Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon we read that Ahaz refused to ask for a sign.  But the Lord Himself will give a sign that a virgin will conceive and bear a son, Immanuel. He will refuse the evil and choose the good.   2 Nephi 17:10-15 "Moreover, the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying:  Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depths, or in the heights above. But Ahaz said: I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said: Hear ye now, O house of David; is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign—Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and to choose the good."

In the Old Testament we read that Saul built an altar unto the Lord, tried to draw close to Him,  and asked counsel of God if he should go to battle, but the Lord didn't answer him that day.  Sometimes when there is something amiss in our lives or we have not been keeping the commandments, it takes time before the Lord will answer our prayers again and we are worthy to have the Spirit with us.  Repentance isn't always an immediate process, but it is possible to turn our lives around and become clean again if we persist in doing what's right.  1 Samuel 14:35-37 "And Saul built an altar unto the Lord: the same was the first altar that he built unto the Lord. And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God.  And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day."

In some verses with a thought booklet we read that whether we live or die, it is unto the Lord.  Christ died and was resurrected and is Lord of both the living and the dead.  Romans 14:8-9 "For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.  For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living."