Daily Thoughts

In the Old Testament I read about how Egypt and her helpers would be made desolate and they would come to know that the Lord is God. Sometimes it takes being humbled by terrible circumstances to get us to realize that the Lord is real. If we allow our circumstances to humble us and get us to turn to the Lord, we will be rewarded. Ezek. 30: 4-11 "And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down. Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword. Thus saith the Lord ; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord God. And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall be destroyed. In that day shall messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it cometh.0 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land: and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain."

Some verses in the D&C tell us that if we keep the commandments and remain faithful in times of tribulation, we'll receive a great reward in heaven. In fact, the glory we'll receive is so great that we couldn't even see it with our natural eyes. So when we're going through trials and rough times in our lives, we need to remember that they are preparing us for a wonderful reward in the life to come. D&C 58: 2-4 "For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven. Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand."

Some verses with a thought booklet tell us that a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after signs. We already have signs enough in the scriptures. Jonah spending three days and nights in the whale's belly before he emerged was symbolic of Christ spending three days and nights in the grave before He would be resurrected. If we don't believe in this, the people of Nineveh will rise up in judgment against us because they repented at the words of Jonah and we have the words of one even greater, Jesus Christ. Matt. 12: 38-41 "Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here."




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