40 Day Walk with Christ - Days 31 & 32

Read Mormon 9 and Ether 1-3
Mark & Ponder Ether 12:41
Scripture of the day: "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil...Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth, and having the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:11, 13-17)
Thought for the day: "Next to acquiring good friends, the best acquisition is that of a good book." (Charles Caleb Cotton)

One of favorite principles in the Book of Mormon is found in Ether 2: 24-25 and Ether 6:5-6. "For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea, for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth. And behold, I prepare against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come." "And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind. And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind."

I love this principle because it applies so much to my daily life.  The Lord sends wind and tempests against us to blow us toward exaltation.  If there weren't any storms the Jaredites boats would've just sat in the water and not moved and they wouldn't have made it to the promised land.  Likewise, without trials, tribulations, afflictions, etc we cannot progress.  The only way we can make it back to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus again is through our trials.  They move us toward Him.  He sends them because He loves us.  He also promises to "prepare us against these things."  He made their ships "tight as a dish."  He made sure they weren't swallowed up in the depths of the sea.  The Lord gives us the tools we need to get through our trials and He makes sure we aren't given more than we can handle.  These principles really help me when I'm going through something difficult because I know I can get through it.  I know the Lord is watching over me.  I know He will give me whatever I need to cope with my trials.  I know that through my trials I can become more like the Savior and get back to live with Him again. 


Read Ether 4-10
Mark & Ponder Moroni 7:16-17
Scripture of the day: "And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him and continue in fasting and prayer, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved." (Omni 1:26)
Thought for the day: "Success is not never falling down, but rising every time you fall."

This whole secret combination things makes we wonder about our day.  The oaths, signs, etc are given to men by Satan.  Moroni warns us that we should destroy all secret combinations among us or they will lead to our destruction but what form do they take in our day?  There are secret society such as the skulls which, at least according to Hollywood, completely fit the description given to us by Moroni.  But I don't know anything about these secret societies.  I have no idea what kind of wickedness they've done or how powerful they are or anything.  Gangs seem to fit the bill somewhat but law enforcement is always working on those and they seem to be on too small of a scale to destroy our nation.  Terrorists groups seem pretty likely but again, we are constantly trying to get rid of those.  We've even declared a "war on terror."  The last group I can think of are the revolutionaries currently trying to fundamentally change our country: George Soros and his ultra-left minions.  Each day there is new evidence that they've been putting things in place to destroy our country for a very long time.  They've done all these things secretly behind the scenes.  They want power.  They want to destroy freedom and liberty.  This group seems the most like the secret combinations found in the Book of Mormon to me.  And I think they really can prove our entire destruction.  So what do we do about it?  How can we destroy them before they destroy us and we repeat the pattern so often seen in the Book of Mormon.  I don't know the answer.