Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas! We Need His Peace More Than Ever

Bloch NativityMay the peace from the Lord’s atonement comfort and strengthen the families in Newton

I’m writing this the day after innocent children and brave teachers lost their lives in Newton, Connecticut. Ironically, this post will publish on Christmas Eve. I mourn, with the nation, for the lost birthdays, graduations, weddings, and families. I grieve with the spouses, children, and families of the adults. The tragedy hit deeper because my daughter acted as a nanny for a family just 20 miles from Newtown. Their neighbor, a police officer, responded to the call. He said the day started normal and then descended into pandemonium. We need to remember Christ’s promises.

Peach on Earth! Goodwill to Men

We celebrate his birth when angles declared “good tidings of great joy that shall be to all men.” They promised “Peace on earth1 Goodwill toward all men (meaning men and women). He lifted people around him with His love and teachings.

He taught doctrine that was hard to follow then, and still today. He taught us to not only love our neighbor, but to love our enemy, to turn our cheek when smitten, and to forgive those who despitefully use us 7 times 70.

Took Upon Himself Our Pains, Sorrows, Trials & Sins

Isaiah declared that

  • “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
  • “Surely he hath borne our grief's, and carried our sorrows:
  • “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities”
  • “With His stripes we are healed”
  • “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” 

John, his beloved apostle, quoted the Lamb of God:

  • “I will not leave you comfortless”
  • “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”

We receive His peace when we accept his gift. The sacrifices at Gethsemane and Calgary give meaning to the birth in Bethlehem. 

Wednesday we discuss how you can use the time between the holidays to grow your career

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