Planning and Preparation | 1 Nephi 13:12-15

One of the things I love most about Heavenly Father is that He is the perfect preparer and planner—maybe it is because I could use a lot of help in that department. His plan is perfect in every way and is carried out in complete love for His children. His preparation and planning started long before this earth was created and continues on throughout this mortal life. Nothing is ever left to chance even though He only has mortal men and women to carry forth His work. Preparations are made long before an event occurs. Opportunities are extended to His children to help them grow and to help move His work forward, and contingency plans are put into place to allow for the free agency of His children.

There is testimony of this all around and throughout the history of mankind. I especially like this example of the formation of this nation as Heavenly Father was preparing for the restoration of His precious gospel. Columbus may not have been the earliest explorer to discover the new world, but he receive notoriety for the discovery because he was backed by the Spanish government. This government sanctioned discovery led to the mass colonization of the new world by competing nations. There's no question that he was influenced by the Spirit of God.

Even though the world was in apostasy, Heavenly Father pulled good men and women from among the nations of the Gentiles to create a new nation that would be prepared for the restoration of the gospel. Many of my own ancestors were among those that fled to the new world to avoid religious persecution.

I testify that God is in the details of our lives, and has a plan for each of us individually. He is the Master Craftsman, the Master Planner, the Master Organizer. This plan is specially crafted by a loving Heavenly Father who knows what is needed to bring out our fullest potential.

Take time to really dig in and understand the scriptures. This may include reviewing biblical stories, studying historical events, or reading related family history stories. These may seem like tangents but they will bring deeper meaning and an added measure of the Spirit. For example, now would be a good time to brush up on Columbus and the early history of America or find family histories of early settlers.

Clean | 1 Nephi 12:11

I can become clean through Christ but only if I have faith and trust in His Atonement and that His grace is sufficient for me.

Prophecy Fulfilled | 1 Nephi 12:4-6, 11-18

Wow, Lehi's dream was literally fulfilled in many ways through his descendants. The mist of darkness really did come and those that were not prepared were physically destroyed; whereas, the rest were brought out of darkness and were lead to Christ where He physically ministered to them. They enjoyed the fruit of the tree for hundreds of years but eventually pride crept back in and destroyed them just like in the dream where some were ashamed after partaking of the fruit.

Witness of Christ | 1 Nephi 11:7

Nephi exercised faith and then received a sign in which he became a special witness of Christ. He saw Jesus Christ in a vision because Christ and the Atonement are the central figure and event in the plan of salvation and in the vision of the tree of life.

I can receive my own witness through the Holy Ghost that Christ lives and loves me by exercising faith in Him and His saving power.

Revelation Equation | 1 Nephi 11:1

I keep thinking more about the "revelation equation" from my last post and I have come up with some refinements to it. First, I went back and reread what Nephi said about his father, "I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father, concerning the things which he saw in a vision, and also the things which he spake by the power of the Holy Ghost, which power he received by faith on the Son of God." He only mentions faith so here is the equation for Lehi:

R = (HG)(F)

Then, Nephi talks about himself desiring and seeking after the same revelation. However, he breaks it down and clarifies it even more in 1 Nephi 11:1 when he says, "I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart."

Desire (D), believing (B), and pondering or seeking (S)

Or,

R = (HG)(B(D + S))

So, by solving the two equations, I get:

(HG)(F) = (HG)(B(D + S))
(HG)(F) = (HG)(B(D + S))

F = B (D + S)

Faith is more than just a belief in Christ. It is taking action on that belief or in this case Nephi desired and pondered upon the things which his father had revealed to him. The new equation still passes the faith without works proof and Alma's experiment.

If I follow Nephi's example by desiring to have a personal knowledge, believing that Christ will reveal His truth, and seeking by reading and pondering the word of God then the Lord will witness of the truth of what the prophets and other leaders are teaching by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Pattern of Revelation | 1 Nephi 10:17-19

Lehi spake by the power of the Holy Ghost because he had faith in Christ. Nephi also saw and learned the interpretation on the vision by the Holy Ghost because he desired it and sought after it diligently. This pattern of gaining knowledge and revelation (mysteries of God) is an eternal principle available to all, no matter what time period, for God is the same throughout all time.

The first thing to come to mind when reading about this pattern of revelation is a math equation. I know what you're thinking, but humor me—my mind thrives on logic. So, the variables are revelation (R), the Holy Ghost (HG), desire (D), seek (S), and faith (F). R and HG are God-given; whereas, D, S, and F are determined by the individual seeking revelation. HG is a constant and is absolutely necessary in achieving any results. D is the preparation or motivating factor and is often a gift from God. S is the action or work involved in receiving revelation. F is the focus of revelation and must be centered on Christ.

Here it is:

R = (HG)(D + S + F)

However, there is a problem because James said, "Faith without works is dead." Mathematically, you could show this relationship with something like this:

(F)(0) = 0

The inverse would also be true, works without faith is dead:

(0)(S) = 0

So, how about this:

R = (HG)(D + (F)(S))

What about D—should it also be multiplied with F and S? Alma said, "Experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe." So, D needs to remain independent.

R = (HG)(0.00001 + (0)(0))

Even if desire is minuscule, it still would produce a small amount of revelation and enough to feed back into faith and desire to enlarge the next production of revelation.

The point of this exercise is the components and their relationships with each other and the end results. The "revelation equation" is not quite the perfect analogy, it has some flaws:

1.	The D, S, and F components of the equation are not distinct and separate but overlap each other.
2.	It would be very hard to come up with exact quantitative values and proportions for the components.
3.	The equation over simplifies the relationship between the Holy Ghost and my part. No amount of desire, seeking and faith can directly produce revelation—it is purely a gift from God, given through the Spirit.

The first two could potentially be overcome with more analysis and a lifelong study of the scriptures, but the last flaw would be a bit harder to overcome. A light switch or dimmer switch could be a more appropriate analogy to show the relationship between my efforts and the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost—or electricity—and a light bulb is always there ready to enlighten but I have to allow it to enlighten my mind by turning on the switch. Elder Bednar uses this analogy and the ever increasing light of a sunrise to illustrate this in his talk "The Spirit of Revelation."

Redeemer of the World | 1 Nephi 10:4-6

Christ is the focal point of the gospel. All of the prophets before and after Christ's coming testified of His redemption of the world—if not spoken of directly, then symbolically. This is the main purpose of the Book of Mormon: to testify of Jesus Christ and His role in the plan of salvation—the Atonement.

I testify that Christ lives and He is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. He is full of compassion and mercy towards all mankind, both the sinner and the saint. He bears the burdens of all who come unto Him, including the weak and downtrodden of His people.

Promised Land | 1 Nephi 10:2-3

Whenever a people are given a promised land from the Lord, it comes with a blessing and cursing. The Lord blesses his people with freedom and abundance when the more part of the people are righteous, but they are cursed and brought into bondage when the more part of the people are wicked. This is the law of consequences—righteousness brings peace and happiness and wickedness brings unrest and unhappiness. It applies both physically and spiritually. It applies both as a society and as individuals. It does not mean everything will go my way and I will not have trials and afflictions, but the Lord will be in my life so He can bless me and help me through the tough times.

God Is Over All | 1 Nephi 9:2-6

We have a very special record with Nephi's thoughts and actions, his strengths and weaknesses, his joy and pain because he followed a personal commandment given to him to create a spiritually focused record even though he didn't know why he was making it. I can follow his example by following God's commandments without having to know why. I don't need to have the big picture, it is sufficient to know that God knows all things and has all power to accomplish all His work.