white blood cells

About 1% of our blood is composed of the white blood cells. These specialized agents come in several different types and each type is designed by the Creator to fight different kinds of disease and infection. Since the white blood cells are carried in the blood stream, they are able to respond to the infection site, no matter where it occurs in the body. In the body of Christ there is a need for white blood cells as well. When we become aware of an "infection" within the body there is a need for members of the body to respond to restore the body to health, like white blood cells. Nehemiah ran into a similar issue when he was rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. Enemies were threatening to destroy the wall and overrun the inhabitants of the city when they were in the vulnerable position of rebuilding the wall. Here is what Nehemiah did:

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Nehemiah 4:¹⁹ Then I explained to the nobles and officials and all the people, "The work is very spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. ²⁰ When you hear the blast of the trumpet, rush to wherever it is sounding. Then our God will fight for us!"

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There is a way to respond to crises within the body that is full of grace and truth...but we must respond to prevent the walls from being torn down, just as they are being built!

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blessings,

Rob Smith

the sense of sacrifice

As the people of Judah returned from captivity, they rebuilt the altar of the Lord in the same place it had been before the Temple was totally destroyed. And then they resumed making sacrifices to God there. Sacrifices of animals has always seemed a little primitive to me. After all, what could the invisible and almighty God do with these offerings of flesh and blood? But then it occurred to me that it isn't what God could do with the sacrifices...it was what the people were willing to give up, or surrender, that showed the priority they had for God. And why did it make sense to cover everything in Solomon's Temple with gold? Did God need someplace really flashy to impress the world? No, I think placing the gold in the Temple was a way for man to say, "We will take what is most precious to men...what men give their lives for, and even die for, and even conquer nations for, and place it at your feet, because pleasing you is more important than possessing gold and silver."

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Ezra 3:³ Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord each morning and evening.

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What are we, in our personal lives today, pursuing? If it is property, possessions or precious metal we may be following the wrong priorities. We may need to sacrifice or lay these down before God in our personal altar to find the one priority that matters most!

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blessings,

Rob Smith

great hands

Great hands of Heaven high come down,

and warm me with your touch.

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Sculptor of this earthly plain,

Come mold this piece of crust.

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Strong arms of love please cradle me,

I'll sleep in peace within.

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Hold me still and hold me close

and rock me till I rest.

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Take my hand and walk beside,

everywhere I go,

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With your massive presence near,

the winds of fear won't blow.

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Great hands of Heaven high come down,

and lift me to your heart.

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Psalm 66:⁹ Our lives are in his hands,
and he keeps our feet from stumbling.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

rebounding well, part two

Yesterday I discussed how to "rebound well" by making the Lord the first priority, even at great cost.  Our illustration comes from the return from captivity of the people of Judah from Babylon after 70 years in exile, from the book of Ezra.  Part two of this story seems to be to "expect opposition".  When the people began to rebuild the Temple of God and repopulate the city of Jerusalem they attracted a lot of resistance from the locals.

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Ezra 4 The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were rebuilding a Temple to the Lord, the God of Israel.2 So they approached Zerubbabel and the other leaders and said, "Let us build with you, for we worship your God just as you do. We have sacrificed to him ever since King Esarhaddon of Assyria brought us here."

3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the other leaders of Israel replied, "You may have no part in this work. We alone will build the Temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, just as King Cyrus of Persia commanded us."

4 Then the local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people of Judah to keep them from their work. 5 They bribed agents to work against them and to frustrate their plans. This went on during the entire reign of King Cyrus of Persia and lasted until King Darius of Persia took the throne.

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You can probably count on some kind of similar difficulty as you climb out of the valley of your difficult experience and attempt to rebuild a healthy central focus on God.  You may be accused of wasting your time or being narrow minded or out of touch with reality.  Some may say that you are becoming too heavenly minded to be any earthly good.  But this is just a sign that you are on the right track!  Remember what Jesus said about this kind of experience:

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Luke 6:22 What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. 23 When that happens, be happy! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, their ancestors treated the ancient prophets that same way.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

rebounding well

Of course we need to learn how to live victorious lives. But we also need to learn how to rebound well when we have been in the "valley" of life's experience. What is the starting point...the end of the string that we need to find to begin to rebuild our lives to walk up and out of the valley? The book of Ezra deals with this, using the people of Judah as an example. They had been held in captivity for 70 years in Babylon, where God had directed them to be taken as punishment for abandoning Him. As Ezra begins, King Cyrus has conquered Babylon and issued a decree to free the Jewish people to return to their homeland. The starting point for those people is to rebuild the Temple of God that had been totally destroyed when Jerusalem had been conquered. If you were set free from prison after a long sentence, what would your first ambition be? I think it is remarkable that these people set themselves, together, to the task of rebuilding their relationship with God. This was a task that would take total dedication, years of labor, massive expenditure of funds from a people with very little money and it would require a priority placed on God rather than themselves. But this is the healthy work of "walking in paths of righteousness" that brings the inner health people need. And this is the focus, commitment and work that we also need to begin to pull together and rise up out of the valley!

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Ezra 3:1 In early autumn, when the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose. ² Then Jeshua son of Jehozadak joined his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel with his family in rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel. They wanted to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as instructed in the Law of Moses, the man of God. ³ Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord each morning and evening.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

common, transparent and powerful

Water and air...substances that are so common and so necessary that they are underappreciated because they are so taken for granted. For some reason as I was riding to northern Virginia yesterday the thought popped into my head that all the vehicles I saw were riding on air. That simple, clear gas that carries life to our lungs is strong enough, when compressed and contained in a tire, to hold up thousands of pounds of cars, trucks and trailers. How amazing! And water, that slips so freely over our skin in the shower has the strength to keep an aircraft carrier afloat, weighing thousands of tons.

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And we, in our fragile human condition...common as we may feel we are...weak as we may truly be...when compressed by life's squeeze can push back with remarkable strength. For we have resident within our fragile frames the author of life. Before our God we are transparent as air and before our God we are as fluid and slippery as water....but, with our God within, our cup overflows and His mighty force is expressed.

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Job 33:⁴ For the Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

penicillin and a sovereign God

So I woke up with penicillin on my mind. I knew that it was not all that long ago that penicillin had been developed / discovered as a major antibiotic. So I researched its history. An English scientist, Sir Alexander Fleming noticed an accident with an experiment in 1928. A dish of bacteria had become contaminated with some kind of mold and that mold was dissolving some of the bacteria. After he grew the mold in a pure culture he found that it was effective to kill many kinds of bacteria. By 1941, as World War II was ramping up, scientists from England and the U.S. put their heads together to find a way to produce penicillin on a mass scale. They worked in a lab located in Peoria, Illinois and needed to find some natural mold that was effective in producing penicillin. After a world-wide search they found the best mold producer to come from a moldy cantaloupe in a Peoria market! Production cost went from priceless to only $20 per dose by July 1943 and about 50 cents in 1946. By the time of the D-Day invasion in June of 1944 there was an adequate supply to treat the wounded from that massive battle.

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In the discoveries of man I believe we can often see the hand of God...who is constantly finding ways to bring and preserve life, even in this place where death seeks to consume.

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Psalm 103:² Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion

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blessings,

Rob Smith

the Lord's army

The Lord actually can fight for people! Here is an exciting story from the time of King Asa (2 Chronicles chapter 14). How would you like to be faced with an invasion of a million men!

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⁹ Once an Ethiopian named Zerah attacked Judah with an army of 1,000,000 men and 300 chariots. They advanced to the town of Mareshah, ¹⁰ so Asa deployed his armies for battle in the valley north of Mareshah. ¹¹ Then Asa cried out to the Lord his God, "O Lord, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O Lord, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!"

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Asa had an army too, but it was only about half the size of the Ethiopian force. But Asa had some help...

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¹² So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians in the presence of Asa and the army of Judah, and the enemy fled. ^.....They were destroyed by the Lord and his army, and the army of Judah carried off a vast amount of plunder.

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How encouraging to remember that we have the God who sees us and loves when we trust in Him...and who is able to defeat the very real earthly enemies and problems that "invade" us!

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blessings,

Rob Smith

change of heart

"But when Rehoboam was firmly established and strong, he abandoned the Law of the Lord, and all Israel followed him in this sin." 2 Chronicles 12:1

After Solomon died, the rule of Israel passed to his son, Rehoboam. Rehoboam took steps to fortify all the cities around him. After doing that he thought he had all the protection he needed. As a result, from the verse we just read, he abandoned the Lord. He apparently had an attitude that said, "God, I will call on you only if I need you, but when my strength is adequate I will protect myself and leave you behind." As a result of this attitude, God stirred up the Egyptians (under their King Shishak) to conquer those "fortified" cities. As the Egyptians prepared to attack Jerusalem the prophet Shemaiah told Rehoboam "This is what the Lord says: You have abandoned me, so I am abandoning you to Shishak."

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Fortunately Rehoboam humbled himself at this point instead of hardening his heart and God responded to that attitude change. But He did an interesting thing. He still allowed the Egyptians to conquer Jerusalem and He said "Since the people have humbled themselves, I will not completely destroy them...But they will become his (Shishak's) subjects, so they will know the difference between serving me and serving earthly rulers."

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I think we need to be on guard within our own hearts to remember whom we truly serve and who watches out for us. We can easily mistake the peace, protection and provision that we have experienced as coming from our own work when God truly is the source of all these.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

building God's house

It is fascinating to read the account of Solomon building the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles). The very idea that men could build a place with their hands that the God of Heaven could reside within is a very awesome concept. When the construction was complete, a highlight of the process was returning the Ark of God to the Most Holy Place in the Temple. (2 Chronicles 5:7 Then the priests carried the Ark of the Lord's Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple-the Most Holy Place-and placed it between the wings of the cherubim.) It had taken the work of well over 100,000 skilled laborers to construct the Temple and it had taken about 7 years. It's interesting that many of these workers were foreigners who were pressed into service to build the great house. The Temple was large but not anything like a modern skyscraper. It's basic dimensions were 30 feet in width by 90 feet in length. But it wasn't the size that was so costly and labor intensive...it was the contents. The fine stonework, panelling and gold overlay for everything...incredibly detailed, elaborate and precious. When all was completed they held an amazing service of consecration and celebration with hundreds of musicians and priests playing instruments and singing. And God showed up: 2 Chronicles 5:13/14 At that moment a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of God.

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It is awesome to think that man could build a house for God. And in these days following the resurrection of Jesus it is awesome to consider that we who have trusted in the Savior have become the house of God...His Temple...How wonderful that His presence would fill our Temple!

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blessings,

Rob Smith

stage and podium

I love to watch the Olympics. They represent high drama in sport. They are a pinnacle of athletic competition where the very best athletes compete for personal and national pride. They reflect untold hours of training, personal sacrifice, stories of injury and recovery. Often there are surprising results from unknown athletes to match the dominant achievements of proven stars. The Olympics are a premier stage for special people who strive to reach the podium of top three performers in their respective events. It occurs that we each have a stage and a podium to aspire to even if we are not stellar athletes. And the gold medals are not restricted to only one person per competition. In life, as we face the challenge of choices, we compete on a daily basis and across the seasons of living. We have the opportunity of winning and taking the top level on the podium when we lay down self and look up to God. The heart of the competition is found in our hearts and minds, where we must decide whom we will serve, what we are living for, and why we are here. The Olympics are precious because they occur for a limited time period. Our lives are also precious, here on earth's stage, because they also run for a limited time. We claim gold when we bow before the Lord and accept the prize He has already won for us...and then step up one day to the ultimate podium in Heaven!

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1 Corinthians 9:²⁴ Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! ²⁵ All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

message to a son

If you knew that your days were drawing to a close and you wanted to compose a message to your son, what would you say? What would be the most important message you would leave? What would represent the essence of all the wisdom you had accumulated, that you would want to pass on? As David's life was nearing an end and he knew that his son, Solomon, would take over as king here is what David said to Solomon (1 Chronicles 28:9-10 "and Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. So take this seriously."

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It all starts with a personal, intimate, relationship between our living heart and the living heart of the living God. God is real and God is personal. He has total knowledge of our thoughts, attitudes, motivations and plans. Knowing this, we should be motivated to live honestly and openly before God, eager to do the things that please Him. Any other direction we might take is foolish and we only fool ourselves. It all starts with the personal knowledge and relationship with the Lord. That is affirmed and celebrated in our worship and confirmed in our service. If anything is to be taken seriously, this is to be taken seriously.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

the king's friend

The book of 1 Chronicles goes into great detail about the organization of King David's government. Thousands of men are assigned specific areas of responsibility. Starting with the Temple there were whole families assigned as priests. Many others were gatekeepers of the Temple. Still thousands more were assigned as musicians for the Lord's house. Then there were the armies in 24,000 man divisions that took monthly assignments to serve the king. Additionally, each of the twelve tribes that formed the households of Israel had a leader assigned. Then there were men assigned to tend the king's fields, his grapes, his animals, his treasuries.

