Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Corinthians 11:27-29

Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Corinthians 11:27-29
"Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body."

I reflected on how partaking of the sacrament is a very serious thing. We need to judge ourselves and repent to be worthy. Of course, sins of a serious nature need to be confessed and worked with a Bishop. As I pondered on this I thought about the need for daily repentance. Live your life to always be ready to partake of the sacrament. Then while the sacrament is being passed do more self-examination and self-discernment, so you are ready to renew the covenants with the Lord you have made.

Day 4197

Today's Favorite Verse: Exodus 25:16, 21-22

Today's Favorite Verse: Exodus 25:16, 21-22
"And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.
And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."

What is the testimony? I'm thinking the stone tablets are the testimony but needed to look to see if that was correct.

"The ark of the covenant was a chest, or box, of shittim wood overlaid with gold. It was approximately three feet nine inches long, two feet three inches wide, and two feet three inches high. Staves, or poles, on both sides allowed the priests to carry it without actually touching the ark itself. Inside, the tablets of the law given to Moses on Mount Sinai were placed (see v. 16). Hence, it was called the ark of the testimony or ark of the covenant. Later, a pot of manna and Aaron’s rod, which miraculously bloomed, were also placed inside the ark (see Hebrews 9:4). The ark was placed inside the inner room of the tabernacle known as the most holy place, or Holy of Holies. The ark was viewed with the greatest reverence by the Israelites, and prayers were recited before it was moved or placed in position"
(Old Testament Student Manual, "Exodus 25-30; 35-40: The House of the Lord in the Wilderness")

"There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt."
(1 Kings 8:9)

"Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;"
(Hebrews 9:4)

I guess I'm just hung up on why you would call the stone tablets containing the ten commandments a testimony. I always thought of it as the ark of the covenant. I had to ponder on this. I thought about being in court and having to give a testimony of something I witnessed. While I am speaking it is being recorded and written down. It can be referred to later. Pondering on this I can see how God's word was written down in those stone tablets. It was his testimony. Those laws hold the covenant that God has made with Israel. I think of all the thou shalt nots, but really they are promises that God will protect us if we live by them. We will be able to be in His presence.

Day 3771

Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 22:1, 4

Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 22:1, 4
"Behold, I say unto you that all old covenants have I caused to be done away in this thing; and this is a new and an everlasting covenant, even that which was from the beginning.
Wherefore, enter ye in at the gate, as I have commanded, and seek not to counsel your God. Amen."

The chapter header mentions "This revelation was given to the Church in consequence of some who had previously been baptized desiring to unite with the Church without rebaptism." The Lord explains that this is a new and everlasting covenant. This is done as days of old. Meaning this is with priesthood authority from God. The priesthood authority will never again be taken from the earth. It is so telling when He says "seek not to counsel your God." How oft is that a tendency of man? We think we know better.

Day 3611

Today's Favorite Verse: Helaman 15:14

Today's Favorite Verse: Helaman 15:14
"Therefore I say unto you, it shall be better for them than for you except ye repent."

I was pondering on how those that have not the law. That have not been raised to believe in God are very much like modern day Lamanites. It is because of the false traditions of their fathers that they err. It will be better for them than for us that have the law and do not repent of our sins. For we sin having great knowledge, where those that have no covenants and laws of God to follow will be extended great mercy. For all have the light of Christ given them to know right from wrong, and they will be judged on the knowledge they had.

"Wherefore, he has given a law; and where there is no law given there is no punishment; and where there is no punishment there is no condemnation; and where there is no condemnation the mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim upon them, because of the atonement; for they are delivered by the power of him.
For the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel.
But wo unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state!"
(2 Nephi 9:25-27)

Day 3522

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 25:16

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 25:16
"Now they did not suppose that salvation came by the law of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a hope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the spirit of prophecy, which spake of those things to come."

In the Book of Mormon we understand the role the law of Moses played, in bringing them closer to Jesus Christ. I really liked this general conference talk that describes the state of the children of Israel and how they lost their way. It's important for us to also not get lost in culture over covenants and true worship.

"The law of Moses was given to the early Israelites as a preparatory gospel, designed to ready the people for a higher covenant relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
The law, rich with symbolism pointing believers to “look forward to the coming” and Atonement of Jesus Christ, was meant to help the people of Israel focus on the Savior by practicing faith in Him, His sacrifice, and His laws and commandments in their lives—it was intended to bring them to a greater understanding of their Redeemer.
Just as we are today, God’s ancient people were invited to see their lives through Him in order to see more of Him in their lives. But by the time of the Savior’s ministry, the Israelites had lost sight of Christ in their observances, setting Him aside and adding to the law unauthorized practices that had no instructive symbolism pointing to the true and only source of their salvation and redemption—Jesus Christ.
The everyday world of the Israelites had become disoriented and obscure. The children of Israel, in this state, believed that the practices and rituals of the law were the path to personal salvation and in part reduced the law of Moses to a set of protocols administered to rule civilian life.
This required the Savior to restore focus and clarity to His gospel.
Ultimately a great portion of the Israelites rejected His message, even going so far as to accuse the Savior—He who gave the law and declared that He was “the law, and the light”—of breaking it. Yet Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount, speaking on the law of Moses, declared, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” Then the Savior, through His eternal Atonement, ended the codes, regulations, and ceremonial practices observed by the people of Israel at that time. His final sacrifice led the shift from sacrificial burnt offerings to our rendering of “a broken heart and a contrite spirit,” from the ordinance of sacrifice to the ordinance of sacrament."
(Tracy Y. Browning, "Seeing More of Jesus Christ in Our Lives", Oct 2022 General Conference)

