104. Centering our life on Jesus Christ

I have spent so much time in my life centering photos and graphics and designs , and what's weird about centering is sometimes , when you're looking at a screen and you've been in this editing session for like an hour it starts to be difficult to find the center of the image . Like it , things start looking a little wonky .

I don't know if it's because your eyes are tired from looking at the screen or your brains burnt out from being focused for a long time , but those are the moments where I need to give myself a break and return back to the image fresh .

I have had similar experiences when lost in the middle of doing gospel work but losing focus of the center , the center being Jesus Christ . If we lose focus on the nucleus of the gospel , all of the activities , the meetings , the service , everything we do loses its savor . Jesus is the only enduring element that can carry us through a lifetime of covenant living .

If you think about it , covenant living is not asking us to show up at church once a week . We're asked to do quite a lot of things , to vote our entire existence , to be coming like Jesus Christ , and so having him at the center of that work is the only way to truly be centered .

Last week , income , follow Me our study and reading surrounded the Savior and His willingness to submit to the Father In the Garden of Gethsemane . He would not have been able to endure the torment and pain of the world without a clear understanding of His purpose .

In those hours he focused upon the will of the Father , the plan of happiness and His role becoming the Savior of the world . Elder Detodd Christopherson stated this quote Jesus achieved perfect unity with the Father by submitting himself , both body and spirit , to the will of the Father .

His focus on the Father is one of the principal reasons Jesus' ministry had such clarity and power . There was no distracting double-mindedness in him" . Double-minded comes from the Greek word dipsukos . I don't know if I said that right A person with two minds or souls . I thought it was interesting to think about this . Dipsukos I'm totally butchering this .

I know I am , but a person having two minds or souls . That sounds exhausting and it reminded me of the scripture in James 1.6-8 where it says but let him ask in faith . Nothing wavering , for he that wavereth is like a wave on the sea , driven with the wind and tossed , for let not that man think he shall receive anything of the Lord .

A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways . I recently experienced this in my own life . It may be a silly , small example , but I hope I can illustrate the principle of double-minded miss and getting centered on Jesus Christ . If you know me personally , you know I am not a camper .

I am very high maintenance in the way that I sleep and in the way that I have my food . I have to be particular about my pillows , I've got a CPAP machine and there's just so many things in my life that don't fit with the realm of camping . And I recently , a couple months ago , prayed about whether or not I should go to girls camp this week .

I prayed with a strong desire that it wouldn't be something I needed to do . I really thought if I prayed about it and showed the Lord that I was willing to go to girls camp , that he'd say , no , you don't need to go , but Heavenly Father , in his wisdom and in the ways that are much higher than my own ways , said I need to go .

After praying and receiving this answer , I still felt uneasy . The uneasiness did not come from the message from the Lord . Instead , it came from my own anxiety and double-mindedness . After I received the answer from God , I wanted him to somehow change his mind . I asked for his input , but was still reticent to follow it .

To be honest , I'm still a little nervous about going camping , but I have been praying for the desire and the ability to be all in on this prompting . Now , this example is small beings compared to most difficult decisions that we have in life , but I am being asked right now to go outside my comfort zone into something that makes me scared .

But I know that I can do hard things with Jesus Christ and I know that if I center this experience on the Savior , I will be choosing to do what God wants me to be doing . Elder Christopherson then said this In the same way , you and I can put Christ at the center of our lives and become one with Him . He is one with the Father .

We could begin by stripping everything out of our lives and then putting it back together in priority order , with the Savior at the center" . With camping , I had to get down to the complete bare bones of why I felt anxious . After I prayed , I came to terms with the fact that I wanted to change the Lord's mind .

I knew that I would continue to feel anxious if I did not accept the Lord's will , so I decided to stop doubting his desire for me to be there and to put my comfort on the altar of the Lord . That's when I started feeling peace , when I started centering what I wanted to do upon what God wanted me to do .

I remember in a lesson growing up my mom's friend , elaine , teaching us about the things that matter most . She had a jar and large rocks and then a cup of sand . First she poured the sand into the jar and then tried to put the rocks in . But when she poured the sand in , there was no room for all of the rocks .

So she poured the sand back out and then put the rocks into the jar . After she fit all of the rocks in there , she poured the sand in on top . Everything fit inside the jar . She talked about how the rocks were representative of things that were of Christ , the rock of our Redeemer .

When we build upon the rock , we have that steady foundation , but if we start our life and we center it around the sand , there will not be enough room for those rocks .

I've thought about that example many times in my life , and about things that are wonderful , that I'm doing , things that are great , but maybe things that are distracting me from the core , from the purpose of what I'm actually doing . This reminded me of episode 59 , when we talked about building a sure foundation .

If you want more context for what I'm about to talk about , I highly recommend going back and listening . My dad shared so many good insights with me to build that episode and it's still one that I return back to . While preparing to give that episode , I learned a lot about the actual process and construction of a foundation for a structure .

I remember my dad teaching me this about a foundation . He said this quote if you start right , you will have a higher chance of finishing right . Everything you construct above will be affected by the foundation , end quote . I love that quote and it reminded me of choosing to build our foundation on the spiritual center being Jesus Christ .

This idea is reinforced by the directive given in Helaman 512 , which states , quote it is upon the rock of our Redeemer that you must build your foundation .

That when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds , when all of his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you , it shall have no power over you because of the rock upon which you are built , which is a sure foundation , a foundation where on , if men build , they cannot fall , end quote .

There's so many things about that scripture that are powerful , but I love that it includes that the devil will , it says , shall send forth his mighty winds . That happens when we build our foundation upon Jesus Christ . Satan is not happy .

It is literally going against his work when we do those things , but it says that Satan will have no power over us because of the rock upon which we are built . It is a sure foundation . If we start right , meaning we start with the Savior , we will have a foundation where on , if we build , we cannot fall .

Elder Christopherson said this quote in the infant days of the church , really before the actual restoration of the church as an institution . Jesus counseled and comforted the two young men who were working to translate the Book of Mormon , who would soon have the priesthood conferred upon them , joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery .

Joseph was 23 years old at the time and Oliver 22 . Persecution and other obstacles were frequent , if not constant . In these conditions , in April 1829 , the Lord spoke these words to them fear not to do good . My sons , let earth and hell combine against you , for if you are built upon my rock , they cannot prevail .

Wherefore I do not condemn you , go your ways and sin no more . Perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you . Look unto me in every thought . Doubt not , fear not end . Quote . I love those invitations by the Savior to fear not . Look unto Him . Be sure in your faith .

Understand that you don't need to doubt here that you are surely built on the foundation of Jesus Christ . Elder Christopherson shared this experience about President Dallin A Jokes , and his understanding of prayer gives me so much joy . Quote .

I witnessed a simple example of prayer a few weeks ago when Elder Dallin A Jokes and I were assigned to conduct a video conference interview of a couple in another country .

Because we were conducting more and more business via video conferences , we had a studio for that purpose , set up on the fifth floor of the church administration building where our offices are located . Shortly before going up to the studio , I reviewed once again the information we had collected about the couple and felt I was prepared for the interview .

As I came to a small elevator lobby on the fifth floor a few minutes before the appointed time , I saw Elder Oaks sitting alone there with his head bowed . In a moment he raised his head and explained I was just finishing my prayer . In preparation for this interview , we will need the gift of discernment .

He had not neglected the most important preparation a prayer to consecrate our performance for good and for the Lord's glory . End quote . You may be in the middle of something very hard when it feels like you've been looking at the screen for a long time and you do not quite know where the center of the image is .

If that's the case , jesus Christ can give you rest . You can take time today for stillness , carving out space for the Savior to speak to you . He wants to . He loves you . His desire is to encourage and invite you to come closer to him .

Just like President Oaks needed guidance and help with his interview , we can defer to the Savior throughout our day , throughout the different things that we are asked to do , and receive guidance and direction , and help and support in those things . Our prophet promised us that if we seek Jesus Christ , if we desire to be closer to him , we will find rest .

President Nelson said this quote because the Savior , through his infinite atonement , redeemed each of us from weakness , mistakes and sin and because he experienced every pain , worry and burden you have ever had . Then , as you truly repent and seek his help , you can rise above this present precarious world .

You can overcome the spiritually and emotionally exhausting plagues of the world , including arrogance , pride , anger , immorality , hatred , greed , jealousy and fear . Despite the distractions and distortions that swirl around us , you can find true rest , meaning relief and peace , even amid your most vaccine problems" .

We can center ourselves on Jesus Christ and do as he says rise above this precarious world . We can overcome all of the hard things in our life and when we create the space for Jesus Christ to be with us and center our minds and efforts on Him , we will receive the help and guidance that we seek .

I want to end with this wonderful quote by President Nelson . He says this Ask Him to enlighten your mind and send the help that you need Each day . Record the thoughts that come to you as you pray , then follow through diligently , spend more time in the temple and seek to understand how the temple teaches you to rise above this fallen world .

One of the things that I've had to do to become a better artist is practice learn from other artists , study different techniques and skills to be able to hone my craft , and it's the exact same thing with Jesus Christ .

If our goal is to become like Him , we must study Him and know Him , spend time with Him , ask Him questions , and he is willing to tutor and coach us as much as we desire . One of the places that he loves to do that is in the temple .

We can carve out those spaces each day and create time for our Savior to help us be centered on Him and centered on what truly matters most . I love you guys , I know we can do this and I hope you have an incredible week . If you like this episode , please consider sending it to a friend or rating and reviewing our podcast on Apple Podcasts .

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