Hey there everybody, welcome out to another episode
of Redeemed Through His Blood. This is Scott
Durfey joined as always by. Hi friends. The Princess
Debra Durfey. You knew something was coming
so you wanted to hurry and preempt it, didn't
you? Yep. Yeah. I was interrupting your title
that you were gonna give me. You're always. I'm
wondering what that's gonna be. How are you,
babe? Great. Good. It's good to be home. I am
home. I'm home a lot. No, it's good for me to
be home, too. I know. It's good to have you home,
too. I was gone. for a few days this past weekend.
I went up to the great Northwest for some work,
and I love going there. It's where I serve my
mission. It's just an amazing place to be, and
I love going there. Anyway, that's neither here
nor there. Yesterday being the Sabbath was an
awesome experience. I look forward to that. I
know you do too, Deb, every single week, and
for some reason this week I felt... I almost
felt like I needed it more than I normally do.
I don't think that that's ever the case. I think
that every week we are in equal need of those
blessings and so forth, but for whatever reason,
I just... had a deeper hunger and thirst to have
the Spirit in my life. And I loved, maybe it's
because it's Fast and Testimony meeting first
week, right, you know, and all that. And I just
love feeling the Spirit when I get to hear it.
That's interesting that you say that because
my pre -planning for the Sabbath was a coming
home. It was like I had a lot of things going
on over the weekend that gave me some uptightness.
And so when I got home or when I got to church,
it felt like home. It was familiar, it was...
It was comfort. Yeah, it was pure comfort. And
I love when they bless and pass the sacrament
because that is so sacred to me to commune and
to be still and feel Him and know Him. Time to
just say... Not my will, but thine be done. Lead
me, guide me. I love it. It seems like I could
actually do that more than once every seven days,
right? Yeah, it would be a good reminder every
day if we could do that. And here's the thing
I was going to say, though, is what's stopping
me. I don't particularly need to partake of the
emblems of the sacrament to have an experience
where I commune with him. That is the symbolism
and the symbolic. act of that ordinance, which
is highly important. I'm not diminishing the
importance of that, but what I'm saying is that's
not the only place that we can have that opportunity.
Right, and reflect on the covenants that we made.
I loved the Sunday school lesson topic yesterday,
which was walking with God, Enoch, and just learning
about that experience for him and letting that...
potentially inspire my experience of walking
with God. And of course, we learned from Elder
Bednar and Elder Oakdorf that when we talk about
walking with God, we're really talking about
entering into a covenant relationship with the
lines completely with repentance and forgiveness
or the divine gift of forgiveness that we try
to talk about so much in this class. So, I loved
all that. and this podcast. You said our class.
In our class. We blend them sometimes. Yeah,
they all run together, I guess. Speaking of our
class, how about those Institute kids this year,
this semester? This semester. powerhouses, warriors.
I think we should sit down and let them teach
us. I think that's what's gonna be happening
more and more for sure. We'll stand at the front,
but they'll be teaching us. Yeah, we get such
important perspectives and wonderful questions
and just deep doctrinal insights from they who
have been taught from on high. There's absolutely
no question in my mind about that. And they come
with that knowledge. It's like, they're during
their 20s and that's That's stuff I learned in
my 50s. Yeah, well, they're definitely a little
maybe ahead of us in that regard at that age.
And, you know, heaven bless them for being there.
You know, Deb, I kind of want to talk about something
different today. You know, I think that in our
attempt to... talk about Jesus Christ and his
love for us and his acceptance of us and his
wrapping his arms around us. And we've even used
phrases like Jesus meets us in our mess. And
we've even used things like he's not surprised
by the stumbling blocks that we run up against,
whether that be sin or the other effects of a
fallen world. And I think that sometimes when
we do that, And I have reason to say this, and
I'm not gonna get into detail, but I have reason
to say this, but I think that sometimes when
we do that, that sometimes we, the truth can
get a little bit distorted into the idea that
he's actually fine with us just staying in our
mess. or that he's actually fine with us staying
in our sin and that he'll love us and he'll redeem
us and that I have to make no effort. It's up
to him to do it and if I'm not getting pulled
out of it, then why isn't he pulling me out of
it and these types of things. Because we're told
we're here to suffer. And sometimes we think
this is where we're supposed to stay here and
suffer. Yeah, well, that's true. And then again,
when we read things like in 2 Nephi 3 .2, or
Lehi tells his sons, I'm glad that you're not
saved by your own righteousness, but you're saved
by the righteousness of your Redeemer. I have
reason to be concerned that I don't want ever.
For anybody to think that what we are saying
or what we are teaching here is that sin doesn't
matter And the Christ will just leave us in our
sin and he'll rescue us anyway And that he'll
all of that and so I kind of want to talk about
that today, you know There's a big danger in
that that's you know, we sometimes confuse When
I say we I should rephrase that sometimes grace
is confused with acceptance, or stagnation, or
just floating along, or I don't need to make
an effort to change. And there's just a huge
danger in that. That's not grace. Leaving us
in our sin, leaving us broken, leaving us where
we are in our mess so that the effects of the
fall of Adam and Eve can... beat down on us on
a constant basis. That's not his intent. And
he does rescue us. And it is true that not by
our effort, but by his, we are saved. But we
have effort. It is important for us to make effort.
And that effort, I wanna talk about that today.
I wanna talk about how do we really align so
that we have effort that's appropriate effort,
that's motivated by the right thing or the right
things or whatever to make an effort. an effort
to change, to be converted, to be different.
Christ does not intend for us to stay the way
we are. He wants to change us. I mean we learn
about that in being a carnal, the carnal man
is an enemy to God. And we should have motivation
to want to be changed by him so that we can dwell
with him, not in a carnal state. Well, and so
that he can dwell with us now. Right? Yeah. Let's
do this. I wanna go to a scripture. We've talked
about this in seasons past about this very thing,
but I wanna go to this scripture. This is in
Alma chapter 11, and I wanna read verse 37. And
I say unto you again that he cannot save them
in their sins, for I cannot deny his word. And
he has said that no unclean thing can enter into
the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, How can you
be saved except you inherit the kingdom of heaven?
Therefore you cannot be saved in your sins I
mean, it's pretty cut and dry right there, right?
You know Jesus never shamed People that he I
mean think of the adulterous woman. Yeah, you're
right. He never normalized it But he encouraged
her to go and sin no more. Yeah, she knew what
she did He meets us in the mess, and he's not
gonna normalize or make us feel like that's not
what it is. He constantly moves towards, he consistently
moves towards people that have shame, fear, addiction,
failure. I mean, he's drawn to us. And I, being
one of those people. He has compassion. He knows
what we're going through, he's suffered for them.
Right, he has compassion, but that doesn't mean
that he endorses us in our sin, right? No, no,
he's not, and he's not gonna dwell there, because
he knows the, is it the antidote, the opposite
of what we're going through, and the blessings
that come. Antithesis, yeah. Antithesis, there
you go. And so, you know, he has mercy, it doesn't
give us permission, but he offers us mercy. And
again, the woman that was caught in adultery,
he didn't condemn her. He didn't shame her. He
just said, like I said, she knew exactly what
she was, she knew. She didn't need somebody to
say, you've done something wrong. Let's read
that scripture, shall we? Is that all right?
John, chapter eight, verse 11. Let's do that.
Let me just turn to that quickly. I hadn't necessarily
planned to, but since you brought it up, and
this is a wise place to bring that up, maybe
one of the most important and most poignant depictions
in scripture of this very thing. John's in the
New Testament, right? That's usually my question.
I was just kind of thumbing through here to try
and find it. I'm on digital. It's easier for
me to find than my paper scriptures. That's usually
what I'm asking. I love my digital, but my physical
scriptures, I have little notes and stuff like
that that make me sound smart when I'm teaching
Institute. Oh, is that what we do? That's what
I do. Maybe I should start looking smart. So
I'm just gonna start. So when they continued
asking him, he lifted up himself and he said
unto them, he that is without sin among you,
let him first cast a stone at her. So let's just
stop and I'll kind of put everything around this.
So what's happened is Jesus is teaching and these
men bring, Sadducees and Pharisees bring. this
woman to Jesus, where's the man? I'm kind of
bothered by where's the man and all that. And
there's a lot of speculation that that is indeed
the case. And without going down a rabbit hole,
I kind of think it was too. I think this was
a time when they were really trying to set Jesus
up so that they would have reason to end up and
finally be justified in crucifying him and eliminating
him from what they saw as a distraction for their
own effort. So here he is, he's teaching, and
they bring this woman who's obviously caught
in the very act, that's what it says. And Jesus
says, you know, the law of Moses said that she'd
be stoned, what say ye? or whatever, and so he
kinda stoops down and he draws in the sand, I
love that, he took pause, he stooped down and
he was drawing in the sand, and this they said,
tempting him, this is verse six, that they might
have to accuse him, but Jesus stooped down and
with his finger wrote on the ground, as though
he had heard them not. So he wrote something
different than what he was being told. Maybe
he wrote somebody's name. The point is, and there's
doctrine there, as though he had heard them not.
He was not listening to his accusers, Deb. Her
accusers and his. Or his, which were ultimately
his accuser, right? So when they continued asking
him, in verse seven, he lifted himself up and
said unto them, he that is without sin among
you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again
he stooped down and rode on the ground. And they
which heard him being convicted of their own
conscience went out one by one, beginning at
the eldest, even to the last, and when Jesus
was left alone and the woman standing in the
midst, and Jesus had lifted up himself and saw
none but the woman, he said unto her, woman,
where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned
thee? And she said, no man, Lord, and Jesus said
unto her. Neither do I condemn thee. And here's
the doctrine, Deb, and this is the message for
all of us. He's not condemning us, and that's
not, we condemn ourselves by our sin. He's not
condemning her, and he's not condemning us, but
here's what he says, and this is the most important
part. Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no
more. How many times in our lives do we allow
others to condemn us? the accuser to condemn
us in our wrongdoings, in our sin. You know what
I mean? And it's like, and people do. I mean,
I have been a receiver of that condemnation.
And it's, we already know before anybody says
anything to us that I've done something wrong.
I already know. I know that I need to go before
the Lord and say, I made a mistake, I've messed
up. and I think this is such interesting doctrine
that it's like, do any of you guys have a clear
conscience? Because you sure point a finger.
And you know what, it makes me think, how many
times do I point a finger? How many times am
I the condemner? And it says, and they were condemned
by their own conscience. Yes, thank heavens we
have a conscience. Yeah, well, you know, so.
What this means to me, Deb, is Jesus doesn't
just rescue us so we can remain unchanged, right?
He rescues us so we can become. new again. We've
spent more than one episode this year talking
about becoming new, being born again. We talked
about Adam and his baptism yesterday, the water
and the spirit and the blood and how sometimes
we don't focus on even that important part of
that rebirth process is through his blood, which
is an invitation to put on his atonement and
to allow His atonement pay for the sins, but
we have to align to that and we align to that
by sinning no more. I just wanna read 12 really
fast, because this is such a powerful scripture
as well. It says, then spake Jesus again unto
them, saying, I am the light of the world. He
that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.
And how many of us, all of us by the way, have
walked in darkness, but shall have the light.
I mean, he is our light. We're in a dark place.
We're in a fallen world. We are fallen. We need
the light of the world. We just need to turn
to him, like you said. I love that. He that follow
with me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life. Yeah, who doesn't want
the light of life? Yeah, well, yeah. I love that.
I think that's really important. And you know
what else this reminds me of? There's another
scripture in Matthew, and you're the one that
pointed this out to me this morning when we were
discussing this. So I'm giving you credit where
credit's due here, babe. The little tiny bit
that I contribute. No, it's way more than that.
In Matthew one? Yeah, this is in Matthew chapter
one. You know, I just wanna say this really fast
because I think this is important before you
read this while you're looking it up. But Jesus
doesn't rescue us so that we can remain unchanged.
He doesn't just, okay, you're saved, even in
your stuff. He rescues us so we can change, so
we can become a new creature, so we can become
more light. Him? Yes. More? like him, and we
can only do that through him. We can't do that
of our own fruition. Right, no, absolutely not.
Believe me, I've tried, and I cannot. But that
doesn't mean we shouldn't try, and that's the
whole point of this podcast. Well, it's that
relying on him that makes it work for me, because
what I know is I'm powerless. What I know with
him, I am powerful through him, and only through
him. This is Matthew chapter one. This is really
talking about Mary and Joseph Okay, and and let's
just start in verse 19 then Joseph her husband
being a just man and that alone I can't wait
till Christmas when we can talk about that in
more detail being a just man That is such an
important comment about him and not willing to
make her a public example was minded to put her
away privily But while he thought on these things,
behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him
in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David,
fear not to take unto thee Mary, thy wife, for
that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Ghost. This is the important part. That's all
important, but this is the important part for
today's podcast. And he shall bring forth a son,
and shall call his name Jesus, and he shall save
his people from. from their sins. Not in their
sins. From their sins. I love that too. Yeah,
get me out of here. I love that too. What does
that mean? I mean, I know what it means, but
how does that hit you? I think for me, it's that
whole dependency upon Him. that surrender space,
that pure willingness, that it's like, he's the
only one that can save me from this. The only
one. And again, he doesn't save us in our sins,
but saves us from my sin. I love this. There's
a lot of doctrine just in that little statement,
especially as it relates to the atonement of
Jesus Christ. He won't save me in my sins, he'll
save me from my sins. Is that what it says? He
won't save me from my sins, he won't save me
in my sins, he'll save me from my sins. And I
think the doctrinal impact or the doctrinal pointing
to the atonement of Jesus Christ in that is this,
that the atonement is not moral indifference,
right? We can't just look at things and say whatever,
everything's okay, kumbaya, you know, let's all
hold hands and go to heaven together. That's
just not how it works, right? Some think it is.
Well, and that's the point. And the atonement
does not excuse weakness. It acknowledges weakness,
but it doesn't excuse weakness. It doesn't tolerate
rebellion. It accounts for it, and it pays for
it, but it doesn't tolerate it. The atonement,
what it is, the atonement of Jesus Christ is
the power to be changed, it's the power to be
reclaimed by him, and the power to be reoriented
on a consistent and constant basis. Reoriented
meaning. changing the direction of my ship. Do
you remember the talk from Elder Uchtdorf? I
knew you were gonna say that. I almost brought
that up. That's so funny. Tell me about it. Well,
just about how the tiny bit of direction changes
the whole course. Like, and I'm gonna slaughter
it because I'm not, anyways. But he was just
talking about when you're heading in a certain
direction, if you get off just a tiny little
bit, it can take you into a whole new, into a
place that you just don't want to be. And how
critical it is to stay on that path, to stay
on that route, to stay there. And because I remembered
that talk, clearly I don't remember the details,
but it was super impactful because I just think,
what is the one thing I can tweak today that's
gonna put me more wholly on the covenant path?
What's that one thing that I can do today? Because
it really made me self -contemplate and put the
mirror in front of my face and say, ooh, am I
off just a half a bit? Am I getting too close
to the edge? Am I getting? You know, am I going
a little bit off course or am I staying on track?
I love that talk from Elder Oak Dorff. He was
talking about flying an airplane and he's talking
about how if you're off by a half a degree or
a degree that's over a long period of time or
even over a short period of time, you're just
going to miss your mark, your target. And I don't
know what our target is. Our target is eventually
eternal life and being heirs and joint heirs
with Christ. in the family of God. But it's effective
now too. Just a little tiny, being off just a
little tiny bit in my perception or in my effort
or in my willingness to turn my will in my life
over to the care of him as I understand him and
to continue to have a deeper desire and make
effort and understand him deeper and better and
more and all of that. But other scriptures really,
and I know we're spending a little bit of time
in scripture today, and I think it's important
that we do, but I wanna next go to - Make sure
we mark them. Yeah. Cause these are good ones.
Yeah, these are probably marked in most people's
scriptures, and if they're not, we'd invite you
to do that, and maybe even make it a personal
study around some of these things, and how do
they apply to you and your life and your situation.
I'm actually gonna begin in, this is King Benjamin.
It's in Mosiah. Mosiah chapter three. I'm just
gonna start in verse 19. For the natural man
is an enemy to God and has been from the fall
of Adam and will be from ever and ever unless.
He yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit
and putteth off the natural man and becomeeth
a saint through the atonement of Jesus 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 doth
submit to his Father. I love the word and less
in that scripture. and I circle it and I mark
it because I just, again, that reminds me of
my powerlessness. I am an enemy to God, unless.
That is such an impactful word for me in that
scripture. Unless I yield to the enticings of
the Holy Spirit and putteth off the natural man
and becomeeth a saint through the atonement of
Christ the Lord. That's repentance. That is repentance,
that's exactly repentance, putting off the natural
man and becoming a saint. It's about the way
we orient ourselves, the way we direct ourselves.
It's that one degree off or on. Are we on track?
Am I aligning myself with him, with his blessings,
with his promises so that I can feel the peace
that is promised to me in my life through his
atonement? Let's go to another one. Let's go
to Helaman chapter five. I knew you were going
to Helaman. This is one of my very favorite,
one of my absolute favorite scriptures, and I
especially love when we talk about this dub in
an institute. I'm gonna start in verse 10, and
remember also the words which Amulek spake to
Zizram. In the city of Ammonihah, for he said
unto him that the Lord surely would come to redeem
his people. that he should not come to redeem
his people in their sins, but to redeem them
from their sins. There it is. And he hath power
given to him from the Father to redeem them from
their sins because of repentance. Therefore he
has sent his angels to declare the tidings of
the conditions of repentance which bringeth unto
the power of the Redeemer. unto the salvation
of their souls. I love that. Yeah? And then he
goes on, and I'm gonna go ahead and read 12.
This is my favorite part of it. We could probably
stop at 11, but now, remember, remember, now,
my sons, remember, remember that as it spawned
the rock of your Redeemer who is Christ, the
Son of God, that you must build your foundation.
that when the devil shall send forth his mighty
winds, yea his shafts and whirlwind, yea when
all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat
upon you, it shall have no power over you to
drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless
woe because of the rock upon which you have built,
which is sure foundation, a foundation whereon
if men build. And this is pretty. pretty uh these
last couple of words they're they don't leave
much room for error right um so let me just go
there again which is a sure foundation a foundation
where on if men build they cannot they cannot
fall as you were reading that i was thinking
of the three little pigs the story the three
little pigs yeah where they you know built the
house of straw and sticks and then the bricks,
and then I thought about the wise man's song,
I am such in a primary level. The wise man built
his house upon the rock and the sand. I guess
I'm just a very elementary minded person, but
I love that we learn that as children. I love
that I have pictures to go with those words,
that it's like the rock. of my foundation. And
what is the rock of my foundation? Rock of my
redeemer. Rock of my redeemer, I mean, and what
is my foundation, I mean? Yeah. It's like, because
I don't want to fall. I mean, the three little
pigs didn't want to get eaten up by the big bad
wolf. And the wise man, well, the foolish man
didn't want his house to wash away. Yeah. It
sounds so elementary, but I literally went to
those two stories when we were reading that.
I was like, we get taught this in such a simple
way, but yet it's such thick doctrine. Yeah,
well, you know again when we're talking about
change doesn't mean perfection, you know, that's
not the that's not the expectation here Jesus
doesn't expect us to achieve on our own Through
any amount of discipline or self mastery or any
of those things. Those are important They're
definitely important and they'd help us align
with him. There's no doubt But unless we see
him in all of that it can be for naught, right?
In fact, it is for naught. Well, and I think
you know when we go through changes and and you
always hear the comfort zone I hate quoting that
now because I'm really uncomfortable but there's
no growing in the comfort zone or comfort in
the growing zone it doesn't mean just because
we're going through change doesn't mean perfection,
it means direction. And right now, where's my
focus? I know there was an analogy where it doesn't
matter if you're at the top of the rung or the
bottom of the stairwell, it's most important
where you're facing. Are you facing him? If you're
at the top of the rung and you're looking down
or your back is towards him, it really is. And
I think that's something I should ask myself
every day. Where's my focus? Who am I focusing
on? What am I focusing on? So interesting. I
love that. Yeah, it's just, again, where's my
focus? Here's another problem with sin. I don't
know if any of us want to stay in our sin. I
think it's sometimes an opportunity to be, I
hesitate to use the word lazy, but. Well, complacent.
Complacent, stagnation, stagnant, right? Not
making progress. And some of us have a favorite
sin. I mean, let's just, it's like. Poor sins,
even, right? Well, and the justification of,
well, at least it's not that bad. and I compare,
and that is where I get stagnant. That's where
I get stuck. And there's what we call, what I
call an OODA loop involved with that. OODA loop,
I like that word. OODA loop, yeah, where I just
keep looping. Yeah. Right, where I just keep
looping. You know, if I'm just, you know, one
of the most misunderstood effects of sin, that
it doesn't just affect what we do, it limits
to what we can see. Oh, for sure. Or how we can
actually see it. Our perception. Right, so if
I'm stuck in sin, then I'm probably not going
to have the sharpest perception around what it
means to get out of sin or even to stay in sin
than I could otherwise because I'm absolutely
clouded by the mist of darkness that's talked
about in the Tree of Life story of the Book of
Mormon. So it's important for us to understand
that it doesn't just affect what we do, it limits
what we can see and how we see ourselves and
how we can see things. There's a couple of scriptures
that can kind of align with, you know, that idea
that, you know, sin narrows our spiritual vision,
justification can feel reasonable, stagnation
feels like it's wise, you know, or whatever,
just not making progress and stagnation can...
Absolutely, if we see things wrong and we don't
view them through the purview of the gospel of
Jesus Christ, that that can, and we can feel
justified in staying stuck in our sin because
it's not up to me anyway, it's up to him. It's
through him that I'm saved. No effort of mine
except for my alignment with him. And we can
really get tripped up. I think that sometimes
some people - I need to have the effort to align
with him. Yeah, exactly. Through a little bit
of, just get just a little bit. mixed up on that,
and our perception, because we are innocent,
can feel like it's 100 % right. And there's a
scripture here in Mosiah. This is in Mosiah chapter
two. And I wanna read verses, start in verse
36. And now I say unto you, my brethren, that
after we have known and have been taught all
these things, If you should transgress and go
contrary to that which has been spoken, that
ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of
the Lord, that it may have no place in you to
guide you in wisdom's paths, that ye may be blessed,
prospered, and preserved, I say unto you, that
the man that doeth this, the same cometh out
in open rebellion against God. Therefore, he
listeth to obey the evil spirit and become an
enemy. to all righteousness. Therefore, the Lord
has no place in him, for he dwelleth not in unholy
places. For he dwelleth not in unholy temples.
Therefore, verse 38, if that man repenteth not.
and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the
demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal
soul to a lively sense of his own guilt which
doth cause him to shrink from the presence of
the Lord and doth fill his breast with guilt
and pain and anguish which is like the unquenchable
fire whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever.
And now I say unto you, verse 39, and now as
I say unto you, that mercy hath no claim on that
man. Therefore, his final doom is to endure a
never -ending torment. Yeah, let me skip down
to verse 41 as well, Deb. And moreover, I would
desire that you should consider on the blessed
and happy state of those that keep the commandments
of God, for behold, they are blessed in all things,
both temporal, and spiritual, and if they hold
out faithful to the end, they are received unto
heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God
in a state of never -ending happiness. Oh, remember,
remember that these things are true, for the
Lord God has spoken it. There's the hope of that.
Yeah, and the message there isn't, It's okay
to stay stuck in our sins. It's okay that we
are affected by the effects of the fall of Adam
and Eve, but it's not okay that we stay stuck.
It's not okay that we stay broken. It's not okay
that we invite and stay in sin in our lives,
because why? Because he's gonna pay for them
anyway. In fact, he has. And someday I'll just
be able to go ahead and align with him. That's
false doctrine. And that's just not the message
of the hope of Jesus Christ. And I think it's
important for us to continue on that hopeful,
I mean, as we yield and surrender to that, it's
not self -hatred. Yeah, right, right, right.
When we're yielding, yielding is trust. Yielding
is... to give up, it restores clarity. It's like,
you know, when you get too far gone, which I
have experienced. Well, so stop, there's no such
thing as too far gone. Well, in my perception.
When you feel, in the moment where you feel too
far gone. It's like, I go to this place of, I
can't anymore. There's something bigger than
me. And I think that's the yielding that we need
to, you know, turn to for that transformation
to take place. It's like, okay, clearly my best
thinking got me here. And I need to make sure
that I'm aligning with his will. There is a scripture,
we were in scriptures a lot today, which I love.
Romans 12 verse 2 it says and be not conformed
to this world this really kind of resonated with
me as as we were talking about this but be transformed
I'm gonna say that again, because it was impactful
to me. And be not conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind that
ye may prove what is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God. To turn my will and
my life over to him. Because in my prayer and
my scripture study this week, I have had an overwhelming
feeling, a reminder. And this is God helping
me saying, you are not a woman of this world,
you are a woman of God. And I've heard it over
and over and so as I read this, be not conformed
to this world, but be transformed, but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind to the
will of God. That's where I want to be transformed
is through the will of God, not of this world.
This world is messy, it's sticky, it's scary.
And I think if we can remember to yield to those,
you know, those enticings of the spirit, he can
save us from this crazy place, this belief system
and these things that are going on and points
us away from ourselves and points us towards
Jesus Christ. I know that when I think about
change, and that's really what repentance is,
right? Just change, and when I think about change,
I know that our instinct, and at least my instinct,
is often to turn to myself, to turn inward. I
become self -indicating, I become over -critical,
I really bear down on my tendencies for... perfectionism
and scrupulosity and all those things that come
for various reasons. But when I do, I'm really
putting more effort, more shame, more self monitoring.
That's still the natural man. All of that's still
the natural man, like we just talked about in
Mosiah chapter three. That's all still the natural
man. It's just dressed up differently. It's dressed
up in scrupulosity. Right? Or piety, or bigotry,
or whatever. It's just different. And those things
can trick us. Those things, those are tools of
Satan. Those are tools of the adversary to move
us away from that relationship that we're so
seeking with our heavenly father through his
son Jesus Christ. I think about this, and I know
that we've used this quote many times, and we'll
probably continue to use this quote many times.
It's one of my favorites. Adam Miller is a person
who I really look up to, a philosopher. He teaches,
I'm not sure what, university in Texas, but he's
written a lot of books on grace, a member of
the church, and just an amazing, amazing man.
But this is what he said. He said, keeping the
law doesn't earn you heavenly merits, and breaking
the law doesn't earn you hellish demerits. And
I think it's important that we know that, but
then he goes on, he says, merits and demerits
keep the focus on you. So we're talking about
how sin can keep our perception messed up. You
just talked about read to us in in Romans how
that through him even our perceptions changed
and then he goes on the purpose of the laws to
point you away from yourself and to center you
on Christ You don't need to generate merit to
be saved You need to come unto Christ and rely
wholly on the merits of him who is mighty to
save Keeping the laws work of relying on Christ's
merit not generating your own Still work, but
it's work of relying on Christ's merit, not generating
our own. And one could maybe say, well there
it is Scott, you're saying I don't have to generate
my own merit, I can stay in my sin, that's not
what this is saying at all. Through Christ's
merit we are invited to be saved from our sins,
not in our sins, we've read about that. Through
Christ's merits we have been invited to put off
the natural man. and put on the atonement of
Jesus Christ, to put off the natural man, and
the natural man's an enemy of God. If the natural
man's an enemy of God, there will be no spirit
in our life. We're in the natural man process
or the natural man posture. There will be limited
spirit in our life to give us the direction and
the perception that we need to see the atonement
of Jesus Christ and all that it is accurately.
