Daily Thoughts

In the Old Testament I read that David gave Solomon the pattern and materials to build the temple and exhorted him to be strong and of good courage for the Lord would not forsake him or fail him, but would help him complete the work he needed to do. 1 Chr. 28: 11-21 "Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat, And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things: Also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the Lord. He gave of gold by weight for things of gold, for all instruments of all manner of service; silver also for all instruments of silver by weight, for all instruments of every kind of service: Even the weight for the candlesticks of gold, and for their lamps of gold, by weight for every candlestick, and for the lamps thereof: and for the candlesticks of silver by weight, both for the candlestick, and also for the lamps thereof, according to the use of every candlestick. And by weight he gave gold for the tables of shewbread, for every table; and likewise silver for the tables of silver: Also pure gold for the fleshhooks, and the bowls, and the cups: and for the golden basons he gave gold by weight for every bason; and likewise silver by weight for every bason of silver: And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern. And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord. And, behold, the courses of the priests and the Levites, even they shall be with thee for all the service of the house of God: and there shall be with thee for all manner of workmanship every willing skilful man, for any manner of service: also the princes and all the people will be wholly at thy commandment."

In the D&C I read the importance of forgiving other people. In fact, if we're not willing to forgive those who have tresspassed against us, we're guilty of the greater sin. The Lord can forgive whome He wants, but of us it is required to forgive all men. That's pretty strong language! D&C 64: 9-10 "Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men."

A verse in a thought booklet tells us that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and no one can come unto the Father but by Him. Sometimes it's hard to discern the real from the fake. A woman was complaining about her hat getting wet in a sudden rainstorm, not wanting the silk flowers on it to get ruined. But her 3 year old grandson reassured her that rain was good for flowers! Jesus Christ is the "real thing" and we need to make sure we're not deceived by thinking that we can return to our Heavenly Father by some other way. We can't. We need to be able to tell the real from the fake. John 14: 6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
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