Waking up at 5 AM per my regular schedule this Sabbath day, I started the first of a couple loads of laundry while I retrieved a 25 pound bag of oats from the car, which we purchased Thursday night. I scheduled the content of the "Single Adults' blogs of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
I studied/pondered the scriptures, writing an article for 'Once Upon a Percept' early today, writing the following:
"As you read about the Savior changing water into wine in John 2:1–11, what insights do you gain about the power of Christ to change you?" (Come, follow me)
When I first read this, I thought that it did not apply to life much, ignoring it until Jessica brought it up last night.
"And [the third day of the week] (JST John 2:1) there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
Jesus saith unto her, [Woman, what wilt thou have me to do for thee? that will I do; for mine hour is not yet come.] (JST John 2:4)
His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him." (John 2:1-11)
The water changed to wine as the wind and waves did. The weather and water were obedient to the will of the Lord.
"And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" (Mark 4:37 -41)
Why would Satan tempt Christ to command stones to become bread, if it were not possible?
"And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." (Luke 4:3-4)
The options to choose are much more for man than water and stone, yet water and stone can change by the power of God. These Earthly elements have faith in God for they knew him before the creation of the Earth.
"And the Gods ordered, saying: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the earth come up dry; and it was so as they ordered; And the Gods pronounced the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, pronounced they, Great Waters; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed." (Abraham 4:9-10)
The water would not have changed to wine, if the servants did not have faith in Jesus; just as, the disciples could not cast out the devil in the lunatic child. Although the devils knew that they had the authority to cast out devils, the devils did not obey them. Their faith in Christ was limited at that time. Faith precedes miracles."Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matthew 17:15-20)Faith without works is dead. Man have greater agency than stone and water, but some people feel that they cannot change. My life is a witness that man can change by faith in Jesus Christ and obedience.
As a teenager, Satan trapped me in sin that I was stuck in for a third of my life; at that time in my life. Only by obedience to the principle of fasting did my faith in Christ access his power to change. God delivered me from Satan's grasp. My life would be damned and miserable without the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I also worked on my first journal entry in Thai. My mom yesterday said that I only made a couple errors; then, she said the words are translated too literally, and the grammar is off today. I corrected the two errors. I gave my mom the document to mark up, hoping she can teach me of my mistakes more directly.
I seemed to be too confident in my lesson plan for CTR 5. I had two parts to the lesson. The first went well, reviewing John 3:16. I then had them write on a paper what their parents do for them because they love them. They got in the spirit of Valentine's Day, wanting to make books for their family. The second did not go well.
I reviewed Mary's request of Jesus Christ to provide wine. I was going to discuss how they can help their parents. There was not much to that conversation. We ended ten minutes early, but a most were interested in coloring. I prepared the first part well, but the second fell apart.
After church Jessica & I went to choir, and Brother Kuhn joined us. He was inspired by the quality of our singing, saying the that we sounded like the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
When I got home, I tried to write this journal entry, but I was dozing off.
Jessica woke me up at 4:50 pm, and I saw my phone, saying that dinner starts at 5 pm sharp from my father-in-law. We are at their residence now.
