Deep Obedience - Exact Obedience brings Miracles and Gospel Blessings

Elder Nelson said a mission is an exercise in obedience training. “Obedience brings success; exact obedience brings miracles.”

“Deep Obedience"

Kim B. Clark

Obedience connects us to the Savior and opens channels for His love and power to flow into us, much like life-giving nutrients flow from the trunk of a tree into its branches. The Savior said:

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; . . .

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.²

The Lord gives us commandments so that we might have His love, joy, and power in our lives. When we disobey those commandments, we weaken our connection to Him. If we do not repent, we become cut off from the source of divine power and joy in life. But the more we obey His commandments, the more we draw near to Him, the stronger the connection becomes, the greater the joy we experience, and the more we become like Him. We abide in Christ, and we prosper in the land. 

Once we see commandments as a blessing, our whole attitude towards obedience changes. Obedience stops being something that weighs on us because we are supposed to do it and becomes something we want to do because we know it brings blessings and joy, and we know it is the way to become more like Christ. The kind of obedience that connects us to Christ and brings divine love, power, and joy into our lives is not a reluctant, surface kind of obedience. It is obedience of the whole heart and soul.  It is deep obedience. 

President Ezra Taft Benson described that change of attitude and deep obedience in this way:  

“When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.”³

We have been called to discipleship and leadership in the great work of the Lord in the last dispensation. And the way forward and upward, the way to prosper in the land, is deep obedience to the Lord.

As we read section 59 together, I will highlight five dimensions of deep obedience:

(1) love God with all your heart;

(2) walk the strait and narrow path;

(3) bring to the Lord a sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit;

(4) keep the Sabbath Day holy; and

(5) do all these things with gratitude and a cheerful heart.

How Do We Take The Name of Jesus Christ Upon Us? What I Learned From Following President Nelson's Challenge.

In the October 2018 Women's Session of General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, our Prophet, President Nelson, gave a challenge to the women:

I invite you to read the Book of Mormon between now and the end of the year. As impossible as that may seem with all you are trying to manage in your life, if you will accept this invitation with full purpose of heart, the Lord will help you find a way to achieve it. And, as you prayerfully study, I promise that the heavens will open for you. The Lord will bless you with increased inspiration and revelation.

As you read, I would encourage you to mark each verse that speaks of or refers to the Savior. Then, be intentional about talking of Christ, rejoicing in Christ, and preaching of Christ with your families and friends. You and they will be drawn closer to the Savior through this process. And changes, even miracles, will begin to happen.

I accepted the challenge, including to mark each verse about the Savior, and I am grateful for the many ways this has blessed my life. About half way through my reading I started to notice how many times the Book of Mormon talks about doing things "in the name of Christ." I wanted to understand better how I could follow this, so I gathered together some of the verses and quotes on this topic. Here is some of what I learned.

     (See also: How to Mark Scriptures about Christ in your Book of Mormon)

All quotes are from Dallin H. Oaks, “Taking upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ,” unless otherwise stated.

 “Our witness that we are willing to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ has several different meanings. Some of these meanings are obvious, and well within the understanding of our children. Others are only evident to those who have searched the scriptures and pondered the wonders of eternal life.”

1.      When we are baptized in his name

a.      2 Ne. 31:13.take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism, 

b.      3 Nephi 27:1 were baptizing in the name of Jesus

c.       Mosiah 18:10 baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness

d.      “Persons who are baptized witness before the Church that they have truly repented of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end.” (D&C 20:37; see also 2 Ne. 31:13; Moro. 6:3.) When we partake of the sacrament, we renew this covenant and all the other covenants we made in the waters of baptism. (See Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation.)

2.      When we belong to his Church

a.      As a second obvious meaning, we take upon us our Savior’s name when we become members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. By his commandment, this church bears his name. (See D&C 115:4; 3 Ne. 27:7–8.) Every member, young and old, is a member of the “household of God.” (Eph. 2:19.) As true believers in Christ, as Christians, we have gladly taken his name upon us. (See Alma 46:15.) As King Benjamin taught his people, “Because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you.” (Mosiah 5:7; see also Alma 5:14; Alma 36:23–26.)

