Day 321 Believing in Miracles Today

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth, and in the same sentence offers a warning that savorless salt is good for nothing. Join me in an attempt to be savory salt as I share each day one verse of scripture and one small thought. Perhaps this small daily emphasis can lead to greater savor in your life and ultimately you and I can be savory salt.

Hello, my friends and family, wherever you're listening from, thank you for joining me. And know that I'm cheering for your every success. What kinds of miracles do you expect to see?

Welcome to day 321, 3-2-1 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon together. Today, you're going to be reading 4 Nephi, chapter 1. There's only one chapter in 4 Nephi.

Verses 1-16. And I am excited to go through this. We're going to be in 4 Nephi for a few days here as we go through this.

And the fascinating thing about 4 Nephi is we're going to cover almost 300 years in just a couple of pages. We're going to be talking about the changes that have happened in the Book of Mormon over this time. So I hope that, as we break this down over the next few days, we can kind of see the changes happen as we go day to day.

Today, our verse, we're going to look at verse 5. And we have found out that the disciples of Christ continue teaching. The church is growing.

People are coming into the church. They're repenting. They're being baptized.

Great things are happening. And then in verse 5, we have this. And there were great and marvelous works wrought by the disciples of Jesus, insomuch that they did heal the sick, and raise the dead, and cause the lame to walk, and the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear.

And all manner of miracles did they work among the children of men, and in nothing did they work miracles, save it were in the name of Jesus. I love this verse because we get, in the verses before it, kind of a preload to what makes this possible. The people are centered on the love of God.

The people are repenting and coming into the fold. So there's regular repentance happening. There's high levels of faith happening.

There is that they're living. All things are common amongst them. When we have those conditions, and it's interesting, the other day my daughters and I and my wife, as we were doing scripture study together as a family, I asked my daughters a question that I want to ask you and kind of have you think into a little bit today.

I asked them: Is it easier for you to believe the stories in the scriptures and the miracles that happened there? Or is it easier for you to believe that those miracles could happen to you here and now? And all of my girls answered that it was easier for them to believe the miracles of the past rather than to see them in their own lives.

And I think there's something behind that, not in any sort of shame, shame at all. I think there's something fascinating in us believing the words of the scriptures and then coming to some sort of point at which we limit ourselves and limit our own beliefs, and whether those miracles can happen in our lives as well. Maybe that's because of modern medicine, or maybe that's just because we're used to going to the doctor when we're sick, or I don't know the conditions that cause it.

But, my friends, it's worth us diving into and saying, 'Can I hold the same space that miracles are just as possible for me and for you today as they were for these people in 4 Nephi chapter 1?' I think so. And if we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear, I think we're actually witnessing many of the same types of miracles happening. They happen often.

They may not necessarily get broadcast in the ways that we would see them via social media or news outlets. But if we have the eyes to see, I believe the Lord will show us the miracles that continue to happen today, here and now. Believe in miracles.

They are real. I have experienced many in my life. I have shared many of them in this podcast and will continue to do so as guided by the Spirit.

Miracles happen because of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, because of our love of God. Let's continue to believe that the miracles listed in the scriptures are every bit as available to you and me as they were to the people in the days of scripture. That's all for today, my friends.

Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Keep it small, keep it simple, and always seek to be savory salt. I'll be here tomorrow and I hope you are too.