Hi there everybody and welcome to Redeemed Through His Blood.
In this podcast we discuss hope, healing and redemption through the atonement of Jesus
Christ.
My name is Scott Durfee.
I want to be the first to welcome you out today and also introduce you to my partner
in this project, our teacher, brother David Durfee.
Thank you Scott.
Good to be here and talk about these things this morning.
It's good to be back together and bringing out another episode this week.
We have had a lot of fun in doing the last few episodes, actually all of the last episodes.
We're looking forward to this one as well.
Before we get into it though, let's take care of just a couple of real quick things.
We'll be super brief on this, but for those of you who have been using our email address,
he redeems us at gmail.com.
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While you're there, if you wouldn't mind subscribing and leaving a review if you feel so inclined,
we appreciate that too.
So just real quick in recapping where we have been over the last little while, the last
two weeks actually, we took the time to talk about some of the unconditional effects of
the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Two episodes ago David was able to share with us a couple of really great experiences.
A guy by the name of, we used the name David who spent some time at the Utah State, well
he's actually probably still at the Utah State.
Yeah, unfortunately he'll die there.
That's right.
He can never go before the parole board.
Yeah, you mentioned that.
That's right.
I remember now.
But you know we talked about that.
We talked about David's son Isaac, my cousin, who has a second cousin, my daughter, who
was also adopted at about the same time but didn't nearly face any of the challenges that
little Isaac has been facing throughout his life.
Little Isaac, I probably shouldn't say that.
He's not little Isaac.
He is actually a little.
He is actually a little, but he's now 31 years old.
Yeah, that's right.
So as we take care of that and as we have actually done that, we're super excited today
to move into more of the atonement of Jesus Christ.
And this is where we really start getting into the application part over the next several
episodes of this.
And so with that, I'm going to let David take it for a few minutes here and kind of do
some recap and let us know where we intend to go from here.
So take it away, Dave.
I think it's exciting, Scott, also that we're at that point, I think, in our podcast as
we begin to move from the we've talked about the events of the atonement, then we've talked
about the effects of the atonement.
And now we will begin to speak about and discuss how we can access the power of Jesus Christ
through his atonement.
I think that's the right way to say it.
I know President Nelson has told us over and over again that there's no power in the atonement.
The atonement is not a singular thing.
It's not not a entity that stands on its own.
The power, all of the power through the atonement comes to us through Christ, his mercy, his
grace, the redeeming power, the enabling power, the compensating powers of the atonement of
Jesus Christ come through Christ.
So how can we access the power of Christ through his atonement?
And that's, I think, where we'll begin to go next.
And it will be fun to have people that we interview who have experienced that process
of being able to access the powers of Christ through his atonement in their life, how they've
been able to experience the powers of Christ's redeeming blood.
I'm looking forward to some of those interviews of people that we know personally and others.
But I think just to summarize a little bit, Scott, before we move forward, it just strikes
me that the one thing that I think we've tried to say in the last few podcasts is that Jesus
gets us.
He understands us.
And he's got us.
He has redeemed us.
He has paid.
He has paved the way through his merits, through his sacrifice, through his suffering.
He not only covers unconditionally the pains and sicknesses of all the world, but he unconditionally
covers all of the injustice, all of the inequities and inequalities and the unfairness of life.
All of that is covered unconditionally.
And I know, Scott, that if people will be more aware of it, and if they will make any
minimal effort they can through prayer, through exercising faith and increasing their faith
in Jesus Christ, they will feel those powers flow into their life.
The powers are there unconditionally.
But I don't think everybody feels those powers.
I don't think everybody just naturally feels it.
Even though they're there, even though Christ has covered them, even though he's suffered
for them, even though he understands them, even though he's got us, he's got us and he's
covered us, I think in order to feel that, there are things that people need to do to
experience that love and power in their life.
And one thing I think, Dave, that we need to also be cognizant of, right, because it's
a reality, there is opposition.
There's opposition to our, there's attempted opposition from the adversary to thwart our
efforts to put the atonement on.
And that can come, that can look like a whole lot of different things.
That can look like distraction, that can look like apathy, that can look like all kinds
of different things.
And so, you know, we need to also remember that, that, you know, just because it's not
in the forefront of our mind all the time doesn't mean that it's not important.
And we need to be working so that it is.
Because you know, I think that all of us want to have the peace from the atonement of Jesus
Christ.
