Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:7

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:7
"(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)"

With faith it matters not what you can see with your eyes, or hear with your ears. What matters is having the Holy Ghost testify of Christ and his words and promises. We all start with faith believing and move forward, trusting in Christ. We find that He will carry out burdens if we humbly let him. Over time it matters not that we see or hear Him, for we know He is there. Having this witness and the profound assurance the Spirit brings, we have eyes that see, and ears that hear, that know and understand.

Day 4207

Today's Favorite Verse: Ezekiel 44:5

Today's Favorite Verse: Ezekiel 44:5

"And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary."

I think it one of the most desirable gifts, to have eyes that see and ears that hear, and know and understand. I pray for that often. It is only through the Holy Ghost that you can have such a gift. It is the only way you can understand the ordinances of the the house of the Lord.

Day 3005

Today's Favorite Verse: Ezekiel 3:10

Today's Favorite Verse: Ezekiel 3:10

"Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears."

I thought about how meaningful these words were to Ezekiel and to me. I need to do just like Ezekiel and receive in my heart and really hear the words of the Lord. It can come to me personally or though the Lord's servants the prophets. The spirit will guide and tell me what I need to do, if I don't lose the ability to #HearHim. You cannot hear him if you heart is unable to receive it. Daily prayer, repentance and feasting on the scriptures helps prepare my heart and open my ears so I can hear.

Day 2964

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Kings 2:9-11

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Kings 2:9-11

"And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so

And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven..

Elijah asks Elisha what what he could do for him before he leaves. In reply Elisha asks for a double portion of Elijah's spirit. Why did Elijah say he asked for a hard thing? Because, what he asked was not Elijah's to give. It wasn't Elijah's spirit that made him great. It was the Holy Ghost that was with Elijah. One man cannot will the spirit to another. It comes by the worthiness and desire of another to have the spirit to be with him. Elijah then continued to walk with Elisha and they talked. What were the words that Elijah said to Elisha? Those words would fill Elisha to the point he was able to see the chariot and horses of fire, and witness Elijah being taken up in a whirlwind. For all the words that Elijah spoke to Elisha before hand, if they had fallen upon ears that would not hear, then there would have been no eyes that could see.

"Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear."

(Matthew 13:13-16

"And these are the words which he spake and caused to be written, saying: My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view."

(Mosiah 2:9)

"For by my Spirit will I enlighten them, and by my power will I make known unto them the secrets of my will—yea, even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man."

(Doctrine and Covenants 76:10)

"Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he may hear;

For my Spirit is sent forth into the world to enlighten the humble and contrite, and to the condemnation of the ungodly."

(Doctrine and Covenants 136:32-33)

Day 2474

Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 110:1

Today's Favorite Verse: Doctrine & Covenants 110:1

"The veil was taken from our minds, and the eyes of our understanding were opened."

This is one of the amazing chapters in all of the Doctrine and Covenants. This is where the Lord himself appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland temple, April 3, 1836. Followed by Moses, Elias, and Elijah coming to committed the keys of their dispensations to this the fullness of time. What it would have been like to witness these events.

I always try to ponder on something different when I read the scriptures. This time the first verse stood out to me. It made me think of Elder Bednar's apostolic blessing to have eyes that see, and ears that hear. That having this gift of the spirit would come first before the veil could be lifted and understanding opened up to you. I may not see what Joseph and Oliver saw, but having the eyes that see, ears to hear and understanding that follows, is something I can obtain. "Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he may hear;" (Doctrine and Covenants 136:32) "And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken." (Isaiah 32:3) "By the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened and our understanding were enlightened, so as to see and understand the things of God -" (Doctrine and Covenants 76:12)

Day 2113

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Corinthians 4:3

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Corinthians 4:3
"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:"

This is reminding me of something I noticed this morning while reading the Book of Mormon. It is in 1 Nephi 8 during Lehi's dream. He was wandering for many hours in darkness and then prays to the Lord for mercy. In verse 9 it says:

"And it came to pass AFTER I prayed unto the Lord I beheld a large and spacious field."

