Hope Smiling Brightly with Amber Dawn Pearce

Bringing The Power of Jesus Christ Into Your Life

Amber Pearce Season 1 Episode 12

We are living in a day where the power of Jesus Christ is essential yet Satan is very clever in deceiving people into diminishing this power in their lives. In this episode we discuss profound insights on the power of Christ's name and how to bring it more abundantly into our lives. 

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00:00 Understanding the Adversary's Tactics
00:37 Introduction and Overcoming Opposition
02:13 Life Without Electrical Power
08:36 The Power of Jesus Christ's Name
11:55 The Importance of Covenants and Temple Worship
21:06 The Role of Prophets and Spiritual Warfare
33:22 The Power of Positive Words and Temple Garments
37:22 Conclusion and Call to Action

Amber:

President Nelson said, the adversary does not want you to understand the covenant you made at baptism. Or the profound endowment of knowledge and power you have received or will receive in the temple, the house of the Lord. And Satan certainly does not want you to understand that every time you worthily serve and worship in the temple, you leave armed with God's power and with his angels having charge over you. Close quote. Welcome to the Hope Smiling Brightly podcast. I am Amber Pearce, your host. And I am so grateful that you have taken the time to be here with me today. If you are looking for consistent, inspiring thoughts and insights in between my podcast episodes, be sure to join me on social media@amberdawnpearce. We have a great community over on Instagram So this is the fourth time I have sat down to record this podcast due to technical difficulties. And I was already a little nervous in the first place because I feel a great responsibility to relay to you something that was taught to me in a very powerful way. And I feel a little inadequate. But I am just going to push through this opposition, knowing that this must be a good thing I need to share for the amount of pushback I've received from the adversary and other things. And I will just trust and pray that the Spirit will communicate to you what you need to hear and will help me speak the words I need to say today. You are listening to episode 12 of the Hope Smiling Brightly podcast, bringing the power of Jesus Christ into your life. I grew up in a home without any power. No, I'm not talking about priesthood power. I'm talking about. Electrical power, the kind of power we enjoy every day the power we use to turn on a light or charge our phones or sit back and relax and watch a good TV show. And, No. I am not 150 years old. I'm only 47. I grew up in a day where there was plenty of power available. My parents just chose to live a little bit different of a lifestyle. With all the electronics that are at the core of our lives right now, could you imagine what it would be like to be without a source of power in our day? Back then, not having power, all we were concerned about were the things that were necessary to sustain life, we needed a source of heat. We needed a way to store and cook food. We needed light when it was too dark to see. Warm water to wash ourselves with. Unfortunately, that was optional. So at night, we would turn on gas lanterns, similar to the ones that you would take on a camping trip. Except they sat on top of these tall, skinny propane tanks, so the fuel wouldn't run out as quickly. We were always careful to have a good supply of matches, so that we could actually light those lanterns. We also had backup flashlights just in case, but we're lucky if the batteries were not dead. For heat, we had an efficient fireplace, but that heat rarely reached my bedroom. That was okay, because it was fun to scrape my name into the frost that had formed on the inside of my window every winter morning. We used a gas powered refrigerator to store our food and a wood stove that was eventually replaced by a gas stove to cook our food. We would go to the laundromat once a week to wash our clothes, but we would usually bring wet clothes home and dry them on the line, just to save a little more money. To clean ourselves, we would sponge bathe from a basin that we would heat up the water in on top of the wood stove. Or if it was summer, a good spray down with the hose was more fun and good enough. Sometimes on Saturdays, we would take the 40 minute drive to the nearest K O A campground and pay to use their showers so that we could be nice and clean for Sunday. That was Probably as luxurious as it got at my house. Things like a dishwasher, microwave, TV, VCR, vacuum, hairdryer, things that we use every day now, they just weren't necessities useless anyhow without power. Honestly, life was good. We were making do and as a child, I didn't really know what I was missing anyway. Now my father was an electrician by trade. I know, ironic, right? But because of this skill, he eventually wired our house and purchased a small generator. We were only allowed to use this generator at night and it could not handle large appliances. It was really just there so that we could flip a switch to turn on a light, But really going from a gas lantern to having a generator was so exciting and we could tell a marked