by Nora

Just before His crucifixion, Jesus Christ kept the passover with His disciples. He spoke to them with great love as He comforted them concerning His impending death. He blessed them with His 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).

After washing their feet, sharing this special meal with them, teaching them, expressing His love for them, and praying for them, the Lord Jesus Christ left for the Garden of Gethsemane, where the suffering of the Atonement began. Jesus’s disciples, who did not really understand that He was about to suffer and die for mankind, felt great anguish and despair as they watched Him die and be laid in the tomb. Where could they find peace?

We are not left alone on this earth. Jesus Christ was sent to this earth to give us the strength to overcome challenges, problems, and sin. To overcome sin. He asks us to look to Him with faith that He knows what is best for us. There is a pathway that the Lord Jesus Christ has provided for us so that we might be able to find peace in this life and eternal life in the next life. He has given us the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord prospers all those who follow the gospel of Jesus Christ. In The Book of Mormon, a record of the teachings of Jesus Christ that God gave to the ancient inhabitants of the American continent, it says:

And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

In the Holy Bible Jesus Christ said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another (John 13:34).” I have found that some of my greatest joys in life come from serving other people. As I try to show the love for others as the Savior did for me, He blesses me with peace, and He helps me love others even more. I know that true happiness only comes to those who seek to love and serve God and all His children. Listen to these words of a modern day apostle of Jesus Christ.

Additional Resources:

Get a free copy of the Holy Bible.

Read a modern apostles words on becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ at the official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths, the “Mormon Church”).

Learn about how a belief in Jesus Christ can help you.

In this world full of trouble, sin, hardship and challenges, it would seem that there is no hope. That there is nothing to hold on to or rely on. But I testify that this is not true. The Lord Jesus Christ came down to this earth and took upon himself our pains, sins, sufferings and death. He made it possible for all wrongs to be made right. Because of Him we will all be resurrected from the dead. Because of Him we can find peace even in the most difficult and distressing times of our life. It is through the gospel of Jesus Christ that we can find safety for the soul and peace. In the Book of Mormon, a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the American continent, it testifies of Jesus Christ and His mission. It says:

And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

I testify that Jesus Christ lives and that because He lives, we don’t need to be afraid. When we turn our lives to Him we can feel of His love and power and strength. I have felt this strength when I put my trust in Him and follow the gospel that He has given to all of us so that we might find peace.

Additional Resources:

Find a church meetinghouse.

Learn more about the peace that Jesus Christ has to offer us at an official website for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths, the “Mormon Church”).

Learn more about God’s plan of happiness for us in this life and the next life.

by Eric Kotter, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Mormon“), student at BYU-Idaho studying communications, and freelance writer.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths, The Mormon Church), I have sought to gain a personal testimony of Jesus Christ. As a little child I was taught about Jesus Christ, I remember going to church and learning about Him. There is one particular time at church when I was being a little fussy and impatient. I remember my Mom telling me to do my best to think about Jesus Christ during sacrament meeting (similar and yet different from Catholic Communion). I remember asking my mother, “How do I think of Him?”;  my mother said that I need to remember the things He did for us. This memory stands out to me because it reminds me of a point in my life when I started developing a more serious and personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Not too many years after that experience, I was sitting in my home watching a video about Jesus Christ with my family. The video showed the sufferings of Christ–His sufferings in Gethsemane for our sins and His subsequent sufferings on the cross. As I watched the video, I remember my feelings of awe and wonder that someone would go through so much pain. I wondered, “Why would anyone go through so much pain?” After watching the solemn scene of the video for awhile, I went into the kitchen where my mother was making a meal, and I asked her, “Why would Christ do that for us? Why would He go through so much pain?’ Her reply was simple but it affected me in a deep and powerful way. She said, “Because He loves us.” When she said those words, I felt a wonderful feeling of love that is difficult to describe. I felt the Spirit of the Lord testify to me that this was true–that Jesus Christ was real and that He loves us more than we can imagine. I felt a deep burning love so much that it made me cry. I know that this experience came from God. It was a testimony to me of the reality and divinity of Jesus Christ.

