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Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon we read that the people fell down at the feet of Jesus and worshiped Him. Jesus gave Nephi power to baptize, and others also.  He taught them the correct way to baptize so there would be no disputations among them.  3 Nephi 11:16-28 "And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:  Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.  And it came to pass that he spake unto Nephi (for Nephi was among the multitude) and he commanded him that he should come forth.  And Nephi arose and went forth, and bowed himself before the Lord and did kiss his feet.  And the Lord commanded him that he should arise. And he arose and stood before him.  And the Lord said unto him: I give unto you power that ye shall baptize this people when I am again ascended into heaven.  And again the Lord called others, and said unto them likewise; and he gave unto them power to baptize. And he said unto them: On this wise shall ye baptize; and there shall be no disputations among you.  Verily I say unto you, that whoso repenteth of his sins through your words, and desireth to be baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye baptize them—Behold, ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize them. And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by name, saying:  Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. And then shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water.  And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name; for behold, verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one.  And according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize. And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been."

In the Old Testament we read that as a test a rod for each tribe of Israel was placed in the tabernacle of witness to see which rod would blossom.  Aaron's rod buds, blossoms, and produces almonds.  Numbers 17:1-10 " And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod.  And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.  And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.  And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.  And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness.  And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.  And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not."

Some scriptures with a thought booklet remind us to greatly rejoice in the Lord and be content in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, whether we have great abundance or whether we suffer hunger and need.  Some people are very happy in spite of their humble circumstances while others are miserable in spite of the fact that they possess great worldly wealth.  How much or how little we have in the way of material possessions does not necessarily determine how content we are.  But if we place our trust in the Lord, we can find joy no matter what our circumstances are.  Philippians 4:10-12 "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need."

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