Victory of spring

Sickness dominates the news;

a virus has infected-

Millions shelter from this cloud

The globe is now affected.

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Governments and scientists

unite to seek solutions;

Soldiers wearing masks and gloves,

Battle for the wounded.

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Homes are now a refuge

from agents in the air..

unseen foe is out there,

causing much despair.

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But nature shows the hand of God

painted on the trees;

Flowers bud and bursting forth,

The forest sings in green!

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We may stop and we may stall

and we may see life altered,

But God is still the King of all;

And spring will be the victor.

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For He is Lord of all that lives,

This season shouts His glory-

And we, in hopeful voice proclaim

The virus will be history!

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And spring will lead life fresh and new

Our God will tell His story.

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Song of Solomon 2

11 for behold, the winter is past;
    the rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth,
    the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove
    is heard in our land.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Different styles of learning

We are told that people have different preferred 'channels' for learning.  Some are auditory, some visual.  Some prefer to read and others like to learn through physical activity.  When the Lord was on earth I believe He recognized this.  As prophecy was fulfilled through His healing ministry and through the working of many various miracles, which showed His rule over nature, Jesus appealed to the visual and sensory learners to confirm His divinity.  And when He spoke, He spoke truth and He spoke the words of His Father, full of wisdom and peace.  We see some of the frustrations of the disciples, even as late as the night of the last supper...they still seemed to be grappling with who He truly was.  Jesus reminds them that He has presented His origin from Heaven in various ways:

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John 14:10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

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Earlier, Jesus delivered a similar message to Jews at the Temple, during the Feast of Dedication...when He also spoke of His role as shepherd of the sheep:

John 10:24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me.

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Whether through works or words Jesus clearly reveals His identity and His purpose in glorifying the Father and in drawing people of faith to Himself.

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What is your learning style?  Will your faith be awakened through Jesus' works or His words?  Or do you find little interest in learning when it comes to the things of Heaven?

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blessings,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Air

We fill our lungs with unseen stuff

That brings life to our body

The atmosphere is everywhere

And has a presence mighty,

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Breezes gentle, often still

but sometimes wind is flighty

moving trees on puppet strings

with power matching lightning

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On it ride the birds of size

Soaring in its currents-

Looking down, as if they're crowned

as Watchers of the tiny

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As the air surrounds us here

So Spirit moves among us

Giving life to seeking hearts

Bringing Heaven's longing

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Sometimes gentle, often still

Waiting for His timing

to lift another from earth's grip

and taste the truest flying

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The Father blows His kiss this way

As Spirit opens eyes

The Words become the force that blows

our faith into His skies

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So watch the breezes blow today, 

moving leaves about

Remember how His Spirit moves

(and make a holy shout!)

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Acts 2:2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

trading work for worship

Each day we tend to struggle,

That seems to be our way-

Life often seems a jumble

where problems have their say.

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We think it's all about our work;

The effort that we bring,

And cent'ring on ourselves we strain

for meaning as we slave.

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But, look around, spring's bursting forth!

How little did you add?

The Lord's in Heav'n, still touching Earth

Why can't this make you glad?

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Exchanging work for worship

Now there's a welcome plea

Seeing God in what He's made

(including you and me)

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Set striving, fears and selfish things

high upon a shelf-and

skip like children through a field

forgetting Mr. Self.

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You are His Creation too,

fashioned by that Hand-

Built for joy and thankfulness,

with love to tend the land

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So trade your work for worship

and see your burdens lift

Look around and then look up...and

Make your heart His gift.

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Psalm 47:1 "Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy."

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blessings all,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

His voice

John 10:4 "When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

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As a young child I remember being very excited to see my father.  When he came through the door after work we would run to him.  A special thrill were those times when my Mom took us to pick him up from the airport.  We would search the faces and appearance of all who were coming through the airport concourse and strain to see him.  When we spotted him we felt a surge of joy because to us he was our hero.  I thought he must be the most wonderful man in the world.  Out of all these busy grownups I had one who was important and who loved me in a very personal way.  And he often had some kind of treat for us...something simple like a roll of lifesavers...but somehow it became a treasure, coming from him.

