This article was originally published by Church News. It is published here with their permission.
During October 2024 general conference, President Russell M. Nelson said: “Do you see what is happening right before our eyes? I pray that we will not miss the majesty of this moment. The Lord is indeed hastening His work.”
After sharing the above quote during a BYU–Idaho devotional address Tuesday, May 13, Elder Kevin G. Brown, a General Authority Seventy, spoke of what he sees as some “majesties of this moment” happening around the world.
First, his son was one of the “miraculous missionaries” serving across the world during the COVID-19 pandemic, whose teaching — mostly conducted online — led to the baptism of 125,000 individuals during COVID.
Elder Brown, who worked for Seminaries and Institutes of Religion since 2001, also spoke of the 800,000 students currently enrolled in seminary and institute — the highest enrollment in the history of the Church — and the new houses of the Lord dotting the earth.
“While we can be grateful for all the majestic things happening around us in the Church and kingdom of God and in the world, I would like to invite you today to look for the majestic things happening inside you,” Elder Brown said.
Tuesday’s devotional in the BYU–I Center in Rexburg, Idaho, was Elder Brown’s first devotional address after being called as a new General Authority Seventy April 5.
He invited listeners to ask themselves if they are part of the “marvelous work” rolling forth (see Doctrine and Covenants 4:1). “Do not miss ‘the majesty of this moment,’” he said. “What is happening inside you? Is the Lord working a marvelous work in you?”
Jesus Christ loves all of God’s children as they are but is not content to leave them the way they are, Elder Brown testified. “Jesus Christ wants you to progress. His work will not progress at your expense. In fact, you are His work.”
Agency and access
Elder Brown invited listeners to read and study Jacob 5, known as the “Allegory of the Olive Tree.” Instead of thinking of the tree as a symbol for the Church or a large group, he said, “read it as if you are Israel — one who will ‘let God prevail’ in his or her life. One who will give Him free and full access to your life without restrictions, conditions or limits.”
The more Elder Brown thinks about the Lord hastening His work in him and his own development, preparation, and growth, the more he realizes the importance of what he allows — and who he gives access to — in his life and heart, he said.
Elder Brown then invited listeners to consider five principles:
First, those who allow Lucifer to have access to their lives will regress spiritually and, eventually, in every aspect of their lives. “However, if Jesus Christ has access, we will progress. The more we give Him access to our heart and life, the faster we will progress spiritually and temporally. You will see a hastening. You will experience majestic moments.”
Second, Elder Brown reminded listeners that Satan is not omniscient. “He seeks to prevent things from happening, but he has no power to do so. … He is cunning, but he is ignorant. If you limit his access, you limit his power. This means that with the help of the Lord, you can render him powerless.”
When Satan tried to influence Moses, Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove and even Jesus Christ, they called upon God, and “the evil one had no choice but to depart,” Elder Brown observed.
Third, God can do little if individuals become indifferent or defiant. “Those two attitudes together result in rebellion,” Elder Brown said.
Fourth, some may heed an “all-or-nothing” mentality or think “I have failed before. I will fail again. What is the point?”
Said Elder Brown, “These are the tools of the adversary. Remember, Jesus never used those words.”
Fifth, individuals sometimes after they repent and feel the joy of forgiveness will think, “I’ve completed my repentance process.” However, said Elder Brown, “that mindset restricts His access.”
Some might think they have “finished” the repentance process because they have changed something from bad to good. “But what about something good to better or something better to best. Is that still not repentance? Jesus Christ not only redeems, He also enables. You see, both His power to redeem and enable helps us change. Instead of saying ‘I have completed the repentance process,’ why don’t we say ‘I have started the repentance process, and I will stay in the repentance process‘?”
Elder Brown told listeners, “The Lord wants to hasten His work in and through you.”
His majestic work began “with your creation. Jesus Christ is a Creator. He is still creating. He is still creating me. I am still ‘a work in progress.’ An eternity from now, can you imagine what I will be? What you will be? You are in His hands. Don’t leave. Stay the course. Stay in the relationship. Intensify the relationship you have with Jesus Christ through your covenants,” Elder Brown said.
