The last few lines of President Henry B Eyring's part in the this year's First Presidency's Christmas Devotional really summarize to me what Christmas is about and how Christmas can affect us. I'd like to share these few lines with you today:
"He gave us the gift of a Savior, His perfect Son, the Lamb without blemish. By personal appearance of the Father Himself and of the Son, and through angels, He has restored the Church of Jesus Christ in the latter days. He has called prophets and apostles to guide us to safety in this life and eternal life in the world to come. Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected that we may live again, that we may be purified and cleansed from sin, prepared for the glory of eternal life.
"Those are gifts to us that we can offer to others for Him. We do that by remembering Him and trying with all our hearts to do what He would do and love as He loves.
"There was a song in a film years ago with the line “Have yourself a merry little Christmas.”12 Well, you can give a great and wonderful Christmas if you remember the gifts God has given you and, as best you can, offer them to others as He would. That is the spirit of Christmas and of true happiness every day.
"I testify that Jesus is the living Christ, in His sacred name, amen.
I don't think I've found a finer reminder anywhere of what the true spirit of Christmas is than from this message of remembering the gifts that God has given to us, and then offering these gifts to the world... After all the fun and spiritual traditions to pave the way, I really look forward each year to the climax of it all - setting goals to do this very thing as my gift to our Savior Jesus Christ.
I would also like to share a small collection of short videos and one short writing which spread the joy of Christmas. I hope you have a beautiful, spiritual day!
Corine :D
"He gave us the gift of a Savior, His perfect Son, the Lamb without blemish. By personal appearance of the Father Himself and of the Son, and through angels, He has restored the Church of Jesus Christ in the latter days. He has called prophets and apostles to guide us to safety in this life and eternal life in the world to come. Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected that we may live again, that we may be purified and cleansed from sin, prepared for the glory of eternal life.
"Those are gifts to us that we can offer to others for Him. We do that by remembering Him and trying with all our hearts to do what He would do and love as He loves.
"There was a song in a film years ago with the line “Have yourself a merry little Christmas.”12 Well, you can give a great and wonderful Christmas if you remember the gifts God has given you and, as best you can, offer them to others as He would. That is the spirit of Christmas and of true happiness every day.
"I testify that Jesus is the living Christ, in His sacred name, amen.
I don't think I've found a finer reminder anywhere of what the true spirit of Christmas is than from this message of remembering the gifts that God has given to us, and then offering these gifts to the world... After all the fun and spiritual traditions to pave the way, I really look forward each year to the climax of it all - setting goals to do this very thing as my gift to our Savior Jesus Christ.
I would also like to share a small collection of short videos and one short writing which spread the joy of Christmas. I hope you have a beautiful, spiritual day!
Corine :D
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Love those videos! Got a little teary on that last one. We have a week left of our 25 days of Christmas Service, but I hope this spirit of giving will stay in my kids hearts all year long! It's been fun to watch them come up with service to do for others!!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the Christmas devotional. I look forward to it all season. I can't believe it's only a few days away! I still have so much to do...and blog, of course.
ReplyDeleteSandy
Corine,
ReplyDeleteAnd how can we possibly think any gift we give will be of the magnitude that our Heavenly Father gave to us?
Merry CHRISTmas to you my friend...
Hi friends! :) Thank you so much for stopping by and for commenting. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteHi Tracy,
I am sure we can not even begin to!!! But I just know it makes Him happy when we give it our best try! :)
Merry Christmas!
Corine :D
As I think of Corine’s comments (from her… The Living Christ and Christmas without Presents posts) I think to myself how blessed I am to have her, such a wonderful Christ like person in my life.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to write what I learned this Christmas and how right Corine is (she always is).
Here are my thoughts… I have to admit I was really bummed Christmas Eve, that I had failed to make enough money to get my kids presents. In Oct. I had thought wow I am making money even late in the season and that in Nov. and Dec. I would continue to make money, but unfortunately those months came and sale after sale fell through. I asked myself why would this happen as God could so easily make my sales bear fruit. Now here it was Christmas Eve, no money, no presents for my kids. I kept going to my front door hoping someone knew of our need and would bring something for my kids, but it never happened. The horror of seeing my kids’ disappointed faces was too much for me to bear so Christmas morning I went for a walk determined not to be there to see their faces in the morning. So I left the house at 6:AM and around 7:30AM I sat under a tree and prayed, then I felt the Lord prompt me to go home and that all would be ok.
Once at home I got my Christmas miracle... The kids came into the room and there was no look of disappointment but happiness… one of our kids joked about how he loved his Christmas orange, another joke about the millions of nuts in his stocky (we had no money to by candy). We all sat in the living room just enjoying each other. I felt the love of my family and felt the love of my Savior.
I had learned the true meaning of Christmas through my kids and wonderful wife, and of course from the Savior. I have never doubted the existents of God or of the sacrifice of Christ, but I have doubted his willingness to take care of me and my families needs. Now all doubts have fled me, I know the Savior always cares for us and loves us very deeply.
I have to add as an example of how one person (one family) can impact ones Christmas we did have a family bring some home made presents to us a few days before Christmas. So we did have a few presents to open. This act of kindness did show me how just one person or families act if kindness can impact someone’s Christmas and life. I felt such love from these people, that someone had actually thought about us. But the biggest thing I learned from this is that I need to do likewise. My goal this New Year is to develop a personal relationship with the Savior through acts random and planned kindness and reading his words!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
Hi Tracy, :) I stumbled upon this quote which I think answers your question better than I did in the last comment so I decided to share it here. It is taken from a BYU Conference talk by Brad Wilcox in relation to the gifts Christ gives to us through the Atonement. Here it is... :)
ReplyDelete"Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher. How many know what I am talking about? Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve. And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice."
I know we can never begin to "repay" Christ for all He does for us; but I find joy in using/showing gratitude for His gifts...
Happy New Year!
Corine :D