Gene

Markland

Picture it — an A-frame chalet in the hills above Gatlinburg Tennessee. Snow on the ground and trees covered in ice, making them look like glass. A roaring fire sets aglow in the prefab fireplace in the left corner of the room. A huge glass wall offers a spectacular view of Main Street in Gatlinburg down below, completely lit with lights and splendid Christmas decorations. All surrounded by a forest of glass trees magically shining under a full moon.

The Christmas tree on the right side of the room is fully decorated with a red tablecloth wrapped around its base, just begging for the bevy of presents that are soon to come. This is the scene as I sit in my overstuffed chair, sipping hot apple cider from my Happy Holidays mug, reading my new Christmas novel by a favorite author.

The book is a pleasant read, filled with the atmosphere of Christmastime. The story unfolds about a young couple caught up in an adventure with life-changing circumstances. A new beginning, finding love and hope for the future, during the Christmas season.

An entertaining image ... but what about Christmas?

As I sit reading, I listen to an Internet radio station playing Christmas music nonstop. I hear the familiar strains from artists of yesterday singing stories of snowmen, a white Christmas, sleighs, and grandma having an accident with a reindeer. Again I wonder...

This is a pleasant and entertaining Image ... but what about Christmas?

We decorate our homes and participate in Christmas traditions, but many times we find ourselves caught up in the image of Christmas. An image, although fun, has nothing to do with what Christmas is all about.

Picture this — in a cave being used as a barn, a young couple is having a baby without a midwife, much less a doctor. Not even a bed for the young mother to lay on while she gives birth. Only a scratchy pile of hay which her anxious husband hurriedly pushes together to form a makeshift bed, covered with his cloak, as his young wife squeezes his arm and grimaces, “Hurry! It's coming! It's coming! Hurry!”

We all know the stench of animals in a barn as representing a most unsanitary condition. Yet, this is the event for which people all around the world celebrate with glitter and candy canes. What this poor desperate young couple did have, though, was the blessing and protection of God Almighty as His son was brought into the world. 

This wasn't a pleasant or entertaining image ... but this was Christmas.

The Bible teaches us:

As we live our lives on earth we seem to always be seeking something. A new romance leading to a spouse and a family, a career leading to a comfortable living or even wealth. We seek friendships and positions in society or in church. Though we are striving and seeking on our journey we sometimes forget that the experiences on the journey are the best part.

Pierre was a French archeologist and explorer who sought and found many antiquities during his career. A Paris television reporter interviewed him in an outside cafe on the Champs Elysees Avenue near his home.

Between sips of espresso, he reminisced about the times he had worked at different sites in Egypt and uncovered pottery, weapons, and other artifacts. Waving his arms in demonstrative circles He detailed adventures when he found underwater shipwrecks, and the ruins of ancient cities undersea in the Mediterranean.

The reporter asked him what he thought when he looked back on his career, now that he had retired.

He pondered a moment and remembered a great treasure hunter who had said that the joy was in the seeking. So, he told the journalist that he didn't understand that when he was young, but now, looking back he did. In fact, he agreed as the journey was the best part of all of his adventures. With all his success and some failures, he could honestly say that the joy did come in the seeking.

When the reporter asked him to explain further, holding that tiny cup of espresso in both hands he leaned forward as if to quietly tell a secret. He explained that his Bible has a scripture in

Mary was a struggling young businesswoman who was brought up in a Christian home and had a deep faith in the Lord. She began to feel an emptiness and loss of connection between her, her church, and her Lord. She struggled for months and could not find an answer to what seemed like a tall brick wall between her and God. Maybe she was too busy. Maybe her life was too hectic and the stress of her job requirements, competition, late hours at the office, and social activities were just getting to be too much.

So, she decided to take a break. She would go visit her Grandmother in the mountains of Tennessee in a little town near Gatlinburg, away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. Besides, she was due a vacation anyway.

She loaded up her car and drove to Tennessee. It was good to see her Grandmother and Grandad again, to sit on the front porch on that old porch swing and enjoy the hills, trees, blue sky and peace that nature brings. The second day of her visit, her Grandmother sat beside her on that porch swing, patted her lightly on the hand and said, “Dear, what is it that is bothering you?”

“I don't know Grandmother," She replied. “I feel empty. And the closeness I used to feel with the Lord just isn't there anymore like it used to be. There is no time for anything for myself and I don't know what to do about it. How did this happen?"

Her Grandmother looked out and surveyed the surrounding countryside, took a sip of her steaming hot coffee and said, “It's very simple, dear. You’re too busy. That old enemy, the devil, has used his strategy on you.”

“What are you saying? I'm living right. I'm not out sinning and carrying on.”

“I didn't say you were, honey. That's not the strategy of the strangler of peace. His strategy is much more subtle. More sneaky, but very devastating. Devastating to your life, your peace, and ultimately to your soul."

"You see, we live in a world of noise," she continued. "Our televisions take up half a wall in our homes and broadcast 24/7. If we're awake, and even in our sleep, they broadcast into our ears, through our minds, and into our hearts. What are we allowing to stream into our consciousness? In our cars, we have AM and FM radio, CDs, iPads, and various other devices — and now, satellite radio. Noise inescapable. How wonderful and marvelous are all these devices bringing streams of noise which enter into our ears, through our minds, and into our hearts. And just in case we might have a peaceful moment as we walk from our home to our car, we have another miracle device which masquerades as a telephone that we plug directly into our ears, sending noise straight through our minds, and into our hearts. And yet we cry, Why can't I have any peace in my life? Why can't I ever hear from the Lord? The answer is simple ... noise. The cares of this life. Remember what the Apostle Paul wrote,

Young Willie was a skinny 16-year-old boy who carried a big Bible. Willy, you see, had gotten saved in a revival service at his church, and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The year was 1929, and with the stock market crash in New York City, people were afraid for their future. The economic news was bad and men were being laid off their jobs. Money was becoming scarce and so was the faith of many people. They were losing faith in their God, their government, and in themselves.

But there was a light in the eyes of young Willy coming home late from the church revival on this Sunday night. There had been miracles and an outbreak of worship to God. This was unheard of, and unseen in this small town up until then.

It was said that Willy, who knew no music, actually sat on the piano bench during the altar service and played the most beautiful heavenly music the folks had ever heard. It had to be a true miracle of God and manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit, for Willy, you see, did not know how to play the piano. He just sat down and played under the anointing of the Holy Spirit without even looking at the keys.

This small holiness church made a lasting impact on Willy’s life and he wanted nothing more than to see his father receive the Lord Jesus as his personal savior. He would spend countless time at the altar praying, “Lord, save my daddy!” Lord save my daddy was his prayer. But more than a prayer it was a dream and a wish that galvanized his thoughts. He did not want his father to die and go to a Devil's hell. Willie had hope. The Bible teaches us,

Once there was a minister who was lonely, depressed and feeling defeated in his life and ministry. One night in his despair, he found himself in a bar on the seedy side of town. With his head bowed low in shame, he walked across the dimly lit room and took a seat at the bar. He sat staring into his drink, a drink he had never had before, and pondered his life and his failures.

Suddenly, a man sitting two seats to his right, a man who had obviously been drinking heavily, turned to him, looked at him with piercing eyes and said, “What are you doing here?”

The minister was shocked and thought to himself, “Do I know this man? Does he know me? All the while the man stared at him with those piercing eyes awaiting an answer. An answer he already knew. This minister did not belong there.

Immediately, he rose from the bar stool and left the building. As he sat behind the wheel of his car he thought to himself, “Lord, what has brought me to this low point in my life?” It was as if the Lord had spoken through that man.

As he pulled out of the parking lot he asked for forgiveness. In his beaten and defeated condition, he went back to his home, to his family, and to his ministry. Ashamed of himself, he put one foot in front of the other, and went through the motions, feeling unworthy yet determined to try again. The Lord restored him and he continued his ministry.

