Conference talks are meant to inspire us and remind us.\u00a0 We keep getting warned of the evils of the world encroaching upon us.\u00a0 We keep getting encouragement to fight the good fight and stay strong.\u00a0 And we keep feeling the Spirit as we listen to our prophets speak to us.<\/p>\n
Elder D. Todd Christofferson spoke on covenants.\u00a0 Such a great subject.\u00a0 It was a reminder of how precious our covenants are.\u00a0 In fact, it makes me think of how great the gospel truly is.<\/p>\n
When speaking with non-member friends this idea often comes up, \u201cas long as we both believe in Jesus Christ, our churches are the same\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 There are many people on earth today who live by moral principles and believe in the Savior, and I\u2019m grateful for their strength in our world.\u00a0 But it isn\u2019t enough to believe in Jesus Christ, and as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we understand this.<\/p>\n
Elder Christofferson says, \u201cA final aspect of strength through covenants\u2026is the bestowal of divine power.\u00a0 Our covenant commitment to Him permits our Heavenly Father to let His divine influence, \u2018the power of godliness\u2019, flow into our lives.\u201d\u00a0 We can make covenants with God, because He has given us the proper authority to do so.\u00a0 And through the gift of the Holy Ghost and the laying on of hands with that proper authority, we have a great distinction from any other religion on this earth.\u00a0 \u201cDivine covenants make strong Christians\u2026let your covenants be paramount and let your obedience be exact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because of the covenants we\u2019ve made we can \u201cdefend the truth of Jesus Christ against moral relativism and militant atheism\u201d.\u00a0 We have been taught the difference between right and wrong, but our covenants raise our level of commitment and purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was [the knowledge that their course in life conformed to the will of God] that enabled the ancient saints to endure all their afflictions and persecutions, and to take\u2026not only the spoiling of their goods, and the wasting of their substance, joyfully, but also to suffer death in its most horrid forms; knowing (not merely believing) that when this earthly house of their tabernacle was dissolved, they had a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.\u201d\u00a0 This quote from Lectures on Faith, in Elder Christofferson\u2019s talk, reminds us that covenants are what got people through their trials.<\/p>\n
In the midst of our trials, if we are valiant and hang on to the covenants we\u2019ve made, God will be with us every step of the way.\u00a0 That is the promise He has made to us, and we have all experienced the truth of that reality.\u00a0 God is with us.<\/p>\n
If we ever wondered if God knew us in our need, let us remember how we received our covenants.\u00a0 Whether we are living or dead, our names are spoken each time we receive a covenant, a personal blessing from the Lord.\u00a0 Yes, He knows us.<\/p>\n
Being believers of Jesus Christ is a wonderful thing, especially in this day and age, when there is such a distinction between right and wrong.\u00a0 But \u201cwhen we truly understand, we seek more commandments, not fewer\u201d, and we understand that there are commandments that lead us to the temple where covenants are made which is \u201cthe promise which I give unto you of eternal life, even the glory of the celestial kingdom\u201d.\u00a0 (See footnotes in Elder Christofferson\u2019s talk.)\u00a0 These covenants are what will get us through our difficult times, our grateful times, our growing times, and our valiant times.<\/p>\n
The Power of Covenant<\/em>–April 2009<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Conference talks are meant to inspire us and remind us.\u00a0 We keep getting warned of the evils of the world encroaching upon us.\u00a0 We keep getting encouragement to fight the good fight and stay strong.\u00a0 And we keep feeling the Spirit as we listen to our prophets speak to us. Elder D. Todd Christofferson spoke […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[167],"class_list":["post-768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conference-talks","tag-covenants"],"yoast_head":"\n