Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 55:8-9

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 55:8-9
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

I have come to learn that God has a plan and I'm just stumbling and feeling my way around. Sometimes things seem harsh but looking back I can see they had a purpose. The roads I have traveled in life, hard as they have been, have been for my good. They bring me to a better place. I have come to know that I have to trust the Lord knows what he is doing far better than me. He can see a far off and knows all that is ahead of me.

Day 3988

Today's Favorite Verse: Ecclesiastes 3:1,17

Today's Favorite Verse: Ecclesiastes 3:1,17
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work."

I don't always know where to find specific verses in the scriptures, so it always makes me happy when I come upon the familiar, especially when songs. I had to go listen to The Byrds "Turn! Turn! Turn!". That song was on the radio a lot when I was growing up. It helped me understand at an early again there would be seasons to my life. As I have gotten older I understand there is even purpose in the wicked among us. Even now they are fulfilling prophesy to all that was foretold before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Day 3963

Today's Favorite Verse: Joshua 13:1

Today's Favorite Verse: Joshua 13:1
"Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed."

I can't even imagine how Joshua must have felt. You're old, stricken in years and told there is much land to be possessed. Which isn't a simple matter of walking in, they have to fight for it. Basically there is no rest. It made me think of my birthday tomorrow, and how I feel like I've slowed down so much this past year. I can't even imagine turning 101 years old like President Nelson tomorrow. As I pondered on all this I thought of purpose. Even though I am older its the purpose and the need to get things done that keeps me going. You really can never stop. The difference is you focus on what's important and devote the energy you have to that. It reminded me of a story Elder Bednar related about Elder Robert D. Hales.

"Several years ago I spent a Sunday afternoon with Elder Hales in his home as he was recovering from a serious illness. We discussed our families, our quorum responsibilities, and important experiences.
At one point I asked Elder Hales, “You have been a successful husband, father, athlete, pilot, business executive, and Church leader. What lessons have you learned as you have grown older and been constrained by decreased physical capacity?”
Elder Hales paused for a moment and responded, “When you cannot do what you have always done, then you only do what matters most.”
I was struck by the simplicity and comprehensiveness of his answer. My beloved apostolic associate shared with me a lesson of a lifetime—a lesson learned through the crucible of physical suffering and spiritual searching."
(Elder David A. Bednar, "Chosen to Bear Testimony of My Name", Oct 2015 General Conference)

Day 3812

Today's Favorite Verse: Genesis 45:5

Today's Favorite Verse: Genesis 45:5
"Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life."

I pondered on how there is purpose in trials, if we remain faithful to the Lord. Joseph knew that the trials he went through by being sold into Egypt by his brothers was God's will for him. There was a greater purpose. Yes, his brothers did wrong and we are punished for our wrongs if we do not repent. I love the reunion of Joseph and his brothers. I love Joseph's forgiveness of them. He knew the greater purpose was for him to be sent ahead to later preserve theirs and those around them lives. It is so important to wait upon the Lord, and have forgiveness of those that did us wrong. We never know the end of the story from the beginning.

Day 3760

Today's Favorite Verse: Genesis 30:8

Today's Favorite Verse: Genesis 30:8
"And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali."

Jacob loved Rachel, but was first given Leah in marriage. Leah felt she was hated and the Lord opened her womb but not Rachel's. Then it seems to be a competition where sister also give their handmaidens to Jacob to bare children for them. As I was reading this story the thought came how the competition in effect fulfilled the Lord's promise. This is where the twelve tribes of Israel come from. It's fitting that they come from four different women. The Lord has purposes and we never know how the blessings or prophecies will be fulfilled.

Day 3755

Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 75:10

Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 75:10
"Calling on the name of the Lord for the Comforter, which shall teach them all things that are expedient for them—"

The word expedient stood out to me. I decided to look up its meaning. But the definitions didn't really feel complete.

Expedient = practical or advantageous, suitable to the circumstance, appropriate. Inclined towards methods or means that are advantageous rather than fair or just.
Suitable for achieving a particular end in a given circumstance.
Something done or used to achieve a particular end usually quickly or temporarily: an expedient action or solution.

I decided to look at the dictionary for the time frame. The one I found was from 1828.

EXPE'DIENT, adjective [Latin expediens; expedio, to hasten; Eng. speed.]
1. Literally, hastening; urging forward. Hence, tending to promote the object proposed; fit or suitable for the purpose; proper under the circumstances. Many things may be lawful, which are not expedient
2. Useful; profitable.
3. Quick; expeditious. [Not used.]
(Webster Dictionary 1828)

Now this felt right. The Lord through the Comforter is telling us what is urgent to hasten his purposes. The Lord instructs and teaches differently than the world. We may receive here a little and there a little, enough for what is needful at the time or circumstance. One of the blessings of being part of a true and living church is on-going revelation. A living prophet that speaks with the living Christ. We are told what is expedient for us to accomplish the work. The Spirit will tell us what is needful, when it is needed. That grows faith.

