Daily Thoughts

In the D&C we read that those who take pleasure in unrighteousness and have many things to repent of but refuse to obey the truth, will not be pardoned. D&C 56:14-15 "Behold, thus saith the Lord unto my people—you have many things to do and to repent of; for behold, your sins have come up unto me, and are not pardoned, because you seek to counsel in your own ways. And your hearts are not satisfied. And ye obey not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness."

In the Old Testament we read Isaiah's prophecies about the atonement of Christ.  He would suffer for our transgressions.  He would make a soul offering for our sins and make intercession for us.  He would be hated and rejected and carry our griefs and sorrows.  He would be smitten and afflicted. He would go through all this for us!  Isaiah 53:1-12 "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

In some verses with a thought booklet we read the account of Jesus being tempted by Satan.  I've read this account many, many times before but this time I noticed something I hadn't noticed before.  Every time Satan presented a temptation to Jesus, Jesus responded by quoting from the scriptures, saying "it is written."  Even when Satan tried to quote scriptures himself to try to persuade Jesus to his way of thinking, Jesus quoted other scriptures to show why that line of thinking was not correct. The scriptures provide all the ammunition we need to fight Satan and his temptations.  The scriptures give us answers to life's problems.  They guide us in how we should live our lives and what we should do in the various circumstances we find ourselves in.  Sometimes I've felt like I'm not retaining what I'm reading every day. But I can't begin to count the many times over the years when scripture verses I'd previously read have popped into my mind at the very hour I've needed them.  They were there in my mind all along and came to me at the appropriate time.  And no matter how many times we've read the scriptures, there is always more to learn.  Today's reading is a good example, as I learned something new from this account. Studying the scriptures is a lifelong pursuit and is something we need every day of our lives.  Just because we ate three good meals yesterday doesn't mean we can now skip eating for a week or two.  Our bodies need nourishment every day to remain strong.  Likewise we need spiritual nourishment every day to remain strong in the gospel. If Jesus needed to be thoroughly familiar with the scriptures in order to resist Satan's temptations, how much more do we need the Word of God in our lives?   Matthew 4:1-10 "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."