He Did Deliver Me from Bondage
by Colleen C. Harrison
I Glory in My Jesus (2 Nephi 33:6) -Part 2
Step Two: Came to believe that God has all power and wisdom and that in His strength we can do all things. (Mosiah 4:9; Alma 26:12)
Principle Two: All power of redemption and atonement is vested in the Lord Jesus Christ and can only be effective in my life as I am willing to have a personal relationship with Him.
CHRIST IS THE LORD, THE GOD OF THE Book of Mormon
Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation. (2 Nephi 22:2)
Jehovah of the Old Testament, Christ of the New Testament, and the Lord of the Book of Mormon are the same individual (Helaman 14:12, 3 Nephi 15:5). Nephi, Jacob, Enos, Benjamin, and later Alma, the brother of Jared, Mormon and Moroni-all these men, even like Adam, Abraham, Moses, Peter, James and John, had a “working, walking,” intimately personal relationship with Him, even the Lord Jesus Christ. While they kept the supremacy of the Father always in perspective, they cried out to the Lord, counseling with Him and praising Him continually in their hearts and minds (Enos 1:2, 4, and 10; Mosiah 2:19; Alma 36:18).
Each discovered in turn (even as we must) that the Son is the member of the Godhead sent by the Father to represent Him in full authority and power, as the “mediator of the new covenant” (D&C 107:18-19), and that it is the Son whose words are conveyed to us by the Holy Ghost (Moses 5:9) and will lead us along in all things whatsoever we should do (2 Nephi 32:3).
For us to seek the Son’s counsel, to talk to Him, visualize Him, walk with Him, labor with Him and love Him with all our heart, might, mind and strength, delights the Father (Colossians 1:19). He knows full well that the Beloved Son will attribute all glory, honor and power to the Father (Matthew 6:13) and will always teach us to pray unto the Father in His own name. There is no jealousy between them. They are, along with the Holy Spirit who administers for both of them, even as one (John 10:30). They think as one, work as one, and rejoice as one when we become “born of God” (Mosiah 27:28) and become one with Christ (D&C 50:43).
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. (Helaman 5:12)
If we would escape our afflictions, and break the cords of the destructive things we feel and do, we must heed Alma’s words:
And Alma cried, saying: How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord? O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto deliverance. And they broke the cords with which they were bound. (Alma 14:26)
We must never forget:
And this is the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is none other salvation save this.Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend. (Mosiah 4:8-9)
And believe that He loves us-each of us, without exception and beyond our ability to comprehend or imagine.
CONCLUSION: Come Unto Christ
Today my whole heart is consumed by a desire to share with others what God has shared with me-that Jesus is the Christ, my Christ and yours. And He waits to receive and embrace each of us. But we must each come unto him individually, even as Alma. When the day comes, as it did for Alma, when we can no longer go on the way we’re going, when we are harrowed up by the memory of our many sins, and when we are racked with torment, we will each begin to think of “one Jesus Christ, a Son of God.” On that day we too will have no formal protocol on our mind. In the deepest anguish of spirit we will finally cry out, as did Alma:
O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. (Alma 36:18)
We are all very aware that our leaders have cautioned us against addressing anyone except the Father in our public prayers. This is absolutely as it should be and in perfect harmony with the teachings of the Savior in Matthew 6:9. After all and above and beyond all, our Father in Heaven is the One who oversees all, including the administration of the First and Second Comforter. He is the Most High, the Holy One, Man of Righteousness, the Father of Lights, the Great Elohim. Without Him and His faithfulness in all of us-including His only begotten Son in the flesh, even Jesus Christ-none of this glorious mortal experience would happen. It was the Father’s great plan of salvation, complete with the opportunity to fall, to experience the sorrow of sin, and to be atoned for and redeemed, that the Son volunteered to carry forth-and in so doing, has qualified Himself to be addressed as Father also (Mosiah 3:8; Helaman14:12; and His own words in Ether 3:14).
And so, in our formal prayers, in public and in private, morning and evening and as often in between as we feel our Savior’s testimony to do so, it is our Father in Heaven we should always address-even as our Lord taught us (Matthew 6:9; 2 Nephi 25:16; Jacob 4:5; 3 Nephi 20:31).
Nevertheless, that great truth does not cancel out, but rather complements and supports the witness of the Book of Mormon that it is acceptable, and even commendable by our Father in Heaven, for us to counsel with His Son, to cry out unto Him in our need for redemption, to become as honest and self-disclosing as best, first-name, friends would be (2 Nephi 33:6). After all, in several sacred interventions of the Father in the history of mankind, His constant entreaty to us all, speaking of His Beloved Son Jesus, was “hear Him.”
The goal of the Father is to have each of us give ourselves without reservation to His Beloved Son. The goal of the Son is to bring us Home to our Father. The only question or diversion from this oneness of purpose is our own desire (goal). Is our desire to seek the Holy Ghost and allow Him to quicken and empower us with a sufficient portion of celestial glory, even while in this life, so that we may inherit a fullness in the resurrection (D&C 88:29)? Or will we keep running away and hiding in the things of this world-in our excuses and addictions?
Can we muster enough faith in Christ, even in the face of our mortal sins and failings? Can we look to Him and receive Him-His Spirit, His counsel, His comfort, His will-and become perfect in Him, as we allow Him to find place in our minds and hearts and lives? I have found that as paradoxical as it may seem at first consideration, one of the times and places that many of us find the Savior is when we are in the midst of what could be termed “the pit” or “the darkest abyss” (or as it is sometimes spoken of in addiction recovery groups, at “a bottom”). Like Paul, we are blinded by the incorrect traditions of our parents, or like Alma the Younger, blinded by our own immaturity and foolish willfulness.
Many of us find the living reality of Christ in our darkest, and sometimes most sinful, hour. In that moment of crisis, if our prayer is sincere, filled with real intent and a desire to believe in Christ, He will apply His atoning blood.
This kind of moment is seldom polite. It is always passionate, filled with emotion so powerful that only He can comprehend it. Why? Because He felt it in His act of Atonement for us. At this point we are in “hard labor” and the soul that is being born is our own. At this point there is no heart in us to be polite and “legalistic” and “letter-of-the-law” about our expression of our need for God-specifically for the atonement of Christ. And if, like Alma, we cry out unto Him who the Father sent to save us, the heavens weep with joy over us. We cry out unto Him with all our hearts, might, mind and strength-holding nothing back-willing to give away all our sins that we might finally come to Him and come to know Him. He employees no servant there.
And when we do come to Him, we will find joy as exceeding as was our pain and fear before we turned to Him.
And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I [do] behold[!] .yea, [my] joy [is] as exceeding as was my pain! (Alma 36:20)
We must each come unto Christ, and in the same manner and spirit as did Alma. This is one time when we cannot slip through on someone else’s coattails or apron strings. It is only when we repent of turning to any other source for strength or salvation and place our faith on the Lord Jesus Christ that we are able to withstand the temptations of him who would rejoice at our misery and destruction.
I have found that it helps to keep me in remembrance of my absolute need for His power if I take every opportunity to do as Alma 37:33 entreats us:
Preach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us never forget the witness of the Book of Mormon, and remember that every day we must counsel with the Lord in all our doings, and let the affection of our hearts be placed upon Him forever, for we can be sure His is placed on us forever (Alma 37:36-37). We must never again forget that salvation cometh only by “relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save” (2 Nephi 31:19).
ASSIGNMENT FOR THIS WEEK:
1. Write about how thinking of Christ as “my Jesus” could affect your feelings for Him. Does this expression feel comfortable to you? Why or why not?
2. Read “Born of God” by President Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, July 1989. Capture some thoughts from it.
3. Read “Benjamin’s Promises” [see link].
4. Call someone and share your thoughts and feelings about what you’ve read.
Preparation for discussion of principle three: “I KNOW IN WHOM I HAVE TRUSTED” (2 Nephi 4:19)
Step 3: Made the decision to reconcile ourselves to the will of God, offer our whole souls as an offering unto Him, and trust Him in all things forever. (2 Nephi 10:24; Omni 1:26; Mosiah 3:19; 2 Nephi 4:34)
Day 1: 1 Nephi 18:11-Write about why, according to this verse, the Lord “suffers,” or in other words “allows,” us to be in bondage at times. (See also John 9:1-3 for further insight into why God allows forms of bondage such as physical handicaps.)
Day 2: 2 Nephi 10:24-Nephi asks us to conform, to adapt our will to the will of God. When we act on our compulsive/addictive behavior, it is because we want something we can’t have. Our will is at odds with the will of God. We have surrendered it instead to the will of the flesh or the devil (two different phenomena, by the way). Write about the struggle you’d like to be saved from, and whose power it is that can save you. What is that power called?
Day 3: Jacob 4:10-To counsel means to give advice. Often when we pray we seek more to advise the Lord in what we think He should do for us or others (“Dear Lord, please bless so-and-so that such-and-such will happen”), than to listen for His counsel or advice. Write in the form of a question something that has been troubling you, addressing it to the Lord. Then listen and record the answer you receive.
Day 4: Mosiah 3:19-How old do you picture the “little child” mentioned in this scripture? A tiny infant? A two-year-old? Remember that two-year-olds aren’t too good at “yielding” or “submitting.” Write about how young a child you are willing to become to your Heavenly Father and just how far you are willing to submit in all things that He might see fit to “inflict” upon you.
Day 5: Mosiah 7:33-Often, being released from the bondage of a compulsive/addictive behavior is a process rather than a singular event. Write about your willingness or lack of willingness to submit to the Lord’s will and “pleasure” (remembering that His pleasure is to bring to pass your immortality and eternal life through your experiences of this life-both good and “bad”).
Day 6: Mosiah 24:14-15-What happened to the burdens these people struggled with when they put their trust in God to deliver them? Write about whether you could be satisfied to have God lighten your burdens instead of removing them. Can you be long-suffering and patient with Him and with yourself? (There’s a saying in Twelve Step programs: “You’ve got to love the process.”)
Day 7: Alma 5:13-In this verse the mighty change of heart is equated with humbling yourself and putting your trust in “the true and living God.” Write about what the words “true and living,” as applied to God, mean to you. How is He “true” and “living” as compared to the “god” (source of strength and comfort) you’ve made of your compulsion?
P.S. May I encourage you again to take the phone number of someone else in the Twelve Step group you are attending and call and share with them what you’re learning. We never learn better than by teaching someone else. Teach someone else something you’ve learned from this lesson.
He Did Deliver Me from Bondage can be found at most LDS bookstores or purchased online at www.rosehavenpublishing.com
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