Isaiah!

I am embarrassed to admit that the Isaiah parts of the Book of Mormon have always been the "must trudge through" sections for me.  Not this time around!  I am not sure why, but this time around, the Isaiah parts have been my favorite.  Finally.  I think it is that the poetic and symbolic language touched my heart like great music or beautiful art...on a different level than the intellectual side of things.  I think it is also because they are so focused on Christ and His love for His people and that He is ever eager to bless us.

What scripture stood out during your first week?

For me it was the passage of Nephi's vision of the Tree of Life and additional visions.  At one point, The Spirit of the Lord asked him, "Knowest thou the condescension of God?"  You might say the Lord was asking him about his testimony.  I LOVED Nephi's reply.  Loosely paraphrasing, he said, "There's a lot I don't know, but one thing I DO know is that God loves His children?"  When I read that, it popped into my mind that if I were asked to survey my testimony and choose my deepest conviction to express, I may have answered just as Nephi did.  And what a great truth!...God loves His children.  That means I can feel and enjoy a great sense of self worth, and can act accordingly.  It also means YOU are of great worth and I am to treat you accordingly.  The Book of Mormon rocks!

-Bro. Stevens

hmm

So this is how you make a post...