Post # 59 – The Four Gifts  Jesus Christ Offers to You

Dear Family and Friends

Today I was making lunch for my students and I was watching the water boil. I added the rice and the vegetables. As I watched the water boil, I noticed that the rice never came up alone. There was always two or three rising up together as they boiled up to the top, then went back down again. I got to thinking as I watched the rice coming together in groups to reach the top of the water’s surface. You know, that rice could represent each of us. Just like how we are tumbled about in life, or so it sometimes seems. Like we can’t seem to keep our heads above water and we feel like we are drowning. I am sure that you have felt like that at some point in your lives, right?

Anyway, the thought that came to my mind was this: that none of us can get back to our Heavenly home without the help of another. Just like the rice, we need each other to make it to the top – to get back home. Now I am really no expert on rice, whether it really needs to come together to grow and develop – or cook and be eatable😊 but these were the thoughts that came to me as I watched the rice boiling in the kettle.

We each need to and must do whatever we can to lift and support one another as we are striving to stay on the straight and narrow path back to our heavenly home😊 so, that phrase that says ‘it takes two’--- it really does take at least two. We can only do so much on our own. One plus Jesus Christ is enough – right? Without His saving grace, we wouldn’t make it back for sure,

Once we have the gospel in our lives, we need to share what we know with others. My life was not good when I was growing up, but I didn’t realize that it was bad, even ugly, until l grew older. You know as a child you tend to trust the grown-up people in your life. You may have a bad feeling about some of the things you are asked to do, but overall you put your total trust in them. Your confidence is built by how they feel about you, so you want to please them. Or you do as they say so they won’t hurt you worse than before. Sometimes the lines get so cloudy you are not sure exactly what you should do with or for yourself, or even if you can do anything for yourself – as you are just a child☹

When your childhood is marred by what is truly right and wrong, it can be a definite struggle to find your own identity and your self-worth as you grow. When you don’t value yourself, it is difficult for you to value others. And when people whom you are supposed to be able to trust treat you very unkindly, it makes it hard for you to trust others. It makes it even harder to put your trust in your Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, whom you cannot remember having ever seen. (even though you truly did live in heaven with Them before you came to this earth as a baby – just like Jesus came into the world, to this earth as a baby in a manger). He came here to experience life as a mortal being.

I am here to tell you that we do have a Heavenly Father (and a Heavenly Mother). Our Father in heaven sent His Only Begotten Son to the earth as a baby. Jesus is His name, He came here to save all mankind from their sins and transgressions. We learn of Them through the third member of the Godhead –the Holy Ghost, who speaks truth to our hearts. We need to have faith in Jesus Christ, we need to trust in our Heavenly Father. It was hard for me at first to do this, but once I realized that no matter what – my Heavenly Father loves me! I am a daughter of the highest royalty – of heavenly parents.

I am so grateful for this knowledge that I want to be sure that each of you know it too! That you know that there are three members of the Godhead – Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ who have bodies like ours of flesh and bone, and the third member as I said before, is the Holy Ghost. Through the power of prayer, we can talk with our Heavenly Father, and through the scriptures, conference talks, talks in our sacrament meetings, local authorities in our stake, the prophets, seers, and revelators, we can learn the will of the Father for our lives. We each can have our own personal revelation. The Holy Ghost can become our constant companion after our baptism into Christ’s church here upon the earth – even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I try to keep a prayer in my heart all day long, this helps me get through each day – it is a wonderful feeling knowing that you have heavenly help whenever you need it! You need to develop the faith and confidence to put your trust in your Heavenly Father so that He can help you. He is always reaching down to help us of we but have a desire to reach up. That was where I was at when I joined the church over 25 years ago – I had a desire to believe.

I had faith to believe, I studied independently of the missionary Sisters who came to teach my oldest daughter, because I wanted to know what they were teaching her. I had faith enough to get baptized and become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I have never regretted my decision at any point since the day I agreed to baptism. Even though Satan tried very hard to convince me that getting baptized was not a good thing for me to do. He tried hard to cause me to doubt my decision. I am so glad that I did not let Satan win.

As I strive each day to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost with me, I also strive to learn more about Him and His Son, Jesus Christ. It took me a long time to realize that I had a testimony that I could share, but I really have a struggle to get up in front of people – and I always cry when I give talks. I just embarrass myself, but I do love to share with people about Jesus Christ and His Father – My Heavenly Father who loves me (and you) so much that He sent His Only begotten Son, to earth as a baby, to grow into a man, and to die – to be crucified for my sins and transgressions (as well, as for each of yours).

