New Year Resolutions

Happy New Year!

The New Year is an exciting time of the year. Everyone is making resolutions to do things different and hopefully better. New Year resolutions are always fun. Some people decide they are going to lose weight, others decide that they want a different job, no matter what the goal is it seems like everyone has something.

So...what's yours? What is your resolution going to be? What are you going to have be better. Is it going to be physical? Financial? Locational? How about a resolution that will effect ALL of that? Crazy right? I know you're thinking, "What could he possibly be talking about that could effect all the different aspects of my life?". Well, I will tell you. The answer is...

A Spiritual Resolution.

The Savior Jesus Christ invited all, "Come follow me". I can promise that those who heed this call will gain the blessings we have talked about.

Not quite convinced? Don't think it makes sense? Let me explain. Say you are going to be setting financial goals if a person will follow the example and teachings of Jesus Christ and pay tithing they will be greatly blessed.

Malachi 3:10
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

So many blessings that we can't even receive it! Can you believe that people say they can't afford tithing. You can't afford not to.

Let's continue to physical blessings. Following the Lord has physical blessings and promises also. For instance, just following and waiting upon the Lord...

Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Whereas those who go a bit further and follow the physical guidelines and instruction that the Lord has set forth known as The Word of Wisdom...

Doctrine and Covenants 89:18-21
18And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;

 19And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;

 20And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.

 21And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.

My friends and family I can go on and on about the blessings that will come in every aspect of our lives if we heed the call, "Come follow me". I add my testimony that Jesus Christ is the one to follow and even though it will not be easy we will be greatly blessed. This is my New Year Resolution, to be a better follower of my Lord and Master.

Modern-Day Grinches

Seeing Christmas through New Eyes

DIETER F. UCHTDORF

"Seeing Christmas through New Eyes," 2010 First Presidency Christmas Devotional, (December 5, 2010)

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"Isn’t this a wonderful time of the year! So many things fill our hearts with the spirit of Christmas: the melody of Christmas carols, the lights, the decorations, and the happy greetings of “Merry Christmas!”

There are certain words that ring like bells in my soul and remind me of the beauty and meaning of Christmas—words such as “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus”¹and, of course, “Joy to the World!” “Away in a Manger,” and “Silent Night.”

There are other words, more cautionary, that are worthy of our consideration as well—words such as:

Every Who

Down in Who-ville

Liked Christmas a lot . . .

But the Grinch,

Who lived just north of Who-ville,

Did NOT!²

The Grinch, that memorable character from a classic children’s story by Dr. Seuss, had a heart that “was two sizes too small,” and he hated everything about Christmas. Through the course of the story, however, he undergoes a dramatic transformation when he learns that there is more to Christmas than decorations and gifts.

Perhaps the Grinch’s story is so memorable because, if we are honest, we may be able to relate to him. Who among us has not felt concern over the commercialization and even greed of the Christmas season? Who hasn’t felt overwhelmed by the packed calendars, the stress of finding gifts, the pressure of planning meals and events? In fact, psychologists tell us that during this season of cheer and goodwill, many feel sorrow and depression.

We know what the Christmas season ought to be—we know it should be a time of reflection on the birth of the Savior, a time of celebration and of generosity. But sometimes our focus is so much on the things that annoy and overwhelm us that we can almost hear ourselves say in unison with the Grinch: “Why, for fifty-three years I’ve put up with it now! I MUST stop this Christmas from coming! . . . But HOW?”

While it’s true that we can find materialism and anxiety in Christmas, it is also true that if we have eyes to see, we can experience the powerful message of the birth of the Son of God and feel the hope and peace He brings to the world. We, like the Grinch, can see Christmas through new eyes.

Looking for Christ

As an old family tradition, our family has always celebrated the Advent of Christmas. Starting on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, we would get together on Sunday afternoons, light wax candles on a pine Advent wreath, enjoy delicious homemade cookies, and read passages of scriptures that center on the Christ.

We read accounts of ancient prophets who yearned for the coming of the Messiah. We read scriptures that proclaim the wondrous story of His birth. Each week by singing beautiful Christmas songs and having a fun time together, our family tried to refocus on the true meaning of the season. I must admit that delicious hot chocolate, hot apple cider, and tasty homemade cookies helped a lot to catch the joyful feeling of the Christmas season!

While celebrating the Advent of Christmas is not part of all cultures around the globe, there is something we can learn from this widespread Christian tradition. Perhaps even this year we might carve from our busy schedules some time to study and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas—personally and as families.

When we prepare for Christmas by pondering its real meaning, we prepare to experience the Christ and His message. May I suggest three things we may want to study, ponder, and apply in this season of preparation.

