Latest / Scripture Central / ”Stand Forever” Ep. 3 | Christ Is The Measure | Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge

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”Stand Forever” Ep. 3 | Christ Is The Measure | Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge · Scripture Central

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  The Lord himself posed A troubling question.
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  What manner of men ought ye to be to become like Christ Are
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  words that stick in the throat, especially if we clearly see
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  where we are and how far we have yet to go.
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  If the standard be not Christ, then who in the world who Christ
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  is the standard? The fact that we do and will
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  fall short does not mean the bar should be lowered to close the
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  gap. There's a different plan for
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  closing the gap. Hello and welcome back.
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  My name is Larry Corbridge and this is the Stand Forever
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  series. The focus of the last episode is
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  believe. The focus today is Jesus Christ
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  the measure. Together these two episodes
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  foreshadow really the conclusion of the series, which is to
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  believe and follow Christ to the end and help others do the same.
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  The apostle Paul said of our day that in the dispensation of the
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  fullness of times. Of course, this time he, meaning
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  God the Father, might gather together in one all things in
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  Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth even in
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  him. Popular advice today is compare
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  yourself with yourself and not with others, each day trying to
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  do and be a little better. While that's pretty good advice
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  as far as it goes, it doesn't really go quite far enough.
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  You can't really improve without a standard.
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  You may putter around comparing yourself today with yesterday,
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  but ultimately you must look up and ahead to where you are going
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  and deliberately steer and move in that direction.
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  Then and only then can you measure your progress.
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  Paul also said this very important thing, for we dare not
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  make ourselves of the number I think, meaning blending in with
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  the crowd or compare ourselves, he said, with some that commend
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  themselves. Which might mean people who hold
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  themselves up as a standard, but they measuring themselves by
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  themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are
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  not wise, said Paul. Measuring yourself against the
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  standard of those around you is not a good idea.
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  However good your crowd may be, no one can really enable or
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  unlock unlock your full divine potential.
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  Paul continues with these important words.
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  But we will not boast of things without our measure, he said.
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  But according to the measure of the rule which God hath
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  distributed or given to us, which is Christ, a measure to
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  reach, listen to this, a measure to reach, even unto you.
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  For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure again, for we
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  stretch not ourselves beyond our measure.
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  Paula's right. We don't stretch ourselves
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  beyond our measure or goal. Rodger Bannister, for example,
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  had a goal, a standard or measure, specifically the four
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  minute mile. He didn't run the four minute
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  mile in 1956 by comparing himself with other runners, or
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  even really by just comparing himself with himself from
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  day-to-day, trying to improve each day.
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  He wasn't trying to win races. He wasn't racing against anyone
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  else on the track. He had a different standard or
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  measure. He was racing against the clock,
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  yes, he was racing against himself, trying to improve each
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  day, but ultimately he was racing against the clock. 4
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  minutes was his measure, not other runners and not even past
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  performance. We do not surpass whatever our
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  measure is again, Paul said. We stretch not ourselves beyond
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  our measure, and the measure which God has given us is His
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  Son. The best course is the highest
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  of all human endeavors. Look to Christ and compare
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  yourself with Him. Now with that said, alarms are
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  sounding, bugles are blaring, red flags are flying, and a
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  small army of people are rushing forward waving white flags,
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  calling out. Look down, look around, anywhere
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  but up. They want to save us from
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  disappointment, anxiety, sacrifice, hardship, and
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  heartache from aiming so high, but they're really trying to
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  save themselves from those same painful tutorials.
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  The Lord himself posed what is sometimes viewed as a troubling
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  question, and you probably know what it is, He said.
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  What manner of men ought ye to be?
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  Then? Answering his own question, he
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  said, Even as I am equally troubling, Christ also said,
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  therefore I would that you should be perfect, even as I or
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  your Father in heaven is perfect.
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  But to become perfect, to become like Christ, are words that
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  stick in the throat, and we may cringe a bit when we hear them.
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  For all of their grandeur, they also seem grandiose, especially
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  if we clearly see where we are and how far we have yet to go.
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  Nothing said by the Lord has created more angst than those
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  statements. They are deemed by some to be
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  socially insensitive, if not inexcusable, harmful to
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  emotional and mental health. Who are we anyway to think, much
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  less say such things? One answer might be children of
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  God. Children of the Almighty eternal
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  God. And those words, even as I am,
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  those words, and I would that you should be perfect, aren't
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  our words anyway. They are his.
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  And should we shun the words of God because they are not smooth
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  and easy to swallow? If you get discouraged, you're
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  not alone. Not hardly.
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  When the presence of God withdrew from Moses, when he was
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  again separated from God, he said, Now for this, 'cause I
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  know man is nothing by comparison.
