Hey everyone, welcome back.

This is week 47 of Creative Come Follow Me for the New Testament, and

this week we get to go into Peter.

I don't know about you, but I've missed Peter.

I loved him in the Gospels, and I feel like you got just a taste of Peter in

Acts, and now we get to get Peter's mind.

What I really liked this week, you guys, is I feel like...

You're going to see the full arc of this incredible apostle, you know, where we

loved him in the gospels for his, you know, impetuousness and his desire to

continually just push the boundaries of faith and see what he could do.

You almost see a fuller version of Peter in these epistles.

Because this is at the end of Peter's lifetime.

Most people think this is written from Rome.

He'll eventually be executed by Nero, and this is probably

towards the very end of his life.

And it's almost like, well, this week I was, as I was studying for this, these

chapters, I happened upon James E.

Faust's first talk that he gave when he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve.

If I remember right, it was like in 1979.

And then I read his last, and I just, He's the same man.

He has the same heart and a similar sound other than the fact that he's just got

this Arc of testimony in the decades between the two and I just that's what

you're gonna hear this week you guys you're gonna hear Testimony that comes

from the long haul, you know in the Gospels we see Peter's testimony Increased

rapidly through incredible experiences, you know, seeing a boat full of fish

or seeing Jairus's daughter Raised from the dead or seeing himself be able to

walk on water even just a few steps.

You see these moments of lightning rod faith that grow.

What we see, I think, in the epistles is the other side of faith, the

faith that grows line upon line and over the course of lots of time.

In fact, I think what endeared me the most to Peter this week as I

was studying his words is He doesn't take you on a trip down memory lane.

He's going to tell us in the verses that he's writing all this down so that he

can stir up our hearts to remembrance.

But he's not just trying to stir up our hearts to remember the miracles that

happened during the Savior's ministry.

I felt like he was trying to stir up my heart to remember that I can have

a relationship with the Savior now.

Peter's not looking back on his life experience when

the Savior was On the earth.

He's saying I have a relationship with the Savior.

Now.

I know him today.

I just there was something about that that gripped me.

It was, um, he has a testimony of the living Christ, not just the

Christ who lived on the earth, but the one who still lives.

And that's what he's inviting us to grab hold of.

He wants us to one of his miracles.

Rest on those miracle moments that helped build his faith just like he does I'm sure

but he doesn't want us to stay there he wants us to progress and Become like the

Savior and for that to happen You need time and you need line upon line learning

and Peter is supposed to help for that.

He's spent his entire lifetime teaching and preaching and calling

hearts towards Jesus and I just think You're going to love it.

Like, it's poignant.

It feels powerful to me.

After seeing, you know, Elder Ballard passed recently and hearing his

witness, it's going to feel like that.

It's going to feel like this pull from someone who's given

their entire life to this great cause to invite you to join him.

Like, I just found myself rallied by the words of Peter, and I think you will too.

Trust me.

You're going to love it.

Grab your scriptures.

Grab your notes, you guys.

It is time to get started.

What makes Peter's writings very different than the writings of Paul or

James or anybody else we're going to read is that he is the senior apostle.

He is the chief of all these apostles.

He is someone who holds all the keys and therefore has authority.

And part of what he wants to do is to bring the saints together.

They're scattered.

Remember, this is more when the church is established.

Things are humming and he's concerned for the welfare of the saints.

All in that area, no matter where they're from, because they're all dealing with

different persecutions and hostilities.

The Romans are coming after them.

There's a lot of rumors and apostasy.

And so he's trying to pull people close.

And the way he does that is the exact same way President Nelson does it.

And his, his message is one of, come unto Christ.

When we remember that we have this common thread between us, no matter

what my trials are or no matter what circumstances I'm in, what brings me,

what, what links me to you and to every other member in the church is that we

all need the grace of Jesus Christ.

And so he tries to get us to remember that label.

It's almost as if these saints are hearing labels in their circumstances.

And what the president of the church is trying to say is

Don't let the world label you.

Remember the real labels that matter.

You are a child of God, you're a child of the covenant, you're

a disciple of Jesus Christ.

It's exactly what President Nelson teaches today.

It's the same message.

That's what, those labels are what pull us in.

And you'll kind of get that feel from Peter in these first few verses.

So it says, Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered.

This is not Well, I think strangers is in two ways.

One, it means they don't know each other, they're not each other's social

circles, but what can bring them together is their belief in Christ.

I also think it's a subtle reminder.

That this life is temporary, you know, they are, they are travelers here and

they know that because they've made covenants and they've made promises

and they know a little bit more about how this world is fleeting.

And so I think Peter's trying to help them see that and find solidarity in it.

Then he encourages them to see themselves.

As elect chosen of God.

That's what you see in two elect according to the foreknowledge of God

the Father, through sanctification of the spirit, unto obedience and

sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Grace beyond you and peace be multiplied.

I think what's powerful to me about this throughout these chapters.

is that Peter has first hand experience and witness of this blood being sprinkled.

Now, he was in the garden.

I don't know how much he was able to see, but he certainly saw the Savior after.

Um, I, you know, when he, when he's about to be dragged off, and he's seen the

weight of what he endured in Gethsemane.

He sees him through the trial.

He sees, he sees all of this first hand, and He's his dearest friend, right?

So when Peter talks to you and me about the blood of the Savior being

something that unites us, I feel like that's his way of saying, like,

don't, don't let it go to waste.

Remember what was offered.

It makes it even more promising when you read a little further.

And three, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto

a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an

inheritance incorruptible and undefiled.

That fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.

That's the gift, right?

The lively hope is the gift that comes from the Savior.

When we really appreciate His offering, we are filled with hope.

What I thought was fun this time as I was studying is this idea

of an incorruptible Inheritance.

Sometimes, I think maybe it's just my mortal construct.

It's hard for me to set down this idea of an inheritance being a thing or stuff or

wealth or a mansion in heaven or whatever.

And really what came out of this study for me was that the inheritance is actually

the change that happens within me.

It's the fact that I become like him in this process of refinement, right?

My, I see people differently.

My heart feels differently.

I...

You know, over the course of a lifetime, like Peter has had, and even beyond

it, I feel like we're trying to build up those attributes of Christ.

And that's the real inheritance.

You are different, and that's incorruptible.

When you come to be like the Savior, there is a promise that

you, you won't retreat anymore.

You won't have a, you won't be pulled towards sin, you won't

be pulled towards other things.

You will, you will be different.

And I just think that's a powerful inheritance.

It's so much more valuable to me than this idea of a mansion in heaven or a crown.

I just think it's something that is lasting.

Um, I, I just loved the visual and he's going to talk all throughout

these chapters about how we can acquire that inheritance, how we can take on

the characteristics of Jesus Christ over a lifetime of discipleship.

And he warns that some of that's going to come through persecutions.

That's what you see in six, you're in heaviness through manifold

temptations or persecutions.

If you go into the.

footnotes, but then he tells you why in seven that the trial of your faith being

much more precious than that of gold that perishes though it be tried with fire

might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

This is his imitation.

I don't think what he's, I don't think he's trying to say that God causes

these afflictions to come on to you.

I don't think he's inspiring Nero to tell lies about the Christians

which cause everybody hate them.

That's not, I think his message, his message is more of like, In all these

hard circumstances where you have an evil emperor and you've got people who

are turning on you, the Lord can make all this work together for your good.

He can take these trials that are caused by outside agency

and he can make them refine you.

You can become purified in this process.

That is a mighty promise and I just love the implication of it.

It gets bigger in eight.

Whom having not seen, ye love.

In whom though ye see him not, ye believing, ye rejoice with joy

unspeakable and full of glory.

I just think that's such a, it's such a beautiful promise for

somebody like Peter to make, right?

He is someone who has seen with his eyes and touched the wounds

of the resurrected Savior, but he knows not everybody else has.

And what he's trying to say is you don't need to handle him.

You don't need to see him with your physical eyes.

You can know him.

You can trust in him because of the witness you'll receive from the spirit.