All of us want to reap the benefits.
Well, and a lot of it is unconditional.
We talked about that over the last couple of episodes.
And some of what we'll be talking about today even still will fall under that unconditional
part of it.
But there is a part that does require our effort.
And this is where our effort now starts to come into play.
Yeah, well, even those who have suffered at the hands of perpetrators or others, Satan
can make them feel so much shame and put this layer, shame or anger or, you know, there
are just so many emotions that come into play when one is abused, that these negative emotions,
whatever they are, can put a total wall between themselves and between the power of Christ
and the love of Christ, even though it's there for them, even though it's there waiting for
them unconditionally.
Satan tries to put up all of these walls.
And I think last time I think I mentioned to you after we'd finished the podcast about
Elder Patrick Karens great talk he gave in April 2022 general conference.
And maybe I can just read a few paragraphs here.
Perhaps some of you, however, consider the accounts of survivors and your soul cries
out that you are living a survival story right now as a victim of abuse, neglect, bullying,
domestic violence, or any suffering of this kind.
You are in the midst of your own desperate attempt to survive a situation that feels
very much like a disastrous shipwreck or a promising mission suddenly aborted.
Will you ever be rescued?
Will you make it through your own survival story?
The answer is yes, you can survive.
You have in fact already been rescued.
You have already in fact already been saved by the one who has suffered the very torment
you are suffering and endured the very agony you are enduring.
Jesus has overcome the abuses of this world, all the abuses of this world to give you power
to not only survive, but one day through him to overcome and even conquer, to completely
rise above the pain, the misery, the anguish, and see them replaced by personal peace.
The Apostle Paul asks, who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
While tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword,
nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Quoting Paul in Romans chapter 8.
And that's all true.
However, even though tribulation can't separate us from the love of God, even though abuse
shouldn't separate us from the love of God, Satan often comes in in the wake of all of
abuse, tribulation, distress, persecution, hardships, loss, and Satan will come in and
cause us to feel shame and to feel all the negative emotions that he can heap upon us,
which create a real barrier for us to feel that love of Christ or that love of God.
And so there are things that we need to do, and we'll begin to talk about them now, in
order to really feel the love of Christ and to feel his power through his atonement.
So also as part of this talk by Elder Kieran, he quotes President Nelson.
He says that President Nelson issued the following invitation in general conference.
He said, as you study the scriptures, I encourage you to make a list of all that the Lord has
promised he will do for covenant Israel, and I think he will be astonished.
And then he goes on to say Elder Kieran and his family said that these are some of the
phrases or words that came through.
And as I read these, I want us to be thinking which ones of these may be stumbling blocks
or getting in our way of really accessing the atonement of Jesus Christ because of our
own self-loathing, because of our inaccurate perception of ourself, because we don't really
know who we are yet or still trying to figure that out.
But here are some of the phrases.
Fear not.
I know your sorrows and I have come to deliver you.
I will not leave you.
My name is upon you and my angels have charge over you.
I will do wonders among you.
I love this one.
Walk with me, learn of me, and I will give you rest.
I am in your midst.
You are mine.
And so these are just a few of those phrases that Elder Kieran was able to find and I think
that there would probably be more if we were to do our own personal search and they would
become certainly personal to us if we were to make that search a part of our scripture
study, a part of our devotion to come unto him daily.
But remember that as we do this, he said, I encourage you to make a list of all that
the Lord has promised he will do for covenant Israel.
I think you will be astonished.
All of this is accomplished through the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Right.
Yeah, absolutely.
And so Elder Kieran talks about that personal peace through Christ and his atonement that
we can experience and President Nelson has talked about this as well, including President
Nelson has talked about joy and how we can fill joy in any circumstance.
And just a short little paragraph here or to this quoting President Nelson, life is
filled with detours and dead ends, trials and challenges of every kind.
Each of us has likely had times when distress, anguish and despair almost consumed us.
Yet we are here to have joy.
He asks.
Yes, exclamation mark.
The answer is a resounding yes.
But how is that possible?
And what must we do to claim the joy that Heavenly Father has in store for us?
The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything
to do with the focus of our lives.
In the focus of our lives is on God's plan of redemption and Jesus Christ and his gospel.
We can feel joy regardless of what is happening or not happening in our lives.
Joy comes from and is possible because of him.
He Jesus Christ is the source of all joy.
I love that.
