Hey there, everybody. Welcome out to another
episode of Redeemed Through His Blood. Scott
and Debra Durfey here, season four. What's
up, Deb? Just happy to be here. Happy to be here
too. So here we are, Deb. It's pretty spring
weather we're having today. Plenty of rain. I
guess it's not too pretty. Don't make the flowers
grow in the grass. That's what they say. That's
what they say. And we have a wonderful opportunity
at the end of this week. And I would be remiss
if we didn't mention this, but it's Mother's
Day coming up. This episode will come out ahead
of Mother's Day. It's appropriate that today
we're... talking about who we are and whose we
are because we have heavenly parents and I think
it's important that we recognize that perhaps
and you know maybe even Sunday we won't talk
too much about it just out of reverence but maybe
on Sunday we can even think a little bit about
our heavenly mother. I always think of oh my
father when the line in there that I have a mother
there warms me. I love that line. Well, and you're
a mother dub and my favorite job I've ever had
and you do a wonderful job next to grandmother
now we had a we had a whole bunch of kids over
yesterday and That's that's that's the highlight
of our week, you know to 100 % Chaos and screaming
and noise and mess and spills. What's those little
ones running around and glorious all of that
We've received some feedback and some input.
I don't know feedbacks. Yeah, we've received
some feedback too. And the feedback has been
positive, Deb. A lot of people are just super
grateful that you have joined the podcast. They
love your perspective. I do as well. And so again,
Deb, a lot of feedback. People are loving it.
People are loving having you here. And just for
those of you who maybe would love to send or
would like to send us an email and communicate
with us, we invite you to do that. We try to
respond to as many as we possibly can. if you
have a question that you'd like for us to answer
here on the podcast, we'll do our best to do
that as well, but you can do that at heredeemsusatgmail
.com, heredeemsusatgmail .com. So Deb, here we
are, season four, episode three. In episode three,
we really begin now to dive into the things that
can help us to understand how it is that we put
on the atonement of Jesus Christ, why we wanna
put on the. the atonement of Jesus Christ, but
even all of that is several weeks down the road.
Before we do any of that, we really need to understand
some core principles, some very basics about
ourselves. You know, we have some core principles
that we just kind of default to, and sometimes
some of those core principles really fall in
line with our identity, you know. I talk to people
all the time, you talk to people all the time
as well, sweetheart, that, you know, when we
think about, okay, who we are, if I were to ask
somebody, not you, Deb, but if I were to ask
somebody, who are you, oftentimes, you know,
I'll get the story of their career or maybe a
story of their past that they use to define themselves
today. And I mean, what are your thoughts around
identity, sweetie? Well, it's ironic that you
say that because it takes me back to one of the
first corporate events I went with you. And there
are all these people that are, we're at this
gala dinner and people are asking me, so what
do you do? And I immediately went to, I'm a mom,
we have seven kids. I have like, I think at that
time I had like two grandkids and you looked
over at me and you're like, they mean what do
you do for work? And I remember feeling so silly
about answering that. But when people ask me
who I am, that is the very first thing I have
ever said. And even as a young child, I remember
people asking me, what do you want to be when
you grow up? And I said, a mom. And they're like,
no, like for work. And I said, mom's work? I
want to be a mom. So that's honestly where I
went to when you said that. But I think I think
where we're really going with this is identifying
who we are and whose we are. I think that's really
one of the things that I've really had to push
pause and kind of slow down and really ask. I
mean, we all know that I'm a child of God. We
know the primary answers. But the primary answers
is really where the thick doctrine is. That's
really true. The problem is sometimes though
is believing it. Yeah, and believing it above
our other identities I believe that sometimes
and this is you know We're gonna get into our
our pre -mortal existence here in a minute and
all the things that took place there but I think
one of the things that the accuser really tries
to do is to is to cloud our identity to give
us new identities or other identities or or pseudo
identities things that we really aren't but we
believe we are like broken for example like too
far gone for example, like my I, you know, not
enough. Yeah. Boy, oh boy. And I go there still
sometimes, sweetie. Me too. Because I deal with
the effects of the fall, and we'll talk about
that in a couple of weeks too, but because I
deal with the effects of the fall, and because
of the spiritual death that I experience, it's
sometimes difficult to really remember who I
am. And when I get tired, when I get hungry,
when I get angry, when I get lonely, and tired,
in recovery rooms, that acronym we use is HALT,
hungry. angry, lonely, tired. And when I get
hungry, angry, lonely, tired, and sometimes when
my dis -ease is prevalent in my life, then I...
then my mind and my identity can become clouded.