Rejoice in the Birth of Our Savior

First, rejoice in the birth of our Savior. We celebrate the birth of the Son of God, the Creator, our Messiah. We rejoice that the King of kings came to earth, was born in a manger, and lived a perfect life. When Jesus was born, the joy in heaven was so great it could not be contained, and angelic hosts parted the veil, proclaiming unto shepherds “good tidings of great joy, . . . praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”³

Wise Men “rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when . . . they saw the young child with Mary his mother, [they] fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts.”⁴

It is only fitting that we—like the Wise Men, shepherds, and angels—take time to rejoice and celebrate that glorious first Christmas Day.

Ponder His Influence in Our Lives Today

Second, ponder His influence in our lives today. The more commercialized and busy the Christmas season becomes, the easier it is for the sublime message of the Savior’s life to get lost along the way. If we notice that planning for parties and scrambling for presents begin to detract from the peaceable message of Jesus Christ and distance us from the gospel He preached, let us take a step back, slow down a little, and reconsider what matters most.

Christmas is a time for remembering the Son of God and renewing our determination to take upon us His name. It is a time to reassess our lives and examine our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Let this be a time of remembrance, of gratitude, and a time of forgiveness. Let it be a time to ponder the Atonement of Jesus Christ and its meaning for each of us personally. Let it especially be a time of renewal and recommitment to live by the word of God and to obey His commandments. By doing this, we honor Him far more than we ever could with lights, gifts, or parties.

Look Steadfastly for His Coming

Third, look steadfastly for His coming. The early disciples of Jesus Christ yearned for the time when He would come again. For them, mortality was a time of preparation and growth, of sifting and refining, a time for trimming their lamps and preparing for the return of their beloved Savior.

Brothers and sisters, 2,000 years later we also stand as His disciples. We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The term latter-day is significant. We live and serve in a time prior to the Lord’s triumphant return. Our work is to prepare ourselves and the world for the coming of the Messiah in glory!

Not long after His mortal ministry, Christ said to the Apostle John, “Surely I come quickly.” And John answered, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”⁵

We live in the 11th hour before the coming of the day of our Lord. Let us therefore look forward to that blessed day when the King of kings descends with a shout,⁶ takes away death, dries up tears, and ushers in a new era of peace, joy, and learning.

While the Christmas season is typically a time for looking back and celebrating the birth of our Lord, it seems to me that it should also be a time of looking to the future. Let us look forward. Let us prepare for that blessed day when He will come again. Let us be as wise as those ancients who watched for His coming. As His disciples, let us have in our hearts and minds the words of John: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

Seeing Christmas with New Eyes

If we look for what is wrong with the Christmas season, we can surely find it. Like the Grinch, we can grumble and complain, becoming cold and cynical about what we see around us. Nevertheless, if we look for the good, we can see this time of year with new eyes—perhaps even with the eyes of a child.

The Grinch saw the good in Christmas when he learned to look past its worldly trappings. If we do the same, we can, with the Grinch, proclaim: “Maybe Christmas . . . doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas . . . perhaps . . . means a little bit more!”

Our heart may not grow three sizes as the Grinch’s did, but our heart will change. Our eyes will open to the miracles all around us—at Christmastime and throughout the year.

I pray that during this season and always, we will see the purity of the story of the Savior’s birth and feel sincere gratitude for His life, teachings, and saving sacrifice for us. May this gratitude cause us to renew our determination to follow Him. May it also lead us to draw closer to our family, our church, and our fellowmen. And may we look steadfastly forward to that blessed day when the resurrected Christ will walk the earth again as our Lord, our King, and our blessed Savior.

I pray that each and every one of you will have a wonderful and merry Christmas season. I leave you my love and blessings in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen."

I add my testimony to that of President Uchtdorf's. As we come to realize what the true reason for Christmas is we will lose some of the stress and a lot of the "modern-day grinches". 

Merry Christmas

It was the Christmas season once again and with all the hustle and bustle surrounding the popular holiday a local newspaper decided to interview people about what they knew about Christmas and Jesus Christ.

An interviewer selected 3 people from the chaotic shops to ask their thoughts.

The interviewer spoke to each of them individually. He asked the first person, "It's Christmas time again and you are obviously very engrossed in the holiday with the decorations and the shopping. So, since it is Christmas what do you know about Jesus Christ?"

"Well," the shopper thought, "they say Jesus was born in a barn, somehow born of a virgin. I've also heard that he performed some miracles and supposedly died for our sins, however that works. That's what I've heard."

The interviewer smiled at him and showed him out the door and invited in the second and asked him the same question.