And the prophet of God testifying and teaching us how that we can feel joy.
Man is Adam failed that men might be.
Man is that he might have joy.
That's our purpose here.
But there are so many people who have had abuse and trials heaped upon them that have
a hard time, Scott, finding that joy and that personal peace.
And what we need to begin to talk about is so how can we begin to focus?
How can we change our focus?
And instead of focusing on the perpetrator or instead of focusing upon the trials or
instead of focusing upon the sicknesses and sufferings of our people or ourselves, I have
found in my personal life, it's a lot harder to watch your children suffer than it is for
you or me to suffer.
And so how do we instead of focusing on that, change that focus?
And I think it's by small and simple things.
But how can we change that focus to Christ and look unto him in every thought?
Doubt not, fear not.
We've quoted this before and we'll quote it again, Doctrine and Covenants, Section 6.
And he says, behold the wounds that pierce my side and the prints of the nails in my
hands and feet.
How do we focus more daily or moment by moment upon the suffering of Christ instead of our
own suffering?
How do we look outward to help others and to serve others instead of being so consumed
by our own trials and troubles?
So the focus is a really significant word and the word that goes, I think, along with
that really well, which is connected to that, Scott, is faith.
And faith is the beginning of what we call the doctrine of Christ.
And ultimately, now as we move from the events and the effects of the Atonement and we start
talking about how to access the power of Christ through the Atonement, we need to talk about
the doctrine of Christ, which is faith, which includes focus, which then repentance.
And we'll do a couple of podcasts on repentance and forgiveness.
And then ordinances, baptism and the sacrament and temple ordinances.
And then receiving the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end.
Those five points together make up what we call the doctrine of Christ.
And that is the key, understanding and utilizing, participating in and activating the power
of Christ in our lives is by living the doctrine of Christ.
You know, we talk about faith and that is the first principle that we're going to be
talking about here as part of the doctrine of Christ.
And there's a reason it's the first one, because that really does change our focus.
In order for us to really access the faith that we need.
And here's something that I've learned throughout my years in recovery through the various recovery
programs, et cetera.
But it's also something that's taught in scripture and it's taught, it's just something that
just makes sense and is important for us to know.
But fear and faith really can't exist in the same spot.
A person who has faith will not have fear.
A person who has fear struggles to have faith.
And so a lot of times, and I think most of us feel fear when it comes to approaching
Christ through the atonement because of a lot of things.
And there's, you know, as going back just real quick, Elder Kieran in his talk, there's
a lot of things that we may feel.
You know, we may feel shame and guilt and things that are our fault and things maybe
that weren't our fault that can affect our ability to focus, which can affect our ability
to access faith.
And some of those things can be, and not just limited to this, but, you know, these are
some of the things that we can sometimes say to ourselves.
I could have prevented this.
God doesn't love me anymore.
Nobody will ever love me.
I'm damaged beyond repair.
The Savior's atonement applies to others, but not to me.
And this is one, you know, I think when I first came on October 28th, 1998, when I first
entered the rooms of recovery, I haven't drank or anything since that day, but by the grace
of God.
But since that day, I have learned that we really do need to put Christ first because
His atonement applies to us as well as others.
You know, in recovery rooms, we say all the time that I knew God could and would if He
were sought.
That's part of one of the things that we say as we begin meetings, etc., that God could
and would if He were sought.
That's one of the principles that we learn through the steps.
Well, I always believed that God could and would if He were sought, but I just didn't
know if He could and would for me.
I knew He could and would for you.
I knew He could and would for other people, but I felt like I had, I grew up in the church.
I had a testimony.
I knew the things that I should have been doing, and I made contrary decisions to all.
I made decisions contrary to my integrity, just like we had talked about two podcasts
ago.
And when I had done that, I wondered, am I damaged beyond repair?
Can anybody ever really love me again?
Does God really love me to the depth that I would hope to be loved?
And of course, you know, those whisperings that come to create that doubt in a mind are
certainly not of God.
They are of the adversary, and they come.
So as we approach focus and faith, let's just remember this.
Let's remember that as we focus on Him, not on the problem, not on what we have done,
but if we can focus on what He has done, if we can focus on His feelings for us, not our
feelings for ourselves, but His feelings for us, I think that we can then begin to move
into faith because of our focus, which will give us great impetus into really putting
on the rest of the atonement of Jesus Christ through repentance and ordinances and enduring
to the end and all of those other things, Dave.
