Peace on Earth Good Will Towards Men

In the 2^nd chapter of Luke we read about the birth of Jesus Christ and then Luke shares a wonderful experience that a few shepherds had:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

These were no ordinary shepherds, they watched the temple flock; lambs that would later be offered as sacrifices in the temple. The sheep they tended were to be perfect without blemish. The shepherds would have to testify that the sheep would fulfill the law of perfection for them to be offered as a sacrifice for the people in the temple.

Jesus Christ was also called the Lamb of God and he was the only one to live a perfect life. He was destined to offer himself as the ultimate sacrifice for all of Heavenly Father’s children. The shepherds were commanded by the angle to go see the Christ child and then they were to testify to the world of the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Joining the angle that announced the Savior’s birth to the shepherds was a heavenly host praising God saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”.

 Gladys Knight signing Let There Be Peace

Peace on earth is a hope we all have; however, world wide peace will not happen until the “Prince of Peace” Jesus Christ returns again. One of my favorite stories of peace took place on Christmas eve 1914. On the battle fields in Germany on Christmas eve there was a time when the fighting stopped, and the British Soldiers heard the Germans signing Christmas Carols, so they started sing their own songs. Soon the soldiers from both sides came together between the two lines and exchanged greetings and small gifts. (Christmas Truce)

Maybe we cannot have peace on earth, but we can experience peace in our own lives; the peace the Savior promises if we simply let him into our lives and follow his example of ministering to the needs of others. The Saviors promise is:

“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.” (John 14:27)

When I am stressed and troubled, the best way I know to find peace is reading in the scriptures of the Savior’s ministry. I also love to listen to uplifting music, especially Christmas music. Below are a few of my favorite.

I hope that during this Christmas season you will find peace and then your will follow our Savior and bring good will to all men.

Please share this with your social media friends and family.

"A Christmas Wish” by the One Voice Children’s Choir

"Christmas Halleluja" by Cloverton HD

“May Did You Know” by Pentatonix

Rejoice Greatly

There have been a lot of things in the news lately that is depressing and we can wonder why God allows such evil things to happen? Many people are suffering the loss of a loved one because of terrorist acts in many parts of the world. Poverty, sickness, hate, and hunger are all around. It is easy to give in to these negative feelings and lose hope that we can find joy.

This is the time of year when we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ it is a time of happiness and joy. Satan is trying his best to destroy the joy of Christmas, and replace hope with despair; but we need to remember the scripture that tells us to “rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh” (Zachariah 9:9). We are the ones that determine how we feel. We must choose joy and hope over despair and hate. The prophet Isaiah wrote of the Savior’s birth when he said:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name

shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

Video: A Savior is Born 

Christ is the Prince of Peace and he promises that he will give us his peace if we seek it. We do not need to be afraid of all that is going on in the world. If we seek the Christ child, we will find peace.

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. (John 14:27)

One of the best ways we can find peace and joy is through service. Especially at this time of the year we need to follow the Savior’s example and serve. There are many opportunities to serve all around us. As we walk from store to store from work to our cars, wherever we go we can find those that might need a hug, a smile, a kind word, or someone to talk to. Be the person they are looking for. Even if we are the one that needs these things, if we will do something for someone else we will find our own sorrows and difficulties vanish away.

We have all seen the person standing on the corner with a sign saying they need some kind of help. Sometimes it is hard to know if they really need help or not. But there are many others that need help in one way or another that don’t carry a sign for all to see. They hid in plain sight the hurt, the depression, the loneliness that they are feeling. They may even go through the day with a smile for others that they meet but inside are screaming out for help. If we pray each day to have the prompting come when we meet someone that needs us, the promptings will come and when the spirit prompts follow it.

If we follow the Savior’s example of going about doing good, we will have the spirit of Christmas with us throughout the season and all year long. As we do this we will experience the joy of that holy night as never before.

Tiffany Alvord - O, Holy Night

It is my hope that you will rejoice greatly in the love that our Savior Jesus Christ has for us and that we will share that love with others that we meet as we go about our labors each day.

Your comments and questions are welcome.