No matter what the people did to Him, He was always humble, kind, charitable, compassionate, loving, willing to bear one another’s burdens, loyal, and so much more. He loves each of us so much to die for us. In His death, He gives each of us the opportunity to repent of our wrong-doings, sins, transgressions. Once we have truly repented, He forgives us and remembers our sins no more. And when we struggle, He gives us chance after chance after chance, to get it right and get back in the right track back to Him and our heavenly home. I found a quote from this past general conference that I want to share with you, and I think maybe it will fit right in here:

‘Our Heavenly Father is exactly like this. He sees us, His little children, trying. Our efforts don’t always succeed, but He knows how hard we are working—sometimes gritting our teeth and plunking through a disaster—and He loves us for it. For all of our dissonant, out of tune, unrecognizable music, He sent His beautiful Only Begotten Son, who is love’s pure light. Jesus Christ will repair every bad note and redeem every sour overtone if we turn to Him and ask for His help. Because of the birth, the Atonement, and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can all “sleep in heavenly peace.”^1’

You can read the rest of her talk here: https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/christmas-devotional/2018/12/silent-night-loves-pure-light?lang=eng#

I also want to share with you ‘The Four Gifts that Jesus Christ Offers Us’ from the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson. He taught us about these four gifts and even though I do not have such a sever medical issues as does the little girl in his story – I do believe that I have a strong desire to have the faith that she has. President Nelson shared her story and taught us of these four gifts as he shared the following:

Indeed, our desires influence each of us in profound ways, not just here and now but beyond. Consider the significance of this statement from Alma: “[The Lord] granteth unto men according to their desire.”⁵

Desire is important in this season of gift giving, when we are particularly mindful of the desires of those whom we love. During this season, I invite you to consider your own desires. What are your deepest desires? What do you really want to experience and accomplish in this life? Do you really want to become more and more like Jesus Christ? Do you really want to live with Heavenly Father and with your family forever and live as He lives?

These are some very crucial questions that each one of us can and should ask ourselves. So, I want to say along with our beloved Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, that this is a grand season to inspect our hearts and find our what each one of us truly desire. What are your deepest desires? What do you -- what do I, really want to experience in this life? What do you—what do I, want to accomplish in this life? Do you – do I really want to become more like Jesus Christ? I will tell you that I truly desire to become more like Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. I want to return to live with Them someday when my time on this earth is done. I want to have my family with me and be a part of an eternal family. These are my desires and I pray that they may be yours desires as well and that we can work together to learn and grow to become more like our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

If you do, you will want to accept many gifts offered by the Lord to help you and me during our time of mortal probation. Let us focus on four of the gifts Jesus Christ gave to all who are willing to receive them.⁶

First, He gave you and me an unlimited capacity to love. That includes the capacity to love the unlovable and those who not only do not love you but presently persecute and despitefully use you.⁷

Throughout my life as a teacher, I have had many difficult students who were hard to love, but I realized that most often those difficult children are the ones who needed my love the most. I have found this fact to be true of neighbors, work colleagues, and even or especially family members! So please remember, remember, to love everyone – and especially – love those who are the hardest to love because they need your love the most. I believe that it is also important to love and to forgive those who are not very nice to you or those who hurt you.

With the Savior’s help, we can learn to love as He loved. It may require a change of heart—most certainly a softening of our hearts—as we are tutored by the Savior how to really take care of each other. My dear brothers and sisters, we can truly minister in the Lord’s way as we accept His gift of love.

I know this to be so true, through my experience, the Savior can and will help us to love as He Loved and to care for others as He did during His earthly ministry. With His help we can love and care for one another as He would do if He were here on the earth now. We are His hands.

Ask for the Lord’s help to love those He needs you to love, including those for whom it is not always easy to feel affection. You may even want to ask God for His angels to walk with you where you presently do not want to tread.⁸

A second gift the Savior offers you is the ability to forgive. Through His infinite Atonement, you can forgive those who have hurt you and who may never accept responsibility for their cruelty to you.

It is usually easy to forgive one who sincerely and humbly seeks your forgiveness. But the Savior will grant you the ability to forgive anyone who has mistreated you in any way. Then their hurtful acts can no longer canker your soul.

Again, I will tell you that through my experience it is indeed easy to forgive someone who really is sorry for what ever they have done. One who truly wants you to forgive them and wants to make a change in their lives. And again, I will tell you that it is very important for you – for each of us to forgive those who have done us wrong or who have hurt us, even though they may never willingly accept responsibility for what they have done to you or ever be truly sorry for what they did. For your best sake, it is a wise decision on your part to forgive them because it will take the bitterness away from you and your life will be better for it.

I know that I could have never forgiven those in my life who had hurt me very much as a child, without the help of our Savior through His infinite Atonement. My human side shines far too brightly on most days, but with His help I am learning to tone my human side down a bit each day  -- but if you run across me on one of those human side shining far too brightly days – please forgive me because I really am trying to shine brighter for my Savior😊

A third gift from the Savior is that of repentance. This gift is not always well understood. As you know, the New Testament was originally written in the Greek language. In passages where the Savior calls upon people to repent, the word translated as “repent” is the Greek term metanoeo.⁹ This is a very powerful Greek verb. The prefix meta means “change.” We also use that prefix in English. For example, the word metamorphosis means “change in form or shape.” The suffix noeo relates to a Greek word that means “mind.”¹⁰ It also relates to other Greek words that mean “knowledge,”¹¹ “spirit,”¹² and “breath.”¹³

Can we begin to see the breadth and depth of what the Lord is giving to us when He offers us the gift to repent? He invites us to change our minds, our knowledge, our spirit, even our breathing. For example, when we repent, we breathe with gratitude to God, who lends us breath from day to day.¹⁴ And we desire to use that breath in serving Him and His children. Repentance is a resplendent gift. It is a process never to be feared. It is a gift for us to receive with joy and to use—even embrace—day after day as we seek to become more like our Savior.

