Zephaniah 3:14-15, 17, 19-20

"Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil anymore.
. . .
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
. . .
Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord."
Zephaniah 3:14-15, 17, 19-20


This morning I got up at 6am to do the scripture of the day and my phone had already been turned off... so, I turned on the TV and saw this PBS special, some pacific islanders watching the first sunrise of the year 2000.  They were kneeling on the beach, singing to the sun. I can't imagine a better way to welcome the new year.  Sad that there are no beaches in Arizona. Anyway, this scripture has that kind of rejoicing feeling.  It talks about the second coming, and talks about some of the good things... we won't have to watch evil happening all around us, and cool things like that. But one of the coolest things is in the middle verse, where *God* rejoices with singing. I have never imagined God singing before, but I can only imagine that it would be beyond amazing... so, something to look forward to with the new sunrise.

Hebrews 13:15-17

"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you."
Hebrews 13:15-17


This is an interesting scripture about sacrifice. And at first glance, none of it really seems like a huge sacrifice, but maybe it is. The first verse talks about the sacrifice of praise. :) And perhaps it is; it is sometimes hard to recognize God's hand in our lives and give him the praise and credit, when we would like it so much for ourselves... or actually getting on our knees and telling him how cool he is... hard to get that intimate sometimes. I think we could probably apply it to others as well. :) Sometimes it is hard to tell other people how amazing they are, and how much they matter to you... but it is a good sacrifice to make. The second verse talks about the sacrifices of doing good and communicating. And both of these are really hard at times too. Hard to get out of our comfort zones and get some positive action going. It is a lot easier to just stay home, or do whatever we are used to doing... hard to fit those "extra" things into our schedules. And communication… that is a huge sacrifice sometimes. It requires some risk, some vulnerability, some breaking down of walls. Whether it is between you and God, or just you and a friend... it can be awfully difficult. And it's hard to say what we really mean, or what we really want, or to even know those things sometimes. Communication is a remarkable sacrifice. And then, obedience. I almost left this verse off; I think it is one of my personal weaknesses. I have such a hard time obeying people. And "submit!" ... very scary word. But this is a good sacrifice as well. Obedience and submission to God, to religious and Political leaders... hard to trust, even God, sometimes, to seriously watch for your soul, and more so with religious leaders and much more so with political leaders. But if we seriously try, and work within the system, and pray for our leaders instead of criticizing them... maybe it is better, eh? Anyway, they are all remarkable sacrifices, whether they seem difficult to us on the surface or not... and I think God recognizes the difficulty, and acknowledges the inner obstacles that we have to accomplishing these things, and blesses us accordingly.

Alma 1:26-27

"And when the priests left their labor to impart the word of God unto the people, the people also left their labors to hear the word of God. And when the priest had imparted unto them the word of God they all returned again diligently unto their labors; and the priest, not esteeming himself above his hearers, for the preacher was no better than the hearer, neither was the teacher any better than the learner; and thus they were all equal, and they did all labor, every man according to his strength.
And they did impart of their substance, every man according to that which he had, to the poor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and they did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely."
Alma 1:26-27


I thought this was interesting just because I am getting this degree in education and earlier this month I wrote a paper on the inherent inequality in the American classroom, talking about the gaps between different types of learners and the gap between almost any learner and the instructor... so, I guess this impresses me. First of all, the whole implied lesson-in-the-middle-of-the-day thing is cool... and getting to leave work is ALWAYS cool. :) ... But also, just that neither of them considered themselves better, you know? I think, even in religion classes you find inequality, and it's cool that these people overcame it. I also think that the second verse illustrates that they were equal in a lot of other ways too. Did you know that the biggest gaps in student test scores comes if you divide the scores by income level? It's a bigger gap than dividing them by ethnicity, which is second highest. That is scary.... and it's a huge gap, not just a few points. I think to achieve equality, the second verse is just as important as the first. We have to share what we have with others. If we are supposed to be one, and we are only attempting to be one with people of the same ethnic and socio-economic background, I think we are missing the point. :)

Philippians 4:6-8

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
Philippians 4:6-8


I like this scripture. God says, don't be too worried about things, just talk to me about it, and we'll figure it out. And I’ll help you be okay with it.... and look at all these good things that there are to think about. :)  It is really easy, at least for me, to get overly concerned about things, and to think about all the stressful and ugly things in the world... but this is a nice anti-stress scripture from God, not only telling us not to stress out, but showing us what we can do instead.  And he'll take care of our broken hearts and our paranoid minds, and show us the beauty and the goodness that is around us.  A good scripture for today.

James 1:22-24

"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was."
James 1:22-24


I think this is interesting only because I think I do it a lot. Studying the scriptures, or listening at church, or just thinking and praying on my own I have moments of clarity, where I can see where I am and where I am going, and all there is to hope for. And the rest of the time I forget. I forget what I am working for, and what matters to me... I forget who I am, and who I want to be. Instead of just knowing the truth, we have to act on it, and devote ourselves to it, even sacrifice for it, or it will just be a fleeting image that we won't be able to remember when things get difficult.

