Come Follow Me 1: Moses 1; Abraham 3

Come Follow Me Lesson 1: Moses 1; Abraham 3

Come Follow Me 1 Teacher's Manuel

Who am I?

Why am I here?

Who does God want me to become?

How can the answers to these questions influence our daily actions?

Film narrated by Elder Holland:

Satan will always be defeated by the God of Glory.
God has set bounds and limits to the opposing powers of darkness.
Fear ye not, the Lord shall fight for you.

Like Moses, I do not have to be deceived by Satan’s counterfeits. I have experienced the power and the gift of the Holy Ghost in my life, and the Spirit of the Lord testifies to me the things that are true.

Moses knew that he himself was God’s son and that He had been given a body to house his spirit. He knew that Satan did not have that. (See Moses 1:13) Moses had met God and been given of His Spirit and He asked Satan to leave and deceive him not. He trusted in God.

I will not cease to call upon God, I have other things to inquire of him: for his glory has been upon me, wherefore I can judge between him and thee. Depart hence, Satan. (vs 18)

Moses continued to pray for help, inspiration, and guidance from God. So can I.

Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory. (vs 20)

Moses held fast to his convictions and was determined to only follow the One True God. I can do that too.

We can command Satan, in the name of Jesus Christ, to leave us. (see vs 21)

Moses passed a frightening test, and continued to call upon God and received new strength from Him. And God had confidence in Moses and gave him greater responsibilities. Am I allowing God to have confidence in me? Am I allowing God to prevail in my life?

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught this about Moses’s experience in Moses 1: “Moses’ message to you today is: Don’t let your guard down. Don’t assume that a great revelation, some marvelous, illuminating moment, the opening of an inspired path, is the end of it. … Once there has been illumination, beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now. Don’t give up when the pressure mounts. Certainly don’t give in to that being who is bent on the destruction of your happiness. Face your doubts. Master your fears. ‘Cast not away therefore your confidence’ [Hebrews 10:35]. Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you” (“Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence,” Ensign, Mar. 2000, 7, 9).

How is your life an opportunity to prove your faithfulness to God’s commands?

NOTES from Individual and Family Manuel:

The Bible starts with “In the Beginning”. It tells about the creation of this world. Abraham and Moses, let us know that we lived with our Heavenly Father before this earth’s beginning.

Who is God? He is our Father.

Who are we? We are His children. (See Moses 1:4; Abraham 3:12)

What is God’s work, and what is our place in it? (See Moses 1:39)

What is our work? FIND the scripture.

What truths does the book of Moses teach us? God created the earth, the heavens, all things by the word of His power, through His Only Begotten who is full of truth and grace.

We are children of God, and we are created in His image. (See Moses 1:6)

How can it help us to make a plan on how we will respond when we encounter temptation?

Why is prayer an important part of your personal plan to remain on the covenant path?

What are some of your common temptations? How have you avoided them and said “No” to Satan?

“When I am tempted to ________________________ , I will______________________________ .”

How did Jesus respond when Satan tempted Him? (See Matt 4:1-11)

I answered this in my blog, St Matthew 4 Reflections: https://wordpress.com/post/onesmallvoicescripturereview.wordpress.com/15

(Included at end of Lesson)

We need to build on the sure foundation of Faith in Jesus Christ. He is our Rock. (See Helaman 5:12)

Like Abraham and Jesus Christ many others were foreordained for specific purposes. We know that Esther was saved “for such a time as this”, and was instrumental in saving all the Jews in the kingdom. Our patriarchal blessings may help us understand things that we have been foreordained to do. Members and non members alike, may have been foreordained to accomplish specific things in furthering the Lord’s work.

Father Abraham learned about the order of the universe. That must have been exciting. We know that the sun governs our solar system. It is interesting to know there are other star by which this order is governed, too.

Kolob is near unto God, and it’s time is 1000 years as one day.

Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest. (Abraham 3:9)

Abraham, talked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another; and he told me of the works which his hands had made; (vs 11)

My son, my son (and his hand was stretched out), behold I will show you all these. And he put his hand upon mine eyes, and I saw those things which his hands had made, which were many; and they multiplied before mine eyes, and I could not see the end thereof. (vs 12)

I will multiply thee, and thy seed after thee, like unto these; and if thou canst count the number of sands, so shall be the number of thy seeds. (vs14)

Abraham is the Father of many nations in mortality and throughout eternity.

