Psalms 100:2-3

"Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that they Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture."
Psalms 100:2-3


This reminds me of what we really owe to the Lord.  It is so easy to slip into thinking about what we deserve or merit because of the work we've done, whatever that is.  And we start lifting ourselves up... and yes, we should value ourselves and not throw our lives away as worthless... but compared to God, we're less than the dust that collects on the desk, and which we flick away with a cloth.  It is because of him that we are as much as we are, and that we have the possibility of becoming greater. :)  We owe him more than we can give... and so serving him with gladness is the way we pay back that which cannot be repaid. :)  He did everything for us because he loves us, and all we can do is love him in return. :)

3 Nephi 5:4

"And now it came to pass that when they had taken all the robbers prisoners, insomuch that none did escape who were not slain, they did cast their prisoners into prison, and did cause the word of God to be preached unto them; and as many as would repent of their sins and enter into a covenant that they would murder no more were set at liberty."
3 Nephi 5:4


This is really fascinating.  You have a giant group of people who have been trying to destroy your entire government and way of life, and instead of executing them as traitors or using prison as a punishment, they preached to them.  Sharing the truth, and if they would accept it and give up being bad, they let them go. :)  Amazing... amazing solution, and amazing trust.  I really like it, because this is what God does for us.  Even though we all have had a bad influence on other people, and even though we hurt each other, instead of whisking us off the face of the earth for the hardships and sorrow we have caused, God cares about our souls, and encourages us to repent instead.  And as soon as we promise not to do it anymore, we are free to try again.  God loves and trusts us so much, and wants us to succeed.  As we learn and grow, he gives us more light, little by little, as we can handle it.  He treats us individually, matching our trials to our abilities, as well as matching our revelations and blessings to our abilities.  Today, let's take advantage of that individual attention and love and do all that we can to try again.  Let's get out of the prison and work for our salvation. :)

Daniel 6:4

"Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him."
Daniel 6:4


I wonder why we try to find fault with one another in the first place... and really, that is what we do.  It isn't like we walk into a room and all of the errors are there glaring at us... it is just as easy to notice the positive as the negative... but we look for it.  We want to find it.  I suppose there are many reasons for it... jealousy, envy, an overdeveloped "competitive edge" ... could even be self-pity: a misplaced desire to make sure that someone is as bad off as we are.  Scary.  And then, if the object of our scrutiny, like Daniel, is free of blemish?  Do we let it go, or do we drag ourselves even farther into fault and make up something bad?  It's frightening how tempting it is to put someone else down, thinking that it will lift us up.  It doesn't... and really, it can't.  Today, let's work on finding the good in other people.... *especially* the ones that we are envious of for whatever reason.  Let's make ourselves better by modeling the good rather than making ourselves *look* better by muddying others.

Doctrine and Covenants 64:34

"Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days."
Doctrine and Covenants 64:34


Sometimes I think that I do gospel things without being totally present in mind and heart.  ... almost as though I were doing them under protest. :)  Sort of a "Sure, I'll go to church... but I don't have to like it" attitude. :)
This scripture shows us that not only do we need to go... we need to learn to like it. :)  God doesn't want blind or ignorant obedience, he wants thinking and feeling people who choose to follow him because they've seen both sides and know that God's way is the better one.  He doesn't want us to bow to his will reluctantly or rebelliously... sure, if that's all we can do at first, but eventually, we have to offer him not only our obedience, but also our love, and our agreement. :) 
Walking the straight and narrow path isn't good enough in the long term... we also have to know why we are walking it, and think that it is a pretty neat idea. :)  So, today... let's work on more than just the surface signs of obedience.  We need to involve our minds and our hearts too, so we can come unto God with our whole souls, not just an empty husk of ourselves.

2 Nephi 18:12-13

"Say ye not, A confederacy, to all to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread."
2 Nephi 18:12-13


It's never made a lot of sense to me to be encouraged to be afraid of God.  To me, fear is something that is paralyzing... and the last thing that we need with God is another reason for inaction. :)  We definitely need some respect for God, and fear could come in there I suppose... the way you fear the disappointment of someone you love more than life... or the way you fear the look of pain in someone's eyes.  Maybe I just don't understand it enough.  ...Anyway, that aside, I think this scripture goes beyond saying something like we should be afraid of God.  I think that it points out the difference between what matters and what doesn't.  If God is central to our lives, then we don't have to fear anything except his will.  And sometimes his will and ours don't mesh, and it IS rather frightening to try to reconcile ourselves to that.  But the things that "everyone" fears won't be able to touch us with even a hint of fear, if we are focused on God and an eternal perspective.  Death can't hurt us.  Pain is temporary.  Injustice will be righted in the end.  Today can be enjoyed without guilt or regret.... if we only do what we should.  So, that's what I got from this today... that I shouldn't fear silly things that don't matter, or things that can't do me any permanent (read: eternal) damage.  I should just be worried about the things that God wants to happen, and worry about making sure I am ready for those things... which is a big enough job. :)

2 Timothy 3:12

"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."
2 Timothy 3:12


I think that there is a very good reason that we pray for the Lord's will to be done... because it is really hard to get to the point where our will is the same as his.  We want our lives to go perfectly.  We don't want to get sick, to have car trouble, to lose our jobs, or to have people we care about suffer.  We don't want to be misunderstood or mistrusted... we don't want to argue with our friends or family.  But all of these things happen.  Does this mean that we are doing something wrong?  I don't think so.  Some bad things, sure, we bring on ourselves... but trials and challenges are going to come to us even if we are living really really well.  It's part of the refining process.  We become better through our reactions to these events.  Also, Satan likes to make us think that serving God makes things worse, and he'll do whatever he can to help us believe that.  Job didn't do anything wrong, but a lot of bad things happened to him.  Job endured to the end, and his life was blessed more abundantly in the end than it was in the beginning.  Serving God does always come with rewards, but sometimes those aren't immediate, or consistent to our eyes.  Maybe we have to learn some patience and faith.  God is always there for us, even when we are going through challenges.  He's helping us grow into who we need to be.

Matthew 10:42

"And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward."
Matthew 10:42


One of the traditions in my family on Christmas Eve is to read How the Grinch Stole Christmas out loud.  It gets pretty funny, because most of us have it memorized, and so it is all about HOW you read it. :)  Anyway, this year my brother was reading it quite despairingly, and he got to the part where Cindy-Lou Who discovers the Grinch taking their Christmas tree... she'd gotten out of bed for a cup of cold water. :)  And he got her the drink and he sent her to bed... and I thought of this scripture.  I know, maybe it is a lame analogy, but there was the Grinch, being bad... trying to steal Christmas... and he got little Cindy-Lou a drink.  :)  So there must have been something redeeming underneath there all along... even before his heart grew three sizes. :)  I think about that, and wonder if the little things that we do every day are the real things that matter.  The smile we offer to someone else, the compliment, ... the drink of cold water. :)  I know that we try to be overly dramatic in other things, maybe in this too.  We get so busy looking around for some big dramatic thing to do that God will write down in his book... but what really matters are the little things that we do for each other, day in and day out.  Today is one of those dramatic giving days... but let's remember to give of ourselves in small ways every day.  Let's get a little child a drink of cold water for starters. :)

1 Timothy 1:9-10

"Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine."
1 Timothy 1:9-10


This is interesting to me.  I think that sometimes we are tempted to treat the church as a club for the righteous, and try to play the "I'm more righteous than you" game... comparing who watches TV on Sunday or who displays a Book of Mormon more prominently on the shelf.  Who has more children, or who bakes their own bread.  The fact of the matter, though, is that God's laws weren't made so that we could measure who is more righteous... they are for sinners.  And all of us, no matter how much bread we bake or how much we listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, are sinners. And we aren't sinners for silly inane things like buying bread at the store or listening to some non-Mormon performer on the radio.  We're sinners for serious things, like those listed above.  The law was made for us, so that we could repent and still achieve salvation.  Salvation is deadly serious, and God is here for us to turn to when we find that we are starving for lack of spiritual nourishment.  Today, let's take advantage of the law, which is here to help us to return to God.  Let's repent, and commit ourselves to righteousness.

Matthew 5:14

"Ye are the light of the world.  A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."
Matthew 5:14


This is a scripture that I have heard a lot, but today it speaks to me of responsibility.  If I am the light of the world (as is apparent in the scripture), then I need to get out there and do my job, rather than trying to not stand out in the crowd. :)  The world needs a lot of help... I think that we can all attest to that.  So, since we are the light, let's go out there and eradicate some darkness today. :)  Let's make things brighter.

1 Nephi 15:7-8

"And they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive-tree, and also concerning the Gentiles.
And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?"
1 Nephi 15:7-8


This is interesting to me today because I think I have problems when I run up against things that I don't understand.  I get frustrated and impatient instead of asking the Lord for help.  Even my nephew is smarter than that.  He is only two, but when he can't do something, he knows enough to go to someone and say "need help."  I'm not sure why it is hard for me to ask the Lord for help when I need it, but sometimes it is.  Hard to admit failure or something, perhaps. :)  Silly pride.  Anyway, today let's inquire of the Lord.  He has the answers to the questions that we most need to ask.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to
the pulling down of strongholds;)
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."
2 Corinthians 10:3-5


This is an interesting analogy, relating our struggles to warfare... doing battle with our imaginations and thoughts. :)  Sometimes it feels like war, so I thought it was kind of cool.  I like the part about our weapons being mighty through God... that they can take down strongholds.  I think that sometimes we surrender part of ourselves to God, but there are little parts that we reinforce against him.  We want to give ourselves to God, just as long as we can keep this thing or that thing... a few imaginations, several thoughts, a little tiny addiction... :)  But God gives us the weapons to pull down the last of our strongholds so that we can find our way to Christ, and be wholly his.  It's very hard to do, and it is kind of like a war... just with ourselves.  Trying to balance and satisfy all of our needs with things that are acceptable to God.  Letting go of selfishness and greed and trying to see beyond our limited mortal perspective.  Not just believing, but doing... not just doing, but believing... struggling to make ourselves whole and clean.  With God's help, let's win today's battle.