In Sunday School the other day we were talking about the fiery serpents that
came to the children of Israel.  These serpents were everywhere.

They were biting people.

People were dying.

The frantic people went to Moses and begged him to tell God to get rid of the snakes.

Make. It. Go. Away. (Have you ever said that?)

God didn’t do that.

BUT, He did give them a solution to their challenge. It just wasn’t the one they wanted.

And we’re told in the Book of Mormon that some people didn’t act on the solution they were given.
I’ve always wondered why they didn’t.

I know that sometimes we think things need to be bigger to be impactful.
That could be part of it.

But yesterday a woman in our class shared another reason I hadn’t
thought about. She said, if she had been there with poisonous snakes
slithering everywhere, she would not take her eyes off the ground! She
would be constantly looking around for the snakes trying to make sure
she was safe.

Of course you would!

We do that often with our challenges and concerns.

We’re so busy or so worried about something that it is difficult to stop
thinking about it and focus on something else instead.

But that is what we are asked to do.

We are asked to lift our eyes from the problems and concerns we have and
look to the solution, to the Savior.

It would have taken a lot of courage and faith for the children of Israel to stop
looking around for the snakes and look up to see Moses holding the
bronze serpent on a pole. BUT IF THEY WOULD HAVE, they would have been
healed.

Their concerns would have been taken care of.

The same goes for us.

If we would pause for a moment, if we would take a deep breath, if we
would remember what the Savior is offering, we would look up to Him. We
would find answers.

We would find comfort, peace, healing, strength.

In ALL of our challenges.

But that requires us to give up a little of our control which is hard
sometimes because we think we have to handle it or hold everything
together.

But really, when we look to the Savior we have more power to do that
than we ever have alone.

 

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From Dallin H. Oaks (4/2018):

“After reciting a seemingly small event that had great consequences, Nephi wrote, “And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things” (1 Nephi 16:29). The Old Testament includes a memorable example of this. There we read how the Israelites were plagued by fiery serpents. Many people died from their bites (see Numbers 21:6). When Moses prayed for relief, he was inspired to make “a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole.” Then, “if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (verse 9). Such a small thing for such a miraculous result! Yet, as Nephi explained when he taught this example to those who were rebelling against the Lord, even when the Lord had prepared a simple way by which they could be healed, “because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished” (1 Nephi 17:41).

That example and that teaching remind us that the simplicity of the way or the easiness of the commanded task cannot mean that it is unimportant to achieve our righteous desire.”

We are currently studying this talk in our Facebook study group. That means the complete talk is not listed here yet. More will be added each day. The newest part that has been added is in blue. If you would like to join our group, search Facebook for “WHP General Conference Study” and request to join. We’d love to have you.

Below is the text from President Russell M. Nelson’s talk from April 2017 General Conference called, “Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives.”  Additionally (not part of the President Nelson’s words) are bullet points that summarize principles, cautions, and actions from the talk. The bulleted comments are not intended to bring out all principles, cautions and actions from the talk and they represent the thoughts and beliefs of our writers and not President Nelson himself. Although we hope you may learn from our comments and our methods, we also hope that in your study you will follow the guidance from Moroni to know and understand truth for yourself, which in our opinion, includes how truth should be applied in your life and circumstances at this time. That understanding comes through the Holy Ghost. May you feel His guidance and have courage to follow where He leads.

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Talk          Other Resources          Footnotes

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Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives by Russell M. Nelson

My dear brothers and sisters, we live in a most difficult dispensation. Challenges, controversies, and complexities swirl around us. These turbulent times were foreseen by the Savior.

• Life is full of controversies and challenges. It is difficult, complex, and turbulent. (Complexities is an interesting choice of words to add to the list.)
• God is aware of the state of the world. (That doesn’t mean He likes it though.)

He warned us that in our day the adversary would stir up anger in the hearts of men and lead them astray.

• Caution – The adversary tries to get people to be angry and lead them astray. (Think about how anger is part of his tactic to lead us astray. Think about how the adversary stirs up anger in the general population and in ourselves. Recognizing his tactics can help us reinforce against them.)

Yet our Heavenly Father never intended that we would deal with the maze of personal problems and social issues on our own.

• We don’t have to handle things in our own. (Think about why God doesn’t want us to do things on or our own?)

God so loved the world that He sent His Only Begotten Son to help us.

• Christ’s purpose is to help us.
• God planned for us to have help. (Besides Christ, God put others in place to help us…like the prophet. Who else has God put in place to help you personally?)

And His Son, Jesus Christ, gave His life for us. All so that we could have access to godly power—power sufficient to deal with the burdens, obstacles, and temptations of our day.

• Through Jesus Christ we have access to godly power sufficient to deal with burdens, obstacles and temptations. (Ponder that idea.)
• Christ died for us so that we could have access to this godly power. (If we are not using that power then to some degree we are choosing to struggle on our own instead of accepting the help that had been offered.)

Today I would like to speak about how we can draw into our lives the power of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.

• President Nelson is going to tell us HOW to have this power.

We begin by learning about Him.5

• The first step in drawing the power of Jesus Christ into our lives us to learn about Him.

“It is impossible for [us] to be saved in ignorance.”6 The more we know about the Savior’s ministry and mission7—the more we understand His doctrine8 and what He did for us—the more we know that He can provide the power that we need for our lives.

• Condensing ideas into a brief process helps us know how to use it in our lives.
• President Nelson identifies a powerful process for us. How do you visual that process? Is it blocks stacked on each other, where as you build one it creates a bigger foundation in order to build the next? Or does it look more like a three legged stool where building each of the areas keep us level and solid? Or do you see it in another way?  Trying to visual the process can give us added insight about how to use the process and the benefits of the process. Go ahead, draw a picture of it!