It's more powerful.

And I feel like who he's talking to are the people who have decided that they

do believe even though they don't see.

These are people who have already planted that seed and let it grow, and

they're starting to reap the fruits of the season, and that's his invitations.

Look, you can know what I know, and you can know it just as powerfully as I do.

Let me show you how.

And then in 9, Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

This is, you know, if you look at the JST, this is the object of your faith.

The whole reason you believe and trust in Jesus Christ is so

that you can become as He is.

So you can feel at home where He is.

That's That's his goal.

And then 12.

Unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister

the things which are now reported unto you by them which have preached the

gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost.

He's reminding us that Peter's not the beginning of these prophecies.

He is someone who is an eyewitness of the Savior, but the prophets...

Well before Peter spoke of the Savior, even saw the Savior.

You know, you think of someone like Isaiah, who wrote specifically

about seeing people like Mary and the birth of the Savior.

Prophets have seen that day for a long time before this New Testament period.

And that's what Peter's trying to help them.

Remember, I think it's that you're a part of something big and lasting.

This has been, this has been going on for a long, long time.

And then he invites you to take action.

If you believe that, then here's where you act.

So in 13, wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind.

be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you

at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Don't you just love that phrasing?

I just think it invites you to know things in your heart and

to know things in your mind.

I think that's what 30 years of discipleship give you.

You start to realize you need both.

You need time to...

Wrestle with the doctrine and come to your own understanding and be able to

articulate your faith why you believe it Those are things that come over the

course of time as you gird up your mind I also think it's an invitation to choose

how to react to your circumstances I think what he's inviting these Christian

Saints to do is to not react To the world around them as hostile and hard as

it is but to make a choice How they're going to react who they're going to

be no matter how hard things get he wants them to take control of Of their

mind and what they choose to think and say, but saying is where he goes next.

So it says in 15, but as he, which hath called you is holy.

So be ye holy in all manner of conversation because it is written.

Be holy for I am holy.

Okay you guys, I don't entirely know what all this means.

I just thought it was fascinating that so much of his emphasis, similar

to what we read in James and even in Paul, there is something powerful

about choosing how you speak, how you.

vocalize to the world, your faith, your frustration, your determination,

there is some link between those two.

And I feel like Peter's trying to reinforce that.

He's saying, if you want to be like the savior, you need

to have holy conversations.

You need to elevate when others.

would expect you to dissent.

The reason I think that's powerful is it's that, it's that choice

that catches people's eye, right?

When the Savior chose to be meek and humble and submit, when every

natural man reason would give him perfect excuse to not do those things,

that's what caught people's eye.

That's what I think Nicodemus saw in him.

I think it's even what Pilate saw at the end.

He could see that the Savior chose how to react in every circumstance

and that he had Total self control.

That's what I think Peter's inviting us to do.

To be holy.

To use holy conversations even when we have every excuse not to.

And when we do that we become more like him.

You just have to think this must come from decades of Peter's life experiences

where he's probably been cast down, he's been pushed away, he's been ignored,

and he knows that there is something powerful about choosing how to speak.

I think this is why we see a difference.

Remember when we were studying back, I think it was in Acts, about

how Peter interacted with the Jews of his day in Jerusalem versus

how Paul interacted with them?

And Peter almost seemed like he was being more diplomatic.

I think maybe there's some of this in here because I think Peter is understanding

that there, you, you get to choose and you get to control how you speak about others

and you're going to choose to elevate.

And then he tells you why in 19.

But with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without

spot, who was verily foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was

manifest in these last times, who by him do believe in God that raised him up

from the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.

The reason we choose to elevate and choose to live a higher, holier

way is because it comes, it brings us closer to God, God, the Father.

I think just like Elder Holland taught us all those years ago, I think the

Savior came to give us a clear view of the Father, His goodness, His

mercy, His long suffering, His love.

When we, when we choose to be in control and to be meek,

meaning powerful and in control.

Uh, then we come closer to God.

That's his promise.

We come to know him better.

And so then he encourages you to continue that flow in 22.

See that you love one another with a pure heart.

Fervently.

I think a big way we come closer to Christ, in addition to choosing

how we speak and what we say about others, is to choose to serve.

Love one another.

Not just a little bit, but fervently, passionately take care of each other.

And then in 23, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible.

You're constantly setting down the natural man and letting

something else grow in its stead.

In fact, I heard, I can't even remember.

It was like a month or two ago.

I heard somebody in a podcast talk about how when you set down the natural man,

it almost becomes like compost in the soil so that your new self can grow

faster, which I just love the visual of.

I think that's his imitation.

He's like, set all this down.

You don't need this.

You don't need any of this, just put it down and let it become a

compost in that soil so that it can like strengthen what, the new thing

that needs to grow in its place.

And then he tells you the most critical piece of all of it, but that the

word of the Lord endureth forever.

And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

If you love each other fervently, if you show charity and compassion, if

you speak kindly of all, no matter who deserves it and who doesn't,

and you choose to study the Word, you find strength in those moments.

And that's what Peter's calling us to do.

I thought it was kind of fun, as I was reading these chapters, whenever

I'd get a little bit of advice from Peter, I would try to think back on the

Gospels and Peter's life experiences and associate them, like, where might

he have learned this advice from?

And it was kind of fun to me to see how many connecting points.

there were.

So, for example, in the first verse when he invites you to lay aside all

malice and all guile and all hypocrisies and envies, set aside all those evil

speakings and pick up something better.

So, he says, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the

word that you may grow thereby.

Because that's Peter's whole, Life with the Savior.

Remember, like, over those three years, he is constantly having to set down

his old habits and his old ways and pick up something higher and holier.

You can look at the fish that he set down so that he could follow the Savior.

You can even look at moments like, remember that time, I think it's

in Capernaum, where a whole bunch of people turn away from the Savior

because he's spoken about being the bread of life, and they don't get

it, and so they're offended by him.

And then the Savior comes to Peter and says, like, will you also go away?

And he says, To whom will we go?

You know, I don't think Peter understood the Bread of Life sermon

any better than the other people did.

I just think he, he knew enough about the Savior's character to know it'll

make sense someday, and I'm staying.

I just think that's what he's inviting us to do.

He's like, you're gonna be asked to set down some things.

You're gonna be asked to take these leaps of faith.

I need you to go in like a babe and say like, there must be

so much more I need to learn.

I'm staying.

I need the milk of the gospel.

That's his promise.

And then he encourages you to become something.

So if you look further in the verses in like four and five, he

encourages you to be a lively stone.

I just really like this visual.

We're going to talk about it in the object lessons too, but it almost

picture, I picture Legos, which is why we go there in the object lessons.

But it's this idea of like.

You're a stone that's going to do something.

You're going to be agile.

You're going to be used in different ways and in different combinations,

but you're going to be aligned.

You know, I think that's what those little dots on the Legos do.

They force alignment to some degree, but then let you create

all kinds of cool things.

And that's what Peter has come to understand.

He's like, you need to refine yourself and choose to take the milk of the

gospel and then strengthen yourself so that you can become a lively stone.

You can be a brick that can do incredible things in this great building

of God, and he wants that for us.

And what you offer in the process is a spiritual sacrifice.

That's what it says in 5.

Ye also, as lively stones, are built upon a spiritual house and holy priesthood

to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

To me, this is the broken heart and the contrite spirit.

It's, it's this invitation to offer something greater.

And what you receive back is dignity.

Remember, we've talked about that over and over again.

I just think that's what the priesthood of God offers.

It offers men, women, children, anyone who encounters the priesthood.

It gives them dignity.

And that's what Peter wants for his people.

So he encourages them to take part in that great building process of God.

And then he reminds them who the coroner is.

Peter himself, even though he is the president of the church at this

time and he holds all the keys, he knows he is not the cornerstone.

The cornerstone is the savior who himself talked about the fact that he would be

this corner that people would cast aside.

So that's where he goes next in seven and He warns that This cornerstone

will be a stone of stumbling for some.

I think this is powerful given what we see today.