3.      When we profess our belief in him

a.      We also take upon us the name of Jesus Christ whenever we publicly proclaim our belief in him. Each of us has many opportunities to proclaim our belief to friends and neighbors, fellow workers, and casual acquaintances. As the Apostle Peter taught the Saints of his day, we should “sanctify the Lord God in [our] hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh [us] a reason of the hope that is in [us].” (1 Pet. 3:15.) In this, we keep the modern commandment: “Take upon you the name of Christ, and speak the truth in soberness.” (D&C 18:21.)

4.      When we do the work of his kingdom.

a.      A third meaning appeals to the understanding of those mature enough to know that a follower of Christ is obligated to serve him. Many scriptural references to the name of the Lord seem to be references to the work of his kingdom. Thus, when Peter and the other Apostles were beaten, they rejoiced “that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” (Acts 5:41.) Paul wrote certain members who had ministered to the Saints that the Lord would not forget the labor of love they had “shewed toward his name.” (Heb. 6:10.) According to this meaning, by witnessing our willingness to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ, we signify our willingness to do the work of his kingdom.

There are other meanings as well, deeper meanings that the more mature members of the Church should understand and ponder as he or she partakes of the sacrament.

It is significant that when we partake of the sacrament we do not witness that we take upon us the name of Jesus Christ. We witness that we are willing to do so. (See D&C 20:77.) The fact that we only witness to our willingness suggests that something else must happen before we actually take that sacred name upon us in the most important sense.

What future event or events could this covenant contemplate? The scriptures suggest two sacred possibilities, one concerning the authority of God, especially as exercised in the temples, and the other—closely related—concerning exaltation in the celestial kingdom.

5.      Using the authority of God, especially as exercised in the temples

a.      From Sinai came the commandment, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” (Ex. 20:7, Deut. 5:11.) Latter-day revelation equates this with using the name of God without authority. The Lord declares in a modern revelation, for “many there be who … use the name of the Lord, and use it in vain, having not authority.” (D&C 63:61–62.)

b.      The Old Testament contains scores of references to the name of the Lord in a context where it clearly means the authority of the Lord. Most of these references have to do with the temple.

c.       Similarly, in modern revelations the Lord refers to temples as houses built “unto my holy name.” (D&C 124:39; D&C 105:33; D&C 109:2–5.) In the inspired dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple, the Prophet Joseph Smith asked the Lord for a blessing upon “thy people upon whom thy name shall be put in this house.” (D&C 109:26.)

d.      All of these references to ancient and modern temples as houses for “the name” of the Lord obviously involve something far more significant than a mere inscription of his sacred name on the structure. The scriptures speak of the Lord’s putting his name in a temple because he gives authority for his name to be used in the sacred ordinances of that house. That is the meaning of the Prophet’s reference to the Lord’s putting his name upon his people in that holy house. (See D&C 109:26.)

e.      Willingness to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ can therefore be understood as willingness to take upon us the authority of Jesus Christ. According to this meaning, by partaking of the sacrament we witness our willingness to participate in the sacred ordinances of the temple and to receive the highest blessings available through the name and by the authority of the Savior when he chooses to confer them upon us.

6.      Exaltation in the celestial kingdom.

a.      Another future event we may anticipate when we witness our willingness to take that sacred name upon us concerns our relationship to our Savior and the incomprehensible blessings available to those who will be called by his name at the last day.

b.      Mosiah 3:17;  “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.”

c.       Acts 4:10, 12 Peter proclaimed “the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth” to the leaders of the Jews, declaring that “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

d.      Alma taught that Jesus Christ, the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, would come “to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on his name.” (Alma 5:48; Alma 9:27; Alma 11:40; Hel. 14:2.)

e.      Mosiah 5:9 “Whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the name of Christ.”

f.        3 Ne. 27:5–6 “ye must take upon you the name of Christ. For by this name shall ye be called at the last day; And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day.”

g.      Mosiah 26:24 “For behold, in my name are they called; and if they know me they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand.”

h.      Thus, those who exercise faith in the sacred name of Jesus Christ and repent of their sins and enter into his covenant and keep his commandments (see Mosiah 5:8) can lay claim on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Those who do so will be called by his name at the last day.

i.        In these great scriptures from the Book of Mormon, we learn that those who are qualified by faith and repentance and compliance with the laws and ordinances of the gospel will have their sins borne by the Lord Jesus Christ. In spiritual and figurative terms they will become the sons and daughters of Christ, heirs to his kingdom. These are they who will be called by his name in the last day.

j.        According to this meaning, when we witness our willingness to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ, we are signifying our commitment to do all that we can to achieve eternal life in the kingdom of our Father. We are expressing our candidacy—our determination to strive for—exaltation in the celestial kingdom.

