Today's Favorite Verse: Nehemiah 10:31

Today's Favorite Verse: Nehemiah 10:31
"And if the people of the land bring ware or any victuals on the sabbath day to sell, that we would not buy it of them on the sabbath, or on the holy day: and that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt."

This reminded me of when I was a kid and the stores would close on Sunday. I actually think there were laws against them being open. Slowly over the years that began to change. I'm not really sure what stores are closed now. I actually don't go shopping on Sunday to find out. Which actually is the point. If people kept the Sabbath day holy and didn't shop, there would be no desire for store to be open in the first place.

“I was in another stake, also in a reorganization program, and another brother was considered for one of the highest positions; and when we asked him of his occupation, he said he was a grocer by trade. ‘Well, most of the stores keep open on the Sabbath. Do you?’ ‘We lock our store on Sunday,’ he said. ‘But how can you compete with these people who are open seven days a week?’ ‘We compete. At least we get along very well,’ was his reply. ‘But would not the Sabbath be your biggest day?’ ‘Yes,’ he answered, ‘we would probably sell twice as much on the Sabbath as we would on an average day, but we get along without it, and the Lord has been kind; he has been gracious; he has been good.’ … And I could not refrain from saying, ‘God bless you, my faithful brother. The Lord will not be unmindful of these seeming sacrifices. Your dollars are clean. They will surely not hinder you in finding your way into the kingdom of God.
We note that in our Christian world in many places we still have business establishments open for business on the sacred Sabbath. We are sure the cure of this lies in ourselves, the buying public. Certainly the stores and business houses would not remain open if we, the people, failed to purchase from them.”
(Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, Chapter 16: The Sabbath-A Delight)

Day 3885

Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Samuel 4:3-4

Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Samuel 4:3-4
"And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.
So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God."

What I find interesting is that after Israel is defeated by the Philistines in battle, they decide to bring the ark of the covenant. Along with it come Eli's sons that the Lord was already displeased with. The outcome is disastrous not only are they defeated again, but the ark of the covenant is captured. I pondered on how instead of turning to prayer and repentance they thought to use something sacred to protect them. We cannot trifle with holy things. Holy things will not protect us when used to protect us in our sins.

Day 3825

Today's Favorite Verse: Leviticus 26:2-4

Today's Favorite Verse: Leviticus 26:2-4
"Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.
If ye walk in my statues, and keep my commandments, and do them;
Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit."

The last time I read these verses was in 2021. We were in a drought at the time. Since then we broke a 40 year snow record that helped to fill our reservoirs. This past year we had hardly any snow, carried into summer with hardly any rain. We have fires burning out of control. I once again am thinking about the words of President Spencer W. Kimball spoken in his home ward.

