Monday, October 17, 2016

Fw: clear reflection




----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Monday, October 17, 2016 7:11 AM
Subject: clear reflection

A full moon lingered over the pond this morning as dawn delayed its arrival.  I saw a sharp reflection of the moon in the still pond water and realized that when the water is very still, the reflection of what is in the sky is most clear.  I was encouraged to be still, myself, and consider how the Lord's reflection is most clear when I am most restful...in Him.
-
Proverbs 27:19 As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.
-
blessings,
Rob Smith


Friday, October 14, 2016

Fw: me or You?




----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Friday, October 14, 2016 7:27 AM
Subject: me or You?

me or You?...the question goes,
I see has been the theme.
-
every day this is my choice,
who rules my life...
who calls the shots...
who leads the way...
who takes the reins...
-
I know it should be you...but
me elbows in and squeezes out
your quiet presence (but still you wait).
-
There is a place where surrender wins;
Where You loom large and I grow small...
I stop my noise...
listen close...
hear your soft voice...
follow your prod...
-
me or You...the answer's clear,
It must be You!
and then I find the me...
You'd want for me to be.
-
Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator....15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
-
blessings,
Rob Smith


Thursday, October 13, 2016

Fw: seasons




----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2016 7:28 AM
Subject: seasons

As I looked around this morning at leaves starting to turn color it occurred to me: "Seasons happen".  We don't control the movement from summer to fall to winter to spring.  But the seasons change every year.  And each season comes as a familiar friend when it first arrives.  I usually find that I'm ready for the next season when it starts to show up (with the possible exception of winter).  And there are seasons in our lives as well... as we grow up and mature and grow old.  And we don't control those seasons either.  This morning I considered how the God who controls the seasons of nature and of my life also has accompanied me in a personal way and, thankfully, broke into my awareness in an earlier season.  I was reminded that life isn't about "control" but returning gratitude for the One who does.
-
Leviticus 26:4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
-
blessings,
Rob Smith


Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Fw: spillway




----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2016 7:37 AM
Subject: spillway

At the pond I like to visit in the morning there is a continual flow of water leaving the pond and falling over a concrete spillway.  It never stops...day and night...every day...there must be springs that feed the pond because this excess water is constantly overflowing and rushing out.  The pond was once a mill pond and people would take the power of the water moving out of the pond to crush grains into flour.  Water in motion...a reliable and constant source of power.  I thought about the water and the power you can hear as it rushes out.  I realized that the great honor of being a Christian is that we become residents for the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16 "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?")  I thought about the great power of God and the lack of power in "me" and realized that allowing God's power to overflow is the highest privilege of life.  I considered the ambition of being a simple "spillway" for the Lord...to allow Him to flow out and over and into others.  Because the pond's overflow is constant you really don't notice, or really see, the concrete spillway...but it is useful and it is effective....and it is enough!

blessings and love,
Rob Smith


Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Fw: fog




----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2016 7:39 AM
Subject: fog

You hang in space where cold meets warm...
suspended as you wait;
-
For morning's sun to shine new light
and make you dissipate.
-
But fog, I resemble you, when morning comes
and sleep meets day,
-
Cold meets warm within my frame and fog results;
-
Until I think on your sweet name.
-
My fog then lifts as You remain...
-
All is well...all is well


Monday, October 10, 2016

Fw: air and water




----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2016 7:35 AM
Subject: air and water

It occurred to me this morning that air and water are two substances that can be the picture of calm when they are still and the epitome of violence when they are fully active.  Hurricane Matthew has just spent his power in wind and water up the southeastern coast of the U.S.  Heat from the summer sun and stored in southern ocean waters was the meteorological cause of the hurricane.  This weather system took the most common of ingredients...air and water...and transformed them into agents of destruction and damage.  The satellite picture of a hurricane shows its organization and serious intent.
-
Air and water...barely noticed when they are still...inescapable when raging at full force. 
-
God is present too...as present as air and water.  We take Him for granted...we walk without noticing Him...we forget that He is the creative and sustaining force behind all we can see.  But He can become stirred up as well.  His awesome power can fashion a hurricane within individual lives and across nations.
-
We are wise to bow before the One who is sovereign over air and water and also rules the power of His Holy Spirit.  He can be very still but He alone holds the power to transform lives and make the most permanent of changes that affect people everywhere.  He is the power behind the air and the water.
-
Psalm 107:25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
    which lifted up the waves of the sea....28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still,
    and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,
    and he brought them to their desired haven.
-
blessings and peace,
Rob Smith


Monday, October 3, 2016

Fw: the claim




----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Monday, October 3, 2016 7:36 AM
Subject: the claim

I recently saw a western movie where the good guys beat the bad guys.  I like that simple old theme and I like westerns.  The center of the drama was a town of poor folks who had risked everything to make their living on land they'd bought, probably sight unseen, before making the difficult trip west.  But, to their surprise, gold was found on their property.  A really bad guy, with lots of money and other bad guys under his control, barged onto their land and started mining there.  He put his own corrupt sheriff in place in the town and tried to cheat the local folks by giving them a pittance for the deeds to their land.  So it was up to the heroes of our story to save the town and the good local folks from all this.
-
I thought about the deed to each of our lives.  We may tend to think that we hold the deed, ourselves, to our lives.  After all we seem to take the risks and we live inside these bodies and we make the choices and we go where we want.  Don't we hold the deed?  And when we find gold in the form of talent or success, doesn't it belong to us?  If we think about it, the deed is held by our Maker.  He placed us here, in our bodies and in this time.  We may have a lot of freedom to go where we want and do what we want but ultimately our time will end here and our bodies will return to dust and our spirit will move on to ultimately face Him.
-
He holds the deed and He places the gold on His property.  He allows us to do some of the mining and He allows us to put some of the gold to work and He makes sure our needs are met.  And there may be evil forces that seek to rip the deed to our lives away from Him...but He can be counted on to protect His claim and hold onto the deed.
-
Leviticus 25:23 "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me."
-
blessings,
Rob Smith