Hank Smith: 00:02 Hello, my friends. Welcome to followHIM Favorites. My name is Hank Smith. I’m here with the fabulous John Bytheway. Welcome, John.

John Bytheway: 00:09 Thank you.

Hank Smith: 00:10 John, we’re going to have a good day. FollowHIM Favorites. We’re going to answer a single question from this week’s lesson. We’re in Philippians and Colossians today. Is that how you say it, John? Colossians, Colossians?

John Bytheway: 00:20 Colossians and Colossians. I usually say both and then I know that I’ve got them covered somehow.

Hank Smith: 00:27 Yeah, you’ve covered all your bases. The question comes from Philippians chapter four, verse 13, and you probably know that verse is the youth theme for the church this year.

John Bytheway: 00:36 Yeah, that’s right.

Hank Smith: 00:36 The question is this. When have you found strength through Christ to do hard things? Because the verse says, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

John Bytheway: 00:46 When I was a bishop, I used to have one of those little plastic flexible bracelets that had Philippians 4:13 on it because sometimes I just didn’t feel up to the task. That would help me think, well, Jesus told Peter he could walk on water, and if the Lord asks you and the Lord says come, then you can do it. I think the world’s self-help approach is I can do all things, period. But this is, I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. There are some things that even the gospel asks us to do, which we’re like, I just don’t know if I can do that. Well, with Christ you can. That’s what this is telling us.

Hank Smith: 01:27 Yeah. I think I’ve seen in my life that when I think I can do all things, it’s actually a pretty poor show. I usually say, I can do all things on my own, and then I fall flat on my face. I’m grateful that Paul adds this. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. I think in context too, John, we need to understand that Paul is saying, I can withstand trials. I don’t know if he’s saying, I could run a world record-

John Bytheway: 01:53 Marathon or something.

Hank Smith: 01:54 100 yard dash. Yeah. I think he’s saying, I can withstand the difficulties that I’m in. The previous verses are about the difficulties he’s in. He said, “I have learned wherever I am, I need to be content.” And then he says, “I can do that through Christ who strengtheneth me.” I’ve seen that in family and friends who have been able to just survive and even thrive in difficult, difficult trials. They attribute that to the power of the Savior being with them.

John Bytheway: 02:27 Yeah. Even some like the power to forgive. You know what? I can’t do that. I can’t do that on my own, but perhaps with the Savior and his power, maybe I can do that. That’s where that verse really has some power, in those kinds of times, real trials and needing to move on from something difficult.

Hank Smith: 02:46 Yeah. When it says, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me, I think it’s not just thinking about Jesus, but it’s doing the things he has asked us to do. So, I can do all things because I read my scriptures because Christ has asked me to. I can do all things because I attend the temple because Christ has asked me to. It’s just not this idea of I put a picture up of Jesus, now I can do all things. It’s I can do all things through the commandments of Christ, which strengthen me.

John Bytheway: 03:15 Doing those things that allow the Spirit to come into you gives you a power beyond your own.

Hank Smith: 03:23 Absolutely. We hope you’ll join us on our full podcast. It’s called followHIM. You can get it wherever you get your podcasts. This week we’re with Sister Lori Denning and you will love what she does with this lesson. And then join us next week right here for another followHIM Favorites.