"'Abide in Me, and I in You; Therefore Walk with Me'"

Last updated on September 11th, 2023 at 03:00 pm

General Conference Applied

S1 E7 – Sunday, September 10, 2023 | “‘Abide in Me, and I in You; Therefore Walk with Me‘” by Elder David A. Bednar; April 2023 General Conference

Listen on Amazon Music | Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Spotify

Podcast Episode Outline

Report on Prior Week’s Action Item

Last week I committed to, in the words of President Bonnie H. Cordon, “come eager to receive counsel from the Lord through prayer.” Here is my report:

Individually, I strived to observe this counsel from Elder Bednar’s book “Increase in Learning: Spiritual Patterns for Obtaining Your Own Answers”:
Elder Bednar explains the importance of morning prayer, and then he writes: “Such a prayer is a key part of the spiritual preparation for our day. During the course of the day, we keep a prayer in our heart for continued assistance and guidance… At the end of our day, we kneel again and report back to our Father… Thus our evening prayer builds upon and is a continuation of our morning prayer. And our evening prayer also is a preparation for meaningful morning prayer.”
This concept was powerful to me – the idea that each prayer builds off of previous prayers and leads into future prayers!
As a family, I began to apply this counsel from Stephen and Sandra Covey which they shared in a January 1976 Ensign article entitled “Teaching Our Children to Pray” (an article from which I shared a separate insight in General Conference Applied season 1 episode 6): “Often we go around the prayer circle and ask each family member if he has any special needs or blessings he would like to have remembered in the prayer.” This practice has been informative, enlightening, and powerful.

To begin, I want to share a quote from the book “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” by author Daniel H. Pink:

“In 1962, Clare Boothe Luce, one of the first women to serve in the U.S. Congress, offered some advice to President John F. Kennedy. ‘A great man,’ she told him, ‘is a sentence.’ Abraham Lincoln’s sentence was: ‘He preserved the union and freed the slaves.’ Franklin Roosevelt’s was: ‘He lifted us out of a Great Depression and helped us win a world war.’ Luce feared that Kennedy’s attention was so splintered among different priorities that his sentence risked becoming a muddled paragraph.

“You don’t have to be a president – of the United States or of your local gardening club – to learn from this tale. One way to orient your life toward greater purpose is to think about your sentence. Maybe it’s: ‘He raised four kids who became happy and healthy adults.’ Or ‘She invented a device that made people’s lives easier.’ Or ‘He cared for every person who walked into his office regardless of whether that person could pay.’ Or ‘She taught two generations of children how to read.’

“As you contemplate your purpose, begin with the big question: What’s your sentence?”

So, as we begin, I ask you the same question: what’s your sentence? When the history of the world is written, what will be the one sentence that defines you?

Introduction

In each episode of General Conference Applied, we are attempting to answer two questions:

What is the speaker inviting me to do?
How might I consider taking action?

What is the speaker inviting me to do?

The title of Elder Bednar’s talk, taken from Moses 6:34, are words spoken by Jehovah to the prophet Enoch. However, I want you to consider this idea: without modern scripture, all we would know about Enoch was the information in Genesis 5:18-24 – that Jared was Enoch’s father, that Methuselah was Enoch’s son, that Enoch lived 365 years, and then his one sentence: “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” Thankfully for us, because of modern scripture, we could instead share this sentence for Enoch: “Enoch abode in Christ, and Christ abode in Enoch; therefore Enoch walked with Christ. (Also, as a side note, in this week’s Choosing Glory podcast episode (episode 3.36), Lili Anderson shared the idea to view each General Conference address as aids to building Zion. This is a powerful idea, especially as we have discussed Enoch, the original inhabitant of the city of Zion.)

The title of Elder Bednar’s talk, taken from Moses 6:34, contains three parts. Let’s discuss these three parts in detail to try and determine what Elder Bednar is inviting us to do.

Invitation

“I briefly have described several of the many ways we can abide in the Savior. And I now invite each of us as His disciples to ask, seek, knock, and learn for ourselves by the power of the Holy Ghost other meaningful ways we can make Christ the center of our lives in all that we do.”

Note that Elder Bednar just gave us his definition of “abiding in the Savior.” To Elder Bednar, “abiding in the Savior” means to “make Christ the center of our lives in all that we do.”

“Abide in Me”

Elder Bednar stated: “The Lord Jesus Christ extends to each of us the invitation to abide in Him. (John 15:4-9) But how do we actually learn and come to abide in Him?” He then gives 6 examples of how we can come to abide in Him:

“We abide in Christ as we are firm and steadfast in our devotion to the Redeemer and His holy purposes, in times both good and bad.” (John 15:10)
“We begin to abide in the Lord by exercising our moral agency to take upon ourselves His yoke (Matthew 11:29-30) through the covenants and ordinances of the restored gospel.”
“We abide in Him by striving continually to strengthen our individual covenant bond with the Father and the Son. For example, praying sincerely to the Eternal Father in the name of His Beloved Son deepens and fortifies our covenant connection with Them.”
“We abide in Him by truly feasting upon the words of Christ.”
“We abide in Him by preparing earnestly to participate in the ordinance of the sacrament, reviewing and reflecting on our covenant promises, and repenting sincerely. Worthily partaking of the sacrament is a witness to God that we are willing to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ and strive to ‘always remember him’ (Moroni 4:3, 5:2) after the brief period of time required to participate in that sacred ordinance.”
“And we abide in Him by serving God as we serve His children and minister to our brothers and sisters.” (Mosiah 2:17)

In his April 2004 General Conference address entitled “‘Abide in Me,'” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stated:

“‘Abide in me’ is an understandable and beautiful enough concept in the elegant English of the King James Bible, but ‘abide’ is not a word we use much anymore. So I gained even more appreciation for this admonition from the Lord when I was introduced to the translation of this passage in another language. In Spanish that familiar phrase is rendered ‘permaneced en mi.’ Like the English verb ‘abide,’ permanecer means ‘to remain, to stay,’ but even gringos like me can hear the root cognate there of ‘permanence.’ The sense of this then is ‘stay—but stay forever.’ That is the call of the gospel message to Chileans and everyone else in the world. Come, but come to remain. Come with conviction and endurance. Come permanently, for your sake and the sake of all the generations who must follow you, and we will help each other be strong to the very end…

“Jesus said, ‘Without me ye can do nothing.’ (John 15:5) I testify that that is God’s truth. Christ is everything to us and we are to ‘abide’ in Him permanently, unyieldingly, steadfastly, forever. For the fruit of the gospel to blossom and bless our lives, we must be firmly attached to Him, the Savior of us all, and to this His Church, which bears His holy name. He is the vine that is our true source of strength and the only source of eternal life. In Him we not only will endure but also will prevail and triumph in this holy cause that will never fail us.”

In a December 1988 Ensign article entitled “Jesus Christ – Gifts and Expectations,” President Ezra Taft Benson stated: “Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life.”

“And I in you”

Elder Bednar stated: “Is it indeed possible for Christ to abide in you and me—individually and personally? The answer to this question is a resounding yes!”

Elder Bednar’s April 2022 General Conference address was entitled “But We Heeded Them Not.” In that talk, Elder Bednar explained how one of the Savior’s names is “The Word.” (John 1:1, 14; 1 John 1:1; Revelation 19:13; Doctrine and Covenants 93:8–10; Moses 1:32)

In this talk, Elder Bednar shares how the prophet Alma in The Book of Mormon invited the Zoramites to “plant the word” in their hearts. Alma 32:28 states: “Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.”

Elder Bednar then shared this commentary: “The seed we should strive to plant in our hearts is the word—even the life, mission, and doctrine of Jesus Christ. And as the word is nourished by faith, it can become a tree springing up in us unto everlasting life. (Alma 26:13) What was the symbolism of the tree in Lehi’s vision? The tree can be considered as a representation of Jesus Christ.”

