I love this.

With Faith in Every Footstep.

My family spent last weekend on trek where we reenacted a very small part of the remarkable handcart journey of converts across the plains to the Salt Lake Valley. While I am deeply impressed with those souls who sacrificed everything to follow their faith, I am equally in awe of the youth of today. I hope they know how wonderful they are! "With faith in every footstep, we follow Christ, the Lord; And filled with hope through his pure love, we sing with one accord."

And They Understood Me Not: The Lost Sheep Verses in the Bible.

3 Nephi 3:15Jesus is a great example of patience.  He was always having to explain and teach in many different ways so that people could understand what he was trying to tell them.  There were parables and similes and object lessons.  But sometimes He just said it plainly, as in this chapter. 1.  The Law of Moses is Fulfilled.  Over.  Done.  Fulfilled.2.   If you follow His teachings,  you will be with Him "at the last day."  3.  Be teachable (not stiff-necked), and you will learn wonderful things. There are many other things to learn in this chapter, especially about why there were lost sheep in the first place, but these are three that stick out to me.  Now, pardon me, but I must go and check the stiffness of my neck.  It is general conference weekend and I don't want to miss learning any wonderful things.  

Spiritual Extra Credit or the Main Assignment

3 Nephi 14

When I much younger, I looked at the whole, Judge not, that ye be not judged, a little differently than I do now.  I always liked the idea that we shouldn't be judging others.  I had seen how doing this could destroy the lives of the victims of judging.  But I also really liked the next phrase,  "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."  

That looked like a good deal to me.  If I did not judge others harshly, I myself would not be judged harshly, and that would be like some spiritual extra credit.  As a conscientious student in school, I was rarely perfect, but with a little extra credit, my grades could be perfect just the same.  

But as I have gone through life, I have discovered that this "Judge not" commandment is not extra credit.  It is the main assignment.  As in, love God and love your neighbor and all the law and prophets hang on these two commandments.  Not judging is a part of loving others with the perfect love with which Christ loves us.  It cannot be ignored. It is mandatory.  And it feels a lot better than judging anyway.  

1 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he turned again to the multitude, and did open his mouth unto them again, saying: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Judge not, that ye be not judged.

 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother: Let me pull the mote out of thine eye—and behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

 6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

 7 Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

 8 For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.

 9 Or what man is there of you, who, if his son ask bread, will give him a stone?

 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

 12 Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets.

 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, which leadeth to destruction, and many there be who go in thereat;

 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

 15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

 20 Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them.

 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.

 22 Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?

 23 And then will I profess unto them: I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

 24 Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock—

 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.

 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand—

 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

That Ye May Be the Children of Your Father in Heaven

3 Nephi 12

This chapter is dense with doctrine.  While Christ begins by saying the people will be blessed if they believe his teachings, he says that they are "more blessed" if they believe the twelve disciples he has just called to preach and baptize.  And if they believe the disciples and repent and are baptized with water they will also be baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

The wonderful thing is that we know everyone he was preaching to would indeed believe both him and his disciples,  be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, live in peace, and then live with God in eternity.  What a singular occurrence in the history of the world, at least the history that we know about.

When Jesus gave the Western Hemisphere version of the Sermon on the Mount, did he think about his loved ones in Jerusalem who may not have accepted his ministry and his words and who would not be with him in the next life?  Did he have any?  For all that believed him in Jerusalem, there must have been many who did not. There were many he loved that deserted or betrayed him.

In verse 44 he says, "But behold I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you;

45 That ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good."

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth simply won't do if you want to be the children of your Heavenly Father.  

And after he said to love everyone, even your enemies, he said, "Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect."

Jesus knows about enemies.  He knows about love.  He knows about perfect.  

He promises us that if we can love everyone like he loves everyone, we can be the Children of our Father in Heaven.  

He even asks us to pray to Heavenly Father to be filled with love and adds that then we will be like him.  

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."  Moroni 7:48.  

One by One

3 Nephi 11
verses 13-41

I will never forget the testimony of a beautiful and confident young women in my freshman ward at Ricks College.  She told of a dream where she and many others were standing and gazing up into heaven as Christ descended and then stood among them.  She was shocked when Christ called her by name.  She said that it had never occurred to her that Christ not only came down here for everyone, but also specifically for her.

In these verses of 3 Nephi,  Christ invites each person  " to come forth and that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world."

Each person.

One by one.

Check out this devotional to more fully understand the concept of "one by one."

And then there is Nephi.  Nephi the fearless.  Nephi who just won't stop talking about Jesus or healing the sick or raising the dead.  

Christ called Nephi up to him by name, and Nephi, overcome as anyone would be,  falls to the ground and kisses his feet.  Jesus commands him to arise and Christ gives him power to baptized the people and he tells him very specifically how to do it and warns them not to dispute over how to do it, because that is just not how the people of God do things.   

Then he sums up his gospel.

"And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.

 34 And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned."

And then he tells us the way to being the kind of people we need to be.

"And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.

 38 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

 39 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them."

Twice he says repent, be baptized and "and become as a little child."  He promises that if we do that , the gates of hell shall not prevail against us.  That is quite a promise. 

When we read about what happens in this chapter, it is easy to feel Christ's love for each of us.  The Hymn, "This is the Christ" helps me to feel the ministry of Christ to each one of us, separate and eternal.  I hope you can feel his love for you.  And if you can, then do as the Lord commands in the last verse. 

"Therefore, go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth."

Will do.  

I am the life and the light of the world.

3 Nephi 11

Verses 1-12

I was once asked, "If you could choose anytime to live in the history of the world, when would it be?"
My answer was either at the time of 3 Nephi 11 or now.

No description of any event anywhere has made me long to be there as much as this one in 3 Nephi 11.

The chapter opens up with the people standing around the temple in Bountiful and talking about this Jesus Christ who had spoken to them.  That is when they hear a voice.  I think it is important to note that these people were:   a) at the temple and b) talking about Jesus when this event occurred.

"And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn."

But this voice didn't belong to Jesus.  This voice was the Father.  The third time he spoke, they understood his words.

"Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him."

Why did it take three times to understand the voice?  I have often wondered about this.  

In the margins of my scriptures it is written, "The spirit often testifies before there is comprehension."

I have found this to be true in my own life.  There have, at times, been a principle or even a nudging to the direction of my life that I have not understood, but I understood the truthfulness of it, despite my lack of understanding.

In verse 8 it says 

"And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them."

Have you ever been rendered speechless by a spiritual experience?  I couldn't talk for about half an our after the Nauvoo temple dedication. That is pretty much a no-talking recored for me.  

Jesus was about to explain that he was no angel, but the Son of God.  I can't imagine what that would have felt like.  

"And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:

 10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world." 

11 

And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the willof the Father in all things from the beginning. "

This video does a good job of helping me to feel what it might have been like to live that day with the Savior.  I hope that your heart will be soft, and you will be able to feel Christ's love for you as you watch it.  I bear my testimony that he lives and you are known to him by name.  I have felt his love for me very powerfully at key times in my life and it is my greatest hope and prayer that my children and their children will feel his love for them, because if they do, they will feel love for everyone else as well, and then their course will be set, always seeking to be the best person they can be,  confident in the knowledge that they are of great worth to the one whose worth is greater than us all.