This person was a little more emphatic in his beliefs replying, "I KNOW that Jesus Christ lived. I believe in his virgin birth. I believe in the miracles he performed and KNOW that he died for me and paid for my sins."

The interviewer smiled at him and showed him out the door only to bring in the third and final shopper. When they sat down he asked him the same question. This man gazed into the interviewer's eyes and with tears in his own eyes he fell to his knees exclaiming, "Master."

My dear family and friends I hope that I could be the third man. I don't know that I would recognize my Savior if I saw Him, I hope I would. I can tell you that I know that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah. I know that it is because of His miraculous virgin birth that we celebrate the Christmas holiday. I know that He loves us. I know that He knows us. Do we know Him?

I love the lights and decorations and excitement of the holidays as much as anyone (if not more), may I suggest that we reflect for a moment on the humble birth of our Brother and Savior.

You Are a Child of God

Who is God? Have you ever wondered that? Have you ever really sat down and thought about it? I have met a lot of people that say they believe in God but they don't really have a very clear idea of who He is. There is a song that I really like that explains it quite clearly.

I am a child of God,

And he has sent me here,

Has given me an earthly home

With parents kind and dear.

 

Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,

Help me find the way.

Teach me all that I must do

To live with him someday.

 

I am a child of God,

And so my needs are great;

Help me to understand his words

Before it grows too late.

I am a child of God.

Rich blessings are in store;

If I but learn to do his will

I'll live with him once more.

I bear testimony of the truths of this song. I testify that God is our Heavenly Father. That He knows us all individually and that he cares about us.

What Do You Wonder?

Have you ever had a question? Something that you thought would only effect you? That's how Joseph Smith was, he had question that he thought was just for him. It turns out it changed the world...for everyone.

Joseph Smith was a young man that lived in upstate New York in the early 1800's. At this particular point in history there was a major religious excitement in America. America had recently gained its religious freedom and everyone was eagerly practicing their own beliefs.

Having noticed all of the excitement Joseph Smith began to ponder what could be true. Everyone claimed they had the right answers and that everyone else was wrong. How was he supposed to know? His family, being strong Christians, read from the Bible nightly and his confusion only increased when he read such verses as are found in Ephesians chapter four verse five; "There is one faith, one Lord, one baptism." He understood this to mean that there is ONE church of Christ, but which one was it? He continued attending the different churches and reading in the Bible until he came to a verse in the First chapter of the Book of James. It reads, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him". After reading this verse and concluding that he could not decide for himself which was right and which was wrong young Joseph decided to take James' advice. He would ask God.

One morning in the spring of 1820 Joseph Smith at the age of 14 years old headed into a grove of trees to pray to God and find out for himself what religion had the truth.

In his own words this is how he describes his experience...

"After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.

 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!

 My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.

 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”

 He again forbade me to join with any of them

I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me; and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true; and while they were persecuting me, reviling me, and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it"

I add my witness as a humble disciple and servant of my Lord and Master Jesus Christ that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. I also testify that he has been more persecuted for telling the truth than is believeable or acceptable. I know that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. I know that Jesus is The Christ, the Son of the Living God and that He still reaches out to us in love. When we allow him to.

Where Can I Turn for Peace



1. Where can I turn for peace?
Where is my solace
When other sources cease to make me whole?
When with a wounded heart, anger, or malice,
I draw myself apart,
Searching my soul?

2. Where, when my aching grows,
Where, when I languish,
Where, in my need to know, where can I run?
Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish?
Who, who can understand?
He, only One.

3. He answers privately,
Reaches my reaching
In my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend.
Gentle the peace he finds for my beseeching.
Constant he is and kind,
Love without end.

I absolutely love this song. It is a song that is found in the Hymnal for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is telling us that when all else fails we still have somewhere we can find peace and solace.

Have you ever been going through a hard time? Just struggling with something and you feel completely alone and nobody knows or understands what you are feeling? I know I have and I know that the worst thing in the world is when someone says, "I understand". It's irritating because they don't. Nobody knows how it feels for another person to go through anything. It just magnifies the loneliness that you feel.

I testify to you that there is a person to turn to. I bear witness that there is ONE person that understands perfectly what it's like to go through everything. That one person is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ felt EVERYTHING. He felt our sorrows, our pains, our weaknesses. He is the ONE person that has shed the same tear that we have. I bear testimony to you that when he knelt in a grove of trees, on the loneliest spring night known to man, that he suffered unimaginable agony and he did it for YOU. Personally. Not a group of faceless people, He did it for you. He saw your face and felt your pain.

I promise you that I know this is true. I can promise you with every ounce of my being that Jesus is The Christ, The Savior of the World, The Son of the Living God. I can bear witness to you that he is waiting to help with any situation. He loves us. He loves YOU.