These are my notes from a video with Robert Smith and Todd McLaughlin. There is a mountain of deep doctrine and value here, so I very much want to share this with you. I hope you will watch the video and read and ponder this material with prayerful sincerity.

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We need to initiate the Lord before we need Him to shield us from temptation. Besides, the Lord does not shield us from temptation, rather, He strengthens us against it.

We do not overcome all things by running away. We do not become mighty in faith by being shielded from temptation and opposition. Quite the reverse is true.

We need to grow deep roots which are strong and steadfast, anchoring us in the soil of the gospel. We do this by developing Celestial habits which strengthen, nourish, inform, and guide our every action.

When we wake up in the morning, the first thing we should do is initiate the Lord by immediately doing the best things we can think of doing. This should be our very first deliberative thought. “What is the very best thing the Lord would have me do right now?” And then do that thing. Then continue with that as a repeat process throughout the day.

We need to initiate the Lord every day and every hour of every day.

As servants of the Lord, in the service of the Lord, with the Lord always at our side, there is nothing we cannot do, which is right.

Why do we not see that the things the Lord asks us to do are the best things to do? Why do we not believe that the Lord’s ways will lead to the best outcomes?

When we do things differently than what we know He wants us to do, it is because either we think we know better than He does, or we do not at that moment care about the ethereal negative consequences as much as we care about getting the perceived benefits of doing what we deep down know is wrong. The inevitable consequence for doing less than what we know is best is unnecessary suffering, both for us and for all those we might have more positively influenced.

We learn obedience by the things that we suffer. God will teach us obedience by gradually increasing our suffering in consequence to sin; it is up to us to decide how much suffering is sufficient reason to fully repent. We repent by learning to always do what we sincerely believe is best, and as defined by the doctrine of Christ.

If we have issues with certain sins, we should ask God why is it that such and such sins are so bad and allow God to explain it to us. We are to ask with sincerity and with real intent to do what we sincerely believe and understand is best. Tell God you do not agree with Him and that you do not understand His ways and ask for further light and understanding to help you to be obedient. He is more than willing to explain Himself.

Eventually, though, we need to get to the point where we can obey God even when we do not understand why He asks us to do things. One reason for this is that many things cannot be understood until they are experienced firsthand.

The more faith that is required to move forward, the more you can be blessed by that faith; the less faith that is required to move forward, the less you can be blessed. We need to trust God, more and more, to gain the greater and greatest blessings He offers us. This is not to say we are to have blind faith; rather, we are to trust the Lord with the more than adequately informed knowledge we have that His ways are righteous and supernally beneficial.

Truth really is the enemy of comfort. Comfort is the enemy of truth; but ironically, if you fully submit yourself to truth, you will receive the Comforter, even the Holy Ghost, in great abundance, to inform and comfort you. As this occurs, you will move into a structure of comfort with the Lord which surpasses anything this mortal sphere has to offer.

You must learn to have the faith to move out of your concept of comfort to a place that might seem like it will be cold and comfortless. This is the view of faith that keeps people from having faith. They think that what God asks of them will very likely make them sad, hopeless, and miserable. They think God will require sacrifices and trials which are too hard and will make them deeply unhappy, which is entirely untrue. They think that by following God all of the structure and scaffolding and safeties they are used to will suddenly disappear and they will be left bereft of comfort, safety, and security. So instead of choosing God, they continue to choose man, and the ways of man. But when we finally do choose God and begin to gain the blessings He offers, we suddenly find that what before we thought was the way of happiness, comfort, safety, and security, was actually incredibly hollow, precariously unsafe, and comparatively miserable. God truly offers safety, security, and joy, but we can only ever truly appreciate that by experiencing what He offers by moving away from what the world offers by choosing God instead.

There really is not a place where comfort in the world intersects with comfort in God. As much as people think there is, there really isn’t. And the more we move closer to the Lord, the more He shows you that there really isn’t.

Part of how the Lord proves His power is by asking us to do things that we do not think are possible and will drain us in absolutely every way. But as we do as He asks, and we become completely drained, He comes to the rescue and blesses us with renewal and power and joy. He proves His promises are true, and by this we become completely converted to Him.

The path to God is a one-way trip. But we really do not have any better option because everything we think is an alternative will disappear and turn to dust right before our eyes. So, the choice is just to do the right thing now while it gives us the greatest benefit, or to wait until doing the right thing barely renders us anything in return, except for regret. We should want to initiate as fast and as quickly as possible before we are feeling compelled to initiate by the things we are suffering by doing what is wrong. The best time to fully initiate the Lord in our lives is when we are still in our comfort zones and everything in our lives still feels good; but if we wait until things get really hard, we will be losing out on all the blessings we would have received if we had initiated much sooner.