Alma 30:14-15, 17

"Behold, these things which ye do call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers.
How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ.
. . .
And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man fared according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime."
Alma 30:14-15, 17


In this scripture Korihor, the anti-Christ, is talking. he is ridiculing Christ and the people who follow him. There are a couple of things that are interesting to me here... first, Korihor says that you can't know anything that you don't see. I hear that, this is *exactly* why I don't believe in North Dakota. psh. anyway... there is obviously other evidence that is valuable. Sometimes it is harder to figure things out God's way... feelings are hard to trust sometimes, and when you have conflicting feelings, what do you do? It takes practice. even just using our ears, we have to learn to filter out certain sounds, and background noise, so that we can focus on who we are talking to, or the specific thing that we want to hear. It is harder to hear God... and harder to see God. But the evidence is still there, and still valid.
I think the last verse is interesting because we believe this sometimes. We believe that people prosper according to their genius, and conquer according to their strength... the management of our bodies... our minds, our physical strength, is our frame of reference here, and we tend to discount spiritual things, because they aren't sensed by the body. The management of our spirits is just as important, if not more... and people prosper and conquer according to spiritual things as well. Physical and spiritual are linked in a very real way, and affect each other incredibly. I think that we tend to forget that.

Alma 37:36-37

"Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.
Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."
Alma 37:36-37


Yeah, I know it is Christmas and everything, but this is still the scripture of the day. I was at my grandmother's house yesterday and she gave me a silver necklace with a cross on it for Christmas. It made me think about what we focus on when we think of Christ. I think that sometimes it is probably appropriate to think of Christ's suffering and death for us. It is a great gift, to take our sins and give us hope... and, with Christmas, it is probably appropriate to think of Christ as a newborn infant, taking on mortality and all that that means, again... for us. But the way that I like to think of Christ is as my friend, my confidant, my Saviour... not in any past and abstract sense, but as a present, current reality in my life. Today, living, alive... he helps me through my day, he watches out for the people that I care for, he listens to the pleadings of my heart, and is there for me when I need some comfort, or just some other consciousness to bounce ideas off of.
So, anyway... that is why this is the scripture of the day, instead of something about the shepherds or the wise men.  E. E. Cummings wrote this poem that starts out "I thank You God for most this amazing day" ... and at Christmas, and always... I think that's pretty appropriate.

Luke 8:23-25

"But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water and were in jeopardy.
And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man of this! for he commandeth even the winds and the water, and they obey him."
Luke 8:23-25


First of all, I think it is totally bizarre to try to picture Christ asleep. When we think of God, I think we always always picture him awake, aware, and listening (unless we are having one of those dark, rebellious days or something). :) The mere fact that the scripture talks about him asleep illustrates the amazing thing that he did for us, coming to earth and bowing to the requirements of a mortal, imperfect body... to set an example for us to follow, and to suffer for our sins, so that we would have a chance to remember and return to our lives with God.  As for the rest of the scripture I think that it is mildly funny.  Hope that isn't blasphemous or anything, but I picture this scene... the boat is filling with water, everyone is sopping wet, they are scared out of their minds, and so they wake up Christ and say, oh... we just wanted to inform you, we're dying. So, Christ wakes up... and, seriously, I doubt that he ever got enough sleep during his ministry, he was probably pretty tired. I'm sure that Christ wasn't grouchy when he woke up, but maybe he was just sad that he had to wake up, and so he gets up, says... okay, you've had your fun, calm down... and so the wind and the water, sufficiently chastened, stop teasing everyone... and Christ says, basically... where is your faith?  First of all, if you trusted God, you would have known that you weren't going to drown, and second of all, if you had had some faith, you could have done what I just did without waking me up... and there is the big lesson, I think.  One of the reasons that I think we had to have the veil drawn over a lot of our memories of pre-earth life is that we, like the apostles, would know God absolutely and certainly, and ask him to calm everything in our lives.  But we have to do it ourselves sometimes... God solved some of the Brother of Jared's problems, but one he told him to figure out for himself. Not that we shouldn't ask God... we need to, always. But a lot of times, when we think God isn't hearing us, I think he's actually saying... okay, I took care of all of that other stuff in your life, you can do this one on your own. And we can. God wouldn't ask us to if we couldn't. So, this scripture is saying trust in God, but also realize what God is doing for us... he offers us his own power to deal with things, if we would just call upon it. No one is helpless. The storms of life might make you think you are going to drown, but all of it is in God's hands... and yours, if you call upon his power, and remember that God *wants* you to learn to be like he is... that is the whole point of our existence. If he did it all for us, what would we learn? So, maybe right now the biggest leap of faith we can muster is to ask God where we left the car keys... but little by little, we learn to trust him for bigger things, and to solve things we never thought we could solve... with God's help.

Ezekiel 34:3-4,12

"Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
. . .
As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day."
Ezekiel 34:3-4,12



Another last days scripture... this whole chapter is awesome, really interesting. Talks about how the shepherds that are taking care of the sheep now, probably talking about teaching and leadership... and how in our world, in our country, and even probably in our individual congregations, we don't do enough to take care of the people around us.   Too many people slip through the cracks. The first couple of verses are pretty harsh, talking about how so many times leaders will make use of subjects, or citizens, to gain power and prestige, use the people, but not take care of them. The last verse is the Lord's answer to that... when he rules on the earth, he won't do any of those awful things, he won't neglect or forget any of us. I think, especially in the last days that we are in, it is very cloudy, and very dark... and it is very hard not to get lost. but God will come and find us, and take care of us, and help us.  As shepherds, and as sheep, God leads us and loves us, and even when he is criticizing the way things are, he doesn't just throw up his hands and say, what can be done? ... He shows us how he does things, and gives us hope that things will be better and that the little that we do will make a difference. someday the day will not be cloudy and dark, but bright and perfect, and all of the sheep will be fed, and healed, and cared for.