Latest / Scripture Central / ”Stand Forever” Ep. 14 | Choose God’s Spirit | Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge

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”Stand Forever” Ep. 14 | Choose God’s Spirit | Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge · Scripture Central

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  Is there one thing you can do that will make everything else
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  better? More than anything else, great
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  achievement is almost always the result of sustained narrow
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  focus. With discipline and sustained
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  effort, you can master one thing over time, but you can't become
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  a master of many things because of opportunity cost.
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  Rather than trying to do everything, it is far better to
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  learn how to do the most important thing, the one thing,
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  while the one thing enhances everything else.
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  Focus on anything else diminishes everything else.
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  What is that one thing? Is there something you can do
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  that will make everything else better that can also be done
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  while doing everything else and not at the exclusion of
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  everything else? And if so, what is that one
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  thing? Hello, my name is Larry
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  Corbridge and this is episode 14 of the Stand Forever series.
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  In past episodes, we concluded the supreme expression of
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  intelligence. The crowning achievement of
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  every rational being is to choose best, and the best
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  choices are to perceive the gifts of God's Son, his Spirit
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  and his life, and then help others do the same.
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  In the last episode, we considered the gift of God's
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  Son. The focus of this episode is the
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  gift of God's Spirit, President Russell M Nelson has said.
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  The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our
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  lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.
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  Great achievement is almost always the result of sustained
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  narrow focus. The narrower and the more
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  sustained the focus over the longer period of time, the
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  greater the outcome. You get better at things you
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  keep on doing. Michael Phelps, for example,
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  holds the record for Olympic gold medals with an astounding
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  total of 28. From age 14 and throughout his
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  athletic career, he trained in water, several hours a day,
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  seven days a week, 365 days a year.
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  Look behind great achievement in the arts, sports, science,
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  technology and business and you will find a narrow focus
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  sustained over a long time. With discipline and sustained
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  effort, you can master one thing over time and maybe learn to do
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  a few things well. But you can't become a master of
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  many things because of opportunity cost.
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  When one option is chosen among alternatives, the opportunity
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  cost is the loss of the potential gain from all the
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  alternatives that are not chosen, the benefits foregone by
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  choosing 1 alternative over all everything else.
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  Rather than trying to do everything, it is far better to
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  learn how to do the most important thing, the one thing.
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  This stern reality is rooted in the premise that we can only do
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  one thing at a time. Talents, energy, resources, and
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  time are limited. A dollar spent on one thing is a
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  dollar not spent on everything else.
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  An hour swimming, watching television, playing a video
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  game, playing basketball, playing the piano, working,
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  building a business, serving others, or studying scripture is
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  at the expense of everything else that could have been done
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  with that same time and energy. When you say yes to one thing,
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  you say no to everything else. Consequently, Ludwig Van
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  Beethoven was probably not a great swimmer and Michael Phelps
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  is probably not a great composer.
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  An Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto, is credited with the
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  idea that generally a minority of causes lead to a majority of
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  results. He quantified the idea,
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  asserting that 80% of the results in most endeavors are
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  produced from 20% of the causes. That assertion is known as the
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  Pareto principle. In light of opportunity costs,
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  focus your efforts somewhere within the 20%.
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  The most effective things, systemic things that will
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  enhance everything else. Physical exercise, for example,
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  has a multiplier effect, benefiting mind and spirit as
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  well as body. Having dinner regularly with
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  family not only provides nourishment but also gives rise
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  to a sense of security and strengthens love, understanding,
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  communication and relationships around the table.
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  Given you can only do one thing at a time, you need to be
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  selective in what you do. Take care where you focus
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  carefully. Choose your passion.
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  The experts on this subject ask the question, is there one thing
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  you can do that will make everything else better?
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  More than anything else, they say, figure out what that is and
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  make that your focus for each facet of life, physical health,
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  spiritual, personal, family, work, and so on.
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  There is, however, I think a much better question, and that
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  is this is there something that will make, yes, everything else
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  better, but they can be done not at the exclusion of everything
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  else, rather while doing everything else?
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  That's the critical question. And the answer is yes, there is
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  one thing that can be done, not at the expense of everything
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  else, but while doing everything else that will also enhance,
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  instruct and make everything else better.
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  And it is in fact, the most important thing of all to
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  discover that one thing. We ask another question.
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  What? What has the Lord said we should
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  always do? The answer to that question will
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  reveal the one thing. Here are some of the answers.
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  Thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son.
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  And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam.
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  Another Scripture. Treasure up in your minds
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  continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the
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  very hour that portion that shall be meted out unto every
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  man, and my spirit shall be in your hearts.
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  Another Scripture. Let virtue garnish thy thoughts
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  unceasingly, and the Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion.
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  Another Pray always, and I will pour out my spirit upon you, and
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  grace shall be your blessing. Another one always remember him,
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  that they may have his spirit to be with them.
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  Another look unto me in every thought.
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  Doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which Pierce
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  my side, and also the Prince of the nails in my hands and feet,
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  and be faithful. Keep my commandments, and ye
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  shall inherit the Kingdom of heaven.
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  Another, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever
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  thou goest, let it be in the Lord.
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  Yeah, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord.
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  Yeah, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord
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  forever Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will
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  direct thy direct thee for good. Yeah, when thou liest down at
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  night, lie down unto the Lord, that He may watch over you and
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  your sleep. And when thou risest in the
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  morning, let thy heart be full of things unto God.
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  And if you do these things, you shall be lifted up at the last
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  day. I know that's a lot, but with
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  all of those statements, all of those statements have two things
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  in common. They all recommend a constant,
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  continual, unceasing focus which which of necessity must be
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  something that can be done while doing everything else.
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  Second, they all lead to the same conclusion, the
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  companionship of the Holy Ghost and eternal life, the greatest
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  of all the gifts of God. If the Lord has commanded us to
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  do various things all the time, all at once, and if they all
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  lead to the same result, they must be different iterations of
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  the same thing. The one thing?
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  Remember Him always, that you may always have His Spirit to be
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  with you and ultimately inherit the Kingdom of heaven.
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  That's the one thing. It is the one thing you can do
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  while doing everything else that will also enhance and make
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  everything else better and clearer.
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  The one thing in the words of Paul gathers together in one all
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  things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on
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  earth, even in Him. While the one thing enhances
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  everything else, focus on anything else diminishes
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  everything else. In the story of Ben Hur, the
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  author Lou Wallace said it is not often we have hearts roomy
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  enough for more than one of the absorbing passions.
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  At the same time, in its blaze, the others may continue to live,
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  but only as lesser lives. But in the case of the One
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  Thing, our hearts are expanded to make room for all good
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  things, while the One Thing makes everything else clearer.
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  Obsession on anything else leads to blindness of everything else.
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  The One Thing is timeless. Not only is it relevant across
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  the broad expanse of time, but also, unlike almost every other
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  endeavor, attention devoted to it does not limit attention
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  given to other things. It is not bound by time or the
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  law of opportunity costs. It is the one thing, the only
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  thing, that enhances everything else and requires no time
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  because it should be done all the time while doing everything
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  else. The supreme expression of
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  intelligence, the crowning achievement of every rational
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  being, is to choose best, to make choices that will produce
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  change and growth within us, to become most like our Heavenly
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  Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  The power that produces that kind of change, the power by
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  which lowly, vulgar man may be not only redeemed but also
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  exalted, not only forgiven but also changed.
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  The power that not only reforms but transforms.
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  The power that not only cleanses but also strengthens, that
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  reveals the best choices, the power to carry to a conclusion
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  the best choices. The power that sanctify changes
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  and endowses by degrees with the divine nature.
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  The power that is life is God's power.
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  It is the gift and power of the Holy Ghost.
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  In this life, God's presence is His Spirit.
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  Therefore, to always remember Christ that you may always have
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  His Spirit to be with you, is to close. close the gap.
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  It is reunion with God in this life, more than waiting for
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  eternal life later. It is surmounting the essential
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  problem in life today, which is separation from God our Father.
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  Remember Him always is essentially equivalent to Thou
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  shalt have no other gods before me, which is essentially
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  equivalent to the central message of the Old Testament,
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  which is, A only God can bless us.
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  B He will bless us if we remember Him to keep His
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  commandments. C Therefore remember Him to keep
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  his commandments. Again, the supreme expression of
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  intelligence, the crowning achievement of every rational
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  being, is to choose best, to make choices that will invite
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  God's Spirit and produce change and growth within you to become
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  more like the Lord Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.
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  To choose best is to always remember the Lord Jesus Christ,
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  that you may always have his Spirit to be with you.
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  That's the one thing choose best, follow Christ, Choose
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  Christ, choose the Spirit. In the next episode, which is
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  episode 15 of this series, the Stand Forever series, we will
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  focus on choosing the gift of God's life by engaging in his
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  work. I hope you will join me then.