Sunday, May 31, 2015

family

  The mystery and wonder of the word and the concept of "family" is capturing me right now.  There is such purpose in the design of the family.  It is a singular noun that describes more than one person living intimately.  It is characterized not only by the people who comprise it, but by the nature of their relationships.  It forms a nest where children can safely and healthfully enter a hostile world and grow to maturity.  It is a place where unconditional love is the engine that undergirds the training of young, coupled with establishment of self worth.  It is the fruit of marriage, a mystery itself, that brings the two genders together in completeness and complementation.  It pictures the kind of relationship we have with our Heavenly Father, who loves us unconditionally, brings new life to us, raises us to spiritual maturity and demonstrates singularity and plurality in the trinity with His Spirit and Son.
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You don't find the identity of a family in one individual, but in the collective nature of the entire household.  And yet a family has defined and focused purpose, demonstrates personality and character, manifests growth and development and does all this in a wonderful, mysterious way that surely reflects the design of One who is greater!
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Matthew 2:23 So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth.  This fulfilled what the prophets had said: "He will be called a Nazarene."
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blessings,
Rob Smith

Friday, May 29, 2015

Fw: untraveled road


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Friday, May 29, 2015 7:43 AM
Subject: untraveled road

A road that is untraveled eventually becomes overgrown.  There is a road near the pond that I visit and it was knocked out of use several years ago by a tropical storm that washed out the road's foundation.  Now the weeds and plant growth next to the road are slowly reclaiming the surface.  I was reminded that the road we travel to the presence of the Lord can be damaged by storms in our lives and we may stop travelling that road...the road of daily visits to Him in prayer, reflection and listening to His word.  We may need to clear the path of the overgrowth and reclaim the road to rediscover the joy that comes from meeting Him on the way. 
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Jeremiah 31:21
"Set up road markers for yourself; make yourself guideposts; consider well the highway, the road by which you went."
-
blessings,
Rob Smith


Wednesday, May 27, 2015

breeze

  the stillness of the morning's sweet,
it settles me in calm...
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allowing thoughts and prayers to meet
the Father and the Son.
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alone among the forest life,
surrounded by the trees that rise,
I'm drawn to you-
You draw me too!
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my cares are loosed with wisdom true.
-
a breeze arrives to wave the leaves
and I'm assured...
-
You're here with me.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

the potential of a day

  We tend to think in big terms about what our lives can amount to and about the problems and challenges of our lives.  This morning it hit me, as I considered the beauty of another gorgeous late spring morning, that each day has amazing potential.  "What if I considered more the potential of each day, as it appeared, than the potential of an entire life?"  It certainly seems more manageable and I really can't grasp all the possibilities and considerations of a long stretch of time.  Each day we are presented with a fresh opportunity to recognize our Creator and bow before His sovereignty and lean upon His strength.  In practical terms, it is in the course of the day that I will do whatever I will do and my life is divided into these units called days.  And I don't think I've begun to fully wring all the potential from even one day.  In a sense life can be considered a succession of daily adventures, where we look to ourselves or we can look to the Lord for the inspiration, vision and energy.  Who knows what potential lies waiting to be tapped today!
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Job 10:5
Are Your days like the days of a mortal man?
Are Your years like the days of a mighty man...
-
blessings this day,
Rob Smith

Monday, May 25, 2015

If you could do anything...

  What would you do if you could do virtually anything....that is, if money were no object and you had complete control of your time?  This weekend Shirley and I joined some good friends to see what one man did who had almost limitless money and time.  His name was George Vanderbilt and he was a grandson of the shipping and railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt.  When he was still in his twenties he decided to build an epic castle-like personal residence with something like 250 rooms, several acres of floor space, over forty bathrooms, elevators, full electricity, walk in refrigerators and placed it on 125,000 acres of rolling hills and forest near Asheville, North Carolina.  He took six years and used the best architect and landscape designer to create a "country home".  And a few years later he took a wife and settled in to make the amazing place a self supporting operation with farming, timber, furniture manufacturing and a commercial nursery.  Sadly, George died at a young age (51) from complications due to an emergency appendectomy.
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So what would you do if you had countless millions of dollars and plenty of time?  Would you build something really impressive like the Biltmore?  It occurred to me that we really do have limitless resources and all the time we need.  We may not be a descendant of Cornelius Vanderbilt but, if we have placed the weight of our trust in the living God and His Son, Jesus, we have access to all that His kingdom includes and we have much more than a little time...we have all of eternity.  We can draw on limitless resources across eons of time, with the greatest resource being the direct and intimate personal access we have to the mind and heart of our Lord.  Interestingly, He is looking for folks who will tap His treasures to reflect His glory and to complete His kingdom work.  I don't think He is as interested in large buildings like the Biltmore as He is in extending His message of redemption and restoration to the world He made long ago.  After all, it's not what we can build as much as participating in what the Lord is already building!
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1 Chronicles 17:12-13 He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.  I will be his Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him...
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blessings and thanks to Dean and Leigh,
Rob Smith 

