Category Archives: Visions

Dream Dreams

29 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by in Blessings, Dreams, General, Love, Poems, Sports, Visions

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In 1992 the greatest basketball team in the history of the world was assembled. It was the Barcelona Olympics, and for the first time, NBA players were allowed to represent team U.S.A. It was epic.

The team consisted of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippin, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Chris Mullin, and just to be fair to all the other countries, they included some guy from Duke named Christian Laettner.

 

The games weren’t even close enough to be called a joke, they were a complete slaughter. The closest game was a 32 point win over Croatia in the Gold Medal game 117-85.

It was like the Payson, Utah Jr jazz team versus the Harlem Globetrotters. It was fun to watch. They were representing the USA in the game we invented. They were rightly dubbed, the “Dream Team”.

The Dream Team was the epitome of greatness, everyone wanted to be just like them, even the teams they were playing against! They got to live out the most dominant display of basketball skill ever. They were untouchable, beyond reproach, unbeatable, you couldn’t stop them, only hope to contain them. They were a real life dream come true.

They were one kind of “Dream Team” But, we could also put together another team that could share the same name, but in a slightly different context. This other “dream team” could be comprised of all the Prophets or even regular people in scriptures who have had famous “dreams”.

Just to name a few….

Lehi, Nephi, Alma, Omer, Abimlech, Laban the Syrian, Pharaoh, Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar, Jacob, Daniel, Joseph Father of Jesus, and even Pilot’s wife.

Dreams are just one way that the Lord can use to speak to us. He has always used dreams to communicate. Sometimes its to reveal a doctrinal discourse like the Tree of Life, and sometimes its just to warn, or to encourage. And sometimes its just a fun way our brain takes away all the limitations of a mortal mind, and lets loose on the infinite potential of our imagination!

How many times have we had dreams that may be a little more than just us showing up to school in just our underwear? or having all of our teeth fall out? How many times have we been shown something, or seen something, or felt something that may be a bit more meaningful? Is it possible?

The Lord is the same today, yesterday and forever. He did it before, why not now?

In Joel 2:28 it says……

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

I have had a few times where I have had dreams that were a bit more than the ordinary kind. I have had some that were actually quite meaningful to me. Not exactly like the dreams of Lehi or Nephi, but personal ones that have made a difference in my life. I knew, for example, that my youngest son, would be a boy before we had an ultrasound. I think the Lord gives us little snippets, or hints, just to remind us that He is close, and is aware of us.

Next time we have a special dream, where we see someone who may have passed, or an event we may have been worrying about, or something especially encouraging, maybe we should write it down, and work on the assumption that maybe, just maybe, it was sent to us on purpose, and that it may be our Heavenly Father sending a little note to us, to remind us He is there, and that He is listening.

 

Dream Dreams

When all the noise of day is gone and silence fills our ears,
Our mortal eyes at last we close, and daylight disappears.

And as we dream the dreams that mortal consciousness abates,
Our minds become the canvas where a masterpiece awaits!

We win! We sing! We save the world, with superhuman powers!
No limits to what’s possible! These precious dreaming hours!

We soar through space with ease of thought,
Just wishing- and it’s done!
We fly! defying gravity! Never tiring as we run.

But, sometimes we can see ahead, or we can sense or feel
A moment, person, or event that is, in truth, quite real.

But, when our sleepy eyes again perceive the light of day,
And wakefulness returns, our mortal limits are replaced.

But, even then, some special dreams endure our consciousness.
For they were placed there by design, to act as messages.

Of love, or of encouragement, to comfort or to teach.
Instructions given when the mortal mind is tough to reach!

In wakeful times the constant noise brings deafness to our ears,
But, dreams can be a wink from Heav’n
Reminding us it’s near.

All this

16 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by in Blessings, Divinity, Faith, Journeys, Visions

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Brother of Jared Seeing the Finger of the Lord, by Arnold Friberg

I think most of us are generally familiar with the story of the brother of Jared, but just as a refresher I’ll provide a recap.  He and his family lived when the language is confounded at the time of the building of the tower of babel.  He cries to the Lord and is able to continue communicating with his friends and family.  Then, when the Lord tells them to prepare for a monumental journey to the promised land, they do just that.  They prepare for this great journey and are led all along the way by the Lord himself.  Just prior to actually setting off into the ocean, the brother of Jared was trying to get a few “small” questions answered and went to the Lord in humility for a little bit more guidance (and to calm his fears).  What happened was pretty amazing.  In chapters 2 and 3 of Ether we learn:

  • The Lord continually provided the brother of Jared with revelation including specific instructions for preparation
  • The Lord provided an opportunity for the brother of Jared to struggle with and develop a solution for his problems, and be rewarded for his work
  • The Lord caused the stones that the brother of Jared prepared to “shine forth in darkness” (Ether 3:4-6)
  • The Lord showed himself unto the brother of Jared (Ether 3:13)
  • The brother of Jared was redeemed him from the fall and was brought back into the Lord’s presence (Ether 3:13)
  • The Lord ministered unto the brother of Jared even as he ministered unto the Nephites (Ether 3:17-18)
  • The Lord gave the brother of Jared two stones (Ether 3:23) “that shall magnify to the eyes of men the things he should write”
  • The Lord showed the brother of Jared “all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be, even unto the ends of the earth” (Ether 3:25-26)

