I know some will think or ask as to why I am publicly sharing my journey...because I feel inspired to. Hopefully it'll help someone in need!
I was inspired, like so many others by Devin G. Durrant's talk, "My Heart Pondereth Them Continually" to ponder on one scripture a week and to share it with others. I plan to do this with Scripture Mastery because as a convert, I did not get the opportunity as a youth to master important scriptures.
This week though, I sort of put my own twist on pondering scripture. I read a talk given by Rosemary M. Wixom at the General Women's Broadcast as it was already downloaded on my phone. Her talk, "Discovering the Divinity Within," is just what I needed this week.
I love the sweet Spirit that I feel at General Conference every 6 months and wanted to keep it longer but was unsure how. Low and behold, I read her talk and decided to study divine nature. Why? When I read it, I didn't understand it... It seemed foggy to me. With being a counselor in the YW presidency for my short time before I was married, I knew I could use the Personal Progress book and learn the knowledge I needed to gain.
Under Divine Nature, the first step is to read scripture, ponder, and ultimately plan how to use what you've learned. So last night I read, "The Family: A Proclamation to the World". Oh how I needed that! Being reminded that I needed to constantly and consistently practice faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities in order to raise my girls in love and righteousness, provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them 2 things: 1- how to love and serve others and 2- how to observe God's commandments and be law-abiding citizens. That's a huge deal and I want to do my best so I am grateful for the strong reminder. I also wasn't so foggy to the idea of divine nature, partly because I reread her talk and understood the following more clearly.
The second scripture to read and ponder is 2 Peter 1. Attributes to practice are faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. I noticed 2 things: 1- each attribute builds upon each other, much like line upon line and precept upon precept and 2- both list of attributes state you must begin with faith. Divinity will not come without faith. Thanks to Neill F. Marriott's talk, "Yeilding Our Hearts to God," I got a strong reminder that, "All will work out," which has strengthened my faith as it reminded me of something that I desperately needed, all is well and if not now, then will be well in time. I use to live by that as a youth, but have forgotten recently.
Needless to say, I'm on a scripture journey, I'm challenging myself to focus on this topic this week and boy, has my knowledge grown. I already have plans on what I'll be reading and pondering tomorrow based on this talk and learning about my divine nature.
Remember, practice your faith and putting your trust in God. Build upon each attribute no matter where you are. Finally, challenge yourself with pondering the scriptures, however the Spirit guides you and don't forget to share your findings even if it's in a journal.
With much love,
Tamra :)