Throughout my life I’ve come to learn more and more about Jesus Christ and what His purpose was. I’ve learned that Jesus Christ came to this earth on a mission–a mission to pay a debt. This debt was to pay for all of our sins, as well as our sufferings and hardships. He did this to make it possible for all of us to return to God and have eternal life if we follow His gospel. He also made it possible to receive enabling grace to help strengthen us through life’s hardships, even small ones. Many people might wonder why they should have hope or how they can have peace. I testify that it is only through Jesus Christ that we can have a sure hope, and true peace. I have found that it is only by putting my trust in Jesus Christ and following His gospel that I find true peace. An ancient prophet named Moroni, talked about where we should put our hope. He said,

And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise. (The Book of Mormon Moroni 7:41)

Jesus Christ is the reason we can have hope and rejoice! Because He gave His life for us, we can find peace through the storms and challenges we all face. On the third day after His death, Jesus Christ arose from the grave as a resurrected being. He overcame death and made it possible for all of us to overcome death. This gives me great hope that I will be able to see my loved ones again that have passed away. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have learned that Jesus Christ’s gospel, as it was when He was on the earth, was restored to the earth through a living prophet. Today there are prophets and apostles who speak to us, and help us know what the Lord would have us do. I know that as we do our best to follow Jesus Christ and live the life that He lived, then we find peace. My mother has said to me many times, “Do your best, and the Lord will take care of the rest.” His grace is there for us. As we seek Him, we can be filled with His love and have our burdens lightened, hope strengthened, and peace restored. In the New Testament in the Bible Jesus Christ said,

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matthew 11:29)

I know Jesus Christ lives and that He loves us. Jesus Christ shows us what is truly important in this life. I know that when I follow Him and seek to serve others, there is a happiness that enters my life that can be found in no other way.

Additional Resources:

Find a meeting house to learn more about Jesus Christ.

Learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Learn more about Jesus Christ from mormon.org

I hung up the phone after speaking with an acquaintance, Ed. His emotional and spiritual temperature seemed to change with every set of daily circumstances.  When something lent him favor, he was up and kind. He was humble when he positioned himself to see his blessings; when he forgot them, he was a different person. Without the gospel in his life, he tended to dive often off emotional cliffs that weren’t there. He acknowledged a miracle when he saw it and in the next breath, when an outcome wasn’t just what he expected, he was kicking and screaming.  As he spoke, what I saw in my mind’s eye was, of all things, a fly.  I saw it buzzing all over the place, never with a secure or lasting landing place, not being anchored to something that would allow it to be still, quiet. He was like that fly. I thought to myself, “He has no anchor in Christ, and is buzzing through life and changing colors with every event and happenstance.” I prayed for him. I had empathy for him and wanted to hand him a rudder of peace.

Peace and Stillness Through Jesus Christ

Additional Resources:

The New Testament authors, who provide the earliest reliable information about Jesus of Nazareth, noted that Jesus Christ often prayed during his life, especially at critical points in his ministry (Luke 5:16; 9:28).

Additionally, the Gospels also provide information about what Jesus taught about prayer.  For example, Jesus told his disciples, “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Luke 11:9-10).  This is a glorious promise, one that applies moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day.  It is understated, and perhaps by some, underexamined and underutilized.  Prayer is the means by which we develop our relationship with God and the Savior, and by which he is enabled to offer the additional assistance he freely loves to give. Prayer is the conduit to God’s power, his perspective, and his peace. It is the antidote to pride, for it speaks of our reliance on the Savior and his sacrifice as we pray in his name, and through his merits.

In one of his many parables, identified often as the “Parable of the Unjust Judge,” Jesus Christ taught, “men ought to always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). In that parable, a woman asks for redress from an avenger. She does not tire in her pleas and eventually the judge responds.  We are encouraged to continue in prayer, knowing that God knows the reason for his perfectly timed responses. In some cases, when our wills are aligned with God’s, other processes are at work that affect our lives and answers come when it is most beneficial for us and when it offers the most chance of  spiritual healing for others.

