Today's Favorite Verse: John 16:2-3

Today's Favorite Verse: John 16:2-3
"They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me."

Jesus was speaking to his apostles. Only John the beloved would not die a martyrs death. This made me reflect on Joan of Arc and William Tyndale both killed by religious leaders for their beliefs. I cannot think of any time after Jesus' resurrection, with the law of Moses fulfilled that God has asked a religious sect to kill others for their beliefs. Those that have killed others have been deceived thinking they were right. I pondered on Joseph and Hyrum Smith being murdered in the Cartage jail. I don't know if any of the mob thought they were doing God's service? Was that just politically motivated? Why such hate over people's religions? It is sad what people have done in the name of religion, when what they show is that they do not know the Father nor the Son.

Day 4137

Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 134:9

Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 134:9
"We do not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil government, whereby one religious society is fostered and another proscribed in its spiritual privileges, and the individual rights of its members, as citizens, denied."

This chapter is "a declaration of belief regarding governments and laws in general". It was adopted by unanimous vote at a general assembly of the church in 1835. As I reviewed each statement of belief this verse seems the most pressing concern for my day. It would be a terrible offense if Christian Nationalism was ever adopted in our land. We cannot force this nation to be Christian. Force does not go with true worship and belief.

"We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may." (11th Article of Faith)

Day 3723

Today's Favorite Verse: Ether 7:8, 11, 24, 27

Today's Favorite Verse: Ether 7:8, 11, 24, 27
"And it came to pass that Shule was angry with his brother; and Shule waxed strong, and became mighty as to the strength of a man; and he was also mighty in judgment.
And it came to pass that he did execute judgment in righteousness; and he did spread his kingdom upon all the face of the land, for the people had become exceedingly numerous.
And it came to pass that the people did revile against the prophets, and did mock them. And it came to pass that king Shule did execute judgment against all those who did revile against the prophets.
And there were no more wars in the days of Shule; and he remembered the great things that the Lord had done for his fathers in bringing them across the great deep into the promised land; wherefore he did execute judgment in righteousness all his days."

The repeated characteristic of Shule is "judgment". He could execute judgment and in righteousness. That is a good characteristic of a leader. He did not command them in what to believe but executed a law giving power to the prophets to go whithersoever they will. Because of this the people were brought into repentance. You cannot enact a law to make people repent or believe, but must give them religious freedom to practice their religion. Agency to believe what they will.

Day 3570

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 21:22

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 21:22
"And he also declared unto them that they might have the liberty of worshiping the Lord their God according to their desires, in whatsoever place they were in, if it were in the land which was under the reign of king Lamoni."

I pondered on how the freedom of religion only comes when you allow people to worship according to their desires. You cannot force everyone to believe the same thing, or be of the same religion. That is not the Lord's way. Man must be free to decide. It is that agency to choose that gives a true and honest heart when they come to the Lord and worship Him.

"We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."
(Article of Faith 1:11)

Day 3465

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 12:11

Today's Favorite Verse: Alma 12:11
"And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell."

I paused at people getting less until they know nothing. It must be something I reflected on earlier because this was in my notes.

"Lessor means they loose it. Like a dinner. Those that desire more will receive it until they are given all. Those that want lessor want only a small portion. Then they want less and less until they waste away and die."

"Elder Dallin H. Oaks explained that if we reject revelation through the Holy Ghost, we limit how much we can learn: “We teach and learn the mysteries of God by revelation from his Holy Spirit. If we harden our hearts to revelation and limit our understanding to what we can obtain by study and reason, we are limited to what Alma called ‘the lesser portion of the word’” (The Lord’s Way [1991], 42)."
(Book of Mormon Student Manual, "Chapter 25: Alma 8-12")

I also found this quote by Brigham Young. I looks like a plan the adversary is using for our day.

"The votaries of the bad excuse themselves for their persecutions of the good by supposing that they, themselves, as individuals, or their nations, are about to suffer some great wrong from the upholders of the good. As an example of this I will quote from the Gospel according to St. Luke—“And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him (Jesus Christ) unto Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a king.” This is the cunning of the devil, and a means by which he leads down to destruction great numbers of the human family. He gets the political world to believe that they are, or are going to, be infringed upon; he makes the religious world believe that the sanctity and rights of their holy religion are in danger, and thus he gets them to make his cause their own; they are lashed into a frenzy of excitement and hatred against the Saints; every high-toned, honorable and truthful feeling of the human heart is blunted or entirely subdued in them; they plan for the destruction of God's people, and, in many instances, the blood of the Saints—the blood of innocence has been shed by their hands. It is written in the book of Revelation: “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels with him."
(Brigham Young, "Opposition in All Things", JD 11:233)

Day 3456

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Nephi 2:18, 27

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Nephi 2:18, 27
"And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind. Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.
Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."

I pondered on the agency of man. How God has given us this great privilege, the ability to choose and act for ourselves. This mortal life would not be a true test if we were forced in any way. Our hearts must be free to choose to follow Him. The battle over the agency of man continues here on earth. Lucifer, the devil, was cast out of heaven due to his desire to take away the agency of man. He and his followers, comprising one-third of the host of heaven, desires nothing more than the misery of man. One of the ways he does this is to lie to bring them into bondage by a variety of sins. He allows man to dig a pit for their neighbor and then rejoices when they fall into it themselves. It is a great deception that Satan will bless his followers, he may for a season, and when he is done with them he spits them out.

I can understand by witnessing the tactics of man right now why the prophet said, "In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost." (Russell M. Nelson, "Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives", April 2018 General Conference)

How do you answer the question, do I side with those that are for man's agency to choose, which includes legalizing sin? or do I side with those that want to take away man's agency under the guise of politicized religious zeal? It's entirely possible someone that thinks they are being religious may be more wicked then those openly sinning, when you consider God's esteem for the agency of man. Even if sin is legalized it doesn't mean you have to participate. Under the crux of politicized religious zeal I fear we are about to loose our religious freedoms.

Day 3373

Today's Favorite Verse: Micah 4:5

Today's Favorite Verse: Micah 4:5

"For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever."

This made me think of the 11th Article of Faith.

"We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."

We can never enact laws that take away the agency of man to worship God as they see fit.

"We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to him, and to him only, for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others; but we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience; should punish guilt, but never suppress the freedom of the soul.

We believe that rulers, states, and governments have a right, and are bound to enact laws for the protection of all citizens in the free exercise of their religious belief; but we do not believe that they have a right in justice to deprive citizens of this privilege, or proscribe them in their opinions, so long as a regard and reverence are shown to the laws and such religious opinions do not justify sedition nor conspiracy."

(Doctrine and Covenants 134:4, 7)

Day 3056

Today's Favorite Verse: Job 12:4

Today's Favorite Verse: Job 12:4

"I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn."

This verse continues my thought of yesterday, on how the book of Job is an example of persecution and how we can learn from it in the latter-days. Now I think about religious freedom and how the loss of it will lead to that persecution.

Day 2607

Today's Favorite Verse: Ezra 6:7

Today's Favorite Verse: Ezra 6:7

"Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place."

Darius renews the decree of Cyrus to build the temple. This part of the decree made me think about the role of government in preserving religious liberty and the ability to allow people to worship God according to their own conscience. Which reminded me of the 10th Article of Faith.

"We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."

Day 2568

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16

"Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:

But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy."

Even though the people were wicked the Lord had compassion on them and sent messengers of God to them. Instead they mock and misuse the prophets. To the point "there was no remedy". The wrath of the Lord leaves them unprotected and their enemies come in and destroy them, the temple, Jerusalem and carry any that escaped into Babylon. That is pretty bad when there is no other remedy than that.

I pondered on what a terrible condition people are in when they mock and misuse messengers of God, his prophets. That is exactly what's happening today. Maybe not to the extent that happened in this chapter but it doesn't take much research to see comments after General Conference that fall into this realm. We know what happens after they go into Babylon, they lost their religious freedom and ability to openly worship God. After listening to General Conference it seems like that is a battle gathering outside the door.

Day 2562

Today's Favorite Verse: Ether 7:11, 24-25, 27

Today's Favorite Verse: Ether 7:11, 24-25, 27
"And it came to pass that he did execute judgment in righteousness; and he did spread his kingdom upon all the face of the land, for the people had become exceedingly numerous.
And it came to pass that the people did revile against the prophets, and did mock them. And it came to pass that king Shule did execute judgment against all those who did revile against the prophets.
And he did execute a law throughout all the land, which gave power unto the prophets that they should go whithersoever they would; and by this cause the people were brought unto repentance.
And there were no more wars in the days of Shule; and he remembered the great things that the Lord had done for his fathers in bringing them across the great deep into the promised land; wherefore he did execute judgment in righteousness all his days."

These verses are describing king Shule. He didn't have peace all his days for it took effort to bring the people to a point that they could have peace. I reflected on the power of a great leader, if he leads in righteousness. I also pondered on the role of religious liberty in bringing peace to a land.

Day 1984

Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Timothy 2:1-2

Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Timothy 2:1-2
"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.
For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty."

This made me ponder on religious freedom. How a person of faith only wants to lead a quiet and peaceable life, and somehow it looks like intolerance to those that don't understand. I pondered on the prayers we are saying for our nation, leaders, individuals and families in this country. How I pray religious freedom will be allowed to continue in this land. It isn't hard to imagine our days are being numbered. 

"Yea, and I say unto you that if it were not for the prayers of the righteous, who are now in the land, that ye would even now be visited with utter destruction; yet it would not be by flood, as were the people in the days of Noah, but it would be by famine, and by pestilence, and the sword.
But it is by the prayers of the righteous that ye are spared; now therefore, if ye will cast out the righteous from among you then will not the Lord stay his hand; but in his fierce anger he will come out against you; then ye shall be smitten by famine, and by pestilence, and by the sword; and the time is soon at hand except ye repent."
(Alma 10:22-23)

Day 1694

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Corinthians 3:17

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Corinthians 3:17
"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

As I see our liberties being taken, so does wickedness gain momentum in our nation. The one builds upon the other.

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."
(Romans 8:2)

"But where the Spirit of God is, there is union, harmony and liberty, and where it is not there is strife, confusion and bondage. Let us then seek to be one, honor our God, honor our religion, and keep the commandments of God, and seek to know His will, and then to do it"
(JD 22:38, John Taylor, The Organization of the First Presidency, Etc., Oct 1880 General Conference)

"Through our faith in Jesus Christ, believing in His Atonement, repenting of our sins, and being baptized, we may then receive the supernal gift of the Holy Ghost. This gift provides knowledge and understanding, guidance and strength to learn and gain a testimony, power, cleansing to overcome sin, and comfort and encouragement to be faithful in tribulation. These incomparable blessings of the Spirit increase our freedom and power to do what is right, for “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
As we walk the path of spiritual liberty in these last days, we must understand that the faithful use of our agency depends upon our having religious freedom. We already know that Satan does not want this freedom to be ours. He attempted to destroy moral agency in heaven, and now on earth he is fiercely undermining, opposing, and spreading confusion about religious freedom—what it is and why it is essential to our spiritual life and our very salvation.There are four cornerstones of religious freedom that we as Latter-day Saints must rely upon and protect.

The first is freedom to believe. No one should be criticized, persecuted, or attacked by individuals, or governments either, for what he or she believes about God. It is very personal and very important...
The second cornerstone of religious liberty is the freedom to share our faith and our beliefs with others...
The third cornerstone of religious liberty is the freedom to form a religious organization, a church, to worship peacefully with others...
The fourth cornerstone of religious liberty is the freedom to live our faith—free exercise of faith not just in the home and chapel but also in public places..."
(Elder Robert D. Hales, Preserving Agency, Protecting Religious Freedom, Apr 2015 General Conference)

Day 1654

Today's Favorite Verse: Psalms 35:20

Today's Favorite Verse: Psalms 35:20
"For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land."

I was reflected on David's life and how Saul sought to destroy him. Wondering if David wrote this psalm at this time? When I read this verse all of a sudden it made me think of my day, and those trying to destroy religious liberty. Like David all I want is a peaceful quiet life, and do no harm to others. For some reason that totally bothers the forces of darkness, and they cannot leave it alone. They devise deceitful ways to catch the peaceful into snares.

Day 1088

Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Kings 9:8-9

Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Kings 9:8-9
"And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and to this house?
And they shall answer, Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have  taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil."

I could not help but think of the pilgrims coming to America for religious liberty. For generations America has served the God of this land. Now as its people grow in darkness the God that they serve is themselves. It is Lucifer that teaches man such a thing. So they grow without any consideration or feeling for others, and war among themselves. I feel so incredibly distant from it all. I am so grateful to my Lord for his protection and the peace that surrounds me. I know even if destruction comes there is a purpose if only to open the eyes of those that are headed into forbidden paths. I feel it is a time to wait upon the Lord until I am needed.


Day 875

Today's Favorite Verse: D&C 134:7, 10

Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 134:7, 10

"We believe that rulers, states, and governments have a right, and are bound to enact laws for the protection of all citizens in the free exercise of their religious belief; but we do not believe that they have a right in justice to deprive citizen of this privilege, or proscribe them in their opinions, so long as a regard and reverence are shown to the laws and such religious opinions do not justify sedition nor conspiracy.

We believe that all religious societies have a right to deal with their members for disorderly conduct, according to the rules and regulations of such societies; provided that such dealings be for fellowship and good standing; but we do not believe that any religious society has authority to try men on the right of property or life, to take from them this world's goods, or to put them in jeopardy of either life or limb, or to inflict any physical punishment upon them. They can only excommunicate them from their society, and withdraw from them their fellowship."

I don't know where this chapter has been hidden from me all these years. I read as if experiencing it for the very first time. Even though I have read the Doctrine and Covenants many times before. The header says it is "a declaration of belief regarding governments and laws in general, adopted by unanimous vote at a general assembly of the Church." The declaration was given the following preamble: "That our belief with regard to earthly governments and laws in general may not be misinterpreted nor misunderstood, we have thought proper to present, at the close of this volume, our opinion concerning the same." This would have been the last chapter in the Doctrine & Covenants, but sadly the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith did not make that happen. They paid the ultimate cost of religious persecution, in which this chapter could have prevented. The Doctrine & Covenants will continue for several chapters because God has never stopped talking to us. 

As I read this chapter I felt an absolute feeling of agreement on the position spoken. Some verses even put into alignment the things I had been pondering over. It even helped me understand why I had a trouble with a religious sect in particular, but knew they had just as much right to practice their religion as did I. Now I see the trouble is when a religion justifies sedition or conspiracy among its members. It should never use physical punishment, the loss of limb, or property and even life. None of these improper punishments would bring a person willingly to God. In fact a bad element could corrupt an otherwise peaceful religion with these tactics. The punishment for disorderly conduct for any religion should be dis-fellowship or excommunication. People should be able to leave of their own free-will.

I am grateful to know where the line is.  As a government we can set laws to prevent atrocities from happening within a religion. At the same time allowing a religion the right to worship and practice its religion to the enjoyment of its people. There are acceptable bounds the Lord has set. I do wonder if in Joseph's time they had any idea of what a particular religious sect would be attempting to do in my day. 

Day 553