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But at the end of naming all the positions for thousands to fill in David's kingdom was this assignment in chapter 27, verse 33 "Ahithophel was the royal adviser. Hushai the Arkite was the king's friend."

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For the king to continue to rule with such awesome responsibilities he needed total commitment to the Lord but he also needed some special human help. He needed a trusted adviser and he needed a friend. I believe that this is true today. To keep our personal ships on course we need to have our gyrocompass fixed on God and we need trustworthy counsel and we need the love and support of friends, with whom we can be transparent. All of us need direction, accountability and encouragement...just like David!

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blessings,

Rob Smith

a right focus on God

When David was beginning his reign he decided to put the first attention on God. He decided to bring the Ark of God which contained the Ten Commandments inscribed on stone back to Jerusalem. David said in 1 Chronicles 13:3 "It is time to bring back the Ark of our God, for we neglected it during the reign of Saul." His intentions are good but his execution is incomplete. David fails to review God's instructions for proper handling of the Ark. As a result, when the Ark is transported God became angry and one of the unqualified men who touched the Ark was struck down by the Lord. David was angered that a man who was trying to do a good thing in steadying the Ark would be put to death. But a few chapters later, in 1 Chronicles 15, David gets it right. He says, in verse 2, "No one except the Levites may carry the Ark of God. The Lord has chosen them to carry the Ark of the Lord and to serve him forever."
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It occurs that while it is a good thing to purpose to return to the Lord, or to make God our center, it is critical to remember that we come to Him out of obedient response. We must not think that God is a pawn under our control. He has defined the narrow path through which we find forgiveness and gain access to His presence. Faith in His Son, Jesus, is the only way. If we try to carry God into our lives on any other terms we will fall. Ultimately, David brought the Ark of God back with a great celebration. David was persistent to find the right path to honor God. I am challenged by that focus!
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blessings,
Rob Smith

30 mighty men

When David was assuming power and emerging as the new king of Israel he became a rallying point for mighty warriors. 30 mighty men joined his army and they became the core of his military strength. Despite David's greatness and closeness to God, he needed a lot of help if he was going to defeat enemies and defend the throne. It is interesting to consider the qualities of those mighty men. 1 Chronicles chapter 12 describes some of these warriors: "These warriors from Gad were army commanders. The weakest among them could take on a hundred regular troops, and the strongest could take on a thousand." So they were brave and they were capable. Verse 8 of the same chapter describes these warriors of Gad this way: "They were expert with both shield and spear, as fierce as lions and as swift as deer on the mountains." I was also struck by the unity of David's army. He attracted high quality soldiers and generals from every tribe in Israel. And why did they choose to follow David? The leader of the 30 mighty men was named Amasai. He has this beautiful quote from 1 Chronicles 12:18 "We are yours, David! We are on your side, son of Jesse. Peace and prosperity be with you, and success to all who help you, for your God is the one who helps you." The starting point for victory was a shepherd boy, who learned to trust in the living God. He became a rallying point for faith and mighty men sought to unite around this leader who trusted in God.

Perhaps this is a good reminder of what our starting point must be as well. Is the Lord truly our personal source of strength. Are we really sold out to Him? If so we should see unity and a rallying of strength, skill and courage to build His kingdom! (I believe we will!)

blessings,

Rob Smith

a blank page

Write upon my life, Dear Lord...

This day your story tell.

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My heart's a page for you to pen

The story of your love.

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Night is past and dawn fresh broke,

The past erased, I'm free!

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So write your ways and form your song,

That others...You may see.

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Fill my mind with your Words

and let my path be light...

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Set my feet on Heaven's course,

Your Spirit be my guide.

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I will trust in you alone...

No other can be found

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Write upon my life today

and read Your truth aloud!

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2 Corinthians 3: 3 Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This "letter" is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.

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blessings,

Rob Smith