Today's Secret Combinations

 "If we are not careful, today's secret combinations can obtain power and influence just as quickly and just as completely as they did in Book of Mormon times. Do you remember the pattern? The secret combinations began among the 'more wicked part' of society, but eventually 'seduced the more part of the righteous' until the whole society was polluted [Helaman 6:38]. 

Elder M. Russell Ballard, October 1997 General Conference

What is an Anti-Christ?

 "An anti-Christ is anyone or anything that is openly or secretly in opposition to Jesus Christ and His gospel."

Come, Follow Me - For Home and Church: Book of Mormon 2024

Satan's Power is Threatened by Ordinances and Covenants

 

A Voice of Gladness!

By Elder Kevin R. Duncan

Of the Seventy

The adversary is on the alert. His power is threatened by the ordinances and covenants performed in temples, and he does anything he can to try to stop the work. Why? Because he knows of the power that comes from this sacred work. As each new temple is dedicated, the saving power of Jesus Christ expands throughout the world to counteract the efforts of the adversary and to redeem us as we come unto Him. As temples and covenant keepers grow in number, the adversary grows weaker.

"Do You Really Care What They Think?" and Distractions

 

Bound Securely to the Savior

CAMILLE N. JOHNSON

Primary General President

January 11, 2022

President Henry B. Eyring put it this way, which I find so simple:

One of the questions we must ask of our Heavenly Father in private prayer is this: “What have I done today, or not done, which displeases Thee? If I can only know, I will repent with all my heart without delay.” That humble prayer will be answered. And the answers will surely include the assurance that asking today was better than waiting to ask tomorrow.

Seek the Right Sources of Validation

And what about looking for validation and affirmation from unreliable sources? Could that create windage and put a strain on your connection to the Savior?

Value and pay heed to the opinions of people who you truly respect. I was taught that lesson by my parents—decades before social media created influencers. When an unkind thing was said about me, my mom or dad would counsel, “Do you really care what they think?” And as it turned out, I usually didn’t. And if I did, then perhaps the comment was not misplaced and I had some self-correction to make. Value and pay heed to your relationship with the Savior. Seek validation and affirmation from Him first.

Elder Alvin F. Meredith III counseled about ­distractions in his October general conference talk. He taught:

The devil is the great distractor. We learn from Lehi’s dream that voices from the great and spacious building seek to lure us to things that will take us off the course of preparing to return to live with God.

But there are other less-obvious distractions that can be just as dangerous. As the saying goes, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” The adversary seems determined to get good people to do nothing, or at least to waste their time on things that will distract them from their lofty purposes and goals. For example, some things that are healthy diversions in moderation can become unhealthy distractions without discipline. The adversary understands that distractions do not have to be bad or immoral to be effective.

#aang

Don't Get Angry on Social Media; Don't Judge or Be Bugged

How the Priesthood Blesses Youth

By Enzo Serge Petelo

Member of the Meadow Wood Ward, Provo Utah Edgemont Stake

The light within you will shine so bright that everyone you interact with will be blessed by just being in your company...

But in order to invite His constant companionship, we must place ourselves in situations and places where He will want to be present....

 If we are making decisions that inhibit us from our eternal progression, we must change now. Satan will try his hardest to keep us in a carnal state of seeking simple pleasures. But I know that if we put in the effort, find those who will support us, and repent each day, the resulting blessings will be incredible and our lives will be forever changed as we press forward on the covenant path.

Disconnect From the World and Connect With Heaven

Be Faithful, Not Faithless
BY STEPHEN W. OWEN Young Men General President

...we must deliberately take time each day to disconnect from the world and connect with heaven....

Regardless of your circumstances, you can make your home the center of gospel learning and living. It simply means taking personal responsibility for your conversion and spiritual growth....

The adversary will try to persuade you that spiritual nourishment isn’t necessary or, more cunningly, that it can wait. He is the master of distraction and author of procrastination. He will bring things to your attention that seem urgent but in reality aren’t that important. He would have you become so “troubled about many things” that you neglect the “one thing [that] is needful.”...

Parents, please build strong relationships with your children. They need more of your time, not less...

Never underestimate the strength that comes from gathering with others who are also trying to be strong....

 Whether you are a leader, a neighbor, a quorum member, or simply a fellow Saint, if you have the opportunity to touch the life of a young person, help him or her connect with heaven. Your influence might be exactly the “Church support” that young person needs.

Push Back the Darkness

"Unless you are fully engaged in living the gospel - living it with all of your heart, might, mind, and strength (D&C 4:2) - you cannot generate enough spiritual light to push back the darkness."

Distraction

"When things of the world crowd in, all too often the wrong things take highest priority. Then it is easy to forget the fundamental purpose of life. Satan has a powerful tool to use against good people. It is distraction. He would have good people fill life with 'good things' so there is no room for the essential ones. have you unconsciously been caught in that trap?"

Richard G. Scott

Change Hearts and Minds on the Importance of Children

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When Evil Appears Good and Good Appears Evil

By Elder Quentin L. Cook

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

From a devotional address, “A Banquet of Consequences: The Cumulative Result of All Choices,” given at Brigham Young University on February 7, 2017. For the full address, visit speeches.byu.edu.

Nevertheless, Lucifer has supported abortion and in a horrific paradigm shift has convinced many people that children represent lost opportunity and misery instead of joy and happiness.

As Latter-day Saints, we must be at the forefront of changing hearts and minds on the importance of children. The attacks on the family I just described ultimately result in grief and misery.

Disappointment and Betrayal

Do Not Leave the Savior

By Elder Kevin W. Pearson

Of the Seventy

From a devotional address, “The Lens of Truth,” delivered at Brigham Young University–Idaho on March 7, 2017. For the full address, go to web.byui.edu/devotionalsandspeeches.

Some of Satan’s most effective weapons are distraction, deception, and spiritual desensitization. Each erodes faith, obscures vision, and skews perspective. Together they constitute the great challenge of our time. Satan uses them not simply to undermine Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, Church doctrine, and Church leaders but also to attack the Savior and the Father’s plan. It has always been so....

When you are encompassed and overwhelmed by doubt, difficulty, and temptation, trust Him. When life isn’t what you expected and those you trusted disappoint and betray you, continue to trust in Him completely. May you respond as Nephi of old in equally distressing times: “Nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted. … O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever” (2 Nephi 4:19, 34).

#aang

Cupcake eating Pigs and Holland

Find the Joy Heavenly Father Wants for You

By Elder Alan C. Batt

Of the Seventy, Idaho Area

From a devotional address, “Is This What You Want Your Life to Be?” given at Brigham Young University–Idaho on November 1, 2016. For the full address, visit web.byui.edu/devotionalsandspeeches.

One of my childhood friends had a pigpen behind his house. Sometimes we would sit on the fence and watch the pigs. This might seem like odd behavior, but it wasn’t really much different from watching reality TV today.

One day my friend’s father pulled into the yard with his pickup truck overflowing with doughnuts, bread, and cupcakes that had passed their expiration date. He backed up to the pigpen and shoveled his cargo into the muck. The pigs began to devour the food, wrappers and all. Each mouthful was filled with cupcakes and doughnuts, their plastic wrappers smeared with mud and manure. It was disgusting.

Each time we watched this happen over the next few weeks, it became less repulsive and more entertaining. One day I told my friend that if we could figure out a way to get some doughnuts and cupcakes out of the pigpen without the pigs attacking us, we could have free treats. We took a rake and pulled a large blob of mud, manure, and cupcakes from under the fence. We washed off the wrappers, climbed up on the fence, and ate away with the pigs.

Isn’t this exactly how Satan works? He serves up something that is dirty and disgusting, and over time we start to accept it as entertaining, desirable, and good. The next time you think of doing something foolish, imagine yourself sitting on a fence eating cupcakes with the pigs.

Another story ....

Emily Kingsley wrote an essay that compares her unexpected challenge, having a child with Down syndrome, to getting on a plane for a vacation to Italy, only to have the plane land in Holland. She has the following imaginary conversation:

“Holland? What do you mean, Holland? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.”

The flight attendant replies: “But there’s been a change in the flight plan. You’ve landed in Holland, and there you must stay.”

But then you meet others who are going to and coming from Italy. “And they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, ‘Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.’”

“But,” Kingsley concludes, “if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.”1

Doesn't Know Thoughts

Another significant limitation is that Satan does not know our thoughts unless we tell him. The Lord explained, “There is none else save God that knowest thy thoughts and the intents of thy heart” (D&C 6:16).

Perhaps this is why the Lord has given us commandments such as “Do not murmur” (D&C 9:6) and “Thou shalt not speak evil of thy neighbor” (D&C 42:27). If you can learn to bridle your tongue (see James 1:26), you won’t end up giving too much information to the devil. When he hears murmuring, complaining, and criticizing, he takes careful notes. Your negative words expose your weaknesses to the enemy.

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The War Goes On

By Elder Larry R. Lawrence

Of the Seventy

Contention

The devil has learned from centuries of experience that where there is contention, the Spirit of the Lord will depart. Ever since he convinced Cain to kill Abel, Satan has influenced siblings to quarrel. He also stirs up problems in marriages, among ward members, and between missionary companions. He delights in seeing good people argue. He tries to start family arguments right before church on Sunday, right before family home evening on Monday night, and whenever a couple plans to attend a temple session. His timing is predictable.

When there is contention in your home or workplace, immediately stop whatever you are doing and seek to make peace. It doesn’t matter who started it.

Contention often begins with faultfinding. Joseph Smith taught that “the devil flatters us that we are very righteous, when we are feeding on the faults of others.”6 When you think about it, self-righteousness is just a counterfeit for real righteousness.

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The War Goes On

By Elder Larry R. Lawrence

Of the Seventy

Temptation

The devil is brazen when it comes to putting wicked ideas into our minds. The Book of Mormon teaches that Satan whispers unclean and unkind thoughts and sows thoughts of doubt. He nags us to act on addictive urges and to entertain selfishness and greed. He doesn’t want us to recognize where these ideas are coming from, so he whispers, “I am no devil, for there is none” (2 Nephi 28:22).

How can we resist this direct temptation? One of the most effective tools is to simply send Satan away. That’s what Jesus would do.

The New Testament account of the Savior on the mount of temptations is instructive. After each temptation the devil presented to Him, Jesus used a two-step defensive technique: first, He ordered Satan to leave; then He quoted scripture.

Let me give you an example: “Get thee hence, Satan,” commanded Jesus, “for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). The next verse records, “Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him” (Matthew 4:11). The Savior’s defense was very effective!

The biography of President Heber J. Grant (1856–1945) gives insight into how President Grant, as a young man, resisted the devil. When President Grant recognized that Satan was whispering to him, trying to plant doubts in his heart, he simply said out loud, “Mr. Devil, shut up.”4

You have the right to tell Satan to leave when you are confronted with temptation. The scriptures teach, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

The other part of the Savior’s defense was to quote scripture. There is great power in memorizing scripture, as Jesus did. Scriptural verses can become an arsenal of spiritual ammunition.

When you are tempted, you can recite commandments such as “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy,” “Love your enemies,” or “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly” (Exodus 20:8; Luke 6:27; D&C 121:45). Scripture power not only intimidates Satan, but it also brings the Spirit into your heart, reassures you, and fortifies you against temptation.

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The War Goes On

By Elder Larry R. Lawrence

Of the Seventy

Diminish the Influence of Evil

To sisters who wonder if these seemingly quiet contributions make a difference, Elder Ballard affirms: “Every sister who stands for truth and righteousness diminishes the influence of evil. Every sister who strengthens and protects her family is doing the work of God. Every sister who lives as a woman of God becomes a beacon for others to follow and plants seeds of righteous influence that will be harvested for decades to come.”

M. Russell Ballard, Liahona, Dec. 2002, 39; Ensign, Mar. 2002, 70.

Satan's Rebellion

The scriptures repeatedly state that Satan openly rebelled against God. For example, the Lord declared that “Satan rebelled against me” (Moses 4:3); “an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God … rebelled against the Only Begotten Son” (D&C 76:25); and “he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power” (D&C 29:36).

From these verses it is clear that Satan’s proposal was not an innocent suggestion to amend God’s plan. It was a rebellion, a revolt, an attempted mutiny to dethrone God and take over heaven. Those who followed Satan declared war in heaven and made themselves enemies to God.

Mark A. Mathews, "Satan's Rebellion," Ensign, Mar 2015, 69.

Destroying Agency

...compulsion and force are used today by tyrants seeking power over nations and by political activists who seek to limit religious freedom and compel society to accept sinful behavior. The Lord has specifically condemned the exercise of “control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness” (D&C 121:37).

However, the Lord also explained that power and influence can be used to encourage righteousness by loving persuasion, righteous reproof, and appropriate consequences (see D&C 121:41–43). This important clarification shows that carrying out proper Church and parental discipline, enforcing rules and standards in missions and Church schools, and establishing righteous laws in society are all practices approved of the Lord and not part of “Satan’s plan.” Honoring agency does not mean embracing anarchy.

The second possibility for how Satan proposed to save everyone is described in the Bible Dictionary: “Lucifer and his followers wanted salvation to come automatically to all who passed through mortality, without regard to individual preference, agency, or voluntary dedication” (“War in Heaven”). In other words, another interpretation is that Satan proposed to save us all, no matter what we did. This would destroy agency by rendering it useless. If consequences of our choices were all removed and everyone received the same reward, our choices become meaningless and our agency is destroyed.

Mark A. Mathews, "Satan's Rebellion," Ensign, Mar 2015, 68-69. 

Satan's Character

If we understand Satan’s character and history, it would be more appropriate to view him as the first con man trying to sell us a product that he knew he could never provide. He alleged that he could give us all salvation if we would follow him rather than the plan our Heavenly Father had created for our salvation and which was upheld by our Savior Jesus Christ.

What Satan proposed was a lie. It would not have worked. It was not a viable alternative to Heavenly Father’s already perfect plan, but rather it was a trap set to ensnare and deceive people into following Satan. It was, in the end, a plan of damnation, not a plan of salvation.

Mark A. Mathews, "Satan's Rebellion," Ensign, Mar 2015, 68. 

Trust in Heavenly Father's Love

"Satan recognizes that healing comes through the unwavering love of Heavenly Father for each of His children. He also understands that the power of healing is inherent in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. . . . Do not let Satan convince you that you are beyond his help.

...Recognize that if you have feelings that you are not loved by your Father in Heaven, you are being manipulated by Satan."

Richard G. Scott, "To Heal the Shattering Consequences of Abuse," Ensign, May 2008, 41.

Don't Let Him!

“Satan seeks to tempt us when we are feeling weak and at what he perceives to be our weakest points. He will pick away at them in the hope that we will succumb.”

Elder Ian S. Ardern, “Shunning Temptation: A Key to Receiving Revelation,” Ensign, Feb 2014, 59.