at Brigham Young University's Women's Conference.
His message was uplifting, inspiring and spoke to my heart
in such a way,
that when I saw this book at Walmart,
there was no question I had to have it.
Sometimes, we get conflicting messages
about Repentance and Forgiveness...
just recently in Sunday School,
we were discussing Samuel and Saul and David--
Old Testament stuff.
Sister Lovable was talking about Saul's falling away--
that he took it upon himself to do the offerring at the Temple,
because Samuel wasn't there,
and when Samuel returned,
he let Saul know he shouldn't have done that ordinance
because he didn't have the authority to do it.
And then,
Saul did it again.
Sr. Lovable said,
The Lord had had enough--two strikes and Saul was OUT."
I sat there for a moment,
processing what she'd said,
and it struck my heart so
that I raised my hand and said,
"Can we back up just a second? I want to make sure we understand
that the Lord did not turn his back on Saul, but that Saul turned away from Him.
The scriptures say "As many times as my people will repent, I will forgive them."
We talked about that for a few seconds,
I saw heads nodding in agreement with my two cents.
I made my comment outloud in the classroom
because one of the greatest tools of the Adversary
is that of discouragement.
He wants us to think that God is limited in His love for us.
That as we learn and evolve,
we are on a time-limit--
or that He is not a Patient God...
that if we mess up once
we can recieve forgiveness
BUT
if we mess up again
and again--
that HE is just as disappointed in US
as we are
and He'll give up on us just as we are tempted to give up
on ourselves.
That
is
a
Lie.
As Brad Wilcox shows again
and again
using scriptures and testimonies of Prophets,
we have been redeemed from all sins
that's plural--
through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
We can go to the Savior
as many times as we need to
even
seventy times seven
as we seek to make our weaknesses
our strengths.
Repentance is a process
not a one time thing
for many of the worldly tests we face.
Look for Part 2 next Wednesday.
I just bought this book. Thanks for a prickle in my conscience to read it instead of dust it.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this book too. Very insightful.
ReplyDeleteI have glanced at this book in the store. Now I'm going to go buy. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteI LOVED this book. I need to reread it again.
ReplyDeleteI love Brad Wilcox and am so glad you turned me on to this book. Not only will I be reading it, but I have some family members in mind that will love it, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip!
=)
PS. And I so agree with your comment in Sunday School. and am glad you spoke up.
Love Brad Wilcox ... now I have to go find this book.
ReplyDeleteAnd thankyou for the comment you made in sunday school. I am finding that in my ward, sometimes people don't speak up about things IN class. I am starting to think that this is one way Satan is able to work on us ... through taking things wrong, and being discouraged, as you said. And sometimes when we know the TRUTH we are prompted to say something, because someone needs to hear it. I think that we need to follow up on our promptings a bit better. Thank you for being such a great example of that. :)
Interesting :-) And I applaud you for speaking up!
ReplyDelete@sarah: thanks for the encouragement!
ReplyDelete@Liz: I blame it on my age--I'm no longer afraid if people think I'm weird or have odd ideas...I just toss it out there and let it be.
@Sue: I actually bought this book with someone else in mind, and then decided to read it first for me. Love to hear your thoughts on it!
@marilyn: And this is yet another reason I love you.
@Tauna: Do it!!!Then tell me what you think!
@Lisa: I'd love to know what your thoughts are on it too!
@jen: I loved it from the Prologue.