"between me and thee," Integrity Genesis 17:2

      INTEGRITY: honesty, probity, rectitude, honor, good character, principle(s), ethics, morals, righteousness, morality, virtue, decency, fairness, scrupulousness, sincerity, truthfulness, trustworthiness. Unity, unification, coherence, cohesion, togetherness, solidarity. soundness, strength, sturdiness, solidity, durability, stability, stoutness, toughness

"Between me and thee"

              I once met an older woman who talked of her life with bitter regret. She believed that by the time she reached a certain age, (she was over 75) she would have wisdom to share with those who would gather around as she recalled her life story.  She had hoped that others would see her as kind and humorous -revered. Instead- she believed – her aged body, lack of popularity and accumulated failures had earned her sarcastic disdain and disrespect. Her sarcasm tainted her. Although she was acclaimed, intelligent, witty, and insightful in her field, these talents did not bring her closer to a sense of spiritual wholeness. Integrity comes from what we give not what we gain. How we serve not how we are served. The good that we see in others not the good that we gain from others. 

        There is a misconception in life that if life is good enough to allow us the privilege of longevity we will automatically gain the respect of our peers. Integrity however, as Abraham learned, walks hand in hand with respect for life's higher power. Those who do not understand the reality, the love, and the power of God spend much of their life chasing after life's mirages of hope: youth, wealth, popularity, political power, intellect, beauty, etc. To befriend God is to learn the meaning of integrity.

       Abraham understood that in order to gain the respect, one had to give respect. Not only to God but also to family, to self, and to all those that serve you. Respect represents the beginning of friendship. Friendship can bring the sacredness of covenants. Covenants exist because two parties of integrity agree to uphold their promises toward one another.

       Who was Abraham that God should choose him to share the blessings of a covenant? Who am I that I too can enter into a covenant with my God and expect his blessings in my life? And how to I learn to repay God's blessings with sincere gratitude?  As I read these verses and considered Abram - at the age of 99- I wondered about my own relationship with God? I wonder about Abram and what he did to be called of God as one who would establish God's covenant with man. 

          Consider who Abram was and how he had proved himself to his God:

•  Obedient/ Humble - When told to leave the land of his inheritance he does 12:5
• Respectful/Grateful/ prayerful - Pious, He built altars for prayer  12:7 13:18 16:10-11
• Humble/ Trusting  Asks Sarai for help with the Egyptians 12:11 
• Peaceful/ family peace  – Abram did not want strife with Lot's servants 13:8
• Fair – gives Lot the good land and divides it 13: 11
• Honorable & dutiful – returns Lot from captivity 14: 16
• Sober – refused to take spoils of war or to make any situation that would take the credit from God, the possessor of heaven and earth 14: 23
• Truthful – gives God credit for battle victory 14: 22
• Believer/ faithful- he believed the Lord 15:6 17:3
• Ethics/ Moral Abram had Sarai deal with her servant in her own manner. 16:6

How God proves his love to Abraham: Gifts given to help him

• Visionary/ seer/ revelation  – The Lord appeared to Abram and he saw him in a vision talked with God.   12:7 15:1 15:13-16   17:3
• Protected/ Blessed - God will bless and curse those that bless or curse him 12:3
• Watched Over- God protects Abram and his family from the famine, his family, and other unseen threats. Tells him to leave/ Protects him from Egyptians 12:11
• Family/ Trusting - God promises that in Abram all families of the earth will be blessed. Will land unto Abram’s seed. Shows himself to Abram 12:2 13:15, 16

Other Qualities

• Family – Abram takes Sarai, and his brothers son Lot with him

• Aged -found his wisdom in the Lord’s guidance - 75 years old when asked to leave We are not told of his first 75 years. 12:4 

The amazing thing to consider about Abram, is that before his covenant with God 17:4 , he had almost everything that man could ever want: power, wealth,success, fame,  a wife, (two), land, political respect, security, servants, etc. He lived by his faith. But still he was missing something eternal -something bigger than life itself. This infinite part of Abraham's life, and our own life, can be found when we understand the power of integrity as they pertain to sacred covenants.  When we partake of the blessings of God's covenants: baptismal,  marriage, or others  we find eternal perspective. We begin to understand the shortness of our time, the scale of our existence, and the greatness of God's love and glory. 

No matter the success that life brings, man will always need to remember there exists a higher power. Protection, love, wholeness, and perspective are promised to those who learn that this power of God's love exists to bind us with our God.  It is the power that we call integrity and a power God said is "between me and thee." 