Day 3469

Today's Favorite Verse: Mosiah 18:27

Today's Favorite Verse: Mosiah 18:27
"And again Alma commanded that the people of the church should impart of their substance, every one according to that which he had; if he have more abundantly he should impart more abundantly; and of him that had but little, but little should be required; and to him that had not should be given."

I pondered on how at a future time all God's people will have things in common. There have been times when that has happened.

It happened in the primitive church.

"And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need."
(Acts 2:44-45)

It happened after Christ appeared in the America's after his resurrection.

"And they taught, and did minister one to another; and they had all things common among them, every man dealing justly, one with another."
(3 Nephi 26:19)

"And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift."
(4 Nephi 1:3)

Sadly, as the people forget God and are filled with pride, they divide themselves and can no longer live in common.

"And now, in this two hundred and first year there began to be among them those who were lifted up in pride, such as the wearing of costly apparel, and all manner of fine pearls, and of the fine things of the world.
And from that time forth they did have their goods and their substance no more common among them.
And they began to be divided into classes; and they began to build up churches unto themselves to get gain, and began to deny the true church of Christ."
(4 Nephi 1:24-26)

Even in the restored church there was an attempt.

"And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties, for the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just—
And all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be cast into the Lord’s storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church—
Every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God"
(Doctrine and Covenants 82:17-19)

This made me wonder if living the law of consecration under the united order will be in its fullness before Christ's second coming or after? One thing is for sure, paying tithes and fast offerings, keeping temple covenants helps prepare the people.

"For verily I say unto you, the time has come, and is now at hand; and behold, and lo, it must needs be that there be an organization of my people, in regulating and establishing the affairs of the storehouse for the poor of my people, both in this place and in the land of Zion—"
(Doctrine and Covenants 78:3)

Day 3433

Today's Favorite Verse: Revelation 16:7, 15

Today's Favorite Verse: Revelation 16:7, 15
"And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."

The seven vials are poured out upon the wicked. I had to look for the righteous and were they would be. I see that they recognize the judgments for what they are, and acknowledge they are from the Lord. With all these disasters man will probably foolishly not recognize they come from the Lord, but see them as climate change, or man made pollutions. Thinking they could control what is to come. There is also warning that the Lord will come as a thief in the night and we are to watch. See if we are watching we won't be caught unaware. I find that last part about the garments interesting. The adversary is working overtime to make those that have been endowed to remove their garments. Their protection is gone. They would be among those not watching. The righteous are faithfully watching and remaining true to their covenants.

Day 3342

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 24:5

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 24:5

"The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant."

I pondered on how this is not only talking about the apostasy of Israel, and the early Christian Church, but also about individual apostasy. It made me think of those in the restored church of Jesus Christ today that wish to have laws and ordinances, and even the everlasting covenant changed to fit their agendas. Apostasy will always be an issue until the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is why in general conference there has been so much emphasis on us keeping our covenants. It reminds me of a thought I had the other day while reading Moroni 8. Mormon was instructing his son Moroni regarding the false doctrine that had crept into the church on the need for infant baptism.

"For awful is the wickedness to suppose that God saveth one child because of baptism, and the other must perish because he hath no baptism.

Wo be unto them that shall pervert the ways of the Lord after this manner, for they shall perish except they repent. Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear.

Little children cannot repent; wherefore, it is awful wickedness to deny the pure mercies of God unto them, for they are all alive in him because of his mercy."

(Moroni 8:15-16, 19)

It made me think of how false doctrine had crept into the church of God at the end of the Nephite civilization. This caused them to be ripe for destruction. The perversion of doctrine maybe different today, but the concept is the same. We are ripening for destruction when we desire to changed God's law to fit our will.

Day 2862

Today's Favorite Verse: Nehemiah 9:3, 38

Today's Favorite Verse: Nehemiah 9:3, 38

"And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.

And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it."