And when you read that, I thought, that doesn't
mean the law doesn't matter. It means that the
law doesn't save you. Jesus Christ does. That's
a good point, babe. It reminds me of, in 2 Nephi,
chapter 31, let's go to 19. and now my beloved
brethren after ye have gotten into this straight
and narrow path i would ask if all is done behold
i say unto you nay for ye have not come thus
far Save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken
faith in him relying wholly upon the merits of
him who is mighty to save and I'm gonna read
20 wherefore ye must press forward with a steadfastness
in Christ having a perfect brightness of hope
and a love of God and all of all men feasting
upon the word of Christ and endure to the end
behold thus saith the Ye shall have eternal life.
There it is. Yeah. Just like you said. Mic drop.
Mic drop. Just like you said, that doesn't mean
the law doesn't matter. It means the law doesn't
save you, that Jesus does, right? Yeah. Jesus
Christ is literally like... Relying on the merits
of him who is holy, on the merits of him who
is mighty to save. The straight and narrow path.
And that straight and narrow... That path requires
effort on our part, there's no question, but
our effort will never be sufficient. And again,
without getting down this rabbit hole, and I
don't consider it a rabbit hole, it's the most
important stuff that we talk about, but there
are three main blessings that come through Christ's
atonement. One of those is the strengthening
or enabling blessings through his atonement that
are available to us, which allow our perceptions
to change, which give us the strength to overcome,
and sometimes we need priesthood authority. the
keys turned in our behalf to allow that to happen,
but Jesus doesn't leave us in our sins. He tells
us, I don't condemn thee, but go and sin no more.
And align with me, be with me, so. You know,
I think it's just important that we understand
that there can be transformation without condemnation,
that that's actually how our repentance and how
that part of our coming to Him can be. And I
think it's important that maybe, Deb, as we just
kind of wrap up, that we extend a couple of invitations.
And I think one of those would be, maybe you
and I are both kind of... keen on these personal
inventories or just doing a little self -check
once in a while? I have to. What step is that?
Step 10. Yep, step 10. And, you know, maybe just
if we were to consider and put some thought into,
where might mercy have quietly turned into permission
in my life today? Where might I have become a
little lackadaisical in my willingness to live
with his exactness and to align through my obedience
with him? And knowing that I'm going to fall,
knowing that I'm going to even fail in that regard,
and also knowing that because of my effort, it's
through him that I will also be saved. the reflection
of what might the spirit be inviting you to yield
to? Not to fix, not to justify, but just to yield.
Slow down, give it up. I've shared before I like
to get in the driver's seat and I like control.
And right now I do not have control and I get
to practice yielding. So what might the spirit
be inviting you to yield to this week? That's
a good one, and I think that that's one that
I'm gonna spend some time with today. Because
there's just times in my life, I'm affected by
the fall of Adam and Eve, and there's times in
my life, there are times in my life when I need
to do another self -assessment, and just take
a look and really realize, what's his spirit
inviting me to yield to right now? Good thing
he's patient. Jesus is so patient. His patience
is infinite. Well, his patience is infinite.
His purpose is transformation. He loves us exactly
where we are. And far too much to leave us that
way. That's the point. He meets us in our mess,
but he wants to lead us out of our mess too.
Because he knows what's there for us. He knows
our hope. He knows the end. He knows the joy
and happiness that we can all feel. And as we
align with him, I trust and today I have faith
that there are better things on the horizon.
That there is hope through him who died and bled
for me and was resurrected on that third day.
so that we can be redeemed and made whole through
him. And I am so grateful today, I know that.
And I testify of that. Thanks, Deb. I too know
that. And I also know that he does love us too
much to leave us where we are. I know it's uncomfortable
sometimes to make change. I know it's uncomfortable
to rise above the fallen world. I know it's difficult
and I know in some cases, it even sometimes feels
impossible. And I know there are varying degrees.
This is not an episode today to condemn or put
pressure or... But it is one to enlighten and
to bring light on the fact that, yeah, he loves
us, and yeah, he'll meet us in our mess, and
he loves us enough that when it's possible, and
when it's in the will of our Heavenly Father,
that we are relieved from that, that it's through
our effort. We do need to have some effort there,
and because of the enabling and compensatory
and redeeming. blessings of Christ's atonement,
all things are possible, including this. Thanks
for being with us, everybody. We look forward
to being with you again next week, and until
then, be well.