Thursday, May 21, 2015

touched by grace

  I didn't allow enough time in my morning routine for a good walk and then I forgot to spray myself with bug spray, so I had to sit in the cab of my truck when I drove down to the pond.  But I knew I needed a touch from the Lord.  I started to look through my Bible when a beautiful heron took to the air directly in front of me and pulled into the sky with grace and fine form.  "That's it", I thought.  "A touch of grace".  I was ready to enter a new day having received just a touch of grace  That moment reminded me that beyond the touch of grace, I am held by grace even when I'm not aware and throughout the day...every day.
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Matthew 17:7 But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise and do not be afraid."
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blessings,
Rob Smith

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Fw: outer peace


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 7:37 AM
Subject: outer peace

Let's be honest...sometimes we go through times of inner turmoil and strife.  Not only can we not find the answers we need....we aren't even able to frame the questions to ask!  We can feel as low as dirt and, though we may have some sense of the cause, we may be unable to lift ourselves up and out.  Sometimes we lack inner peace.  It occurred to me this morning that, especially in these times, we need to find the "outer peace" that we find in the Lord.  He is at peace.  He is not unsettled.  On a morning like today (see picture) He projects that peace through His handiwork.  When I lack inner peace I am reminded to find the greater, outer, peace of the Lord (who loves you and me)!
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Philippians 4:6,7 Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
-
blessings!
Rob Smith


Tuesday, May 19, 2015

the turkey and the turtle

  In a crisis we don't always do the smart thing.  Over the past several days I saw a turkey and a turtle illustrate this.  As I was driving slowly down the back road toward my walking path the other day a female turkey was ahead of me on the road.  As I approached (again slowly) she tried to run...not across the road but down the road!  Finally it occurred to her that she could fly!  She reluctantly beat her wings and lifted to the top of the nearby trees.  She could have simply scooted across the road...or flown to begin with.  Yesterday, on my way back from the walk I spied a box turtle just edging out onto the road ahead.  As I approached he didn't back away...he just pulled his head into the shell and hoped whatever was coming would just pass by and not notice him.
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We can be like the turkey and the turtle too when the time of stress and crisis comes.  We can choose to panic or we can get quiet and listen for the quiet voice of our Heavenly companion.  He will whisper our flight instructions if we'll hear him!
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Psalm 31:22 In panic I cried out, "I am cut off from the Lord!"  But you heard my cry for mercy and answered my call for help.
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blessings,
Rob Smith

Monday, May 18, 2015

relevant

  Some wonder if God is relevant to their life.  Is God relevant to their situation...their family...their job...their personality.  All of those things that swirl around and through a life seem separate from a discussion about a God who may or may not exist.  God becomes a point of debate that a person may or may not have time to entertain.  Many may conclude that God isn't relevant to their life because they seem to be living just fine without Him.
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It occurred to me yesterday that we may want to turn that around and ask a different question: "Am I relevant to God?"  Am I interested in discovering Him?  Am I open to the possibility of His reality and His personal interest in my life?  Do I have an interest in knowing Him deeply and not just debating His reality?  If He is there (and here) am I interested in aligning my life with His best intentions for it?
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Relevance precedes relationship.  Rather than considering whether we might invite God into our world...what if we considered what it would mean to enter His?
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Isaiah 40:28
Have you not known?  Have you not heard? The everlasting God,  the Lord, The Creator of the ends of  the earth, Neither faints nor is weary.  His understanding is unsearchable.
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blessings,
Rob Smith

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Fw: the beauty of the temporary


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2015 7:54 AM
Subject: the beauty of the temporary

