There Really Is More.

There was probably never a more perfect Christmas morning. Overnight the snow had been falling steadily so that the whole earth, the dark pine forests, the distant mountains, even the borders of the little river that ran through the little Alpine village were covered with a thick mantle of snow under which the forest creatures and the waiting flowers of spring snuggled cozily. As the villagers, summoned by the deep voiced bell in the small steeple of the old church, crunched their way through the deepening white coverlet, more of the huge snowflakes sifted gently down from the luminescent sky. the world was hushed, cars were of little use on the deeply blanketed roads and all the worshipers lived within walking distance anyway. All the world seemed silently to be repeating the angel's song of Christmas eve, "Peace on earth to men of goodwill."

Now, within the church, the joyous hymns of Christmas lifted every heart, the sermon was gently short and all was soon over. Pastor and people lingered as they approached the outer door almost as if something more was needed to bring their joy to a quiet climax. Hearts were warm with the expectation of the feast which would come later in the day. Many eyes twinkled with happiness as their owners remembered gifts which had been exchanged earlier. What were people waiting for? Could there be anything more to cap the perfection of the holiday celebration?

With a little hesitation the Pastor's wife looked round and called out to everyone, "Why don't we all go over to our home for a cup of coffee. I have a delicious Christmas cake which one of you gave me. We could all share it." With a happiness that echoed the excitement in the air the idea was acclaimed by all and they surged out and across the short path to the nearby manse.

Loving hearts filled the small manse with joy, laughter and cheerful conversation. Nothing, it seemed, could spoil the beauty of this day. Nothing, that is, until someone remembered the time and asked if he could turn on the television to catch the latest news of the world beyond their little village. Suddenly, all were shocked to hear of another suicide bombing in Bethlehem. Like the great curtain in a theatre, a fearful quiet fell over the room. No one spoke for a long time, weeping within their hearts to remember that very little of the world beyond the village enjoyed the peace and contentment so precious to them. After a moment or two the Pastor, standing in the middle of the room, spoke softly.

"It seems we forgot for a while that there is something more to Christmas than the beauty we have so recently experienced. We almost forgot that the first Christmas was a prelude to a life of struggle which led, one day to a shameful and painful death for the baby born that day. Every time we hear news such as we have just heard we are reminded that the work He began that first Christmas is far from finished. He came, as the angels sang, to bring peace and goodwill. He did His part, his work was finished on Calvary, but now the completing of the task is ours. If anything, Christmas is an encouraging and gentle reminder that, like Him, we must be about our Father's business. We must continue the struggle to bring peace and goodwill. This joyful celebration of Jesus' birth is our annual reminder that a work which He began cannot fail/ We, or our children, or our grandchildren, someone along the line, will see the prophecy fulfilled. there is something more to Christmas than gifts and dinners and the beauty of our services. there is work to be done for God's kingdom, and we will do it!"

© Harold Moddle
hdmoddle@sympatico.ca
Email author for permission to use.

Isa 9:6   For to us a child is born,  to us a son is given,  and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,  Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Wonderful counselor.

How true these words are! Jesus indeed is a wonderful counselor. In scripture, we see again and again his wise counsel being poured into the lives he touched. He goes past the obvious and exposes the heart; bringing healing that is only possible through ‘ surgery’ by a skilled master.  A good example of his skill is found in John 4, where Jesus confronts the painful past of the woman at the well. This woman had been an outcast within her community, abandoned by several men and was  distrusting and disbelieving that anyone would find much value within her. Jesus saw past the hard outer shell and zeroed in on the heart issues.  He did not rebuke her for sinful ways, he did not ask her why she was at the well by herself and not in the company of the other woman of her town as was the custom in those days.

No, he saw her inner thirst and invited her to drink, to fill that empty void she had been trying to fill through pursuits that obviously never had fulfilled that void.  Why point out to the woman what she already knew? That she was in desperate need of the living God in her life? This would have only closed her heart. No, he invited her to drink and once she realized he had more to offer than a rebuke, she was able to open her heart to receive His truth spoken in love.

Are there areas in your heart in which  you are needing the Lord's wise counsel? Are there decisions you are in the midst of making? Are there relationships you are unsure of? Financial decisions or business plans that are troubling you? Seek the Lord's counsel now, before you make those final decisions. Have you made wrong choices and now are seeing the consequences of them in your life? Have your loved ones made wrong choices? Invite Jesus to come in as the wise and wonderful counselor.

Give him permission to speak into those very situations and to bring order in what seems hopelessly tangled.  From his eternal perspective, he can give our immediate situations a timely diagnosis and an infinitely suitable prognosis but only if we allow him to speak to us and we have open and teachable hearts. 

I know the Christmas season is laden with emotional mine fields for many of us. Past hurts and past pains are yearly brought out to air in the same way we take out Christmas babbles and lights.  Once a year, squabbles from long ago are remembered, wounds from our past are dug up and we secretly wish that the holidays were over so we can pack it all back up and place it back into the attics of our spirits. This year, may the Lord give all of us the grace we need to bring those hurting areas of our hearts to him, resolving to listen to his counsel through his word, through those he has placed over us within our local church and through those who we trust and who love us. We are in desperate need to sit quietly with him, waiting for him to speak.

I pray that we refuse to pack up the old rubbish of our lives to only have to reopen them at every family gathering. I pray that through Him, we’d find the joy of forgiveness and the relief of letting go of the burden of resentment. My prayer is that we’d find the peace that comes in releasing those around us from expectations we place upon them even through their own past hurts and pain are utterly unable to meet those expectations.  May we give gifts of the heart full of Christ's supernatural heart of mercy and may we never again give painful ‘gifts of our tongue’ that only bring pain, resentment and bitterness in others.  Only through giving these pains and hurts to the Lord can we ever see true healing in our hearts and only through waiting on Christ for his counsel can we live in freedom from our past.

© Please contact Katherine Walden for permission to use. Please ask for permission to use this article. Please consider a small donation for such use, click to donate at the bottom of this page.

I pray for peace.
Peace that passes all understanding.
Peace that fills every corner of your home,
Ever corner of your heart,
Every corner of your life.

I pray for comfort.
Comfort that comes through the assurance
Of God's great love for you.
No matter what, no matter when, no matter why
No matter what you have done or will do,
His love will always be there.

A love so powerful that
He gave up his heavenly rights and position of power
To become utterly vulnerable and totally dependent
So that He would be able to say without a doubt
That he understands fully what it means
To not be able to meet all his needs through his own works.

I pray for the gift of earthly hands, feet and voices that bring
Tangible evidence to you of that great Love in practical ways.
I pray for the grace for you to see your world
Through Christ's eyes,
So you can see the gifts he pours out daily as a celebration of
His great love for you.

As of May 2012, "WHATEVER IS PURE" ARCHIVES will no longer be seeking submissions. As most authors and poets now have their own blogs, we noticed a significant drop in submissions over the past year and felt it was best to move on to other endeavors.

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