D&C 1:27-28:
27 "And inasmuch as they sinned they might be achastened, that they might brepent; 28 And inasmuch as they were ahumble they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive bknowledge from time to time."
I was reading this passage of scripture tonight and I did what I was instructed to do, and I applied it to my life. My thoughts were that the Lord wants to chasten us only to the point of repentance. Nothing further. The Lord's only goal in chastening us is to get us to the point where we begin the repentance process. The Lord will bring that chastisement in different ways depending on circumstance. It may be as simple as a tiny whisper/thought that we shouldn't stay up so late. Or it may be as outwardly public as an intervention put on by those that love us. Or it may even be as serious as a near death experience. However the Lord needs to get our attention, He will. When we begin to sorrow in our hearts for our sins, the Lord ceases to chastise us. Then as we repent the Lord will ensure that we will be "made strong, (be) blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time" (italics added). The Lord does not promise that we will receive his knowledge every minute of every day after that. We receive knowledge from TIME to TIME. The Lord knows what we need and when we need it. That is why He is Lord and we serve Him. Let us be mindful of who is in charge. He has not and will not ever lead us astray.
I was reading this passage of scripture tonight and I did what I was instructed to do, and I applied it to my life. My thoughts were that the Lord wants to chasten us only to the point of repentance. Nothing further. The Lord's only goal in chastening us is to get us to the point where we begin the repentance process. The Lord will bring that chastisement in different ways depending on circumstance. It may be as simple as a tiny whisper/thought that we shouldn't stay up so late. Or it may be as outwardly public as an intervention put on by those that love us. Or it may even be as serious as a near death experience. However the Lord needs to get our attention, He will. When we begin to sorrow in our hearts for our sins, the Lord ceases to chastise us. Then as we repent the Lord will ensure that we will be "made strong, (be) blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time" (italics added). The Lord does not promise that we will receive his knowledge every minute of every day after that. We receive knowledge from TIME to TIME. The Lord knows what we need and when we need it. That is why He is Lord and we serve Him. Let us be mindful of who is in charge. He has not and will not ever lead us astray.
I really like your comment about how the Lord chastises us just to the point of repentence. It is a concept that I have struggled with before. I remember when you mentioned it in fast and testimony meeting a few weeks ago; I was so struck by your words. When we beat ourselves up over and over again over mistakes that we have made we are not able to progress, we are hindering ourselves. Father wants us to move on and to be happy. We should be seeking happiness through repentence rather then constantly bringing ourselves down by focusing on our wrong doings. I remember a time in my life when I was absolutely miserable. I looked to my Heavenly Father and realized that my ill feelings were coming from my own behavior of focusing on past mistakes. I turned to my Savior and gave Him my burden. I just had to sincerely tell Him I could no longer do it alone and at that point I was freed. He is waiting. He loves us and will never leave our side.
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