Jesus followed this parable with another, the “Parable of the Pharisee and Publican” (Luke 18:9-14). In this memorable one, Jesus Christ asked his hearers to question their motives in prayer; indicating that prayer in and of itself does not matter, but the condition of our heart is central to whether or not prayers are effectual.

During his last visit to Jerusalem, Jesus Christ identified the central Jewish institution, the Temple, as “My house” and indicated that it should be “called of all nations the house of prayer” (Mark 11:17). Mark also noted that Jesus taught, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25). He added that the disciples should not “for pretense make long prayers” (Mark 12:40).

Matthew provides a similar overview of Jesus Christ’s teaching on prayer when he recorded, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in he synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men” (Matthew 6:5). He added, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do” (Matthew 6:7), providing a nuance to his earlier teachings of the Parable of the Unjust Judge for men and women to pray often and “not to faint” (see above).

During his last evening with the disciples, Jesus told them, “Pray that ye enter not into temptation” (Luke 22:40). He emphasized it again only moments later when he found them sleeping, “And said unto them, Why sleep ye? Rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation” (Luke 22:46).

By example and by precept Jesus Christ taught that prayer was important and that God listens and answers prayers. Additionally, Jesus taught that a proper attitude and a pure motive was essential when addressing God if one was to be blessed by praying.

Jesus Christ is the author of peace, the Prince of Peace. In this learning laboratory of mortality, we find that peace comes as we put Him first in our lives. We come to know that He lives, that Christ truly paid the price of our sins, our poor vision, our weaknesses, by suffering personally for each one of them, and that He has become our Advocate with the Father through Christ’s atoning sacrifice, to enable us, lift us, save us, and redeem us. He alone can bring peace to us through the gift of His Spirit.

The Savior’s words are literal and are for you and I: “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).

Jesus Christ wants us to have rest and as we feel His love, we do feel guided along the “still waters.” We can feel this even in the torrent of trial and the slashing winds of stormy seas at various times in our lives. When we think God has turned His back on us, wonder how or why He could allow a certain innocent suffering or emotional pain, we can find out that He is always facing us. He never turns away. He never abandons us; He never causes harm or injury, but He sometimes allows evil that others do to run its course, that the wicked may be judged and because no one can be forced to be His follower and friend. Those who willfully inflict evil will suffer until they repent. While Christ’s mercy is perfect, the demand of justice reach through this life and into the next.

Usurping agency, even if it means taking away all the consequences of evil, would undermine the plan for your and my eternal happiness. There is no such thing as “forced good.” If we are prodded to obey at every turn, we would never grow. We would be spiritual and emotional robots going through the motions in charlatan fashion in life. Since the plan is bigger and better than that, so too is the risk and the occurrence of suffering. All of this, though, will be overcome by the Savior.

If you’re wondering how near Jesus Christ is in your specific trial, reflect for a moment on these words by Truman Madsen, Mormon educator:

“No amount of mortal abuse can quench the divine spark. If you only knew who you are and what you did and how you earned the privileges of mortality, and not just mortality but of this time, this place, this dispensation, and the associates that have been meant to cross and intertwine with your lives; if you knew now the vision you had then of whatat this trial, this probation (what in my bitter moments I call this spook alley) of mortality could produce; if you knew the latent infinite power that is locked up and hidden for your own good now–if you knew these things you would never again yield to any of the pudowns that are a dime a dozen in our culture today. Everywhere….the denial of the worth and dignity of man.” (Truman Madsen, The Highest in Us, Bookcraft, 1978, p.12.)

If you don’t know who Jesus Christ is, if you’ve been taught He is just a man, if you have wonderings and stirrings within you, we invite you to take a closer look at His life, His gospels, His teachings, and to ask God if Jesus is not His Son, through whom you can find all you need for happiness.

I testify that He is the answer if you are seeking to find peace. He is your Advocate. Knowing Jesus Christ is within your reach. “In an increasingly unjust world, to survive and even to find happiness and joy, no matter what comes, we must make our stand unequivocally with the Lord” (James E. Faust, apostle, Ensign, Nov. 2004, 18.)