The Kingdom of Heaven

I tend to reference and quote a lot of scriptures from the Book of Mormon a lot. Below is a link to a wonderful blog post on the Book of Mormon. 

https://thewordofthelorduntome.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-book-of-mormon-and-its-lack-of.html

This post has been in my draft for the past 7 years. Time to publish a bunch of my draft posts including this one. 

 

Alm 37 :11 And I say unto you again that he cannot save them in their ^asins; for I cannot deny his word, and he hath said that ^bno unclean thing can inherit the ^ckingdom of heaven; therefore, how can ye be saved, except ye inherit the kingdom of heaven? Therefore, ye cannot be saved in your sins.

Alma 7:9,14,25

9 But behold, the Spirit hath said this much unto me, saying: Cry unto this people, saying—^aRepent ye, and prepare the way of the Lord, and walk in his paths, which are straight; for behold, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of God ^bcometh upon the face of the earth.

...

14 Now I say unto you that ye must ^arepent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.

...

25 And may the Lord bless you, and keep your garments spotless, that ye may at last be brought to sit down with ^aAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the holy prophets who have been ever since the world began, having your garments ^bspotless even as their garments are spotless, in the kingdom of heaven to go no more out.

3 Nephi 12:3,10,20

3 Yea, blessed are the ^apoor in spirit who ^bcome unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Helaman 3:30

30 And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the ^aright hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.

3 Nephi 14:21

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

Hymn Hunt

 Journal entry from Jan 17th, 2016

Hymn Hunt

I love the Hymn- "I Stand All Amazed" by Charles Gabriel. I decided to go hunting for more. I love the following words. It describes me and Yeshua as well.

"Growing Dearer Each Day" by Charles Gabriel

How sweet is the love of my Savior!

’Tis boundless and deep as the sea;

And best of it all, it is daily

Growing sweeter and sweeter to me.

Refrain/Chorus:  

 Sweeter and sweeter to me,

Dearer and dearer each day;

Oh, wonderful love of my Savior,

Growing dearer each step of my way!

I know He is ever beside me!

Eternity only will prove

The height and the depth of His mercy,

And the breadth of His infinite love.

Refrain/Chorus

Wherever He leads I will follow,

Thru sorrow, or shadow or sun;

And though I be tried in the furnace,

I can say, “Lord, Thy will be it done.”

Refrain/Chorus

Some day face to face I shall see Him,

And oh, what a joy it will be

To know that His love, now so precious,

Will forever grow sweeter to me!

Refrain/Chorus

Spiritual Wickedness

 37 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did hunt the band of robbers of Gadianton; and they did preach the word of God among the more wicked part of them, insomuch that this band of robbers was utterly destroyed from among the Lamanites.

38 And it came to pass on the other hand, that the Nephites did build them up and support them, beginning at the more wicked part of them, until they had overspread all the land of the Nephites, and had seduced the more part of the righteous until they had come down to believe in their works and partake of their spoils, and to join with them in their secret murders and combinations.

I remember years ago, sitting in the dental office foyer waiting while my son was having dental work done, that on the TV it was announce Osama bin Laden was killed. I saw both on tv and the people around me were all celebrating in the death of this person. 

I automatically thought of the Gadianton Robbers and how to take care of your enemies. 

You need to get to the root and heart of the problem. 

Ephesians6:12

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Be Prepared Dream, Firm Foundation

 

Dream from Feb 2023

Father spoke to me, either face to face or audio (don't recall now upon waking) that I needed to get my family downstairs in the storm shelter NOW. 

Saw my parents and told them they needed to go down stairs past the basement into the second basement (to the foundation) and stay there.

Went to another part of the house to gather my kids. (Realizing these ones never did drills/practice for natural disasters nor packed a Go-Bag) I told them, lets go. Realizing they were barefoot needed to find shoes, have stuff we needed for after the storm. Knew the storm would wipe out ALL the houses and stuff above the foundation. 

Emma was brushing her teeth and didn't want to go till she was done and could spit. There was no sink down in the basement/foundation area. I was literally tugging her/escorting her by pulling on her right arm. Told her she could spit once there in a garbage can or something else. 

When we got to the place a lady asked how we did, if we made it in a normal time. I shook my head no, 5 min too long. Took us 7 min to get there instead of the 2. Turns out it was just a drill sent from Father and a practice run. I was very grateful for that. We would prepare and gather every needed thing and put in a  Go-Bag. So when I was told to go, by the Father again- this time we could go "Now" and not be delayed 5 minutrs to gather and go and kids will know the importance of dropping what they are doing and come without hesitation. 