Looking outside and looking inside I see blooms.  Outside I see mountain laurel on the edge of the woods with large bright flowers.  Inside (attached) Shirley has placed some peony blossoms in a vase.  I thought about their beauty and I thought about thought their "temporary-ness".  And then I thought about how their beauty is accentuated by their temporary life......and then I thought about our lives and how our bloom is also beautiful, temporary and part of God's design.  But, just as the mountain laurel and peonies will come back and bloom again, so we have a place we will bloom again.  We are only here for a brief time.  That brevity only intensifies the meaning of our lives and the beauty we have as we blossom and flower under the hands and watchful eyes of the Master Gardener.  But, through the gift of faith, we await a transplant to that place that is lit by the Son and filled with Spirit air, where we will bloom continually. 
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Song of Solomon 6:11  I went down to the grove of walnut trees and out to the valley to see the new spring growth, to see whether the grapevines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom.
-
blessings,
Rob Smith 


Saturday, May 16, 2015

in His image

 
I've been challenged to review my thinking patterns this week as I've been reading and listening to Colossians chapter 3.  Verse 1 in that chapter says, "set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor...".  Verse 2 reinforces this imperative with "Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth."  Verse 3 tells us the rationale for this focal point: "For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God."
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So I am amazed by this challenge: to focus my thinking on a place I've never been and can find relatively information about instead of the place I've spent my whole life, and where I will live until my dying day!
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But then I realize that in a spiritual sense I have died to that earthly dominated life already and was born a second time into the heavenly realm.  My feet touch the earth and my inner person...the everlasting person...already walks in heaven.  The life which was given me through the gift of faith continues as a walk of trusting in the invisible one who made that personal gift and the foundational gift of His Son to open that opportunity for heavenly citizenship.
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Along the lines of 'thinking about heaven' I considered the fact that man was made in the image of God.  I have always thought that God did this to show how special man is and how we have a family relationship with Him...and I continue to believe this.  But it also occurred to me that it is far easier for me to picture God being something similar to myself so that I can relate to a God who has important human-familiar characteristics: He hears with intelligence.  He sees with eyes of understanding.  He laughs with humor.  He cries with pain and suffering.  He walks...He runs...He is a God who is also a person that I can picture, relate to and know...something like I know my closest of friends.  We are made in His image that we might be drawn to relate to Him...truly know Him...and come to Him in our cries, joys, questions, frustrations...with the everything of our experience of living.
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Verse 10 of Colossians 3 puts it this way: "Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him."
-
blessings,
Rob Smith
 

Thursday, May 14, 2015

sing or complain

 
The sound of birds is part of the beauty of spring.  This morning I am hearing from the birds...sweet chirping and songs from most...but a raucous complaint broke the air as well from some nearby crows.  It occurred to me that you could break down bird calls that way: songs and complaints.  Some birds don't seem to say anything...they let the beauty of their flight speak for them.  I saw a large heron flash impressively through the woods to reach a pond to find breakfast and occasionally have spied an osprey dive for a fish.  I suppose we might fall into one of these categories as well:  singers, complainers and silent actors.  The spring has awakened instinctive desires for the birds to connect with each other and the beauty of each morning reminds all of us that it is a good thing to sing to the Lord.  (Or will we insist on squawking a complaint?).  Hopefully the day will provide plenty of opportunity to experience the grace of the Lord, like the grace of the diving osprey.
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Psalm 68:4 Sing praises to God and to his name!  Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds.  His name is the Lord-rejoice in his presence!
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blessings,
Rob Smith

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

a one letter difference

  One letter in a word can make a big difference.  I was thinking about the difference between "compete" and "complete".  In this life "compete" seems to have a big role.  We compete for attention, for grades, for college entrance, for jobs, for promotions.  We compete in sports and we pick favorite teams to compete for us vicariously.  We like to win, both personally and collectively...as teams and even as nations.  In my adult life I have seen the genders even pitted against each other as rivals...Man and Woman both competing for success in the world....
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Reading the epistle to the Colossians we see how Christ "completes" us.  Oh, there is still competition.  There is an enemy of Christ who competes with the Lord for the attention and affection of men and women.  But Christ has come to complete us in Him and we are sent as His representatives to bring the message of completeness to others.  In the body of Christ, where we reside once we have trusted in Him, we form a completed picture to the world of who Christ is.
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We are all incomplete without Christ and we won't find Him through "competition", but in finding Him and in helping others find and know Him we become complete and see this completeness extended more completely.
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One letter makes the difference  between "compete" and "complete"...the letter "l".  We might say that the "l" stands for love...the love of Christ has come to complete in and through us!
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Colossians 2:10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
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Colossians 3:14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which  binds us all together in perfect harmony.
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with thanks to Paul Roa,
Rob Smith