In reality, the Lord literally showed the brother of Jared “all things”.  And “there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared” (Ether 4:4).  But, since I want to really emphasize both the number and the quality of “things” that the Lord showed him, I will include the list of things that the Lord did while He ministered among the Nephites, specifically because Moroni tells us that the Lord did indeed minister to the brother of Jared “even as he ministered unto the Nephites” (meaning just as recorded in 3 Ne. chapters 11-26) where we learn that:

  • Jesus showed himself unto them one by one and allowed each of them to feel his wounds (3 Ne. 11:14-15)
  • Jesus gave them power (3 Ne. 11:21-22)
  • Jesus taught them true doctrines and principles (including particulars regarding ordinances) and expounded the scriptures and the prophets unto them (3 Ne. 11:23-41, all of 3 Ne. 12-16; 19:10-23:5; and 23:14)
  • He blessed and healed them (3 Ne. 17:5-10) and their children (3 Ne. 17:11-12; 21, see also 3 Ne. 26:15)
  • Christ himself prayed with and for them (3 Ne. 17:13-18; 19:19-24; 19:27-29; 19:31)
  • He wept with them due to joy – even until his joy was full (3 Ne. 17:21-22)
  • Jesus facilitated the ministering of angels and they were all encircled about with fire (3 Ne. 17:24; 19:14-15)
  • He instituted the sacrament (3 Ne. 18: 1-14; 19:8-9; 26:13)
  • He gave them the Holy Ghost (3 Ne. 18:36-37; 19:13)
  • Jesus shone the light of his countenance upon them (3 Ne. 19:25,30)
  • He prayed “words which cannot be written by man” in their presence (3 Ne. 19:32-33)
  • He performed a miracle of feeding them bread and wine when there was none (3 Ne. 19:3-7)
  • He gave them new scripture (3 Ne. 24-25; 26:2)
  • He expounded all things unto them, both great and small (3 Ne. 23:14; 26:1,3-5)
  • He taught and ministered with them for 3 days (3 Ne. 26:13)
  • He loosed the children’s tongues (26:14) that they could “speak things which were unlawful for man to utter”
  • He revealed “even greater things” unto the children (26:14)

So, now we are looking at quite the list of accomplishments when the Lord ministered to the Nephites, which by reference were things that can be included in our understanding of the ministration to the brother of Jared.  But let us remember that the author puts all of these great things outlined in 3 Ne. 11-26 in context by telling us that “there cannot be written even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people” (3 Ne. 26:6).  Numerically (and just for emphasis), that means that if we review the 17 items on that list and that’s not even a hundredth part, we really could make a bullet list of over 1,700 things that were pretty great.  Combine that with Moroni’s statement regarding the abridgment the Jaredite record that tells us he “could not make a full account of these things” (the brother of Jared’s encounter) – and we can truly understand that we are only getting a tiny sampling of how amazing both events really were.

Hopefully these lists of amazing items help us realize the absolute gravity and weight of a simple phrase like “these things” or “all this” when it refers to ministering visits from the Lord.

That brings us to the question; “why are we making a list of amazing things that the Lord showed the brother of Jared?”

The answer is found in Ether 3:18 which reads “and all this, that this man might know that he was God, because of the many great works which the Lord had showed unto him.”

All this (everything on these lists, and a hundred times more), that this man (this one man in the singular) might know that he was God.  This small and simple statement tells us that the Lord did all these great works and made himself known just so that the brother of Jared would know that he was God (which naturally leads to faith, repentance, improvement, etc.).  That seems like a lot of time and work and effort went into making sure one guy knew the truth, especially when we remember that this is a man who is pretty confident that the Lord was in charge all along the way.

The message is that the Lord will show each one of us “all this” just so that we might know that he is God just like he did for the brother of Jared.  He says it himself (through the allegory of the olive trees) when “the Lord of the vineyard said again unto his servant: Look hither, and behold another branch also, which I have planted; behold that I have nourished it also, and it hath brought forth fruit.  And he said unto the servant: Look hither and behold the last.  Behold, this have I planted in a good spot of ground; and I have nourished it this long time… behold; I have nourished this tree like unto the others” (Jacob 5:24-25).  Each of us is a tree “like unto the others” meaning that we will be “nourished this long time” individually by the Lord of the vineyard.

Remember, the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; For behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him (D&C 18:10-11).  He is intimately invested in each of us, and has already offered his down payment.

I wonder, if we set out to make a list of all the “things” that the Lord has done for us as individuals to show that he is God, if it wouldn’t look very similar to the brother of Jared’s list; to the point where if we are honest with ourselves we might be able to recognize that the Lord has in fact “manifest himself unto us in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of our stumbling blocks” (1 Ne. 14:1).

And all this, that we might know that he is God.