Isn’t this knowledge amazingly priceless? To know that our Heavenly Father is always inviting us to come unto Him, to repent --- to “change our minds, our knowledge, our spirit,” and yes, even our breathing. I love his reference to our breathing here: to “breathe with gratitude to God, who lends us breath from day to day”. When we repent, we change our lives and we truly do want to use our every breath to serve others.

King Lamoni’s father caught a glimpse of what lay ahead for those who believed in Christ and followed Him. He declared that he would give away all his sins for the privilege of knowing the Lord.¹⁵ True repentance is not an event. It is a never-ending privilege. It is fundamental to progression and having peace of mind, comfort, and joy.

We need to be more like King Lamoni, who “gave away all of his sins for the privilege of knowing the Lord” I agree with our Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson that “true repentance is not an event. It is a never-ending privilege. It is fundamental to progression and having peace of mind, comfort, and joy”.

A fourth gift from our Savior is actually a promise—a promise of life everlasting. This does not mean simply living for a really, really, really long time. Everyone will live forever after death, regardless of the kingdom or glory for which they may qualify. Everyone will be resurrected and experience immortality. But eternal life is so much more than a designation of time. Eternal life is the kind and quality of life that Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son live. When the Father offers us everlasting life, He is saying in essence, “If you choose to follow my Son—if your desire is really to become more like Him—then in time you may live as we live and preside over worlds and kingdoms as we do.”

This fourth gift is way beyond my thinking. I mean I think I understand eternal life and the opportunity to become like Them and to possibly live with our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I’m not so sure about presiding over a whole world – that is way beyond my comprehension.

These four unique gifts will bring us more and more joy as we accept them. They were made possible because Jehovah condescended to come to earth as the baby Jesus. He was born of an immortal Father and a mortal mother. He was born in Bethlehem under the most humble of circumstances. His was the holy birth foreseen by prophets since the days of Adam. Jesus Christ is God’s transcendent gift—the gift of the Father to all of His children.¹⁶ That birth we joyfully celebrate each Christmas season.

Let me repeat what our prophet has taught us here about these four gifts from our Savior, Jesus Christ: ‘These four gifts will bring us more joy as we accept them.” They were made possible because He agreed to come here as a baby. ” He was born of immortal Father and a mortal mother. He was born in Bethlehem under the most humble of circumstances. His was the holy birth foreseen by prophets since the days of Adam. Jesus Christ is God’s transcendent gift – the gift of the Father to all of His children. That birth we joyfully celebrate each Christmas season”. 

With our thoughts and feelings so focused on the Savior of the world, what, then, do we need to do to receive these gifts offered to us so willingly by Jesus Christ? What is the key to loving as He loves, forgiving as He forgives, repenting to become more like Him, and ultimately living with Him and our Heavenly Father?

The key is to make and keep sacred covenants. We choose to live and progress on the Lord’s covenant path and to stay on it. It is not a complicated way. It is the way to true joy in this life and eternal life beyond.

What do we need to do to receive these four marvelous gifts?  Let’s review those gifts before we review the answer to this question.  Remember the First gift that He gave to each of us is the unlimited capacity to live. The second amazing gift our Savior offers each of us is the ability to forgive. The third gift from our Savior is the gift of repentance, and remember what repentance means? To change our minds, our knowledge, our spirit and even our breath/ and the fourth gift remember is actually a promise to each of us – the promise of life everlasting.  And what do we need to do to receive these precious gifts from the Savior? We must stay focused on Him. To make and keep sacred covenants (like baptism to begin with), and to choose to live and progress on the straight and narrow path that leads us back to our heavenly home.

My dear brothers and sisters, my deepest desires are for all of Heavenly Father’s children to have the opportunity to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and to heed His teachings and for Israel to be gathered as promised in these latter days. And I desire that we will believe and receive the love the Savior has for each of us. His so infinite and perfect love moved Him to atone for you and me. That gift—His Atonement—allows all of His other gifts to become ours.

You can read the entire talk here: https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/christmas-devotional/2018/12/four-gifts-that-jesus-christ-offers-to-you?lang=eng

Well folks, I have rambled way too much today, but as always – my hope and prayer is that I have at least given each of you some things to think about. And I hope that the Holy Ghost has been here teaching you of the truths that are found within my post. I try to explain what I believe and what I know and I have tried to share talks that I have enjoyed or have learned from, forgive my inadequacies.

If you want to learn more of the gospel of Jesus Christ, where it is explained far better than I could ever do, you can go here: https://www.mormon.org/site/jesus-christ

Remember that we have one more week of the LIGHT THE WORLD Campaign. Then our celebration of our Savior’s birth will be complete. So, until my nest post here are the things from this past week that we might have done – remember, you can still do them, it’s never too late to begin to be more like our Savior, Jesus Christ 😊