Monday, May 11, 2015

Fw: forever living now




----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2015 7:35 AM
Subject: forever living now

I thought about time this morning, on the walk on the wooded trail.  We've been reading through the Minor Prophets in our Bible survey at church.  Most of those prophets spoke about the coming Messiah and about His ultimate return at the end of time.  We also saw how the prophecies of prophets like Daniel and Jeremiah came true when the people of Judah were first taken into captivity for 70 years and then set free to return to Jerusalem.
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The picture I attach today shows a "blind bend" in the road ahead.  That's how life is for us.  We don't know what is around the next curve in our life road...but we must keep walking that road.  It occurred to me that our God knows what is around that bend.  He is the forever God who has shown that He knows what will happen  in the future.  And, more than that, He has promised that we, who have placed our trust in Him and the work of His Son, will also be with Him forever.
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Today we travel a road with blind curves.  But He moves with us and He waits for us around every turn and He awaits our arrival when our road on earth ends and we merge into Heaven's highway.
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2 Samuel 7:16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you.  Your throne shall be established forever.
-
blessings,
Rob Smith


Saturday, May 9, 2015

Fw: road or rut

Are we on the road or are we in a rut?  The picture this morning shows that someone must have thought he had a better way than the road...or, or a more entertaining way, and so he swung off the hard packed surface and dug deep into the muck off to the side.  Roads can be great if we let them take us to their destination.  Sometimes we mindlessly follow the path and find it stimulating to break from the confines of the well worn path.  The driver in this picture hedged his bets and allowed one side of his vehicle to keep traction while the other chewed down into the soft marsh.  Sometimes we almost want to get in trouble...get a little stuck...to add a dose of adventure to our paths.  Roads and ruts...we need both...but we need a balance to keep on course.  But it is good to know the limits of our vehicle and the limits of safety when we leave the road.
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Proverbs 22:5 The perverse travel a dangerous road, potholed and mud-slick; if you know what's good for you, stay clear of it.


Friday, May 8, 2015

the cathedral


Thursday, May 7, 2015

Fw: making the road


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 7, 2015 7:21 AM
Subject: making the road

When they build a road they often have to cut down through hilly terrain and build up low spots to make a grade that is acceptable for vehicles.  The picture today shows how much had to be cut through to make the simple gravel and clay road I have been walking in the morning.  A lot of dirt had to be moved out of the way.  A lot of trees had to be cut down and carted off.  Then bulldozers and road graders and gravel spreaders had to come through.  And this is all for a backwoods road that might see a dozen cars and trucks pass each day.
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Our lives are like a road that the Lord wants to travel down.  He needs to cut down some things and remove some things and level some things and improve the surface a bit....so He can travel through our personalities.  For He has work to do in and through us!  No wonder we feel a bit bruised at times in the process of our road construction!
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Isaiah 57:14 Someone says: "Build, build!  Make a road!  Clear the way, remove the rocks from the road my people will travel"


Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Fw: quiet majesty


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 6, 2015 7:25 AM
Subject: quiet majesty

On my walk this morning my eyes were drawn to some magnificent tall trees along the path.  I thought about the years of time it had taken for these tall hardwoods to grow.  Often I just see the woods full of trees but this morning they seemed to stand out individually.  They seemed to have a quiet majesty.  Powerful and massive in a way, yet unobtrusive and perfectly content to remain fixed in one place, they  reflected the awesome creativity of their Heavenly designer.  I realized that many of these quiet natural towers will probably far outlive me on the planet and I was humbled.  It was good to be in the presence of these silent giants this morning...good to be humbled and reminded that we live in the valley of a mighty God...who has fashioned such wonders.  And His presence in my life is a tower as well.
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Psalm 96:11-12 Let's hear it from Sky, With Earth joining in, And a huge round of applause from Sea.  Let Wilderness turn cartwheels, Animals come dance, Put every tree of the forest in the choir-
(The Message translation)
-
blessings,
Rob Smith


Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Fw: wash me


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 5, 2015 7:42 AM
Subject: wash me