Thank you, Scott, for sharing that.
And faith and focus go together.
It requires a willing heart and a firm mind to create the level of faith that is required
for one to feel the redeeming power of Jesus Christ in their life.
And I think that when we speak of faith, that we can never speak of it in terms of just
black and white, or you either have it or you don't.
You can't speak of faith like that.
It's not that simple.
And it comes in—there are many levels.
In fact, as many individuals as there are in this world, they're all probably a different
individual level of faith in whatever they believe.
I know that there is a weak faith, which can be powerful, but that you can reach a level
of faith where you can access the power of Christ daily in your life and where you can
experience miracles in your life.
Faith is a principle of action and a principle of power.
We learn in the lectures on faith in the School of the Prophets from Kirtland, Ohio.
I love—if our listeners haven't read the lectures on faith, those seven lectures, I
would encourage them to do so.
I think they can get it on the Deseret bookshelf.
Anyway—
It's very short, too.
It's something that, even though it's short, it does require a lot of study, but it definitely
shouldn't be intimidating.
You should definitely—
The lectures on faith used to be, really, until early in the 20th century, they were
part of the Doctrine and Covenants, and they were eventually taken out of the Doctrine
and Covenants because the Prophet Joseph Smith never declared them to be a revelation.
There's some evidence that they were not written by the Prophet Joseph Smith, even though
he was president and approved of them.
But Sidney Rigdon and others would have helped to write those lectures.
It was a class.
It was a course on faith.
It was never considered to be a revelation, so they were taken out.
But I think there are many, many lessons that can be learned about not only what faith is,
but how it is a principle of power and how we can access that power.
And I think we should pause for just a moment and ask our listeners to ask themselves, what
is the level of your faith?
What is your focus?
How often do you focus on Jesus Christ and His atonement?
How often do you focus on redemption and the power of redemption in your life?
I just think everyone should pause and think about that for a moment.
Then we should also, the next question that should follow that is, how can I increase
it?
How can I, what can I do?
And I hope everybody with a prayer of faith will ponder this for a moment, and I believe
the Spirit will teach you what you need to do.
But what can I do daily to increase or change my focus?
What can I do daily to increase my faith in Jesus Christ?
The first principle of the Gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I think it's good, I don't think it's bad to talk about faith in the general, faith
in God, faith in the Gospel, faith in redemption.
You know, oftentimes we speak of faith in the general, and I think that's good.
I think that can be edifying.
But really, Scott, there is no faith that becomes powerful, the faith of power, unless
it is focused on Jesus Christ and His atonement.
That's when it becomes powerful.
That's when it becomes redeeming.
I think Alma gives us the clearest definition of faith in Alma chapter 32, verse 21, everybody
probably knows that definition of faith when he says that faith is, I'll just turn to it
real quick and read it.
Alma 32, 21, which reads, And now, as I said concerning faith, faith is not to have a perfect
knowledge of things.
Therefore, if ye have faith, ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.
I think it's important to, in all the scriptures, to consider the context of the scripture.
And let's remember here that Alma is speaking to a bunch of apostate Zoramites.
He's teaching those who have wanted to learn.
They've come to the hill of Oneida to be taught.
These are Zoramites, apostate Zoramites who have been rejected by the Zoramites.
And so they come to learn, and they're just, they're at the very beginning point of their
spiritual progression and conversion, and just beginning, or not even beginning, but
desiring to begin and understand what faith is.
So Alma gives them the general, most simple definition of what faith is.
And I think that we could say that this is maybe a really beginning point of faith and
definition of faith.
Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things.
Therefore, if ye have faith, ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.
Okay, so I hope for something that I don't see, but it's true.
That's the beginning point of faith.
But that's only the beginning point.
And it doesn't become a faith of power until it's focused on Christ and until we can develop
that power through revelation, through receiving the Word, through living a righteous life,
and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, which they've not yet received here in Alma
32.
So, as we start focusing on this faith, and Dave just mentioned it, it's extremely important
that we remember where should our faith be.
Our faith should be centered on Jesus Christ.
And if we go to Mosiah 3.17, again, it says, Moreover I say unto you, that there shall
be no other name given, nor any other way, nor means whereby salvation can come unto
the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.
So that's that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Omnipotent, that allows us to have
that salvation.
Salvation from what?
I mean, so when we talk about salvation, we think here, of course, we're thinking salvation
eternally, salvation from the fall, being able to have eternal life.
