Wednesday, February 5, 2014

All Are Alike Unto God

Lately as I have been studying the scriptures, I have been particularly impressed with our Heavenly Father's care and concern for each one of His children.  It is something that testifies to me of the perfection of God.  He doesn't care where you live, how big your house is, what color your skin is, what disabilities (or abilities) you do or don't have.  He just cares for you because your His son or daughter.  I have felt His care, love and concern for me and have seen it demonstrated in the lives of others many times.

I am particularly struck by this characteristic of God as taught in the Book of Mormon.  "The Lord esteemeth all flesh in one" (1 Nephi 17:36).  "He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good" (3 Nephi 12:45).  "The one being is as precious in His sight as the other" (Jacob 2:21).  "The Lord will be merciful to all who call upon His name" (Alma 9:17).  "He remembereth every creature of His creating" (Mosiah 27:30).  "The word of God was liberal unto all" (Alma 6:5).  "God is not a partial God, nor a changeable God" (Moroni 8:18).  "God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth" (Alma 26:37).  

And the "grandmaster" scripture on this doctrine is found in 2 Nephi 26:33, which reads in part, "
he (the Lord) doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he ainviteth them ball to ccome unto him and partake of his goodness; and he ddenieth none that come unto him, black and white, ebond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the fheathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile." (https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/26?lang=eng)

Latter day prophets teachings match the message:

“No man who makes disparaging remarks concerning those of another race can consider himself a true disciple of Christ. Nor can he consider himself to be in harmony with the teachings of the Church. …
“Let us all recognize that each of us is a son or daughter of our Father in Heaven, who loves all of His children” (“The Need for Greater Kindness,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2006, 58).


This talk from April 2006 General Conference by Elder Dallin H. Oaks shows it well:
"Note that these promised manifestations of the Lord are to “ every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.” Today we are seeing the fulfillment of that promise in every nation where our missionaries are permitted to labor, even among peoples we have not previously associated with Christianity.

For example, we know of many cases where the Lord has been manifesting Himself to men and women in the nation of Russia, so recently released from the long grip of godless communism. While reading critical or mocking articles about Mormons, two different Russian men felt a strong impression to search out our meeting places. Both met missionaries and joined the Church. 2

A medical doctor in a village in Nigeria had a dream in which he saw his good friend speaking to a congregation. Intrigued, he traveled to his friend’s village on a Sunday and was astonished to find exactly what he had seen in his dream—a congregation called a ward being taught by his friend, who was their bishop. Impressed with what he heard in repeated visits, he and his wife were taught and baptized. Two months later over 30 others in their village had also joined the Church, and their clinic had become the meeting place.

A man I met from northern India had never even heard the name of Jesus Christ until he saw it on a calendar in the shop of a shoemaker. The Spirit led him to conversion in a Protestant church. Later, during a visit to a distant college town, he saw an advertisement for an American group called “The BYU Young Ambassadors.” During their performance, an inner voice told him to go into the lobby after the program and a man in a blue blazer would tell him what to do. In this way he obtained a Book of Mormon, read it, and was converted to the restored gospel. He has since served as a missionary and as a bishop.

A little girl in Thailand felt a memory of a loving Father in Heaven. As she grew older, she would often pray and counsel with Him in her heart. In her early 20s she met our missionaries. Their teachings confirmed the loving personal feelings for God she remembered from her childhood. She was baptized and served a full-time mission in Thailand.

Only 5 percent of the people in Cambodia are Christians. A family in that country was searching for the truth. While their 11-year-old son was riding his bicycle he saw some men in white shirts and ties showing someone a picture and asking who it was. He felt he should stop. As he watched, he was prompted to say, “That is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and He came to save man.” Then he rode away. It took the missionaries a month to find him and his family. Today, the father is a counselor in the mission presidency.

Last June, a family of five visited the open house for a new chapel in Mongolia. As the father walked through the door a powerful force went through his body, a feeling of peace he had never experienced before. Tears flowed. He asked the missionaries what that amazing feeling was and how he could feel it again. Soon, the entire family was baptized."


Our Heavenly Father is concerned with our happiness and joy.  His goal is to give us all that He has.  All His time is spent on us...loving us, guiding us, carefully correcting us into patterns and paths that will lead to our growth and benefit.  We are all precious in His sight, every one.  As the Book of Mormon prophet Alma explained to his son Corianton, "is not a soul at this time as precious unto God as a soul will be at the time of his coming?"  No matter where you live or what situation you find yourself in, know that there is a loving God who cares for you, and a loving Savior (Jesus Christ) whose love for you led Him to lay down His life on your behalf.  My testimony is that of Paul's in Romans 8:35-39 (KJV):
 35 Who shall separate us from the alove of Christ? shall btribulation, or distress, or cpersecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are akilled all the day long; we are accounted as bsheep for the slaughter.
 37 Nay, in all these things we are amore than bconquerors through him that loved us.
 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to aseparate us from the blove of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 

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