Prepare ye the way of the Lord....

 1In those days came ^aJohn the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judæa,

 2And saying, ^aRepent ye: for the ^bkingdom of heaven ^cis at hand.

 3For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet ^aEsaias, saying, The ^bvoice of one crying in the wilderness, ^cPrepare ye the way of the Lord, make his ^dpaths straight.

In these days came Thomas S. Monson, Gordon B. Hinckley, Howard W. Hunter, and on back to Joseph Smith preaching in the wilderness of our modern world.

And saying, Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

For this he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias,  saying...

Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

The call today is as potent as it was in the day of John the Baptist.  The progression of this weeks New Testament study is worth noting as we in the Latter-days work to Prepare the way of the Lord.

Matthew 3 Tells of John preaching of repentance and baptism as the way to prepare ourselves for His Coming.  It also testifies that Christ prepared the way for us by having been baptized himself.  He showed us the way. 

Matthew 4 Speaks of  being tempted by Satan.  Even He who was perfect was tempted.  Again he showed us the way to withstand temptation.  

John 1 teaches us that like the disciples of old, we must follow Him.  

Could it be any more straightforward? 

Repent

Be Baptized

Withstand Temptation

Follow Him

I have been reminded numerous times lately of what Mormon wrote concerning Captain Moroni.

“If all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men” (Alma 48:17).

Moroni followed the simple steps above...is there a better way for us to Prepare the way of the Lord?

If you could meet......

Last Sunday's lesson asked..
"If you could meet anyone in the New Testament besides Jesus, whom would you want to meet? 
Why would you want to meet that person?"
Many names come to mind...
John the Baptist
Mary, the Mother of Christ
Joseph, his Earthly Father
Peter, James, John
Pilate
Judas
Lazereth
Mary Magdalene
the Woman at the Well
the Shepherds and Wise Men
So many who were first hand witnesses of His life and teachings! How would I choose?
I find myself wondering who I would relate more to?
Those who, like the nice lepers, knew He was a great man and wanted something from him but went their way or more like the one leper who gave thanks and was truly changed?
Would I be the one complaining about doing all the work or the one listening to his words?
Would I be the one washing my hands of the things I had done, one of the crowd who condemned, or one who mourned the scourging and crucifixion of He who is the Savior of all?
Sometimes I feel I have a part of all of them inside me, weaving the tapestry of my life with dull hues of the unrighteous, pale tones of the weak, and glimmers of brightness in the pattern.  I hope through the year of studying His life and teachings, I can become brighter, like Elisabeth, Mary, Joseph, and those who have shown the path of diligence.  Maybe when I look back over my work for the year, I will see the dull and the pale hardly noticeable when compared to the hues that Christ has woven into my life. 

“That Ye Might Believe That Jesus Is the Christ”

What a great way to start out the year!  The New Testament truly is so we might believe that Jesus is the Christ.  It is humbling just after the Christmas season to look at the life of Christ and see what all He has done for us and is still willing to do.
What has He done?

Lived a sinless life

Taught us of our Heavenly Father

Served others throughout His life...without complaint

Prayed for those He loved

Faced Satan and temptation and overcame

Atoned for the sins of the world

Prepared the way for each of us to be Resurrected

The list is long!  

Now of course, we must learn how to apply the Gospel to our daily lives!
It is impossible to live a sinless life, but we can strive to avoid sin, repent when we make a mistake, and try not to make the mistake again.

We should read the Scriptures often to learn of our Heavenly Father

Serve....serve....and serve some more.

Pray for those we love...as we do so, we will learn even more of our Heavenly Father and His hand in our lives.

Show gratitude for the Atoning sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ and live in a way that we may be reunited with our Father in Heaven in His full glory.

How can I live that my children will know that I "believe that Jesus is the Christ"?
I hope I can find more of his love, kindness, patience, and charity...I feel so impatient at times.  I guess all I can do is try.

I want to see how good I am this year.....

Our church has amazing teachers.  For the Gospel Doctrine lesson last week, the instructor told us of a conversation with his wife.  She is a runner; a die hard runner.  She runs all year, in the cold and the heat and the Idaho wind.  The mother of five beautiful children, she is an inspiration in her diligence to church, family, and health. But, like many of us, she may never hit her personal record again.

Her husband asked her, "Why do you do it?  You are never going to be what you were, so why try so hard?"

(I must insert a note here.  He is an amazing husband, and I am fairly certain he was going for the laugh, which he got!  

He has a comedian's sense of timing and delivery.  If he were a self-centered jerk, I am sure the result would not have been the same.)  

Her answer is yet another reason she inspires.

"I want to see how good I am this year!"

So here I go!  

I want to see how good I am this year!

I need a new plan.  I started out well last year when I first began blogging. Now I need to reformat, rethink, and recommit.  

I still want the stories of Christ to be the focus...

I still want my children to learn of him...

I still want their testimonies to grow...

I still need mine to.

The New Testament is the study for Gospel Doctrine this year. The plan is to follow the Class Member Study Guide each week to direct my personal studies and create fodder for this blog. When time allows I will do a pre-lesson to explore my personal studies blog and a post-lesson blog to the studies of our church Gospel Doctrine class.  

I would also like to add in the Book of Mormon and messages from the last LDS General Conference.  I have watched my dear husband as he has spiritually grown far past me.  It is time I catch back up and pull my own weight. Maybe this in turn will help my children.  

How can they be spiritually strong if I am not?