But also we can see salvation from, I get salvation on a daily basis, saved from myself
in the things that take me away from my Heavenly Father or that would push the Spirit away.
So it's remembering that there is no other name given, nor any other way, nor means whereby
salvation can come unto the children of men, only through the name of Christ, the Lord.
That's really important that we keep that in mind as we begin to explore faith and that
we focus it in Christ.
And actually, Scott, maybe in the next podcast even, we should talk about the difference
between faith in Christ and faith in the name of Christ.
It's so interesting to me over the years as I've studied this topic of faith, how the
prophets in the Scriptures, how often they focus on faith in the name of Christ.
And I have studied that now for years, and I believe that there's a difference.
And I believe there's a difference in the level of faith between faith in Christ and
faith in the name of Christ.
But back to Alma 32 for just a moment.
It seems that Alma, speaking to these Zoramites, that he says that there is a prerequisite
to receiving faith.
And in his own words, he calls it humility, that there must be humility.
And he commands the Zoramites for being compelled to be humble.
And he says, it's really great that you've been compelled to be humble, cast out of your
homes or whatever, because of their conditions.
And so I think that it's important that we realize that one of the prerequisites to faith
is humility.
And I think another prerequisite to faith is desire.
And as we have talked about in a few podcasts ago, gratitude, in my mind, Scott, gratitude
is always the beginning of desire.
So if you think about gratitude and humility, humility is the source of knowing that we
cannot save ourselves.
Humility is the beginning of understanding our dependence, how we are so reliant upon
Jesus Christ for redemption, that we can never, in all of our works, in all of our efforts,
in any degree of whatever we think we are or how good we think we can be, we will never
be enough, we will never be good enough to save ourselves.
Understanding that is the beginning of humility.
So humility and gratitude, and gratitude for what?
Gratitude for the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Gratitude and humility are the prerequisites for faith, the desire of faith, and the desire
to begin to grow and develop that faith.
And Alma goes on to describe it, this progress or development of faith, he compares it to
a seed, right?
He compares it to a seed.
And that if you plant this seed, so it's so interesting in Alma chapter 32 verse 28,
I'll just read this and I think probably most people already know this, but verse 28 says,
now we will compare the word unto a seed.
So keep in mind that the seed is not faith itself.
Faith will later be the seedling or what begins to grow, but the seed is the word.
And the word, Scott, is Christ.
It's Christ and His atoning sacrifice.
That's the word.
And he'll later describe that over in Alma chapter 33.
He'll say, this is the word.
Well, and in John, and in John, in the beginning was the word, right?
And that's Christ.
And that's Jesus Christ.
So we're going to plant the word of Christ or the word about Christ and His atonement
into our hearts.
And he goes on, and I'm quoting Alma again, Alma 32, 28.
Now if you give place that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed
or a good seed, if you do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the
spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to, number one, swell.
Remember that swell within your breasts.
And when you begin these swelling motions, you will begin to say within yourselves, it
must needs be that this is a good seed or that the word is good, for it beginneth to
enlarge, swell, enlarge my soul.
Yea, it beginneth to enlighten, swell, enlarge, enlighten my understanding.
Yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.
Swell, enlarge, enlighten, delicious, what did we just spell?
Seed.
Seed can be an acronym for swell, enlarge, enlighten, and delicious to me.
The seed or the word.
The word enlightens us, the word enlarges our souls.
And again, the word being Jesus Christ himself.
Right.
Paul taught that faith cometh, yea, he said in Romans, yea, it cometh by hearing the word
of God, the word.
This is the beginning of faith, is the word of Jesus Christ and him crucified and resurrected.
So that's how we begin to grow our faith.
That is the beginning of what should be our daily focus, is how can we begin to plant
that seed or the word in our hearts.
And as we do so, it will become delicious to us, it will begin to grow, we will feel
it grow, we will begin to feel it to swell and enlarge and enlighten us.
And our faith begins to grow from a level of just belief and hope to a level of knowledge
which he describes in Alma chapter 32, that your faith has become dormant because you
know these things.
That's a higher level of faith.
To a level of faith described in Jacob, this is the level that we should all be encouraged
to have.
And to this level of faith that Jacob describes in Jacob chapter 4, and he talks about Jesus
Christ and he says, behold, they believed in Christ and they worshiped the Father in
his name.
