How Do You Spell CHRIST?

And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness. - Alma 38:9

C - The Christ child who in Bethlehem's manger lay. Born of a virgin, a choice and blessed daughter of our Heavenly Father. Not an ordinary child by any means, but One who was born King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He whose name is indeed Immanuel - God is with us.

H - He was born of a humble birth and in humility Christ our Savior came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. He who knew no sin paid the ultimate sacrifice for sin by becoming the Sacrificial Lamb for the slaughter thus taking upon Himself all of the sins of mankind - past, present, and future - for those born and those yet to be born.

R - His Resurrection was glorious. Death and the grave could not hold Him. On the third day He triumphantly arose from the grave and lives forevermore
seated at the right hand of God the Eternal Father. Because He lives we too shall live and one day we shall behold Him and see Him and know Him as He IS - our Lord, our Savior, our Master, and our King.

I - His atoning love for each of us is infinite, unconditional, and matchless. No greater love hath any man than He who willingly laid down His life for those whom He loves. For a few, men may willingly give their lives, but none will ever pay such a high price as this One who with His life, and beacuse of His infinite love for us, paid a tremendous debt that He did not owe, and one that we could never pay on our own.

S - He is the Savior of the world. Read and meditate upon the words of John 3:16 - 18, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting ilife. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." He is indeed the Life and the Light of the world for "in him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" (see John 1:4,5). "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19).

T - In a day and time when it sometimes becomes difficult to discern between what is truth and what is not, some may ask the pointed question, "What is truth?" He is the embodiment of all truth. He declares in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." And again in John 8:32 He declares, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." "For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth" (see 2 Corinthians 13:8). He is the God of truth and He cannot lie. "For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Doctrine and Covenants 84:45).

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I do not mean to come across as being callous, cruel, or mean-spirited, but the older I get, the more discouraged and dishearten I become as I watch some of our young people - the future of our world, place themselves in a proverbial box called defeatism. Unquestionably, some of us have grown up in unfavorable conditions and in an unkind society that constantly reminds us, and in some cases has thoroughly convinced us, that our father never amounted to much, and our mother has never amounted to much, and so, as the proverbial apple never seems to fall far from the tree, we ourselves can expect to never amount to much either. The tragedy of it all is that society is not alone in painting this picture of hopelessness and despair, but that same picture hangs on the walls in our homes, as well as, in the classrooms of our schools.

I wish to send a very clear, precise, and concise message to our youth of today: the time has come for you to stop wallowing in the mud of hopelessness and slowly drowning yourselves in the sea called despair. Now is the time to break free from that proverbial box that you have found yourselves in, and from the strangling chords of the voices of naysayers who preach negativism and defeatism. Rise above your current station in life. You can if you believe that you can!

Maybe it is true that your father and mother have never done anything to make an honorable name for themselves, or have ever tried to get out of their current situations and better themselves. Maybe it is true that you were born in unfavorable and adverse conditions. Maybe it is true that all of your young life people have done nothing but knock you down and kick you while you were down. However, it does not have to stay that way. Though the night may seem dark and dreary, nighttime only last for a season and then the morning comes. And with the dawning of the morning comes a light of hope that shines bright as the noon day sun.

Now is the time for you to start realizing that you are not your father and you are not your mother. God Almighty has made each of us uniquely YOU. He has meted to you and me a measure of faith, hope, courage, talents, and abilities. It is time for you to put behind you those things that once were, and press forward to obtain those things that can, and (with faith, hope, patience, determination, and endurance) will be. Stop listening to the perpetual lies of those who do not have your best interest at heart, and start believing in yourself. You can do whatever it is you have a mind to do, and you can become whatever it is that you have a desire to become in life, but YOU have to believe that you can do it. If you cannot believe in yourselves, how can you honestly expect anyone else to?

Do not become discouraged if at first you do not succeed at doing something, but try and try again knowing that the road to success is often filled with potholes called failure. Many a success in life has been wrought through heartache and failure, so don't let that stop you. Even along the road of success will be hurdles and discouragement which you will have to get over, but don't let that stop you either. Continue to run your race with your head held high and a song of hope and gladness in your heart. You may not be the first to cross the finishing line, but then the winner of a race is not always necessarily the swiftest runner in the race, but he who runs his race well by remaining focused, staying his course, and enduring to the end.

There will be times along the way when you may become weary. Stop and rest for a little while if you must, but don't give up, give in, or quit. Remain focused on your goals and objectives. The finishing line is just in sight. You can make it. Yes you can! May God give you the hope, courage, faith, and determination to endure to the end. God bless you all!

Lessons in the Key of Life

Lessons that I have learned as I journey through life.