Oh man, friends. Sometimes life gives you a real swift kick to the face, you know what I'm saying? Or sometimes two or four or seventeen. I think right now I'm looking at about 13 or so kicks to my face. True story.
Last week in Sunday school we were discussing how sometimes it's tricky to take a step of faith into the darkness. And it is. And then someone made the comment, "If only we could only know the end from the beginning, it wouldn't be so hard to take that step!" And everyone kind of mumbled and laughed in agreement. And it's true. If we would but know how things would turn out, it'd be easier to walk forward.
But that made me stop and think.
Wait, I DO know the end from the beginning.
We can know about the Plan of Salvation which is the beautiful blueprint for our lives that our loving Heavenly Father has set up for us, his children.
Our time on this earth is only a small fraction of our eternal lives - and it is certainly not "the end". So, although we may not know how some things will end up during our earthly lives, that does NOT mean that we don't know the end from the beginning. We can know that.
Here are some scriptures from the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants to illustrate how we can and should know the end from the beginning.
Jacob 6:4
"And how merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of Israel, both roots and branches; and he strethces forth his hands unto them all the day long; and they are a stiffnecked and a gainsaying people; but as many as will not harden their hearts shall be saved in the kingdom of God."
Alma 7:19
"For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making his paths straight."
Alma 41:4-6
"And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame - mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption - raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other -
The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.
And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness."
Matthew 5:10
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
D&C 6:13
"If thou wilt do good, yea, and hold out faithful to the end, thou shalt be saved in the kingdom of God, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation."
Matthew 25:34-36
"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me."
"But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever."
We must believe and endure and then we WILL inherit the kingdom of God. Which He prepared for us from the BEGINNING!!! The end from the beginning. He knows how it's going to be. He has given us scriptures and prophets to tell us how it's going to be. We need to trust and know for ourselves the end from the beginning so that our joy can be full forever.
Have faith + make good choices = eternal happiness.
The end is our mansion in heaven which Christ has prepared for us so we can live with Him and our Father forever in joy.
Everything else is just the details. I'm going to try to keep this bigger picture in mind.
In case you were wondering - this is what full joy looks like.
Last week in Sunday school we were discussing how sometimes it's tricky to take a step of faith into the darkness. And it is. And then someone made the comment, "If only we could only know the end from the beginning, it wouldn't be so hard to take that step!" And everyone kind of mumbled and laughed in agreement. And it's true. If we would but know how things would turn out, it'd be easier to walk forward.
But that made me stop and think.
Wait, I DO know the end from the beginning.
We can know about the Plan of Salvation which is the beautiful blueprint for our lives that our loving Heavenly Father has set up for us, his children.
Our time on this earth is only a small fraction of our eternal lives - and it is certainly not "the end". So, although we may not know how some things will end up during our earthly lives, that does NOT mean that we don't know the end from the beginning. We can know that.
Here are some scriptures from the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants to illustrate how we can and should know the end from the beginning.
Jacob 6:4
"And how merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of Israel, both roots and branches; and he strethces forth his hands unto them all the day long; and they are a stiffnecked and a gainsaying people; but as many as will not harden their hearts shall be saved in the kingdom of God."
Alma 7:19
"For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making his paths straight."
Alma 41:4-6
"And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame - mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption - raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other -
The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.
And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness."
Matthew 5:10
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
D&C 6:13
"If thou wilt do good, yea, and hold out faithful to the end, thou shalt be saved in the kingdom of God, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation."
Matthew 25:34-36
"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me."
This one is my favorite of these:
2 Nephi 9:18"But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever."
We must believe and endure and then we WILL inherit the kingdom of God. Which He prepared for us from the BEGINNING!!! The end from the beginning. He knows how it's going to be. He has given us scriptures and prophets to tell us how it's going to be. We need to trust and know for ourselves the end from the beginning so that our joy can be full forever.
Have faith + make good choices = eternal happiness.
The end is our mansion in heaven which Christ has prepared for us so we can live with Him and our Father forever in joy.
Everything else is just the details. I'm going to try to keep this bigger picture in mind.
In case you were wondering - this is what full joy looks like.
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