Genesis 9:2 Fear and Dread and Dominion

Near my mother's home is a tidal creek that bustles with nature: birds, butterflies, reptiles, insects and fiddler crabs. Fiddler crabs scurry across her yard and through her flowerbeds. They march sideways across her porch and hide under her garage door. Their homes are wholes dug into the mud that lines the sides of her drainage ditch. As I walk around her yard, I like to try to catch them unaware. 
   I never do. When I walk near the edge of the ditch they pop into their wholes. If i walk slowly toward the canal I see them dance across the dock. I hear their miniature crab feet rustle across leaves. If I'm quick enough I might surprise two of them waltzing on the dock, as if it were a stage.

  If I sit very still along the bank of the side creek they will come half way out of their whole, and with their largest claw in the air they will wave it back and forth, opening and closing their pinchers. Soon a chorus of claws will perform in unison, but only if I sit very still. If I move they stop, scurry and hide. As small as they are they know of my presence and they act in fear. Their "dread" of me causes them to always use caution and never trust mankind. 
   Mankind has lost its chance to coexist in peace with the animal kingdom. In studying and pondering Genesis I was made aware of a few thoughts concerning man's relationship to the animal kingdom.

Prior to the flood: 

•  Genesis 1:28 Both man and animal ate herb for meat.  

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there islife, I have given every green herb for  meat: and it was so. 

• Man had dominion over the animals. Genesis 1:28 This meant he was in charge of life on the earth. He was called to know and care for the earth. 
• The garden still existed. I have to believe that man and beast had memory of its great blessings to them. 
• Man's evil imagination escalated his actions to violence.   Prior to the flood there is no reference to animals need to fear man. But in fact it does say that God's hope had been in man's ability to learn to love one another and all of the earth and follow "his way."        Genesis 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all ^aflesh had corrupted his ^bway upon the earth.  His way was not the way we now know. A few things changed after the flood. 

After the flood: 

• Noah builds an altar and petitions God for a promise that this will never happen again. 
• God covenants with Noah AND every living beast upon the earth, that he will never again flood the earth. 
• God changes the nature of the relationship of man to the animals. No longer does man   have dominion over the animals but he also has lost his "right" to associate peaceably with them. God places in the animals a fear and a dread. Why? 
• I believe it was a way to try to protect the animals from man's unrighteous dominion. 

The corruption that man brought to the earth with his selfish and vain imaginations corrupted the earth. Did it also corrupt the animals? When Noah found grace with God and became one of only eight humans to survive the flood, did  that animals that came to Noah also find God's grace? The second time around God realized that the animals would need a way to protect themselves if man ever chose to exercise "unrighteous dominion" again. 

After the flood 

• dietary laws change. The definition of "meat" changes see Geneses 1:29-30 Genesis 9:3, 4
• Animals have the ability to protect and defend themselves from man and from one another. (this is to say that God's original plan might have "hoped" that this would not be needed." 
• Man looses the wisdom and insight of animals intelligence. We have to resort to study and science to learn from the animals. Were they once able to help us and communicate with us?

It is a daunting thought to consider what the flood took from us? As I watch the beauty and intelligence that exists within the animal kingdom, I am in awe of the harmony that binds them socially, emotionally, and intellectually. Did man once have the ability to share in this harmony? Man seems to believe that we are the more intelligent of all of God's creatures. Who became the biggest loser when the bridge of communication between man and animal changed? 

What was lost? What was gained? What does dominion bring if it is accompanied with unrighteousness? Why did God believe he had to delineate what meat could be eaten? Genesis 9:4  But flesh with the life thereof, which is the ^cblood thereof, shall ye not eat. Was it because of man's violence and his evil imaginations? 

All of this came because God gave man the power to have dominion. He never gave him the power to control another's life. Dominion? What does it mean to you? Why did man misinterpret it to the point that God felt the need to protect the animals by placing a "fear and dread" within them? 

What exactly can the animals teach us? 

Another Sign Helaman 9:25-41

Helaman 9:25-41

I was driving my GuitarGuy to school the other morning

when I saw the back side of a stop sign. It appeared that the street I was crossing had a stop sign that an oncoming car was ignoring. Out of precaution I yielded to her as she never hesitated. After I crossed through the intersection I saw my mistake. The sign was not facing her direction of traffic but yet a third angle of traffic. It was good that I had yielded.

This made me think of signs and their purposes. Signs give directions by instructing us what to do. A stop sign is a good example. Signs also inform us of important information ,such as a railroad sign that lets us know the train crosses here. Signs give warning of

what is to come.