Then Elder Bednar shared five powerful questions for reflection:

“My beloved brothers and sisters, is the Word in us?”
“Are the truths of the Savior’s gospel written in the fleshy tables of our hearts?” (2 Corinthians 3:3)
“Are we coming unto and gradually becoming more like Him?”
“Is the tree of Christ growing in us?”
“Are we striving to become “new [creatures]’ (2 Corinthians 5:17) in Him?” (Alma 32:42)

Only we can answer these questions for ourselves.

“Therefore Walk with Me”

Elder Bednar stated: “Walking in and with the Savior highlights two vital aspects of discipleship: (1) obeying God’s commandments, and (2) remembering and honoring the sacred covenants that connect us to the Father and the Son.”

Let me share a quote from “But We Heeded Them Not” that can help us better understand the power that comes from walking with the Savior:

“As we honor the conditions of sacred covenants and ordinances, we gradually and incrementally are drawn closer to Him (3 Nephi 27:14-15) and experience the impact of His divinity and living reality in our lives. Jesus then becomes much more than the central character in scripture stories; His example and teachings influence our every desire, thought, and action.

“I frankly do not have the ability to describe adequately the precise nature and power of our covenant connection with the resurrected and living Son of God. But I witness that the connections with Him and Heavenly Father are real and are the ultimate sources of assurance, peace, joy, and the spiritual strength that enable us to ‘fear not, though the enemy deride.’ (Hymns, no. 243) As covenant-making and covenant-keeping disciples of Jesus Christ, we can be blessed to take ‘courage, for the Lord is on our side’ (Hymns, no. 243) and pay no attention to evil influences and secular scoffing.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf shared (October 2021 General Conference: Daily Restoration) a memorable example of how, without a reliable landmark (i.e., our Savior Jesus Christ), human beings struggle to walk in a straight line:

“There is an oft-repeated theory that people who are lost walk in circles. Not long ago, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics tested that theory. They took participants to a thick forest and gave them simple instructions: ‘Walk in a straight line.’ There were no visible landmarks. The test subjects had to rely solely on their sense of direction.

“How do you think they did?

“The scientists concluded, ‘People really [do] walk in circles when they do not have reliable cues to their walking direction.’ When questioned afterwards, some participants self-confidently claimed that they had not deviated in the slightest. Despite their high confidence, GPS data showed that they walked in loops as tight as 20 meters in diameter.

“Why do we have such a hard time walking in a straight line? Some researchers hypothesize that small, seemingly insignificant deviations in terrain make the difference. Others have pointed to the fact that we all have one leg that is slightly stronger than the other. ‘More likely,’ however, we struggle to walk straight ahead ‘[because] of increasing uncertainty about where straight ahead is.’

“Whatever the cause, it is human nature: without reliable landmarks, we drift off course.”

In his October 2022 General Conference address entitled “Overcome the World and Find Rest,” President Russell M. Nelson said:

“I grieve for those who leave the Church because they feel membership requires too much of them. They have not yet discovered that making and keeping covenants actually makes life easier! Each person who makes covenants in baptismal fonts and in temples—and keeps them—has increased access to the power of Jesus Christ. Please ponder that stunning truth!

“The reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power—power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations, and heartaches better. This power eases our way. Those who live the higher laws of Jesus Christ have access to His higher power. Thus, covenant keepers are entitled to a special kind of rest that comes to them through their covenantal relationship with God.”

How might I consider taking action?

Let me share again Elder Bednar’s invitation: “I briefly have described several of the many ways we can abide in the Savior. And I now invite each of us as His disciples to ask, seek, knock, and learn for ourselves by the power of the Holy Ghost other meaningful ways we can make Christ the center of our lives in all that we do.”

As a reminder, in General Conference Applied season 1 episode 6, we discussed Elder Bednar’s explanation of doctrines, principles, and applications. Rather than making this invitation from Elder Bednar just one more thing for you to do this week, how might you connect this invitation, and your taking action on it, to the bigger picture?

Here are two ideas:

Focus on the promises that Elder Bednar shared in his message (see the 6 promises I identified in the show notes below). What can you learn from them? For example, one of the promises that Elder Bednar shared is: As we walk in and with the Savior, “we will be blessed to bring forth much fruit.” What might this look like in your life?
Focus on Christlike Attributes. Here are a few questions from the Attribute Activity in Preach My Gospel chapter 6 that I found to be applicable to Elder Bednar’s message:
- “I trust the Savior enough to accept His will and do what He asks.” (1 Nephi 3:7) (FAITH)
- “I do not lower my standards or behavior so I can impress or be accepted by others.” (1 Nephi 8:24–28) (INTEGRITY)
- “I strive to live in accordance with the laws and principles of the gospel.” (Doctrine and Covenants 41:5) (OBEDIENCE)

This Week’s Action Item

“That which is measured improves. That which is measured and reported improves exponentially.”
Karl Pearson, an early 20th-century British mathematician

“Those who measure their progress improve. Those who measure and report their progress improve exponentially.”
Dan Sullivan, founder and president of The Strategic Coach Inc.

“Do something, do anything! But to start, just do ONE thing.”
Mitch Peterson

I will “ask, seek, knock, and learn for [myself] by the power of the Holy Ghost other meaningful ways [I] can make Christ the center of [my life] in all that [I] do.” My goal is to come up with 5 “other meaningful ways,” and I will report these to my wife (i.e., my accountability partner). If you take action on this invitation from Elder Bednar this week, would you mind sharing with me what “other meaningful ways” you come up with? Feel free to text me or message me on Facebook or Instagram. I will put together a list of these meaningful ways that will be of benefit to others.

Conclusion

The most powerful quote I identified in this talk states the following:

“Some Church members accept as true the doctrine, principles, and testimonies proclaimed repeatedly from this pulpit in the Conference Center and in local congregations around the world—and yet may struggle to believe these eternal truths apply specifically in their lives and to their circumstances. They believe sincerely and serve dutifully, but their covenant connection with the Father and His redeeming Son has not yet become a living and transforming reality in their lives.

“I promise that by the power of the Holy Ghost, you can know and feel the gospel truths I have attempted to describe are for you—for you individually and personally.”

I testify that you can abide in the Savior, and He can abide in you. No matter what you have experienced in life – no matter how insignificant, or unimportant, or forgotten you feel – I testify that the Savior knows you. He knows how significant and important you really are. I can use the word “know” here because I’ve experienced that low – of feeling insignificant, unimportant, and forgotten. The Holy Ghost has comforted me during these times in my life. And so I know that the Savior knows me. And He knows you.

To conclude, let me leave you with this thoughtful insight from Elder Gerrit W. Gong‘s October 2021 General Conference address entitled “Trust Again“:

“The Apostle Paul asks, ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?’ He answers, ‘Neither death, nor life, … nor height, nor depth … shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Romans 8:35, 38–39) Yet, there is someone who can separate us from God and Jesus Christ—and that someone is us, ourselves. As Isaiah says, ‘Your sins have hid his face from you.’ (Isaiah 59:2)

“By divine love and divine law, we are responsible for our choices and their consequences. But our Savior’s atoning love is ‘infinite and eternal.’ (Alma 34:10) When we are ready to come home, even when we are ‘yet a great way off,’ (Luke 15:20) God is ready with great compassion to welcome us, joyfully offering the best He has.” (Luke 15:22-23)

Talk Outline

Powerful Stories

“The ancient prophet Enoch, described in the Old Testament, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, (Genesis 5:18–24; Doctrine and Covenants 107:48–57; Moses 6–7) was instrumental in establishing the city of Zion.

“The scriptural account of Enoch’s call to serve indicates that ‘he heard a voice from heaven, saying: Enoch, my son, prophesy unto this people, and say unto them—Repent, … for their hearts have waxed hard, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes cannot see afar off.’ (Moses 6:27)

“‘And when Enoch had heard these words, he bowed himself to the earth … and spake before the Lord, saying: Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?’ (Moses 6:31)

“Please notice that at the time of Enoch’s call to serve, he became acutely aware of his personal inadequacies and limitations. And I suspect all of us at one time or another in our Church service have felt much like Enoch. But I believe the Lord’s response to Enoch’s pleading question is instructive and applies to each of us today.

