Today's Favorite Verse: Matthew 26:72-75

Today's Favorite Verse: Matthew 26:72-75
"And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.
And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly."

I added this note to my scriptures. It helps me to understand how important it was that Peter as of yet had not received the Holy Ghost before he denied Christ.

"If the Disciples had been endowed with the “gift of the Holy Ghost,” or “with power from on high,” at this time, their course would have been altogether different from this as the sequel abundantly proved. If Peter, who was the chief Apostle, had received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the power and testimony thereof prior to the terrible night on which he cursed and swore and denied his Lord, (Matt. 26:69-75) the result would have been very different with him, for then he would have sinned against “light and knowledge,” and “against the Holy Ghost,” for which there is no forgiveness. The fact, therefore, that he was forgiven, after bitter tears of repentance, is an evidence that he was without the witness of the Holy Ghost, never having received it. The other disciples or apostles of Christ were precisely in the same condition, and it was not until the evening of the day on which Jesus came out of the grave, that he bestowed upon them this inestimable gift. John gives a careful description of this important event which concludes as follows: “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them,” (John 20:21-23)
(Joseph F. Smith, "Man a Mortal and An Immortal Being, Etc.", JD 23:169)

Day 4079

Today's Favorite Verse: Jacob 7:8, 23

Today's Favorite Verse: Jacob 7:8, 23
"But behold, the Lord God poured in his Spirit into my soul, insomuch that I did confound him in all his words.
And it came to pass that peace and the love of God was restored again among the people; and they searched the scriptures, and hearkened no more to the words of this wicked man."

Jacob is confronted by Sherem, an anti-Christ. Sherem sought to overthrow the doctrine of Christ, and lead away the hearts of the people. In these two verses I see how Jacob was able to overcome him. First, it was by having the Spirit to be with him. He was given the Spirit in order to confound Sherem in his words. He knew what questions to ask and to detect deception. Once Sherem had been overcome peace and the love of God was restored because the people searched the scriptures. They had been deceived once because they did not understand them like Jacob had said to Sherem.

"And I said unto him: Believest thou the scriptures? And he said, Yea.
And I said unto him: Then ye do not understand them; for they truly testify of Christ. Behold, I say unto you that none of the prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christ.
(Jacob 7:10-11)

Before Sherem dies he testifies that he had lied that he had believed the scriptures, for they truly do testified of Christ.

"And he said: I fear lest I have committed the unpardonable sin, for I have lied unto God; for I denied the Christ, and said that I believed the scriptures; and they truly testify of him. And because I have thus lied unto God I greatly fear lest my case shall be awful; but I confess unto God."
(Jacob 7:19)

It is no wonder that the people saw the importance of searching the scriptures and understanding them after this event. It's just as important for us today to do the same.

Day 3411

Today's Favorite Verse: Titus 1:16

Today's Favorite Verse: Titus 1:16
"They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate."

This made me think of this..."Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." (Matthew 7:20)

If you watch, and listen long enough you will find a person cannot hide their fruits. They will show themselves for who they really are. They are basically a hypocrite and someone you do not want to follow.

"Hypocrite: The word generally denotes one who pretends to be religious when he is not (though it is sometimes used to mean simply a bad man). Hypocrisy was the besetting sin of the Pharisees and was severely condemned by the Lord." (Bible Dictionary)

Day 3289

Today's Favorite Verse: Moroni 1:2-3

Today's Favorite Verse: Moroni 1:2-3
"For behold, their wars are exceedingly fierce among themselves; and because of their hatred they put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ.
And I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ; wherefore, I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of mine own life."

Moroni finished abridging the Jaredite records and having not yet perished he writes to us again. The condition is the Lamanites will kill anyone that will not deny the Christ. I hope if I was in that same condition I would say "I, Renee, will not deny the Christ." What is interesting to me is that he wanders. He's not staying put where it isn't safe to be. We know eventually he wanders to where he will hide up the record where young Joseph Smith one day lives.

Day 1993

Today's Favorite Verse: John 12:37

Today's Favorite Verse: John 12:37
"But thou he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:

One of the saddest verses in this whole chapter. After all was said and done there were many that did not believe Jesus was the Christ, even after all the miracles that he had done. What causes man to deny and not accept Christ?

"Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." (John 12:42-43)

It would be the pride of man. It is always where the down fall of man begins.

Day 1582

Today's Favorite Verse: Matthew 10:32-33

Today's Favorite Verse: Matthew 10:32-33
"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."

The confessing part I have no problem with. It's the repeatedly being told by someone that "There is no God, that religion is all man made", even when we are not even talking about religion, that is getting rather old. In fact last night when they said it to me again, I felt like I needed to respond, but wasn't sure just what to say. I said something like, "You know you really don't need to keep saying that. We understand you feel that way. Just make sure to respect that others feel differently and do believe in God."

They weren't upset, maybe they were a little shocked I had said something to them. But, all evening and most of the night my mind kept coming back to this interaction. My brain has been trying to form the perfect response if they said those words again, which typically never does happen. My conclusion so far has been sadly to recognize they are denying Christ, after having known Him. That's really serious and it makes me sad for them. I think maybe they keep saying there is no God to me, even when we are not talking about religion, is because they are trying to convince themselves.

Another verse in this chapter says "...take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak." (Matthew 10:19).  As messy as my words came out, maybe they were what they already needed to hear.

Day 1514