"For My Thoughts Are Not Your Thoughts"

Isaiah 55 is a great chapter.  In this chapter we learn that our thoughts are not the Lord's thoughts.  His ways are higher than our ways.  This is such a comforting thought to me.  To me this means that I have someone to turn to to help me make decisions and to find out what is best for me and my family.  I do not see the whole picture, but the Lord does and He will direct me.  I will never be disappointed by relying on the Lord.

So how can we turn our ways into the Lord's ways?  We can do this by following His commandments.  We find out what the Lord's ways are through revelation.  All the things that have been revealed by the scriptures and the prophets are the things that the Lord would have us do to draw closer to Him.  We can also seek personal revelation by seeking out answers to our questions and praying to receive answers.  When we do what the Lord would have us do, we draw closer to Him and our ways eventually become His ways.

One example I can think of in which the Lord's way is clearly higher than man's way is waiting to have intimate relations with our significant other until after marriage.  Man's way, or the world's way, would be to have sex whenever and with whomever feels good at the time.  However, more often than not this only brings heartache.  It also casts aside the sacredness of procreation as the world focuses on the pleasure aspect and see pregnancy as an inconvenience.  It also increases the chance of pregnancy in an unideal situation.  The Lord's way, sex after marriage, causes a lot less heartache and the circumstance of children being brought into a loving home.  It really is higher than the ways of the world.

Isaiah and Jesus Christ

Isaiah talks about Christ a lot.  In the following scriptures we find out a lot about Christ:

• Isaiah 40:10–31
• Isaiah 41:1–4, 10–14
• Isaiah 42:9–16
• Isaiah 43:1–7, 10–15, 22–25
• Isaiah 44:6–8; 21–24
• Isaiah 45: 20–25
• Isaiah 46:3–9

1. God- Jesus Christ is the God of the Old Testament.  In the LDS faith we believe in the Godhead.  We believe that God our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ our Redeemer, and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings.  We know God and Jesus Christ have separate bodies of flesh and blood and that the Holy Ghost is a separate spirit.  There are a lot of times in these scriptures where Christ says that He is God and there is none other.  This may seem to contradict the Godhead theory.  We know that all three entities of the Godhead are one in purpose.  This would explain why it says that in these scriptures and the other places where it says that God and Christ are one.

2. Redeemer- Jesus Christ is our Redeemer.  Christ had not been born at the time of Isaiah so Isaiah prophesies about the future coming of the Lord and the Atonement.  Christ suffered and died for us.  He suffered all of our pains, sicknesses, sadness, etc. while He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He later died on the cross.  He did all of this so that He could pay the price for our sins that we would never be able to pay.  He also did it so that we had someone to turn to who truly knew the struggles we were going through.  Christ redeemed us all.

3. Creator- Christ created the earth.  He did the physical work of creating all that we know and love about the earth that we live on.  He created the sun and moon, the mountains and waters, land and animals.  He created us to be dominion over the earth.  He created us in the likeness of God because we have the potential to be like Him.

These are the 3 main names the Lord is called by.  Of course, there are many others throughout the scriptures.  He is our Savior.  He died for us.  He knows us and He loves us.

Isaiah

I really like chapter 6 of Isaiah.  I think we can all relate to this chapter in some way.  At the beginning of the chapter, Isaiah feels unworthy to be standing in the midst of the angels and the Lord.  He really felt the weight of his sins and feels unnerved by it (Isaiah 6:5).  But it wasn't long before those feelings were changed.  An angel came down up Isaiah and placed a live coal upon his mouth (pictured above) and all of his sins were forgiven (6:6-7).  After Isaiah knew his sins were forgiven he had more confidence in standing before the Lord.  This can be concluded when the Lord asks who he can send to teach the people and Isaiah volunteers to do the work (6:8).

There is another example of this found in the Book of Mormon.  Alma the Younger spent a lot of time bringing people away from the Church.  It got to the point where he was struck dumb by an angel to stop him.  During this time, Alma remembered all of his sins and he was tormented by them (Alma 36:12-14).  He could not stand the thought of going before the Lord (36:15).  But he found hope.  He remembered what his father had taught him about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and he asked forgiveness of the Lord (36:17-18).  And the torment was washed away (36:19).  He was filled with joy and longed to be in the presence of God (36:20-22).

Most of the time I feel as though I am not worthy to stand before God.  I am often critical of others and do not treat them the way I should.  I am often complacent and do not do all that I should.  I get angered and lash out at my husband and kids.  I could go on for days.  All of these things make me feel as though I could never be able to look my God in the eye.  But those are the times that I call upon the power of the Atonement and feel clean again.  I feel the love that God has for me and I feel the strength to do a little better in helping others feel that love.  The Atonement is real.  God knows and loves us and wants us to use the power of the Atonement to make it back to Him.

Ecclesiastes

The book of Ecclesiastes consists of "reflections on some of the deepest problems of life, as they present themselves to the thoughtful observer."
The author describes himself as "son of David, king of Jerusalem."
Ecclesiastes is written from the point of view of the world.
Ecclesiastes should not be construed as "theological pronouncements on the condition of the soul."
(All from the Bible Dictionary under Ecclesiastes.)

The author of Ecclesiastes turned to many different things to find happiness: alcohol (2:3), he built houses (2:4), gardens (2:5), money (2:8), pleasure (2:1), etc.  None of these worldly things brought him happiness.

In Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 we read that there is a time and a season for all things.  As humans, we can only learn so many things at one time.  It has to come line upon line, precept upon precept.  We cannot try to achieve all things all at once.  If we push ourselves faster than we are able, we will burn out and fail.  If someone is pushed to accept the Gospel before they are ready, it could put a bad taste in their mouth and turn them off the Church for the rest of their lives.  We must do the best we can right now so we can grow.

In 4:9-12 it talks about how two is better than one.  They can help each other and lift one another when the other one falls.  I am better married than I am alone.  It is important for me to strengthen my marriage and watch out for my husband as he watches out for me.  I will be better at putting his needs before mine, taking care of him, and lifting him when he is down.  5:1 talks about being more ready to hear.  I need to be better at listening to the guidance the Spirit gives me to do God's will.  I will be better at finding ways to apply the scriptures to my life so I will be more in tune with the Spirit.

12:7, 13-14

From verse 7, we learn that when we die our spirits return to the presence of God.  The "whole duty of man" is to fear God (in this case, to reverence Him) and to keep His commandments.