UNTO THE OUTMOST PARTS

Up early and ready to go!

However,  last night was a rough night! I don't know why, but I woke up almost every hour of the night. And on top of that, I had THE weirdest dreams. I'm not sure if it's because of the food I ate last night or what. At like 6:30 this morning Heidi was even awake and when I told her that it had been the longest night for me she quickly agreed! "I'm so glad you said that!" she says. Apparently, we do everything together, including sleeping horribly.

Anyways, I didn't start writing this morning to tell you about my bad night's sleep really. I would rather tell you what I just studied in the scriptures.


"UNTO THE OUTMOST PARTS..."

I'm in 2 Nephi 1 in my personal scripture study. And although I'm not a huge follower of politics, or what's going on within the political/economical world, I feel like this chapter somewhat addresses what is being talked about concerning the Syrian Refugees.

I never realized how much 2 Nephi 1 talks about the promises the Lord has made unto His people who inherit this land. I realize that there are some things that He is saying specifically to Lehi and his people, but it would be foolish for us not to see the application of the principles contained therein for ourselves.

While reading about the promises AND curses the Lord had prepared for Lehi's people concerning this land of promise, there is a footnote that leads you to Deuteronomy 29:9, 30:9. Within those chapters, the Lord is making covenants with the children of Israel in the land of Moab. These covenants and the promises which accompany the heed which is given to them are very similar to those in 2 Nephi 1. One that struck me with power is found in Deut. 30:4(1-4):

"And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee,

And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;

That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.

If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee."

This testifies strongly of how merciful the Lord is to His people. It makes ME want to shout to the world that the Lord is truly merciful to those who will turn back to Him. But there are clarifiers in those verses that are very important: WITH ALL THINE HEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL. But if we will just do that, the Lord will gather us even from the outmost parts! When we think that we are too far out of reach of the Atonement, we can find faith and comfort in knowing we can be redeemed if we will turn to Him.

"Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely---What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf