Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon I read that some of the people who were cast out of the synagogs because of their extreme poverty, were humbled to the point that they were willing to listen to Alma and hear the word of God.  Sometimes it takes dire circumstances in our lives to humble us to the point that we're willing to turn to the Lord.  Alma 32:5-8 "And they came unto Alma; and the one who was the foremost among them said unto him: Behold, what shall these my brethren do, for they are despised of all men because of their poverty, yea, and more especially by our priests; for they have cast us out of our synagogues which we have labored abundantly to build with our own hands; and they have cast us out because of our exceeding poverty; and we have no place to worship our God; and behold, what shall we do? And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word. Therefore he did say no more to the other multitude; but he stretched forth his hand, and cried unto those whom he beheld, who were truly penitent, and said unto them: I behold that ye are lowly in heart; and if so, blessed are ye."

In the Old testament we read that Israel was able to destroy the people of Bashan, even though their cities were fenced with high walls, gates and bars.  When we have the Lord on our side, we can prevail even against the most difficult of circumstances.  Deuteronomy 3:1-6 "Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. And the Lord said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. So the Lord our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining. And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many. And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city."

A verse with a thought booklet tells us that a fool is easily provoked to anger.  Bad anger tends to unleash destructive energy.  Most of us get angry at one time or another.  How do we express our anger?  If we do it in ways that destroy relationships and hurt other people, we're allowing the devil to have a foothold in our lives.  And we are fools!  Ecclesiastes 7:9 "Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools."