David A. Bednar - Power to Become: Spiritual Patterns for Pressing Forward with a Steadfastness in Christ

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bednar, David A., author.
Power to become / David A. Bednar.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60907-859-1 (hardbound : alk. paper)
1. Christian lifeMormon authors. 2. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsDoctrines. 3. Mormon ChurchDoctrines. I. Title.
BX8656.B4395 2014
248.4'89332dc232013042047
Printed in the United States of America
Publishers Printing, Salt Lake City, UT
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Dedication

To family members, friends, and
faithful Latter-day Saints all over
the world in whom I have seen
and from whom I have learned
about the power to become

Acknowledgments

I am thankful to my wife, Susan, for her love, her encouragement, and her steadfast example of the power to become. I also express appreciation to Shauna Swainston for her timely assistance and support; and to Sheri Dew for her thoughtful suggestions and input.

The publishing team at Deseret Book has worked with professionalism and excellence. Thanks go to Laurel Christensen Day for overseeing the project; Emily Watts for her expert counsel, editing, and assistance in preparing the manuscript for publication; Richard Erickson and Sheryl Dickert Smith for the design; Rachael Ward for the typography; and Elizabeth Alley for her help with the online teaching segments. Heartfelt thanks to our family, friends, and associates who have been so instrumental in helping me formulate and refine the ideas presented in this book. I am grateful for all of the individuals, both named and unnamed, who have inspired, supported, and assisted me in writing Power to Become.

This book is not an official statement of Church doctrine, policy, or practice, and I alone am responsible for the content of Power to Become.

Preface

The title for this book comes from a passage in the Doctrine and Covenants:

Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I am the life and the light of the world.

I am the same who came unto mine own and mine own received me not;

But verily, verily, I say unto you, that as many as receive me, to them will I give power to become the sons [and daughters] of God, even to them that believe on my name. Amen (Doctrine and Covenants 11:2830; emphasis added; see also Doctrine and Covenants 39:4; 42:52; John 1:12).

This volume builds upon and extends the spiritual patterns described in Increase in Learning and Act in Doctrine and discusses how we can be blessed to receive the power to become.

Moroni is one of my spiritual heroes. The son of Mormon, the abridger of the book of Ether, and the final writer in the Book of Mormon, Moroni played a significant role in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the latter days. As I have studied the life and ministry of this mighty prophet, I have returned again and again to a specific verse in the Book of Mormon that I believe reveals a great deal about his spiritual devotion, depth, and experience.

In the tenth and final chapter of the book of Moroni, he declares that a testimony of the Book of Mormon comes by the power of the Holy Ghost, that spiritual gifts are dispensed to the faithful, and that we are to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him. As he then concludes his record, he says good-bye to his future readers and proclaims his final witness and testimony.

And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen (Moroni 10:34).

The phrase I find most interesting in this verse is the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead (emphasis added). Please note that Moroni described the judgment bar of the great Jehovah as pleasing. Many individuals likely find the thought of standing before the Eternal Judge to be frightening, intimidating, overwhelming, tormenting, and dauntingmany things other than pleasing. But Moroni was not fearful of or apprehensive about this inevitable day of reckoning. He looked forward to meeting us at the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah! Moroni understood before his death, at least in part, what awaited him beyond the veil.

A simple question arises in my mind and heart from this benedictory scripture: How could and did Moroni come to know in mortality that the judgment bar of the great Jehovah would be pleasing?

Can you and I, like Moroni, truly come to know that the path we are pursuing in our lives pleases God? And if it is possible to know these things, how can we know? Such questions indeed are some of the most pointed and poignant questions of the soul.

As we increase in learning about the Savior and His gospel, as we strive with ever greater consistency to act in His doctrine, ordinances, and covenants, then we are blessed with power through His Atonement to increasingly become like Him. Our hearts and natures are changed, and our desires are directed to Him and His purposes. His will supersedes our will. His desires supplant our desires. His purposes become our purposes. These changes rarely occur quickly, dramatically, or all at once; rather, they come into our lives line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little (2 Nephi 28:30).

But how can we really know how we are doing, and if our course is in accordance with Gods will? In Power to Become, I attempt to present gospel truths, principles, and patterns that can help each of us as we strive to press forward with steadfastness and find for ourselves the answers to these eternally essential questions.

Power to Become is formatted with extra-wide margins for recording thoughts, impressions, and questions. It is meant to be an interactive experiencenot just a book to read but a springboard for your own process of learning. Each chapter ends with a few questions that I hope you will consider, along with space to record your own questions and the answers you are receiving. An invitation to learn and act upon the principles discussed in the chapter is also included, with three interrelated questions that should be considered together but responded to individually. Thus, all three questions are repeated at the top of each response page, and the one to be addressed specifically on that page is highlighted.

Each chapter also includes a QR code, along with a printed URL. These link to short videos of personal discussions I have conducted with various groups on the topics in the chapters.

My hope is that this book will cause you to ponder, pray, reflect, evaluate, act, and progress spiritually. May the combination of your faith in the Savior, your willingness to act as an agent, the text, and the learning experiences in which you will engage invite the Holy Ghost to help you more fully understand basic gospel truths and spiritual patternsto the end that each of us may be blessed to receive the