difference in our lives. Still, the generator was turned off every night at bedtime. So I was always sure to have my flashlight by my bed just in case I had to get up at the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, which at first meant trekking outside to our outhouse. But when my dad wired the house, he also thankfully put in plumbing. So we finally had an indoor toilet and shower. As I got older, it became my job to go and turn on the generator at 5 a. m. every morning. Well, let's be real. I made it my job because there was 15 of us and I wanted the first shower before all the hot water ran out. After that shower, I just let my hair dry naturally because the generator couldn't handle the energy of a hairdryer, but I definitely couldn't go without a curling iron because it was the 90s, the age of the huge claw bangs and Aquanet hairspray., I may have been a hippie child, but I knew how to keep up on the hairstyles, no matter how terrible they were. We eventually got a TV, but that was usually only watched on the weekends for T. G. I. F. or Saturday morning cartoons. It was always a treat when my mom would go and rent a VCR so we could watch the occasional movie. When I was about 15 years old, Someone moved into our quiet area and built a beautiful house. But most importantly, they had the money to bring electricity into our valley for the first time. I distinctly remember standing outside and watching the electrical poles go up and the electrical lines being hung. I knew this was going to change our lives. Once again, I was used to the power that was available to us. We had survived just fine, but there was so much we couldn't do. Because we just didn't have the right kind of power. Do you know what my favorite two things were about getting electricity? Being able to turn on a light if I needed to go to the bathroom at night and getting to blow dry my hair. Of course, it didn't end there. We got a washer and dryer, a computer, VCR, vacuum cleaner. Try sweeping carpet. It doesn't really work well. Could run a ceiling fan at night when it was hot or turn on the baseboard heat when it was cold. It is amazing how much your life changes when it is connected to power. Now, I want to shift gears here for a second and talk about a different kind of power, the power of the name of our savior, Jesus Christ. The best place I can go in the scriptures to drive home how powerful his name is, is in Moses Ch 1 This is where Moses has had the most amazing spiritual experience with God, and what usually happens after powerful spiritual experiences, Satan always tends to arrive on the scene. Moses isn't fooled. He doesn't want to hear anything from Satan, and so he asks him to leave. The first time he asks is in verse 16. He says, get thee hence, Satan, deceive me not. And does Satan leave? No, he doesn't. The second time he asks again is in verse 18. I can judge between him and thee. Depart hence, Satan. Still, Satan will not leave. And then he asks for a third time in verse 20. Depart from me, still, no luck. It seems like Satan was there to stay. Finally, Moses realized the kind of power he was in need of, and I want you to recognize the difference in these words compared to all the other words he spoke. In verse 21, And Moses received strength and called upon God, saying, In the name of the only begotten, Depart hence, Satan. And what did Satan do? First he cried with a loud voice, with weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And he departed hence. It didn't matter how angry that made him, the fit that he was gonna throw. See the difference there, Satan had no choice, but to leave because of the power of the name of Jesus Christ here, the greatest source of evil in all of creation. And all you have to do is mention the savior's name and he has to obey and flee. That is how powerful. The name of Jesus Christ is. So here's something to think about. If the name of Christ can overcome the greatest source of evil in all of creation, and we have access to that power, what kind of power do we have to invite the opposite into our lives? And if just speaking the name of Jesus Christ can bring such incredible power, imagine the power that can come into our lives when we do more than just speak his name. What will happen when we faithfully and intentionally pray in his name, act in his name, and take his name upon us? This leads me to what I feel is incredibly important to make clear in the next several minutes we have together. The adversary is trying to diminish the sacred ways we bring the power of Jesus Christ into our lives. This is part of the reason why so many love to mock and criticize things like the temple, covenants, and the wearing of the garments of the holy priesthood. but from the creation of the world, we see that the Lord did not send us to a fallen world without the power to overcome it. Adam and Eve made a really good effort to cover and protect themselves by taking fig leaves and making aprons out of them. That may have been sufficient for the Garden of Eden, but that would not protect them in the fallen world. In mercy, Heavenly Father would not, could not allow them to leave without more protection. So he, the Lord God, made coats of skins and clothed them. This was not just a physical protection, but symbolic of the kind of spiritual protection and power that can only come through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So did God love Adam and Eve more than he loves us? No, he loves all his children. So does he offer us the same power and protection? Yes, he does. Knowing this, would we not want to do everything we can to bring more of his power into our lives? When we had just the propane tank to light our home at night We made do with it. But when we were able to connect to a generator just a little more power, even if it wasn't available to us 24 hours a day, man, the light a light bulb could provide compared to that gas lantern. It was so much brighter. I had no idea what I was missing until I had it. We incrementally brought power into our home, and it opened new possibilities for us each time. This is how God's power works. Elder Renlund explained, We become his disciples and represent him well when we intentionally and incrementally take on ourselves the name of Jesus Christ through covenants. Close quote. Access to the power of his name starts small and grows. Maybe it started for you the same way it started for me. Then I also started for my children when they were little. As soon as they could talk, teaching them how to pray. Not just to pray, but to pray in the name of Jesus Christ. I recognized that this was a bit unique when I would go to church with my friends. One of the first thing I notice is that their prayers didn't always end in the same way ours did. Sometimes they did, but in our faith, we end every single talk, prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. What happens next from this start of learning to communicate to our Heavenly Father in His name? A belief within us starts to grow. And typically the next thing we do, as soon as we can walk up and be tall enough to reach the microphone at a pulpit, we testify. Another very unique thing about our faith. I haven't been to any other church where any child who wants to can bear testimony of their Savior. And from this testimony grows a desire to make covenants with God, to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost in His name. Not only in His name, but through His priesthood power. And with that baptism, the weekly partaking of the sacrament becomes all the more significant. When we take the sacrament, we not only take his name upon us, but symbolically take his name inside us. We eat the bread. We drink the water. Taking his name internally. And how important this weekly reminder is. I could feel it as young as when I was a teenager, where if I missed one or two Sundays, I noticed something different in my life. As we continue to grow in the gospel, we make more covenants, when we go to the temple, an opportunity not only to be washed again, but to be anointed. A great bestowal of power and commitment in his name, his name upon us from head to toe. And then we are endowed with power in his name, his name upon our actions as we keep our covenants. Now, we not only have that weekly reminder of the sacrament, but we have a daily reminder wearing the temple garment or the garment of the holy priesthood. In his name, symbolic of his name, literally upon us. Do you see all this beautiful symbolism, the name of our savior, Jesus Christ, inside, outside, all around us, Because as we make these covenants, we need that extra power to keep them. And finally, families sealed in his name. husband and wife aren't just sealed to each other. They are sealed together with Jesus Christ. We truly are given every avenue to always remember him. So much of this is unique to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, but it's not unique to God's people. In second Kings chapter 21, verse four, and he built altars in the house of the Lord of which the Lord said. In Jerusalem, will I put my name. so taking his name upon us as a start, but as president Emily Bell Freeman said, what the ordinance and our covenant promise unlock also deserves the focus of our attention. Priesthood ordinances and covenant promises allow God to sanctify us and then work wonders in our lives. Close quote. As we make covenants with Jesus Christ and keep them, the power of his name can become so great in our lives that the very image of Jesus Christ is engraven upon our countenances. And when this is the case, Satan has zero power over us. In Numbers 626, it says, The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them. And the savior has promised us when he said in that famous scripture in the world, ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. The term the world is another way of referring to Satan's dominion. So let me rephrase this verse to make it a little more clear in Satan's dominion. You shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome Satan. And if Christ has overcome Satan, that is who we want with us all the time. If he is with us, his spirit always to be with us, Satan cannot be in his presence. Do you see why Satan is so desperate to disarm us of this power? When we think of what has been prophesied concerning the last days, we all know about Armageddon, but forget about Armageddon. We are already in the