There are certain testimonies that will...

Be a stepping stone for some of us, you know, like the Book of Mormon is one of

those stepping stone Opportunities that allows you to ascend and get closer to

Christ as you study it It also can be a stone of stumbling because if you choose

not to believe it then you have to wrestle with the confusion Right, how could a farm

boy who was so young produce such a work?

you know, the more I studied the Book of Mormon the more dazzled

I am by its historicity and its ability to like align timelines

and I mean it's an incredible work.

In fact I remember reading once from Elder Holland that he said if you're

gonna leave this church you have to crawl over the stumbling block of the

Book of Mormon which I totally see like you can't explain it in any mortal way

how something so divine could come from mortal hands it just can't be done you

have to crawl over that stumbling block and that's what Peter's trying to help

us see he's like you won't understand this without spiritual sight so humble

yourself Dig into that milk of the gospel and let yourself be a part of this work,

and you'll start to see what is here.

And then in 9, this is when he reminds you who you really are to God.

You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar

people, that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out

of darkness and into his marvelous light.

Ah, you guys, there's some beautiful quotes in the notes

if you want to go and study more about this idea, but this is his.

ennobling speech.

You know, he's trying to help people see who they really are.

The reason God can give us his love so abundantly and so infinitely is

because this is who you really are.

You were made to be like him.

You are created in his image.

There is dignity in this work.

And Peter sees it and he wants them to Catch hold.

The same way I feel like President Nelson is inviting the youth today

to catch hold of those promises.

You are something so much bigger.

You are intended to be so much more than this mortal world can give you.

Look wider and further.

But it's that idea of being called out of darkness and into his

light that I just find motivating.

You know, I think Those who have heard the gospel so far are then supposed

to take it and teach it to others and bring more people to that light.

It is a, a work of doing, not just believing.

When you go on 10, he adds to it, he says, Which in times past were

not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained

mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from

fleshy lusts which war against the soul.

Where they used to be separate, and they didn't have lives that crossed

each other's paths, now they are one.

The doctrine of Christ brought their hearts in.

And the way they stay on that trajectory is to set down all those fleshy lusts.

You know, this is where they have to kind of set down what the world speaks of.

Oftentimes, I read that verse and I think of it just like...

You know, going against the commandments.

But I think when you think about Peter's lifetime, and the miracles he saw, and

what he experienced, there's also other ways you can set down fleshy lusts.

Like, for example, I think about him on the boat, right before he steps

out onto the water, and tries to walk.

I think he, in order to Actually step out to the water.

He had to leave the comfort of that boat.

Peter was a fisherman.

He's really comfortable in boats.

He felt very safe in that boat, I imagine.

So he had to kind of step away from what was comfortable and safe in order to Test

his faith and to see a miracle occur.

That's what I think Peter's inviting us to do It's not just avoid all the bad things.

It's you're gonna have to step outside your comfort zone You're gonna have to

speak to people you wouldn't normally speak to you're gonna have to Study

deeper than you ever have before like it's step out of the boat and come to

Christ wherever he is Step away from your comfort zone and come closer to

him if you do that you'll be amplified.

That's his promise.

So 13.

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake.

This is the same thing King Benjamin taught.

You hear it all throughout the Book of Mormon.

It's yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit.

Grow in faith.

Continue to challenge your faith and push yourself to grow and increase in some way.

And 15.

For so is the will of God that with well doing ye may put to silence

the ignorance of foolish men.

Because they can't change their circumstances, they can't change the

heart of Miro or of the other Romans that are pushing them down or oppressing

them, what they can do is choose how they will react in those moments.

And how they react changes hearts.

Oftentimes I think we're praying constantly to change our circumstances,

and I feel like what Peter's inviting us to do is change our hearts.

How will I, help me have the patience and the endurance and

the mercy and forgiveness to handle these situations better?

And if I do that, if I lean into those promptings, hearts change, or at least

they fall silent, is what Peter says.

And then in 20, for what glory is it when you have buffeted your

faults, you shall take it patiently.

But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently,

this is acceptable to God.

This is what Peter saw firsthand with the Savior over and over again.

Him choosing to handle things patiently, you know, the tax collectors that

came rushing to him, the Pharisees that mocked him, that, you know, the

betrayal that he faced with Judas.

Peter saw all that firsthand and he saw how the Savior reacted and he's

inviting us to be as he was and as he is.

And then in 21, for even here unto you were called because Christ also

suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his footsteps.

He's Peter's example.

He's our example too.

The more we study him, the more those patterns will be ingrained

in us and we'll know what to do.

When you have hard circumstances at work, or at church, or in your neighborhood,

you'll know how the Savior would act because you've studied his character.

And so it's easier to know how to react in circumstances.

And then he reminds us that those who reviled against him,

he didn't revile back at them.

He didn't give people what they deserved.

He Elevated, always.

He kept his eyes focused on God.

And then in 24, Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the

tree, That we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness,

By whose stripes ye are healed.

It almost to me sounds like, you know, the messages you hear on

Veterans Day where it's please don't let the sacrifice go to waste.

Remember why they offered it and why it's worth it and how you can honor it.

I think it's the same message Peter saying, I knew him.

I saw those stripes, please.

Let them heal you, let them change you as they've changed me.

And then in 25, I just think this is a beautiful capstone to this chapter.

For ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the

shepherd and the bishop of your souls.

This to me is that moment with Peter when After the Savior has, the crucifixion has

occurred, and they're out fishing again.

And then they finally kind of rally back together when they recognize

the Savior and they come and he encourages them to feed his sheep.

This is Peter saying like, Okay, my life is different now.

From here on out, here's what I'm doing.

This is my focus.

And I just think that's his invitation.

He's like, You used to be astray.

You used to not know.

Now you've made covenants.

Come back to this fold and let this bishop of your souls take the lead.

The Savior taught us that people will know what disciples, if we are disciples,

by the way we act towards each other.

If we show love one to another, people will know that we are his disciples.

And I think that applies in families as much as it does

in any other circumstances.

A lot of what you're going to see in three is advice to...

families, or even just husband and wife combinations of how to treat each other,

and how if they choose to be disciples of Christ and evidence that discipleship,

it will heal and help their marriages.

It's just written to an audience in Rome, you know, in Paul's day or Peter's day.

This is a different.

Time so when you read things it comes off a little harsh the same way We had to

kind of break down Paul's writings about marriage You do the same thing with Peter

and you come to an a really lovely place So for example in one it says likewise

ye wives be in subjection to your own husbands that if any obey not the word

They also may be without the word be one by the Conversation of their wives you

learn in the JST that this is the conduct of their wives meaning like you can

actually Be pivotal in the conversion of your husband if your conduct exemplifies

what it's like to be a disciple of Christ.

Subjection doesn't necessarily mean to put yourself low or that.

It just means to have a relationship that involves sacrifice.

I just think that's all loving relationships.

It means I'm going to put your needs above mine.

I'm going to care about your wants and desires.

I'm going to take care of you the same way you're going to take care of me.

That's why I think...

As hard as these verses are to read in isolation, when you read the first 10

verses all together, it, it becomes much more clear because by 10, he's giving

advice to the husbands to take care of their wives and to base it on knowledge.

I actually really liked the advice he gives to wives.

It's just, I didn't like it at first, but I had to break it down a little bit.

And then I came to.

understand it a little bit better.

I just think, so his advice in three, it says, who's adorning, let it not be the

outward adorning of plating the hair and wearing of gold or putting on apparel,

but let it be the hidden man of the heart.

I think his invitation is one of set all those things down.

Remember we talked about this before I think it was in Hebrews where we

were talking about how he's inviting you not to seek attention or power

based on how you look or how you sound or trying to sound like men, be

dignified and brilliant in your own way, like embrace your divine feminine

characteristics and let those shine out.

So that's what he invites us to do.

Even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit.

Remember meek is not lower than meek is.

I have power and it is in complete control.

The savior was meek.

He promised the world to the meek.

That is not a low status.

