Video 96... 🌿 The Lord Was There Before I Arrived

🌿 The Lord Was There Before I Arrived

Lessons From the Porch

By The True Remnant

The older I get, the less certain I become about many things.

And strangely enough, the more certain I become about one thing.

The Lord is closer than we think.

Not just in the great spiritual moments.

Not just in church meetings.

Not just in the scriptures.

But in ordinary life.

In fact, some of the greatest lessons the Lord has ever taught me came during moments that seemed completely ordinary at the time.

One happened many years ago in Korea.

Another happened on a golf course.

One happened while trying to hang a window blind.

Another happened while studying ancient records.

And one is still happening as I navigate the challenges that come with growing older.

Looking back now, they all seem connected.

At the time, they felt completely unrelated.

🌿 Korea and the Center

As a young missionary in Korea, I spent countless hours studying the Book of Mormon.

Like many young missionaries, I wanted answers.

I wanted certainty.

I wanted to know.

One day I came across an article discussing chiasmus.

For those unfamiliar with the term, chiasmus is an ancient literary structure found throughout scripture. Ideas are arranged like a mirror, moving toward a central point. Often the most important message stands at the center.

That caught my attention.

I went back to my scriptures.

Over time I had marked certain passages with different colors. One color in particular kept standing out.

Purple.

As I began comparing my markings to the chiasms I was discovering, something remarkable happened.

That color kept appearing near the center.

And what was at the center?

Christ.

Again and again.

Mercy.

Atonement.

Redemption.

The Savior.

It felt as if the scriptures themselves were quietly teaching me a lesson.

Everything pointed back to Him.

Not programs.

Not organizations.

Not personalities.

Him.

Years later I would discover that life itself often works the same way.

The farther I travel, the more roads seem to lead back to Christ.

🌿 The Prayer I Never Forgot

Not long after that discovery came one of the most important spiritual experiences of my life.

I knelt to pray.

But something was different.

Instead of asking the Lord to help me accomplish my plans, I finally placed my plans into His hands.

My future.

My fears.

My hopes.

My life.

Everything.

For perhaps the first time, I truly surrendered.

What happened next is difficult to describe.

Light filled my soul.

Not emotion alone.

Not excitement.

Light.

Every fiber of my being seemed alive.

I knew God was real.

I knew Christ lived.

That experience became a spiritual anchor for the rest of my life.

But over the years I've realized something.

The greatest miracle wasn't the light.

The greatest miracle was the surrender that came before it.

The light was a gift.

The surrender opened the door.

🌿 A Blind, a Prayer, and a Back Door

Many years later, I found myself standing on a ladder trying to hang a large window blind.

I had read the instructions.

Measured.

Remeasured.

Moved things around.

Climbed up.

Climbed down.

And accomplished very little.

The more I worked, the more frustrated I became.

Finally, I stopped.

Still standing there, I bowed my head and offered a very simple prayer.

"Lord, I don't know how to do this. Please help me."

That was it.

A simple prayer about a simple problem.

I finished the prayer.

Almost immediately the back door opened.

My wife stepped outside.

She looked at what I was doing for a few seconds and said:

"Why don't you do it this way?"

One small suggestion.

One simple idea.

And suddenly the entire problem unraveled.

Within minutes the blind was hanging.

I remember standing there shaking my head.

Not because the solution was so complicated.

But because the timing was so perfect.

I had barely finished saying amen.

Sometimes we expect answers to arrive from heaven.

Sometimes heaven sends them through the back door.

🌿 Following the Light

Years later I found myself studying the Nemenhah records.

At first I approached them cautiously.

Perhaps even skeptically.

But I did what I have always tried to do.

I studied.

I prayed.

I compared.

I looked for light.

What surprised me was not merely the content.

It was the patterns.

Chiasmus appeared again.

The same patterns that had first fascinated me in Korea.

The same patterns that had pointed me toward Christ decades earlier.

The more I studied, the less interested I became in arguments about records.

And the more interested I became in the principles being taught.

The purpose of scripture is not to win debates.

The purpose of scripture is to bring us to Christ.

That lesson has remained constant throughout my life.

🌿 Different Prayers

Getting older changes a person.

At least it has changed me.

When I was younger, many of my prayers were about strength.

Now they are often about presence.

"Lord, help me through today."

"Lord, help me know what to do next."

Or simply:

"Lord, stay with me."

Health challenges have a way of teaching humility.

They remind us that we are not as self-sufficient as we once imagined.

But they also teach something else.

The Lord doesn't stand at the end of the road waiting for us to arrive.

He walks the road with us.

Every appointment.

Every setback.

Every uncertainty.

Every prayer.

🌿 What I Know Today

If there is one thing I know after all these years, it is this:

Christ is real.

His light is real.

His guidance is real.

His love is real.

I still have questions.

I still have things to learn.

But I have come to trust the One leading the journey.

Looking back, the pattern seems obvious.

The missionary.

The prayer.

The blind.

The golf course.

The records.

The health challenges.

The victories.

The disappointments.

They all point to the same place.

The same way those ancient chiasms pointed to the center.

They point to Christ.

And perhaps that is the lesson.

The Lord is closer than we think.

Not because He suddenly appears when we need Him.

But because He was there before we arrived.

🌿

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🌿 About the Nemenhah Records

Many readers have asked about the Nemenhah Records.

The Nemenhah Records are a collection of writings that claim to preserve teachings, history, prophecy, and spiritual instruction among indigenous peoples of the Americas. Whether you are simply curious or deeply interested, I encourage you to study them for yourself and compare them with the scriptures you already know.

The records are available through Amazon and can be found by searching:

🔍 Nemenhah Records
🔍 Phillip Cloudpiler Landis

As with all things, I encourage you to seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost and allow the Lord to be your teacher.

🌿 Sunday Study Group

Several of us gather each Sunday morning to read and discuss the Nemenhah Records together. We come from different backgrounds, ask honest questions, and seek to learn from one another while keeping Christ at the center of the discussion.

If you would like information about joining the study group, simply leave a comment below and let me know. Be sure to include a way for me to contact you, and I will be happy to reach out.

🌿 Search the Blog

There are now many studies available on a wide variety of subjects.

Click the magnifying glass (🔍) at the top of the blog and search topics such as:

Christ
Holy Ghost
Zion
Second Comforter
Hearing His Voice
Nemenhah Records
Temple
Consecration
The Doctrine of Christ
The Remnant

Take what helps.

Leave the rest.

Keep seeking Christ.

— The True Remnant