two kinds of fear

Mark 4:40 Then he asked them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" The disciples were absolutely terrified. "Who is this man?" they asked each other. "Even the wind and waves obey him!"

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Jesus and the disciples have been crossing the Sea of Galilee at night when a storm came up. It was a fierce storm with waves breaking into the boat. The disciples were panicked but Jesus was actually sleeping, as if the waves were rocking him. When the disciples awakened him they actually asked him if he didn't care that they were about to go under and drown. Jesus rebuked the wind and waves and brought calm. He then asked the question above (Mark 4:40). The disciples had been afraid of the storm because it seemed to have the power to take their lives...but now they experienced a different kind of fear...one of awe and unspeakable reverence...they had found the one who could deliver them from the storm.

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Have you moved from the fear of the storm to the fear of the storm-deliverer?

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blessings,

Rob Smith

reasons to follow

We are getting into the Gospel of Mark for a fall study and we have been looking at what it means to be a disciple, or follower, of Christ. When Jesus initiated His ministry, people followed Him for different reasons. They were looking for different things. Jesus invited some fishermen to follow Him (Simon and Andrew and James and John). He told them that He would show them a different kind of fishing...for men. They responded immediately and left their livelihood and families. There was something about Jesus that commanded their total commitment, even before they had full understanding of His identity and purpose in their lives. As Jesus ministered and healed many a large crowd began to follow Him because either they had a sickness to be healed or they wanted to see Him do a miracle. Mark 1:45 says "large crowds soon surrounded Jesus, and he couldn't publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places". It is good to consider why we are following Jesus, on a personal level. Do we just want something from Him on a personal level? Do we want to see Him do miracles and watch Him perform? Or are we interested in having a close walk to learn and be changed by Him to become like the first disciples, who became equipped to fish for the Kingdom of Heaven!

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blessings,

Rob Smith

right on track

The last time I got a haircut I was shocked to look down and see the white hair from my head fall on my lap. "Could that be me?", I almost laughed. And then, soon after, I had a conversation with a gentleman who is older than I and we were discussing the adjustments we must make to getting older. "The strange thing is", he said, "I feel like the same person inside looking out through these eyes." So it is an interesting thing to age...to have passed the point of peak vitality and now find ourselves beginning to fade. There are concessions we all must make to age. Our bodies just don't move like they once did. Our minds don't recall as crisply as they once did. We move slower and time moves faster. But, as I considered all this I became encouraged. It's all part of God's plan! We get daily reminders that we were not fashioned to live here forever...we were fashioned to live somewhere else forever! And at a certain point we need to move on from the earth's stage to allow another crop to grow up and walk the earth and have their time to find the Lord as well. So, in a back door kind of way, the process of aging is a welcome sign that we are on track for the next step in God's plan.-

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Mark 4:²⁶ Jesus also said, "The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, while he's asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. ²⁸ The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. ²⁹ And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come."

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blessings,

Rob Smith

source of praise

I was on my hands and knees Saturday evening scrubbing the tile floor in the kitchen. For some reason I like the satisfaction of getting that grout clean and seeing the final product when the floor shines. But as I worked the thought occurred to me: "What is my favorite source of praise?" There is the praise that I was hoping to get from my wife, Shirley, when she came home. There is a sort of "self-praise" that I award to myself. In a more general sense I can live for the praise of other people as I move through my days. Or I can make the praise that comes from God the primary source of praise that I seek. If I center my thoughts and actions around the goal of pleasing God...of living for His praise...I think I will be headed in the right direction. That isn't my natural tendency and it seems far easier to look for the praise and commendation that comes from the other sources. But there is no comparison when it comes to the inner satisfaction of your spirit resonating with the Spirit of the Lord, that you are in a good place!

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1 Thessalonians 4:1 Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

sitting on the stairs

As a teenager I remember sitting on the stairs to finish the last part of getting dressed...putting on my shoes. It was just a convenient place to do that. These days I like to sit on the front porch steps and look out toward the east in the morning when the sun is coming up. Yesterday I was reading through that wonderful chapter in the Bible: John 1, where Jesus emerges onto the scene and begins His ministry. As He meets and greets the disciples He describes Himself to them as a "stairway between heaven and earth" (verse 51). I was struck with the beauty and simplicity of that term "stairway". Jesus is providing a beautiful word picture of His role and purpose in the lives of men. He is the one through whom we can ascend to that very real place called Heaven. It is fascinating that, through the ministry of the Lord, men can begin that trip even while they are here and ultimately complete the ascent upon departing the natural life. I was reminded of the beauty of "sitting on the stairs" as an illustration of sitting in the arms of Jesus. Maybe I'll go back to sitting there as I put my shoes on once again...

