Daily Thoughts

In the Old Testament I read that the Lord wants peace for us, not evil, and He wants to give us an expected end. If we seek Him and call upon Him in prayer, He will hearken to us, if we search for Him with all our hearts. Jer. 29: 11-13 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."

In the Book of Mormon I read we should not judge rashly or we'll in turn be judged rashly to the Lord. Vengeance belongs to the Lord, and He will repay. Those who try to destroy the work of the Lord will be hewn down and cast into the fire. The eternal purposes of the Lord will roll on, until all His promises will be fulfilled. Morm. 8: 19-22 "For behold, the same that judgeth brashly shall be judged rashly again; for according to his works shall his wages be; therefore, he that smiteth shall be smitten again, of the Lord. Behold what the scripture says—man shall not smite, neither shall he judge; for judgment is mine, saith the Lord, and vengeance is mine also, and I will repay. And he that shall breathe out wrath and strifes against the work of the Lord, and against the covenant people of the Lord who are the house of Israel, and shall say: We will destroy the work of the Lord, and the Lord will not remember his covenant which he hath made unto the house of Israel—the same is in danger to be hewn down and cast into the fire; For the eternal purposes of the Lord shall roll on, until all his promises shall be fulfilled."


Some scriptures with a thought booklet recont the story of how God told Moses to send twelve spies to search the land of Canaan, one from every tribe, and bring back a report of what they found. Ten of them brought back an evil report, telling only of the strength of the inhabitants. The thought that went with this, written by Norma C. Mezoe from Sandborn, Indiana says: The story in today's scripture reading is s familiar one. God spoke to Moses, telling him to send spies into Canaan, the Promised Land. These spies were to search the area and to bring their reports back to the Israelites. The twelve spies discovered luscios fruit and a land flowing with milk and honey. But they also discovered something which flooded their hearts with fear: giants! When the spies returned to report their findings, only Caleb and Joshua wanted to conquer the territory. The remaining spies allowed fear of the giants to overrule faith in God. As a result, the Israelites were forced to wander in the desert for forty years. They were close to the Promised Land, yet so far away. How often do we allow the giant named Fear to prevent us from doing God's will? If God should call us to share our faith, to give more than a tithe of our earnings, to teach a Sunday School class, or to do some other job, what would our answer be? Would we continue to wander in an arid desert of withered faith, or would we, like Caleb and Joshua say, "The Lord is with me. I will not fear"? Loving God, give us courage to face our fears. Num. 13: 1-3, 25-33 "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may bsearch the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. And Moses by the commandment of the Lord sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south : and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."

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