It is someone who is In control of their emotions and in control of

how they react to the world around.

That's what he's inviting women to be.

And then he says, For after this manner, in the old time, the holy

women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto

their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose

daughters ye are, and long as ye do well are not afraid with any amazement.

Now you can read this in a lot of different ways.

For me, the reason I think this verse actually lends dignity to

women is because he's saying, no matter what your circumstances are,

you can choose to be empowered.

I don't think Peter or Paul or anyone in this day could change

the societal structure of marriage relationships in Rome, especially.

Those were boundaries that they Couldn't change all at once.

They would take a lot of time to change.

What they could do is give women dignity within those boundaries.

The same way he tried to give, you know, servants who were in households

dignity by teaching them who they were and giving them the opportunity to

choose to be disciples despite their confinement or asking the Jews to choose

to be someone who embraces dignity and in a confined situation with the Romans.

It's saying...

Your societal structure may not be able to change in your lifetime.

You get to choose how you react to it.

That's why I think he's inviting us to step into the daughters of God who have

had to deal with Subjection in a lot of ways throughout society's history

have chosen to be dignified Because of what they know about themselves and

what they know about marriage covenants Sarah and Abraham knew this about

marriage That's why when you go a little further you can see it's a reciprocal

offering in seven likewise He has been well with them according to knowledge

giving honor unto the wife as a weaker vessel You can read weaker meaning

Put down, but I actually think this is an invitation that you are different.

He invites them.

He invites the husbands to honor their wives according to knowledge,

meaning I know who you are and I know how valued you are to God.

I think Abraham absolutely knew that about Sarah and he honored her for it.

He spoke of her that way.

treasured her.

I think you see that throughout all the patriarchs.

They honor their wives and so it's this invitation to see, to be something better.

The weaker vessel, although it bothers a lot of people, I just

see it as you're different.

It's, you're made of different things.

You have different traits and different characteristics and

so therefore need caring for.

That doesn't bother me.

It's the same way this alabaster vase behind me, when we brought it

back from Jerusalem, we cared for it.

Much better than every other souvenir I had in my suitcase.

We packed it tightly.

We took care of it because it's got these Luminescent qualities.

It's such a delicate stone that it can glow from within when a light's

inside it and because of that I treated it differently I just think

that's his invitation is to see each other for your Strengths and

who you are and then come together.

So if you look in eight Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one

another, love as brethren, be pitiful and courteous, not rendering evil for evil

or railing for railing, but contrawise blessing, knowing that ye are there unto

called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

I just think he wants married couples to be of one mind.

Sacrifice for each other, take care of each other, see each

other's unique characteristics and attributes and amplify them.

Come together, that's his invitation.

For he that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from

evil and his lips that speak no guile.

I just, to me, this is critical in a marriage, right?

That you find ways to speak kindly to each other and about each

other, no matter where you are.

I think that's what is...

Comforting and solidifying in a marriage is to know that your name is

safe and sacred on your spouse's lips, that they will treat it carefully.

That's his invitation to us.

Live higher and holier.

And if you do that, you find happiness in this life.

I love that in conference, I can't remember his name.

Remember he was talking about how His wife is shorter and so he has

to reach for things that are high up in the cupboard and they have

this understanding with each other.

I just think that's kind of the idea here.

He's saying like, care for each other.

We gave, the Lord gave you as a pair so that you could help

each other and lift each other.

Embrace that and move forward in faith.

So in 11, he gives you a little more guidance.

Let him eschew evil and do good.

Let him speak, seek peace.

and ensue it, or pursue it eagerly, is what the footnotes teaches.

I just like this because I think this helps every marriage and every family.

If you're eagerly pursuing peace, it means you're gonna let some things go.

You're gonna forgive fast.

You're gonna ask forgiveness fast.

You're gonna take care of relationships.

When we have peace in that way, then we can go out into the

world and do so much more good.

We need each other and we need that kind of peace.

The reason I think He asks us to do it.

It's not so much to be nice.

Remember we talked about this last week.

It's not just that you should be nice in your marriage or nice in your families.

It's when you choose to set down contention.

Even when you deserve to embrace it, when you choose to set it down, I

think you receive the sight of God.

That's what he promises in 12.

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears

are open unto their prayers.

But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

The reason he invites us to forgive fast.

And to seek forgiveness fast and to apologize and to care for each other is

because when we choose to be submissive like that, when we choose to swallow

our pride and say, it doesn't matter.

If in fact, it doesn't matter more than you ever, then we

become like the savior, right?

Who did that over and over again in his life.

And when we do that, the spirit can rush in and refine us.

We'll have less fighting, less contention, less trouble in our

families, in our wards, when we choose to embrace those characteristics.

Because the spirit floods in.

And when the spirit floods in, there can be lasting peace.

So I just think that's a beautiful promise.

In 14, But, and if ye suffer for righteousness sake, happy are ye.

And be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to

give an answer to every man that asketh you the reason of the hope

that is in you, meekness and fear.

This is one of my favorite verses of all this week's study for sure, but I

just, I think this is his invitation.

Beam out hope.

You have hope in Christ, you know, he lives, you know, you can live

again, you know, you can become like him, beam that hope out.

What President Nelson talked, and you can read in the notes this quote, but

he basically said, As you just go about your life and you live as a disciple of

Christ, people will ask you questions.

You're going to find this, I find this all the time when I talk about

Jason and his cancer journey, like, people will naturally Ask me questions,

not just about like his situation or what the symptoms were, but

things like, how are you still okay?

Yeah, I get that question a lot.

Not just from neighbors or people on Instagram, but even like my kids

friends and things will ask questions that they wouldn't normally ask.

I think when we choose to show hope, questions come from every direction

and we need to be ready with answers.

There's this beautiful talk from Sister Eubank about being

able to articulate your faith.

It's in the notes if you want to go read it, but it's this idea of being able to

express why I believe and what I did when I didn't believe or if I ever had doubts

and how I got over those and being able to articulate those things beams out hope

to others and it draws hearts to Christ.

So I just love that invitation.

He's like, be ready.

You don't, you don't need to be afraid, but be ready because your

lack of fear in moments of trial.

will catch people's eye and they won't be able to look away.

And then 18, for Christ also has suffered for his sins, the just for the

unjust, that he might bring us to God.

And this is where you get a shift.

So in 19, he says, by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.

This is where you see Peter as distinct and different from all the

other writers in the New Testament.

He is someone who can teach us doctrine.

He can tell us what the Savior did in those moments after he was crucified,

after his death, before the resurrection, that time frame, what he was doing there.

He, as the president of the church, can declare and help us understand doctrine

differently than Any other apostle or teacher could and we learn more about it

as you go into the doctrine covenants So if you go on DNC 138, you can learn all

about how Joseph F Smith was studying this birth Remember when we study this

in DNC together and he'd been through so much loss and experienced so much Agony

from his own family deaths within his own family and the greater world around him.

There was all kinds of Pandemics and troubles in his time and for him

to be pondering this verse and get this crystal clear revelation about

What teaching occurred in the spirit world and proxy work and I mean

it was just this Watershed moment.

I imagine that's what it was like when people first read Peter's

words as well It just opened up understanding in a whole new way and

then he talks about why it's worth it.

So in 21 The figure thereunto, whereunto even baptism doth also now

save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer

of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

To me, this is Peter saying, the proxy work doesn't give you

like a fast path to salvation.

If you, if you convert in the next life and you don't get a fast path, what he's

saying is, it's going to involve both.

These ordinances will need to happen and there will be a repentance process

that needs to occur where you, your conscience changes so that you can.

Wax confident in the presence of God, just like we all have to do.

So I feel like he's, he's helping us understand the doctrine that

you're still going to need both, but there is this incredible gift

of proxy work that can happen.

I think the saints in Peter's day knew it.

I just think we don't have much writing on it.

So you kind of have to focus in on these verses.

Chapter 4 is where Peter starts to sound like your dad, you know?

He just sounds like someone who's been through a lot and he's saying,

I know what this is like, let me tell you why it's worth it.

