Daily Thoughts

In the Old Testament it tells us that the proud and haughty will be humbled and brought low. The Lord alone will be exalted in that day. Isa. 2: 11-12, 17 "The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day."

In the Book of Mormon we read about how Ammon had previously been in an evil and sinful state, in which he'd gone about trying to destroy the church. But due to the great mercy of the Lord, he was able to repent of his sins and bring many other people to repentance also. After we're repented and felt the joy the gospel brings into our lives, we want to share that joy with others. And God is eager to forgive sins when people repent, exercise faith, bring forth good works, and pray without ceasing. Alma 26: 17-22 "Who could have supposed that our God would have been so merciful as to have snatched us from our awful, sinful, and polluted state? Behold, we went forth even in wrath, with mighty threatenings to destroy his church. Oh then, why did he not consign us to an awful destruction, yea, why did he not let the sword of his justice fall upon us, and doom us to eternal despair? Oh, my soul, almost as it were, fleeth at the thought. Behold, he did not exercise his justice upon us, but in his great mercy hath brought us over that everlasting gulf of death and misery, even to the salvation of our souls. And now behold, my brethren, what natural man is there that knoweth these things? I say unto you, there is none that knoweth these things, save it be the penitent. Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance."

Some scriptures with a thought booklet tell the story of Jonah being swallowed by a great fish, praying to the Lord, and being delivered when the fish vomited him up onto dry ground. Hundreds of years later when unbelieving people asked Jesus for a sign that He was the promised deliverer of His people, He told them that the only sign He'd give them was the sign of the prophet Jonah. Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so was Jesus three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And both Jonah and Jesus came out of their three day prison. In a similar vein, baptism is also symbolic of this. We're buried in the water and come forth into a new life. Jonah 1: 17; 2: 1-10 "Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land."