Daily Thoughts

In the Old Testament it tells us that the Lord loves us with an everlasting love and draws us to Him with loving kindness. Jer. 31: 3 "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."

In the Book of Mormon I read that Jesus and His apostles did many mighty miracles when He lived on the earth. And since He is an unchanging God, He is still a God of miracles today and will grant unto us what we ask for in faith. If we don't have miracles in our lives today, it's becase we lack faith. Morm. 9: 18-21 "And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles. And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles. And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust. Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth."

Some verses with a thought booklet tell the story of how an angel called Gideon to deliver Israel, but he had grave doubts about the call. His immediate response was to question why, if the Lord was with them, so many bad things had happened. It seemed to him as if God had abandoned them. And Who was he to save Israel when his family was poor and he was least in his father's house? He then asked for a sign to prove that God had called him. He put fleece on the floor and asked that the dew be only on the fleece and that the earth around it be dry. When this happened, he asked for the reverse--that the ground have dew and the fleece be dry. When we receive calls, are we like this--instead of showing forth faith and doing what the Lord asks us to do, do we make us excuses of why we're not the right people for the job or ask for signs that we've really been called? These scripture verses can be a comfort that we're not the only ones who sometimes lack faith, but the Lord is still willing to work with us, just like he was willing to work with Gideon. Judg. 6: 12-17, 36-40 "And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground."