Today's Favorite Verse: Lamentations 5:21

Today's Favorite Verse: Lamentations 5:21
"Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old."

This is Jeremiah's prayer. The desire is for Israel to turn again to the Lord. I pondered on how I pray for this too. I pray for those I love, that their hearts will be softened, that they will turn to the Lord. That they will awaken to their awful situation before it is to late.

"Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up."
(Ether 8:24)

"O, all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little children who can understand my words, for I have spoken plainly unto you that ye might understand, I pray that ye should awake to a remembrance of the awful situation of those that have fallen into transgression.
And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."
(Mosiah 2:40-41)

Day 4010

Today's Favorite Verse: 3 John 1:4

Today's Favorite Verse: 3 John 1:4
"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."

No greater joy is when a lamb that has been lost returns home again. It's been 20 years but miracles do happen. God will bring our children home if we let Him. Children in their teens and twenties maybe leaving the church in droves, but in their mid 30's and 40's they are coming home. Walk with them as many days in the Lord as you can, and they will know where home is.

"Years ago, while I was serving as a young bishop, an older gentleman asked to meet with me. He described his departure from the Church and the righteous traditions of his parents when he was in his youth. He described in detail the heartache he experienced during his life while vainly seeking lasting joy amidst the momentary happiness the world has to offer. Now, in his later years of life, he experienced the tender, sometimes nagging whispering sensations of the Spirit of God guiding him back to the lessons, practices, feelings, and spiritual safety of his youth. He expressed gratitude for the traditions of his parents, and in modern-day words, he echoed the proclamation of Enos: “Blessed be the name of my God for it.
”In my experience, this dear man’s return to the gospel is characteristic of many and is repeated often among God’s children who leave for a time, only to return to the teachings and practices of their youth. In those moments, we witness the wisdom of the writer of the proverb, who exhorts parents, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
(Steve R. Bangerter, "Laying the Foundation of a Great Work", Oct 2018 General Conference)

Day 3325