Remembering Christ at Christmas

Wherefore,

ye must press forward

with a steadfastness in Christ,

having a perfect brightness of hope,

and a love of God and of all men.

Wherefore,

if ye shall press forward,

feasting upon the word of Christ,

and endure to the end,

behold, thus saith the Father:

Ye shall have eternal life.

2 Nephi 31:20

Remembering Christ at Christmas

Lift up your head

and be of good cheer;

for behold,

the time is at hand,

and on this night shall

the sign be given,

and on the morrow

come I into the world...

3 Nephi 1:13

Remembering Christ at Christmas

And now, my sons,

remember, remember

that it is upon the rock

of our Redeemer,

who is Christ,

the Son of God,

that ye must build

your foundations;

that when the devil

shall send forth

his mighty winds,

yea, his shafts

in the whirlwind,

yea, when all his hail

and his mighty storm

shall beat upon you,

it shall have

no power over you

to drag you down

to the gulf of misery

and endless wo,

because of the rock

upon which ye are built,

which is a sure foundation

whereon if men build

they cannot fall.

Helaman 5:12

Remembering Christ at Christmas

Come unto me,

all ye that labour

and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you,

and learn of me;

for I am meek

and lowly in heart;

and ye shall find rest

unto your souls.

For my yoke is easy,

and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30

Remembering Christ at Christmas

For God so loved the world,

that he have his only begotten Son,

that whosoever believeth in Him

should not perish,

but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Remembering Christ at Christmas

For I was an hungered and ye gave me meat;

I was thirsty, and ye gave me dring;

I was a stranger, and ye took me in;

Naked, and ye clothed me;

I was sick, and ye visited me;

I was in prison and ye came unto me.

Verily I say unto you,

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my bretheren,

ye have done it unto me.

Matthew 25:35,36,40

Remembering Christ at Christmas

Behold,

I am he who was prepared

from the foundation of the world

to redeem my people.

Behold,

I am Jesus Christ.

I am the Father and the Son.

In me shall all mankind have life,

and that eternally,

even they who shall believe on my name;

and they shall become my sons and my daughters.

Ether 3:14

Remembering Christ at Christmas

Therefore,

what manner of men

ought ye to be?

Verily I say unto you,

even as I am.

3 Nephi 21:27

note to self:

think before you speak.

So I always seem to say the wrong thing at the wrong time to the wrong person.  It happens quite frequently.

Two examples from this week:

1. I told my teacher I was bored in class and that I wasn't getting anything out of what we had been doing for the past 2 hours. Yikes.  And my teacher is a vicious lady.  Lets cross our fingers that my grade does not suffer because of it.
2. I told my students that i had 5 shots yesterday.  Lets just say they thought I meant shots of alcohol.  No.  I meant shots from the doctor.

Remembering Christ at Christmas

His hour had come.

He was alone,

yet among crowds of people.

Alone he was,

with eager angels waiting to comfort him.

Alone with his Father in deepest sympathy,

but knowing that his son must walk alone

the bloody and tortuous path.

Alone he had been in the garden -

praying for strength to drink the bitter cup.

He who alone on the earth

created the world, and all that is in it;

he who made the silver from which 

the pieces were stamped which bought him,

he who could command defenders on both sides of the veil -

stood and suffered.

What dignity!

What mastery!

What control!

Spencer W. Kimball

Ensign, December 1980

I'm going.

I'm going to help others.

But even more, I'm going to help me.

I'm going because I need something.

Something to strengthen my testimony.

Something to get me away from the distractions of the world.

Something to get me back on the right track.

Something to remind me what's really important.

I'm going to gain experience.

I'm going to live, to learn, and to grow.

I'm going so I can be more thankful.

I'm going so I can be more humble.

I'm going to learn from them.

Learn about the simplicity in life.

Learn happiness.

Learn to serve.

I know that they have these very important somethings. 

And I know that as much as I want to give,

I have even more room to grow.

Remembering Christ at Christmas

He is utterly incomparable in what He is, 

what He knows, 

what He has accomplished, 

and what He has experienced.  

Yet, movingly, he calls us His friends.

As the only perfect person to sojourn on this planet,

 there is none like him.

In intelligence and performance, 

He far surpasses the individual 

and the composite capacities and achievements 

of all who have lived, live now, and will yet live!

He rejoices in our genuine goodness and achievement, 

but any assessment of where we stand in relation to Him 

tells us that we do not stand at all.  

We kneel!

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Ensign, Nov. 1981