This is verse 5.
That's verse 5, but I want to skip to verse 6 which reads, wherefore we search the prophets
and we have many revelations.
Now just think about the process here.
We search the prophets and we have many revelations.
And the spirit of prophecy, and we learn in, of course, Revelation, John the Revelator,
John the Apostle teaches us that the spirit of prophecy is a testimony of Jesus.
So whenever we speak of prophecy, we need to focus on Jesus Christ, the Spirit.
So let me start over.
Wherefore we search the prophets and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy.
And having all these witnesses, we obtain a hope and our faith become unshaken in so
much that we truly command in the name of Jesus that and the very trees obey us or the
mountains or the waves of the sea.
Nevertheless, verse 7, the Lord God, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know
that it is by His grace and His great condescensions under the children of men that we have power
to do these things.
That is a level of faith that we should all seek to obtain.
The faith, the power.
And I think the essence of that faith, Scott, comes to us again by searching the prophets,
which includes the ancient prophets and the living prophets, the scriptures and conference
reports and what our prophets are telling us today and seeking to live and apply their
teachings and that we have many revelations that we are seeking the spirit and influence
of the Holy Ghost in our life, that we're having personal revelations as the prophets
have encouraged us to do.
And that we have the spirit of prophecy or the testimony of Jesus, which fills our hearts
and increases our souls.
As we do that, Scott, we reach this point where faith in Jesus Christ becomes a real
power, not just a power of redemption, but a power to command and a power to command
knowing that that's the will of God.
And if God Himself were here, that's what He would do.
We can never think of faith as doing something that we want.
Faith is ultimately to have our will swallowed up in the will of God.
And faith is to, as Elder Bednar asked in an amazing talk that he gave many years ago
when he asked the young man who was diagnosed and suffering with cancer and had a, I think
it was a 70% chance of not surviving cancer, and had requested a blessing from Elder Bednar.
And Elder Bednar felt impressed to ask him before he laid his hands on his head and exercised
the power of the priesthood.
Elder Bednar asked him, and he uses the anonymous name of John, he asked this young man, John,
do you have the faith to not be healed?
Sometimes the power of faith is to accept the will of God, whatever that will or outcome
may be, and not seeking our own outcomes.
When we reach that point in our minds and hearts where we're willing to accept the will
of God, no matter what that is, and we know the will of God, the power of faith is to
know the will of God by revelation, and then do everything that we can to activate that
will and to carry out his will.
And I think sometimes, Dave, that's where we get challenged to a deeper degree, right?
I mean, because there are things in each of our lives, perhaps, and certainly to a greater
degree and some than others that we would really like to have healed, that we would
really like to have changed in our lives, that for whatever reason our Heavenly Father
sees fit to let us learn what we need to learn, experience what we need to learn, have our
weaknesses exposed to us, whatever the case may be.
I think that sometimes, often, actually, I think that this can be the case.
And I hadn't heard, I don't remember that story about do you have faith to not be healed?
But that's a question I think that's probably really well-served if we all ask ourselves
that question, and whatever part of our life it is, because we all have it, but whatever
part of our life it is that we would like that healing, that we would like to exercise
that faith to healing.
Do we have the faith not to be healed?
And do we really, through a broken heart and a contrite spirit, really aligning our will
with our Heavenly Father's, seek to look for the sweetheart message even sometimes in the
things in our lives that are not really that comfortable that maybe he's allowing us or
asking us sometimes even to walk through or go through.
Yeah, right.
You can't believe how many times my sweetheart and I have prayed for a miracle in faith to
bless our son Isaac to overcome the adversities of fetal alcoholism, child abuse, bipolar,
and autism, Asperger's in his life.
We have prayed that God would fix his mind and change his mind and help his mind to be
developed and we prayed for a miracle and we have expressed to God, we know you can
do this.
We know that Thou can't change him, that Thou can't, what we're really saying, I guess,
is rewire him.
We haven't received that miracle.
We haven't seen any signs of that miracle.
And yet, you know, Scott, again, it's because of my sweet son Isaac that I have learned
some of the most powerful lessons and it's given me, it's blessed me with so many great
blessings in my life, the blessings of empathy, the blessings of understanding, and the most
important blessing is because of him, I have really come to a deeper understanding and
gratitude for the atonement of Jesus Christ and I don't think I shared this part of the
story but the, and I may have, but the night that he was arrested, three times in the middle
of the night as I was laying in bed, I heard this voice, I have taken him unto myself.
