Skip to main content

1 Nephi 22:24-26

"And the time cometh speedily that the righteous must be led up as calves of the stall, and the Holy One of Israel must reign in dominion and might, and power, and great glory.  And he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth; and he numbereth his sheep, and they know him; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture.  And because of the righteousness of his people, Satan has no power; wherefore, he cannot be loosed for the space of many years for he hath no power over the hearts of the people, for they dwell in righteousness, and the Holy One of Israel reigneth."

As calves of the stall - such a tender and loving phrase to describe His constant, watchful, intimate care of those that belong to Him.  And because He has their whole hearts, He can purify and cleanse the vessel is become pure and whole - able to hold all things without breaking, or cracking, or leaking.  It is become perfected through Him.  Then Satan can be bound because his noise cannot find root in the light.  He can only have claim on those who will harbor darkness within their hearts.  This, then, is the true purpose for the distressing of Ariel.  If the greatness of the trials breaks down the walls and brings the Lord into the ache to heal, then that heart can be purified - which means that t heart can be set free from the darkness it is harboring and Satan is bound.  Spiritual freedom comes when we react to our trials with humility and open our hearts.  Trials = freedom.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My life ended 10 days ago and then it started again.

Cory. The first time I met him and he told me his name, five minutes later I called him "Cody." And that is how we began, with me hurting his feelings because I remembered the wrong name. Twenty years and 3 months and one day after that first meeting, he died. I can hardly believe the life I've lived in those 20 years...it seems we packed an eternity of experiences - both good and awful - into those two decades. We were engaged the day we met. Four months later we were married. Thirteen years later we divorced. Two years after that, we were married again. Four years (plus a little) later, divorced again. Ten months, three weeks, and five days later, he was dead. The first divorce, I didn't know it was mental illness. One moment he was loving and the best man I'd ever known. The next moment he was scary and someone I was afraid to be around. He would apologize and I would believe him when he told me he would not do it again. I would immediately extend trust...
7 comments
Read more

Shifting the Blog

Hi friends.  Up to today, the blog has just been writing some of the thoughts I've written in the margins of my scriptures as I studied them.  This morning, however, I am feeling pulled to change this blog in a different direction. All of us have baggage from life.  Maybe we were abused.  Maybe we thought of ourselves  as abused.  Maybe we didn't have the kind of parents our friends had.  Maybe we had the perfect parents and still felt sad.  Maybe we were struggling with fitting in so much that we completely changed who we were and now have no idea how to find ourselves again.  Maybe we were so popular that we felt constant pressure to perform and live up to the expectations of those around us.  Maybe life is lovely and we feel ungrateful because there is this nagging feeling that something is missing - but life is good and all of our needs are met.  Maybe we feel like our best isn't enough no matter what we do.  Maybe we fee...
3 comments
Read more

The Gift of the Natural Man - Part 1

Please bear with me while I share all of this with you.  At the beginning, the gift of the natural man will not be super clear.  But as I explain and go through all of the things that will give you the frame of reference, you'll begin to see what I'm trying to share with you. In Genesis 3:24 we read: "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." The first thing I would like to do is point out a few distinctions.  It reads "cherubims  and  a flaming sword" not " with " a flaming sword.  This is important.  It is also important to note that the flaming sword turns "every way." Another important distinction to make is that it says "to keep the way of the tree of life" not "the way  to  the tree of life."  Again, very important if we are going to understand this doctrine. Lastly, let's make ...
2 comments
Read more