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Message Archive
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12/24/2002
Dear Elders and Sisters,
A few days ago, as the cold North wind was blowing the falling snow, swirling, eddying, shifting from one place to another, and it gave greater meaning to the phrase, "blown about by every wind of doctrine." It was the cold and dreary world, without places of refuge, where one could bask in the light and warmth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and find refuge and shelter from oppression.
How blessed we are to know where to find peace that is enduring! How blessed we are to realize that we only need turn to the Savior and He will shelter us from death and hell and lift our burdens! Such a small thing to have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, and submit to the laws and ordinances of salvation and exaltation and thus be able to return to the presence of our loving Father.
Yet, all about us, there are those who despair, because they have not found these simple truths or had the courage to submit to them. All of us have experienced heart break for some who felt the Spirit and then were overcome by the things of the world. All of us have felt sorrow for those who would not open their minds to the greater light of the restoration.
Each day, we need to thank Father for the multitude of blessings that we enjoy and so often take for granted. Surely, we need to be proactive as we remember and continue to do good works as we bless the lives of all about us, whatever our circumstance. For we indeed must be like Christ, taking upon us His very attributes and following in His footsteps. It is up to us to extend love, compassion, hope, encouragement, light, warmth, succor, sustenance, i.e., to give of ourselves in the spirit of the Master as we continue in His employ.
Your lives bring joy and happiness to our lives as we witness your growth and development as you travel along the straight and narrow way to life. We pray for you, as we always have, seeking God?s blessings in your behalf. We pray for the Spirit to protect and enlighten you, to guide you past life?s pitfalls, to sustain you in trials, to shield you from the buffeting of the destroyer, to purify and sanctify you as a refiner?s fire and in short, to bring you safely home to dwell eternally in celestial realms.
Let us ever show our gratitude to one another and to our Lord as spontaneously and honestly as a wee child in the following experience shared by a missionary in a developing third world country.
The slender, ragged child came running into a market place where the missionary was talking to a shop owner. He did not reach to the top of the counter, but he held out his hand with a single coin and asked for a simple cracker. The man turned, secured the cracker and held it out to the child, who could not reach far enough to exchange the coin for the cracker. The missionary reached down, picked the child up so that he could give the coin and accept the cracker and then lowered him back to the dirt floor. As he continued his conversation with the merchant, he felt a tugging at his trouser leg. He turned to look. The child reached up with both hands, clutching the cracker. He broke the cracker in half and proffered half to the missionary.
Does not the act of the child lend greater meaning to the following phrase from our beloved hymn:
"Once, when my scanty meal was spread,
He entered; not a word he spake,
Just perishing for want of bread.
I gave him all;
he blessed it, brake,
And ate, but gave me part again.
Mine was an angel?s portion then,
For while I fed with eager haste,
The crust was manna to my taste."
Let us not be guilty of the sin of ingratitude. Especially at this season of the year, let us join with the heavenly chorus, praising God, giving glory to Him who gave us the gift of His Only Begotten Son. Then let us go forward and be a "doer of the word."
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL AND MAY YOUR NEW YEAR BE FILLED ABUNDANTLY WITH GOD?S BLESSINGS.
With our love,
Pres. and Sister Clyde
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