Read: Alma 42-43
Mark: Alma 42:14-15
"How great the wisdom and the love
That filled the courts on high
And sent the Savior from above
To suffer, bleed and die!" --Hymn 195
To ponder:
How does understanding the Fall help you more fully love Jesus and appreciate what He did for us?
Just wanted to let you know that I am still here and still reading. I am all caught up now and have really enjoyed this journey. It has kept me diligently reading my scriptures which is great!
ReplyDeleteKate! I'm so excited to know you are still with us!!!! Love, Patti
ReplyDeleteAnd finally Captain Moroni enters the picture! :)
ReplyDeleteLove these two chapters! I love the preparations of Moroni for the people and how they listened! And he was only 25!!!
Did you notice how the Lamanites fought like dragons and were fighting for monarchy and power? And the Nephites were fighting for their homes, their liberties, their wives and their children and the rites to worship as they so chose to do?! Once again, what a great example we are provided through these scriptures. We are reminded that we need to stand for what is right, to fight for our religious freedoms and for our families--doing whatever it takes!
I love Alma 43:48 where Moroni 'perceives' the thoughts of the Nephites and sends inspiration to their hearts that they will remember the cause they are fighting for: their lands, their liberties, their freedom from bondage! Yes!!!
Haven't read chapter 43 yet--I'll get to that tomorrow. But other than that I am finally all caught up!!!! Oh man... family reunions are GREAT, but it was impossible to read while I was there! I tried several times, but we were all together in one big house with like, 20-30 people at any given time. CRAZY! Plus no internet access, so I wouldn't have been able to get on the blog even if I had miraculously been able to keep up! But I read 12 chapters in the last few days. Phew! So since it's 1:30 AM now I'm gonna say that being caught up through chapter 42 is GOOD! LOL. I just finished going back and putting up a blog post for each day I missed (aside from catch-up days). This has been incredible, but I'm ready to just be back on schedule--it is SO much easier to keep up than catch up!
ReplyDeleteI really love Alma 42:25. Mercy cannot rob justice. We see justice get robbed all the time! This happens when the best sports player gets a bad grade magically turned into a good one so he can play in the tournament. It happens when inmates get released early for "good behavior" because of overcrowding in prisons (where, mind you, they get free medical care, education, meals, shelter, etc.). It happens when people hand a homeless person money and that person turns around and buys drugs or alcohol (or apply this to Medicaid/Food Stamps/Welfare if you'd like). There are so many instances in our world where mercy robs justice. God doesn't work that way! Is God merciful? YES! But he is also just. It drives me crazy when people say that all you have to do to be "saved" is to believe in God. NO IT ISN'T!!!! You can't just go around doing whatever the heck you want to and expect it all to be hunky-dory because you "believe"! A sin is a sin is a sin is a sin, and we WILL be judged accordingly. Mercy comes from repentance--true, sincere repentance. Christ's atonement takes care of us, but only after we do the work ourselves.
I can't wait to read chapter 43--I really like that chapter, especially verses 44-47!
Jenny! This is me hitting the "LIKE" button a zillion times!
DeleteChapter 42: Justice and mercy are both necessary. Justice shows itself in the consequences of our actions. It drives us towards humility. We must learn to be as Zeezrom and respond to this push towards humility with recognition and acceptance. But DO fight the natural man tendency to be angry and/or to despair. remember mercy. We must repent a true repentance and there is hope after all - even in our humility!
ReplyDeleteChapter 43:
Prepare/Protect the body/self
Control/Know your environment
Know your opponent
Devise a plan
Have pure intentions
+ Be on the Lord's Side
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Success!