I have taken him unto myself.
And I knew that the Lord had him.
Again, I just think it's, I began today by saying this but I just think it's so important
that we understand the Savior not only gets us, but He's got us.
But He's got us.
You know what I think, Dave, you know, we pray for those miracles and we all do.
We pray for those miracles in your situation, you know, for Isaac to be healed, rewired,
whatever the case may be.
But because that, just because that miracle doesn't take place doesn't mean there is not
other miracles involved.
Because what you just described is miraculous.
There is nothing short of miraculous from what you just described about how you have
been able to reconcile, how you heard in your mind a voice tell you, I have taken him unto
myself.
And it's a miracle because from that message, when things, and I know they can, when things
get difficult to handle, when things get discouraging, when progress seems slow to come, to look
back and to have that remembrance, I have taken him unto myself and to have faith and
know that our Heavenly Father knows the beginning from the end, loves Isaac and all of us perfectly,
and intends to reclaim all of us through the redemption of Jesus Christ, that that in and
of itself may be even a greater miracle than the healing itself, David.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Scott.
I just read this morning again these precious words in Doctrine and Covenants, section 88,
he, meaning Jesus Christ, the firstborn of God, our Savior, he that ascended up on high
has also, has also he descended below all things, in that he comprehendeth all things,
that he might be in all and through all things the light of truth.
And then later in that same section, I read this this morning, I just love this, in verse
41, he comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about
him, and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is
round about all things, and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and
ever.
That is not just a comforting scripture, but it increases my faith.
I know that's, I know that's true, and the thought I had that night when Isaac was arrested
was, you know, the general thought was, you've done a fine job, you've done a fine job trying
to raise him.
Now I've got him, I have taken him unto myself, everything's going to be fine, it's going
to work out.
I just felt this total peace about it, and continue to, and thankful for that miracle.
It wasn't the miracle that I asked for, that my sweetheart asked for, but the miracle that
as bad as things may be here, or as much injustice or inequities or terrible things that can
happen to us here, the great miracle, Scott, is to remember that Christ comprehends all
of that, that he descended below all of that, that he gets us, and that he's got us, and
that really, if we'll allow him to, he'll take all of us unto himself, based on his
merits, not our own, based on his sacrifice, and that as we increase our faith in that,
we can experience by revelation that knowledge, and that makes all the difference in providing
us the personal peace and the individual joy that we are commanded, really, to feel in
this life.
I was listening to a talk again by Elder Nilly Maxwell just the other night called The Inexhaustible
Gospel, and in it he talks about, he quotes the Prophet Joseph Smith, where the prophet
said, the past, present, and future are and were with Jehovah one eternal now.
And so, you know, he's there, he knows it, you know, and we heard Elder Kieran, if you'll
listen to that, but he talks about, we made reference to that talk earlier, but he talks
about how Jesus, and we've made reference to this throughout all of the podcasts, how
Jesus suffered and dealt with every single thing that we suffer and deal with.
Elder Maxwell makes an important observation, because this is great, it's great to know
that the past, present, and future are and were with Jehovah one eternal now, which gives
him great empathy, which helps him succor us, which all of the other things we talked about.
But then, Elder Maxwell makes the observation, and I think this is quite important, he says,
even so, how different the God's now is from ours.
And so, you know, it's important for us that as we move with faith and we move with focus
to start getting this in our lives, even so, how different the Lord's now is from ours
can change, right?
We can through study, through focus, through prayer, through fasting, through all of the
things that we're going to begin to start implementing as we start putting on the effects
of the atonement of Jesus Christ.
We can change the way our now looks, too, to be more aligned with his now as that faith
increases.
And as I think, Dave, we do that, we have more hope.
I think we have a, and more hope, not just more hope, but we have more momentum building,
we have more impetus in the direction of increasing our faith even still.
Yeah, well, I think it's really critical to grow our faith to a level of power.
We have to come to an understanding to some degree of God's power, that God is all-powerful
and that we have faith in that.
And I love you referencing Elder Maxwell.
He used to always say that he would read the Scripture in Moses and other Scriptures.
It's in Doctrine and Covenants, Section 38 as well, in Moses 1, Verse 6.
And then he would say, you know, there is no past or future to God.
Just comprehend that.
Yeah.
I mean, that's incomprehensible for me.