I see myself as less than sometimes or not good
enough still. And I've been dealing in sobriety
for 26 years with trying to change and understand
my real identity. And I really do understand
my real identity, but to be able to incorporate
that into every thought and every day and everything
that I do is just extremely difficult for me.
You know, I also think that sometimes our answer
is different based on our audience. Sure. Because
depending on who asks the question, tell me about
you. I was doing interviews today, ironically
enough. Yeah. And it's interesting when you ask
that question, when you're in a workplace, when
you're in a church, when you're in public, when
you're whatever. But those answers, for me, I
mean, as you were sharing that, I thought, you
know, my answers change. Depending on where I'm
at, if I'm in the workplace, my work hat goes
on and I'll tell you what I do for work. Yeah.
And I'll tell, you know, so it's, it's interesting
that we, we, I, I'm not going to take anybody's
inventory, but I have multiple identities. Yeah.
That's interesting. And I think it's important
that we differentiate though, what we do is not
who we are. Exactly, but that's hard to remember
sometimes sometimes sometimes it is you know,
I I just got back from I I'm a public speaker
and I just got back from a big event that we
did in Denver and I'll have another one coming
up here in a little bit and it was in Detroit
and Dallas and and New York and several other
places recently doing this and well I'm doing
that that is kind of my identity, you know but
But my real identity, Deb, that's what's really
important. My core identity is what's important.
So let's talk about that for a minute. Who are
we really? And you said it, it's important to
know who we are and whose we are. I love what
David used to say, our previous co -host who's
now preparing to serve a mission, but I love
what he used to say. He'd say, Scott, our identity
determines our eternity. our identity determines
our eternity. I heard that from David Durfee.
I don't know if he got that from somebody else.
I attribute it. I'm sure he did. He quotes a
lot of things. Well, I don't think so. I attribute
that wholly to him. But, you know, what does
that mean that our identity determines our eternity?
Well, I think it is based on faith. Who do we
really believe that we are? And who do we have
faith? I mean, what faith do we have of who we
can become? So I... But yeah, I can see where
that is very relevant. Yeah. Well, you know,
one of the things that we know through restoration
scripture, you know, we do have accounts of this
and so forth in the New Testament and even the
Old Testament, et cetera. But we know that we
are literal children of heavenly parents, Deb.
Yeah. Literal children of heaven. You know, recently
I was doing a scripture study, listening to a
podcast, and it hit me again like a brick. And
you hear this a lot, but we are literally divine
descendants of a God. Spiritually, we are like
first -line descendants. You know, we think about
our mortal existence here and we have generations
of DNA and RNA through both moms and dads and
generations and generations going back of, you
know, our mortal state of all these different
characteristics and stuff. But if you think about,
and we're only here for a hundred years and that's
if your president Nelson or if you're lucky.
I mean, there's some people that have gotten
well over a hundred years, but I just think of
it in an eternal perspective. And I remember
as a child thinking that it was the most bizarre
thought ever. But as I get older, the eternal
perspective is a lot different for me now. My
understanding is a little bit different. And
to think that my spirit literally was my Heavenly
Father and my Heavenly Mothers. Like I am their
first, I mean not first child, but direct child.
That is so impactful for me to remember. How
does knowing that change our life though? I think
for me, again, I go back to President Nielsen's
talk about thinking celestial. It's like there's
so many things that happen in this world right
now that trip me up. that I spend so much energy
and effort on that it's it's like why am I letting
something that is going to last a week a month
a year trip me up so bad or affect me so I don't
to affect me eternally. And sometimes I feel
like it could because of the energy that I give
the story or the situation. I remember as a young
child going through things that I didn't understand
and as a teenager going through things that I
knew was not fair. And I literally identified
by those events that happened to me, like I am
this or I was this. And I It helped me when I
could say, I am a literal daughter of divine.
This is just a story. What has happened in my
past or what is even happening now? I mean, I
think about life and how hard it hits us with
addiction, abuse, divorce, being fired, being
laid off, losing a child, losing a parent. I
mean, life's hard. It's unfair. difficult. I
don't know that I could get through this life
without understanding the eternal perspective
to go. In the end, it's going to be glorious
and wonderful. Jesus came here for us. and God
had a plan. Well, you know, in the pre -existence,
right, we can talk a little bit about what happened
there. We know that there was a war in heaven,
right? We know that Heavenly Father's plan, it
wasn't Jesus' plan, but we know that Heavenly
Father's plan included his firstborn. We know
that he had prepared from the foundations of
the world, as we read in Scripture. But we also
know that Satan tried to overthrow Heavenly Father's
plan. Heavenly Father didn't say, give me two
plans and we'll vote on it. Satan tried to, through
his rebellion, tried to overthrow. Willingly.
Right, overthrow and thwart the plan of salvation,
the plan of happiness. And it's important that
we understand and know that when we participated
in that council, in that war in heaven, that
we were foreordained. You know, there were certain
things that we were foreordained to. We know,
we've talked about this in past podcasts, in
past seasons, we know that we made covenants
in the pre -existence. We know that we were foreordained
in the pre -existence. Let's go to, in fact,
let's go to, let's go to Abraham chapter three,
verse 22. This is in the Pearl Great Price, Abraham
chapter three, verse 22. Do you have that, babe?
Okay, Abraham 3, 23 -26, And God saw these souls,
that they were good. And he stood in the midst
of them. And he said, These I will make my rulers.
For he stood among those that were spirits. And
he saw that they were good. And he said unto
me, Abraham, thou art one of them. Thou wast
chosen before thou wast born. and there stood
one among them that was like unto God, and he
said unto those who were with him, we will go
down, for there is space there, and we will take
of these materials, and we will make an earth
whereon these may dwell. Okay, so stop right
there for just a second. So just kind of recap
what's happening for us here, sweetie. God's
saying, look at all these spirits that are good,
that's what I'm hearing from here, and that we
were preordained. I mean, he's saying Abraham
was preordained. Right, and he identifies Jesus
Christ in verse 24, and there stood one among
them that was like unto God, and he said unto
those who were with him, we will go down. for
there is space there, and we will take up these
materials, and we will make an earth whereon
these may dwell. And these that may dwell is
us, right? Yeah. Yeah, continue, 25. 25. And
we will prove them herewith to see if they will
do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall
command them. Okay, stop right there. To our
listeners, I want you to... to circle and we
will prove them herewith to see if they will
do all the things whatsoever the Lord their God
shall command them. We will prove them herewith.
So what are the things, all the things that the
Lord God shall command us? We're gonna get there,
we're not gonna answer that question in this
podcast today. But that should be a question
that we focus on and are wondering about and
pondering about and maybe even seeking answers
for on our own. What does that actually mean?
What does that actually mean? That we will prove
them herewith to see if they will do all things
whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.
And then in 26. And they who keep their first
estate shall be added upon. and they who keep
not their first estate shall not have glory in
the same kingdom. With those who keep their first
estate and they who keep their second estate
shall have glory added upon their heads forever
and ever. What are these estates? First estate,
second estate. So when we talk about first and
second estate, what we're really talking about
are the places that we've lived. Our first estate,
we lived as spirit children with heavenly parents.
We participated in a council of heaven. We made
covenants. We were foreordained to do something.
And there's power in that foreordination. I mean,
I think that if I'm ordained, I don't know how
that ordination, foreordinations took place.
I think we were all. foreordained at some level
to some degree for some things. I think if I
read my Patriarchal Blessing, which is a great
source to help me get a glimpse of my identity,
there are certain things in there I think that
I was foreordained to do and become and so on.
And Deb, and I think that And again, I don't
know if hands were laid on heads or et cetera,
but I know that that ordination, that the word
ordained is used intentionally. And if I was
ordained of God, how can I mess up? How can I
lose? I know that there's a long time ahead of
me and I know that we all make mistakes, but
if we're really for ordained, I just don't, I
think that he sees the beginning from the end
and he sees us getting it and making it, regardless
of the things that we're going through here.
We will eventually align with his will so that
we can have that four ordination bless us, not
just in this life, but in eternity. Well, the
other word that comes to me when we talk about
this is the infinite atonement. Because it's
not just for this life, but it is infinite. And
I'm so grateful to know that as well. I actually
do know that we lived in the pre -existence.
When I had Jessica, my oldest daughter, she talked
very early. And she would often tell me at night
when I would put her to bed or whatever, she
goes, Mom, I want to go home. I said, Oh honey,
you are home. We're at home. This is your bedroom.
This is our house. We're going to go. No, I want
to go. I want to go back home with him. Lee father.
I want to go home. And I kept thinking, what
does this child know? And I do know that she
did not have a veil because she knew where she
came from and she was homesick and she kept saying,
mom, can we just go home? Can we just please
go home? And it scared me as a young mom. I'm
in my mid twenties and it, and it, made me a
little bit nervous. And I was like, is she going
to pass? What is happening? And as time goes
on, she's not quite three and I'm expecting our
second child. And we didn't know at that time
the gender. And I said to her, Jessica, do you
want a baby brother or a baby sister? And she
looks at me like a two -year -old attitude would
and said, mom, I already have a brother. I want
a sister. And I said, really, who's your brother?
And she says, Jesus, don't you remember him?
Like, duh, mom. And I kind of looked at her and
she said, and Heavenly Father was really sad
when I left. And I'm looking at this child, now
I'm dumbfounded. And I'm like, what else do you
know? What else did he say? And I said those
exact words. I said, what else did he say? And
that little two -year -old raised her little
right hand and looked me in the eye and she goes,
remember my son? I remember that moment thinking
I did not teach her this. This child came with
a message for me. And today she's 38 years old.
She does not remember this at all, but I will
never forget that experience. Never as long as
I live. And those remember my son has always
reigned true. And then I just thought, man, she
must've been incredibly valiant. And then as
I thought about this, I'm like, why did I get
that gift of that sweet, innocent, pure message?
I was there too. Yeah. Yeah. You know, we all
were there and we were all under, while we were
there, we were somewhat influenced by the accuser.
At least he had some sway while we were there.
But we know that, we know that not only was Jesus
there, But his atonement was already blessing
us, Deb. Even though it hadn't quite taken place
yet, and it wouldn't for quite a long time based
on our time frame, we know that Jesus Christ's
atonement was able to bless us even there, to
help us remember even there who we are, and why
we were here, and what we were created to become.
Let's go to Revelations chapter 12 real quick.
I'll read this. This is one that we read quite
frequently, kind of helps us to grasp the importance
and the power of Jesus' atonement, even before
the beginning of time. I'm gonna start in verse
nine and that great dragon. So now, verse chapter
12 and other chapters around this here in Revelations
are primarily dealing with the preexistence.
What happened in the preexistence? And in verse
nine of chapter 12, it starts out, and the great
dragon was cast out. We know that was the devil.
That old serpent called the devil and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world and was cast
out onto the earth and his angels were cast out
with him. I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,
now has come salvation and strength and the kingdom
of our God and the power of his Christ for the
accuser of our brethren is cast down which accuse
him before God day and night. And they overcame
him. So we know the accuser, he was there, he's
here. He was cast down onto the earth with who?
With a third of the hosts of heaven as we know
through restoration scripture and revelation.
We know that he's here and that he was accusing
us not just here, but he was accusing us there.
What do you think he was accusing us of? You
know, and this is something I think about constantly.
What does that even mean, the accuser? Well,
I've got some pretty big words to go with those
things lately. You know, when I think of myself
lately or ever, whenever I think of myself, it's
just not being enough. Who do you think's putting
that in my head? The accuser. I'm being accused
of what? Of not being enough. When I am accused
of, you know what, Scott, you're just trying
to do something. You've gone too far. You're
trying to do something that you can never receive
redemption for. That's the accuser putting that
in my head. Scott, you're broken down too much.
You're getting old. You're not worth much anymore.
That's the accuser putting that stuff in my head.
If I really understood my true identity and held
fast to what that meant, then my life would be
different. But then how do we overcome them?
How do we overcome him there is the same way
that we overcome him here. And it's interesting
that we were able to overcome him there because
of an act that would take place here much later
in time. And they, verse 11, and they, meaning
us, overcame him by the blood of the lamb and
by the word of their testimony. So even then
we knew that Christ, the blood of the lamb would
be what redeems us. redeemed through his blood.
That's the whole title of the podcast. Why we
call it that is we are literally redeemed through
his blood. We were redeemed even there. We overcame
the accuser even in the pre -existence by the
blood of the lamb because of the blessings through
Jesus Christ available to us from his atonement
and the word of their testimony. We had testimony.
We believed it. We believed in Christ's atonement.
We believed in order for the blood of the lamb
to help us overcome the accuser, we had to have
a testimony of that. And there was some sort
of conversion, I'm sure, as well in the pre -existence
to that. And they loved not their lives unto
the death, David used to always say, and they
were willing to go to the wall. They were willing
to go to the wall because of their beliefs, because
of what they had. come to know that through the
blood of the lamb, they're able to overcome the
accuser. So what does that mean to me today is
that I got a lot of accusations coming my way
constantly, Deb, constantly. And I don't know
if it's just my head's messed up or I don't know.
But I constantly am in this battle of, Scott,
you're not good enough. Scott, you just don't
measure up. Scott, you're a fake. Scott, you're
a liar. Scott, you're just trying to make people
believe something that's not true about you and
all of these types of things. None of that's
true. That's accusations coming from. the accuser,
how do I overcome that? I overcome that through
the blood of the lamb. And I did it there, I
can do it here. It was easier for me perhaps,
and I don't know this to be true, but I'm surmising
it was, it was easier for me to do it there because
I had a complete grasp on my identity. Coming
here, I'm not like Jess when she was two years
old. I've had a veil from day one, as far as
I know. And so I have forgotten that. And it's
been, so it's in those rememberings. I think
that I find peace. Those tender, tender mercies
that we have, even the comforter that testifies
to us. Because I cannot think of that story.
I would never deny that, because I knew when
she told me. I just wanted her to tell me more.
And remember, my son was not a good enough message
then. But boy, has it been a powerful message
for decades later. That's all I keep, that's
all I think of is remember him, remember him.
Because a lot of us have forgotten him and there's
been a time in my life when I have. Yeah, well,
and there's times in my life when my memory fades
a little bit still and it not really... about
who I am but you know if I really remember who
I am and align with that and I think that's the
key is the alignment of that knowledge or alignment
with that knowledge of who I am I think that
that's where I really begin to find peace you
know as I really Get into this is the application
of this and really understand that our identity
really does shape our eternity our destiny and
all those other things you know it really changes
how i view my own trials. It changes how i deal
with adversity it changes how i respond to tragedy
it changes how i parent and grandparent. and
so much more. It changes how I treat others.
And sometimes I struggle with that one, but it
does change how I treat others as long as I can
be focused on my true identity. Yeah, and I think
fear is a big driver in all of this. I think
with that, I'm not blaming, but I'm blaming.
I think sometimes with that veil, we just forget.
And I remember one time I had heard, years and
years and years ago when we came down here, we
were dismembered from God's presence. And as
we come down here and we read in Scripture and
we read and listen to prophets and seers and
revelators, that helps us. One of the number
one words that they use in Scripture and in these
talks is remember. Because we have been dismembered.
We're a little lost down here. We're lost sheep.
We're wandering. And I think oftentimes if I
can just pause and remember and connect to him,
it helps me to, again, pushing pause and slowing
down my life is such effort. because being busy
is my familiar zone. I can go like a crazy maker.
Well, yeah, face fear, dealing with feelings
of I'm not good enough. I just wonder how we
would deal with all of the things in our lives
that seem yucky to us if we really continue to
understand who we are and grasped a hold of that,
really laid hold of that and made it a part of
our lives on a constant basis. You know, I think
that's why they say become as a little child.
Yeah. Because I think there are children, and
we have grandchildren that have, you have big
pictures to go with these words, that are literally
fearless. Nothing intimidates them. They'll run
right into walls. Nothing scares them. As a matter
of fact, one did. He just closed his eyes and
ran into a hole. Just fearless. Yeah. Fearless
or crazy, one or the other. Knowing who we are,
it's really important. You know, it's just if
I really understand that I have heavenly parents,
that I have a royal birthright, that I was born
to be an heir, a joint heir with Christ, as Paul
puts it in Romans. And I just think that it would
maybe change how we see the rest of our lives.
You know, so many of us, we're dealing with addictions,
we're dealing with the throws of the fallen world,
we're dealing with abuses. We've been abusers,
we've been abused, we've made mistakes, but we're
not mistakes. And I think that sometimes when
listening to the accuser, that that's where we
go, is that, hey, I'm a mistake. I'm just so
filled sometimes with shame and regret and worry
and all of those things. But I think, no. I know,
in fact, I testify that if we understand and
lay hold to that understanding that we truly
are sons and daughters of heavenly parents with
a heavenly birthright foreordained to become
much, much, much more than we can in our human
and earthly experience even begin to fathom,
I think that it changes everything for us or
it can. But we also have to remember the accuser
is in constant pursuit of us. And so if we can
have that awareness and have the intention to
be able to recognize when that happens and just
push the pause button for a minute and go, what's
really happening here? Is this real or is this
a lie? Well, we may not see ourselves. as we
truly are 100 % of the time, but you know who
does is God, right? He knows exactly who we are.
I love this quote from Elder Uchtdorf. I love
this quote from Elder Uchtdorf. God sees us as
we truly are, past, present, and future. And
he sees us worthy of his rescue. I also love
this part. He went on to say, you may feel that,
Your life is in ruins. You may have sinned. You
may be afraid, angry, grieving, or tortured by
doubt. But just as God's shepherd finds his lost
sheep, Jesus Christ, if you will only lift up
your hearts to the Savior of the world, he will
find you and he will rescue you. He will lift
you up and place you on his shoulders, and he
will carry you home. That's beautiful. That's
a beautiful promise. Lift you up and place you
on his shoulders and carry you home. Life's tough.
It's tumultuous. And we think of that almost
the way that sounds, that that almost sounds
like that that's an ending, that he will carry
you home. And I know that it is an ending, that
he will carry you home. But Deb, he can carry
me home today too. Yeah. He can put me on his
shoulders today, too, if I will just align my
will with his. You know, an alcoholic's anonymous.
Such a wonderful, beautiful day today in a meeting
at noon at the Elano Club. I was able to present
a young man who just, I'm going to get him a
little bit emotional, who I've grown to love
over the last 12 or 14 years that we've been
working together. But I was able to present to
him a 16 -year medallion 16 years of continuous
sobriety. Continuous sobriety. Congratulations.
I know. Just such a wonderful, wonderful accomplishment
that he aligned with. The accomplishment, not
his, the accomplishment in AA we identify as
his higher power. But he had to align with his
higher powers will and in aligning with his higher
powers will to allow that to come in to his life,
he has been truly carried home. This young man
has a twin brother who died from an overdose.
A twin brother who died maybe 16 years ago or
12 years ago rather from an overdose. And just
so many reasons, so many things that come at
us that will distort the view of who we really
are. If I look in the mirror, I see something.
But if I look in the mirror with eyes, with maybe
just a glimpse that Heavenly Father can bless
me with, I can see something great, an opportunity
to be with Him. in spite of all of my earthly
experience, in spite of my 19 years of terrible
addiction, in spite of my multiple divorces,
despite of, and on and on and on it goes. I have
plenty. I have plenty to accuse myself of, and
Satan knows that, but my identity. My true identity,
if I can remember that, that helps me in my eternity.
I'm a believer that the accuser works quadruple
over time on you. I definitely know, and I read
your patriarchal blessing and I know who you
really are. And I get to see that differently
than you get to see that. So it's a gift for
me to be able to see differently than you see.
That's interesting that you'd say that because
I wonder if Heavenly Father helps us see ourselves
through other people's eyes sometimes. Yeah,
because there's often things you think I can
do, things I can do I can't, like do a podcast
and teach Institute. Yeah, look at you now though.
But you've always been my cheerleader and I think
it's important to surround yourself with good
friends. I think it's really important to have
somebody to yoke with, and we know to yoke with
Jesus Christ, but to yoke with physically here.
I think it's important. And even if you don't,
to always know that our Savior is always, always
there. But it lifts, it helps. Even listening
to good podcasts. I mean, literally, I'm a podcaster
and I don't listen to ours. Or anything that
will remind us of our heavenly home. Exactly.
I travel a lot for work, and there are things
that I take with me that remind me of home, you
know? And I don't take them for that reason,
but there are things that remind me of home,
remind me of who I am. I touch base with you
every day, multiple times, and I need to know
where I belong, and I need to know where I'm
connected, and I need to know those things where
we have that even on a grander and greater scale
with our heavenly. parents. You know, we just
have that. And it's just a matter of our making
an effort. Heavenly Father really wants to be
in our lives. And it's a matter of us making
that effort so that he can. He really wants to.
And there's nothing we can do to make him mad.
And there's nothing we can do to cut ourselves
off from his love. And it's just constantly there
for us. And again, So why do we talk about this
as we kind of wrap things up tonight? Why do
we even care? Again, why is it important that
we understand who we are and whose we are really?
You know, the answer to that might be obvious.
If we really understand that we are children
of heavenly parents, that we have a royal birthright,
and that royal birthright, Deb, means that we
are entitled to go through this life, learning
our lessons, and though they may be hard, learning
them and understanding that as we're taught,
and I think I'll just turn to it in Ether chapter
12 verse 27. It's one of my favorite scriptures.
And I think you're the first one to introduce
me to this, but if men come unto me, I will show
unto them their weakness. We all have weakness,
and you know he doesn't say weaknesses. Right.
He says weakness. Yep. And we're gonna talk about
what that weakness is specifically in a couple
of weeks. Yep. But he says, I give unto them
weakness. I give unto men weakness that they
may be humble. And my grace is sufficient for
all men. For how many men? For every one of us.
God's grace is sufficient for all of us. My grace
is sufficient for all men that humble themselves.
So there's the condition to humble ourselves
before him. And if we humble ourselves before
me and if they humble themselves before me and
have faith in me, then will I make weak things
become strong unto them. I just think that understanding
that, yeah, I'm Scott Durfee, and I have earthly
parents, and I have identity attached to that,
and through that, there's certain things, there's
certain birthrights, there's certain reputations,
there's certain, maybe even... curses, I don't
know. I mean, we all have this earthly DNA, RNA,
but we have more importantly divine DNA. We are
truly His. Yeah. I had a sponsor tell me one
time I was working with her and I remember her
saying, because I was telling her about my character
defects and all the things that I was weak in.
And this is when this scripture came up and it
reminded me. And she said, Deb, You know, there
is opposition in all things. And she says, you
think that when you read this, you know, you
think you have this weakness here. Well, what's
the strength of that weakness? What's the opposite
of that weakness? Because I promise you, God
has that's in store for you as well. God has
that. right here ready to bless you with it once
you humble yourself to take that weakness or
whatever it is that's troubling you to make those
weak things strong. And it's true. I could give
you multiple, multiple examples of where that
weak piece has become literally my strength.
It's crazy. Well, we often find that definitely
in the rooms of recovery that's been my experience
as well as I have fought and battled addiction
and still participate in my own recovery as well
as sponsor and work with others and I'm just
grateful to know who I am. If I didn't know who
I am, there would be very little point for me.
You know, really. Well, I was reading a conference
talk today and I took a screenshot and I don't
even know who was given the talk. But this was
such a powerful piece of it. And if somebody
really wants it, I probably could find it again.
I screenshot it at seven o 'clock this morning.
But there's a paragraph in here that I just thought
was so important and impactful for me. And it
says, brothers and sisters, whether you are carrying
the burden of unresolved sin, suffering because
of an offensive offense, I'm sorry, suffering
because of an offense committed against you long
ago or struggling to forgive yourself for an
accidental mistake, you have access to the healing
and redeeming power of the Savior Jesus Christ.
And I think that's ultimately, and I go again
back to the sacrament, back to that ordinance
room when we become willing. It's just that peace.
That they are willing to take his name upon them.
Just willing. That's where I go, is back to that
willingness. The only thing I would change about
that is where it says accidental mistake. I would
take that word out, accidental. Any mistake.
Even those that were on purpose. Even those that
were on purpose can be redeemed through him.
They just can. And I'm glad for that. Me too.
Because most of my mistakes were not accidental.
I'm just going to say that. I have a lot of not
accidental. Today they are. But in my past, most
of my mistakes were absolutely not accidental.
They were outright rebellion. And I'm glad to
know that because of my birthright, that that
can all be made right. Oh, thank heavens. I know,
right? Don't you wish you could just take the
knowledge you have today and go back to your
younger self and just say, it's okay, you didn't
really know. Just have a little more compassion
and grace for that younger version of yourself
that really didn't understand, that really didn't
have that knowledge that you have today and just
kind of give them a hug and say, you got this.
I know it's hard right now, but you can get through
this and there's hope. I think you can. I think
we can do that. I think that I can go back and
offer just a whole bunch of grace to Scott. Younger
Scott. Younger Deb. Yep. And it's important actually
that I do. And understanding my identity actually
helps precipitate that in my own life. Without
my understanding my identity, I don't know that
that would even be possible, Deb. That's beautiful.
I'm glad that you brought that point up. You
know, so, you know, maybe this week as we just
kind of go through the week, if we don't worry
so much about becoming more and we focus more
on remembering Him more, remembering who we are
more, remembering whose we are more, you know,
maybe we could pray to know who we are and who
He is. I think it's important. We probably, we
haven't spent a lot of time talking about that,
but really to understand who we are The prerequisite
to that is to understand who he is. We're going
under the presupposition here that we understand
who he is. And I know that as we go through the
podcast, that that knowing of him will deepen
as we become closer to him. And as we do that,
we'll have greater eyes to see our own identity
as well. That's true. Well, and you brought up,
you know, it's important I think that one of
the places that we can get a Glimpse of who we
are is through our patriarchal blessing. There's
so many other ways to have what are some of the
ways you think that we could maybe Mention that
understanding who we are understanding developing
that relationship with our Heavenly Father Well,
my recipe is the scriptures. I dig into them.
I feel like numerous times, I feel like I'm reading
those scriptures for the very first time. I'm
like, how did I not ever see this before? It's,
I mean, digging and searching and studying those
scriptures has been so impactful for me. And
I absolutely love the temple. There's so much
peace there. And it really gives me moment to
pause. and to feel, and to just shut off the
noise and the chaos of the world, even just being
on the grounds of the temple. I mean, you and
I love to go over to that Linden temple that
is two miles from us, that isn't even open yet.
It's still under construction and there's a peace
even in the construction, just being there. So,
for me, And of course, that constant prayer.
I had little Addie, my granddaughter, have a
sleepover with me and we knelt down to pray,
to say our prayers at night. And she goes, I
now know where my mom gets her long prayers from.
I had to giggle. Yeah, so cute. Addie was just
baptized recently. That's beautiful. That's wonderful.
Well, I know that A lot of us feel disconnected.
I know a lot of us think, well, that's great,
Dad, but I can't go to the temple. Well, yeah,
you can. You can go to the construction site.
You can go to the temple. When there was a period
of my life, there had been more than one period
of my life when my membership in the church has
been restricted. And during one of those times,
I was counseled by my then bishop. You may not
Scott be able to go inside the temple in this
at this point It was the Timpanogos temple that
I lived close to and I had a motorcycle And at
nights I couldn't sleep because of the turmoil
that I was going through, because of the spirit
that was lost, because of how lost I had felt.
And there were nights when I couldn't sleep when
I would ride my motorcycle up that hill and the
light of that temple. And I couldn't go on the
ground. But you can go in the parking lot. And
I'd sit in that parking lot, buy a tree, or I'd
sit on the road next to it. and I would just
look at the temple and I knew this in my mind
and I would visualize that the temple is the
representation of Jesus Christ here on the earth
and I saw that and I developed more hope in him
there and I was able to commune more purely just
because of me being there and my communion then
was less formal. It was the communion of a of
a broken soul, of somebody who was lost, a lost
soul, not a broken soul, but a lost soul. And
that was my identity then. And as I grew closer
and closer, it changed. I think it's interesting
because I'm gonna tell on us. Sometimes when
we would have... I can cut this, you know. Don't
cut it. Sometimes when we would have arguments
or disagreements and things would get a little
heated, because we both have pretty strong personalities,
you would leave and I would leave and we would
find ourselves across the street just west of
the Provo, the old Provo, the original Provo
temple because we had both been a little hot
-headed and we'd end up in that parking lot across
the temple. I love that you bring this up because
that's true and again I'd get on my motorcycle
and I wouldn't Well, I don't want to lie and
I would leave you didn't wear your helmet and
I would leave and I would I Would go for a ride
and I would ride fast and hard and then and in
a couple of minutes or a little longer sometimes
inevitably I'd end up at the temple because that's
where I needed to be. I had established that
pattern early in my life under the direction
of that bishop that I just mentioned to you.
And you had under the direction of, I don't know
what, the spirit probably because that's been
your pattern your whole life. I know that. And
one time I'm sitting there on my motorcycle.
I'd been sitting there, I don't know, 30 minutes,
maybe longer. And I'd been in prayer and I'd
been in reflection and I was taking a personal
inventory. and all those things that I hate to
do. But I was doing it, and I don't hate to do
them. It brings me a great deal of peace. But
in the moment, sometimes it's a little bit difficult.
And here comes Deb pulling up in her car. And
she didn't know I was there. She was there to
do the same thing. And she sat in her car for
a minute, giving me. She wasn't about to approach
me, and I wasn't about to approach her. But pretty
soon we did. And then from that point on, I just
knew inevitably that, it's not like we fight
all the time, but it's happened more than a couple
of times over the years that we have found each
other in the parking lot of the temple seeking
to remember. We didn't go in, we were ready to
go in at that moment. It's a good thing it was
closed. Seeking to remember who we are. Yeah,
and whose we are. And me seeking to remember
who you are. That's important for me too. Me
too. That's important for me too. As we kind
of wrap up today, I just wanted to let you know
that wherever you are and however you're feeling,
you're welcome here. Jesus isn't just waiting
for you to clean everything up before you come
to Him. He meets us right in the middle of our
mess. Boy, are we mess -makers. Well, we are.
That's where His grace shines the brightest.
So come as you are, broken, hopeful, questioning,
searching. You're not alone. Don't forget to
stay connected with us. You can reach us again.
He redeems us at gmail .com. And don't forget
also to mention to friends. If you know somebody
that could benefit from hearing this, send it
to them. Please follow us too. That gives us
an opportunity for more people to hear us as
well. Yeah. We all could use more hope, no matter
where it comes from. Well, so next week we'll
continue on. We're just following along the course
of Divine Gift of Forgiveness. We're kind of
keeping it in conjunction with our Institute
class that we began this week. We actually began
it last week, but we're gonna begin in classroom
this week. Look really forward to that. So just
remember that he doesn't just redeem us, he heals
us, he lifts us, he transforms us in our everyday
lives, in our mess. He meets us where we are.
And it's because of who we are. Thanks again
for being with us and for your support. And remember
there's always hope through him because you have
been redeemed through his blood. We look forward
to being with you again next week, and until
then, be well.