"And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do."
(1 Nephi 4:6)

Day 3664

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 55:5

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 55:5
"And it came to pass that they found one, whose name was Laman; and he was one of the servants of the king who was murdered by Amalickiah."

I find it interesting that one of the servants of the murdered Lamanite king, that fled to the Nephites for protection, is the one later used to trick the Lamanite guards. That whole event of being wrongly accused by Amalickiah's men of killing the Lamanite king must have been so trying for him. Yet, the Lord needed him for another role in a different place. Our trials bring us to places that we need to be.

Day 3499

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 27:1-2

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 27:1-2
"Now it came to pass that when those Lamanites who had gone to war against the Nephites had found, after their many struggles to destroy them, that it was in vain to seek their destruction, they returned again to the land of Nephi.
And it came to pass that the Amalekites, because of their loss, were exceedingly angry. And when they saw that they could not seek revenge from the Nephites, they began to stir up the people in anger against their brethren, the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi; therefore they began again to destroy them."

I was pondering on why the Amalekites felt they needed to go after the Anti-Nephi-Lehies? The Amalekites wanted to destroy the Nephites but since they couldn't they turned on a group of Lamanites that only wanted to be peaceful. That just didn't make sense. Then I realized there is no sense in what Satan inspires in the hearts of men. When you incite people and stir them up to anger about a group of people the cause doesn't even need to be true. Men's hearts had failed them.

It made me think of the video with President Nelson "Men's Hearts Shall Fail Them".

"If you got a faith you can handle difficulties, with an eternal perspective that all will be well. "...the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear,..." (Luke 21:25-26)
"Men's hearts are failing because they forget their identity and purpose."

The Amalekites were Nephite apostates. They had lost their religion, identity and purpose. Without that eternal guidance they lashed out at anyone they perceived a threat and in particular those that loved God.

Day 3471

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 26:20-21

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 26:20-21
"Oh, my soul, almost as it were, fleeth at the thought. Behold, he did not exercise his justice upon us, but in his great mercy hath brought us over that everlasting gulf of death and misery, even to the salvation of our souls.
And now behold, my brethren, what natural man is there that knoweth these things? I say unto you, there is none that knoweth these things, save it be the penitent."

There is a purpose in sin when we repent. When we feel God's mercy, forgiveness and redeeming love our hearts are forever bound to Him. We are willing to submit to His will, and be an instrument for good in bringing others to Him. We rejoice in His amazing grace.

Day 3470

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 14:10-11

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 14:10-11
"And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames.
But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day."

I can appreciate how Amulek wished to use priesthood power to stop the horrors happening to the women and children. Some of which were probably his own family members. There is an interesting perspective on this from President Spencer W. Kimball.

“If all the sick for whom we pray were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended. No man would have to live by faith.
“If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil—all would do good but not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, only satanic controls.
“Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death, and if these were not, there would also be no joy, success, resurrection, nor eternal life and godhood” (Faith Precedes the Miracle [1973], 97).
(Book of Mormon Student Manual, Chapter 26:Alma 13-16, "The Martydom of the Righteous")

Day 3458

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Nephi 31:13

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Nephi 31:13
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel."

We may follow the Lord with full purpose of heart, have real intent that we will always do so, but it is part of the plan that we will still slip and fall. The difference is we know it, and won't hide it. We will repent and try again. This is how we learn and grow, it truly shows our real intent to follow Him.

I learned this week that you can lose patience and get angry, mess things up and watch things go out of control. Yet, there was still a purpose for all that happened. Things moved quickly in a direction for my family's greater good than I could have ever realized. Yes, I needed to repent of my part, because I could have done better, even though the ultimate outcome wouldn't have changed. There is a reason why my slower plan wouldn't work, because it wasn't His. The Lord is letting me stumble and grow, and watching out for me at the same time. I marvel at how as I sincerely repented and grieved how he revealed things regarding the situation I had no insight on before hand. He brought confirmation and peace to my soul. As the greater picture has taken shape I stand so amazed on how protected we have been all this time.

Day 3402

Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Nephi 6:6

Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Nephi 6:6
"Wherefore, I shall give commandment unto my seed, that they shall not occupy these plates with things which are not of worth unto the children of men."

Nephi is speaking of the purpose of the plates he is writing on. They are to be of great worth to us, and contain the pleasing things of God. He wanted the record-keepers that come after him to do the same. As I pondered on this I though of plates like my mind. How what I write upon it should be things of worth. That I shouldn't occupy myself with that which has no true value or meaning in the scheme of things.

Day 3355

Today's Favorite Verse: Hebrews 1:2, 10

Today's Favorite Verse: Hebrews 1:2, 10
"Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:"

The Savior created the worlds under the direction of the Father. What stands out to me is worlds plural. There are more worlds than this one. Each has its own purpose.

