Abba

This entry is a short and simple entry yet I think it has great significance. The New Testament was written in Greek. The language spoken by Jesus while he was on the earth was Aramaic. Those that wrote the New Testament translated it to Greek yet they left some of the original text in Aramaic...why? The example I want to comment on is when Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane. As He suffered unfathomable pain there, He cried out "Abba". This word left in Aramaic--the original utterance of it--shows a simple yet profound reality, "Father". In Christ's moment of great despair, He cried to our Eternal Father. This is our relationship with all-mighty God! We are in reality His children. Christ is His only Begotten in the flesh, as noted by His miraculous birth, yet we are literally His spiritual sons and daughters, heirs of a royal heritage. It is to Him that we turn in our time of greatest affliction and in our time of greatest joy because He is indeed our loving Heavenly Father.

Between the Testaments

If I were to tell you that I spent the last two years of my life in Boston as a missionary, I don't think you would quite comprehend what took place during those two years. If I were to elaborate and tell you that during this time I was devoted solely to inviting others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, you would begin to picture what my life was like for those two years. I could go even further and let you read my correspondence with my family and you could really get a great deal of insight to my experience. I recently read a book by one of my professors which talked about the period of time between the Old Testament and the New Testament. It described the history of the Jews just prior to the end of the Old Testament and finishing with the beginning of the New Testament. It discussed the political, theological, economical, social, and many other aspects of the region associated with the Jews. It was so interesting for me to be able to see the entire painting. It was as if you were to study the History of Boston from the time of colonization to the time I went there. You would discover what the New England culture is like. Furthermore you would discover that the Red Sox, Patriots, and Celtics had a rockin' year last year:). My point is that your level of understanding deepens when you can virtually be there by understanding the world around Christ. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it to anyone. The title of it is "Between the Testaments" by Kent S. Brown and Richard N. Holtzapfle both BYU professors.

The least, the last, and the lost

Have you ever found yourself working really hard to achieve something then falling short? You probably felt a little down on yourself and maybe even a little hopeless. Maybe you do your best to be honest in everything only to see someone who chose to be dishonest get ahead and seem to be happy. We learned about a really neat theme in my New Testament class at BYU. This semester I'm taking a class that is meant to help us understand the authors, settings, and themes of the New Testament in order to come to know Jesus Christ. One of the themes that we recently talked about was the theme of The Least, The Last, and The Lost. I love the account of the apostles arguing to see who of them was the greatest. The answer Christ gave them gives me a lot of comfort and peace, "...whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant". I find great comfort in the fact that if we put Him first things will fall into place. If we lose our lives for His sake we will truly find life. I find great peace in knowing that our reward may not be here and now but it will be according to His time and perfect knowledge. This is what brings me great peace when I am feeling like the "least" or the "last". I think all of us have at one time or another felt like the "lost". At times I have felt like I was going through something that no one could understand or something that I really didn't want to share with anyone, or I just didn't have anyone to share it with at the time. I have had many opportunities to feel this way and these have formed some of my fondest memories. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ has helped me make the best of these situations. I remember being with a group of people my age who were engaged in a conversation that I just did not want to participate in. I decided to walk away. I was by myself. I felt very much alone, but just as I was starting to feel sorry for myself I felt a feeling that was like a big hug. It was very real and I could feel that my Heavenly Father was happy with the decision that took a lot of courage for me to make. Although there are over six billion people in the world, my Heavenly Father found me! This is just one occasion of many when I have experienced the tender mercy of my Heavenly Father in my life. I love the teachings of Christ! They are clear and full of hope. I can't express how much I rely on Christ and His mercy. I feel He strengthens me daily. I have truly experienced the reality of His teachings that the least shall be great, the last first, and the lost found. I am forever grateful for His love.