The Work of God is Going Forth with Powe and Great Glory . . .

Written 01/03/11

"Our missionaries are going forth to different nations...The standard of truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done." --The Standard of Truth

My Dear Brethren,

Are these things not coming to pass in these great and glories days? Truly the work of God is going forth with power and great glory, and these last days are truly here with the Second Coming of our Savior nigh at hand. The Gospel is being taught all over the world, and truly these prophetic words, given by, I believe, the Prophet Joseph Smith, are being fulfilled! What are great day! We are preparing the world for the Second Coming of the Messiah, and helping our brothers and sisters to receive the Gospel of Jesus the Christ. Have we not great reason to rejoice in each other, and in the Lord?
At this time, I hope all of you will reflect on your personal testimonies, and remember how we came to know for ourselves the things that we know. They are true, and the Holy Ghost has testified it unto you. Some days I marvel at how quickly I forget the multiple witnesses that I have received, even for a moment. It is so easy to get caught in worldly cares, and to give in to the desires of the flesh. After all, for the many years our spirits must have existed to have progressed to the point of no progression until we received these bodies, controlling this body we each have is a fairly new experience. Still, the scriptures tell us what we must become. Mosiah 3:19 says: "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."
Doesn't that seem like a fairly difficult task at times? It may seem very daunting, and it would be impossible if it were not for the atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. Too often, we as members of the church know that we can be forgiven through the atonement of Christ, but we forget that it is also through the atonement that we overcome our weaknesses. Ether 12:27 says, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for4 all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."
The scriptures teach us that it is through the grace of Christ our Lord that we are saved, after all we can do (2 Nephi 25:23). In the Bible Dictionary it says the following about Grace: The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ. (I would encourage you to read the the entirety of what the Bible Dictionary says under Grace, but skipping down, it says:) It is...through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means."
I have spent much time on this blog, so I hope that it benefits all of you. We can overcome the things that we sometimes hopelessly start to believe we cannot overcome. It hurts inside to realize how inadequate we are sometimes, and how imperfect before God. Sometimes this leads us to turn away from God, and we must not. It is only by turning to God that we will be able to be forgiven, and overcome our weaknesses. We must humble ourselves before Him, and it is important that we humble ourselves. In Alma 32:16 it says: "Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before their will believe." Now, it goes on to talk about the difference between knowing something, and believing--or having faith--in something. One is a sure knowledge, that if we sinned against it, great would be our condemnation--and the other is "...not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true." (Alma 32:21)
I love the scriptures my friends! They are great! The Prophets have such wonderful words to help us understand the truths and mysteries of God. The light is revealed to us, and we have a great duty to reveal that light to others, and to help others know these things. There is such joy in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ought we not to live it? Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism (Sacrament as well), The Gift of the Holy Ghost, Endure to the End! It is simple, but it gets us through the complications of life.
2 Nephi 2:6-8 says: "Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth. Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered. Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presense of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise."
My brethren, I love you, and I love this work. Let's do it together, and thrust in our sickles with all our might!

Love, your brother and friend,
Elder Christopher D. Petersen
P.S. I hope I typed all of the scriptures correctly. If I did not, look up the scriptures, and search them yourselves. Or just overlook my weakness.