How Else Do We Use His Name?

1.      General

a.      Mosiah 25:23 desirous to take upon them the name of Christ

b.      Mosiah 26:18 blessed is this people who are willing to bear my name

c.       3 Ne. 27:5 take upon you the name of Christ

d.      Ether 4:19 blessed is he that is found faithful unto my name,

e.      Moro. 4:3 (D&C 20:37) willing to take upon them the name of thy Son 

2.      Faith on His Name

a.      if they will not repent and believe in his name, 2 Ne. 9:24.

b.      heaven is open … to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, Hel. 3:28.

3.      Praying in His Name

a.      3 Nephi 27:2 And Jesus again ^ashowed himself unto them, for they were praying unto the Father in his name

4.      His Church Should Be Called in His Name

a.      3 Nephi 27:3,5 And they said unto him: Lord, we will that thou wouldst tell us the ^aname whereby we shall call this church;

b.      I shall give this people a name, Mosiah 1:11.

c.       this is the name that I said I should give, Mosiah 5:11.

President Russell M. Nelson's Challenge to Read all the References about Jesus Christ in the Topical Guide and How to Mark Your Scriptures about the Savior

In his talk, "Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into our Lives," Pres. Nelson explains why he wants us to take this challenge:

Earlier this year, I asked the young adults of the Church to consecrate a portion of their time each week to study everything Jesus said and did as recorded in the standard works. I invited them to let the scriptural citations about Jesus Christ in the Topical Guide become their personal core curriculum.

I gave that challenge because I had already accepted it myself. I read and underlined every verse cited about Jesus Christ, as listed under the main heading and the 57 subtitles in the Topical Guide. When I finished that exciting exercise, my wife asked me what impact it had on me. I told her, “I am a different man!”

I felt a renewed devotion to Him as I read again in the Book of Mormon the Savior’s own statement about His mission in mortality. He declared:

“I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me. And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross.”

1. Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into our Lives - President Russell M. Nelson’s Challenge

2. Promises of Daily Reading the Book of Mormon as Given by Prophets and Apostles in General Conference

Below are some ideas on how you could mark your scriptures about the Savior.

I bought the cheap, paperback copies of the 4 standard works. Then I copied the references to Jesus Christ from the Topical Guide and pasted them into a Word document. After I marked a verse in my scriptures, I crossed out the reference on my print out of the Topical Guide. 

Jesus Christ in the Scriptures

·         Attributes of Christ

o   Faith, Hope, Charity, Virtue, Knowledge, Patience, Humility, Diligence, Obedience, Leadership & Teaching, Discernment

·         The Strengthening aspect of Jesus’ Atonement (Grace)

·         The Redeeming aspect of Jesus’ Atonement

·         Christ’s doctrines, laws, and parables

·         The Life of the Savior

·         Symbolism & Prophecies, His Mission, Creator, Antemortal

·         Christ’s Second Coming

·         Divine Sonship, power & authority, titles of Jesus Christ

·         Rejecting the Savior

·         How we can draw the power of Jesus Christ into our lives. 
   (1)  We begin by learning about Him.

 (2)  We choose to have faith in Him and follow Him.

 (3)  We make sacred covenants and keep those covenants with precision. 
(4)  We reach up to Him in faith.

In order to mark "each verse" as President Nelson challenged, first I include the categories above for the major references and second, I use yellow to highlight every other reference to Him along with a couple of words around that reference. I am now in 2 Nephi and I feel that by marking "each verse," I am learning so much about the Savior and His love, His attributes, and His power. After I finish, I will read the Book of Mormon, focusing on what patterns and themes I can learn from my markings.

