I have a good friend who is struggling with her testimony and living the Gospel of Christ. I woke up this morning for my scripture study but just felt so overwhelmed with this weight of helping my friend. I knelt in prayer for her and her husband, desiring to know how I could help them reignite their flame of testimony. I rose from the floor and started my scripture study. Not very long later I came across this scripture that burned inside of me.
And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things. Alma 24:20
I knew that God had a message for them in this scripture but I wasn’t sure what it was. I jumped in the shower and pondered it the whole time.
Let me share the context of this scripture first.
Alma 24:20-30
20 And it came to pass that their brethren, the Lamanites, made preparations for war, and came up to the land of Nephi for the purpose of destroying the king, and to place another in his stead, and also of destroying the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi out of the land.
21 Now when the people saw that they were coming against them they went out to meet them, and prostrated themselves before them to the earth, and began to call on the name of the Lord; and thus they were in this attitude when the Lamanites began to fall upon them, and began to slay them with the sword.
22 And thus without meeting any resistance, they did slay a thousand and five of them; and we know that they are blessed, for they have gone to dwell with their God.
23 Now when the Lamanites saw that their brethren would not flee from the sword, neither would they turn aside to the right hand or to the left, but that they would lie down and perish, and praised God even in the very act of perishing under the sword–
24 Now when the Lamanites saw this they did forbear from slaying them; and there were many whose hearts had swollen in them for those of their brethren who had fallen under the sword, for they repented of the things which they had done.
25 And it came to pass that they threw down their weapons of war, and they would not take them again, for they were stung for the murders which they had committed; and they came down even as their brethren, relying upon the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them.
26 And it came to pass that the people of God were joined that day by more than the number who had been slain; and those who had been slain were righteous people, therefore we have no reason to doubt but what they were saved.
27 And there was not a wicked man slain among them; but there were more than a thousand brought to the knowledge of the truth; thus we see that the Lord worketh in many ways to the salvation of his people.
28 Now the greatest number of those of the Lamanites who slew so many of their brethren were Amalekites and Amulonites, the greatest number of whom were after the order of the Nehors.
29 Now, among those who joined the people of the Lord, there were none who were Amalekites or Amulonites, or who were of the order of Nehor, but they were actual descendants of Laman and Lemuel.
30 And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things.
The message that the Lord wants my friends to know, is that this state of hardness does not come overnight, but if not resisted it will spread fast. Satan knows that you guys are slipping, and as a matter of fact, he was the one that put the doubts in your hearts to begin with and has been helping you feel more and more angry, bitter, and resentful. The path from where you are is a tough path back, because your minds have been darkened by the cunning of the evil one. It is time to step out of the shadows and into the light. Your Savior is standing with arms open and outstretched, waiting to embrace you and give you happiness and joy that you can’t even comprehend now.
I plead with you to decide today to step into the Light and come back home, allowing the atonement to cleanse you and bring about a might change in your hearts.
Craig
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