"Living the Law of the Fast:
President Kimball encouraged us to follow his example in living the law of the fast. As we did, the members of the ward gained great blessings. During these years, the Monument Park 2nd ward led the Church in the per capita amount of contributions made to the Fast Offering fund of the Church. On one occasion when the entire Church had been requested to fast and pray for the Lord to remove the drought conditions, President Kimball taught us the power that come from knowing the scriptures.
When he came to Sacrament meeting, my usual custom was to greet him and ask him if he had any instructions for the bishopric as the presiding officer. His usual response was: “Carry on bishop as thought I were not here.” On this Sunday, I had been delayed in my office I did not have the chance to greet him before coming to the stand. During the course of the meeting, the Spirit prompted me to ask him if he would like to give the closing prayer on this special occasion. I quickly wrote the following note and passed it to the chair which he always sat in saying: “In light of the special fast, would you care to offer the closing prayer? Bishop Oswald.” A few minutes the note came back to me with this answer penned in red ink: “Or say a word or two before the prayer, either—as you say.”
At the close of the meeting, I said that because of the special nature of the worldwide fast being observed by the members of the Church, I had asked President Kimball if he would take a few minutes and instruct the congregation on the importance of the fast. For the next ten minutes, the members of the ward had the opportunity to witness a Prophet of God, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, speak with power and authority. Without any notes, President Kimball quoted from memory several passages from the Old Testament on the importance of fasting and prayer in petitioning the Lord to send forth rain. He recited the pattern found in the scriptures where God had withheld rain in order to teach the people to be humble and obedient as they acknowledge their dependence upon the Lord for the blessings given conditional upon their personal righteousness. President Kimball wonder aloud whether or not the members were living the commandments to be worthy of asking God to open the windows of heaven and send forth the moisture so necessary to sustain life. It was a masterful demonstration of one who, over a lifetime of scriptural reading and study, had come to know the scriptures and the Author of those sacred writings given to Gods prophets in past dispensations.
At the end of the meeting, the Prophet prayed. Afterwards, the congregation was immovable and did not want to leave or break the marvelous Spirit that was present and felt by all. Many members went home and wrote in their journals of having been taught that day by a living Prophet speaking under the mantle of his authority and by the influence of the Spirit. It was a sacred experience worth remembering and recording in personal journals.
The Relief Society president wrote in her journal: “President Kimball is such a tremendous example to us all. He spoke so much about our personal worthiness as a prerequisite to fasting and praying for the rain, that I am sure there were many present today who did some deeply introspective soul searching of our own, as I did.” “Then I had the most thrilling experience of my life. I heard the Prophet pray. I felt the very heavens open up in that sweet but powerful communication between our Heavenly Father and his most chosen of all servants on the earth. He thanked the Lord for the Prophets of old–in a manner that made me feel he had a very personal relationship with those prophets. . . As I left my choir seat at the close of the meeting, brushing the tears from my eyes, I saw the members of the congregation, men and women alike, doing the same. We were all visibly moved by the power, the sweetness and the challenge of this most significant prayer. Especially to hear the humble Prophet say: “Lord, we pray that we may be found worthy to ask.”
----
"Recalling President Kimball’s calling made manifest in their ward:
The entire Monument Park 2nd ward was present in Sacrament Meeting the day in which President Kimball ended 3 days of his personal fasting and prayer, because of his concern over the national drought that year. President Kimball took a unique direction in this Sacrament Meeting....speaking, then ending his address in prayer. As he spoke, he stopped for many seconds....looked upward to the chapel ceiling...then said "Brothers and Sisters, the Lord has just made it known to me that the reason for the drought we have been experiencing is that we have become a nation of Sabbath breakers. He then began his prayer which was amazing to hear...he addressed Heavenly Father as GOD, creator and governor of the Universe. It was so very reverent and worshipful with infinite respect for His Godhood. President Kimball then prayed and promised the Lord that we would make new efforts to keep his Sabbath day holy. Within weeks, church publications began emphasizing the Sabbath, and within a week after that, the rains began to fall...and the nationwide drought was ended. As one little ward in Zion, we witnessed the prophet and the Lord working together on a global scale."
(Monument Park Second Ward, "A Heritage of Faith", A History of the Wards of the Salt Lake Bonneville Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1976-2014, page 241-242, 252)

Day 3784

Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Corinthians 3:18-19

Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Corinthians 3:18-19

"Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness."

I thought about man deceiving himself. Yes, Satan can blind us, but it is we that deceive ourselves on the condition we are in. I looked at the footnote for "let him become a fool".

"And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them.

But the things of the wise and the prudent shall be hid from them forever—yea, that happiness which is prepared for the saints."

(2 Nephi 9:42-43)

The fool being spoke of is to consider we are nothing before God. All the power, praise, wealth, learning, etc. means nothing when we are compared against the God that created everything. We are no more than the dust of the earth.

"And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you."

(Mosiah 2:25)

The dust of the earth is obedient to God. We being made of all that is obedient, and yet we do not obey God we become nothing.

"O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth.

For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God."

(Helaman 12:7-8)

Being in the depths of humility and to feel we are lower than the dust of the earth is a good place to start. It does not mean we are depressed, it means we are in reverence to the God that created us. This is where we become sanctified and made holy.

Day 3224

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Chronicles 8:11

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Chronicles 8:11

"And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come."

This appears to be the first example of Solomon marrying outside of the faith. It's sad that she cannot dwell where the temple, and ark of the Lord are because they are holy and she is not a believer. What does that say about a person that considers his wife a heathen and not proper to dwell in a holy place. I pondered on the importance of marrying in the faith otherwise in time they will pull you away from yours. This is exactly what happens to Solomon in the end. In all his wisdom he was not wise in this.

Day 2534

Today's Favorite Verse: Leviticus 2:2-3

Today's Favorite Verse: Leviticus 2:2-3

"And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord:

And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire."

A meat offering is the evening sacrifice. It completed the sacrificial meal of the burnt and peace offering. Only a memorial was offered and the remainder was given to the priests for their service. It was a holy offering. I pondered on what it must have been like for Aaron and his sons to receive such a gift. It made me think of the Bishop and his responsibility to use fast offerings with care. When you know something has been consecrated to the Lord you would be mindful of your stewardship over it, as should the receiver of it.

Day 2251

Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 60:7

Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 60:7

"And in this place let them lift up their voice and declare my word with loud voices, without wrath or doubting, lifting up holy hands upon them. For I am able to make you holy, and your sins are forgiven you."

I sat here this morning reading all the sweet and powerful messages of gratitude and thanks that are filling my Facebook feed. This is in response to President Nelson's message to the world yesterday. That we take this week to #GiveThanks on social media. What a spirit has filled my soul from all this. As I ponder on this verse I have to say I am seeing this place lifted up with those declaring the words the prophet spoke inspired by God. Wrath and doubting have been turned away by these sweet expressions of gratitude. It does make one feel more holy. I #GiveThanks for a prophet of God that received revelation for our day.