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And I always loved my father's voice.  I'm not sure that his voice was any more impressive than other voices, but I associated his voice with his love, because that was how he was with us...he spoke to us children out of love.  

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Perhaps this is something like our bond with Jesus.  We have heard His voice of love coming from words of scripture and those words have found an intimate place of knowledge in our hearts.  We have responded to that love and openly told him about our faults and our issues and now, when we recognize Him...in nature...in His words...in the experience of others...we still run to Him.  For He truly is our hero, both now and forever!

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blessings!

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

The gift

The gift of life comes to the mother,

Nine months she has to start

a bond, once formed, that never breaks

through all the years that part.

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Into that child she pours her heart,

so little does he know

the benefit of being loved

till he much older grows.

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Carried daily first by arms

and then with acts and words,

She nurtures him, and reads him rhymes

and gives him what is firm.

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That he might never go a day,

through all the meals and clothes and toys,

Above all else, not just a boy,

You are her son, and somehow joy

springs from her well of life always

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And knowing now this lifelong bond

Established long ago,

Still remains a cornerstone

Of that which makes him whole.

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For love so unconditional

Is what each child so needs,

To meet the bruising waves of life

and plant eternal seeds

That recognize the love of God

and brings you to the knee.

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You spent those years just giving

all you could to him,

So now he starts to realize,

the value of your gift.

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Thank you, Mom, for bringing me

into this awesome world

And thanks, still more, for loving me.

That gift still fills my sail.

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"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." – 3 John 1:4

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for Mom, as she turns 97 this Friday!

Rob

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

A new day

Matthew 28:1 "Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb."

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I have wondered about the silent Saturday that Jesus was in the tomb.  Why did it happen that Jesus would be dead for that day.  Why couldn't He rise on Saturday instead of Sunday?  I don't really know but it occurred to me that Jesus was dead over the course of the full Sabbath.  The Sabbath had been instituted by the Father to remember the 7th Day of Creation, when the Father rested.

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Genesis 2:3 "So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation."  

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Just as the Father rested from all His work, done in Creation, so the Son rested when His work was done for restoration.  John 19:30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.  Luke records it this way: Luke 23:46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last.

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We think of Jesus as dead for that day but we know He'd committed His spirit to the Father and he promised the thief on the cross next to him: Luke 23:43 And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise."  

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And you might consider this the final official Sabbath because the next day became known as the Lord's Day...Sunday...and now we mark the beginning of the week, as we mark the celebration of new life, purchased by the blood of Jesus.

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John 20:"19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

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The Cross represented incredible agony but it also marked incomparable victory...a victory celebrated first when the Son went to the Father in Spirit immediately upon dying and by the Disciples when He returned to His body and rose.  Jesus celebrated the final Sabbath rest with His Father and now we celebrate the victory of life on the day He rose!

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blessings!

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

What fills you?

John 6:25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" 26 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.

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Jesus had performed the miraculous 'feeding of the five thousand' just the day before.  Overnight, the disciples had rowed across the Sea of Galilee and Jesus had walked across the water to join them.  The crowd apparently decided to also cross the water.  They had seen the disciples get into the boat without Jesus and they wanted to track Him down.  I think they were beginning to see Jesus as some kind of living producer of manna, as God had provided daily food for the Israelites in the Wilderness.  They were following their bellies.

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No doubt the need for daily food is one of our basic drives.  Inescapably, we must eat or we perish.  It's interesting to consider the reaction of the people to the miracle they'd just experienced.  Instead of responding with worship because they had been in the presence of God, they worshiped their appetites.  Amazingly, most of them could not see past the food to be awed and humbled by the Provider.

