Today I wanted to share a few verses with you out of DC 58:
2 For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation,the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.
3 Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes,for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.
4 For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand.
I have always thought this revelation was interesting, mainly because it was given to few brand new converts who were just baptized. They wanted to know the will of the Lord concerning them and their future, so Joseph Smith received a revelation for them. These are the first verses of the revelation, the very first thing the Lord wanted them to know.
God didn't say, "Now that you've been baptized into my church, it's smooth sailing from now on." He said "Things are going to be hard. I have a plan for each of you, but to see the realization of that plan, there's going to be some suffering. If you keep being faithful even when things are hard, you will be crowned with glory in the next life."
Sometimes I think because we are members of God's restored church on the earth today, we think that our lives should be easier than other people's lives. We expect smooth sailing, and when we hit rough waters, we say "I thought you loved me God! I thought this was the true church!" This is a mistake on our part. In order to become the people God wants us to be, we have to suffer a little. It is during the hard times in our lives that we grow the most, and God loves us enough to want that growth for us. If God protected us from everything hard, we would never become like Him.
I know that if we approach our various trials in the right way, they can all be blessings in disguise. Every one of them will chisel and mold us into someone like God, if we let them. That is why we are here. We chose to come to this earth because life would be hard, not in spite of it. Someday, we will be able to look back at our lives, and see how the trials we faced made it possible for us to build our own stairway to heaven. I love you all, and testify of this principle in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
2 For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation,the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.
3 Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes,for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.
4 For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand.
I have always thought this revelation was interesting, mainly because it was given to few brand new converts who were just baptized. They wanted to know the will of the Lord concerning them and their future, so Joseph Smith received a revelation for them. These are the first verses of the revelation, the very first thing the Lord wanted them to know.
God didn't say, "Now that you've been baptized into my church, it's smooth sailing from now on." He said "Things are going to be hard. I have a plan for each of you, but to see the realization of that plan, there's going to be some suffering. If you keep being faithful even when things are hard, you will be crowned with glory in the next life."
Sometimes I think because we are members of God's restored church on the earth today, we think that our lives should be easier than other people's lives. We expect smooth sailing, and when we hit rough waters, we say "I thought you loved me God! I thought this was the true church!" This is a mistake on our part. In order to become the people God wants us to be, we have to suffer a little. It is during the hard times in our lives that we grow the most, and God loves us enough to want that growth for us. If God protected us from everything hard, we would never become like Him.
I know that if we approach our various trials in the right way, they can all be blessings in disguise. Every one of them will chisel and mold us into someone like God, if we let them. That is why we are here. We chose to come to this earth because life would be hard, not in spite of it. Someday, we will be able to look back at our lives, and see how the trials we faced made it possible for us to build our own stairway to heaven. I love you all, and testify of this principle in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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