Daily Thoughts

In the Old Testament it tells us that if we keep the commandments and don't forget the law, we'll have long, peaceful lives. Prov. 3: 1-2 "My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee."

I read in the Book of Mormon how the people knew of Christ, through revelation and prophesy, hundreds of years before He was born in the flesh. They labored diligently to teach these doctrines and persuade all men to come unto Christ and not rebel against God. Jacob 1: 6-8 "And we also had many revelations, and the spirit of much prophecy; wherefore, we knew of Christ and his kingdom, which should come. Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not center in, as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness. Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God, to provoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his cross and bear the shame of the world; wherefore, I, Jacob, take it upon me to fulfil the commandment of my brother Nephi."

Some verses with a thought booklet teach us the importance of forgiving others. When the disciples were taught this, they thought they needed more faith in order to do this. But Jesus taught them that they only needed faith the size of a mustard seed and they could perform mighty miracles. The thought that went with this, written by Bob LaForge from Freehold, New Jersey, says: When we struggle with forgiving others, the problem is often not that we do not have enought faith to forgive but rather that we do not want to. We want to see them suffer for what they did. We want them to feel the same hurt that they made us feel. It is only when we understand just how much God has forgiven us that we can truly put thse thoughts and feelings aside and forgive. When we are sinned against, we must focus not on the offense but on God's forgivensss and his power to move a mulberry tree--and us--to forgive. Luke 17: 3-6 "Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you."