{"id":525,"date":"2012-12-25T11:58:01","date_gmt":"2012-12-25T18:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/?page_id=525"},"modified":"2014-06-16T05:25:53","modified_gmt":"2014-06-16T11:25:53","slug":"lesson-28","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/?page_id=525","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 28"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>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. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lds.org\/scriptures\/nt\/luke\/2.10-11\" target=\"_blank\">Luke 2:10-11<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xCxV9CbC180?rel=0\" height=\"315\" width=\"560\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lds.org\/scriptures\/nt\/matt\/1.23\" target=\"_blank\">Matthew 1:23<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ugV6QGcafEE?rel=0\" height=\"315\" width=\"560\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>On this Christmas Day, may we ponder the gifts given to us and receive them gratefully and joyfully. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, invited us to consider the following in his recent address, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lds.org\/broadcasts\/article\/christmas-devotional\/2012\/12\/the-good-and-grateful-receiver\" target=\"_blank\"><em>The Good and Grateful Receiver<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope that this Christmas and every day of the year we will consider, in particular, the many gifts we have been given by our loving Heavenly Father. I hope we will receive these gifts with the wonder, thankfulness, and excitement of a child.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy heart grows tender and warm as I think of the gifts our loving, gracious, and generous Father in Heaven has given us: the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, the miracle of forgiveness, personal revelation and guidance, the Savior\u2019s peace, the certainty and comfort that death is conquered\u2014and many, many more.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Above all, God has given us the gift of His Only Begotten Son, who sacrificed His life &#8216;that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life&#8217; (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lds.org\/scriptures\/nt\/john\/3.16\" target=\"_blank\">John 3:16<\/a>).<sup><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lds.org\/broadcasts\/article\/christmas-devotional\/2012\/12\/the-good-and-grateful-receiver?lang=eng#7-PD50038968_000_11uchtdorf\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHave we received these gifts with humble gratitude, with joy? Or do we reject them out of pride or a false sense of independence? Do we feel our Father\u2019s love expressed in these gifts? Do we receive them in a way that deepens our relationship with this wonderful, divine Giver? Or are we too distracted to even notice what God gives us each and every day?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know that &#8216;God loveth a cheerful giver&#8217; (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lds.org\/scriptures\/nt\/2-cor\/9.7\" target=\"_blank\">2 Corinthians 9:7<\/a>), but does He not also love a good, grateful, and cheerful receiver?<\/p>\n<p>\u201c&#8217;For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift&#8217; (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lds.org\/scriptures\/dc-testament\/dc\/88.33\" target=\"_blank\">Doctrine and Covenants 88:33<\/a>).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>May we all rejoice in the Giver and in His <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lds.org\/scriptures\/nt\/1-pet\/2.7\" target=\"_blank\">precious<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lds.org\/scriptures\/bofm\/hel\/5.8\" target=\"_blank\">gifts<\/a> this Christmas day and every day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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. (Luke 2:10-11.) Behold, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/?page_id=525\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":700,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-525","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=525"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":709,"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/525\/revisions\/709"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountaintopmentoring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}