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John 1:51 Then he said, "I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth."

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blessings,

Rob Smith

sharp focus

Smart phones are amazing for their versatility. They are so much more than communication devices. They really are portable information centers and one of the features I like best is the camera. It is so convenient to snap pictures with the phone and send them out or post them. When you take a picture, the camera tries to figure out what you are focusing on. If there are people in the scene it will frame their faces so you know they are in focus. Then you can snap the shot. If you don't frame the picture this way you can easily get a blurred image. It occurs to me that we need to take time to frame the image of the Lord as we snap pictures spiritually. He is here...all around and within us as believers but we tend to rush through life and we need to pause and reflect and consider, with the help of His Word, the true image of the Lord. When He comes into sharp focus and we see Him clearly we will take the lasting pictures that help us see Him and hold Him close.

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Matthew 13:¹³ That is why I use these parables,

For they look, but they don't really see.
They hear, but they don't really listen or understand.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Your mind set

We value freedom. Here, in our country, freedom is the word that launched our political and economic structure. We like to have the ability to make choices and determine our destiny. But where do we experience freedom at the most personal level? It must start within, in our minds and hearts. No matter what political or economic structure we live within, we have freedom to set our minds on whatever we choose. It is almost as if we "restart" or "reboot" our mindset each day, as we launch into a new day. When it comes to our relationship with the Lord, this also hinges on where we place our attention. We can purpose to set our thoughts on Him and we can dwell, in our minds, on His word and ways. And when we find those thoughts far from Him....we can return and renew and resume (and we may need to repent too!). The freedom that we have to set our minds on Him was purchased on the Cross and the exercise of that freedom shows the value we have for the relationship that He restored. When we have embraced the freedom from sin's penalty that was obtained for us we can enjoy the freedom to set our thoughts and hearts on the One who made it possible.

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Colossians 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

God is with us

I was busy working in the yard pretty much all Saturday. We were adding dirt to our garden areas, pulling weeds and cutting grass. At one point, while I was cutting grass, I thought about the Lord. As I was pushing the mower I considered how the Lord is always present with us. It occurred to me that He is even present when we are doing something as common as cutting the grass. I began to have a conversation with Him and told Him that I knew He was with me and I would love to have some kind of confirmation that He was there. In a matter of moments a gorgeous gold leaf from a tulip poplar fell down on the grass in front of me. I looked up into the trees and could not see any other leaves that had even started to turn color. I believe the Lord was showing me that He was right there with me even as I was walking back and forth with the lawn mower. This is our God. He is with us and He sees and knows and cares about every detail of our lives.

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Psalm 56:¹³ For you have rescued me from death;
you have kept my feet from slipping.
So now I can walk in your presence, O God,
in your life-giving light.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

low branch

On a drive through the country Sunday I spied a tree by a lake. But what really caught my eye was one large, low hanging branch. The branch grew from a fairly high point on the tree but swooped down as if it was trying to reach the lake water. I thought about our lives and how we are branches of the tree with roots that take their nourishment from the lake that is the Lord. And as we grow and put out branches, we seek to find that lake ourselves. We grow out of the main trunk, like the branch I saw, and swoop towards the source that feeds us.

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Psalm 1:³ They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

transformed

Change happens many ways: disciplined workouts bring physical fitness, rigorous diets result in weight loss and improved health, dedicated study results in professional and academic success, ambitious goals motivate hard work and achievement (of course these are all positive examples of change...there are many negative ones as well). But the kind of change that God wants to make in our lives comes directly from Him! The biggest change we need is a deliverance from the inner problem of rebellion with Him that each of us starts this life with. We can't change ourselves and eliminate this problem. Jesus came to teach, show and lead us to the place where we put our trust in the Father and not on ourselves to make this most important of changes. When we cross that line, reach that point, realize that truth and let go of self and believe in the Lord and His work of salvation the greatest change happens instantaneously and we are transformed, with the weight of sin lifted and the reality of God indwelling us. We actully become a new creation at that point. Have you believed yet? Have you reached the point of faith where you have placed your trust in God to do what you can't? Have you experienced the Lord moving into your life and changing your world view and your self-view? Between the Gospel of John and the book of Acts there are 32 references to the word "believed". This is the one thing we can do to put God's program of change to work in our lives!

