A "New" Year

Sitting in my motel room in Billings this morning I missed the first day of Seminary.  I no longer teach but my heart is sure there.  There is much that I don’t miss about Seminary…mostly the early mornings and the incredible amount of hours put in to the lessons each day.  But I do miss the study and the special gift of understanding the scriptures in a way that I could teach them.  I feel a void in my life because of that.  I am going to try and fill that void by teaching myself the next 9 months!  I think the best way ~ bar none ~ to study and learn the scriptures is through the Seminary lessons.  I’m so grateful that the teacher’s manual is available on line, or in the distribution center, that anyone can access it now.  And so I have downloaded it onto my IPAD and I’m going to teach myself the Old Testament J

Today…ABRAHAM 3

•         Scripture Mastery, Abraham 3:22-23…

22) Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

           23) And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.

•         Knowing who we are and why we are here can give us greater strength to meet challenges and find joy in life.

WHO AM I? WHY AM I HERE?

I am Rozla.  I am a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter.  I am a wife, a mother, a grandmother. I am a friend and a confidant.  I struggle to understand my worth sometimes.  I am a creator.

I am here on earth because I have parents who wanted me and created my earthly body.  I am on earth because that is the plan of Heavenly Father.  I am in Montana because we were led here by divine guidance.  I am here – on earth and in Montana – to learn and to become like my Heavenly Father.

Reading in Abraham 3:22-28 some important answers to these same questions are given but I especially like verses 23 and 25…

            23 And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.

            25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

If I relate this scripture to myself…which we are told to do as we read…then I was chosen before I was born for this time and place.  And the Lord is proving me to see if I will be obedient.

So I AM…one of the souls that was good as I stood in the midst of God in the pre-existence

I AM HERE…to prove to my Heavenly Father that I will be obedient and do whatsoever He shall command

President Ezra Taft Benson said, “The great test of life is obedience to God” (Ensign, May 1988, 4).

Even though Abraham was chosen for certain purposes, he still had to “prove” himself through obedience.

President Benson said:

      “For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the Second Coming. Every previous gospel dispensation has drifted into apostasy, but ours will not. … God has saved for the final inning some of his strongest children, who will help bear off the kingdom triumphantly. And that is where you come in, for you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God. … Make no mistake about it—you are a marked generation. There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time as there is of us. … Each day we personally make many decisions that show where our support will go. The final outcome is certain—the forces of righteousness will finally win. What remains to be seen is where each of us personally, now and in the future, will stand in this fight—and how tall we will stand. Will we be true to our last-days, foreordained mission?” (Ensign, Nov. 1989, 36-37)

I am so thankful to know that I am a daughter of God! I am grateful for my understanding that this life is a time of testing and proving.  That makes it easier to move forward in the face of hard things.  I am thankful to know that as I am obedient the blessings of heaven cannot and will not be held back from me.  And as I am patient greater understanding comes!  I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ.  I know they live and I know that through MY obedience and when I turn to THEM that I can do hard things and I can find joy in my journey through life!