Alma 8:14-15… while he was journeying thither, being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass while Alma was thus weighed down with sorrow, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying:—Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him. Behold, I am he that delivered it unto you.
This has to be the most loving advice from our Heavenly Father—Don’t worry! Keep your head up! Have confidence! Know who you are! These are all things that I have told my children during stressful moments—first day of school, basketball tryouts, job interviews, or dealing with peers. So let’s follow the words of our “Eternal Father of heaven and of earth” and “Lift up [our] head(s) and rejoice!” (Alma 11:39) For he “redeem his people” (Alma 11:40) “He is the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” (Alma 11:39) He has guaranteed us that He “shall loose the bands of death…the spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form.” (Alma 11:42-43) “This restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.” (Alma 11:44)
Alma 11:27 …Yea, there is a true and living God.
That’s the confidence and joy that we must carry with us as we “boldly” live righteously —(Alma 9:7) valiantly striving to stay spiritually alive—knowing that the journey of life is to prepare us to meet God and to live eternally with him and our families. “The time is at hand that all men shall reap a reward of their works, according to that which they have been—if they have been righteous they shall reap the salvation of their souls, according to the power and deliverance of Jesus Christ.” (Alma 9:28) “I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness.” (Alma 12:16) “There was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God.” (Alma 12:24) “The Lord will be merciful to all who call in his name.” (Alma 9:17)
Alma 7: 20 …His course is one eternal round
One of the most common tips in the scriptures on how to stay righteous, and “make his paths straight,” (Alma 7:19) is to protect our hearts and to keep them soft and humble. “Whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.” (Alma 12:34) “He that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.” (Alma 12:10) For a hard heart creates a “lost and fallen people.” (Alma 9:30) This is where and why repentance is so Important, because it aligns our will with the Father’s will. “Repent ye, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Alma 10:20) We welcome Him and His servants into our lives to help lead and direct us from the adversaries tricks and cunning designs. “These lawyers were learned in all the arts and cunning of the people….ye are laying the foundations of the devil; for ye are laying traps and snares to catch the holy ones of God…to pervert the ways of righteousness.” (Alma 10: 15,17,18) With the power of God in our lives we can “perceive their thoughts” (Alma 10:17) and save many souls. “Were it not for the prayers of the righteous, who are now in the land, that ye would even now be visited with utter destruction.” (Alma 10:22) We can lift up our heads and rejoice for God’s “matchless power, and his mercy, and his long suffering towards us.” (Alma 9:11) will give us the power to avoid the traps of the adversary so we can “boldly testify”. (Alma 9:7) “Power given unto them, insomuch that they could. It be confined in dungeons; neither was it possible that any man could slay them.” (Alma 8:31)
Alma 9:26 And not many days hence the Son of God shall come in his glory; and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth, full of patience, mercy, and long-suffering, quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers.
Through everything we learn from the prophets, past and present, the truth is we still have agency, to choose whom we follow. God has the power to save, Satan has the power to condemn, and we have the power to choose. “Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first commandments as to things which were temporal, and becoming as gods, knowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good—Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining unto righteousness; for on such the plan of redemption could have no power, for the works of justice could not be destroyed, according to the supreme goodness of God.” (Alma 12:32) “I say unto you again that he cannot save them in their sins; for I cannot deny his word, and he hath said that no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore, how can ye be saved, except ye inherit the kingdom of heaven? Therefore, ye cannot be saved in your sins.“ (Alma 11:37) “We must come forth and stand before him in his glory, and in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all his judgments are just; that he is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, and that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance.” (Alma 12:15)
Alma 12:37 …let us enter into the rest of God, which is prepared according to his word.
-Written by Sherri Jorgensen
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