Dream shifted- in a store/shop. Quietly adding seashells to open shallow tables/counters. Making a beautiful sea display. 

Shifted to art class teacher teaching. Blink my eyes and 5 years later. I don't remember being there for 5 years or having experiences. Switched where I sat. Everyone else had easels. I was trying to find one.

 We were all given specific paintings. There were 4 different parts like puzzle pieces and when don, line up the canvases together to show the whole/finished project. I was far to the right and with 3 others. Best friend on the other side of me with 2 others in between. Told them that when we left class it was vital that they go home and stay indoors. Don't go outside for any reason. Best friend was uncomfortable,  I told her if you need to cut ties with me she said guilty by association. If I was seen as a jackpot she would be too and lose social status. She was concerned if the storm did not happen. 

I said if I was wrong on timing so be it. But I would do my duty and warn others. I would not be responsible for the deaths of others. Their blood would not be on my head. 

Huge storm would come and destroy everything above ground and underground that wasn't on its foundation. So important for people to go down to the foundation. Even if it wasn't deep underground as long as they were on a true solid firm foundation they would be passed over by destruction. Everything else would be taken away in this storm that all the forecasters had no clue and therefore could not warn others. It was a beautiful day. 

End of dreams.

Words of Betsie & Corrie van Boom

Being in the center of his (God's will) is our only safety. -Betsie to Corrie 

The love of God is stronger than the deepest darkness- Betsie to Corrie

Thank you Father that your love for me is victorious over my hatred- Corrie 

Look around and be distressed

Look within and be depressed 

Look at Jesus and be at rest

I served the Lord in strength and will serve him in weakness. Served him while young and old age

The 2nd verse of How Firm a Foundation comes to my mind as I read those words.

That hymn has been a great source of strength and comfort to me over the years. I love ALL 7 verses of it. 

...that there is no pit so deep that the Love of God is not deeper still-Betsie to Corrie

When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.- Corrie van Boom

Divine Delay

 Journal entry for Jan 18th, 2023

What we might consider a delay might just be God's timing and putting everything into place.

I was going to go to Walmart but got delayed (bathroom visit and then sitting on the bed to watch a trailer conversion- about 45-50 min video). 

Finally went to walmart, took time to look and get a wide-cart. The one that has the double seats for kids. First we (my youngest kids and I) headed to the grocery section. Got our milk then headed to buy cheese. Saw a lady panicking walking past us in the opposite direction. I had the thought to catch up to her to ask what was causing her such destress. Didn't act upon that thought but told my kids let's pray for her, which we did. We then went towards produce and when there Emma (my 11 year old) pointed to $ on the floor. Either she or I picked it up. She told me latter her first thought was- "wow $$$, I want to keep it" then she thought "NO, I should tell my mom about it." I held the money in my clinched fist. Didn't even think about how much it was. An older couple was near by, I asked if they dropped $, after a few moments they said no. I then remembered the lady from just a few minutes prior. 

Emma and I split up on each side of the aisle and walked the grocery side, no sign of her. Then we went with our cart towards Customer Service and said to the kids, "I think that is her." Her back was to us. She was talking to the employees.

We came up and I got her attention. I asked her- "You are distressed, did you loose something?" She said yes, and before she could say anything else, I said, "Money?" She said, "yes $83."I opened up my fist and showed her the $. She counted it, only $63. She was missing a twenty dollar bill.

I told her I would recheck the area and if we couldn't find it I would cover the rest of her bill.

Turns out she originally went to pay for her stuff in the self checkout line and went to pull out her money to pay and that's when she found out her money was missing. That is when she frantically went to retrace her steps in the store and when I first saw her.

She said to the Customer Service ladies, "there are still kind people."

We didn't find the missing $20 bill, even asked the lady sweeping the floor. I grabbed fruit and followed the lady we helped to the check out area and put my cart to the register next to hers. Then paid for the rest of her purchases which came to $17. 

We hugged. She told me that was ALL the $ they had. She was now short only 3 dollars total from when she first came into Walmart with her last $83 to her name. 

I am glad I was "delayed" in going to Walmart shopping because the Lord used my daughter and myself to help a lady who was in need.

Divine delay or in other words- right place, right time. Seems to happen alot lately or I am more aware of it. Click Here to read a past post about God's timing.