As the scriptures and law are read to the people they are brought into remembrance of all God has done for them. They are brought through the creation, Abrahamic covenant, exodus from Egypt, being guided by a pillar of fire and smoke. Even when they turned their backs on God by making a molten calf, he did not leave them in the wilderness. Then they go through the giving of the law received by Moses, manna from heaven and water from a rock. It recounts the rebellious Israelites and their kings. How God has always been there for them. It is the reading of the scriptures that helps them see how God didn't leave them, it was them leaving God. This brings the Jews to making covenants again with God. When we look back at our lives we can see the same thing is true for us.

Day 2581

Today's Favorite Verse: Ezra 10:1, 3

Today's Favorite Verse: Ezra 10:1, 3

"Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.

Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law."

I pondered on how hard a thing it was to ask them to put away their wives and children that were not of the covenant. I'm sure they loved them, otherwise they would have not wept so sorely. It does sound harsh and cruel. Then I reflected on how painful sin is, and having to repent of it. If they had followed the Lord's commandments and laws they would have never been in this position. When you become involved in anything against God's laws turning away from it is never easy. Two prime examples are drug and pornography addictions. Once you touch it, give yourself to it, it's not so easy to turn your back on it. There is much pain involved.

Day 2572

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Chronicles 15:9-10, 12

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Chronicles 15:9-10, 12

"And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.

And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;"

Asa, king of Judah ruled over the Southern kingdom somewhere around 929-870 BC. It was made up of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin. The other ten tribes made up the Northern kingdom and were called Israel. Which would include the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Eventually the Northern kingdom is captured by the Assyrians and the ten tribes are carried away to the north countries. The verses in this chapter show how faithful saints from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon came over to Judah during the reign of Asa. These were saints ready to make covenants with the Lord. This is how the families of Lehi a descendant of Manasseh, and Ishmael a descendant of Ephraim, both from part of the ten tribes that were scattered, could have been in found in Jerusalem in 600 BC.

Day 2541

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Kings 23:2, 24-25

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Kings 23:2, 24-25

"And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.

 Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him."

Before Josiah cleanses Judah from all its abominations it's important that he read the book of the covenant to the people. They needed to be reminded of the covenants they had made and how they had strayed from them. Then all the signs of their pagan worship to false gods could be removed. Yet this wasn't enough to turn the hearts of the people back to God. The king's heart was right, he did what was right, the people did not. I thought about how Josiah was able to stand clean before the Lord with no accountability for the sins of the people on his head. This was all on theirs.

Day 2495

Today's Favorite Verse: Joshua 5:2, 5-8

Today's Favorite Verse: Joshua 5:2, 5-8

At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.

Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.

For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way.

And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole.

When I read this I wondered why did the children of Israel stopped circumcising their children while Moses lead them? Circumcising was a physical token of the Abrahamic covenant and they had been doing this since the time of Abraham. As I pondered on why it stopped I realized it probably had nothing to do with Moses telling them to stop. It was the people that were not faithful to their covenants that had caused it to stop. This was just one way they showed they were not obedient. Moses didn't need to teach them an existing law they were to obey, what he gave them from the Lord were new ordinances and laws, nothing old was taken away. It's interesting that people can embrace new but not stay obedient to what they also must be doing. Could that be like going from three hour church to two hours, and the extra hour is then used to break the sabbath day?

One thing is for sure this act of obedience and covenant making must have had a terrifying effect on those around them. Knowing these men were obedient to their God, even down to being circumcised as adults. This would only make them stronger in being obedient to their God, and possessing their lands.

Day 2351

Today's Favorite Verse: Deuteronomy 31:10-11, 13

Today's Favorite Verse: Deuteronomy 31:10-11, 13

And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,

When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it."

This made me think of king Benjamin in the Book of Mormon and how he called all his people together and spoke to them. I wonder if this was during the feast of tabernacles, and year of release? What caught my eye was the mention of children. When king Benjamin took the names of all those that entered into a covenant with God, it excluded little children.

"And now, king Benjamin thought it was expedient, after having finished speaking to the people, that he should take the names of all those who had entered into a covenant with God to keep his commandments.

And it came to pass that there was not one soul, except it were little children, but who had entered into the covenant and had taken upon them the name of Christ."

(Mosiah 6:1-2)

Every seven years Moses was told they needed to read the commandments, so even the little children that have not heard it will. It made me think of the primary children today in preparation before their 8th birthday's and being baptized. They hear the gospel but do not enter into a covenant yet. It's amazing me how the Lord makes sure all his sheep are feed.

Day 2343

Today's Favorite Verse: Deuteronomy 29:14-15, 29

Today's Favorite Verse: Deuteronomy 29:14-15, 29

"Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;

But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:

The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law."

This scripture is talking about us. I pondered on the eternal nature of the covenants and oaths we make with the Lord. How at the end of this earth existence we will all fairly be judged no matter which dispensation we lived in. The trials and temptations the beset me have not belonged to me alone. That every generation has had to learned to love the Lord greater than themselves.

Day 2341