So the sign of a whistle blowing or a car honking is to warn us of impending danger. Signs also act as locators along our pathways. On the highway mile-marker signs line the interstate to let you know where you are in relation to the beginning or the end of the road. Lastly signs testify of truths. Mostly. There can be errant signs designed to deceive, but most signs give you the truth. If you see an exit sign while driving, you know that you will be able to leave the interstate.

It is important that we read and comprehend the signs we see correctly. Our lives could depend upon it. In my case, if I had not questioned who the stop sign was meant for, if I had assumed that the other car was responsible for stopping, then I could have been seriously injured or killed.

Signs are meant to protect us and to give direction to the destination of our choice.

Nephi wanted to help the people believe that all he said was true. He wanted them to believe on faith alone. But faith was not enough. They needed to connect their faith to something tangible. They needed a sign. So he says to them. "I will show you another sign". I will give you another truth.

When we receive the signs as we drive down the highway, it is up to us to use the signs (of truth) to help us get to our destination. Sometimes when I am driving long distances I might see a sign that says "Atlanta 126 miles". I drive a little longer and forget just how far I have to drive and I forget where I am in relation to Atlanta. So I search for another sign that will tell me again where I am on my journey to Atlanta. These signs give distances of truths. The highway department measures with accuracy and I can feel assured that the distances they post are true. I have to have faith that they know what they are doing. I have to believe them.

So it is with God and the signs he gives us. He gives us "road" signs in our lives that testify of his love for us. He helps us to know that he is watching over us and we are traveling on the correct road, a road that will lead us home to him. Like when we travel, we have to combine our faith and belief in the truth of the signs to help us make good decisions, to help us know who and what to believe.

This passage of scripture is not so much about Nephi showing these non-believers who knows more, as it is about giving the believers yet "another sign" to help strengthen their testimony. Many of these people embarked on their journey of belief when they saw Nephi praying in his garden outside of the city. Their curiosity peeked, they asked questions, they measured his words against their actions, and they mocked him. But when the signs came, when the truth came, they began to listen.

I too can pay attention to the "road" signs of my life. God has given me many different signs that help me understand who I am, where I am destined, how I should arrive there, and what I am to do. Signs of spiritual truths are not too much unlike the physical road signs. They too instruct, warn, locate, and inform. We simply have to learn how to read the signs that God's spirit sends our way.

Words and Phrases

vs 25 another sign - we have many different kinds of signs and many different signs to help us find our way through our life journey. If we miss a sign, or misread a sign, it may prove eternally costly. God gives us many signs to help build our confidence in our ability to choose correctly. Think of how many signs you need to read to help you feel secure that you are traveling in the correct direction.

vs 31 ye shall examine- It is important to examine the signs that are given. Just as I misread the back side of the stop sign, so can we misread or misinterpret the signs that we receive or notice. Closer examination will reveal the truth and assure a positive outcome.

vs 33 which has come upon your face - many signs of our lives are found in the faces of those we hold dear. Signs of joy.. signs of happiness, or sadness. signs of contentment and acceptance. guilt, etc.

vs 36 by the power of God - signs from heaven come to us by the power of God. He alone can orchestrate our lives and help us make good decisions. He can help us choose by giving us good signs of truth to guide us. By his power are we saved because we learn to listen to and hearken to the signs of warning, information, instruction, and location while we live our lives.

vs 36 an honest man - Honest men give honest signs. The DOT gives honest distances, and true signs. Honest men do not give signs that are deceptive or corrupt. Honest men are sent from God.

vs 38 brought to prove - I watched the Count of Monte Cristo the other night. In this great movie a man is wrongfully imprisoned for 16 years. While in prison he carves into the walls of his dungeon cell. "God will grant me justice." In the end all truth will be "brought to prove" and men shall have a righteous judgement of God.

vs 39 they had been converted - Why were these 5 converted. Maybe it's because they lived on both sides of the truth. The side where they were casting the blame and the side where they were being blamed. Their perspective changed and they saw how valuable the truth is. They saw the reasoning behind Nephi's words and felt the strength of truth and it's power to change lives.

vs 39 and there were some - a few believed that Nephi was a prophet. They based this on their experience with them.

vs 41 know of all things - When we use the truth of the signs that God gives us we eventually are able to build upon the truth of these signs and receive a larger perspective of life. When you travel and you rely on the road signs to tell you where you are going, and how to get there, eventually in your mind you are able to step outside of your car and see a larger overall picture of your journey. When I travel by plane I enjoy the window seat that gives me the perspective of large cities and the highways that feed into them from other cities. I have a perspective different from when I drive the car.