I've been trying to study Priesthood Power lately, as President Nelson invited us to, so I've been noticing the word "power" wherever I encounter it. When I came across this quote from President Benson, even though I've heard it a million times, it hit me a little differently than before:
There is a power in [the Book of Mormon] which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called “the words of life” (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.Compare that to President Nelson's promise last October:
The heavens are just as open to women who are endowed with God’s power flowing from their priesthood covenants as they are to men who bear the priesthood. I pray that truth will register upon each of your hearts because I believe it will change your life. Sisters, you have the right to draw liberally upon the Savior’s power to help your family and others you love.And then the similarities with Doctrine and Covenants 84 (which talks about the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood):
(v. 20-22) Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest. And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.I can't really express yet all the connections I'm finding in these scriptures, but in my mind there is a thread of truth I feel like I'm just about to grasp—about power, and light, and the way it flows into us,(without compulsory means)—and then from us into others—to bring life and light wherever it goes. The power comes from obedience, and from the word of God, and from covenants, and from love.
President Benson also says this in his talk:
Every Latter-day Saint should make the study of this book a lifetime pursuit. Otherwise he is placing his soul in jeopardy and neglecting that which could give spiritual and intellectual unity to his whole life.I feel like I've experienced this—like the more I read the Book of Mormon (and any of the scriptures, actually), the more I'm able to start seeing how truth can be unified or circumscribed into a great whole. I obviously can't complete the whole "circle" of truth yet, but I glimpse pieces of it, and feel it, and sense that it is there—and that happens more frequently and easily when I'm really studying the Book of Mormon and allowing my brain and spirit to absorb the connections I find between real, day-to-day life and the spiritual life I hope for. It's exciting to read and learn about (potentially) accessing God's power. But I keep praying that I'll be able to go beyond the theoretical, and actually HAVE that power in my life—allowing me to become more like Christ, and helping me influence those around me!
Other posts in this series:
"God's Beloved Little Children"—by Jan Tolman
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