40 Day Walk with Christ - Day 4

Read Jacob 6-7, Enos, Jarom and Omni
Mark & Ponder 2 Nephi 31:20
Scripture of the day: "Thou shalt not idle; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer." (D&C 42:42)
Thought for the day: "I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I love, I rejoice in  life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I've got to hold up for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." (George Bernard Shaw)

Yay! I passed my first Saturday test.  I'm what I like to call a Saturday Failure.  I always start things on Monday morning with a whole heap of motivation.  It might be a new diet, a determination to exercise everyday, a determination to read my scriptures every day, a determination to keep the house clean, etc.  I do so well all week until Saturday comes along.  On Saturday I don't have the same routine as Monday - Friday.  Randy's home and we're busy doing projects or running errands or having some family fun and I simply forget.  Things always fall apart on Saturday.  And then once I miss one day it all goes downhill from there.  Well, I completed my reading for today and have passed my first Saturday test.  Hallelujah!!!

As you can probably tell from previous posts I've been very worried about the times in which we live lately.  I learned some things this past week about where our country is headed and the things that are going on behind the scenes and I was truly frightened.  I went to bed terrified the other night.  The scriptures say if we are prepared we shall not fear but I'm still afraid.  Am I really prepared?  Even if I am, I'm still scared of the things we're going to have to live through.  I think it's going to get pretty bad over the next few years and I really do worry about it.  Tonight as I was reading my scriptures I felt such peace.  It wasn't anything specific I read that answered a specific question or worry.  Feasting upon the words of Christ really does bring peace and power into our lives.  I usually know everything will be ok on an intellectual level but tonight I really felt it.  The future will come.  I can only do what I can do and I know the Lord will take care of me and my family.  It still might be hard and not very fun but I really felt peace while I was reading tonight and that's what I love about the scriptures.  I don't understand why it is so hard for me to read sometimes because the benefits of reading are so great that it is unfathomable that I would choose not to read.  Stupid human nature really bugs me sometimes.

Anyway, on to tonight's reading...one thing that stood out to me was in Jacob 7 where we meet Sherem.  "...he began to preach among the people, and to declare unto them that there should be no Christ. And he preached many things which were flattering unto the people; and this he did that he might overthrow the doctrine of Christ. And he labored diligently that he might lead away the hearts of the people, insomuch that he did lead away many hearts...and he was learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much flattery, and much power of speech, according to the power of the devil."

This is so prevalent in our day.  People want to take "under God" out of our pledge of allegiance.  They want to take God out of everything.  Something that drives me crazy this time of year is "Happy Holidays."  Everyone is so overly-sensitive about offending someone that they don't dare to say "Merry Christmas."  It's so ridiculous.  And it's obviously Satan's doing because he wouldn't waste his time if it wasn't important.  Why does anyone care what anyone else believes.  If you don't believe in Christ, why would you be offended if someone says Merry Christmas?  I wouldn't be offended if someone said Happy Hannakuh to me.  If you don't believe in God, why would you care that it says God in the pledge of allegiance.  If He's just a myth that makes people feel warm and fuzzy inside, let them feel warm and fuzzy inside.  It isn't hurting anyone and it doesn't affect your life in anyway so why do you care?  If you don't believe The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Saints is God's church on earth or that the leaders of that church are prophets of God, why would you be offended by anything they say to their people?  I wouldn't be offended if the Pope gave an address and said short people are evil or Mormons are evil or any other number of things because I'm not Catholic and I don't believe what he says is from God.  It wouldn't bother me one bit and I certainly wouldn't start a protest over it because I don't care what he says.  But I'll tell you why all these people are offended and why they work so hard to take the rest of our rights to worship away: because Satan is working overtime on them.  Satan doesn't want God in anything either so he and his minions work extra hard to rile everyone up exactly the way he did with Sherem. 

I love the one-liners in the Book of Mormon that are repeated over and over and over again because they're things I need to constantly be reminded of and since they are in there so many times there's a good chance I'll come across it every time I need it.  Here's an example from tonight's reading "Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it." (Enos 1:15)  Now, of course I've read this/heard this a million times and yes, I know it's true.  But sometimes, when you've been praying really hard about something (as I have been lately), you need the spirit to reaffirm it in your heart as you're reading it, which is what happened tonight.  I'm so grateful for the Lord's patience with me.  He's told me a thousand times but He keeps telling me again and again (and with much more love and understanding than I use with Morgan when I've told him over and over and over).