most of the years of my past has been an opportunity to learn, to experience the things that I now know and understand, that without that time… I wouldn’t know and understand. There is a difference between Knowing and understanding. We can know of many things through reading, seen, people telling us about it etc… But to understand, to understand even a little, we must experience it or experience something similar or close to it. We know things in our minds, but we understand them with our hearts. Our mind is logical. Our heart is emotional. We need both to experience life. To understand our Heavenly Father’s plan for us. They both play a big role in the scriptures and in our lives.
What I’m writing here is solely my opinion, my understanding and my perceptiveness of the scriptures. I’m sure that we all have our own opinions. But I also know that we can all learn from each others' opinions as wells… I know I have. I’m not trying to interpret them. I’m just “sharing” my own perspective of them in the hope that I can give my children, or the reader a deeper love for them. Or make them more curious, and excited to read them. They are truly intriguing. Amazing. Magical. Because they are true. The stories are real. The Miracles, or magic is real I’ve read Harry Potter to my children, and I’ve read portions of The Twilight saga to them as well. They love the magic in them; the animals, plants and places. They loved the wolves in the Twilight saga and the battles that both series went through. They told me that they wished there were some magic now, like in those series. I told them that “the Scriptures are full of them and the best part is that those records are real. Unlike the characters of these two series; the people in the scriptures did existed: By the power of God Moses did parted the sea, he cause Aaron to turn a rod into a snake; he cause the sky to rain fire and hail; frogs, lice, flies; and locus. Those are pretty darn scary rains if you ask me There was also evil magic like those of Pharaoh’s Magicians”. I would mention other accounts, like the donkey that reproached his master Balaam for mistreating him. .Or the power of the Savior. The miracles that he performed. Walk on the water, stopping the storms, and the winds: Being able to resurrect. How cool is that? That we are spirit children of our Heavenly Father and we lived with him in another world; that we are strangers with amnesia and a costume we agreed upon on this land, striving to earn our way back home as we search to remember who we really are; where we come from; why we’re here and where we’re going after this life is over. The knowledge we gain and what we do with that knowledge will determine if we earned the rights to sit on his right side, to live with him again, but this time, as kings and queens to reign with him forever That is an amazing, and incredible reality I could go on and on,… and I have done so. This is why I want to write about them. That my children as well as others may see the reality, the magic, the great treasure we have in them and how real they are. They are the key to our existence … So here I go.
First of all, we need to understand that the word “Bible” means library or a more accurate word bibliotheca (a book collection; library. A catalog of books), from Medieval Latin (biblia), from Greek biblia, “(The) books”, from Spanish biblia derive from biblioteca (bibliotheca).
So, with this in mind. We know that Bible means 'Many books' (Sacred books).
I want to write about each book in the Bible. Review some specific scriptures, but not all. Give you an idea of the simplicity of the stories. Sometimes we read the scriptures like scriptures... something very serious, which they are, but... They are also true stories, histories of ancient people, people like you and me. Sometimes we read them like there is a big mystery to solve. Yes, there are a lot of things that we can meditate upon. Things that can be very deep and intense... But really, some are a lot simpler than we think. We can read and analyze more than what it’s actually there. The scriptures are simple. If we just read them to know the characters and the people involved and find the moral of their stories, and how they apply to us: That’s the beginning of understanding them. Just relax and read them to know the characters of the stories. Be prayerful, and open minded. The Spirit will do the rest.
Here is an example of plain and simple, yet many have made it into a big mystery:
GENESIS:
Some people find it hard to believe that God has a body like ours? The Scriptures indicates that he does. In Genesis 1:26-27 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:….. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” In The American Heritage dictionary it says that image, likeness is like the reflection, reproduction, copy or the double …. of someone or something: in this case of someone. In Genesis 5:3 “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his own image; and called his name Seth.” The word likeness is the same as reflection. In the first scripture God uses the word image first, then likeness: Image is more like an appearance than a reflection; so, if I was to read these scripture using the dictionary’s meaning of these words; it would mean that man was created according to what God looks like with arms and legs and so forth… On the second scripture likeness is used first to describe one of the sons of Adam. Now,’ likeness’ is more of a copy, than it is an image. So Seth must’ve looked so very much like his father, like the double of Adam in a younger version. In reading these verses It is a very clear cut reading that God has a body with arms and legs and so forth. He is not a mist, or energy floating in us or around us. He is a Supreme being with a body like ours. The dictionary clarifies the wording. Our own spirits and bodies bear witness of that truth as well....
Well, this is all I will write for now. Next week I will pick up where I left off in Genesis and continue from there. Thank you.
JC
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