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Acts 4:⁴ But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of believers now totaled about 5,000 men, not counting women and children.

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^{blessings with hopes for your personal transformation!}

^{Rob Smith}

the body

"but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor or the earthly bodies is another." (from 1 Corinthians 15:40)

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I was watching a miniseries recently about WWII from the German perspective. It was the story of five young people and their experiences in the war. One of them was a nurse and the program showed many scenes of the battle hospital where she worked. You couldn't help but be impressed with the desperate efforts being made by surgeons and nurses to save the lives of the wounded. On reflection I thought about how easy it is to tear apart the human body...but how complex and amazing is the design and function of that body. Our body is a masterpiece of Creation and serves us so well in this life. But we learn from 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, that there is another body that God has fashioned for our life in heaven! We cannot experience this body now and we cannot relate to this body from our experience here. The heavenly body is designed for a different environment and we must shed this body to receive that one. This body has a limited run but that body will go on forever. Just as this has been an amazing body, so will that be an amazing body. Believers...those who have transferred their trust from themselves to the Lord Jesus...will all receive this 'forever body' and we will receive it at the same time when "the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." (vs. 52) The chapter says that this is how God will show that "Death has been swallowed up in victory." (vs. 57)

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Well this good news is meant to motivate us. The last verse of this chapter says: "Therefore...always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

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blessings to all who wear this body and bear His body here that we might share His body and wear that eternal body forever there!

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Rob Smith

words

The power of words is great. Words are really thoughts in motion. We were formed to be fed intellectually and spiritually as well as physically. Words are the food that feed our hearts and minds. Deep within we have a thirst for truth. When we are young we are especially curious to understand this complex and mysterious world that we found ourselves in...we hungered for the basic truths to help us make our way through the day with confidence. As we have grown older we have been aware that there are great truths that transcend experience and provide the context for experience. And nothing satisfies like truth. We find truth through the Words that God has given us in the Bible and especially through Jesus, who the Apostle John described as the "Word made Flesh". Jesus was the ultimate truth...the ultimate thought from God. Of all the things God values and cherishes, He must cherish you and me a great deal because His greatest thought was carried in the form of a Word made flesh. The message of this Word is that God has an abiding love for people, who were made to reflect Him. He has come to rescue those people and restore them to a close walk with Himself.

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There must be a word to describe that kind of love and there must be words that are appropriate for us to share with each other this day that carry this truth to others.

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Proverbs 16:²⁴ Kind words are like honey—
sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

"Close"

Three things about this morning reminded me of the closeness of the Lord. The first was the fog (see picture). With all the rain we received this past weekend I suppose the stage was set for the moisture in the ground to come up to meet the sky. But fog makes the air feel close...close like the Lord is to us. And as I stepped to my truck to head down to the local pond I felt the humidity of our Virginia summer air. Humidity makes the air also feel close...close like the Lord is to us, blanketing us with His care. Then as I drove my truck through the windy road to the pond I realized that God's creation was right next to me all the way, with trees and bugs and birds growing and moving all around me. His works surround me and make me realize that He is close in the same way. Fog, humidity and nature all spoke to me and reminded me that the Lord is near. He is very, very near. And we are never alone, or separated from His presence (but we may forget at times!).

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Psalm 145:¹⁸ The Lord is close to all who call on him,
yes, to all who call on him in truth.

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blessings,

Rob Smith

Old and New

There was a deal on Breyer's Ice Cream recently where you could buy two boxes for a good price. I grabbed an old favorite, Mint Chocolate Chip, and a new favorite, Chocolate M&M. The Chocolate M&M actually said "NEW" in bright colors on the packaging. Of course there is nothing new about chocolate or M&M's, but I guess putting them together was new for Breyer's. Anyhow, it struck me that sometimes marketers try to win you over with a "New" product approach and sometimes they try to win you over with an "Old" approach. You know, old as in experienced, proven, time honored, widely popular. Sometimes it is the new idea and they want to make you feel like you are catching the wave early. The Lord is both New and Old to us. He as new as a new day...as new as you at every stage of your life and in every fresh challenge. He is as old as Creation (when it was just an idea in His mind) and on the personal level He is as old as your earliest memory, your greatest fears and challenges and actually He has seen every day of your life. We are wrapped in His love, old and new, just as He knows all there is to know about us past, present and future. This is the Lord we can be secure in!

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Ecclesiastes 3:¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

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blessings,

Rob Smith