in Jesus' arms

"Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye may know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost." 2 Nephi 31:17


"Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." John 16:24


"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20

Part of the gate to the Kingdom of God is repentance, making forgiveness possible. But unless we open the door and invite Christ in, we cannot partake of this gift.

"...for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them IN their sins, but to redeem the FROM their sins. And he hath power given unto him from the father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth them unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls." Helaman 5:10-11

One important point that many miss, which I missed for years, is that we cannot be still doing the sin to be forgiven of it. We must recognize the problem, forsake the action, ask for forgiveness, seek to give restitution, and resolve to turn from the sin. Repentance removes the sin if we are sincere in the process. "do not suppose because it has been spoken concerning restoration that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness." Alma 41:10 Here Alma is telling us that Satan's worldly, giddy fun times don't bring real joy or real happiness. Real joy comes from living the examined life. As Plato said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

Repentance is a constant state of mind, an on-going process, which changes our inner self. It is a daily process that we go through again and again all throughout our lives to refine our spirits and come to depend on the joy we can only find in Jesus' arms.

So the only way to receive the gift Jesus stands waiting to give us, the gift of forgiveness from our sins, is to ask with a heart willing to accept change, willing to turn from wrong thinking and acting, willing to restore to the best of our ability what we have harmed, and willing to move forward with faith that we have been forgiven. Materialism, lasciviousness, back-biting, intoxication, gluttony, idleness, theft, and so on do not bring true joy, while they may bring temporary feelings of giddiness and fun. The only way to continue to experience the giddiness of sin is to continually sin. On the other hand, true joy experienced by accepting the Savior's gift of forgiveness and patterning one's life after His example is enduring if we leave the door open and always ask for help in refining our spirits.