< ALMA 19 >
v. 10 And Ammon said unto her: Blessed art thou because of they exceeding faith; I say unto thee, woman, there has not been such great faith among all the people of the Nephites.
Faith with risk
The queen believed purely on testimony. Even if I don't understand it, I believe Ammon. She didn't have scriptures, prophets, or covenants...no infrastructure to help her believe.
Believing Ammon carried real personal risk: She risked political instability, social backlash, and being wrong. Her belief happened against the grain, whereas Nephite beliefe happened insdie a believing society.
Her faith wasn't in Ammon, it was in the God that Ammon represents.
Faith with risk
The queen believed purely on testimony. Even if I don't understand it, I believe Ammon. She didn't have scriptures, prophets, or covenants...no infrastructure to help her believe.
Believing Ammon carried real personal risk: She risked political instability, social backlash, and being wrong. Her belief happened against the grain, whereas Nephite beliefe happened insdie a believing society.
Her faith wasn't in Ammon, it was in the God that Ammon represents.
v.17 ...and supposing that this opportunity, by making known unto the people what had happened among them, that by beholding this scene it would cause them to believe in the power of God, therefore she ran forth from house to house, making it known unto the people.
We can see the same things differently and experience the same event differently.
Abish saw the king and queen overcome by the Spirit and ran to get the neighbors, certain they would be converted by the sight. Instead, the people were "astonished" and interpreted the scene as a great evil that had fallen on the house.
This is important because you can't assume that what convinced you will convince others in the same way. You see this when people share a powerful religious experience online and you get mixed reactions. A deep insight in Sunday school that you feel might be dismissed by others.
You saw this with Christ. Same Savior, same miracles - some worshiped him, others wanted to kill him.
The difference is never just the evidence. The difference is the heart receiving it.
Where is our heart? Where are we right now?
It is important to recognize where we are, what state our heart is in when we have these experiences. Are we like Abish, heart open, maleable, soft, ready to receive? Or are we in a position where our heart is hard, unbelieving, ready to criticize.
The status of our heart and our mind color the way we see the same things. Maybe that's one way of interpreting Paul saying we look through a glass darkly. We color our view of the world and the experiences we have.
We can see the same things differently and experience the same event differently.
Abish saw the king and queen overcome by the Spirit and ran to get the neighbors, certain they would be converted by the sight. Instead, the people were "astonished" and interpreted the scene as a great evil that had fallen on the house.
This is important because you can't assume that what convinced you will convince others in the same way. You see this when people share a powerful religious experience online and you get mixed reactions. A deep insight in Sunday school that you feel might be dismissed by others.
You saw this with Christ. Same Savior, same miracles - some worshiped him, others wanted to kill him.
The difference is never just the evidence. The difference is the heart receiving it.
Where is our heart? Where are we right now?
It is important to recognize where we are, what state our heart is in when we have these experiences. Are we like Abish, heart open, maleable, soft, ready to receive? Or are we in a position where our heart is hard, unbelieving, ready to criticize.
The status of our heart and our mind color the way we see the same things. Maybe that's one way of interpreting Paul saying we look through a glass darkly. We color our view of the world and the experiences we have.
v. 23 Now we see that Ammon could not be slain, for the Lord had said unto Mosiah, his father: I will spare him, and it shall be unto him according to thy faith - therefore, Mosiah trusted him unto the Lord.
According to our faith:
27 ¶ And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
28 And when he was come into the house, the blind mencame to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
Faith doesn't limit God's power - it determines our capacity to receive it. God's power is constant. What varies is us.
Rain can fall equally on a rock, soil, or a cup - but only one receives it in a useful way. Faith is not leverage over God; it's openness.
Miracles don't violate agency, faith is the mechanism that keeps agency intact while allowing diving power to flow. God also isn't trying to impress us, he's trying to transform us. If miracles happened independent of faith, they would prove power, but not always produce transformation.
So what according your faith really means is "What you are willing to become determines what I can do with you"
Faith also aligns our will with God's will, that unlocks his power. Faith doesn't earn miracles, it makes room for them.
According to our faith:
27 ¶ And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
28 And when he was come into the house, the blind mencame to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
Faith doesn't limit God's power - it determines our capacity to receive it. God's power is constant. What varies is us.
Rain can fall equally on a rock, soil, or a cup - but only one receives it in a useful way. Faith is not leverage over God; it's openness.
Miracles don't violate agency, faith is the mechanism that keeps agency intact while allowing diving power to flow. God also isn't trying to impress us, he's trying to transform us. If miracles happened independent of faith, they would prove power, but not always produce transformation.
So what according your faith really means is "What you are willing to become determines what I can do with you"
Faith also aligns our will with God's will, that unlocks his power. Faith doesn't earn miracles, it makes room for them.
v. 33 ... and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing - that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil.
Just like Mosiah 5:2
No more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually is how you know that your heart is changed.
John 3:1-7 - Christ teaches Nicodemus that he needs a change of heart, he keeps the law, he's a Pharisee, but in vs. 7 Christ stresses that even the mighty Nicodemus needs to experience a mighty change of heart. God is after our will and our hearts.
How is my heart? Have you expereinced the mighty change? Do you want to be good? To have no more disposition to do evil. That you want to do good.
Matthew 5:6 - Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Mosiah 5:2 ... because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.
Just like Mosiah 5:2
No more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually is how you know that your heart is changed.
John 3:1-7 - Christ teaches Nicodemus that he needs a change of heart, he keeps the law, he's a Pharisee, but in vs. 7 Christ stresses that even the mighty Nicodemus needs to experience a mighty change of heart. God is after our will and our hearts.
How is my heart? Have you expereinced the mighty change? Do you want to be good? To have no more disposition to do evil. That you want to do good.
Matthew 5:6 - Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Mosiah 5:2 ... because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.