In the end-times, all the supports that the world offers are going to be removed. The kingdoms of the world will shake, and everything that the world offers as something of value is going to be taken away. What remains will mostly depend on what we now allow the Lord to teach us as having true value, and what needs to be let go of. When we focus our well-being on the things of the world that are going to be taken away, then we expose ourselves to the worst liabilities of the end-times.

We need to be asking the Lord to teach us what has true value.

One of the best definitions of idolatry is to attach value to things greater than their actual value. Being able to accurately assess value and to act accordingly is the essence of wisdom and is the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to focus our minds and actions on those things that have the greatest value. As we do this, we will find that those things that have the greatest value are things that have the greatest eternal value, which also produce the greatest peace, joy, and happiness; not the temporal securities, institutions, comforts, and entertainments offered by the world.

It is useful to consider and ask: How much of the comfort structure we have built around us is by design there to insulate us from the requirements of God?

We insulate ourselves from God by indulging in material comforts. We insulate ourselves by hiding behind worldly structures. We insulate ourselves by predicating our joy and happiness on physical comforts and activities. We think we can negotiate joy and happiness by negotiating benefits. This is contrary to the nature of happiness which predicates happiness upon doing that which yields the most intrinsic long-term value.

We tend to rely on our physical blessings for our sense of well-being; but take away these things and we suddenly realize that our happiness and sense of well-being was entirely dependent upon material things. Take away one’s employment, monthly income, family members, food, shelter, church, or any of the structures we depend on, and if you are still filled with gratitude toward God, and if you still feel complete solidarity of faith, being filled with peace and a hope in Christ, then you know you are doing things right. That’s the goal. The goal is to become so filled with faith in Christ that none of these other things matter. Your joy and peace are primarily rooted in Christ.

Notes on various topics:

We never move forward because nobody believes in forsaking sin. We all believe that sin, in general, is permanent.

Ask the Lord, “What sacrifices must I make to receive a complete remission of sins.” Then do as He says.

There are two levels of covenant:

Do one thing to get another thing (lower level)

Become the same as the mediator (higher level)

We can’t repent of a sin. We can repent of all sins or no sins.

When we try to repent of just one sin and we are really struggling, it is because we are ignoring all the other ones at the same time.

Whenever you do not submit to God fully, you create these anchors that prevent upward mobility. It’s like trying to climb up a rock wall when you are still tethered to the ground. The next thing to do is not to reach for the next clasping point above you, it is to cut the line anchoring you to the ground.

Receiving a remission of sins means you do not sin anymore.

It is common to go through mini cycles where you think you have repented of certain sins or tendencies to commit certain sins, but then, sooner or later, you find yourself back with the same sins you thought you had fully repented of and quit.

There is a meta problem that has not been addressed. There is a deeper, underlying problem that still needs to be fixed.

The fundamental problem we all have is that we do not trust God. We believe that our ideas about reality and value are more correct and more applicable, or helpful, than what God’s ideas and commandments are.

A big part of our unbelief are all the false things we believe that get in the way of complete repentance.

We need to sincerely ask God, again and again, “What do I believe that is not true.” Then write down all the answers you get. Then ask the Lord to help you dismantle and correct all these false beliefs.

It is easy to take higher truths and then build them into a preexisting false narrative, which causes even greater deception and even greater harm. Do not try to explain what you do not understand.

Our work is to get fully spiritually activated so that we too can become conduits of light from God to the earth.

Light has as much of a destructive effect as it has an enlightening effect.

We need to become of the same vibration and frequency as God’s light and become of that light; or be ultimately condemned and destroyed by that light.

It is only through your suffering for others that you can come to know how He suffered for you.

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With sin always comes a deception and a lie which is imbedded. When we enter into a state of nature and a state of sin, Satan always immediately moves in and imbeds himself with lies and deceptions that cause us to sin and to continue in sin. And then, as we sin, our actions enhance the power of those lies and deceptions, perpetuating them into futurity.

In order to activate the principle of repentance you must employ the principle that you are all-in. The trigger to access all of His grace is the principle of loving God with all of your heart, might, mind, and strength.

Love is how much you are willing to suffer for the benefit of another person.

When we ask the Lord to do things, one of the baseline considerations is, will it impede greater good? If the answer is no, then there are not many other checks that need to be considered for Him to grant our request. When we do not receive what we ask for, especially when we ask for them, a safe assumption is that He has something better in mind that is coming instead.

When God says His yoke is easy and His burden is light, the question we should pose is, compared to what? The answer is compared to what the world offers. Jesus’ way is the best way in terms of value and greatest net benefit. Jesus’ way offers the greatest happiness, joy, peace, and personal progress. The world’s ways offer the opposites.

The world’s way only ever looks better because we are wrong in the way we are looking at it. Our perceptions are wrong; our evaluations are wrong; our ideas about benefits and value are wrong. By contrast, if it seem like the yoke that Jesus offers is heavier or more difficult it is because we are seeing and understanding things incorrectly.

There is a myth that those who perform better have an easier time at it. On that note, people tend to think that for those who know their scriptures it is easier for them to know them than it is for those who don’t. Or if someone gets more revelation it is because they have a special gift or God just favors them more. But these things are not true. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Most people who have abundance have to work much harder than most to get what they have. Most people have to earn, by work and performance, what they get.

In Lehi’s dream, he sees that most people who reach the tree of life are ashamed and they turn away. One of the main reasons for this is that it is so different from what they expected. And one big aspect of that is that it does not get easier; rather, it gets harder. The higher you ascend, the more you suffer. On the flip side, or positive side; when you reach the tree of life and partake of the fruit, your perception and comprehension rapidly expands, and that is what makes it possible to bare greater burdens. But they don’t hurt any less. Jesus suffered more, not less.

People also say that because Jesus suffered, I don’t have to. This is incorrect. Jesus was our example in all things. Everything He did, in various ways and in various degrees, we must do also. We are meant to follow Him, even as he followed His father by doing all things that He saw the Father do.

The greatest among you will be the least. The greatest among you will be those who suffer the most. For what! The benefit of all people, just like Jesus.

Looking at Isaiah, you can’t say that it didn’t hurt as bad as it would if you or I got sawn in half. That’s not the way it works. He did it, even though it would hurt as much as it always does.

Those who progress the most are those who make harder choices than others, who work harder than others, who are more diligent and faithful than others. Privilege comes from choice. Those who are the most privileged are those who make the best choices, which produce the most value.

3  And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their

exceeding faith and

good works;

in the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good,

and exercising exceedingly great faith,

are called with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.

4  And thus they have been called to this holy calling on account of their faith, while others would reject the Spirit of God on account of

the hardness of their hearts

and blindness of their minds,

while, if it had not been for this they might have had as great privilege as their brethren.

(Book of Mormon | Alma 13:3 – 4)

We harden our hearts because our desires are impure and because we do not see and recognize the value God offers.

Those who understand God’s goodness are likely to desire God’s goodness.

Goodness is that which makes available the most value.

God’s goodness is the value He offers.

Those who desire goodness are able to recognize the value God offers to those with exceeding faith.

Exceeding faith is defined by diligence in doing good works.

Exceeding faith is defined by consistently doing the hard work.

Exceeding faith is defined by consistently doing that which yields the most positive value, as God inspires and directs.

Great privilege comes by choice.

Those who manifest exceeding faith prepare and position themselves to receive great privilege.

Great privilege is receipt of the value that comes to those who manifest exceeding faith.

Those who do not harden their hearts, but who allow God to guide and direct them, are able to receive all that God offers. So, it is not about doing lots of fancy things; it is about getting out of God’s way in allowing Him to bless you.

All that God asks is that we trust Him and consistently do all that He asks by doing the best good we can do. There is nothing fancy or complex about that. All we must do is yield our hearts to God and then allow ourselves to be entirely led and directed by Him, and to proactively do the best good we can by our own free will and choice.

Even after all that we can do, we are still unprofitable servants. All we are doing is allowing God to give the goodness he offers us. God already paid for it. The price we are paying is just to receive it.

When it comes to this idea of obedience being hard, well, compared to what? The only reason the world’s way seems easier is because you are still under the illusion that the world’s way actually gives you anything. And the only reason you are still under that illusion is because you are still inside the insulated bubble of this world where you can participate in the benefits provided by others without actually submitting to the law required to make those benefits permanent. We are in the free sample world. And everyone is walking around taking free samples acting like they have a source of food forever; but there will come a time when that free food is taken away. We are thriving off of the free food produced by others, but that free food is not going to be around forever. The oil that the ten virgins enjoyed the benefits from did not last forever. For five of them it ran out. For those five they did not go and get the extra oil they would need after the free sample oil would run out.

When the clock runs out and all the free samples run out, then, suddenly we will find out what we actually have. For many this revelation will be terrible. Then we will find out that the Lord’s way really was the better way. But then it is too late. We should have gone and purchased more oil when it was still day.

15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

17  And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

(New Testament | 1 John 2:15 – 17)

Sanctification – coming to the point where you hate sin.

There is a common misunderstanding where people think that this is something that God does to them. But it is not something God does to you. This happens as you come up to Him, and in the process of coming up to Him, this happens within you; but it is not external, it is internal, it is your choice. It’s a choice based on information; it is not a magical transformation of your desire against your will. Nothing happens in the gospel against your will.

11  Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.

12  Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God, could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and there were many, exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God.

(Book of Mormon | Alma 13:11 – 12)

It is easy to read this and get the idea of their being sanctified as a process of forced external change, or some magical process or power causing an internal change. There is no magic in the gospel. There is no magic. And there is no external force. Everything in the gospel happens through information and choice. That is why we are here. We are here to exert ourselves by faith in getting the information from messengers, from scriptures, from inspiration and revelation from God. By this information we become reprogrammed. We become informed. Our eyes are opened to the dynamics of the gospel and the value of the gospel and we choose to pursue the value we see.

Jesus paid the price for us to get the information—He initiates that information. Servants of Jesus pay the price to relay that information from Jesus. Additionally, Jesus paid the price for us to receive a blank slate, which is the forgiveness of sins; but none of that changes the requirement to become like He is, or that law that says you will be blessed to the extent that you are like Jesus. If you are a little like Him, you will be blessed a little; if you are a lot like him, you will be blessed a lot. But at the end of the day, we must pay the price to initiate the mighty change within us and to pursue those actions that will complete this mighty change until we are completely sanctified.  

When we are sanctified by the Holy Ghost it is because the Holy Ghost teaches us, line upon line, why living the gospel is a good idea. The more we understand of the dynamics and value of the gospel, the more we want to live it.

When we have rich spiritual experiences, when we experience the love and holiness of the Lord, of course we have no more desire to sin. But what happens a week later when that influence has worn off? If we are still of the same mind, we will go right back to doing what we were doing before, namely, living lives of sin and evil. The continual influence of the Holy Ghost changes our minds and purifies our minds by giving us correct information; in effect, we are fully persuaded to do good continually.

So what is this process of sanctification?

2  Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

3  But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.

(Book of Mormon | Alma 17:2 – 3)

Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.

(Book of Mormon | Helaman 3:35)

This was not an all at once change. This was a gradual change. Little by little they learned, they submitted, they learned some more, and they submitted. God did not change them. They yielded their hearts to God.

Either you want to do what God wants you to do, or you don’t and you won’t.

If you are in a position where you do not want to do what God wants you to do, that is not the end of the world. What you need to do is be open and honest with God and tell Him what you don’t want to do and ask Him to explain to you and show you why you should obey Him. And then get ready. He is going to come at you. You are giving Him permission to pop the bubble. And that is an exercise in faith. It would be more faithful just to believe Him and obey Him, but if you need more help, He is going to provide it.

There are two ways that you can obtain rest in God.

Him taking you out of a temptation.

Through overcoming the temptation.

It is better to overcome. It is better to make a weakness become a strength. It is better to allow the Lord to teach you the information that you lack that shows positively that it is a better idea to believe Him and submit to Him.

To be clear, overcoming is not merely a matter of having correct knowledge, or of understanding what has the greatest value, it is also a matter of experiencing that value. As we are true and faithful, we experience God’s approbation. We experience His joy in us. We experience His holiness and glory. In this sphere we do not typically experience these things permanently or perpetually, but enough to inspire us and motivate us to keep moving forward with steadfastness and faith. What we can have continuously is His peace and holiness perpetually in our hearts. This is the essence of the sanctified state.

Sin, and sin addiction, is not overcome merely by becoming better informed. Evil must be replaced with that which is good. Worldly comforts must be replaced by spiritual comfort and faith that renews the soul. When we feel fear, anxiety, loneliness, stress, or any of the desperate emotions that typically trigger addictive behaviors, the solution is to immediately come closer to God and to be comforted and renewed by Him, not to take pleasure in the comforts or entertainments of Babylon. But you must learn to do this before the evil hour so that it is instinctive and automatic. If you have not learned this beforehand, once you find yourself in the evil hour it is invariably too late.

The trick is to come to Jesus while He is near. Do not wait and call for Him after you have systematically rejected Him and walked away.

63  Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

64  Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, that is expedient for you;

65  And if ye ask anything that is not expedient for you, it shall turn unto your condemnation.

66  Behold, that which you hear is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness—in the wilderness, because you cannot see him—my voice, because my voice is Spirit; my Spirit is truth; truth abideth and hath no end; and if it be in you it shall abound.

67  And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.

68  Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 88:63 – 68)

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