"A few weeks ago, I woke in the middle of the night with the thought that I should offer a prayer of gratitude to God for all of His children around the globe. Thoughts flooded my mind of all of the things for which we should be grateful and how expressing that gratitude could become a healing spirit in our lives. As the inspiration came, specific details, including when and how I should share this message, came to my mind and heart. The video message shared today was not one that came by chance; it is one that came from heaven."

(President Russell M. Nelson, "The Story behind My Global Prayer of Gratitude" Nov 20, 2020, ChurchofJesusChrist.org blog)

Day 2063

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Nephi 9:48

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Nephi 9:48
"Behold, if ye were holy I would speak unto you of holiness; but as ye are not holy, and ye look upon me as a teacher, it must needs be expedient that I teach you the consequences of sin."

I love this chapter, I weep all the way through it for it speaks of the beauty of the atonement of Jesus Christ. With it my heart grieves for those I love that have lessons to learn before it is to late. Yet, I know that the Lord's judgments will be just. The only thing in my power is to make sure I continually repent of my sins for I am ever learning and growing. How grateful I am for the sacrament. Then in this verse I see Jacob would have told them more of holiness if they were ready. Oh, how I would love to hear that lesson that he would teach. 

Day 1794

Today's Favorite Verse: Ezekiel 20:12, 20

Today's Favorite Verse: Ezekiel 20:12, 20
"Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.
And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God."

How I worship on the Sabbath is a sign to God. If I hallow it, I will be sanctified. That is a great promise. I reflected on what a difference reading the scriptures has made in how I keep the Sabbath day holy. I am much more observant of what I do. Sunday is my favorite day of the week. It is the best day to study the word of God. I prepare all week by reading the word of God, and then on Sundays He in turns blesses me with a greater capacity to understand. Part of the sign is I will know, "I am the Lord your God".

Day 1397

Today's Favorite Verse: Jeremiah 17:22-23

Today's Favorite Verse: Jeremiah 17:22-23
"Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.
But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction."

Today is Saturday, and Saturday is a special day. Once again I find myself singing the Primary song while involved in preparations. This has been ingrained in me since my childhood from goodly parents.

Saturday is a special day.
It's the day we get ready for Sunday:
We clean the house, and we shop at the store,
So we won't have to work until Monday.
We brush our clothes, and we shine our shoes,
And we call it our get-the-work-done day.
Then we trim our nails, and we shampoo our hair,
So we can be ready for Sunday!

I found a quote I was looking for with scripture references on why I honor the Sabbath Day on Sunday, the first day of the week and not on the last.

"Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognize Sunday as the Sabbath in commemoration of the fact that Christ came forth from the grave on Sunday, and the Apostles commenced meeting thereafter on the first day of the week."
(Earl C. Tingey, April 1996 General Conference talk "The Sabbath Day and Sunday Shopping")
(see John 20:1-6, Luke 24:1, Mark 16:1, Matt 28:1, Acts 20:7)

Of the many things I love about the Sabbath it is what I will learn this day that excites me the most. Be it at church worshiping with my brothers and sisters, or home personally studying the scriptures or with my family, the spirit seems the strongest on this day to give me instruction. This is a tender mercy of the Lord to open my eyes and ears especially on His Holy Day. I totally get it when the Lord says that to not honor the Sabbath day you will not hear or receive instruction. I think that is the little sign God gives back to me if I am honoring His day or not.

Day 1337

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 62:12

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 62:12
"And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken."

This verse reminded me of an experience I had while listening to 2 Nephi 14:3 (referencing Isaiah 4:3) and was struck on being called holy.

"And it shall come to pass, they that are left in Zion and remain in Jerusalem shall be called holy, every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem - "

If I think of the word "holy" it would fit with being called a saint. As in how people mock saying if you call yourself a saint you would think yourself holier than thou. I think it is part of Isaiah's prophecy that we need to be called Latter-day Saints. Those that won't call themselves that would have left Zion.

This name reference is part of the shifting of the saints. Who will take upon them the name of Christ and be one of his saints, becoming holy. I can understand how serious President Nelson feels about the name of the church and how we refer to ourselves. It will have a strong meaning in the days ahead. For it is exactly what we need to be. I know I took pause the first time I referred to myself as a latter-day saint. I need to raise the bar and actually become one.

Day 1316

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 56:2, 6-7

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 56:2, 6-7
"Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing an evil."
Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people."

I love the sabbath and I love the temple, both are a delight to me. So with both of these verses I had a hard time choosing only one as my favorite. Then I saw they go hand in hand. For it is by learning to keep the sabbath holy that I give a sign to God on how I love Him. In turn he blesses me with joy in His holy house. 

Day 1310