Steadfastness in Christ

I've had guests for the past little bit, plus a few family trips. Family trumps blogging for me. :0)

But now I'm back. And today I was reading in the Book of Mormon, studying the topic of "hope." Hope seems to be dying for many people. With the stock market implosion, crazy food prices, etc., stress is increasing. Yet all the while, the Savior is extending His hands to help calm and heal people's hearts.

Here's the scripture for me today to think on throughout the day. It's beautiful. And notice the parallelism within it. It's found in 2 Nephi 31:20:

20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a ^asteadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of ^bhope, and a ^clove of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and ^dendure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have ^eeternal life.

Compare the two phrases. I LOVE these:
Phrase 1) "...press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope..."

Phrase 2) "...press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end..."

Within this little verse contains powerful advise on how to meet the perils of the day (see Paul's words in the New Testament). When we do the following, we are able to endure and be led by the bright light of hope which emanates from the Savior Himself!

1. Press forward. In other words, we keep moving onward not relying on our own understanding of events (which otherwise might prove too frightening).
2. Steadfastness in Christ. Christ cannot be rocked by today's events. He was unperturbed at having nails pounded through his flesh or being whipped or nailed to a cross. He is not perturbed today. Instead He has a plan of salvation for all of us if we will just receive Him and His intentions and gift of grace. His will not be moved and if/when we rely on Him, we then also can be steadfast.
3. Having a perfect brightness of hope = feasting upon the word of Christ. From the verse mentioned above, for me these two individual phrases are linked in parallelism. For me, "feasting upon the word of Christ" IS how we obtain (and then continue) in a perfect brightness of hope. The word of Christ is a "lamp unto [our] feet" (see Psalm 119:105). When all hope is gone, He and His word still contain the power to light our way in this murky and confusing world.
4. Having a perfect brightness of hope = endur[ing] to the end. Hope enables us to endure; discouragement encourages us to quit. Enduring to the end, then, is enabled by feasting on the word and remaining steadfast in Christ. We are able to be steadfast in Christ when we know Him; we get to know Him by feasting on the word. Isn't it an amazing loop and scripture?
   

The jeopardy around us is real; there are "bad" things that do happen. But this verse from the Book of Mormon contains so much real hope and truth and beauty that it helps me during down times. Truly, the scriptures are awesome things! Here is a link to online scriptures for further studies. And I especially like this link to the study of "hope." For through Christ, we can hope for much better things than some of today's events might illustrate!