If two things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them; (vs 16)

there is nothing that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart to do but what he will do it. (vs 17)

also, if there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal. (vs 18)

We are the offspring of God the Father, and we are sons and daughters of the Eternal God. We have and we will exist forever.

These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all. (vs 19)

We know that the glory of God is intelligence, or in other words light and truth. Why is Jesus the most intelligent of all God’s children? Most obedient.

I dwell in the midst of them all; I now, therefore, have come down unto thee to declare unto thee the works which my hands have made, wherein my wisdom excelleth them all, for I rule in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, in all wisdom and prudence, over all the intelligences thine eyes have seen from the beginning; I came down in the beginning in the midst of all the intelligences thou hast seen. (vs 21)

Jesus has always been our Savior and led us to more light..always.

Read about our Father’s Plan of Happiness and Salvation for His children in Abraham 3:22-27.

We kept our first estate. If we let God prevail in our lives, if we are intelligent enough to be obedient, we can have glory added upon our heads forever and ever.

From My Wordpress Blog:

Jesus was Led by the Spirit to Be with God

Jesus was never led by the Spirit to be tempted of the devil; that is not how the Spirit works. Rather, he was led by the Spirit to be with God. And He spent much time, even 40 days, fasting and praying and being taught by His Father. But when Jesus’s fast came to a close, he was hungry, and the devil showed up, ready to tempt Him.

I. Satan first tempted Jesus by mocking Him, trying to get Him to prove His divine Sonship. This is totally out of character with Diety.

1a. The devil temped Jesus with food. The devil likewise appeals to our appetites in tempting us.

1b. Jesus appealed to the scriptures to answer Satan. “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4).

II. Then Jesus was carried by the Spirit into the Holy City and set on the pinnacle of the temple. Again the devil mocked Him, trying to get Him to prove His divine Sonship.

2a. Satan tempted Jesus with the abuse of power, saying that if Jesus threw Himself down from the temple, God would send His angels to protect Him. The devil likewise appeals to our desires for power.

2b. Jesus again appealed to the scriptures to answer Satan. “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matt 4:7).

III. The Spirit then took Jesus into an exceeding high mountain and showed to him all of the kingdoms of the world and the glory associated with them.

3a. The devil tempted Jesus with riches, fame, and glory if Jesus would bow down and worship him.

3b. Again, Jesus turned to the scriptures. He commanded Satan to leave Him as well. ‘Then saith Jesus unto him, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”’ (Matt 4:10).

The devil left, and angels came and ministered to Jesus.

Further thoughts:

We can learn from Jesus that there is power in the word of God. If we want to withstand the temptations of the devil, we need to be well-versed in the word of God, so that we can both recognize good from evil and have the ability to choose only the good no matter how persuasive the presentation is from Satan or those who would have us follow him.

Also, once we have overcome a present struggle with the adversary, showing ourselves true to God, the Lord will bless us with added light and strength.

Jesus’s fast and time spent in prayer prepared Him for His ministry.

Jesus heard that John the Baptist was cast into prison. From that time forth, Jesus began to preach repentance and preparation for the kingdom of heaven.

When Jesus called Simon Peter and Andrew to follow Him and be fishers of men, they both straightway left their nets and followed Jesus. Likewise, when Jesus called James and John, the sons of Zebedee, they immediately left their father and followed Jesus.

Jesus taught in Galilee and healed the people of all manner of diseases. His fame spread throughout Syria. Many brought their sick to Him and He healed them all. People followed Jesus from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, from beyond Jordan, and from Syria as well.

More thoughts:

Jesus has called all of us to “Come, Follow Me.” Do we listen promptly and put those less important things to the side so that we can do His will presently? Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can all be healed through faith in Him, especially from the effects of our own sins. He offers us both forgiveness and salvation. Are we flocking to Him in our own country and in all the surrounding countries? If we believe in Him, are we spreading the good news so that others can put their trust in Him and be believing too? If we have felt His healing power, shouldn’t we want others to know and feel it too? Let’s hear His call, “Come, Follow Me.”