  Stepping out of the truck this morning I was washed with sunlight, sweet scents like honey suckle and sounds of spring birds singing.  It occurred to me that I needed to be washed in mind and heart as well.  Coming through the night and awakening, so often there are fears, doubts, strife and unclean thoughts that carry over.  I realized that I need an inward washing that only the Lord can do.  Here is a picture of a quiet brook that runs beside the path and reminds me of God's cleansing presence and word, which accompany my path.
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Psalm 19 (The Message Translation)11-14: Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!  Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over your work; Then I can start this day sunwashed, scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
-
blessings,
Rob Smith


Monday, May 4, 2015

Fw: intense light


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Monday, May 4, 2015 7:22 AM
Subject: intense light

It takes an intense fireball of light to warm our planet.  That fireball is so intense that we cannot look at it directly for any length of time, or our vision will be burned out.  I snapped a picture of the sun by letting the camera do the looking.  And then I saw that even the camera couldn't handle the intensity...the light was broken into small blobs of color as the receptors in the camera went into overload.  The mild and pleasant weather we are now having isn't here because the calendar says "May" at the top.  It's here because God has set up a sophisticated regulation mechanism to harness the intense light of the sun in conjunction with our distance and our angle to it.  God is an intense light, Himself.  We cannot look at Him directly but we can be warmed by His presence.  As the sun floods the earth with light and warmth, so God floods us personally with the light of truth and the warmth of His embrace.  To truly live, we need an intense light...a very intense light!
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Psalm 19:4-6 (The Message translation) God makes a huge dome for the sun-a superdome!  The morning sun's a new husband leaping from his honeymoon bed, The daybreaking sun an athlete racing to the tape.  That's how God's Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset, Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith.
-
blessings,
Rob Smith


Sunday, May 3, 2015

horse and rider

  We enjoyed watching the Kentucky Derby yesterday.  Amazing attention by millions provided for a few minutes of action... As I observed and reflected on the race, it occurred first to me that there are two athletes in every entry, the horse and the jockey.  Everyone bets on the horse because he is the engine that powers around the track but the jockey is a vital part too...otherwise they'd just let the horses run by themselves.  It takes the team of horse and rider.  And the horse will only have one opportunity to win a Kentucky Derby, while the jockey goes on to have more chances on other mounts.  In many ways it must be the jockey that makes the difference.  His experience, knowledge of the horse and knowledge of the track are crucial to victory. 
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The second thing I noticed after the race is the importance of other people.  There is an owner of the horse who has taken a chance and invested much money to develop a winner and there is a trainer, who has worked tirelessly to know the horse and draw out the maximum of its ability.  Maybe some rough parallels can be drawn to our spiritual lives.  God is like the owner of our lives...our souls...He has reached out in grace to take us into His stable because He sees the undeveloped potential.  Jesus is something like the trainer, who comes down to the stable and lays his life down that we might find our identity as a true race horse.  The jockey is like the Holy Spirit, who is so close to us that he is one with us.  We only run this earthly race once but He knows the track, what is ahead and who we are up against...and He will lead us to victory.  And so the Owner, Trainer and Jockey rejoice as the horse may just be getting a sense of the magnitude of things and as millions in the Heavens observe and rejoice as well.
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Judges 5:22 Then the horses' hooves pounded, The galloping, galloping of his steeds.
-
blessings,
Rob Smith

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Saturday, May 2, 2015

Fw: Out of the shadows


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 2, 2015 8:30 AM
Subject: Out of the shadows

The sun is brilliant this morning and, as I walked the familiar wooded path, its intensity was enhanced as it filtered through towering trees on either side.  I was struck by the view (attached photo) of the light ahead that invited me to come out of the shadows.  And I am reminded that the light of the Lord's reality and presence invites us to step out of the shadows of self and into the light of the One who is the source of light!
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Psalm 36:9 For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.
-
blessings,
Rob Smith


Friday, May 1, 2015

Fw: Hidden beauty


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Friday, May 1, 2015 7:35 AM
Subject: Hidden beauty

Lovely white petals from a dogwood modestly seemed to ask for attention by the side of the forest path.  In a place where few people pass, and fewer pause, the Lord planted beauty.  It occurred to me that God is in the practice of proclaiming His handiwork and glory for more than human eyes to see.  He sees His work and puts it on display for more than human eyes.  We are participants in His creative wonder and we are not the source of that beauty.  We may feel that we, also, are blooming deep in the woods and that no one sees...but there is One who more than sees...He loves and cares!
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Psalm 145:9 The Lord is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.
-
blessings,
Rob Smith