April 21 — Abiding in Him. John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
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Word study time! The transliteration for abide is menō which means to be present, to stay, or tarry.
The vine is a spreading plant, reaching out across the lands. Meanwhile, those who abide in Him are the branches which means they are the church. They go as directed by Jesus, and are ever present wherever He goes.
Always remember beloved, Jesus is the lifeblood of Christians, and without Him we obviously can’t survive. Somehow Mr. Hinckley believed Jesus was merely the harbinger of Joe Smith’s arrival, and his appalling story of a different Jesus arriving on the scene. Share with a Mormon how comforting it is knowing we are ever connected to Jesus. Also ask where Jesus’ teaching fits in with Hinckley’s devotion to a false prophet.
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Ensign, ‘Four Cornerstones of Faith’, February 2004, 5 “…he [Joseph Smith] beheld the Father and the Son, the great God of the universe and the risen Lord…For more than a century and a half, enemies, critics, and some would-be scholars have worn out their lives trying to disprove the validity of that vision. Of course they cannot understand it. The things of God are understood by the Spirit of God. There had been nothing of comparable magnitude since the Son of God walked the earth in mortality. Without it as a foundation stone for our faith and organization, we have nothing. With it, we have everything..” — Gordon B. Hinckley
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