That's right, me too.
Try to comprehend that because I think it's impossible.
God lives in an eternal now.
He sees all things at once from beginning to end.
There is no past.
There is no future to God.
He sees us all at once.
I just think to have the faith of power, we have to know the power of God.
We have to know that he is not only omnipotent, all-powerful, but he's omniscient, all-knowing,
and that he is even omnipresent.
Those three characteristics are critical for us to understand, begin to understand who
God is, who Jesus Christ is, and to be able to exercise faith in them.
So maybe I can just begin to conclude here, Scott, and then turn it back over to you,
is that the doctrine of Christ is the critical piece to help us to know, begin to know how
to access the power of Christ through his atonement.
The doctrine of Christ focuses on the how can we get the power of Christ in our life.
It's so interesting that in the Scriptures there is only one doctrine.
In fact, every time the word doctrines, plural, is used, it's negative.
The doctrines of men, the doctrines of devils.
There's only really, I'm just talking in the standard works, it refers to one doctrine,
which is the doctrine of Christ.
And the doctrine of Christ is how can we apply the atonement of Jesus Christ and get the
power of Christ in our lives.
And faith is the beginning of that.
Faith with its prerequisites of humility, gratitude, desire.
Then we can begin to plant, really focus, this takes great focus, effort.
We can begin to plant the seed or the word of Christ into our hearts.
And as we do so, we'll begin to feel it swell, enlarge, enlighten, and it will become delicious
to us.
As we do that, our desires begin to grow, our gratitude even increases, our humility
becomes even deeper.
And then we want to repent.
We want to repent.
We want to strengthen our relationship with Jesus Christ.
We want to be able to receive the redemptive power of Christ in our lives.
That leads us to the principle or the doctrine of repentance, which is part of the larger
doctrine of Christ.
So maybe next time we can talk a little bit more about faith, answer any questions our
listeners may have about how to increase their faith, or I hope some of them will share how
they've been able to increase their faith and insights that they have about how to obtain
the faith of power in their lives to do the will of God.
It'd be fantastic if some of them would share that with us.
And then we'll begin to move into repentance, and then the ordinances and the Holy Ghost
and enduring to the end.
It's really important that we don't try to jump over any of these concepts or principles.
We shouldn't just immediately jump to ordinances.
We shouldn't just immediately jump to enduring to the end.
These principles are laid out in order for a very important reason.
And they're like a cycle.
We'll talk more about this.
But they're like a cycle.
As your faith increases, you want to repent.
And as you repent, you want to participate in ordinances.
And then as you participate in ordinances, you receive the Holy Ghost.
And as you receive the Holy Ghost, it helps you endure the end.
And then your faith increases.
And then you want to repent more.
And then it's like a helix or a cycle.
And that's what I think that I wanted to point out is that let's start with faith.
And if faith is something that we sometimes struggle with, let's go back to the principles
that we talked about here.
Let's see it as a seed.
Let's give it a place to grow within our hearts.
Let's ask our Heavenly Father to help that to grow.
And let's go back to some of our early podcast episodes when we talk about getting to know
Him.
As I learn more about Him, I have a deeper desire to have my faith increase.
And as that faith increases, I even have a deeper desire.
And so that also becomes part of that helix.
And there are several helixes within that overall overarching helix that you talked
about or that cycle that you talked about.
And as we do that, as we exercise that desire, as we plant that seed of faith in our hearts
to allow the Holy Spirit to help it grow, I think that it's been my experience.
And I actually testify that this will be all of our experience if we do it with a heart
and with a mind and with an eye single to the glory of God and with real intent and
all of that stuff.
I testify that our faith will increase as we come to know Him more.
Our love for Him certainly deepens.
And as our love deepens, we want to become more like Him.
And all of these things work kind of synergistically to help us come more fully unto Him.
It's been a great podcast to be here again with you.
Today, we hope and pray earnestly.
Each night as my sweetheart and I kneel beside our bed and offer up our prayers each night,
we pray for our listeners of this podcast for whatever it is that you may be seeking.
Our prayers are conjoined with yours in that behalf.
May our Heavenly Father's healing and hope through the atonement of Jesus Christ our
Savior be alive and well in all of our lives this week and forever as we strive to become
closer to Him and align our wills more completely with Him.
That's our deepest desire.
May that come to pass this weekend.
Always for each of us is our prayer.
And always for each of us is our prayer.