Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon we read that Nephi and his brothers as well as Zoram took the daughters of Ishmael to wife and fulfilled the commandment which the Lord had given to Lehi. The Lord blessed them exceedingly. 1 Nephi 16:7-8 "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, took one of the daughters of Ishmael to wife; and also, my brethren took of the daughters of Ishmael to wife; and also Zoram took the eldest daughter of Ishmael to wife. And thus my father had fulfilled all the commandments of the Lord which had been given unto him. And also, I, Nephi, had been blessed of the Lord exceedingly."

In the Old Testament we read that Israel was forbidden to sacrifice to devils.  They were told to bring their sacrifices and burnt offerings to the door of the tabernacle and offer it unto the Lord.  Anyone who did otherwise would be cut off from among the people.  Leviticus 17:7-9 "And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations. And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice,  And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the Lord; even that man shall be cut off from among his people."

In some scriptures with a thought booklet we read the story of the woman whose husband had died and her creditors were threatening to take her sons as bondsmen to pay her debts.  She came to Elisha for help.  He then asked her what she had of value and she replied that all she had was some oil.  This is where the miracle came in.  He told her to borrow every vessel she could and then pour oil into them. The oil kept coming and filled them all!  She was able to sell the oil to pay her debt.  The Lord does provide, sometimes in miraculous ways, and sometimes He takes the little we have and increases it so that it is sufficient.  This is what happened in the feeding of the 5,000 with two loaves of bread and a few fish.  It's what happens today when we pay our tithing and somehow the little we have seems to stretch so we have sufficient to meet our needs. It's better to have little, with the Lord on our side, than great wealth without it.  Vast fortunes can be lost overnight, but if we're faithful and trust in the Lord, He will take care of us. We need to see what we have instead of worrying about what we don't have. And as long as we have the Lord, we have everything we need.  2 Kings 4:1-7 "Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.  And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest."