by Autumn Dickson

I got a little lost as I was reading in Abraham at 6:00 am after staying up too late reading a book. Abraham had received a vision that showed him the workmanship of the Lord’s hands. He discerned a whole lot, and then the Lord started explaining some deeper things to him. I was pretty tired, and my mind drifted until I came across this verse.

Abraham 3:20 The Lord thy God sent his angel to deliver thee from the hands of the priest of Elkenah.

Everything was feeling a tad confusing to my tired mind until I read that verse. Interestingly enough, as I backed up and read previous verses and when I continued reading forward, verse 20 felt like an interruption. The Lord is speaking of intelligences, including His own. He is speaking of how He dwelt in the midst of them and so on and so forth. The chapter is showing His absolute majesty.

But He pauses and recalls how He saved Abraham’s mortal life from a priest who was trying to sacrifice him.

It felt like one of the most relevant interruptions I had ever read. It felt perfectly inserted into a sermon of how Christ rules over all of His creations.

Christ is powerful and wise and loving. He is the Creator and King. He has many important works that He is juggling, but He pauses long enough to save you.

Saving you from a mere mortal trial is nothing and everything to Him. It is nothing in relation to His power, and it is everything in relation to His love.

I want to share a story about how the Lord saved my family. Honestly, I’m not even sure the extent to which it has saved my family yet, but I feel strongly that one day I will understand just what the Lord did for us in moving us across the country. Despite all the other works that the Lord was juggling, I watched Him masterfully manipulate detail after detail after detail to put Conner on track for his life’s work. I will share some details, but I don’t even think I’m fully aware of all the details and timelines that the Lord set in motion to take care of us. I probably don’t remember all of the details, but I will tell you of a few.

Conner had told me for years that we would never leave Utah, but there had always been a nagging feeling in my heart that we would leave. I had prayed about it, and the Lord kept telling me not to worry about it. The time would come when it came, so I left it alone. Though it was likely one of the more traumatic eras of my husband’s life, I felt the Lord’s hand hovering over us the entire time.

Moving to Virginia the first time around was wild. My husband’s job had been taken away from him through a series of lies told by another person. Looking back, I am 99% certain my husband would have never left. It had to be taken away from him in order to propel him in the correct direction for his life. I praise the Lord for taking it away. That’s detail number one.

Conner was meant to end up out in Virginia, and so the Lord sent a friend to ask for his help. That was detail number two. The only reason I was able to get Conner out of our house and into the car was because it was a friend who had asked him to come.

We lived in a hotel for three months with three kids before moving to an apartment of a friend who had moved out west. We stayed in that apartment for two months before we received a big enough miracle that even my husband couldn’t ignore (he still wanted to go back to Utah).

We were staying in that apartment and the contract was running out soon. We could renew it, but the price would go up to more than we could really afford (especially since the job we had moved out for wasn’t working out as we hoped). I was at church one day when that lady I ministered to asked me if we had found a place to stay yet. I answered no.

Now let me tell you this portion of the timeline backwards. Monday, the very next day, was when we really decided that this job was not working out with our friend. I know Conner, and I know that the moment we realized it wasn’t working out, we were headed back to Utah. It was much cheaper to go back, and we had just spent inordinate amounts of money to go and stay in Virginia and it just wasn’t doable anymore especially since we were leaving the job. I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if we had packed up that day and drove back immediately.

However, the night before this final decision about the job was made, we received a message from a lady who had been sitting next to my ministering assignment when my ministering assignment had asked me if we had somewhere to live. This lady was a stranger at the time, and I’m going to name her Jill so that we can follow the story more easily. It turns out that Jill and her family had just bought a house even though they were headed overseas for ten months. She had a friend who was supposed to live in her house while they were gone, but that fell through.

So Jill looked me up since they needed someone to come and stay in their house. As it turns out, we were related distantly through marriage. After asking some questions to our mutual relatives, she messaged us the night before we would have made the decision to head back to Utah. She sent us messages about the house and immediately, Conner and I realized we wouldn’t be able to afford it. We asked how much she would charge us, and it was miraculously lower than what we would spend living in Utah. That was the very first time that Conner was like, “Maybe we are supposed to be in Virginia.”

We moved in almost immediately. Conner was led to a couple of other jobs that were so healthy for him and have enabled us to be exactly where we need. When we needed to come back to Utah temporarily, we found a flight pass that enabled Conner to go back and forth across the country for $25.

Detail after detail after detail after detail has lined up perfectly for us to be exactly where we need. I have no idea how He set things in motion a long time ago to set these things up for us.

But I do know this. In the midst of all His incredible works, He paused long enough to save my family. I know that it was both nothing and everything to Him; it was nothing in relation to His power, and it was everything in relation to His love.

I was not saved from a priest who was trying to kill me like Abraham was. I don’t know how many of us will face situations like that. However, the Lord can save us. Whatever you’re going through, it’s nothing in relation to His power, and it was everything in relation to His love. I promise you that whatever you’re facing, you are safe. When placed in the context of eternity, you are safe and everything will turn out better than you can imagine. He has handled much larger things than this, and they were likewise easy for Him to handle.

I testify of the power of our Lord. I testify of the love of our Lord. I testify that whatever you’re going through is just a blip on the spectrum of eternity. Reading Moses and Abraham gives us a glimpse into the eternal and can help us recognize that what we’re going through doesn’t have to take us down completely. I testify that it’s okay for things to be hard, but I also testify that nothing can defeat us if we keep close to the Lord.

Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award.

The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Moses 1; Abraham 3 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

Jennifer Roach and Sarah Allen host this discussion. Guests are Allen Hansen, Ben Spackman, and David Harper.

Note: After this was recorded, the Church gave new guidance on additional Bible translations besides the KJV, which allows their use in Church settings and personal study.

The post Me, My Shelf, & I – How to read the Bible and love it appeared first on FAIR.

by Autumn Dickson

Before we jump straight into the Old Testament and the Creation story, we have an opportunity to read in Moses and Abraham. There are many truths that were restored through these works, and there are many truths we already know that are echoed. In Moses this week, we read about a vision that Moses was given on the top of a high mountain where Heavenly Father was speaking to him. Here is a verse from that vision.

Moses 1:6 And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all.

There are a couple of phrases in here that are powerful, especially when put together. Let’s start with this one: “…and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth…” The Savior holds grace and truth within Him; He is full of it. Let’s talk about both individually.

Under Topics and Questions on the church website, we read this: “Grace is a gift from Heavenly Father given through His Son, Jesus Christ. The word grace, as used in the scriptures, refers primarily to enabling power and spiritual healing offered through the mercy and love of Jesus Christ.”

Christ is full of the enabling power and spiritual healing, and He offers it in mercy and love. There are a couple of other truths that we learn in that same topic page. Overcoming physical and spiritual death are part of the grace that He offers. He helps us do things we would not be able to do on our own. He strengthens us. He helps us return to live with God. He helps us every day.

The Savior is also full of truth. He knows things as they are. There are two different perspectives with which we can look at this idea of Christ being full of truth. One, we know that He is currently full of truth. He knows all things. He is omnipotent. When He tells us to do something, He knows what He is talking about. However, there is also another perspective. Christ may have all knowledge now, but it didn’t start out that way when He started His mortal journey on earth. On earth, He came as a baby and forgot everything. He had to learn truth through the power of the Spirit as He grew. He did not know everything on earth. Otherwise, He could not have remained on earth (Moses 1:5). So we know that Christ didn’t know everything while He was here, but He knew all of the most important truths and lived perfectly according to those truths.

There is another phrase in the first verse that we read that I want to utilize to add another layer here. “…Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten…” To be in the similitude of someone is to resemble them, not so much in looks, but in how one chooses to live one’s life. Moses was like Christ, even if he was not perfectly like Christ. Moses was likewise full of grace and truth.

When we are baptized, we promise to take the Savior’s name upon and become like Him. Essentially, we promised to be in a similitude of the Only Begotten. When people look at us, they should see something that roughly resembles the Savior. We can also be full of grace and truth. We may be full of grace and truth in a different way than Christ, but we can be full of it too.

Let’s go back through our paragraphs about how Christ is full of grace and how He is full of truth, and let’s look at the parallels in our own lives.

1. We can be full of grace.

We can offer the enabling power and spiritual healing with mercy and love. No, we cannot offer it in the same way that Christ can, but we can help with it. When you sin and harm your spirit, another person can’t go in and fix it. However, another person can take you to the doctor.

As I was growing up, I had a shame problem. I took guilt beyond its helpful, proper boundaries and tried to beat myself into submission in the gospel. Not a great way to approach the gospel.

I remember being on my mission, and my companion and I came in later than we were supposed to. We didn’t set out to be disobedient, but we did make that mistake and it could have been prevented with a bit more effort on our part. I remember telling my companion that I didn’t feel guilty and that I felt bad about not feeling guilty. With no hesitation she simply responded, “Maybe Heavenly Father knows you don’t need to feel guilty in order to do better.” And she was definitely right. Coming in late happened once on my mission. Making me feel guilty wasn’t going to change that. It wouldn’t have served me. It was such a simple, nonchalant thing for her to say, but it changed my life.

I had experienced a lot of self-inflicted spiritual damage in the name of trying to force myself to do better. Attacking myself and berating myself over mistakes didn’t draw me closer to Christ or help me be better. Ironically, it did the opposite. My companion did not spiritually heal me. She is not the one who could take away those feelings or pay the price for them. Rather, she took me to the doctor. The grace she offered me was not her own, but she was still full of it.

Overcoming physical death is a little different. We’re not sure how resurrection looks or how that comes to pass. Do we get to help with that process through the power of Jesus Christ in the same way that we help with ordinances like baptism? Even if we don’t, we can still point others towards Christ and hope for the resurrection. Overcoming spiritual death is similar to offering healing; it is a part of healing. It’s not our power, but we can take people to the doctor. His power can be offered through us.

We can help others do things they would not be able to do on their own. We can strengthen others. We can help others return to live with God. We can help others every day.

2. We can be full of truth.

Eventually, we are going to progress to the extent that we know all things. That will take a long time. Until then, we can know all of the most important truths. We can be so full of truth that we live our lives differently than we would otherwise. My dad used to frequently echo the truth taught by Boyd K. Packer that doctrine changes behavior faster than a study of behavior changes behavior.

When we see and know things as they are, we change accordingly and we feel differently. “As they are” is a really key phrase here. I’ve learned to see things as they are a lot more clearly since I became a mother. Let me give some examples.

My third child, KJ, is obsessed with our youngest baby. She is constantly running over to Vivian and rolling her over so she can hold her down and cuddle her. Vivian is less than impressed now that she can walk. I swear I sound like a broken record all day, “KJ, let her go. KJ, let her go.” There was one time that KJ did it where Vivian got hurt. Vivian’s leg got stuck at a bad angle while KJ was trying to roll her over, and Vivian started crying pretty hard.

KJ felt so bad she could hardly stand it. She ran and hid on the stairs. After making sure Vivian was okay, I called KJ over to me. KJ couldn’t even look at me. She was trying to swallow back tears, and her chin kept trembling. It was rather cute on her four year old face. I remember feeling that way before when I accidentally hurt my dog when I was younger. I could hardly bear to even look at my dog the whole day because it hurt so bad.

As I sat and thought about how that felt, the Spirit taught me something, and I was able to teach it to KJ. I told KJ, “The bad feeling is actually a good sign. It means you’re a good person because you would never want to hurt Vivian. If you weren’t feeling bad, then that would be a bad sign. Feeling bad just means you love her so much.” I guess the Spirit testified of that truth to her, and she brightened immediately and ran after Vivian again.

Being full of truth is more than being able to recite that God judges us by our hearts. It’s understanding how God’s judgment works and being able to thwart Satan when he tries to mix us up. It is understanding the knowledge. It is applying the knowledge to any given situation and acting accordingly.

If we want to be full of the truth like the Savior, it’s more than just reciting what the Savior said. It’s understanding what He said and seeing things as they really are.

I testify that the Savior is full of grace and truth, and I testify that one of His purposes is to help us become so as well. This is done line upon line, with each practice taking us closer and closer. It’s about taking our hearts with us into those actions, rather than going through the motions of the gospel. I likewise testify that the Savior is trying to fill us with grace and truth because He loves us and knows it will make us happier.

Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award.

The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Moses 1; Abraham 3 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

by Autumn Dickson

This week is an introduction to the Old Testament rather than any specific group of scripture. With my last post for this scripture block, I testified of the value of studying the Old Testament. With this post, I want to talk about a couple of things we can do to maximize what we take out of it.

The first way is to let go of the need to read everything listed for the week. When I was in seminary in high school, we were encouraged to read the book of scripture that we were studying for that year. I am Type A, and so I read it all in order. There was a whole lot that was unhelpful to me at that period in time, and I walked away from the Old Testament with reinforced ideas that it was difficult.

You don’t have to push yourself to read everything for the week. Scripture study is not about finishing an assignment; it’s about drawing closer to God. Reading each and every line in high school didn’t draw me closer to God; it just gave my intense personality the satisfaction of saying I was able to complete the whole thing.

Instead of reading everything through, consider finding one story to study throughout the week, and then observe that story through multiple resources and angles. Summarize it so you understand what’s going on; you can actually also ask AI for a summary of the chapters from an LDS perspective. Make sure you understand where it is in the timeline as a whole. Ask AI about culturally significant points, Israeli history, and symbols to study. This is helpful because even though AI isn’t perfect, it can give you something to follow along so you’re not completely lost in the thick of it. It’s a game changer.

On top of using AI, utilize other Christian resources. We may not have everything in common, but Christians know their bible. I frequently utilize websites from other churches, including other translations of the bible, to help me understand what is going on in what I’m reading. Even if the King James version of the bible is the closest translation, other translations can help me understand what the King James version is trying to say. None of these translations are perfect, but that doesn’t mean they can’t add layers of understanding.

Another tip. Learn about the characters, and then ask yourself what they might have been feeling. Learn about the world they were born into and ask yourself how you might have been if you were born into the same world. Learn who they are and what makes them like or unlike Christ. Find modern day examples of their choices and learn how Christ might react in our day.

Which is my next practical tip. This one is found in the Come Follow Me manual, but I wanted to share my personal experience with it. Find Christ. Try to find Christ in a way that you haven’t seen before. Find Christ in the people and symbols. Find Christ for them. If they didn’t turn to Christ, ponder how things might have been different if they had chosen Him. Then take a minute to observe your own life and whether you’re rejecting Him in the same ways that they did. Ask yourself the question, “What decisions did Christ make in relation to His people? Why did He make that decision? How does it show His love? What is He trying to teach them?”

Whenever I’ve gotten stuck trying to pull something out of a scripture block, it is helpful to look for Christ. I’ve learned that there is always something there.

My last practical tip is simple. Sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself is to ignore the words completely and let the Spirit speak.

This is not an example with the scriptures, but it is an example with the word of God.

As I’m working on this, the October General Conference has just been completed. I didn’t have many questions written down. I didn’t try setting up my entire house so that my kids would be distracted and occupied so I could focus (that hasn’t worked in the past). At one point during the conference, I sent a picture of four kids climbing on my lap. I didn’t even know my lap was big enough to have four kids sitting on it, let alone climbing. I sent the caption, “If you ask me what I got out of conference, the answer is nothing.” And honestly, conference ended up being exactly what I thought it would be. I was always putting out small fires like giant bloody noses from my two year old or messes from our new puppy.

My goal for this past conference was low. I just wanted it on in my house, even if it was just background noise. I’ve learned that if I strive for more than that, I usually just end up angry with my kids for being kids. So rather, I wanted it on so it could invite the Spirit and if the Lord really needed to tell me something, then the Spirit would be there.

As I found myself watching my two year old in the bathtub (the bloody nose really was gnarly), I found peace with my computer sitting up on the counter playing conference on YouTube. I learned that even if I couldn’t sit at Christ’s feet like Mary, I could still feel the Spirit when my family needed me to be Martha.

You were not created for the scriptures. The scriptures were created for you. Utilize them for you. You don’t have to beat yourself over the head for imperfection. I testify of scripture study, but I also testify that studying can look like the scriptures playing in the background of whatever fire you’re putting out. It can look like carrying one of the people in your heart while you’re going throughout your day. It can look like completely missing the words of what you’re reading or listening to and simply leaning on Christ when you take a few moments to catch your breath. I testify of studying the scriptures in the exact way that they bring you closer to Christ. Don’t put pressure on yourself to make it look like someone else’s study. Let Christ show you how to draw closer to Him by utilizing the Old Testament this year.

I testify that the Old Testament is worth it, and I testify that it’s possible to get something out of the Old Testament. I testify that we live in a world where scripture study doesn’t have to look traditional; it just has to bring you closer to Christ. I testify that you can read words on a page and have the Spirit tell you something completely different. I always testify that Christ wants to draw closer to you, and I testify that He can do so through the Old Testament if you simply let Him know you’re willing to let it happen.

Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award.

The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Introduction to the Old Testament – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

Why does the Old Testament still matter? What translations are good? Should I get a study Bible? These questions and more are discussed in this week’s episode.

Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah.

The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Introduction to the Old Testament – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.

by Autumn Dickson

Welcome to the Old Testament. I remember the first year I prepared to teach from the Old Testament back in 2022, and I remember being quite overwhelmed with the idea of it. The Old Testament is a very foreign way of writing; it holds a lot of cultural context that can make it difficult. As I worked to prepare messages that year, I found that I wasn’t totally wrong in my apprehension. The Old Testament was hard, and it took me much longer to find messages in there and to understand the messages.

But I also grew to love the Old Testament that year. I testify that it is worth studying, and it’s worth the extra effort. Oftentimes the things that require the most of us are the very things that draw us closer to Christ and therefore, become our favorite things.

Which is actually what I want to share today.

I remember sitting in a church class and hearing someone say something along the lines of, “We need to stop making people feel bad if they don’t study everyday. Some of us just can’t, and God still loves us.” I thought that was an interesting observation to make for a couple of reasons.

The first reason I found it interesting was because I hadn’t heard a single comment that was remotely condemning towards those who hadn’t been studying everyday. If someone was feeling guilty about not studying, it wasn’t coming directly from the other people who were commenting. Was it coming from the Holy Ghost or from social pressure? I’m not sure. However, let’s focus more on my second reason for finding this comment interesting. That reason is going to take the rest of my message.

The Lord very strongly asked me to start creating content for the Come Follow Me program. It started with a blog; I felt much more comfortable with this because I could hide behind my writing and not put my face up there. I still didn’t want to do the blog because it sounded like it would take a ton of effort, but it sounded more doable than other forms of sharing content. The Lord is tricky that way sometimes because after I got the hang of a blog, He told me to expand my efforts to YouTube. Then a podcast. Instagram. Facebook. TikTok. I fought Him every step of the way if we’re being totally honest.

There are a couple of reasons I fought Him. The first reason was that I didn’t want to be more visible. I had spent a good portion of my life trying to make myself more visible to feel better about myself, and it had only ever burned me. There came a point when I started doing the exact opposite. The second reason is more applicable to what I want to talk about. It was going to be so much work.

And it was. Oh my, this has all been so much work. Each step of the way has required a huge learning curve. Creating a website was overwhelming, and there were many angry tears. I almost gave up completely the first time I ever filmed a video and if it hadn’t been for my husband forcing me back into the room to try again, I might have given up. Every step of the way, my soul fought with Him over adding just a bit more. I argued that I already didn’t have time to do what I was doing. I argued that it was already requiring so much of me to put myself out there. I argued that I was already sacrificing a lot for this.

But He persisted and has won up to this point.

The effort extended beyond just a learning curve for technology. Trying to share a message about Jesus Christ every single week has been…stretching. I can’t tell you how often I’ve felt that I had nothing left to share. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had writers block and stared at the screen for a collective number of hours with nothing to show for it. I’ve been led down research rabbit holes that sometimes amounted to something, and other times, it all came to an anticlimactic stop.

I’m a stay-at-home mom who started creating content in 2020. I will hit my 6 year mark this year. To say that I have studied the scriptures is an understatement because my qualifications for this were non-existent beyond what my parents had lovingly taught me at home. I had to study, harder than I ever studied in school, to allow the Lord to help me create.

I testify that it was so much work, and  can’t testify enough of how this work has changed me. Behind the role of mother and wife, creating this content week after week after week has completely transformed me. It has changed me more than my mission changed me. I am completely new.

So should my friend feel bad about not reading the scriptures? Many people would say, “No! Don’t make them feel bad! It’s better to just teach them the happy effects of scripture study to inspire them.” And you know what? Maybe they’re right. I think oftentimes, it is most effective to try and inspire someone into doing the right thing to make their life better.

On the flip side, the only reason I started this journey was because I could no longer enjoy my TV show or book while my kids were napping. Every time I sat down to watch and take my break, I felt that nagging feeling that I needed to be investing my time in what God wanted me to do. To be 100% honest, I felt bad for ignoring Him. Feeling guilty that I wasn’t following what He had asked me to do is the very thing that got me started on one of the most life-changing things I’ve ever experienced. The bad feeling was exactly what I needed.

So was my friend feeling the Holy Ghost or the pressures of the society around her? I don’t know.

But I do know this. Acting on that guilty feeling and prioritizing study (because heaven knows the Old Testament requires study) is life-changing. It is hard, but all the best things are. Don’t miss out. Someday you’ll be given the opportunity to see what you missed out on, and I’m almost positive that’s half the reason for the gnashing of teeth on the other side. We will be so mad at ourselves for missing out.

Studying in order to create content each week has been so hard. So hard. So painfully hard. Weeks on end of feeling like I was trying to move the Great Wall of China with just my hands.

But studying is worth it. I can testify of that principle more than I can testify of a lot of principles.

You don’t have to be perfect. There were so many imperfect days, but even the imperfect days contributed to changing me. Commit to yourself that this year is the year that you’ll engage in scripture study. The Old Testament has to be studied.

When the day comes that you’re willing to engage in the commandment to study the word of God everyday, you will get to the point where you will wish you had started earlier. Oh how I wish I had developed the hope I have now while I was still in high school. It would have saved me in so many ways.

I testify that scripture study is worth it. I testify that the Old Testament has a lot to give if you’re willing to give. God stands ready to speak to you and change your life. He stands ready to let the hope of Christ completely transform how you feel about everything important in your life. Let the Spirit tell you that you need to give more of yourself because that is the Spirit telling you how to elevate your life to a whole new level. Listen.

Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award.

The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Introduction to the Old Testament – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

by Autumn Dickson

I opened up the New Testament this week to study the birth of Christ. I ended up down a bit of a rabbit hole, and I’m going to take you to part of it with me. My rabbit hole took me all over the place, but I’m going to try and simplify it into some basic ideas. It’s going to be very technical at first and there are some nice enough implications, but then I want to more broadly apply it to the rest of us.

The thing that really got me started down this rabbit hole is the fact that the very first verses we read in the New Testament are the lineage of Joseph. Funny enough, I had never noticed it consciously before because I usually just skip over that part. As I thought about it a bit further, I realized that it was odd. Why are we sharing Joseph’s lineage when Jesus isn’t of that lineage? Wouldn’t it be more effective and helpful to share Mary’s lineage (Yes, I know that wasn’t the tradition then; it just seems like it would make more sense considering the fact that she’s his biological mother).

I then learned that many biblical scholars believe that we do have Christ’s lineage through Mary. In Luke’s account, we receive another account of lineage. This listed lineage lists Joseph, but scholars believe that it’s Mary’s line anyway. It just mentioned Joseph because of social norms. There are some other theories surrounding Luke’s account of lineage, but the most widespread theory is that it really is Mary’s line. We’re going to go with that theory for all intents and purposes in this particular post.

Why is lineage important? Well, it’s important for a few reasons. We’ll talk about its significance in the life of Christ, and then we’ll talk about its significance in our own lives.

It had been prophesied that Christ would come off of the Davidic line. Beyond that, He wasn’t going to be just some random descendant but heir to the throne (if the Romans hadn’t been in charge at the time). Christ’s lineage through Mary and Joseph was really important for this particular prophecy.

Christ comes off of the Davidic line biologically through Mary. This biological portion of being from the Davidic line is important for obvious reasons. However, Joseph’s line is important too. Through Joseph, Christ is able to be known as an heir to the throne of David because that kind of thing always legally passed through males.

I spent some time learning about Jewish customs and laws surrounding adoption, and I’ll give you a couple of short facts. There wasn’t much of a legal proceeding with official records and paperwork when it came to adoption. Rather, if a man stepped up to the role of father in a child’s life, that child was legally adopted. If the father treated the child as his own, then the child held claim to everything that the other children held claim to. Inheritances, the family name, all of it. This was actually really important in a society where it mattered who your family was. Christ was of the Davidic line in all the ways that mattered.

And this is absolutely amazing. It’s cool to think about how God orchestrated every single detail to come together for Christ to fulfill prophecy. It’s amazing. Even with His human side coming through His mother, He was still legally adopted and considered an heir through Joseph’s line.

But I actually want to take this further to allusions surrounding our own heritage, inheritances, and legality in terms of God’s family.

Like Christ, there are two parts that play into our inheritance. Biologically (not sure if that’s the right word but we’re going to run with it because I don’t have a better word), we are spirit sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. Because of our divine parentage, we were always meant to inherit a throne. It’s within our “blood,” so to speak.

But there’s another portion of this.

Through divine authority known as the priesthood, we are “legally” adopted into the family of God. There are three parts to this next thing I was to talk about. Christ could have stepped into His kingship if the Jews had been RIGHTEOUS enough to hold on to their kingdom. Joseph SACRIFICED and LEGALLY ADOPTED Christ and because of that, Christ would have been able to step into His kingship. If Israel had been righteous, Christ would have been king.

If we are RIGHTEOUS and lay claim upon Christ’s power to LEGALLY ADOPT us into the House of Israel, the because of Christ’s SACRIFICE, we are to be divine heirs.

As another detail in inheritance that is rich in meaning, primogeniture (firstborn son’s claim to the throne over other children) was overwhelmingly common but not the absolute rule. Through wickedness or directly through the decisions of God, the older could be deemed unfit to inherit such power.

Heavenly Father truly is the Master. All of the details are laid out so beautifully. There are a million parallels in the gospel that add layer upon rich layer to our understanding.

I testify that God is in the details. The more I learn about the gospel, the more I am filled with a sense of awe at all of His orchestration. I testify that we come from a divine family, and I testify that Christ made a sacrifice and gave us the power we needed to adopt us into His family as well. All of these combine to an astounding truth; we have been set up to be heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, to inherit a divine throne. There is so much we were born into. God has so much in store for us.

Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award.

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by Autumn Dickson

Christ is the center figure in history. He was the promised Messiah who saved and changed the world. He brings light into the world. He created the world.

But a long time ago, He was just a baby that was born in a small town to a couple who had just begun their life together. Despite all that it cost them, they welcomed Christ into this world.

This week is Christmas, and as such, we focus on Christ. I would also like to draw our attention to those who welcomed Him into the world. I want to talk about Mary and Joseph who welcomed Him into their family and watched over Him when He was vulnerable. Maybe we can learn what it truly means to invite Christ into our lives.

Inviting Christ into their home was not easy. Right from the beginning, the couple faced difficulty and potential ridicule. Mary could have been in a lot of danger for being pregnant without being married, and Joseph, her betrothed, was likely very confused when she came to tell him about what was happening.

Instead of being able to rest and bring him into the world at home, Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem. It was a small town six miles away from Jerusalem, and it was packed because people had travelled there as part of the census.

He was potentially born in a stable, and most people know that story. Other biblical scholars suggest that the birth story may have played out differently. From a different translation, it is possible that Christ was born amongst the animals on the first floor of a family home that Mary and Joseph were staying at. Regardless, it wasn’t a comfortable birth, and I can’t imagine that she was comfortable while travelling right before giving birth.

I had the tremendously unique experience of going to Bethlehem and Jerusalem while pregnant. I testify that it’s not comfortable, and I had a car and an air-conditioned room to sleep in.

Shortly after the birth, Mary and Joseph had to flee to Egypt to protect their Son. Instead of going home, they spent anywhere from several months to two years in Egypt amongst people who were very different from the Jews. They were separated from family and friends with very little ability to communicate with them. Joseph wasn’t practicing his work where he had been previously, and Mary was on her own as a first time mother in an unprecedented situation of raising the Son of God.

The Bible gives us very little after that. There were the wise men. Christ grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Christ turns water to wine for Mary at a wedding. Somewhere along the line, Mary lost Joseph despite Christ’s power.

And then, of course, Mary also had to lose her Son. We don’t know how much she knew about what was happening on that cross. She had pondered in her heart, and the angel had warned her that her heart would be pierced with sorrow as a result of bringing Christ into the world, but did she understand what was going on? Or, like the apostles, was she confused at what happened? Did she feel dreadfully alone with Joseph gone and now her oldest Son as well?

When we speak of inviting Christ into our lives, we often speak of rejoicing and peace and miracles. These are very real factors that Mary and Joseph both experienced as part of having the Messiah be born into their home. I have found immense amounts of joy since I have accepted Christ as my Savior and leaned into His promises. They are real and true.

There is also difficulty that comes with inviting Christ into our lives. There was very real difficulty that came into the life of Mary and Joseph as a direct result of welcoming Christ into their home. There will be difficulty in your life that comes as a direct result of inviting Christ into your heart and home. It will be different from the kind of difficulty experienced by Mary and Joseph, but it will be difficult nonetheless.

It can be difficult to invite Christ into your home when it brings uncertainty, rocks the boat, or brings potential whispers and judgment. It can be difficult when we’re asked to jump into the dark and trust when we’re called to go somewhere, and we don’t know how it will work out. It can be difficult when the responsibilities we’ve been given take us away from our families. It can be difficult when the powerful God that you love doesn’t give you a miracle to save your family member. It can feel lonely and even devastating.

There comes a point where you get to decide if it’s worth inviting Him in.

If an angel appeared to you and warned you about the sorrow that would pierce your heart as a result of inviting Christ into your life, how would you respond?

He follows us into our darkest moments. Will we follow Him when things get dark? Will we follow Him when the bread stops? Will we follow Him when we don’t feel that gigantic hug from behind when we’re praying and asking for help? Will we follow Him when we have to face our own cross? Will we resent Him if He doesn’t answer how we want Him to answer us? Will we curse His name when He takes away instead of giving?

Would we invite Him into our hearts and homes again, knowing what we know?

Why would you invite Him in again?

I love to testify of how Christ shows up for us. I want to take this moment to testify of a grand opportunity to show up and give our loyalty to Him no matter where He chooses to take us. It can be difficult to follow Christ when it feels like He asks too much. It can be difficult to follow Christ when He requires not just our obedience and time, but our whole souls.

I testify that He is worth our loyalty. He has earned our undying loyalty, and we will never truly be let down if we’re willing to give it to Him. I testify that offering our whole souls, just as He offered His own, is liberating and beautiful. He will never let us down even when we have to follow Him through difficulty and darkness. We can hold to Him and His promises.

Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award.

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by Autumn Dickson

This week is all about The Family Proclamation. Here is the topic I want to cover.

Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I want to talk about happiness in marriage specifically, but the principles I speak about can be applied more broadly to any relationship you’re going to be a part of.

Marriages are falling apart in our day. Satan is coming after the family in a multi-pronged attack, but destroying marriages is just one part of how he chooses to do this. Social media loves showing off images of bright and shiny couples, individuals who seem so much happier alone, and advice about how your spouse should be acting towards you.

We’re taught that we deserve to be happy and if we’re not happy, we should leave. We’re taught that if a spouse can’t meet our needs, we can’t be happy. We’re taught that it’s better for the kids if we’re happy. And yet, despite all of this teaching, the world can’t seem to get it together and be happy.

Oh the irony.

I love my marriage. I’m so grateful to have Conner, and there are a lot of reasons for that. One of those reasons is not because Conner or I have been perfect. It’s not because we agree on everything, or even agree on everything that’s really important. It’s not because we’ve never been mean to each other or because we’ve never had to navigate days at a time where we can’t really figure out how to get past something. It’s not because Conner is so intuitive at reading me or because I never complain.

We are two different people with different baggage, different perspectives, different personalities, different ways of handling things. We are two people who experience times of drowning stress, resentment, uncertainty, and traumas.

It can be easy to look at happy couples and assume that they have it easy, but that’s not true. It’s not true for anyone. There are relationships that hold more difficulty than others which is why I encourage everyone to seek the help of the Lord in knowing what to do. However, if you’ve married a generally decent person who doesn’t scream at you, belittle you, act violently towards you, financially abuse you, then there is hope for happiness.

And your best chance for happiness lies in following the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Christ didn’t focus on communication styles or on making sure you have everything in common ahead of entering a relationship. He didn’t focus on love languages or living together ahead of time to see if you’re compatible or any of the other stuff that the world tries pushing so hard. He doesn’t even focus on making sure the other person knows how to take care of you in a relationship. He didn’t focus on changing the other person so that you could be happy.

The foremost characteristic of Christ’s life was love, love for God and then love for others. Everything He did, the miracles and leading and teaching and forgiving and gratitude and serving all boiled down to that great love. If we want to be happy, we have to love the other person more fully.

In order to find this happiness, you have to have a correct understanding of what that love looks like. Otherwise, you run the risk of building up more resentment rather than finding happiness. Love does not mean you’re a doormat. It doesn’t mean you never say anything or complain. It doesn’t mean that you smile and stay silent when you’re hurting.

Love is not an outward action. It is an inward feeling that inspires different kinds of outward actions.

Sometimes love does mean looking at the back of a person and choosing to smile even when they’re doing something annoying again. Sometimes it does mean mercy and forgiveness and letting go when none of it was your fault. Sometimes it means accepting them exactly as they are and finding it within yourself to feel affectionate anyway.

Other times, the most loving thing you can do is speak up. Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is tell someone they’re wrong. The beautiful thing about it coming from a place of love is that the Spirit can help you know how to handle the situation in the best way available. Chastisement also hits differently when you can feel that the other person is actually more worried about you rather than worried about how you’re making their life harder.

Think of it in this way. When Conner comes to correct me sometimes (which we do often enough for each other), I get up in arms sometimes. My gut reaction is to insist that he doesn’t understand what I’m going through, and criticism isn’t helpful. Luckily, I have a husband who gets this, and he often continues the conversation calmly. He also dives in and tells how it would be better for me if I chose to make different decisions. It’s extremely effective.

He once told me that I needed to be more consistent in my discipline with one of our kids. I was so mad. It is so difficult to keep up sometimes, and it’s hard to figure out the balance between disciplining your kids and letting it go because you’re desperate or because you don’t want them to feel like terrible kids. But he continued on calmly. He told me that I was actually making my own life harder by letting things go, that it would only take a couple of days of consistency and my kids would know I was serious. He was totally right but beyond that, he also did it with sincere love for me, and that made all the difference.

Correcting me was a form of love; it was Christlike. Not to mention, it landed differently because it was about love for me. He wasn’t correcting me because I was making his life more difficult. He was correcting me because he really wanted me to live better.

I’m not going to pretend this isn’t a hard point to reach. It is hard to love someone when you don’t feel loved. It’s hard to love someone when you feel like you’re the only one who has been stepping up. It’s hard to love someone when you’re drowning in your own stress. It calls upon some of your deepest willpower and self-observation.

I’m not talking about reaching down and hollowing yourself out and giving the last pieces of yourself. I’m not talking about resigning yourself to misery because you have to love them rather than begging them to change. I’m talking about letting go of your need to change them in order for you to find happiness. I’m talking about actively working on yourself, not to stop complaining or to stop nitpicking, but to actively and consciously choose to love them in the hardest moments.

If you want to be happy in family life, you have to follow the teachings of Christ. One of the foremost characteristics of Christ, the characteristic that motivated everything else, was a sincere and deep love of everyone. Including those who wouldn’t change or didn’t deserve it.

If you want to be happy, love freely. Happiness doesn’t come from being loved perfectly; it comes from loving more perfectly. That is the truth. You have to change yourself to love the other person more freely.

This goes for any kind of relationship. This doesn’t mean you need to stay in every relationship, but loving the other person will help you heal faster even if that person was awful. It’s counterintuitive but true. Truly loving someone frees you and heals you and brings happiness.

Perhaps it seems too simple for your problem. Maybe you’re insisting that I don’t know your spouse and how hard it is.

You’re right. I don’t. But I do know the power of changing to be like Christ. I do know that He was the most brilliant Man to ever walk the earth. I know that He knows what He was talking about. In any situation in your marriage (or any other relationship), trying to adopt love into your heart in the way that Christ loved will make the difference.

I testify that happiness in any kind of relationship comes when we act like Christ. We find happiness. I testify that even if you can’t find happiness directly in your relationship, there is a powerful happiness available in drawing closer to Christ. There is a powerful happiness that comes when you find it within yourself to love the other person and lean on Christ and His deep love when you need it.

Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award.

The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – The Family: A Proclamation to the World – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

by Autumn Dickson

The Family Proclamation turned 30 this year. It is a document that teaches about God’s plan for families. Though many believe it to be outdated, I testify of its ongoing relevance. Its principles hold truth that can protect and save. If everyone went home and tried to follow the principles within this document, society would evolve overnight.

As I approach some of these principles in this post, it’s important to note that The Family Proclamation is the ideal. None of us are going to reach the ideal on this side of the veil, but we still teach the ideal. Sometimes teaching the ideal has the undesirable side effect of making us feel discouraged. We cannot afford to let that take hold in our lives. Satan would love to take the ideal and twist it so that it crushes us, and we get to decide whether we let those feelings into our lives or whether we hold on to the hope that is Jesus Christ.

So, like the Family Proclamation, I want to try and teach the ideal. Your circumstances may not allow the ideal. How you grew up may not have even afforded you a glimpse of the ideal, but consciously choose how you’re going to look at this ideal. You can look at it and wonder if God doesn’t love you because you don’t have that ideal, you can feel hopeless about ever reaching that ideal, OR you can tell Satan to back off. God teaches the ideal so you can strive for it, but God also teaches the ideal because He’s trying to give you a glimpse of His promises to you. He is saying, “This is what I want for you because I love you. This is what you were always meant to have. This IS what you will have if you hold on.”

So let’s talk about one of these truths with that understanding.

One of the truths that is often mocked and twisted is regarding fathers.

By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families.

There is a lot that we could dissect in that one sentence, but I’m going to pull out one of the first phrases.

Fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness.

“Preside” is the troublesome word in the eyes of the world. According to the dictionary, the word “preside” means to be in a position of authority so when we use this word, we often picture a home where the father gets the final say on any decision. Even when a husband loves his wife and listens to her honest opinion, it doesn’t feel good to think that the man still gets the final say, and that’s it. Is that really the end of the story? Even when he loves and listens to his wife, there are still moments where her perspectives go unheard because apparently it’s divinely appointed. Then, there’s the pressure that gets placed on the man for this kind of responsibility. No longer does he have a true partner to share life with. He carries it all because it ultimately falls on him.

There have been a lot of things in the gospel and church that haven’t always felt perfect or right when I’ve originally learned about them. I’ve learned that if I trust God and keep going, I’ve been led to answers from Him. It has been no different with this particular principle.

If you keep reading in The Family Proclamation, you come across this line as well.

In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.

This is our first hint that maybe we don’t fully understand what we’re reading. How can two people be equal partners if one person always gets the final say unless it’s specifically “given” to the other partner? So which part am I reading wrong? Which part don’t I understand? Is it the “equal” part or the “presiding” part?

As I’ve pondered this particular question, I had a thought come to my mind.

If I truly want to have the family that the Lord wants me to have, I have to ignore the world’s meaning of the word “preside” and embrace what the Lord means by the word “preside.”

This isn’t just me trying to skirt my way around a difficult issue. It’s not me doing mental gymnastics to try and make sense of it. Look at the Lord. The Lord presides differently than the rest of the world. He is the ultimate presiding officer and yet, we didn’t see Him going around and making demands. We didn’t see Him silencing good people and ignoring the opinions of others. He certainly wasn’t disregarding the women in His life in the name of presiding officer.

One of the foremost characteristics of Christ’s life was His desire to serve. He devoted His life to securing what was best for everyone around Him. He was the ultimate presiding officer, and He was also the ultimate servant. Perhaps in the eyes of the Lord, presiding means the first person to step up and serve everyone around them. Presiding meant making decisions sometimes, but it also meant encouraging others to step up and lead. Presiding meant washing feet; it meant laying down His life, not putting His life above all others.

Presiding, according to the Lord’s interpretation, also means lifting everyone. The ultimate purpose of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are to bring about our immortality and eternal life. They want to lift us to where They are. It’s not about controlling us and forcing us to do what they think is best. It’s about meeting us where we’re at and trying to lift us so that we can be as good and wise and loving and happy as They are.

I hold no issue with this definition of my husband presiding in my home.

I testify that the gospel holds up on closer inspection. Things that may seem troublesome or off can stand up to the light when we look at it with Christ. I testify that Heavenly Father has a plan for our families. I testify that His plan is based on serving each other and lifting each other, not ruling over each other.

Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award.

The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – The Family: A Proclamation to the World – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.