Words of Moses/Nephi

This afternoon I finished reading and revising 1 Nephi 7 (in my Sloppy Coppy [edit] Simple Copy) for my kids.  Something interesting stuck out to me, probably with current events going on.  This part here:

"But it is the kingdom of the devil which will be built up among the children of men which kingdom is established among them which are in the flesh for the time speedily will come that all churches which are built up to get gain and all those who are built up to get power over the flesh and those who are built up to become popular in the eyes of the world and those who seek the lusts of the flesh and the things of the world and to do all manner of iniquity yes in fine all those who belong to the kingdom of the devil are they who need fear and tremble and quake they are those who must be brought low in the dust they are those who must be consumed as stubble and this is according to the words of the prophet"

(Forgive the lack of punctuation, but that is one purpose of my sloppy copy revision.  It allows me to see the words freshly.)

To bullet this out for clarity, these are identifiers of the enemy's kingdom:

• established among those in the flesh
• any/all church built up to get gain
• all those (churches? individuals?) who are built up to get power over flesh
• all those (churches? individuals?) who are built up to become popular in the eyes of the world
• those who seek the lusts of the flesh
• those who seek the things of the world
• those who do all manner of iniquity

Bullets 2 and 3 are assumed to speak of churches, but it is possible they refer to individuals as well.  So the question remains, for me, do I participate or encourage any of these things.  Do I worry myself with being in a church built up to get gain, or make money in any way off of people?  Do I seek to get power over flesh?  Do I seek to become popular in the eyes of others, especially the "world"?  Do I seek the lust of my flesh?  Do I seek the things of the world, like fine cars, fine homes, superior schooling, lavish entertainment or self indulgences?  Do I participate in any manner of iniquity?  

It's difficult to say I don't participate in any of those things.  Best not to point the finger, but rather use the words of Nephi, quoting the prophet Moses, for introspection.  

Simple Testimony: Sabbath Days

I LOVE the Sabbath.  It's one of those 10 commandments that often gets overlooked, or perhaps marginalized.  I don't know why, but it seems a shame to me.  Attempting to honor it has been one of the greatest blessings in my life.

On Sundays, I go to church, but I'm starting to wonder if it would be better to have church on another day of the week, as it doesn't seem that "restful".  But I appreciate having the words of the Lord through the prophet Moses:

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God:

in it thou shalt not do any work,

thou,

nor thy son,

nor thy daughter,

thy manservant,

nor thy maidservant,

nor thy cattle,

nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth,

the sea,

and all that in them is,

and rested the seventh day:

wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day,

and hallowed it." 

(Exodus 20: 8-11)

I love the implications for this.  Does it mean that it's only us and our "maidservant" that gets a break on the Sabbath?  Who is our servant, or our cattle, nowadays that very few of us have personal servants?  What's the underlying principle?  

This is one of those commandments that seems more difficult to keep for some, but I have found the greatest blessings from observing it.  

What do you do on the Sabbath day, to help keep it hallowed?