Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon I read Lehi admonishing his sons to stop rebelling against their brother Nephi who only speaks what the Lord wants him to say. If they'll listen to him, they'll be blessed. 2 Ne. 1: 23-29 "Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust. Rebel no more against your brother, whose views have been glorious, and who hath kept the commandments from the time that we left Jerusalem; and who hath been an instrument in the hands of God, in bringing us forth into the land of promise; for were it not for him, we must have perished with hunger in the wilderness; nevertheless, ye sought to take away his life; yea, and he hath suffered much sorrow because of you. And I exceedingly fear and tremble because of you, lest he shall suffer again; for behold, ye have accused him that he sought power and authority over you; but I know that he hath not sought for power nor authority over you, but he hath sought the glory of God, and your own eternal welfare. And ye have murmured because he hath been plain unto you. Ye say that he hath used sharpness; ye say that he hath been angry with you; but behold, his sharpness was the sharpness of the power of the word of God, which was in him; and that which ye call anger was the truth, according to that which is in God, which he could not restrain, manifesting boldly concerning your iniquities. And it must needs be that the power of God must be with him, even unto his commanding you that ye must obey. But behold, it was not he, but it was the Spirit of the Lord which was in him, which opened his mouth to utterance that he could not shut it. And now my son, Laman, and also Lemuel and Sam, and also my sons who are the sons of Ishmael, behold, if ye will hearken unto the voice of Nephi ye shall not perish. And if ye will hearken unto him I leave unto you a blessing, yea, even my first blessing. But if ye will not hearken unto him I take away my first blessing, yea, even my blessing, and it shall rest upon him."

In the New Testament I read about how the disciples were hestitant to trust Paul because of how he had treated the followers of Christ in the past. But Barnabas defended him and told them how Paul had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. Do we sometimes judge others by their pasts? People can indeed change, and we need to give them a chance. And if other people won't give them the benefit of the doubt, we need to be like Barnabas and come to their defence. Acts 9: 26-27 "And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus."

Some scriptures with a thought booklet tell us that the reason Jesus Christ came into the world was to save sinners like us. He shows long suffering and mercy to those who believe in Him, to everlasting life. So if we ever feel unworthy to pray or feel like we've sinned so badly there is no hope for us, we need to remember that Jesus came into the world for just such people! He suffered and died for people just like us. And if we'll have faith in Him and are willing to repent of our sins, He'll be merciful and long suffering toward us, and we can indeed enjoy eternal life. Even if we feel we are "chief" among the sinners, there is hope for us. 1 Timothy 1:15-16 "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting."
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