You know, for example, in 3, he talks about how you had this past life,

where you did all these other things.

Peter had that past life too.

I don't even think he had a sin filled life, I just think

he had a life before Christ.

And everything in his world is marked by that shift.

You know, the same way in my brain, there's 2016 and before 2016.

When Jason was first diagnosed with cancer.

It's like this giant milepost in my life story, and there's the Maria before

cancer, and there's the Maria after.

Both are me, and both are good, but it's just like, it's this...

Pivotal moment for Peter.

I think it's the moment he encountered the Savior and then he was never the

same again He's been continually changing since then and he says to us as we're

reading basically like people aren't gonna get it I wonder if this comes from

life experience with Peter where When he set all those fish down and followed

the Savior and never went back to those nets that people were like, you're crazy.

You know, when he sold his fishing business and decided to follow the

Savior, people must have mocked him and doubted and But this is his advice.

He says, people aren't going to get it.

Like in four, wherein they think it's strange that you run not with them to

the same excess of riot speaking evil of you, who shall give account to him that

is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

He's like, don't worry about that.

You know, the same way a dad would tell you, like, don't worry about those people.

Their opinions won't matter.

High school won't last forever.

I just think it's this invitation to seek.

A higher and holier road.

So from like 7 to 10, he gives you tips on how to do that.

How he himself has done it.

That he chooses to be watchful under prayer.

He chooses to be gracious and kind.

To have fervent charity towards others.

Remember, Peter is someone who would understand mocking and

scorn and disdain and he chooses to have fervent charity anyway.

He chooses to use hospitality without grudging.

I, I really like this tip, personally.

Because I think there's some times where I...

I want to be Christ like, so I agree to do things, but then

in my mind, I'm resentful.

You know?

When you're like, you've signed up to bring the cupcakes or the whatever,

and then the whole time you're making the cupcakes at like two in

the morning, you're like, I can't believe she would ask me to do this.

Why did she even ask me?

You're resentful at the same time.

So I found myself, that's something I'm continually working on.

Like I, if I'm going to choose to be Christ like, it

has to be with a pure heart.

It has to be, I have to be doing it.

in his name, rather than trying to please someone or impress someone.

It has to have a pure motive, and I think that's Peter's invitation as well.

And then he invites you to use your gifts to do good.

So in 10, As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same

one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.

To me, this is similar to what we heard from Elder Stevenson in conference,

that we've each been given these gifts to be a part of this great building

of God, and we need to embrace it.

We need to use those gifts and do as much good as we can with them.

And if we do, we have strength and help, because hard things are coming, and

you're gonna need that strength and help.

That's what you see in 12.

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as

though some strange thing has happened unto you, but rejoice inasmuch as ye

are partakers of Christ's sufferings.

That when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

I had a YSA in my class just a couple weeks ago who was talking

about her awful year and that everything went wrong that year.

And it wasn't until the end of the year that she started to realize it

wasn't just that she had awful luck, it's that God was trying to prune her.

I just thought it was such a lovely way to articulate it.

She was just like, it took some understanding that had happened over

the course of time for me to see what He was trying to do with me.

And I think that's what he's warning you of here as well.

He's saying, don't be surprised that you have fiery trials,

even though you're righteous.

In fact, expect them and embrace them because It's what will

make you who you need to be.

You guys remember, there's this quote from Brigham Young where he talks about

the temple and he talks about angels that stand as sentinels that you're

going to have to pass by, those angels.

That's kind of what I picture when I read verses like this,

because I think there are certain people who are those sentinels.

For me, they're happy, joyous sentinels.

They're people like Sarah, or Esther, or Ruth, or Eve, or, you know, all the other,

other prophets, and all those people that I love and admire from the scriptures.

I see them as sentinels.

And for me to pass through them or talk to them, I have to...

experience things that they experienced.

My version of trials will not look like Abraham's or Sarah's.

But I want to be able to hold my head high and say, I did the

best I could with my trials.

In fact, I leaned on your testimony to be able to get me through those trials.

I think that's what he's trying to help us remember.

Like, be, when you experience trials, rejoice a little bit.

Because you're going to get refined in that process.

Elder Maxwell talked about how a refiner's fire isn't just to take, the words are

in the notes, but he basically said it's not just to take what is, what is

dirty and awful and make it cleaner.

It's also to take something that is already pure and refine it even more.

Take something good and make it better.

I think that's what he's inviting us to, is to be continually refined.

And then in 14, if you be reproached for the name of Christ.

Happy are ye, for the spirit of glory in God resteth upon you.

On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

Peter is such a beautiful example of this.

His whole life is like this, right?

Where he, he stretches, he makes some mistakes, he gets

refined, he gets corrected.

You know, like when he's outside of the Garden of Gethsemane and

he cuts off the ear of Malchus.

And then he gets Corrected, you know, or when he offers to go with

the savior and die in his place or die with him and he gets corrected

kind of strongly like I think Peter is someone who knows this firsthand.

He's like, rejoice in those moments.

It means you're being refined.

There's this, we've talked about it before, but I love there

was a, um, like a devotional.

It was kind of like a loose conversation that Elder Bednar was having.

I watched this video once where he was talking about if you haven't

been corrected by the spirit lately, you should check the quality of

your prayers or something like that.

That's been kind of a guidepost for me.

Like if I haven't felt a need of correction from the spirit, then

maybe I'm not asking enough questions because that invitation to be corrected

is a way for him to refine you even more and you can progress faster.

I think that's what Peter wants for us.

He's like, Progress faster in this relationship.

And 16, Yet if any man suffer as Christian, let him not be ashamed,

but let him glorify God on his behalf.

Stand boldly in your testimony, even when it brings the jeers of others.

It is something that those whose hearts are ready, when they see you

stand with courage and conviction, they will be drawn to Christ.

I don't think the vast majority of people respond that way, but those

whose hearts are prepared will, and that's why he needs us to stand strong.

In 19, Wherefore let them suffer according to the will of God.

Commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing as unto a faithful creator.

It's that commit word that I loved.

It's just this make a conscious choice to stay the course.

No matter what comes your way embrace the hard times embrace the fiery trials trust

that he's refining you Embrace the joyous times and those times of respite that he

gives you and trust that he is preparing you for Greater leaps in the future.

I think when you have the stance of commitment he can advance you.

The same way when Peter stepped out of that boat or stepped away from

those fish or, you know, stepped into Jairus's house, when he made those

commitments to stay with the Savior, the Savior could amplify his progress.

You see it over and over again in Peter's life, and I think he

wants to see that in ours too.

When the Savior was about to ascend to the Father, one of the last encounters Peter

had with him, he invited him to feed his sheep, because I think the Savior knew he

couldn't be among them the way he had in the past, and his primary concern was for

his flock, and he wanted the Apostles to care for the flock until he could return.

I just think it's really interesting that that's Peter's stance in chapter 5 too.

He knows he's at the end of his ministry and his time as an apostle

and his big concern is for the flock.

This flock that he had stewardship over for his lifetime now is going to be

passed to others and he is concerned.

And so he tells the under shepherds, you know, the elders

of the church, feed the flock.

I just really love this idea.

Let me tell you why this is one of those weird revelatory moments

that happened in odd circumstances.

So I was subbing in a I think it was a sunbeam class, maybe CTR six.

And we were, I was trying to corral these cute little kids, which is sort

of impossible at that age, but you know, you come up with songs or games

or things they can do to try and keep them engaged and keep them sitting

still about halfway through the lesson.

You guys, I brought out the treats that I had brought and I said, okay,

we're going to have these at the end of class, but you know, you have to

play my game first before we can have the treats and the change in there.

Behavior was remarkable.

I know everybody knows this, but something about this moment for me, the visual that

came into my mind was, feed my sheep.

When I chose to offer food to the zombies and put it somewhere central that they

could all see, they voluntarily obeyed.

They voluntarily listened better.

I just think this is what, I think this is what the Savior understood and Peter

understood about the power of the word.

When you choose to feed the sheep, meaning give them truth, undiluted and

unvarnished, give them truth to feed on, they will come on their own accord.

They will choose to come close.

They will want and crave what you're offering, and it will change them.

I think it's interesting that he doesn't give the direction to, like, defend

the flocks or protect the flocks.

Instead, it is feed the flocks of God.

Because when you choose to feed them, you strengthen them from within.

You know, the, the gospel message, that good word of the gospel that they can

feast on, strengthens them from within so that they can spot counterfeits.

They can spot wolves among the flock themselves.

You're supposed to feed them from within.

And I learned that with the sunbeams, you know, when they...

When I chose to offer them food, they disciplined themselves.

And I just think there's power in that message.

We're going to talk about it in the object lessons, too.

But I love his invitation.

It's in three.

Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being

ensamples to the flock.

These elders, or parents, or teachers, or anyone who is in a position

to teach others in the flock.

He invites you not to lord over them, but to be an example to them.

As you choose to feast on the words of Christ, others will, too.

They'll see the joy in your face.

They'll see...

the ease that happens in your life when you have that confidence in Christ

and they'll, they'll come closer.

And then he invites you to be, to take care of your stewardship until

the chief shepherd comes back.

So in four, and when the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a

crown of glory that fadeth not away.

We are.

Temporarily in charge of our stewardships, right?

We have this little family or you're calling or you're ministering assignments.

You have this little stewardship, this little part of flock to take care of.

And at some point he will return and he'll want to know how things went.

And we want to be able to hold our heads high and say, I did the best

I could or here's where I struggled, but this is how you helped me.

And I think he's inviting you to have that stance.

And then he encourages you to be clothed in humility and cast your cares upon him.

So if you look in 7, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.

I just love this coming from Peter, right?

He knows the Savior.

He knows how much the Savior loves and cares for his flock.

Peter knows that first hand because the Savior loved and cared for him.

So he's inviting you.

Not to sweep things under the rug.

To take your cares to God.

I think this is one of the ways we can avoid speaking evil against other people

or being overly frustrated or resentful.

When we form a relationship with God, we can take our frustrations to Him.

We can cast those things onto Him.

And get guidance and the Spirit to help us navigate our world a little bit better.

And then he speaks about the adversary and his reality.

I think you can't be a man like Peter and not know.

First hand, the power of the adversary.

And so he talks about what he is and his intentions.

Be sober and be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion,

walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

Where the Savior hoped to lift and enlighten, the adversary

hopes to drag you down to hell.

Like, there is no soft way to put that.

That's his intent, to make you miserable as he is.

And remember what we studied about that word, miserable?

It's a separation from God.

It's not just sadness or unhappiness.

It's, it's a gulf between you and the goodness of God

that cannot be crossed over.

That's what Satan hopes for you.

And so Peter wants us to be clear on that.

And then I love that he comes out of that deep dark part

and ends on a point of light.

So in 10, But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal

glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, maketh you perfect,

establish, strengthen, settle you.

That's Peace, right?

This idea of when you endure the trials that come from the outside world, the

trials that come from the adversary, anything that comes your way, when

you endure it well, you come out established, strengthened, and settled.

I had this interesting conversation with, um, someone who was teaching

Relief Society lesson in my ward, and she asked me, like, how I teach, how

I teach and exemplify the gospel to my kids, or something kind of like that.

And the understanding that came to me as I was typing out my response

in a text message was, it's not happiness that draws my kids in.

It's not that I project that life is happier in the gospel, although it is,

and I try to show that as much as I can.

I really think what pulls my kids to the gospel is confidence.

This idea of, no matter what happens, I am settled, I am assured, I am at peace.

Because I can't always...

Project happy.

You know, sometimes my calling is hard.

Sometimes our circumstances are really hard.

Sometimes things are just dark.

But I can project a sense of confidence.

And I think confidence in Christ actually has much more magnetic

pull than just happiness does.

I think when you see confidence in others, you're immediately drawn in.

Because it, it feels like it can last.

And that is something I think we all hope for.

I think that's Peter's message too.

The second epistle of Peter is just as good, if not better.

This is probably right before his death.

It is the meaty, weighty doctrine where he's trying to help us

understand why it's all worth it.

This idea of the exceeding great and precious promises.

Audience is a little bit different in the second epistle.

It's more targeted and focused on those who have made covenants and who are,

who are of a certain degree of faith.

He says faith like us.

I assume that means like, like the apostles themselves, like those who

knew and walked with the Savior, that there are those who they've taught

who now have that same level of faith, which is just staggering to me.

But I think it's exactly what the apostles today teach, that you don't need

a physical experience with the Savior in order to obtain that kind of faith.

It comes from the Spirit.

So that's what he says in verse 1.

Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have

obtained like precious faith with us, through the righteousness of God and our

Savior Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge

of our God and of Jesus our Lord.

The way you obtain that kind of faith is through building knowledge of God.

I think the only way you can come to know God is to know his savior, right?

That's what the savior himself taught us.

And I think the way you come to know the savior is to keep his commandments, to

grow in faith and experiment on the word and all those things that, you know,

build you up over the course of time.

That's how you achieve the level of faith that Peter is speaking of.

And he talks about what's waiting for those who have

achieved this level of faith.

This is in four whereby are given unto us exceedingly great and precious promises.

That by these you might be partakers of the divine nature,

having escaped the corruption that is in this world through lust.

And beside this, giving all diligence add to your faith virtue and to

virtue knowledge and to knowledge.

Temperance and temperance.

Patience.

Patience and patience.

Godliness and godliness, brotherly kindness, and to

brotherly kindness, charity.

These are all these beautiful attributes of the savior, and I feel like.

what he's trying to teach me is how to become like him.

He's saying the big gift, the big, great and precious promise is

that you can obtain divine nature.

You have all the components to be that kind of person.

The same way an acorn has all the potential it needs in

order to become an oak tree.

It just has to go through this process and it needs some outside influence

to actually reach its potential.

The same thing happens with us.

I feel like we are born with everything we need to become like him.

We just need.

time.

And we need that process and we need those outside influences of

grace to help us along the way.

But that, those are the steps he gives you.

I actually see those virtues that are listed there almost the

same way I see a water filter.

Do you guys remember in the, I think it was in the Doctrine and Covenants when

we made that filter that went into a water bottle and we put different layers

of, you know, dirt and rocks and things, and you'd filter the water through it.

And In each layer, it would get refined more and more, and then the water

that would come out the bottom wasn't perfectly clear yet, so you'd run it

through the filter again, and over the course of time, it became clear.

That's kind of how I read these virtues, because I think they're interwoven.

In fact, there's a great talk from Elder Hales, where he breaks down each

of these virtues and talks about how they flow into each other beautifully,

but I think that's the idea here.

He's saying...

As you go through this process of building up your faith and your virtue

and your knowledge and your patience, it's like this filter that you're

continually putting yourself through.

And over the course of time, all those impurities leave

you and you become as he is.

I think that takes a really long time beyond this life, for sure.

But I think his promise is that it's possible to you if you do these things.

That's why I love how it's phrased in eight.

For if these things be in you, meaning those characteristics of Christ.

And abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in

the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar

off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

Wherefore, rather, brethren, give diligence to make your

calling and election sure.

For if you do these things, you shall never fall.

This is why it's worth it to continually refine and cycle ourselves through

these characteristics of Christ.

Because then we...

Become pure as he is pure.

We are able to set down all those impurities that come from this Mortal

fallen world and we take on those attributes and then you have that

promise I mean calling an election made sure is meaning you It almost

like brings the Day of Judgment closer.

There's some quotes in the notes you can learn about this, but in this mortal

life, you can know what will happen next.

You can have confidence that you will be exalted, that you will have the promise.

That's a huge understanding to have in this life, and he's saying it's possible.

To me, this is why it's so powerful that Peter speaks of the living

Christ, because he's saying he still has a relationship with the Savior.

Part of this promise is that you'll come to know the Savior in a very intimate

way that you're You'll feel him, you'll experience him from time to time.

