Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon we read that Nephi admonished his brethren that they should no longer murmur against their father and should not withhold their labor from him, because he had been commanded by God to build a ship and they should help him. He reminded them that God was all powerful and could do anything, so why couldn't He help him build a ship? The power of God was with Nephi and he spoke with the spirit so strongly that his brothers were confounded and they were afraid to lay hands on him for fear that they would wither before him. But the Lord told Nephi to stretch forth his hand ad shock his brothers, so they would know that the Lord was their God. So Nephi id this, and instead of them withering before him, the Lord shook them so that they would know the Lord was with Nephi. They tried to worship Nephi, but he reminded them that they should only worship God.  1 Nephi 17: 49-55 "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto them that they should murmur no more against their father; neither should they withhold their labor from me, for God had commanded me that I should build a ship.  And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done. And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship? And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said many things unto my brethren, insomuch that they were confounded and could not contend against me; neither durst they lay their hands upon me nor touch me with their fingers, even for the space of many days. Now they durst not do this lest they should wither before me, so powerful was the Spirit of God; and thus it had wrought upon them. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: Stretch forth thine hand again unto thy brethren, and they shall not wither before thee, but I will shock them, saith the Lord, and this will I do, that they may know that I am the Lord their God.  And it came to pass that I stretched forth my hand unto my brethren, and they did not wither before me; but the Lord did shake them, even according to the word which he had spoken. And now, they said: We know of a surety that the Lord is with thee, for we know that it is the power of the Lord that has shaken us. And they fell down before me, and were about to worship me, but I would not suffer them, saying: I am thy brother, yea, even thy younger brother; wherefore, worship the Lord thy God, and honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee."

In the Old Testament we read that Aaron and his sons would minister in the priest's office and the Levites were chosen to do service of the tabernacle.  They are the Lord's, replacing the firstborn of all the families of Israel who were spared in the passover.  Numbers 3:5-13 "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,  Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him.  And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle. And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel.  And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.  And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,  And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;  Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the Lord."

In some verses with a thought booklet, Jesus quoted Isaiah saying that He had been sent to preach the gospel to the poor and heal the broken hearted, preaching deliverance to the captives and recovering the sight of the blind. These scriptures had been fulfilled in Him.  Luke 4:16-21 "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.  And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears."