Hey there, everybody. Welcome out to another
episode of Redeemed Through His Blood. Scott
Durfey here joined, as always, by the beautiful
Deb Durfey. What's up, babe? Hey, everybody.
Hello, friends. So good. Good. It's still summer.
I'm still enjoying the sunshine. You know, people
are gonna be listening to this in the winter
time. I know, I know, but I'll probably be listening
to it in the winter time. Or our friends who
are in the southern hemisphere right now. Do
you remember when it was so nice and warm outside?
There's sometimes I walk out of a restaurant
or a grocery store when it's the air conditioners
high and cold and I walk out and the very first
thing I say when I walk in that heat, I actually
say it quite loud, is I yell, I love summer.
all of the heat and everything. We know it's
winter time in the southern hemisphere, those
in Australia and New Zealand, and we have quite
a few listeners down there. We have two semi
-new listeners down there, David and Chris. I've
got an exchange, a couple of emails recently,
today actually with him, and they're having a
great time in the Australian winter near Sydney.
I can't remember the name of the... Canberra
or something? Canberra, yeah. The federal capital,
I think he called it. And they're going to be
teaching. Oh, you know what? That's so cool,
right? So we just found out that David and Chris
will be actually teaching the divine gift of
forgiveness as part of their mission assignment
in Australia. Epic. They have been kind of assigned
to work with the young single adults. Apparently,
there's many, a huge number of them that are
not involved. And that's definitely going to
change when they get to. They'll all become friends.
They'll love them. They won't be able to stay
away, that's for sure. Well, great stuff. had
a great topic last week. We said that we would
kind of revisit a couple of things that we ended
with last week. But before we do that, Deb, I
just remembered I wanted to share something.
Don't let me forget what I just said that we're
going to be moving into the topic here in just
a second. But you know, I had the shoulder surgery.
Yes. And yesterday I went in for my physical
therapy. It was my second visit for physical
therapy. I'm only going once a week. I'm healing
like super fast. Yeah, he's a turbo healer. Yeah,
it's crazy how fast I'm healing. It's awesome.
I think you said an intention. But the the the
physical therapist says to me, first thing he
says, So how's recovery going? Oh my gosh, I
know where you're going with this. You know,
at the very beginning of our podcast, we talk
about, I don't know if it was episode one, two,
three, somewhere in there though, we talk about
who we are and our identity. And you know, much
of who we are is how we hear and how we view
the world through the lens of our identity. And
I had a really great example of that yesterday
because when he said to me, how's the recovery
going? I answered him quickly too. Oh, it's going
great, man. I went to a meeting Saturday morning.
You did not. I did. I love this. I said I went
to a meeting Saturday morning. It was Alcoholics
Anonymous. You know, I don't really go to the
church meetings much. I told him. You're telling
your PT this. Yeah. Scott Durfee. That's hilarious.
He's looking at me like. Holy cow. What are you
talking about, mister? He had this look on his
face like, you know, I'm not quite sure. And
I just started laughing. And, you know, because
obviously he meant my shoulder recovery. He's
my physical therapist. I'm thinking he's meaning
the recovery that really matters to me. Oh my
gosh. You did not tell me this. I know, I was
gonna wait until the podcast, so I'm telling
you now. This is hilarious. I know, I know. But
it was awesome. He loved it, and it gave us an
opportunity to talk about a few things, including
the podcast. Maybe he's listening and laughing
as well. Yeah, let's talk about the recovery
that you're here for. That's pretty funny. It
was cool, though. He was like, 26 years sober,
man. That's awesome. He had a couple of questions
and stuff, but I think, I think they were mostly
by way of trying to ease the discomfort that
he thought I was feeling. I didn't care. I don't
care about that stuff. He was probably feeling
it and he's like, what are you talking about?
Made him a little uneasy, but that's hilarious.
I know. I know. I cannot believe you instantly
went there. There's lesson in that, you know,
it's, and this is what I take away from. In fact,
I thought about this. In fact, I told him this,
I says, you know, isn't it funny how The lens
that we see our identity or that our identity
provides for us, the lens that we see the world
from, is much shaped because of our identity,
who we are, who we see ourselves as and stuff
like that. Yeah, our perception is our reality
for sure. Yeah, it's kind of crazy. That's funny.
Yeah. Anyway, Institute went really great last
week. It was a great class. Always is. Always
is. We're winding down though. We only have two
more classes left in this semester and then we'll
begin a brand new semester. I'm looking forward
to that too. Have a lot of new people, new freshmen
from all over the world. We had new ones this
last week. Yeah, we did. We had half of our class.
Yeah, half of our class was all new. So to try
to link it to last week's lesson and it's summer
semesters are really challenging to maintain
any kind of continuity. It's almost like you
have to teach 14 standalone lessons. That's true.
We should remember that. Yeah. Well, we tried
to, but it's still important that we talk about
things that we talk about. It was great. It was
a great class. It was awesome. Oh, the funny
thing is this was really cool. When we drove
up, into the parking lot, there was a truck pulling
a trailer that had a four wheeler in it and some
kayaks. And I said, wow, that looks like a good
time. And then as we drove further into the parking
lot, we saw that the hood of the truck was up
and Scott said, that doesn't look like a good
time. That broken down truck. Needless to say,
long story short, we went into our class, taught
our class, and two of the kids that were in that
broken truck, they were from up north from us,
about an hour and a half north of us, and they
were heading down an hour and a half south of
us, they came into our institute class. They're
like took notes when they were both return missionaries.
They were great, great contributors to the class.
It was a treat. So I was like, I was pretty amazing.
Yeah, that was epic. Yeah, I wish I could remember
their names. And I'm sorry, I don't remember
your names. But boy, do I remember your faces.
They were great contributors somewhere up north.
Clinton. Logan I thought he said somewhere way
up there. Yeah, and they were going down to that
part I remember and I and I remember Those handsome
devil kids. They're just good -looking great
kids cousins that had been away from each other
for a while for a couple of years Cuz they've
been both serving missions. Yeah looking to having
a great shout out to him. That's awesome. Pretty
amazing Pretty amazing. So well, OK, last week
we this week we will continue our discussion
around the conditional effects of the atonement
of Jesus Christ. So just kind of to do a little
bit of a recap, I'm going to go all the way back
now. I'm not going to recap the unconditional
effects, but to just kind of maybe help re help
us regain some clarity around what this is all
about, what this means. When we talk about the
unconditional effects of the atonement of Jesus
Christ these are the things that we don't deserve
These are the things that we don't earn and they
are everything No No, it's not every I don't
earn we don't really earn that much do we no
but we deserve Consequences sometimes right we
align with pain we get pain we align with sin
we get you know the consequences of sin and all
of those other things but the the unconditional
effects of the atonement of Jesus Christ are
in large part a response to the fall of Adam
and Eve. The conditional effects of the atonement
of Jesus Christ, and I think this will be our
third or our fourth, I think this will be our
third episode on the conditional effects of the
atonement of Jesus Christ, the conditional effects
are in response to the fall of, in my case, in
response to the fall of Scott Durfee, my own
personal fall. And so when we're talking about
the conditional effects, these are the ones that
sometimes are the ones that we desire so deeply.
These are the ones that are in response to things
that are difficult or ugly or scary or big or
all of those uncomfortable adjectives that you
could come up with. This is where... All of that
is taken care of, either taken away or we're
strengthened to deal with it or we're compensated
because of it and all of that. And, you know,
maybe we should kind of just recap the ones that
we've talked about so far in terms of what are
the conditional effects of the atonement of Jesus
Christ. The first one is redemption from sin.
And so we know that we're redeemed as we repent
and come unto him that we have redeemed from
our sin. And so we know that number two is kind
of the strengthening and enabling power. We know
that we have that. We also know that that comes
by way of some of the conditional effects. through
our alignment and through our keeping the commandments,
we get greater strength and greater enabling
power, etc. And then compensating an unfairness
for suffering. And again, we talked a little
bit about that last week as part of some of the
conditional effects as well. But there is a there
are a ton of blessings that are going to come
to us for our suffering and the unfairness that
came to us that are just completely unconditional.
And then what was the next one Deb after that?
Healing and comfort. We haven't covered that
one yet, but the last question we asked on our
last podcast was if justice demands repayment
for our sins, what does it demand for our undeserved
pain? And as we thought about that and reflected
on that the last week, I can almost put large
amounts of cash down that all of us have had
has experienced undeserved pain. Things that
just are not fair. Yeah, because life is not
fair. And even I mean, and it could be, you know,
as simple as a child not getting their way in
the grocery store or the gas station or, you
know, but we all as mortals have experienced
unfairness. So this is kind of where we we ended
last week. Yes. Right. Was when we're talking
about compensation for unfairness and suffering.
Right. And we did say that, you know, that was
exactly the one of the last things that we said
that we would talk about. I mean, that we did
talk about. and that we said that we would revisit.
Is that question, and I'll just, you said it,
I'll just repeat it. If justice demands repayment
for our sins, what does it demand for our undeserved
pain? Let's just stop for just a second and revisit.
Remember a couple of weeks ago, we were in Alma
chapter 42, right? We were talking about justice
and mercy. Remember the conversation? I do remember
that. I'm gonna go to Alma 42, and we're gonna
start in 24. And remember this question. So the
question is, If justice demands repayment for
our sins, what does it demand for our undeserved
pain or unfairness even? Any kind, right? Yes.
So this is Alma 42 -24. For behold, justice exercises
all his demands, and also mercy claimeth all
which is her own, and thus none but the truly
penitent are saved. What do you suppose that
mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, nay, not
one wit. If so, God what sees to be God. Just
that verse alone, Deb, or that little part of
that alone, we know that justice has to be satisfied.
It has to be satisfied. And so, you know, we
always think of justice on our end exacting justice
against me. Right? Right. If I make a mistake,
then justice demands that I pay for that mistake
or that mistake be paid for. Obviously not my
merit, but his. We'll talk about that later.
But it nonetheless has to be paid for. But what
about unfairness? Justice demands equality. It
demands that all unfairness be made fair. And
it's you know, we get promised that in the end
it will all be. Made right and if it isn't made
right, it's not the end. Yeah, you know there's
there's a quote in the divine gift of forgiveness
in chapter 8 that talks about what page you on
219 And the chapter is generous restitution.
It's the bottom of it's the last paragraph on
page 219, but it says you may never Receive an
acknowledgement, a sincere apology, a humble
regret, or an attempt to make restitution from
the person who has offended you or harmed you.
I'm sure a lot of us have pictures to go with
those words. If this is your situation, be assured
that the greatest comfort, the greatest comfort
or peace you will ever receive will come from
relying on the healing power of God. As you go
to Him, you will feel His love. His love can
bind and heal your wounds, however deep or old
they are, or they may be. I have it highlighted
and blocked around. I definitely have pictures
to go with these words. And I am so grateful
that I have a loving God that will give me the
greatest comfort and or peace that I will ever
receive. And I've had that experience. I've been
able to, you know, feel little portions of his
love through rest, you know, the restitution
that I didn't receive. Right. Right. So you've
been Compensated absolutely and that compensation
came by way of the spirit. Yep The comforter
the comforter. I love that the comforter. Yeah,
I love that You're the primary president When
you talk about the Comforter, I'm gonna go just
a little bit sideways here for a minute, because
this is important, the Comforter, when we talk
about the Holy Ghost, the administrator of the
atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives, and we
know that compensatory blessings are part of
those blessings, I mean, that's why we're talking
about the conditional effects of the atonement
of Jesus Christ, but the Comforter, you have
a little kind of... Holy ghost presentation that
you it's a present. It's not really a presentation
I don't know what I'd call it, but something
when you tell the primary kids when they're getting
baptized About the comforter. Yeah, we give them
a towel that says always remember him on it and
it has their date and the the date that they
got baptized in their name and I remind them
of the covenant that they make During that baptism
and I I tell them I remember when I was baptized
and when all those priesthood holders put their
hands on my head and gave me the most, I'm going
to cry, the most precious, sacred gift I possess
and have ever, ever been given. But when those
heavy hands on that little eight -year -old head
were laid on my head and I heard those words,
receive the Holy Ghost, I felt a tangible feeling.
I remember the power that came from that gift.
I do too. And I tell these kids, listen to those
words, feel it, and you will always remember
it. And even when you're old like Sister Durfee,
you'll remember it because it is such a sacred.
You know, I didn't realize what a gift it was
then as much as I do now, but every year and
every time I think about it, I just think, man,
no greater gift has ever been given to me than
the gift of the Holy Ghost, that comforter. The
comforter. The warner. We give our grandchildren
who choose to be baptized, which isn't all of
them, but those who do choose to be baptized,
we give them a real comforter. Now we give them
a blanket. A blanket with their baptismal date
embroidered into it. And we do the same thing.
And that's what I think of the comforter. And
the reason I decided to go sideways on that for
a minute, Deb, is because when we talk about
the compensatory blessings of the atonement of
Jesus Christ, they, for me, have always come
by way of comforting feelings. I haven't been
compensated financially. I haven't been compensated
physically. And I'm not saying that those things
can't happen. Certainly they can all things are
possible with God. However, for me Anytime that
I've needed and I've received these compensatory
blessings to in fact last week We said we wanted
you to think about something that was unfair
that you can now begin to see differently because
of Christ's Compensation in your life and I have
to I'm not going to share them, but I have a
couple of things specifically That I've been
that I'm thinking about that I have been focusing
on since we made that that invitation last week.
In fact, that was part of my sacrament experience
was to commune with Heavenly Father in regard
to these things. And the compensation has come
and it has come, not didn't just come now, but
it's been coming for many years in these situations.
And it's gonna probably, I'm gonna probably need
to have it come for many, many more years. Maybe
the remainder of my mortal existence, I don't
know. But those comforting feelings come to me
when I align with my Heavenly Father's will and
I feel the atonement of Jesus Christ at work
in my life administered by the Comforter, by
the Holy Ghost. And we also tell our Institute
kids often, and we say it on our podcast often,
that when you feel the gift of the Holy Ghost,
you know that the atonement of Jesus Christ is
working in your life. Yeah, like you know, you're
being forgiven, you know, you're being forgiven
of sin or have been forgiven of sin Yeah, and
you know that you're also being compensated and
enabled and strengthened and all the other blessings
of the atonement of Jesus What a powerful gift
literally a powerful gift. Well the next one
And so that was what we kind of ended with last
week was the compensatory compensation for unfairness
and suffering obviously can be unconditional,
but to the degree sometimes we need it, it does
require effort and alignment on our part, which
means that we come to Him. And part of those
compensatory blessings that come to me, and I
think I just alluded to it, but we have it as
its own kind of little category here, are blessings
of healing and comfort. which we talked a little
bit about just a minute ago with the comforter.
Yeah, exactly. They kind of all tie in together.
What does it mean that that that he can heal
us and comfort us? Well, I you know, I have tangible
experiences with that when my life was in shambles.
And I've shared this in a previous podcast about
just. living in a circumstance that was very,
very difficult and I sought for his guidance
by going to the temple. And I walked in pretty
broken. And, you know, as I was broken and open
and I went and participated in those sacred covenants
and sacred ordinances in the temple, I was able
to walk out. a completely different person because
of the healing and comfort that came to me in
that moment of crying out, literally. I can think
of a couple of situations in my life where this
has been a real poignant experience for me to
receive healing and comfort. And most of the
time, Maybe not, maybe not most of the time,
but certainly a lot of the time that healing
and comfort has come by way of process. It didn't
just all of a sudden go away. I wasn't all of
a sudden healed. The comfort that I was feeling
didn't all of a sudden take away all the things
that I felt like I needed comfort around. It
required effort on my part. And I think that
what you just said was how it worked for me.
I remember I remember the weeks prior to my getting
sober. My life was in shambles. It was terrible.
Everything was coming down around me. I was overwhelmed.
I didn't know what I mean. I was suicidal. I
had planned my own demise and all of that stuff.
And you know what, it was in my darkest moment
when Heavenly Father literally reached down and
snatched me just like he did in to those in the
Book of Mormon. I was literally snatched out
of my misery and woe undeservedly. I was crying
out. I was pleading, please help me. I can't
do this anymore. And it was then and only then
that I felt the beginning of this process of
healing and this process of comfort that I needed
so badly in my life. And you know, one of the
scriptures that we refer to a lot about this,
and it's really interesting, before Deb and I
came down to our little studio here to record
the podcast tonight, our bishop and one of his
counselors, both very close friends of ours,
Deb and I both got to serve on the High Council
with this bishop and his counselor that came.
was one of my counselors when I was in the elders
quorum president. And we just love these men.
And they shared the experience about Benadai
and King Noah and where Benadai was quoting from
this very scripture. So funny. I know I was like,
well, that was inspired. This very, very scripture
in Isaiah 53. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him
stricken. smitten of God and afflicted. I'm gonna
go on with five. But he was wounded for our transgression
and he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement
of our peace was upon him and with his stripes
we are healed. I love that. Yeah. I really have
to keep going. Verse six. And we like sheep have
gone astray. And I, Scott Durfee, like sheep
have gone astray. Period. That is just how it
is. I have gone astray. And we have turned everyone
to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. Laid on Jesus the iniquity
of us all even though I went astray He laid on
Jesus the iniquity of us all he was oppressed
and he was afflicted yet He opened not his mouth
He has brought as a lamb to the slaughter and
as a sheep before his shearers is dumb So he
openeth not his mouth And then at the very end
of eight for the transgressions of my people
was he stricken He's paid for it. Yeah It reminds
me of the scripture in Alma 7. One of our favorites.
Alma 7 verse 12, and he will take upon him death
that he may loose the bands of death which bind
his people and he will take upon him their infirmities
that his bowels may be filled with mercy according
to the flesh that he may know according to the
flesh how to succor his people according to their
infirmities. He came here, he felt it, he knows.
Whatever we have, whatever is our darkest, hardest
Gethsemane, he felt it. Deeper, harder, lower
than all because he suffered for all. I think
about that and I think of the things that I have
been through and I'm like, how in the world he
had to be God -like to... He had to be God. Yes.
To... to endure that kind of pain and suffering
and infirmities. All the inequities, all the
injustices, all the infirmities, all the sin,
all the pain, all the unfairness. I mean, you
hear things on the news now and you hear things
that are going on in the world and things that
people are enduring and you're like, how in the
world did that ever happen? How could one man
take upon all of that? All of that. and we don't
even know it all, but the little bit that we
know is just absolutely horrible. And that was
what I was gonna say, you know, we just, we have
no idea how it happened, we have no idea, I have
no idea the process by which Jesus went through
and suffered for all of the sins, all of the
infirmities, all of the iniquities, all of the
injustices, and so on of all the world. I have
no idea how in those moments in Gethsemane because
of his sinless life, because of his divine birthright,
I just have no idea how all of that happened.
But I know it did. Yeah, me too. But I know that
it did. And how do I know that it did? I know
that it did, Deb, because it's made a difference
in my life. And I've seen it make a difference
in the lives of others. Yeah. Many of whom I
love deeply which I love that we have the opportunity
to testify because we have had front -row seat
to this and I think that's what makes us so passionate
about this as we share and get really raw and
vulnerable in our Institute class and as we share
our stories on a Platform that is open to the
entire world that it's like, what a gift to be
able to testify that we know that He came here,
lived a sinless life, that He suffered below
all of it so that He could sucker us, which means
He knows how I felt. He knows how you felt. And
He knows how everyone felt that walked this planet
that had any injustice, unfairness, any of that.
so he could sucker us. He loved us that much.
I can't even fathom. And then I just think about
Heavenly Father watching his son do that for
all of his children. I weep saying it. I weep
just saying it out loud. Because that's a love
I do not understand. One day I hope I will. understand,
at least to a degree, that love. Because that's
really, I believe, the compensatory blessing.
You say we have a front row seat to this. You
know, so often, and you know, we don't dwell
on it or harp on it, but so often there's just
a lot of tragedy in the... recovery community.
However, this weekend I got to have a front row
seat to a wonderful miracle. You remember Nick?
Yeah. We had Nick on the podcast. Go back and
listen to that. I mean, that podcast alone was
a miracle. How he had gone from being home. I'm
only sharing what he shared there. You should
go listen to it. But how he had gone from being
homeless. and really at odds with anything of
God and so on. But through recovery, through
the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and because
of the divine gift of forgiveness. He loved that
book. He fell in love with his Savior. And when
he fell in love with the Savior, he talked about
how he just all of a sudden had this relationship,
and that in and of itself was a miracle. Well,
during all that had happened, he lost his family.
Guess what? You know, but he has his family now.
Again, they were remarried and reunited and forgiveness
extended and hope amplified all because of the
atonement of Jesus Christ. And those compensatory
blessings are tangible. Tangible for that little
family, tangible for me and my own life in so
many ways, et cetera. So, so awesome. You know,
Deb, One of the things, and this was one of David's
favorite scriptures, in Matthew, this is an invitation
that Jesus gives to us in Matthew 11 beginning
in verse 28, and I just want to read this and
then let me get your take on it, babe, after
I've read it. Jesus says, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you. and learn of
me, for I am meek and lonely of heart, and ye
shall find rest to your souls, for my yoke is
easy and my burden is light. Oh, I love that.
That's one of my favorites, too. Yeah. Come unto
me. Because couldn't don't we all sometimes feel
heavy laden? Yeah. Like it's life's hard. And
things come at us that feel really big and really
hard. I love in 29 where he says, I am meek.
I have a sign, I wrote it down, that says meekness
is not weakness. Because I think for a long time
I thought that. But I studied the word meek for
a while. And that humility and that humbleness
that... softness. I just think about a meek Savior
and I just, you can hear Him in His most gentle
words say, come to me. We had a sacred experience
to be in the temple on Friday and there's a ginormous
picture of the Savior coming out of the tomb
with Mary kneeling down to her and I just stared
at that picture of the Savior and I just kept
thinking. Will I know you when you come? And
I have an overwhelming feeling that, you know,
I hope I will. But I just I just stared at that
picture, just so longing to know his meekness
and his lowly and heart. Because when you do
push pause and be still and know that I am God,
you definitely feel that healing comfort. That
that painting that you're referring to, isn't
it the one in the chapel? Yeah, the waiting in
the Orem temple. That painting is one of my very
favorites for all that it means. And incidentally
and coincidentally enough, the the artist of
that painting's friend of ours, Joe Bricky, who
has also given us permission. And it's the image
of Jesus that we use for the podcast logo. Right.
He gave us permission to use that. So. Pretty
cool. Yeah, I would like that mural on my wall
to just stare. I know it's so sacred. Yeah, so
sweet. Yeah, I love that too. This this scripture
that we just read is one that's super personal
to me. You know, during my own. times, you know,
you talked about crying out, you know, during
those times when I and I still cry out. But during
those times when I was really making an effort
to change my life and I just had tried so many
times, you know, for me, quitting to quit drinking
was easy. I could quit drinking. I couldn't stay
quit. You know what I mean? I do know what you
mean. Yeah. Yeah. There were times when I'd quit.
I'd quit drinking, you know, four or five times
in a day. I just couldn't stay stopped, you know.
But it wasn't until that crying out wasn't until
that I took this serious. Come on to me, all
you that labor. I had been laboring. I had been
laboring with something that had been so difficult
for me. And I know that many, maybe all to a
degree of our listeners can relate to this. There's
just that something that I am struggling with
sometimes that is so, that creates a distance
between me and the spirit. And it's so hard for
me to maybe put it aside. But when I read, come
unto me, all you that labor, I had been laboring
under the weight of that addiction for so many
years, I had no other choice. It was come unto
me. I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you.
My yoke's easy. My burden's light. His yoke is
easy. His yoke is me yoking with him. His burden
is definitely light because he carried the burden.
All I do is align with it and I get the healing
blessings. The next conditional blessing that
comes to us by way of Christ's Atonement, Deb,
there are transformation and sanctification blessings.
What are we talking about here? Transformation
and sanctification. Obviously not the same thing,
so let's take them one at a time. What is transformation?
Blessings of transformation. Every time I think
of transformation, I think of a butterfly that
goes from a caterpillar to a butterfly. And transformation
is literally, I went to my class reunion this
last summer. June last month, a couple months
ago. And there were people that did not have
any idea who I was. And there were people I didn't
have any idea who they were. And I think about
how life can transform us, you know, just living
our life, aging, living our life in whatever
it is that we are. But the part of transformation
here is allowing God to change us, to literally
transform us into somebody that we're not. And
I think that's why I love the broken heart, that
being broken and open. It's not just our heart,
but we have to be pliable. We hear a lot about,
you know, the, the potter and the clay and how
they, they need to be pliable and not stiff,
but are we really willing to be transformed?
I think that's, that's a big question that we
could ask is, you know, that transformation or
do we, you know, for a long time, I, you know,
I didn't want to be changed. I didn't, I liked
things the way they were until it became such
a mess that I, it was unmanageable. And I think
Until I allowed God to be in charge of my life
and transform me into who He wanted me to be,
then I realized you have a much better plan than
I do. My idea of my plan is nothing like it is.
What I thought my life would be is nothing like
it is today. all of that gratitude to my Heavenly
Father for allowing to transform me into be,
and I'm sure he has a lot more transforming to
do. I mean, definitely I'm not done. I've got
a lot of enduring to do. And then also you add
the sanctification. To sanctify is to make holy.
So changes and make us holy is definitely my
will aligning to his will to do his perfected
work. I have a question for you. Okay. We talk
about the atonement of Jesus Christ and we always
go back to we know that for sure that the atonement
was so that we can be forgiven of our sin. Well,
if we're talking about the atonement of Jesus
Christ being also for our transformation, or
in other words, we are changed as we put on the
atonement, that's how I'll put it, that we're
changed as we put on the atonement of Jesus Christ.
What's the difference between being forgiven
and being changed? I don't know that there is
a difference. Yeah. I really don't, I don't think
there is. Because when we truly practice repentance,
we are changing. I mean, we truly are changing.
In ways that sometimes we don't see because we're
up close and personal and right in it. I think
we don't realize the changes until, and I think
that's why it's important, and I'm a hypocrite
saying this, to journal. Because when you write
things down and you understand where you are
in your mindset then, and then go back and read
it to where you are today. I mean, for me personally,
I have been so blessed with the understanding
of the scriptures. I shared a little bit. you
know, last week about how it was so hard for
me to read, but what a gift that has been just
allowing that transformation in place. I got
plenty of places to transform and sanctify, but.
This is one of those that I think that, you know,
there are probably a lot of our listeners. I
know that there's obviously areas in probably
all of our lives that transfer. transformation
is still in process or needs to be put into process.
And that can be scary. You know, especially especially
the longer that we stay, I'll say stuck in any
type of OODA loop. Yes. You know, just doing
this. We all have it. I definitely have pictures.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so it can be scary. And
so Again, the comforter, the administrator of
the atonement of Jesus Christ has to be kind
of at work in our lives in order for us to really
be able to accomplish that. Again, so important
for me that I live my life so that I can have
the companionship of the Holy Ghost to help me
with this, too. Yeah, for sure. You know, one
of the things that... Dave asked me one time,
he said, Scott, what's more important, testimony
or conversion? And it should have been an easy
answer. It wasn't at the time, this was four
or five years ago. And it wasn't an easy answer.
But after we discussed it, this is what we're
talking about here. You know, testimony is I
know that he can. Right. I may even have some
faith attached to I know that he can But to let
him that's faith unto repentance We go back to
Mosiah chapter 4 and and the faith and faith
unto repentance and faith in the name of Jesus
Christ But then we have faith unto repentance
and it gives me action. It allows me to begin
to take action That makes sense. Yeah for sure
And so that kind of faith allows this sanctification,
this transformation, the confidence to come,
the spiritual confidence that can come only through
Christ's Atonement. So you talked about the difference
between a testimony and being converted. What
is more important? What do you think is? Well,
for sure conversion. Yeah. Because I think Knowing
is not enough and I am proof of that. I mean
being raised, you know, I knew when I was making
a bad choice I knew when I was doing things I
shouldn't and knowing is not enough and I can
testify of truth But until I'm converted and
until I have a does no more desire To make those
choices. I think that's when the conversion comes
in. I think that's when we can be changed by
the atonement of Jesus Christ. To have no more
disposition to do that. You know when this really
started to make sense to me is when I really
broke down, okay, what does it mean to be converted?
Right? So for me, and I'll just share my own
experience, my own definition, but for me to
be converted is for me to be changed. For sure.
So if I convert something, I change it. If I
convert my gasoline vehicle to a different type
of fuel, that goes through a conversion process.
And it's the same with us. You know, we are natural
men. If we look in Mosiah chapter three, verse
19, for the natural man is an enemy of God and
has been from the fall of Adam and will be for
ever and ever unless. Circle that word. Seems
like we talk about this every week. I know. Unless
he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit
and putteth off the natural man, and becomeeth
a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord,
and becomeeth as a child, submissive, meek, humble,
patient, full of love, willing to submit to all
things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon
him, even as a child does submit to his father.
I love that, and it's important, because it helps
me realize I need to be converted. I need to
be changed and I will be a natural man forever
and ever unless I yield to the enticings of the
Holy Spirit, the administrator of the atonement
of Jesus Christ and putteth off the natural man
through the atonement of Jesus Christ. And then
it reminds that takes us if we if we'll go from
there. Let me interrupt while you're looking
at the scripture is what is what is repentance
changing? Yeah, what is converting? Yeah, changing.
You know, we're talking about the same thing
with two different words. And I think, you know,
as we change daily, I go back to President Nelson's
invitation to find joy in repentance daily. Yeah.
You know, are you are you finding joy in changing
daily, in converting daily? Think about that.
Yeah, yeah. And it requires that, doesn't it?
Absolutely. That's a daily process for me. Yeah.
The talk from President Nelson that talks about
having confidence before the Lord to have charity.
Yeah, let your confidence lack strong in the
presence of God. And by doing that, you exercise
charity. and virtue. And there's times that something
will come into my head and I literally will say,
virtue, virtue, virtue. I literally repeat that
word over and over in my head. I'm like, okay,
virtue, virtue, virtue. Especially when I'm angry
or whatever. And then even charity, that is the
pure love of Christ. And there are times when
I do not have love in my heart towards a situation
or a circumstance, or even sometimes a person
that is like, I'm not feeling very sure. I don't
feel like I have much charity right now. But
yeah, it's a great reminder. Those two words
are pretty powerful for me. You know, I read
Mosiah 319 where we learn that we're a natural
man, enemy of God, all that. We also learn from
that that's through the atonement that we can
put off the natural man. I love this scripture
also in Moroni chapter 10. I'm going to read
verses 32 and 33, Deb. And the answer is here.
Yay, come unto Christ and be perfected in Him.
That's it. There's your answer. Come unto Christ
and be perfected in Him. Completed. Doesn't perfect
mean completed? It means completed. Yeah. So
be completed in Him or finished. It's the only
way we're going to do it. By Him and through
Him. And as soon as I say that's it, there's
your answer right there. Everybody's like, oh,
give me a break. Like that's easy, right? Yeah.
Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him and
deny yourselves of all ungodliness. And if you
shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, Godliness
and love God with all your might mind and strength
Then is his grace sufficient for you and by his
grace you may be perfect in Christ So there it
is. We're made complete. We're made perfect in
Christ. We didn't earn it He did right we're
made perfect in Christ and If by the grace of
God, you are perfect in Christ you can in no
wise deny the power of God We align with Christ
at home and we're bound to feel the power of
God in our lives. This is the key. And again,
if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ
and deny not His power, then are ye sanctified
in Christ by the grace of God through the shedding
of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant
of the Father unto the remission of your sins
that you become holy. without spot. Sanctification.
Holy without spot. I just wanna have some of
the spots that I bump up against in this mortal
experience removed from me. This is pretty, this
is a pretty grand promise. Or a pretty grand
doctrine here, Deb. And you know, for those of
us who experience the fall in its various forms,
which we all do, here's our answer. It's through
Jesus Christ and only through Him. As Paul would
say, through Christ Jesus and Him crucified that
we're able to receive these conditional blessings
of His Atonement. Well, I look forward to the
day that I can become holy. Yeah. You know, that
I can be perfected through Christ. And until
then, we'll just keep muddling through this messy
world and this life. I'm thinking about, you
know, our listeners are listening for so many.
varied reasons. Some are struggling with addictions,
I know for that for a fact, some are struggling,
you know, like alcoholism, and even other types
of addictions. And some are struggling with testimony,
some are struggling with the ability to fill
the spirit in their life because of some of the
mental illnesses and stuff like that, that we
just experienced because of the fallen world,
Deb. The unfairness. Yeah, I just justice. I
hope and pray that just somehow, some way, the
Spirit can reach us through the things that we're
sharing here and just somehow relieve us, put
comfort in our hearts, put solution in our minds,
and put the comfort of the comforter to wrap
us in his loving arms as we just go through life,
which can be hard. He can give us rest if we
come to him, and peace. Come unto me, all ye
that labor. They're heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Well, we probably ought to close it
up today, Doug, but just like we say every time,
we're glad you're all here. We hope you'll keep
coming. We hope you feel welcome here. Above
all that, we hope that you know that Jesus isn't
just waiting for you to clean everything up.
He's waiting for you to come to Him just the
way you are. Yep, he meets us in our mess right
in the middle of it That's where his grace shines
the brightest and if we cry out, you know We've
heard a lot of stories about being in prison
and being in the darkest of dark. I mean you've
shared your part of He'll come and meet us in
it In the mess and his grace shines the brightest
so come as you are Broken hopeful questioning
searching. You're truly not alone I wish I could
see all of your faces and just give you a hug
and a smile because That's just who I am. I just
would love to see you all you're not alone. That's
the important part is you're not alone In fact,
we'd love to stay connected with you. Samantha
in Brisbane, Australia. She's teaching the same
class stuff. Isn't that great? I love it. She
sent a message on Facebook. I would like to hear
her teach. She said that she has a tricky sister
that lives in Ormuta, so I'm hoping that we get
an opportunity to maybe meet her someday. Meet
the tricky sister. Yeah, but you know, if you
like what you've been hearing here, if you like
the hope that is being provided through the atonement
of Jesus Christ, we know we're not professionals.
We're just a couple of sinners trying to help
sinners. We do fill an obligation because of
the way that Heavenly Father has lifted us and
given us some opportunities to share these things.
We feel like we're obligated to do that, and
we love doing it. So, you know, if you have any
thoughts or questions, please email them to us.
You can do that at heredeemsusatgmail .com. Yeah,
we read every one. And if this episode touched
your heart, we hope that you'll share it with
someone you love, a friend, a family member,
anyone who could use a little bit more hope right
now. Next week we'll be continuing with the conditional
effects of Christ's atonement. We've gotten through
most of those, but next week we'll be talking
about some big ones. They're all big ones. Some
really important ones. Again, we'll be talking
about reconciliation with God. We'll talk about
becoming children of Christ, and then we're going
to kind of take a little segue into the merits
of Christ as part of His Atonement. So, we look
forward to being with you then. Just remember,
He lifts us, He transforms us, and He does it
in our everyday lives, so hopefully we can apply
what we're learning here and there. He can be
transformed, converted. Well, thanks for being
with us, my friends, our friends, and remember,
there is always hope through Him. because you
have been redeemed through his blood. Thanks
for being with us everybody. We look forward
to being with you again next week and until then,
be well.