That's, that's this promise.

It's, it's a surety that comes, and Peter wants that for these people.

And so he tells you how.

In 13, he says why he's putting all this effort in.

Yea, I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting

you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this, my tabernacle, even

as the Lord Jesus Christ has showed me.

Remember before the Savior Left he told Peter that he would die as the

Savior did that they would do to him What they did to the Savior in a manner

of speaking and so Peter's known this all along But he is choosing to take

these last moments to stir us up to remembrance so that we can remember That

his promise, the hope that is in us, is this ability to obtain the divine nature.

Not a mansion, not a crown, but a promise of being as he is and

having that kind of character.

I imagine Peter's whole lifetime was spent trying to obtain the character of Christ.

You know, you see it really quickly in Peter's ministry after the Savior ascends.

You see him You know that situation where they're asked to heal the man

on the steps of the temple and he says, silver and gold, have I none?

Like, that sounds like the Savior.

He interacts with people the same way the Savior would have, and you can see

him taking on those characteristics of Christ early in his ministry.

So now that we're like 30 years in the future, I can only imagine what Peter

has done and the miracles he's seen, and he hopes to stir up our hearts.

to realize that that can happen for all of us.

We can all come close to God in this life as He has been able to do.

It's just empowering.

When you flip the page, you can see more invitations and more testimony.

So 16, For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we

made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but

were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

Don't you just love that word choice?

His majesty.

He doesn't say we were eyewitnesses of his miracles or of certain specific

things that happened during his ministry.

It's his majesty, his who he is, and the power and the

magnitude and radiance of Christ.

In fact, he's going to next refer to The Mount of Transfiguration and hearing

God the Father testify of Jesus Christ.

I think that's the pinnacle moment for Peter where he

comes to a certain knowledge.

I think there's, there are some prophets who speak about the endowment

happening up on top of that mountain.

That there are, this is a moment that is pivotal for Peter and changes.

How he, how he sees the savior and how much clarity he has

about the Savior's mission.

And then he invites us to grab hold.

So if you look in 18 and 19, we have also a more sure word of prophecy,

where unto you do well that you take heeded as up to a light that shineth

in a dark place until the day dawn, the day star arise in your heart.

To me, this is Peter saying, hold tight to the words I'm teaching you.

I am an eyewitness of the Savior.

I knew him.

I still know him.

I am this light in a dark place.

Hold on to my testimony for now.

But realize this is a small light compared to the sun that will rise.

You know, almost like if you have a headlight or a flashlight when you're out

camping and it's, it holds you through the night and eventually the sun starts

to rise and you have full brightness.

That's what Peter's trying to say.

The word I can offer you and the testimony I can give you is not a fable.

It is not a fairy tale.

It is true and it is this small light compared to what is coming.

Watch for that sunrise.

Lean on my testimony until you can see that day star arise.

I love that verse.

If the night seems long and it seems like the sunrise is slow

to come, it can get tempting to rely on other lights to guide you.

I think that's what Peter's trying to warn us about in 2.

He's basically saying there are going to be false teachers and false prophets

and damnable heresies, things that are.

Someone who's wrested the scriptures or twisted things to their own

convenience and their own profit.

That's what he warns us about.

And don't fall into their traps.

I actually think the way he phrases it is really interesting.

It's in three.

He says, and through covetousness, shall they with feigned words

make merchandise of you.

Isn't that an interesting turn of phrase?

Uh, you become a commodity, a thing to be wielded and manipulated.

That is not the way the Savior does things.

And he warns that those who are trying to shine other lights to tempt you

away from the sunrise that is coming, they're trying to make a merchandise of

you and don't fall prey to their words.

He talks about others in the history of scripture who've been

in similar circumstances to us.

Sometimes our world feels dark.

But there's love.

confusion, there's a lot of distortion of doctrines and, you

know, truth mingled with scripture.

I feel like you get all of that in our world.

And then he gives you these, this list of people who also lived in dark worlds and

the promise that you will be delivered.

Now, he uses people like Noah and Lot to show that when there are righteous among

In a dark world, they will be delivered.

God has always find, found ways to protect his saints in one way or another.

So he uses those as a framework to say, you don't need to be afraid of

the dark circumstances of your world.

God will find a way to deliver you.

Stay strong, no matter what your circumstances are.

And then, that's what he says in 9.

The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and

to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.

He's basically saying, I think, God takes care of both.

He finds a way to take care of those who are the oppressors,

those who are pushing down.

He will find a way to.

deal with them on the Day of Judgment.

And it'll also find a way to help you in the process, so endure it well.

And then 14.

Having eyes full of adultery that cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable

souls, and heart they have exercised with covetous practices, cursed children.

It's kind of a weird phrase except for I really love the

beguiling of unstable souls.

To me, this is why we need to be deeply rooted.

Why we have to dig deep.

I think we heard that in conference too.

This idea of like digging into the foundation and grabbing Hold

of that rebar with our covenants.

It's this invitation to be solidly planted because if you're not Then it's

a lot easier to beguile you if you're an unstable soul to start with then all those

false lights That are going to be brought in those darker hours will be appealing so

kind of that same way last week we talked about the ladders and being shaky as you

stand between the world and God's plan.

I think his invitation is Commit, pick, pick God's side and find

the stability that comes there.

He gives you a couple more examples, but I really like his powerful visual that

he gives in 17 about those who teach Anything contrary to God he calls them

These are wells without water clouds that are carried with a tempest to whom the

mist of darkness is reserved forever.

Oh you guys Wells without water.

I just thought it was such a perfect visual because it's like, I don't know,

I can do a lot of hiking and when I'm on the trails, especially lately, oftentimes

I will see a water fountain, like at a trailhead or something and think that

I can go get some water from that only to find out that the water's been shut

off for the winter and it's almost, it's so demoralizing, right, because

you've taken your energy to get all the way over to where that trailhead

is to get to the water and then you go to turn it on and there's nothing.

That's what I feel like.

Okay.

Learning from any other light is, you know, anyone who pretends to be a light

without authority, without priesthood, without truth, they are A well without

water, they waste your energy, they distract your mind away from the

progress you could have been making.

They are someone who promises refreshment, but can't deliver.

That's, that's apostasy to me.

It's this, it's um, a drifting towards something that cannot nourish you.

So he invites you to.

Come close.

I think you see that in 19.

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are servants of corruption,

for of whom man is overcome, and of the same is he brought in bondage.

I was teaching my way essays about the same concept, and one of my, one

of the guys in my class said, it's so interesting that the Savior's plan, or

God's plan, Seems confining at first.

There are commandments that you, you know, you're submitting your will to God.

It seems confining, but it actually gives liberty.

Whereas the adversary's plan seems liberating.

It says set all those confinements down.

You don't need commandments.

You don't need restrictions.

But what it does is it sends you to confinement.

He's like, they're polar opposites of each other.

And I thought it was such a powerful visual to see.

Yeah, that's the adversary's strategy.

He will make things look freeing and liberating while he entangles you or

wraps that flaxen cord around your neck where as the Lord's strategy is Come to

me, offer your whole souls unto me, and I will give you all that the Father hath.

I mean, they, they just couldn't be more polar opposite, and

you see that in 19 as well.

And then he warns about being entangled in it, and then 21.

For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than

after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

This is talking about apostasy and saying that those who knew the

truth and turn away from it are in a worse place than they were than

those who just never heard the truth.

Kind of talking about accountability for our spiritual understanding.

But I actually really liked when you add into this what you read in

Alma 24, because he talks about the result of this kind of apostasy where

you've had light and you turn away from it is a hardening of the heart.

It's almost like if the prodigal son who returned to his father and was embraced,

decided to go back to that idolatrous way of life, you know, or if Corianton

went back to Isabel, like it's once you have an understanding and a light and you

retreat back to an old self, you harden because you lose connection with spirit

and you harden harder and it takes more, you know, it'll take more than a pig's

die to get you to soften and change.

I think that's the warning in a few places in the Book of Mormon prophets.

