Peace

"Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of Christ."
~Sheila Walsh

{source}

In God's Hands

"When we put our problems in God's hands, He puts His peace in our hearts."

{customizable printable available HERE}

Divine Gift of Repentance

I'm teaching this lesson tomorrow in RS, and created this handout, it's a 4x6, and have created a free download of it incase it's useful to anyone out there. Click HERE to download (for current free 4x6 deals I know of, click HERE).

“Only repentance leads to the sunlit uplands of a better life... Repentance is a divine gift, and there should be a smile on our faces when we speak of it. It points us to freedom, confidence, and peace. Rather than interrupting the celebration, the gift of repentance is the cause for true celebration.”
 (D. Todd Christofferson, ‘Divine Gift of Repentance’, Ensign, Nov 2011)

5 Aspects of Repentance
1. The invitation to repent is an expression of love.
2. Repentance means striving to change.
3. Repentance means committing to obedience.
4. Repentence requires a willingness to persevere, even through pain.
5. Whatever the cost, repentence is swallowed up in the joy of forgiveness.

Serenity Prayer

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."

~Reinhold Niebuhr~

***Because this prayer is so loved, by so many, I created a free printable of it. Just click the image you want yo go to the download page.***

He Calms

"Sometimes God calms the storm... sometimes He lets the storm rage and He calms His child"

~Unknown~

(I created these images, if you would like a free digital copy of it, click the image you want to download)

Try to Remove Yourself

"Meditate, engage in daily prayers, read uplifting books, commune with Mother Nature--in some way try to remove yourself from the discord of the everyday world that invades your sense of inner peace."

~Stephen R. Covey

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.)

The Peacegiver

Ezra Taft Benson said: "The price of peace is righteousness. Peace cannot be imposed. It must come from the lives and hearts of men. There is no other way".
(Listen, A Journal of Better Living)

------------------------

"I am the way," (John 14:6) the Lord declared. "After your tribulation, I will feel after you," he promised.
"And if you harden not your hearts, and stiffen not your necks against me, I will heal you” (D&C 112:13).

Nothing is more important than understanding not just that the Lord's atonement is the answer to our daily, painful predicaments, but 'how' it is the answer. The Lord "feels after us to heal us," and what we must do to receive the peace of his healing. The Lord's atonement reaches deep into the trouble of daily life to the very bottom of every dispute and hurt feeling. To the predicament of a hard heart, he offers the promise of a new one. To the pain of hurt feelings, he offers the balm of his love. To utter loneliness, he offers the companionship of the heavens.

His birth was heralded by the words "Peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14) because his atonement is what makes peace and good will possible. The way to true, deep, lasting peace is only in and through the Prince of Peace. "He is our peace," Paul declared, for through his atonement he has "broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity" (Ephesians 2:14-15).

There are far too many partitions in our hearts and homes and too much enmity between us. But the carpenter of Nazareth has constructed for us peace.
(“The Peacegiver”).

I am thankful for the Prince of Peace.

Socks in the Dryer

Elaine L. Jack:
"I'm just an ordinary woman with the same joys and frustrations of every other woman. Sometimes the frustrations are great; and sometimes the joys simple, like having an even number of socks come out of the dryer. We all work at feeling joy and finding peace."
(Conference Report, Oct.1996)

Gaining Peace

"Peace is the gift of God. Do you want peace? Go to God. Do you want peace in your families? Go to God. Do you want peace to brood over your families? If you do, live your religion, and the very peace of God will dwell and abide with you, for that is where peace comes from, and it doesn't dwell anywhere else. . . ."
(John Taylor, JD 10:56-58.)

Distractions

Nephi had just received the interrpretation of the dream his father had seen, and it says he had "seen all things".

I bet he would have loved to come home, maybe take some time to internalize what he had seen and felt, maybe share with his family some of the parts - just dwell in the Spirit.

Well, this is what he came back to:

"And it came to pass that I behled my brethren, and they were disputing one with another concerning the things which my father had spoken unto them".
"And I Nephi was grieved becasue of the hardness of their hearts...."
(1 Nephi 14:2,4)

Maybe we've all had times like this when we have felt the spirit, or the Lords love, and something has happened which seems determined to drive out feelings of peace, and to encourage us to question what we have felt. A few verses later it says "after [Nephi] had received strength" he spoke to his brethren about it. I take comfort in this experience, that this is a pattern which sometimes happens, and if we feel like there a million other people have felt that too, that we too will receive strength. We must never forget what the Lord tells us, other peoples opinions can't change that, and the Lord will give us strength to help them too, when the time is right.

By His Power

Alma, in speaking to the people in the land whose families were previously in bondage to the Lamanites said:
"I say unto you, they were in captivity, and again the Lord did deliver them out of bondage by the power of his word;.."
(Alma 5:5)

The kind of bondage that we experience is of more of a spiritual nature nowadays, but the method of delivery is still the same. We are delivered by the power of His scriptures, the power of His teachings, by the power of Him - and when needed, He will deliver us again and again, until He has us back.

Casting Our Minds Back

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.”

(D&C 6:22)

One of the things I’ve always believed is that reason and emotion will only carry us so far, but never far enough – faith is what carries us forward. One of the ways which my faith has been built the most is by ‘remembering’ what the Lord has told me, thus instilling confidence. As with Oliver Cowdrey, who was told by the Lord to ‘cast his mind back’, remembering is the beginning place to go when you begin to feel doubt. Cast your mind back to when you felt peace, and there you will find your answer waiting to be re-discovered.

As with any principle that has great power in it, Satan knows how to use this one against us. He will want us to come and dwell on all the bad times. He’ll want us to think about them and remember them, so that we speak and act out of those instead of the good memories. I used to have a bad habit of only being diligent in my journal writing when I was having a hard time with something. Now when I look back over some of these past entries I regret not recording the positive experiences. Now I am being more diligent in writing down my daily blessings, so that when future children read “the small plates of Sarah”, it will be a much more faith-promoting up-lifting read, and the answers to my questions will be able to be brought to the fore-front of my mind.

Hope today finds you happy.

Making Time for Reflection

"Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God". (D&C 101:16)

"Our lives become extremely busy. We run from one thing to another. We wear ourselves out in thoughtless pursuit of goals which are largely ephemeral. We are entitled to spend some time with ourselves in introspection, in development, in thinking, meditating, pondering things."

~ President Gordon B Hinckley ~

Gratitude & Spirituality

"I believe there is a definite link between gratitude and spirituality. Those who are unaware of their blessings miss the opportunity of rejoicing in the goodness of God, [and] the richness of life. I believe that personal peace and increased humility often follow our expressions and feelings of gratitude."

(Elaine L. Jack, Eye to Eye, Heart to Heart)

I have noticed a difference in my life, and my overall attidude when I try and notice the little mircales that are dotted throughout my day. When my heart is grateful, trials that I imagined were big, appear to be more like speed bumps that just slow me down enough to notice the beauty that is close by if only I would look.