"Arise from the dust, My sons, and be men"

"And now that my soul might have joy in you, and that my heart might leave this world with gladness because of you, that I might not be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave, arise from the dust, my sons, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ya may not come down into captivity;

That ye may not be cursed with a sore cursing; and also, that ye may not incur the displeasure of a just God upon you, unto the destruction, yea the eternal destruction of both soul and body.
Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust.

Rebel no more against your brother, .... and who hath kept the commandments..."
2 Nephi 1:21-24

Lehi, in the final moments of his mortality, gave some final advise to his wayward sons, Laman and Lemuel. In these few short verses Lehi, the dying prophet, gives some wonderful advise for anyone.

1)Determined in one mind and in one heart
Any group of people whether its a family, a church group, or work related needs a common goal.

2)United in all Things

What good does a common goal do if everyone isn't united in that goal? Unity is probably more important than having a goal, at least in my opinion.

3)Put on the armor of righteousnesses

A righteous life protects us from the evil around us everyday. Much like armor protects the wearer. Living a righteous christ-like life will yield better reward than anything else.

4)Don't Argue, and Keep the commandment

This last one is basically the same. We are all Brothers and Sisters just trying to get through life. There is no reason for hate or envy. If we all just keep the commandments and try to get along we would be living in a much better world.

Our Potential

Ode on Intimations of Immortality
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting
The soul that rises with us, our life's star,Hath had elsewhere its settingAnd cometh from afar;Not in entire forgetfulness,And not in utter nakedness,But trailing clouds of glory do we comeFrom God, Who is our home~William Wordsworth
Take a moment to ponder this beautiful poem. The author, William Wordsworth, was trully inspired when he wrote this poem. It sums up God's Plan for the Salvation of his children perfectly, at least in my opinion.
Each of us, our physical and spiritual bodies, were created by God in his image."So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Genesis 1:27
And because of that simple truth we are children of God."The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God:" Romans 8:16
And since we are children of God, We have the same potential God does."And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."Romans 8:17
"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."Revelations 3:21
Why is it so hard to believe that a Loving Father in Heaven, A God, would want his children to have the same things he does. Any earthly father wants his children to have the best."Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"St. Matthew 7:9-11
I testify that God is our Father and we are his children and if we choose to have faith in the Holy One of Israel and overcome all obstacles through his help, than we can have the privilege of obtaining that potential that God sees in each of us.

The challenge

About 180 years ago a young 20 year old boy came forth with a book he claimed to have translated from ancient text. This book, he claimed, was divinely inspired and given to him by an angel. Some believed and were enlightened, others were afraid and drove him, his family, and the other followers of the church further and further west.

Since that time many have tried to discount the Book of Mormon through countless means only for their efforts to be futile. For those whose faith is still lacking in this wonderful volume of holy writ I issue a challenge:

Write a Book comparable to the Book of Mormon that will have the same impact upon countless billions of people throughout time and include:

• 54 chapters dealing with wars

• 21 Historical Chapters

• 55 chapters on visions and prophecies

  • Visions and prophecies must agree meticulously with the bible

• 71 Chapters on doctrine and exportation

  • Every statement must also agree with the bible

• 21 chapters on the ministry of Christ

  • Everything claimed he said and did and every testimony you write in your book about him must agree with the New Testament

• Must employ figures of speech, similes, metaphors, narrations, exposition, description, oratory, epic, lyric, logic, and parables.

• Has to be dictated in just over 2 months

• Only corrections made can be to the punctuation.

• Cannot use any outside sources

• Account has to be claimed as divine scripture and millions must also testify of the same thing after reading the account.

I testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It was received and translated just as Joseph Smith said it was. It has brought me comfort and given me faith in God in a way that no other book could. My faith comes from a witness from the power of the holy ghost and I can not deny it.