The word AFTER is what stood out to me. Lehi could not see this large and spacious field that led to the tree of life, until after he prayed. Meaning it was there, he just couldn't see it.

So then I looked at what Laman and Lemuel were doing in verse 18.

"And it came to pass that I saw them, but they would not come unto me and partake of the fruit."

It made me wonder if Lehi called and they didn't even see him? The point I felt this morning and again tonight is we don't see things as the really are unless we are spiritually prepared to see them. The meaning of spiritual things are lost to those that reject them. What would my eyes see if I was spiritually prepared to see them? Reminds me of the words of Elisha, once again it was prayer that opened the spiritual eyes.

"And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
(2 Kings 6:15-17)

Day 1655

Today's Favorite Verse: John 7:41-43

Today's Favorite Verse: John 7:41-43
"Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?
Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
So there was a division among the people because of him."

I sat here pondering for quite a while on how the people did not know Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Wouldn't the people in Galilee recalled Joseph and Mary's trip there to pay taxes? The wisemen visiting them there. How they then fled to Egypt before Herod killed all the boys two-years-old and younger there. Eventually, they came home. It's a little place, how would they not know this part of the story? Why were the people even discussing this when an inquiry could have been made to find out the truth? The scripture records this so obviously people did know the truth.

As I sat and pondered I remembered a conversation I had today with my husband. I had seen something on Facebook and as I always do I looked up the facts. I always marvel when I find how foolish someone is to post something and the facts are right there to be had if they had only looked. So that means people today are no different then people back in Christ's day. They believe only what others say is the truth and don't actually look for the truth. If you honestly seek for truth you can find it. If you do not want the truth then you are seeking to cause division, or it's an indication of spiritual blindness. 

Day 1577

Today's Favorite Verse: Luke 9:20

Today's Favorite Verse: Luke 9:20
"He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God."

I pondered on how important this question is. It's the very one I think will be asked when I meet my Savior, Jesus Christ. I must know him and that he is the Christ. I feel within my heart that I do, that I don't need to see to believe. The eye of faith is overwhelming enough for my soul and sufficient for me. The rest I cannot comprehend. Though someday I know it will be.

"And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad"
(Ether 12:19)

Day 1557

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 32:3

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 32:3
"And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken."

That is my wish for this coming general conference. I want eyes that see and ears that hear. I want a heart that will hearken unto the council that is given. I want all the blessings that will come from these gifts.

Day 1286

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 30:20-21

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 30:20-21
"And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers.
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."

I could picture this so well. For it is through my adversity and afflictions that I have come to see it is the Lord who has been teaching me all along. It is the spirit that is speaking to me. Directing and guiding me in the way to walk. If I only let them.

Day 1284

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 6:9

Today's Favorite Verse: Isaiah 6:9
"And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not."

This is why the Savior spoke in parables. In Matthew 13:14-15
"And in them is fulfilled the prophecy to Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."

My deepest desire is to have ears that hear and eyes that see. One thing I am sure is that I do not understand all that I want to. It's only given as my faith increases. It requires much study, pondering, fasting and prayer.

Day 1260

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Kings 6:16-17

Today's Favorite Verse: 2 Kings 6:16-17
"And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha."

I have often thought of this verse. I know angels have surrounded me, even though I have not seen them with my natural eye, I have felt them. Then I thought of the young man being able to see the chariot of fire and I wished I could have seen them too. I pondered on seeing things with the natural eye verses my spiritual eyes. Obviously, this young man could not see them with his natural eyes, he had to be given spiritual eyes to see the chariots of fire surrounding them. How many times have I dismissed seeing things with my spiritual eyes because I did not see them with my natural eyes. It was just last month that I had such and event happen. What a difference this last time made for I could finally recognize it for what it was. I think I have seen far more spiritually in my life than I realized at the time. It has taken a lifetime to understand where I see with spiritual eyes. I'm sure it will take an eternity to know how to use them.


Day 894