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Saturday, June 6, 2015

Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon we read that after Nephi prophesied that the chief judge had been murdered by his brother as e sat on the judgment seat, five men went to check it out to see if it was true.  They found the chief judge laying dead, just as Nephi had said.  These five men were so astonished that they fell to the earth. When other people found the judge murdered and these five men laying on the ground around the body, they assumed that those five had committed the murder and God had struck them down.  So they threw them into prison.   Helaman 9:1-9 "Behold, now it came to pass that when Nephi had spoken these words, certain men who were among them ran to the judgment-seat; yea, even there were five who went, and they said among themselves, as they went:  Behold, now we will know of a surety whether this man be a prophet and God hath commanded him to prophesy such marvelous things unto us. Behold, we do not believe that he hath; yea, we do not believe that he is a prophet; nevertheless, if this thing which he has said concerning the chief judge be true, that he be dead, then will we believe that the other words which he has spoken are true.  And it came to pass that they ran in their might, and came in unto the judgment-seat; and behold, the chief judge had fallen to the earth, and did lie in his blood. And now behold, when they saw this they were astonished exceedingly, insomuch that they fell to the earth; for they had not believed the words which Nephi had spoken concerning the chief judge.  But now, when they saw they believed, and fear came upon them lest all the judgments which Nephi had spoken should come upon the people; therefore they did quake, and had fallen to the earth.  Now, immediately when the judge had been murdered—he being stabbed by his brother by a garb of secrecy, and he fled, and the servants ran and told the people, raising the cry of murder among them; And behold the people did gather themselves together unto the place of the judgment-seat—and behold, to their astonishment they saw those five men who had fallen to the earth.  And now behold, the people knew nothing concerning the multitude who had gathered together at the garden of Nephi; therefore they said among themselves: These men are they who have murdered the judge, and God has smitten them that they could not flee from us.  And it came to pass that they laid hold on them, and bound them and cast them into prison. And there was a proclamation sent abroad that the judge was slain, and that the murderers had been taken and were cast into prison."

In the Old Testament we read about how Joseph revealed himself to his brothers and not only forgave them for selling him into slavery, but pointed out how the Lord had used this situation for good, allowing him to save them from starvation. He invited them all to come and live with him in Egypt where he would provide them with plenty of food during the final five years of the famine.  They returned to get their father and at first he didn't believe Joseph was still alive, but they rejoiced over it.  Genesis 45:1-15, 25-28 "Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.  And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.  And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.  For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:  And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:  And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.  And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you. 3 And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.  And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.  Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him. And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,  And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not.  And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die."

A verse with a thought  booklet is one I need to constantly remind myself about--not to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will bring enough worries of its own.  Today's trouble is enough for today.  Worrying about what may or may not happen in the future is futile.  Worrying won't prevent bad things from happening in the future and only ruins our present. And besides that, most of the stuff we worry about never happens anyway.  I'm amazed when I go back and read my old diaries and see the things I was worrying myself sick over, most of which never came to pass.  And even if things did happen as I feared, I got through it and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I actually end up laughing at some of the silly things I worried about years ago.  Put things into perspective.  Realize that what you're very worried about today probably won't matter at all 10 years from now and you may even laugh about it.  Matthew 6:34 "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

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