How Can We Overcome Pride? and A Personal Checklist for Pride

Pride

See Also: Humility and Meekness

Pres. Benson, Chapter 18: Beware of Pride

https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-ezra-taft-benson/chapter-18-beware-of-pride?lang=eng

President Uchtdorf’s talk on pride – Oct. 2010:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/pride-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng

Pride a gateway sin that leads to a host of other human weaknesses. In fact, it could be said that every other sin is, in essence, a manifestation of pride. -Uchtdorf

Video clip of this quote 8:42 minutes – 10:19

We Must Not Inhale

When I was called as a General Authority, I was blessed to be tutored by many of the senior Brethren in the Church. One day I had the opportunity to drive President James E. Faust to a stake conference. During the hours we spent in the car, President Faust took the time to teach me some important principles about my assignment. He explained also how gracious the members of the Church are, especially to General Authorities. He said, “They will treat you very kindly. They will say nice things about you.” He laughed a little and then said, “Dieter, be thankful for this. But don’t you ever inhale it.”

That is a good lesson for us all, in any calling or life situation. We can be grateful for our health, wealth, possessions, or positions, but when we begin to inhale it—when we become obsessed with our status; when we focus on our own importance, power, or reputation; when we dwell upon our public image and believe our own press clippings—that’s when the trouble begins; that’s when pride begins to corrupt.

Uchtdorf on how do we Conquer pride?  

So how do we conquer this sin of pride that is so prevalent and so damaging? How do we become more humble?

It is almost impossible to be lifted up in pride when our hearts are filled with charity. “No one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love.” 22 When we see the world around us through the lens of the pure love of Christ, we begin to understand humility.

Some suppose that humility is about beating ourselves up. Humility does not mean convincing ourselves that we are worthless, meaningless, or of little value. Nor does it mean denying or withholding the talents God has given us. We don’t discover humility by thinking less of ourselves; we discover humility by thinking less about ourselves. It comes as we go about our work with an attitude of serving God and our fellowman.

Humility directs our attention and love toward others and to Heavenly Father’s purposes. Pride does the opposite. Pride draws its energy and strength from the deep wells of selfishness. The moment we stop obsessing with ourselves and lose ourselves in service, our pride diminishes and begins to die.

Elder Bednar:

We will only receive spiritual gifts and talents when we are in the right place at the right time so that the Lord can use us to bless somebody else.

I think in the culture of the Church we have a peculiar way of talking about talents like, “I have these talents” and sometimes there is an arrogance about that, like “Aren’t you so lucky that I am bringing my talent to bless you?”  In which case I think there is no talent, it has been removed.

So it is not just that you have one talent or a particular capacity, there is a wide range of talents and capacities with which the Lord can bless you with because you will be in the right place at the right time and that talent or gift will be used to bless someone else. We only have these so we can be the conduit through whom God can bless people.

So if you are striving not to get them as if they are trophies to display, but if the real intent of our heart is to be good, to be worthy, so that God if he needed me could use me.

How Do We Combat Pride?

1-      Uchtdorf - Charity Conquers pride:  

So how do we conquer this sin of pride that is so prevalent and so damaging? How do we become more humble?

It is almost impossible to be lifted up in pride when our hearts are filled with charity. “No one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love.” 22 When we see the world around us through the lens of the pure love of Christ, we begin to understand humility.

Some suppose that humility is about beating ourselves up. Humility does not mean convincing ourselves that we are worthless, meaningless, or of little value. Nor does it mean denying or withholding the talents God has given us. We don’t discover humility by thinking less of ourselves; we discover humility by thinking less about ourselves. It comes as we go about our work with an attitude of serving God and our fellowman.

Humility directs our attention and love toward others and to Heavenly Father’s purposes. Pride does the opposite. Pride draws its energy and strength from the deep wells of selfishness. The moment we stop obsessing with ourselves and lose ourselves in service, our pride diminishes and begins to die.

2-      Recognize the enabling power of the atonement in our lives.

When we can recognize the enabling power of the atonement in our lives this solves the problem of pride. We realize how much the Lord is helping us to improve and do well which keeps us from getting puffed up about ourselves.

Read Jacob 4:6

 6 Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of ^aprophecy; and having all these ^bwitnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can ^ccommand in the ^dname of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.

Jacob 4:6-7, 8-10– notice that verse 7 begins with “Nevertheless” - “Nevertheless” is what they call a connecting word because it shows that the two sentences are a related thought.  