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We face a similar choice.  Daily our needs are met, even in this time of 'virus crisis'.  If our focus is constantly on getting the next meal or finding the paper products we need, without realizing and thanking the One who meets those needs, we won't see past the physical and material to view the One who satisfies those essentials with the greater essential...eternal life.

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Truly they must have known that they had been in the presence of God, when the few fish and loaves were multiplied.  That miracle should have caused them to fall before the Lord in awe and humility, as they had been served by the hands that fashioned all of Creation.  How blind we can be to the constant presence of our Maker and Provider.  How great is our need to be filled with Him!

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blessings,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Two stony relationships

Matthew 21:43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him."

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There are some Bible passages that are difficult to understand.  The passage above has always spoken to me in a certain way.  But when I review the interpretation of other commentaries I can find no one who sees it the way I do.  Here's what speaks to me: Jesus is the Rock.  He is the cornerstone of the Church and the Rock of our salvation. [See Psalm 62]  A person can have one of two relationships with this rock...but it is inevitable that one of the two will take place.  Either a person will fall upon the rock and be broken, that He might be made new, or he can walk around the rock during this life only to have the rock of judgment fall upon him and be crushed.  'Broken or crushed'...that is what speaks to me.  Far better to die to self and fall upon the Rock now...it means the loss of what we are familiar with and comfortable with because it means being broken.  But it is better to realize the need for brokenness than to go through this life intact, but actually full of brokenness within.

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Commentaries disagree and believe that both of the situations...falling on the rock (characterized as tripping over the stone) or being crushed by it are both the result of rejecting God's Rock.

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Perhaps they all are correct.  Nevertheless, in my experience, total brokenness needed to take place before the Lord could come in and remake me...step by step into something new and something closer to what He intended.

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When the Rock has become our personal cornerstone then He also has become our rock of refuge and our strong defense.  Let us fall upon that rock while we can!

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blessings,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Coming to yourself

Luke 15:

16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

17 "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 

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This short section from the Prodigal Son parable impacted me yesterday as I listened during my daily walk.  The phrase "But when he came to himself..." jumped out.  It occurred that we have different sides to our personality (not multiple personalities...that's just scary!).  And somewhere deep inside is the real person, the soul, the spirit, the heart...the real person.  We have outer layers that we wear to have a certain impact on others and to feel good about ourselves, but they are almost like clothing to cover and protect our inner self.  I suspect that we can go years without having a meaningful conversation with ourselves, but at some point we really need to.  Our inner self is the life we were given...for we did not give ourselves our lives.  Instead we spend a lifetime grappling with life's meaning, all the while knowing that the life we were given will one day be taken as well.

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Just as the Prodigal Son, we need to come to the end of the window dressing that makes up our outer person...the one driven by selfish desires and short term ambitions.  We need to have a sit down, look self in the face, heart-to-heart with the life deep inside.  When we do that, we are humbled and we realize that, just as we can't explain how our lives came to be...so we can't control where our lives will ultimately go.

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And like the Prodigal Son, until we come to ourselves we'll never come home to God...never feel His loving embrace as He runs to greet us!

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blessing,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."

Supernatural

Luke 7:11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

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If man is both natural and spiritual, it stands to reason that he has needs associated with both aspects of living.  If the natural side can be helped with natural means then man can provide help for himself and others.  But man does not have supernatural capability (hence the fascination with Superheros!).  He needs to find help from one who does have supernatural power.  When the supernatural overcomes the laws of nature we know that we have experienced a power only available to the One who is sovereign over all.  When Jesus brought back to life the young man in the story above He demonstrated that He had power over the greatest natural enemy of man....death.  

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See how Paul describes Jesus from Colossians, chapter 1:  16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 

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If we are to find life that transcends the natural.  If we are to find healing for the deepest spiritual needs...that no scalpel can find, scan can see or medication touch we need Jesus.  He is motivated by compassion for His flock, seeks to provide life to the dead and restoration of joy and peace to the heart.  It's not just His power...it's His compassion that is supernatural.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

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"Death is inevitable.  Life is a choice!"

John 11:25

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live."