2013 Christmas Devotional

If you haven't had the time to watch the devotional this year, here is the link to the program. 
http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/watch/christmas-devotional/2013/12?lang=eng&vid=2912344387001

Common Themes Mosiah 19-24

Today we studied the stories of Limhi's people and the followers of Alma and how both groups of people struggled under the oppression of the Lamanites.  We learned that as the people hath faith in Christ and turned to God for help and comfort, that the Lord lightened their burdens and led them to freedom.  

Here is a beautiful Mormon message about how we can apply this Book of Mormon message to our lives.

Video Make up Lesson

To summarize  King Benjamin's address, please watch the following video and answer the questions for a make up day:

1. Who is an enemy to God?
2. Who remains in the Fallen state?
3. How do we change from our fallen sinful nature?
4. What replaces the desire to sin?
5. How do we help others to yield to the enticings of the spirit?
6. What was the scripture reference from Mosiah quoted by the bishop?
7. What is the difference between being childish and childlike?
8. What did Linda learn from her Bishop?

Mosiah 4:30 THOUGHTS, WORDS, DEEDS

King Benjamin teaches us a lot about how to repent and retain a remission of our sins. In the scripture mastery verse in Mosiah chapter 4 verse 30, we learn that if we do not continually watch our thoughts, words, and deeds, and work hard to obey the commandments of God, and continue in faith to the end of our lives we are in peril and could perish.

 President Ezra Taft Benson:

“Think clean thoughts. Those who think clean thoughts do not do dirty deeds. You are not only responsible before God for your acts but also for controlling your thoughts. So live that you would not blush with shame if your thoughts and acts could be flashed on a screen in your church. The old adage is still true that you sow thoughts and you reap acts, you sow acts and you reap habits, you sow habits and you reap a character, and your character determines your eternal destiny. ‘As a man thinketh, so is he’” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1964, 60; quoting Proverbs 23:7).

 

President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
 

“As you learn to control your thoughts, you can overcome habits, even degrading personal habits. You can gain courage, conquer fear, and have a happy life. I had been told … as I grew up that thoughts must be controlled, but no one told me how. I’ve thought about this over the years and have decided that the mind is like a stage. During every waking moment the curtain is up. There is always some act being performed on that stage. It may be a comedy, a tragedy, interesting or dull, good or bad; but always there is some act playing on the stage of your mind.

“Have you noticed that shady little thoughts may creep in from the wings and attract your attention in the middle of almost any performance and without any real intent on your part? … If you permit them to go on, all thoughts of any virtue will leave the stage. … What do you do at a time like that, when the stage of your mind is commandeered by the imps of unclean thinking … ? If you can fill your mind with clean and constructive thoughts, then there will be no room for these persistent imps, and they will leave.”

“Choose a favorite hymn or song, … one with words that are uplifting and music that is reverent, one that makes you feel something akin to inspiration. There are many beautiful songs to choose from. Seek the guidance of the Spirit in making your selection. Go over the song in your mind carefully. Memorize it. Even though you have had no musical training, you can think through a simple song. Now use this as the course for your thoughts to follow. Make it your emergency channel.

“Whenever you find shady actors slipping from the sidelines of your thinking onto the stage of your mind, put on this CD, as it were. It will change your whole mood.

“Because the music is uplifting and clean, the baser thoughts will slip shamefully away. For while virtue, by choice, will not associate with filth, evil cannot tolerate the presence of light. In due time you will find yourself humming the music inwardly, almost automatically, to drive out unworthy thoughts” (“Worthy Music, Worthy Thoughts,” New Era, Apr. 2008, 7–8, 11).

Light and darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Light dispels darkness. For example, appropriate music, uplifting visual images, wholesome activities, and clean thoughts and words will invite the Spirit into our lives and push unworthy thoughts out of our minds. You can combat darkness by filling your life with light. Watch the following message to find out the greatest, most reliable source of light.

Mosiah 3 - The angel speaks good tidings of great joy to King Benjamin

King Benjamin conveyed the words an angel had spoken to him concerning the ministry of Jesus Christ. King Benjamin testified that through faith in Jesus Christ and repentance, those who have sinned can receive salvation. He also taught that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, an individual who yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit “putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint”

Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that we should seek to understand all we can about the Atonement of Jesus Christ:

     “None of us can ever adequately appreciate in mortality the full beneficial consequences of the Atonement.

     “There is an imperative need for each of us to strengthen our understanding of the significance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ so that it will become an unshakable foundation upon which to build our lives. As the world becomes more devoid of foundational standards and as honor, virtue, and purity are increasingly cast aside in the pursuit of appetite, our understanding of and faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ will provide strength and capacity needed for a successful life. It will also bring confidence in times of trial and peace in moments of turmoil.

     “I energetically encourage you to establish a personal study plan to better understand and appreciate the incomparable, eternal, infinite consequences of Jesus Christ’s perfect fulfillment of His divinely appointed calling as our Savior and Redeemer. Profound personal pondering of the scriptures accompanied by searching, heartfelt prayer will fortify your understanding of and appreciation for His priceless Atonement. Another powerful way to learn of Jesus Christ and His Atonement is through consistent temple attendance” (“He Lives! All Glory to His Name!” Ensign or Liahona, May 2010, 77).

 

Elder James E. Talmage of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

     “Christ’s agony in the garden is unfathomable by the finite mind, both as to intensity and cause. … He struggled and groaned under a burden such as no other being who has lived on earth might even conceive as possible. It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused Him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing. … In that hour of anguish Christ met and overcame all the horrors that Satan, ‘the prince of this world,’ could inflict. … In some manner, actual and terribly real though to man incomprehensible, the Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 613).

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles about the effect of the Atonement on all of Heavenly Father’s children:

     “We … read that ‘his blood atoneth for the sins of those … who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned’ (Mosiah 3:11). Similarly, ‘the blood of Christ atoneth for [little children]’ (Mosiah 3:16). These teachings that the resurrecting and cleansing power of the Atonement is for all contradict the assertion that the grace of God saves only a chosen few. His grace is for all. These teachings of the Book of Mormon expand our vision and enlarge our understanding of the all-encompassing love of God and the universal effect of His Atonement for all men everywhere” (“All Men Everywhere,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2006, 77).