greatest battle in history. Satan is on for attack, but. Covenant keepers are at an astronomically unfair advantage. Now another part of this advantage is because he has called a prophet to speak in his name and lead us in the name of Christ, the only one on earth who has authority to do so. I love this example of the importance of prophets during battle in the scriptures. In Alma chapter 48, Captain Moroni has been through a lot of war, but he's been promised something. If they are faithful in keeping the commandments of God that He would prosper them in the land, yea, warn them to flee, to prepare for war according to their danger, and also that God would make it known unto them whether they should go to defend themselves against their enemies, and by so doing the Lord would deliver them. So how did Captain Moroni know where to go and what to do? Well, he turned to the prophet Alma, gave him invaluable information that helped them to win the war. So what is our prophet telling us? Where do we need to go to defend ourselves? I don't know if he could possibly make this more clear. Every single general conference since he has been prophet, he has talked about the importance of being in the temple. He said, my dear brothers and sisters, the assaults of the adversary are increasing exponentially in intensity and in variety. Our need to be in the temple on a regular basis has never been greater. And another time, he said, Here is my promise. Nothing will help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than worshipping in the temple as regularly as your circumstances permit. Nothing will protect you more as you encounter the world's mists of darkness. Nothing will bolster your testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and his atonement or help you understand God's magnificent plan. Nothing soothe your spirit more during times of pain. Nothing will open the heavens more. Nothing. If it isn't clear what the battle plan is to overcome Satan by the prophet's words, it should be clear by the number of temples that have been announced all over the world. The second coming of the Lord is soon. We've been told to prepare for it, which means Satan's desperation is at an all time high. We have got to be prepared. But as we make and keep covenants in the temple, we don't need to worry. We will always be at an unfair advantage. Going back to Moroni, it reminds me of the unfair advantage Moroni had against Zarahemna because of his covenants and because of a prophet of God. Listen to how Moroni's army was armed compared to Zarahemna's. Had prepared his people with breastplates and with arm shields, yea, and also shields to fend their heads, and also they were dressed with thick clothing. Now, army of Zarahemna was not prepared with any such thing. They had only their swords and their scimitars, and their bows and their arrows, their stones and their slings, and they were naked, save it were a skin which was girded about their loins. Can you imagine Zarahemna's army's reaction when they met for a battle and saw what they were up against? Zarahemna's army only had weapons. Zero armor. But what if Zarahemna had said, Okay, hold up. Time out. This isn't fair. Would you mind taking your armor off first? Um, no brainer. I don't think there's any clever words he could have come up with to get them to take off their armor. But do we see what's happening right now in this spiritual battle? Satan and his angels have no armor. Plenty of weapons, but still his pathetic power is nothing against God's armor. And we know his game plan because of a prophet of God. Satan is very aware of that unfair advantage and he wants that armor off. It is his only chance. we have been promised that the power of the Lamb of God will descend upon the covenant people of the Lord, and we will be armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory. Sadly, Satan is convincing some of God's people in such subtle ways to take off the armor of God and hand it right over to him. He does not want the name of Christ upon us. He tries to remove it from everywhere he can. He has even tried to remove the name of Christ from his church. Can you see why this is such important revelation that the prophet received and how important it is for us to follow that? And how clever, Satan's little deceptions. He will slowly work backwards at everything we've done in Christ's name until little by little we are completely stripped of it. That is the only chance he has, because he is powerless if he does not. He wants the name of Jesus Christ out of our families, out of our marriages, so that he can destroy them. And he'll do that by convincing us to turn away from the covenants we've made. Anything he can do to get us to attend the temple less, take the sacrament less. Pray less. Wear our garments less. Until the daily reminders, weekly reminders are gone. He will stop at nothing until there is no belief, no power of Christ's name left in your life so that you are his. I've heard people try to diminish the power of these things by saying, I don't have to go into a building to remember Christ. I don't have to wear special underwear to have a relationship with my savior. I don't have to drink. A little water, eat a little bread to have Christ's power in my life. I'm sorry, but yes, you do because these things are done in his power, priesthood power to help you overcome Satan. To try to remember Christ and bring his power into your life of your own abilities, is the equivalent of Adam and Eve deciding to go out into the fallen world with only the aprons they created and leaving God's protection behind. Sorry. That's okay, Heavenly Father. We've got enough right here. God accepted their efforts, but their aprons were not created with priesthood power, but their own power. What God creates is created in His power and authority. The coverings He made and put upon Adam and Eve were created in His power and authority. Now, God does not limit his power to only members of the church of Jesus Christ, but Without priesthood ordinances, anyone's full potential of power is limited. Yes, faith in Jesus Christ is still powerful. But just like the power that the generator provided my home growing up was great and, and fit our basic needs. It was still limited. There were certain things we simply could not do, even if we wanted to. In Matthew chapter seven, verses 21 through 23, it says, not everyone that say offend to me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of my father, which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. And from the Joseph Smith translation, we know that he actually said, you never knew me. When I first studied these verses, I thought, man, that's kind of harsh. These people are doing good things. Why is the Lord rejecting them? Then I started to understand there are a lot of good meaning people that use the name of Christ to build up their own churches. But the name of Christ can only be fully taken on or put upon someone through priesthood authority. In D& C 6362, it says, For behold, verily I say, that many there be who are under this condemnation, who use the name of the Lord, and use it in vain, having not authority. It's like all that wiring my dad put in our house, the outlets, the appliances, were only as good as the power source that was connected to it. This authority from God, all that his priesthood power brings, is just like that connection to the power line. But even though I vividly remember the excitement and the novelty of being able to flip a switch whenever I wanted and light coming on and how electricity changed my life, now, I don't even think about electricity. I totally take it for granted. This can easily happen with the power of Christ in our lives. We have done all the things so often, we are just going through the motions and forget how significant and life changing The power that we have access to really is. We can have this power and not take full advantage of it. When we first got electricity, my parents went out and purchased a dishwasher. But guess what? It never got hooked up. And we continued washing dishes in the same way we always had. We had a microwave, but I felt the buttons were kind of confusing, and so I just didn't bother using it. President Emily Bell Freeman said, Learn how priesthood ordinances and covenant promises will allow God's power to flow into your life with greater efficacy, working in and through you, empowering and equipping you to reach your full purpose and potential. So, it's good to ask ourselves, is there a power we aren't taking advantage of because it has become routine, or it feels confusing, or we just want to stick with our old and comfortable ways? If we have the desire to understand and use the power we've been endowed with, God will answer. I could record a zillion podcasts on this topic, but here's just one example. This complacency happened to me with my temple garments. I put them on every day, but I rarely stopped to think about their significance. Until the Spirit taught me something that helps me better understand their power. This happened at a time where I was experiencing a lot of depression and I was trying to learn how to be more positive. I came across several different studies on the effects of positive versus negative words. And then I found the most fascinating video. It was of an experiment that they put on in a high school where they took two identical plants and placed them in the high school hallways. These plants both had the exact same amount of light and water, but there was one difference in their care. On one plant was a sign that instructed the students to criticize and insult and speak unkind words to that plant. The other plant had a sign that instructed the students to only give that plant praise and kind words. The result was mind blowing. The plant that was getting criticism turned brown and started to wither away and die. The plant that received the positive words thrived and grew and stood tall. Learning about that experience really taught me the significance of positive versus negative thoughts and how they can truly affect us. It made me think of the negative suggestions from the adversary I was fighting on what felt like a constant basis compared to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. I joked with myself that maybe I should just get a Sharpie and write a bunch of powerful thoughts all over my body. Honestly, I found myself wishing and praying for something simple like that to help strengthen and protect me from Satan's negative influence. And as I pondered it, the words came into my mind. What do you think your garments are for? Really, is there any more powerful and positive word or name you could place on your body? I think wearing my garments had become so habitual that I didn't even recognize its power and effect. This indifference is warned of in the scriptures as the Israelites were given a symbol of Jesus Christ, the brass serpent, and he had prepared a way that they might be healed, and the labor which they had to perform was to look, and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished what a gift I had been given in putting something on my body to bring to my mind the power of my covenant relationship with my Savior Jesus Christ the very definition of positivity light life power and to be able to start every single day of my life for the last 27 years with a positive action of faith like putting on my temple garments it was a huge mindset shift to me how this simple diligent action cultivates faith and positivity and in effect brings miracles and protection that I may not even be completely aware of. There are simple things that Spirit can teach us in this journey that will help us access more power in the name of Christ. One more thing I want to share in conclusion. We all effectually partook of the fruit for the same reason Adam and Eve did. We desire knowledge. Satan has played on that desire for knowledge from the beginning of time and has offered knowledge that is so calculated that it can be incredibly hard to discern truth from error. So hard to discern that God wept at the number of children that fell for Satan's lies. His children are still falling for Satan's lies, lies that are pulling people away from the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. One of those gifts, when we take the name of Christ upon us is the gift to discern. But if we remove his name from us, we also remove that gift. Just give it time. And over years of small deceptions You can end up in a place that you would have never gone, had you only known where it would end from the beginning. One thing that is true about Satan is that he is always lying. Lying about something. So think about this. Either Satan is leading all the naysayers of the church and creating lies to help you leave your covenants and all you do in the name of Christ, or Satan is leading this church and lying to you to try and get you to always remember Christ through prayer, baptism, sacrament, temple covenants that help us love, serve, and increase in faith. Can you tell me why in the world Satan would try to get you to do the latter? You can't, because he wouldn't. It's absolutely ludicrous, and actually impossible, because it's against his very nature he cannot endure things that bring the light of Christ. When we just had a generator for power, we didn't turn it on at a certain time each day. We would just go through our day, keep doing our work until someone recognized that it was too dark. And even then, there were times that we would turn it on and It wouldn't work. It wasn't always reliable. So that is why we took advantage of the more reliable power when we had the opportunity. As this world gets darker and darker, before the second coming, More and more people will wake up and start realizing that we need more light and will seek and do whatever they can to access it and share it. And more and more people will have this promise in Doctrine and Covenants section 190. Thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them. That no weapon formed against them shall prosper, and he who diggeth a pit for them shall fall into the same himself. That no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise up and prevail over thy people, upon whom thy name shall be put in this house. So let me reiterate. In Doctrine and Covenants 1823, it says, Behold, Jesus Christ is the name which is given of the Father, and there is none other name given whereby man can be saved. If it is His name that is the only one that saves, would we not want to take advantage of any and everything that brings His name into our lives in more abundance? Now, can I give you a few suggestions if you would like to study the power of the name of Christ yourself? First, there is a topic in the topical guide called Name of the Lord. It's a great study. And as you ponder things to ask Heavenly Father as you pray, perhaps ask him to help you recognize what you have in your life because you have taken the name of Christ upon you. and ask, how can I bring more of the power of Jesus Christ, of his name, into my life? Christ is power and protection. Christ is hope, smiling brightly. it's just as important to be physically prepared as it is to be spiritually prepared. And Thrive Life is the easiest and most delicious way to help you do that. It is food with a 25 year shelf life and all you do is set up a delivery with a budget that works for you and you are slowly able to build up a supply of food for whatever may come. So go to amber.thrivelife.comm and set up a delivery to get 15 percent off retail and free shipping on orders of a hundred dollars or more.