"And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.
And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many."
(Doctrine and Covenants 1:33-34)

Day 3293

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Timothy 1:9

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Timothy 1:9
"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,"

This made me think of how this applies to all callings in the church. The Lord doesn't always call the brightest and most capable. He has his own purposes, which includes for our personal growth. I remember once a stake president telling me that the Lord will call a bishop because he is either a great spiritual leader or he has a lot to learn. Sometimes we are there to help others learn. Understanding that has helped me be more patient when I see people faultier. God's grace will be upon us as we truly strive to serve him.

Day 3285 (9th anniversary)

Today's Favorite Verse: Ephesians 4:2-3

Today's Favorite Verse: Ephesians 4:2-3

"With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

I thought about how hard it is to keep a group of people in unity and peace. It's like a marriage, it only works when you try to be the better of the two. The better being the first to forgive or apologize when there is a disagreement. Thinking first of the need of the other, and showing love. Inside a church or the fold of God the members need to act with lowliness, meekness and be long-suffering with each other. That really can only be done if a group of people are trying to keep the Spirit to be with them, united in cause and purpose.

Day 3260

Today's Favorite Verse: Acts 12:2-3

Today's Favorite Verse: Acts 12:2-3

"And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)"

Reading of the death of James made me cry. I don't really know why it touched me so. Then as I read of Peter being rescued by the angel I wondered why the difference in one being preserved and the other not?

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord."

(Isaiah 55:8)

I don't know the answer, other than its for God's will and purposes. I found that thought interesting because during sacrament I actually thought on that. Before church I had been pondering on how I am content not knowing all the how to's, what for's, and why's of things. I can accept God's will if I know or don't know. God will be there for me regardless. Then during sacrament a past event came to mind, just something stupid I once did, of no real significance. Then I thought well if I can so easily not hold control over things now why does my mind hold onto things with no meaning? I kind of laughed at myself. Funny thing is now I can't even remember what that past event even was. Now this doesn't mean the death of James or rescue of Peter is of no importance. The difference is accepting God's will and purpose, and I don't have to understand every part of it. No blessing will be withheld in the eternities for either.

Day 3189

Today's Favorite Verse: John 18:18, 25

Today's Favorite Verse: John 18:18, 25

"And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.

And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not."

As I'm reading this I have a nice toasty heater sitting behind my chair. It's so relaxing and comfortable. I don't want to move. I could really picture Peter standing in the cold warming himself by the fire. How good that must have felt, especially with the added anxiety over what was happening with Jesus. Then when Peter is confronted and asked if he is one of Jesus' disciples he denies it. The error Peter made was leaving the side of the Savior to seek comfort elsewhere. It made me think about how sometimes the things of the world can give us so much comfort that it's easy to forget who we are, and our purpose. We may do what we later regret.

Day 3174

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 64:8

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 64:8

"But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand."

This verse reminds me of a conversation I had today. We discussed how we are the sum of all our experiences. How God prepared us along the way to be used for his purposes. It is such a beautiful thing. There is purpose in suffering, learning, and growing, to become all that we are meant to be.

Day 2902

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 45:18

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 45:18

"For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else."

This reminded me of this.

"And behold, the glory of the Lord was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God, and talked with him face to face. And the Lord God said unto Moses: For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me.

And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. "

(Moses 1:31, 33)

The earth was created to be inhabited. Each world that has been created has been for God's own purposes. In this world God created man in his own image. That was part of his purpose.

"And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them."

(Moses 2:27)

It does make me wonder if in other worlds he did not create man in his own image. Otherwise, where did the Cherubims and Seraphims that minister in the heavenly sanctuary, Holy of Holies, and guard the tree of life come from?

"Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly."

(Isaiah 6:2)

"So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."

(Genesis 3:24)

"And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly."

(Hebrew 9:5)

Day 2883

Today's Favorite Verse: Psalms 16:11

Today's Favorite Verse: Psalms 16:11

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."

This reminds of an article I was reading today about the loss of belief in God happening. It really hit me thinking about the youth.

"When I was a kid, my parents took it for granted that we’d be brought to mass, we’d be taught the ways of prayer, we learned about the saints. They just immersed us in that world," Barron recalled. "Well, when you don’t immerse people in that world, you say things like, ‘Oh, it’s up to you, you decide what you want to do when you’re 16.’ You lose all that. And then we’re surprised that young people are adrift and young people have lost their sense of purpose and meaning?"

(Catholic Bishop Robert Barron, "US religious leaders explain why faith in God hit lowest level ever, say COVID made it worse" by Andrew Mark Miller, Fox News)

Without God in my life, and the guidance, direction and purpose He gives me, I don't know how I would find my way without it in my life. How would you know a fulness of joy?

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

(Proverbs 22:6)

Day 2653