God Wants a Powerful People

I recently finished reading Sheri Dew's book, "God Wants a Powerful People." I really liked it. It is rare, anymore, that I read a book cover to cover. Mostly I look up the topic I am interested in and read just those sections. Sister Dew drew me in with her next-door-neighbor writing style and interesting examples. I appreciated her invitation to change something, to be better, as a result of reading the book.

Here are some comments from the book that I liked:

Page 14 - We can count on experiencing trials that will test our testimony, our obedience, and our faith -- because how do we know if we really have a testimony, if we'll really obey, if we really want to be honest and chaste and virtuous, and if we really believe in Jesus Christ, if those things aren't put to the test?

Page 19 - Elder Richard L. Evans...told a group of youth that "it is good to be faithful. But how much better it is to be faithful and competent." Our quest is certainly to be faithful, but it is also to learn as much as we can, become as knowledgeable as we can be.

Page 33 - Do we know enough about our doctrine to discern the skillful, even artful, packaging of transgression so blatant in the world today? A casual understanding of the gospel will now sustain us through the days ahead, which is why it is imperative that we immerse ourselves in the word of God.

Page 41 - How we treat our bodies --meaning, how focused we are on treating them as temples--affects our ability to receive revelation. Pure and simple, the more pure we become, the easier it is for the Holy Ghost to speak to us.

Page 53 - Satan likely bristles at this principle [happiness], for happiness is something the ultimate narcissist will never experience. I have never met anyone who was happier because he was immoral, or because he was addicted to something, or because he was dishonest and compromised his integrity.

Page 131 - Elder Robert S. Wood of the Seventy summarized the phonomenon this way: "It is wrong to assume that the more righteous one is, or the more diligently one strives to keep his or her covenants with the Lord, the less suffering one will have to endure. The promise is that he or She will be blessed, though the blessings may be the strength to endure suffering. All suffer--the just and the unjust. but the unjust live as well with the consequences of their own sins. This is the way life is arranged. God does not sit around wondering what test to throw up before you next. Such test are integral to life--they go with the territory."

Page 142-3 - President Hinckley has spoken strongly about the obligations of those ordained to the priesthood, "[The priesthood] is not as a cloak that we put on and take off at will. It is, when exercised in righteousness,k as the very tissue of our bodies, a part of us at all times and in all circumstances."

Page 147 - Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained..."[The] doctrine of the priesthood--unknown in the world and but little known even in the Church--cannot be learned out of the scriptures alone. ..The doctrine of the priesthood is known only by personal revelation. It comes, line upon line and precept upon precept, by the power of the Holy Ghost to those who love and serve God with all their heart, might, mind, and strength."

Page 157 - Said President Spencer W. Kimball: "The Lord has made clear that they who receive his priesthood receive him. And I think that means more than just sitting in a chair and having somebody put hands upon your head. I think when you receive it, you accept it. You do not just merely sit."

Page 181 - They do these things [fasting, prayer, temple worship, scripture study] not to check them off some kind of a forced obedience checklist... Righteous acts help define who they are. True Followers diligently seek to know the lord and His doctrine, to understand His will for them... to find answers to questions or dilemmas, even doctrines, that confuse or trouble them. They do this not to comply with some unwritten code of behavior, but because they really want to follow Jesus Christ. They want to understnad His gospel, particularly how it applies to them.

Page 199 - In today's world, there are too many good people with no conviction, and too many evil people filled with conviction.

Page 200 - There has never been a greater need for men and women who know what they believe, who speak and defend truth, who stand by their convictions, and who lead others to do likewise.

I enjoyed reading the book, and it's message was timely in my life.