I ran across these verses that I think perfectly capture the process by which reading the scriptures regularly builds our faith and testimony.

6 Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.
7 Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things. (Jacob 4:6-7)

So first, we read the scriptures and search the prophecies in them.  In the process of doing that day after day, the Holy Ghost gives us daily revelation and even prophecies of Christ (testimonies of Christ).

Those revelations and prophecy join with the scriptures to become a cloud of witness to us, certifying that those things are true. Then we obtain a hope of a future day that we will be rewarded if we diligently obey God’s commandments as written in the scriptures.  We also hope for something better than the present.

With this hope, we act with faith and over the process of time our faith becomes unshaken through our diligence.

And with unshaken faith, anything becomes possible, even (according to Jacob) commanding the elements that they obey.  Verrrrrrrry intriguing.

And yet, our reading (and revelation) shows us also our weaknesses and we realize that we still have so much to learn. We see that none of these things is possible without the power of Christ.

It is neat to see this process all laid out for us in black and white.  Without it, we have a hard time articulating exactly what the blessings of studying the scriptures are. And in fact, we can see that there is much more to be gained than simply a knowledge of the gospel or a testimony.  We see hope, faith, and even power over the elements through the grace of God.  Those are blessings to look for and strive for.


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