It's almost changed their tone to sound like they're speaking to our day, like

the end of Nephi's life and Mormon and Moroni, they start to speak to us.

That's what happens in this last chapter of the epistle of Peter.

He speaks to us.

So it says in the latter days, there were people, there will be people

who scoff and scorn and doubt.

That the second coming will occur.

And he gives us this big golden piece of advice in verse eight.

But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is

with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.

I just think this is a powerful witness.

It's echoed in the book of Mormon as well.

I think it's Alma that teaches it, but it's this idea of it's not a literal.

you know, do the math and you can figure out how many days it is.

It's he's saying, God is in an eternal now.

I think that's Elder Maxwell.

There's a quote in the notes.

It's all about this, but his timing is different than ours.

So we don't need to worry.

We don't need to stress over when that day will come.

We have to trust that just like that parable of the 10 virgins, a call will

go out and those who are prepared We'll be ready to meet the bridegroom and

those who aren't will be scrambling and Peter doesn't want us to scramble

So he basically says whether your time is up because the Savior comes or your

time is up simply because you depart this life The time is now act now.

I love his example that he gives in 9, I think it tells you

something about the Savior's heart.

It says, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness,

but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but

that all should come to repentance.

I don't think he has any desire to destroy the children of God.

I don't think he is eager to see that destruction phase occur.

I think he's going to try and give as much time as possible to allow men to

learn, and to change, and to become.

I think he is long suffering to us ward.

I don't think that means...

We can delay his coming by our choices.

I think that's, that date is set in stone, as prophets have told us.

Nobody knows it, but I think it's been determined from the very beginning.

But we can change how we feel.

The same way the virgins who went and got oil beforehand changed.

It changed how they felt.

In that preparation phase, when the call rang out, they were ready,

and they were able to attend.

That's his invitation.

Because in 10 he says, Even though today is not the day, that day will come.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens

shall pass away with great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.

And the earth also and the works therein shall be burned up, seeing then that

all these things shall be dissolved.

What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?

The Savior said something similar when he comes to the Nephites,

and he says, What manner of men ought ye to be, even as I am?

You know, while we still have time in this earth life, we

should seek to become like him.

We should seek to acquire those divine attributes that Peter taught us about.

Go through that process of filtering ourselves over and over again.

As we await with joy.

In fact, that's what I love about his stance.

If you go in 13 and 14, he's saying look for new heavens and a new earth.

There is this inherent optimism in Peter.

Despite the fact that his life has been so hard and riddled with pain and

loss and struggle, I imagine it's also been full of Joy and light and miracle

moments, not just when the Savior walked near him, but also beyond, right?

As he used his priesthood to do good in the world and to stand where

the Savior would and act as he did.

I just think Peter's had a remarkable life of light and loss and he comes

together and says, it's worth it.

Hold fast.

Be diligent is what he offers in 14.

Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may

be found of him in peace, without spot.

And blameless.

Blameless.

That's the settled confidence that I think Peter has in this moment.

It's what he hopes for us as well.

All of the trials we experience, all of the peace we've found, all the

light that is here, we can take part of and let it settle our souls so that

we can look forward to his coming.

All right, you guys, time for the creative side of week 47.

So part of what I do here is I'm trying to find Fun creative ways to teach all

different age groups some of the things that Peter taught us I think it's one

thing for you to love the gospel It's another thing to help your kids love

it And I think one of the things that's challenging about home centered learning

is you often are teaching a mixed age range and today I'm hoping to help

you cover all the bases because we got something for everybody this week So

for those of you who aren't familiar, I'm gonna walk you through a preview

of each of the object lessons Give you an idea of the supplies you might need.

And then, if you're in the paid course, you just want to keep watching,

and I'll walk you through each one individually, and help you, you know,

give you access to the notes and the printables so that you can pull them off.

This is a really good week.

Okay, first and foremost, we're going to talk about what it

means to be a lively stone.

This is one of those phrases that Peter uses to help us appreciate

that we were put here for a purpose.

We're supposed to be part of something bigger and we were created

unique, but we also have some really similar characteristics.

And what came to mind as I was studying that idea of a lively stone was Legos.

I feel like these are just a really simple way to teach this principle to your kids.

So to teach this, you really don't need anything other than

like a random Dash of Legos.

You don't want the ones that go specifically to create a certain kit.

It's ideal if these are the ones like that you get out of your junk drawer or

the toy bin, you know, the ones you find at the bottom because you're going to

show how you can create things from them.

And since it's tech week, I'm going to introduce you to a cool

app that helps you do just that.

Take the random garbagey Legos that you don't know what to do with

and create cool things from them.

So.

Stick with me.

I promise your kids are going to love that one.

Second one for this one.

The only supplies you need are the printable.

I'm actually trying to create a way for you to have a conversation

with your teenagers about sharing the hope that is in them.

Remember how Peter invites us to always have a answer ready because

people are going to want to know why we feel hope in hard times.

And if we have answers ready, we can draw hearts to Christ.

So I actually think.

These opportunities are much more frequent than we give them credit for.

Even in your teenager's life, I think they are so much more common.

You just have to be watching for those moments.

So the, it's not really a game.

The activity that you're going to go through involves this printable where I've

created what I'm calling direct messages.

I've kind of formatted it to look like a phone and a direct message

that a friend might send them.

And then you're going to practice responses and we'll

walk through all of this.

But the idea being that the more I practice, Watching for these

opportunities to share hope and practice the words I might say in those

settings the more comfortable I'll feel and the more opportunities the

Spirit can give me to do just that.

So for this one, you just need some cardstock.

If you want your kids to participate in this in another way you'll also

want some pens on hand, but you don't really need anything fancy for this one.

Okay, third one and the most adorable of all three, you're

gonna talk about feeding his sheep.

So just like I told you in the insights, subbing in that Class of sunbeams help

me understand the value of feeding sheep rather than protecting or defending sheep.

So we're going to walk through that process with our

own hard to wrangle sheep.

So for this one, supplies wise, you just need white balloons.

If you want to make flappy ears, which of course you do because they're adorable.

You also want to add some black cardstock to the sides.

This is not a printable.

This is just like slapping it on with tape kind of cardstock.

Um, and then you want to create a place in the area that you're teaching

for the sheep to be wrangled towards.

Basically, you're going to show the difference between herding sheep

and feeding sheep, and you're going to help your kids see that process.

So maybe painters tape that you could put on the floor or just make a structure out

of folding chairs or your couches to, to give your kids a place to herd towards.

The last big thing you'll need for this one is some kind of edible prize.

What your kids won't realize until the end of this object

lesson is that they are actually.

demonstrating the scripture themselves.

They just won't see that until the end.

So in order for that to work, you need some kind of prize.

Make some Rice Krispies, buy some cupcakes, do something that

will entice your kids to want to herd the sheep, and they'll learn

something powerful in the process.

They'll learn the value of feeding sheep as they act out this object.

I promise they're going to love it.

So for that one, white balloons, some kind of treat to hold them over and painters

tape to mark out your like flock area.

And you'll be good to go.

All right, you guys, that's it for week 47.

Okay.

I hope you love this week of study.

This is some of the most beautiful writing from the savior's chief

apostle is Rich and full and you really can't give it too much time.

So do what you can and I promise you'll love it.

If you need extra help with the verses or with the object lessons, as always,

you can come find me on Instagram.

So Monday morning at 10 mountain time, I will pop on for about an

hour and chat through some of the insights I couldn't quite fit into

this week's videos or podcasts.

And then also open myself up to questions you have about the object lessons.

So if there's things that don't make sense to you, or you just have a

question on how you can do something better, come find me on the live.

If you can't catch it live.

Feel free to watch it in my feed for about a week, or you could

message me on YouTube or on the discussion boards within the course.

And I'll answer your questions as they come rolling at me.

But I think this will be a pretty self explanatory week.

There's, there's so much goodness in the verses and the object lessons are easy.

So hopefully you just enjoy it and then come on back next week for even more.

All right, you guys enjoy this week.