Day 66 - Ether 3-7

Spiritual Thought:
"Now the Lord has placed us on probation as members of the Church. He has given us the Book of Mormon, which is the lesser part, to build up our faith through our obedience to the counsels which it contains, and when we ourselves, members of the Church, are willing to keep the commandments as they have been given to us and show our faith as the Nephites did for a short period of time, then the Lord is ready to bring forth the other record and give it to us, but we are not ready now to receive it. Why? Because we have not lived up to the requirements in this probationary state in the reading of the record which had been given to us and in the following its counsels.”  (Joseph Fielding Sminth, Conference Report, Oct. 1961, p. 20)
  
Daily Focus Scriptures to mark and ponder:

Ether 3:9 - "And the Lord said unto him; Because of thy FAITH thou hast seen that I shall take upon the flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast..."
Ether 2:21 - "And it came to pass that the Lord said unto the brother of Jared; Behold, thou shalt not suffer these things which ye have seen and heard to go forth unto the world, until the time cometh that I shall glorify my name in the flesh; wherefore, ye shall treasure up the things which ye have seen and heard, and show it to no man."
Ether 3:25 - "And when the Lord had said these words, he showed unto the brother of Jard all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth." (He saw THE MOVIE).
Ether 3:27 - "And the Lord said unto him:  Write these things and seal them up; and I will show them in mind own due time unto the children of men."  (He was told to write the SCRIPT to THE MOVIE).

Daily Questions:

How is my faith?  Am I reading the scriptures that have already been given to me?  Do I realize that the winds or trials in my life are actually blessings in my life?  Just like the furious winds that blew the barges upon the face of the water toward their goal (the promised land), our trials can do the same for us.

For Kids/teens/adults:
Click here to watch video of the Jaredites traveling to the Promised Land

Food for Thought: 
Do we know what is in the SEALED portion?

"When during the Millennium [see 2 Nephi 27:11; Ether 4:7, 15], the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon is translated, it will give an account of life in preexistence; of the creation of all things; of the Fall and the Atonement and the Second Coming; of temple ordinances in their fullness; of the ministry and mission of translated beings; of life in the spirit world, in both paradise and hell; of the kingdoms of glory to be inhabited by resurrected beings, and many such things."

                          (Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrines of the Restoration, p. 277). DCBM, 4:280)

THEY TREATED THE SCRIPTURES LIGHTLYThe Nephites had the Book of Ether as their “Scriptures” during their civilization.  This extensive, unabridged translation of the book of Ether was in many respects of the same value to the Nephites as the Book of Mormon is to us. It was scripture, and it functioned as a prophetic warning to Nephite society.  They also had the sealed portion in written form.  Because of the way the Nephites treated the sealed portion, this may be one reason why the Lord will not give us the sealed portion until AFTER the Savior has come the SECOND time."  (Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 2002. Pp. 50–59 - FARMS)

BOMING Picture:              Brother of Jared - Sees the Lord Jesus Christ