Daily Thoughts

In the Old Testament I read that Jehoshaphat was afraid of the great multitude that was coming to battle him, so he turned to the Lord in fasting and prayer and gathered all Judah to seek the Lord. 2 Chr. 20: 2-4 "Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi. And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord."

In the D&C I read that those who are humble and seek diligently to learn wisdom and seek truth, will find it and they will be blessed. D&C 97: 1-2 "Verily I say unto you my friends, I speak unto you with my voice, even the voice of my Spirit, that I may show unto you my will concerning your brethren in the land of Zion, many of whom are truly humble and are seeking diligently to learn wisdom and to find truth. Verily, verily I say unto you, blessed are such, for they shall obtain; for I, the Lord, show mercy unto all the meek, and upon all whomsoever I will, that I may be justified when I shall bring them unto judgment."

Some verses with a thought booklet caution us not to blame God when we when we fall into sin. He's not the one who tempts us. When we're drawn away from God by our own lusts, that's when we're suseptible to the temptations of Satan. The thought that went with this, written by Rev. Arthur Schoonveld from Holland Michigan says: Years ago, while living in southern California, I called on a member of our church who had left her husband and had moved in with her boyfriend. As we were talking, she told me that she was doing the right thing because if God had not wanted her to leave her husband, he would not have let her meet the other man. She was saying that God himself had made this happen. So if someone was to blame, it had to be God. But we can't blame God when we mess up. We've been trying to use that excuse since Adam and Eve fell into sin. When we fall into sin, it's our own fault. But it's always easier to try to blame someone else, our circumstances, or even God. James warns against passing the buck or blaming God when we are tempted and we give in to sin. Temptations come from within, from our own desires, which Satan uses to try to pull us away from God. Watch out, says James. Giving in to temptations will cause us to sin, and sin leads to death. If you have given in to sin, don't blame God. Confess your sin, ask God's forgiveness, and pray for strength to resist temptations when they come. James 1: 13-15 "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."