     

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.9 I invited them to let the scriptural citations about Jesus Christ in the Topical Guide become their personal core curriculum.10

• An example of how to study the scriptures.

I gave that challenge because I had already accepted it myself.

• Only give assignments we’re willing to do ourselves.

I read and underlined every verse cited about Jesus Christ, as listed under the main heading and the 57 subtitles in the Topical Guide.11 When I finished that exciting exercise, my wife asked me what impact it had on me. I told her, “I am a different man!”

• Learning about Christ will change us.

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.”12

As Latter-day Saints, we refer to His mission as the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which made resurrection a reality for all and made eternal life possible for those who repent of their sins and receive and keep essential ordinances and covenants.

• Everyone will live after they die because of Jesus Christ.
• “Eternal life, or exaltation, is to inherit a place in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom, where we will live in God’s presence and continue as families.” (True to the Faith, p.52)

It is doctrinally incomplete to speak of the Lord’s atoning sacrifice by shortcut phrases, such as “the Atonement” or “the enabling power of the Atonement” or “applying the Atonement” or “being strengthened by the Atonement.” These expressions present a real risk of misdirecting faith by treating the event as if it had living existence and capabilities independent of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

• Caution: Be careful of things that misdirect our faith. We need to remember Christ. (In both sacrament prayers, found in D&C 20:77 & 79, it says we should always remember Christ. In a world that is forgetting Him more and more it’s important that we do all we can to actively and consciously remember Him. President Nelson’s statement of caution could be warning us that if we think of Christ’s miracles separate from Him, we run the risk of forgetting Him and His power. In the Sunday School Manual it says, “In the Book of Mormon there are over 240 instances of the word remember or forms of the word (such as remembered, remembrance, or forget not)…What must me remember? Why is it important to remember? Elder Spencer W. Kimball said: ‘When you look in the dictionary for the most important word, do you know what it is? It could be ‘remember.’ Because all of [us] have made covenants…our greatest need is to remember. That is why everyone goes to sacrament meeting every Sabbath day – to take the sacrament and listen to the priests pray that [we] ‘…may always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given [us]…’ ‘Remember’ is the word.’”
  • A story about this idea of remembering.

Under the Father’s great eternal plan, it is the Savior who suffered. It is the Savior who broke the bands of death. It is the Savior who paid the price for our sins and transgressions and blots them out on condition of our repentance. It is the Savior who delivers us from physical and spiritual death.

There is no amorphous entity called “the Atonement” upon which we may call for succor, healing, forgiveness, or power. Jesus Christ is the source.

• Power comes from Jesus Christ.

Sacred terms such as Atonement and Resurrection describe what the Savior did, according to the Father’s plan, so that we may live with hope in this life and gain eternal life in the world to come. The Savior’s atoning sacrifice—the central act of all human history—is best understood and appreciated when we expressly and clearly connect it to Him.

• Remember Him! (Ponder this last line from President Nelson. What more can we understand and appreciate when we think not of the Atonement, but of the Atonement of Jesus Christ?)

 

Please note: this is not the complete talk, more of this talk will be added shortly.

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Other Resources

 

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Footnotes

1. See 2 Nephi 28:19–30.

2. See John 3:16.

3. Jesus was the Anointed One—anointed by Heavenly Father to be His personal representative in all things pertaining to the salvation of mankind. Jesus was anointed to be our Savior and Redeemer. Before the world was formed, Jesus was anointed to make immortality a reality and eternal life a possibility for all of God’s children (see John 17:24; 1 Peter 1:20). Thus, Jesus bore two unique titles: the Messiah (Hebrew) and the Christ (Greek)—each meaning “anointed.” (See Bible Dictionary, “Anointed One.”)

4. We can protect ourselves by knowing and living by the word of God (see Ephesians 6:17–18; Doctrine and Covenants 27:18).

5. Under the direction of His Father, Jesus was Creator of the earth (see John 1:2–3) and other worlds without number (see Moses 1:33). Long before His mortal birth, Jesus was the great Jehovah—God of the Old Testament. It was Jehovah who communed with Moses on Mount Sinai. It was Jehovah who made a covenant with Abraham that all nations of the earth would be blessed through Abraham’s lineage. And it was Jehovah who made covenants with families of the house of Israel. Jesus was also the promised Immanuel, as prophesied by Isaiah (see Isaiah 7:14).

6. Doctrine and Covenants 131:6.

7. See Doctrine and Covenants 76:40–41.

8. See 2 Nephi 31:2–21.

9. Holy Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price.

10. See Topical Guide, “Jesus Christ.” In addition to text under that major heading, there are 57 subtitles about Him. For non-English editions of the scriptures, use Guide to the Scriptures.

11. More than 2,200 listings are cited in those 18 pages of the Topical Guide.

12. 3 Nephi 27:13–14.

13. Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 49.

14. See “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles,” Ensign or Liahona, Apr. 2000, 2–3.

15. See Helaman 8:15.

16. See Doctrine and Covenants 6:36.

17. Jesus Christ taught us the importance of sacred ordinances, such as baptism (see John 3:5), the sacrament (see Doctrine and Covenants 59:9), and the endowment and sealing ordinances of the temple (see Doctrine and Covenants 124:39–42).

18. See Doctrine and Covenants 124:29–32.

19. See Luke 8:43–44.

20. Mark 5:28.

21. See Doctrine and Covenants 88:63.

22. When the faithful woman touched the Savior’s clothing, He instantly responded, “I perceive that virtue [from the Greek dunamis, meaning “power”] is gone out of me” (Luke 8:46; emphasis added).

23. “The Spirit of God,” Hymns, no. 2.

24. See 3 Nephi 17:20.

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