There was a man in the Bible, a prophet named  Elijah, who also reached a point in his life when he felt defeated and wanted to give up.

When God instructed Moses to build the tabernacle, He also gifted skilled craftsmen with the ability to perform all the tasks which He commanded. Moses could not have done it without them. Additionally, the people brought sacred offerings of materials to complete the sanctuary.

In fact, they brought so many materials that eventually Moses had to command them to stop bringing offerings. Everyone did their part to follow the leading of God and Moses to build the tabernacle. Every person had a place in the work, from craftsmen, to laborer, to the provider of materials. Every person was important and the part they played was vital.

Many years later, after Jerusalem was destroyed and the people scattered, God brought them back with a mandate to rebuild the wall. The Prophet Nehemiah describes in detail who repaired and built every little section of the wall, and where on the wall that they worked. It took many families to complete the work that God called them to do.

How many times have we heard a child's bad or unusual behavior described as, "Oh, he's just going through a phase." I remember that when my sister Carmen was a toddler, she would eat dirt. Yes, dirt!

We would find her in the back yard sitting on the ground with her hands covered in dirt and a ring of black dirt around her mouth. We'd ask her if she was eating dirt and she would shake her little head back and forth and say, "Nooooo!"

Although it was comical, our Mom was worried; so off to the doctor they went. He assured Mom that Carmen was fine and prescribed coffee grounds. His advice was to give her dry coffee grounds to play in because "She is just going through a phase." He was right. The dry coffee grounds broke her of eating dirt. Phase over.

My brother Chris went through a childhood phase when he was determined to drop eggs from his second-floor bedroom window to watch them splatter on the driveway below. Mom didn't take him to the doctor. He was taken to the world of hurt. Ha.

The truth of the matter is that we all go through phases in our life growing up as kids and teens. As we grow older, phases turn into eras. Mostly we look back and laugh, but some phases in our life can make us cry. Illness, bad relationships, and failures can leave us filled with regret, which is the nature of life.

But when we follow Christ, we have the assurance of hope, forgiveness, and another new beginning. Phases lived in error are forgotten by the Lord when we ask for forgiveness. The Bible says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (II Corinthians 5:17 KJV).

As the Lord forgives and forgets, so should we in order to move on with our lives. Often it is our own self, and the fact that we were ever in that phase, that is the hardest to forgive and forget.

The good thing is that all phases eventually come to an end. You may have come through an extended illness, a disastrous relationship, or your boss may have told you that your season of employment in the job you love is over.

If so, remember the encouraging words of the Apostle Paul, "I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength" (

Lillie showed up for her job as a greeter at Walmart just like every other day. A petite lady with a glorious smile, it seemed as if she knew everyone in town as one-by-one people came through the door calling out, "Hello Miss Lillie!" What she didn't know was that today would not be work as usual.

Lillie grew up as the daughter of a Pentecostal preacher in the early 1900's in a humble home filled with love in the hills of Tennessee. Life was a sweet challenge for Miss Lillie, losing her son in childbirth, and raising two beautiful daughters during the great depression.

During World War II she was called to come to a secret government facility in nearby Oak Ridge Tennessee to pick up her husband who had collapsed. He had worked 48 hours without sleep in a mysterious building where we now know the government had been developing the nuclear bomb which ended the war. Sworn to secrecy, he never spoke of the activity in that building…ever.

Miss Lillie was always faithful to God, her church, and her family. A faithful tithe payer and giver, she helped those in need, even taking some into her home. Her children and many grandchildren were always remembered on birthdays and Christmas, and her prayers helped them through many a crisis. Hers was a life of humble means, yet rich in spiritual heritage.

Jesus spoke of how mighty a humble widow could be when he was in the Temple watching rich people put their gifts into the collection box. A poor widow came by and dropped in two pennies, which were called mites, the least valued coins at that time. Jesus said, "I assure you, this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them, for they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has" (