Today's Favorite Verse: Luke 4:5, 9

Today's Favorite Verse: Luke 4:5, 9

"And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:"

The footnotes that reference the Joseph Smith Translation make a very important distinction on who lead Jesus where.

"And the Spirit taketh him up into an high mountain, and he beheld all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

And the Spirit brought him to Jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of the temple. And the devil came unto him and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence;"

I pondered on why it was important to note it was the Spirit that guided Jesus to these locations and not Satan. I thought of several.

1. Satan has no power over Jesus to take him anywhere.

2. Jesus would never listen to Satan and follow him.

3. To allow Satan to take him somewhere would have given Satan agency over Him.

It was important to note that after the Spirit speaks to us the adversary will try to tempt us and guide us away from our course. It made me think of "Doubt your doubts".

"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters—my dear friends—please, first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. We must never allow doubt to hold us prisoner and keep us from the divine love, peace, and gifts that come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ."

(Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Come, Join with Us", Oct 2013 General Conference)

Then I thought of the wise counsel to act upon the first prompting.

"Fourth, we must act on the first prompting.

Remember the words of Nephi. “I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. Nevertheless,” he said, “I went forth.”

And so must we. We must be confident in our first promptings. Sometimes we rationalize; we wonder if we are feeling a spiritual impression or if it is just our own thoughts. When we begin to second-guess, even third-guess, our feelings—and we all have—we are dismissing the Spirit; we are questioning divine counsel. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that if you will listen to the first promptings, you will get it right nine times out of ten."

(Ronald A. Rasband, "Let the Holy Spirit Guide", April 2017 General Conference)

Then I thought of Elder Scott and his wonderful general conference talk, full of instructions on listening and following the spirit.

"I witness that as you gain experience and success in being guided by the Spirit, your confidence in the impressions you feel can become more certain than your dependence on what you see or hear."

(Richard G. Scott, "To Acquire Spiritual Guidance", Oct 2009 General Conference)

Stay listening to the Spirit as you are led and directed. Then when the adversary comes to mess with and stir you off course, doubt that doubt.

Day 3136