“‘And the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance. …

“‘Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me.’ (Moses 6:32, 34)

“Enoch ultimately became a mighty prophet and a tool in God’s hands to accomplish a great work, but he did not start his ministry that way! Rather, his capacity over time was magnified as he learned to abide in and walk with the Son of God.”

Most Important Quote

“I promise that by the power of the Holy Ghost, you can know and feel the gospel truths I have attempted to describe are for you—for you individually and personally.”

The Best Footnote

Footnote 18: “I explained this principle in a devotional in 2017:

“Alma … ‘began to preach the word of God unto the people, entering into their synagogues, and into their houses; yea, and even they did preach the word in their streets’ [Alma 32:1; emphasis added]. He also compared the word of God to a seed.

“‘Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me’ [Alma 32:28; emphasis added].

“Interestingly, a good seed becomes a tree as it is planted in the heart and begins to swell, sprout, and grow.

“‘And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit.

“‘But if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out.

“‘Now, this is not because the seed was not good, neither is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable; but it is because your ground is barren, and ye will not nourish the tree, therefore ye cannot have the fruit thereof.

“‘And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life.

“‘But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life’ [Alma 32:37–41; emphasis added].

“… The central feature in Lehi’s dream is the tree of life—a representation of ‘the love of God’ [1 Nephi 11:21–22].

“‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ [John 3:16].

“The birth, life, and atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ are the greatest manifestations of God’s love for His children. As Nephi testified, this love was ‘most desirable above all things’ and ‘most joyous to the soul’ [1 Nephi 11:22–23; see also 1 Nephi 8:12, 15]. Chapter 11 of 1 Nephi presents a detailed description of the tree of life as a symbol for the life, ministry, and sacrifice of the Savior—the ‘condescension of God’ [1 Nephi 11:16]. The tree can be considered as a representation of Christ.

“One way of thinking about the fruit on the tree is as a symbol for the blessings of the Savior’s Atonement. The fruit is described as ‘desirable to make one happy’ [1 Nephi 8:10] and produces great joy and the desire to share that joy with others.

“Significantly, the overarching theme of the Book of Mormon, inviting all to come unto Christ [see Moroni 10:32], is paramount in Lehi’s vision [see 1 Nephi 8:19]” (“The Power of His Word Which Is in Us” [address given at seminar for new mission leaders, June 27, 2017], 4–5).

Questions for Reflection Asked by the Speaker

“My beloved brothers and sisters, is the Word in us?”
“Are the truths of the Savior’s gospel written in the fleshy tables of our hearts?” (2 Corinthians 3:3)
“Are we coming unto and gradually becoming more like Him?”
“Is the tree of Christ growing in us?”
“Are we striving to become “new [creatures]’ (2 Corinthians 5:17) in Him?” (Alma 32:42)

Directives / Invitations

“I briefly have described several of the many ways we can abide in the Savior. And I now invite each of us as His disciples to ask, seek, knock, and learn for ourselves by the power of the Holy Ghost other meaningful ways we can make Christ the center of our lives in all that we do.”

Promises

Action: “The seed we should strive to plant in our hearts is the word—even the life, mission, and doctrine of Jesus Christ.”
Promise: “And as the word is nourished by faith, it can become a tree springing up in us unto everlasting life.” (Alma 26:13)
Promise: “I testify the Savior’s promise to abide in us is true and available to every covenant-keeping member of His restored Church.”
Action: “I testify that as we press forward in faith and walk in the meekness of the Lord’s Spirit (Doctrine and Covenants 19:23)
Promise: “we are blessed with power, guidance, protection, and peace.”
Action: “I promise that by the power of the Holy Ghost
Promise: “you can know and feel the gospel truths I have attempted to describe are for you—for you individually and personally.”
Action: “If we abide in Him”
Promise: “He will abide in us.” (John 15:5)
Action: “And as we walk in and with Him”
Promise: “we will be blessed to bring forth much fruit.”