Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon we read that when the day comes that the people will no longer turn aside their hearts against God, H will remember the covenants He has made with their fathers. He will gather the and every nation will be blessed. Nephi wrote of these prophesies hoping that they would persuade the people to remember the Lord their Redeemer. He was grateful that the Lord warned his family to flee Jerusalem so they would not perish. He testified that prophets all down through the ages were shown concerning these things, and they were written on the plates of brass.   1 Nephi 19:15-21 "Nevertheless, when that day cometh, saith the prophet, that they no more turn aside their hearts against the Holy One of Israel, then will he remember the covenants which he made to their fathers. Yea, then will he remember the isles of the sea; yea, and all the people who are of the house of Israel, will I gather in, saith the Lord, according to the words of the prophet Zenos, from the four quarters of the earth. Yea, and all the earth shall see the salvation of the Lord, saith the prophet; every nation, kindred, tongue and people shall be blessed. And I, Nephi, have written these things unto my people, that perhaps I might persuade them that they would remember the Lord their Redeemer.  Wherefore, I speak unto all the house of Israel, if it so be that they should obtain these things.  For behold, I have workings in the spirit, which doth weary me even that all my joints are weak, for those who are at Jerusalem; for had not the Lord been merciful, to show unto me concerning them, even as he had prophets of old, I should have perished also.  And he surely did show unto the prophets of old all things concerning them; and also he did show unto many concerning us; wherefore, it must needs be that we know concerning them for they are written upon the plates of brass."

In the Old Testament we read that Moses sent twelve men to spy out the land of Canaan to tell whether the inhabitants were strong or weak, few or many and to tell what the land was like. They came back after 40 days reporting that it was a land of milk and honey and bringing back great fruit. But they brought back a very discouraging report about the strength of the people and how their cities were walled. They said the men were as big as giants and that they were grasshoppers by comparison.  Caleb tried to convince the people that they should go up to fight against them because they would be able to overcome the people and possess the land, but the fear generated by the discouraging reports made the people afraid to listen to him. When obstacles seem insurmountable in our lives, we need to remember that with the Lord help, we can do anything He commands us.  We should not let our fears rule us.  Numbers 13:17-33 "And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain:  And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many;  And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds;  And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes. So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.  And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)  And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence.  And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.  Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.  And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.  And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." 

A verse with a thought booklet tell us that it is better to be righteous ad have little in the way or worldly goods than to have great amounts of money without righteousness.  Proverbs 16: 8 "Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right."