“The Enabling Power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement,” Liahona, March 2017
Visiting Teaching Message
The Enabling Power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement
Prayerfully study this material and seek for inspiration to know what to share. How will understanding the purpose of Relief Society prepare daughters of God for the blessings of eternal life?
Detail from Strength beyond Our Own, by Brian Call
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). “Though we all have weaknesses, we can overcome them,” says President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency. “Indeed it is by the grace of God that, if we humble ourselves and have faith, weak things can become strong.”1
Our Savior says in the Doctrine and Covenants, “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (D&C 84:88).
“Nephi is an example of one who knew, understood, and relied upon the enabling power of the Savior,” says Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “Nephi’s brothers bound him with cords and planned his destruction. Please note Nephi’s prayer: ‘O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound’ (1 Nephi 7:17; emphasis added).
“… Nephi did not pray to have his circumstances changed. Rather, he prayed for the strength to change his circumstances. And I believe he prayed in this manner precisely because he knew, understood, and had experienced the enabling power of the Atonement.
“I do not think the bands with which Nephi was bound just magically fell from his hands and wrists. Rather, I suspect he was blessed with both persistence and personal strength beyond his natural capacity, that he then ‘in the strength of the Lord’ (Mosiah 9:17) worked and twisted and tugged on the cords, and ultimately and literally was enabled to break the bands.”2
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