 7 Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our ^aweakness that we may know that it is by his ^bgrace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things.

Ether 12:27 has a similar theme.

I think there are many times when Grace and the enabling power are operating in our lives and it is like when “as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.” In our pride, we think we are becoming something on our own.

Pride - A Personal Checklist (list taken from Pres. Benson’s talk)

·         Pride is a very misunderstood sin, and many are sinning in ignorance. In the scriptures there is no such thing as righteous pride. Therefore, we must understand how God uses the term so we can understand the language of holy writ and profit thereby. 

·         The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.” It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us.

·         Pride is a sin that can readily be seen in others but is rarely admitted in ourselves. 

General categories of pride:

   Disobedience is essentially a prideful power struggle 

   Selfishness is one of the more common faces of pride. 

§  self-conceit, self-seeking

§  self-gratification, worldly self-fulfillment

§  self-pity

Pride in not just those on the top looking down; far more common is pride from the bottom looking up, it is manifest in:

·         faultfinding, gossiping, backbiting

·         murmuring

·         living beyond our means

·         envying, coveting

·         withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another

·         being unforgiving and jealous

Another face of pride is contention:

·         arguments

·         fights

·         unrighteous dominion

·         generation gaps

·         divorces

·         spouse abuse

·         riots, disturbances

·         Contention in our families drives the Spirit of the Lord away. It also drives many of our family members away. 

Our enmity toward God takes on many labels:

·         rebellion

·         hard-heartedness

·         stiff-neckedness

·         unrepentant

·         puffed up

·         easily offended

·         sign seekers

·         wish God would agree with them

·         aren’t interested in changing opinion to agree with God’s

Enmity toward our fellowmen:

·         tempted daily to elevate ourselves above others 

·         desire to diminish others

·         pit their intellects, opinions & works against others

·         compare wealth, talents, or any other worldly measuring device against others

·         stand more in fear of men’s judgment than of God’s judgment

·         “What will men think of me?” weighs heavier than “What will God think of me?”

·         The proud love “the praise of men more than the praise of God.

·         Our motives for the things we do are where the sin is manifest. 

“Pride a gateway sin that leads to a host of other human weaknesses. In fact, it could be said that every other sin is, in essence, a manifestation of pride.”  –President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Pres. Uchtdorf – The Gift of Grace - Apr. 2015

What does the story of Simon teach us about pride?

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/the-gift-of-grace?lang=eng

 

In the Bible we read of Christ’s visit to the home of Simon the Pharisee.

Outwardly, Simon seemed to be a good and upright man. He regularly checked off his to-do list of religious obligations: he kept the law, paid his tithing, observed the Sabbath, prayed daily, and went to the synagogue.

But while Jesus was with Simon, a woman approached, washed the Savior’s feet with her tears, and anointed His feet with fine oil.

Simon was not pleased with this display of worship, for he knew that this woman was a sinner. Simon thought that if Jesus didn’t know this, He must not be a prophet or He would not have let the woman touch him.

Perceiving his thoughts, Jesus turned to Simon and asked a question. “There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: … one owed five hundred pence, … the other fifty.

“And when they [both] had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?”

Simon answered that it was the one who was forgiven the most.

Then Jesus taught a profound lesson: “Seest thou this woman? … Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”24

Which of these two people are we most like?

Are we like Simon? Are we confident and comfortable in our good deeds, trusting in our own righteousness? Are we perhaps a little impatient with those who are not living up to our standards? Are we on autopilot, going through the motions, attending our meetings, yawning through Gospel Doctrine class, and perhaps checking our cell phones during sacrament service?

Or are we like this woman, who thought she was completely and hopelessly lost because of sin?

Do we love much?

Do we understand our indebtedness to Heavenly Father and plead with all our souls for the grace of God?

When we kneel to pray, is it to replay the greatest hits of our own righteousness, or is it to confess our faults, plead for God’s mercy, and shed tears of gratitude for the amazing plan of redemption?25

Salvation cannot be bought with the currency of obedience; it is purchased by the blood of the Son of God.26 Thinking that we can trade our good works for salvation is like buying a plane ticket and then supposing we own the airline. Or thinking that after paying rent for our home, we now hold title to the entire planet earth.