Daily Thoughts (Disregard The Other One)

Oops!  I write these well in advance and accidentally sent out the one I wrote today (for November 5) so please disregard it (for now).  This is the one meant for today. 

In the Old Testament I read that the seventy sons of Ahab were slain, and their heads were put in baskets and sent to Jezreel. 2 Kgs. 10: 7 "And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel."

In the Book of Mormon I read about the sad state of the people who had hardened their hearts to the point that the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them and Satan had full power over them. They were ripe for destruction, sleeping with their swords by night and battling by day, being drunken with their anger. Ether 15: 19-22 "But behold, the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them, and Satan had full power over the hearts of the people; for they were given up unto the hardness of their hearts, and the blindness of their minds that they might be destroyed; wherefore they went again to battle. And it came to pass that they fought all that day, and when the night came they slept upon their swords. And on the morrow they fought even until the night came. And when the night came they were drunken with anger, even as a man who is drunken with wine; and they slept again upon their swords."

A verse with a thought booklet tells us that if we walk in integrity we'll walk security, but whoever walks perversely will be found out. Having a clean conscience makes life so much easier and better! You don't have to be watching over your shoulder all the time, wondering who's going to find out your dark secrets. The thought that went with this, written by Faith Keller from Glen Carbon, Illinois, says: When driving your car, do you slow down when you see a police car parked on the side of the road? Do you take a furtive glance at your neighbor's test paper to try to find that elusive answer? Do you flirt with a coworker and hope your spouse won't find out? When the cashier gives you too much change, do you give it back? What do you do with that valuable item you find in a public place? O, how many ways we find to take "crooked paths"! Solomon reminds us that our lives will be more secure if we practice integrity. We don't fear being stopped by a police officer if we have done nothing wrong. No secret indiscretions will be discovered if we have practiced uncompromising honesty and faithfulness. Ask the Lord to reveal any "crooked ways" in your own life, and determine today to walk in the security of integrity. Lord, you desire your people to live honest and upright lives. Please show me where I fail you, and give me the desire and the strength to change these things in my life, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Prov. 10: 9 "He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known."

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