Day 257 Power, Authority, and Spiritual Survival

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth, and in the same sentence offers a warning that savorless salt is good for nothing. Join me in an attempt to be savory salt as I share each day one verse of scripture and one small thought. Perhaps this small daily emphasis can lead to greater savor in your life and ultimately you and I can be savory salt.

Hello, my friends and family, wherever you're listening from, thank you for joining me and know that I am cheering for your every success. Welcome to day 257 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon together. Today, we're going to be reading Helaman chapter 2 in its entirety and Helaman chapter 3 verses 1 through 5.

And our verse for today is going to come from inside of us. Welcome to the episode of Helaman chapter 2. As we dive into this, we're going to be introduced to a group that has already done some nefarious deeds in the first couple chapters here, and yet we're going to start to name them and their leaders.

And it's something that is a difficult one to talk about because we also learn in chapter 2 of Helaman that Mormon's actually going to pause and say, "Hey, by the way, reader, heads up: this organization that gets started right here is the organization that ultimately is going to lead to the entire destruction of the Nephites in another 400 years." And so for him to have that perspective, it is quite interesting to see this organization is old. It's been around. In fact, for those of us in the spiritual world, we know that it's been around for all of time and eternity.

This, of course, being the group of the Gadianton robbers as they're going to be labeled. But here we see their kind of inception inside of the verses in Helaman chapter 2. Let's take a look at verse 5 and see what we can learn from it.

This is kind of the middle of the thought. So really verse 4 starts to describe Kishkumen and then where Gadianton comes into play. And it says in verse 5, "Therefore he did flatter them, and also Kishkumen, that if they would place him in the judgment seat, he would grant unto those who belong to his band, that they should be placed in power and authority among the people." Therefore, Kishkumen sought to destroy Helaman.

Now, we learned here, there's flattery going on, and it's a promise of power and authority that's going to be transferred. And thus we see a band. We're also told that this is a band that works in secret and works specifically in the realm of murders and robbing.

And so this is an evil group that is focused on power and authority, the gaining of it. It makes me think of Captain Moroni in his letter to Pahoran when he says, "I seek not for power, but for the freedom of my people." It's like a polar opposite of what we get here. This group is going to focus on the gaining of power and authority.

They're going to do it over the next several hundred years. They're going to get very, very good at it, and they're going to become very powerful and very organized. Now, before it just sounds like all doom and gloom, I also want to pause in this because what came to mind was the...

And I want to remind again, was a quote that I've used before, but it was quite earlier in the year. And it's a quote that comes directly from our prophet President Russell M. Nelson.

This was in April of 2018. And I don't know if I can remember another prophet in my lifetime that has said something and immediately been quoted so much as this phrase. So, forgive me, and yet maybe don't forgive me as I repeat this.

But this is because I'm a prophet. I will say prophecy in my life. This is from April of 2018 in his talk, "Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives." And he says this specifically out of the talk: "In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost." My friends, please do all that you can to be guided by, directed by, seek comfort from, and seek to constantly be influenced by the Holy Ghost.

That is, finding the guidance of the Spirit in your life as you're diving into these scriptures on a daily basis. I hope that it is increasing your awareness of the influence of the Spirit in your life. And I hope that you find great comfort with the power of the Holy Ghost as you go forward.

Yes, there are dark times in the Book of Helaman. And yes, there will be dark days that we have in our lives. But never forget the power the Lord has to protect us and uplift us.

Never forget that he sends the Holy Ghost to guide us, direct us, comfort us, and constantly influence us for good. That is a testimony I have and I share with you this day. That's all for today, my friends.

Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Keep it small, keep it simple, and always seek to be savory salt. I'll be here tomorrow, and I hope you are too.