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  When Job saw the Lord, he cried out, I abhor myself.
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  When Isaiah saw the Lord, he said, Woe is me, for I am undone
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  because I am a man of unclean lips.
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  Nephi said, O wretched man that I am.
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  Ammon said, I know that I am nothing.
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  As to my strength, I am weak. King Benjamin said Remember the
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  greatness of God and your own nothingness by comparison,
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  meaning our utter dependence on God.
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  It is rather it is rather the foolish mantra of the self
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  esteem craze of the past 60 or 70 years.
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  You're OK just the way you are. Or even the better advice,
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  compare yourself with your with yourself that are harmful more
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  than the brightness of your potential.
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  So if you feel low when you see how far you must go, you're not
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  alone, not hardly. I have felt the same every day.
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  Anyone earnest and honest about his or her discipleship feels
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  the same. It is part of the process.
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  Don't be blinded by the brightness of your potential.
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  Rather, let it be the beacon that beckons you onward.
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  We might say focus on repentance more than perfection.
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  Well, that's fine, but you can't have one without the other.
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  Repentance has no meaning without perfection.
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  There must be a standard to measure human conduct, to see
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  the shortfall, and then work to close the gap, which is
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  repentance again, Paul said. For we stretch not ourselves
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  beyond our measure. Without a standard or measure,
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  repentance and self improvement are only mushy human relativism,
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  comfortable but aimless human development, and without a
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  standard it leads to chaos. If the standard be not Christ,
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  then who in the world who? If the standard be not
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  perfection, then what in the world what Christ is?
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  Christ is He is the standard against which we should measure
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  ourselves but not break ourselves.
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  And He is perfection. The fact that we do and will
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  fall short does not mean the bar should be lowered to close the
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  gap. There's a different plan for
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  closing the gap. Jesus Christ is the way.
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  He is the standard. He shows us where to aim.
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  But as the Redeemer, He closes the gap when we miss.
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  The fact that we do and will fall short should place in
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  perfect focus our desperate, absolute need for Jesus Christ,
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  our need for the help and intervention Only He and He
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  alone can provide. The beginning of the process of
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  becoming converted unto the Lord is the recognition of our
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  absolute need for Him. In the same sermon as I would
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  that you should be perfect, Jesus also said, now listen to
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  this. He also said, Blessed are all
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  they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they
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  shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.
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  And similarly he said, And the light of the body is the eye.
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  If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be
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  filled with light. I can't live without making
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  mistakes. Unfortunately, I prove that
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  every day, but I can, and you can hunger and thirst after
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  righteousness and be filled, be filled with the Holy Ghost.
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  In our weakness and imperfection we will not live perfectly, but
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  we can have an eye single to the glory of God, who is Christ, a
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  singular focus, want that more than anything else and be filled
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  with light. Again, even in our weakness and
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  imperfection. Many years ago, this central and
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  simple truth to believe and follow Christ to the end was
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  indelibly revealed to my sweet wife Jacqueline.
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  I have asked her to share that experience with you now.
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  Now I have to say, this is a very unfair request because
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  Jackie battles with Alzheimer's disease, and when she was given
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  that diagnosis several years ago, she laughed.
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  She said if this means I don't have to give another talk in
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  church, it's probably worth it. She is the living essence of
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  cheerfulness, to be of good cheer and do not fear.
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  And yet here I am, asking her to do it again anyway.
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  But at least we're not in church.
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  Here is a courageous and good soul, the sunshine of my life.
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  Jacqueline Gill Corbridge. About 15 years ago, while we
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  were living in Santiago, Chile, I had a dream.
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  It came to me just before waking, and it was it was very
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  vivid and clearly in answer to the fervent prayer that I had
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  offered while kneeling at the side of my bed only a few hours
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  before. We had a a guest in our home at
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  this time. Sister Julie Beck, the General
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  Relief Society President of the church was was staying with us.
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  Elder Corbridge and I had had spent the previous four days
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  with with her as we as we accompanied her to various
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  church assignments. I marvelled at at the many
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  talents and and abilities, but most amazing to to me was a
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  spiritual gift that seemed to rest upon her whenever she rose
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  to speak. There were no papers in front of
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  her, no notes to to read. She, she taught, she testified
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  all in Spanish out of the the streets of Santiago.
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  She struggled a bit with the with the language, but from the
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  pulpit, she she asked questions, she answered the the responses.
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  She seemed very comfortable. As for myself, learning what
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  Spanish I did know had had been on a long struggle and and I
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  wondered why she had been so blessed while I was so, so
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  lacking in those things. So in in that fervent prayer, I
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  mentioned I I expressed all of this.
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  I asked Heavenly Father why some of his children seemed gifted in
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  so many ways than others. I really wanted to understand
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  why she had been so blessed while I was lacking in those
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  things. In my dream that night, I saw
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  many brightly colorful, cute little houses poking above the
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  clouds high up in in the air. Each little house was part of a
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  tall, narrow, shiny Black Rock. I was hovering above all of this
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  in in the air. Then suddenly I was swooped down
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  to look up close to the foundation of of the little
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  houses. I was surprised to see that this
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  and it was absolutely secure in in that Black Rock.
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  The house was the top of the rock.
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  There was no seeing, no break between the house's foundation
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  and and the rock. A seamless foundation.
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  The house was was the rock. It it was perfectly protected
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  from any winds or storms. I was taken inside the little
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  house just long enough to see there were no furnishings
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  whatsoever except for a phone on the wall.
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  The phone represented the need to call on Heavenly Father
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  through prayer, nothing more important, hence no other things
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  in that house. When I woke from my dream, I
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  could hardly believe what I had just seen.
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  I was filled with gratitude. I had been given a precious
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  gift. I understood very clear what the
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  Lord was saying to me. It is written in Helium in
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  chapter 5, verse 12. Remember, Remember that it is
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  upon the rock of the iron Redeemer, who is Christ the Son
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  of God, that ye must build your foundation, when the devil shall
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  sell forth with mighty winds. When all that hail and its
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  mighty storm shall beat upon you, you have no power over you
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  to drag you down to the gulf of misery, and an endless woe,
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  because of the rock upon which ye have built, which is a sure
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  foundation where and if men build, they cannot fall.
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  As I mentioned, the house in the in the dream was very small and
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  had no furnishings except a phone.
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  But I understood now that although I might not be blessed
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  with as many talents and abilities as other people in the
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  in my life, and now as I struggle with the effects of
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  Alzheimer's disease, I know more than ever that the only thing
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  that really matters is that I I make very sure that my
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  foundation is built on the rock of Christ and he is my
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  foundation. And so I never need fear.
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  Trusting him, serving him, serving my fellow men, doing my
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  best to help build up the Kingdom of God.
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  That's all that matters. The floods and storms of life
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  come to every one of us. It's it's an essential part of
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  the of our mortal experience. But we will not fall.
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  We cannot fall if our house, however grand or or small,
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  become part of that shiny Black Rock with the seamless
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  foundation I saw in my dream. Thank you, Jackie.
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  To build your house on the rock of Christ, to make him your
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  North Star, to believe and follow him to the end is
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  somewhat counterintuitive. As I have said before in a
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  General Conference talk, you might mistakenly think that you
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  can't really follow him because the standard of his life is so
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  astonishing, astonishingly high. What could be higher as to
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  appear unreachable? You might think it's too hard,
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  too high, too much, and beyond your capacity.
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  At least for now, do not, do not believe that while the standard
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  of the Lord is the highest, don't ever think it is only
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  reachable by a select few who are most able.
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  In this singular instance, life's experience misleads us.
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  Our experience in almost every other realm tells us that the
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  highest achievements in any human endeavor are always the
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  most difficult, and therefore only achievable by a select few
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  who are the most able. The higher the standard, the
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  fewer can reach it. That is not That is not the case
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  here, because unlike every other experience in this life, this is
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  not a human endeavor. It is rather the work of the
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  gods. It is God's work and it is His
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  glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of
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  man. And those who engage in God's
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  work are entitled to God's power.
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  There is no nothing else like it, not anywhere, not ever.
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  No other endeavor, institution, plan, program, or system ever
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  conceived by men has access to the blessings of the Atonement
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  of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Ghost.
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  Therefore, while the Lord's invitation to follow Him is the
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  highest of all, it is also achievable by everyone, not
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  because we are able, but because He is and because He can make us
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  able to. It is critical that you
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  understand and believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a
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  self improvement program. You can't improve yourself to
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  realize your full potential on your own.
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  But you are not in this alone. Not hardly.
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  We believe. We believe that through the
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  atonement of Christ. Listen to this.
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  All mankind, everyone living and dead, may be saved by obedience
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  to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.
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  Again, as Paul said, Christ is a measure.
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  Listen to this. Christ is a measure to reach
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  even unto you. Again, those are Paul's words.
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  Christ is a measure to reach even unto you.
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  Reach everyone. And so believe and follow Christ
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  to the end, engaged in His work, to be endowed with His power and
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  receive eternal life in the world to come.
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  That's where we are headed in this series.
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  I invite you, please to stay with me on this journey to
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  believe and follow Christ to the end and stand forever.